"Creative fidelity", Pope Francis' request to the new cardinals.

What is a consistory of cardinals?

"Creative fidelity", Pope Francis' request to the new cardinals.

Pope Francis said today in St. Peter's, at the Consistory for the creation of 21 new cardinals of the Catholic Church, that "Pentecost - like the baptism of each one of us - is not an event of the past, and that "the Church - and each one of its members - lives from this ever-present mystery". He also compared the College of Cardinals to a "symphonic and synodal orchestra".

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In the ninth public consistory of Pope Francis, held on a sunny day in the atrium of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, bringing the number of cardinals to 242, of whom 137 would be electors in a future conclave, the Holy Father wanted to reflect on the topicality of Pentecost in the Church, in the context of the upcoming Synod that will begin on October 4.

The ceremony for the presentation of the cardinal's biretta to the 21 new cardinalsThe ceremony, of which 18 are under 80 years of age, and are therefore already electors, began at 10 a.m. and was attended by authorities, diplomats, cardinals, archbishops, bishops, priests and religious from all over the world, as well as numerous faithful from the countries of origin of the new cardinals.

After the reading of the excerpt from the Acts of the Apostles (12:1-11), chosen by the Pope, the Roman Pontiff has stated that "Pentecost - like the baptism of each one of us - is not an event of the past, it is a creative act that God continually renews. The Church - and each of its members - lives from this ever-present mystery. She does not live "on rents", no, much less on an archaeological patrimony, however valuable and noble it may be. The Church - and each baptized person - lives from God's present, through the action of the Holy Spirit. Even the act we are performing here now has meaning if we live it in this perspective of faith.

Vocation and mission

"And today, in the light of the Word, we can understand this reality: you, neocardinals, have come from various parts of the world and the same Holy Spirit who made fruitful the evangelization of your peoples now renews in you your vocation and mission in the Church and for the Church," the Holy Father stressed.

Shortly before, Francis had pointed out to them: "Do not forget this: the faith is transmitted in dialect, by mothers and grandmothers. Indeed, we are evangelizers to the extent that we keep in our hearts the wonder and gratitude of having been evangelized; indeed, of being evangelized, because in reality it is an ever-present gift, which needs to be continually renewed in memory and in faith. Evangelizers evangelized and not functionaries".

Symphony and synodality of the Church

From this reflection, "I would simply like to draw a consequence for you, my brother cardinals, and for your College," the Pope continued. "And I would like to express it with an image, that of the orchestra."

"The College of Cardinals is called to resemble a symphony orchestra, which represents the symphony and synodality of the Church. I also say 'synodality' not only because we are on the eve of the first Assembly of the Synod which has precisely this theme, but because it seems to me that the metaphor of the orchestra can illuminate well the synodal character of the Church."

Reciprocal listening and creative fidelity

A symphony comes to life from the wise composition of sounds of the different instruments, the Pope pointed out. "Each one makes its contribution, sometimes alone, sometimes united with another, sometimes with the whole ensemble. Diversity is necessary, indispensable. But each sound must contribute to the common project".

"And for that, reciprocal listening is fundamental. Each musician must listen to the others. If one listens only to oneself, no matter how sublime one's sound may be, it will not benefit the symphony; and the same would happen if one section of the orchestra did not listen to the others, but sounded as if it were alone, as if it were the whole."

"The conductor of the orchestra is at the service of this kind of miracle that each performance of a symphony represents. He must listen more than all the others," Pope Francis added, "and at the same time his task is to help each one and the whole orchestra to develop to the utmost its creative fidelity, fidelity to the work being performed, but creative, capable of giving a soul to that score, of making it sound in the here and now in a unique way."

Holy Spirit, master of walking together

The Holy Father went on to affirm that "it is good for us to reflect on the image of the orchestra, so that we can learn ever better how to be a symphonic and synodal Church. I propose it particularly to you, members of the College of Cardinals, in the comforting confidence that we have the Holy Spirit as our teacher - He is the protagonist -: the inner teacher of each one of us and the teacher of our journey together".

"He creates variety and unity, He is harmony itself. St. Basil seeks a synthesis when he says: "Ipse harmonia est", He is harmony itself. We entrust ourselves to his sweet and strong guidance, and to the solicitous protection of the Virgin Mary," the Pope concluded.

The new cardinals

The 21 newly created cardinals who received this morning from Pope Francis the imposition of the biretta, the presentation of the ring and the assignment of the title or deaconry are:

- Robert Francis Prevost, O.S.A., Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops;

- Claudio Gugerotti, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Oriental Churches;

- Víctor Manuel Fernández, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith;

- Emil Paul Tscherrig, Apostolic Apostolic Nuncio;

- Christophe Louis Yves Georges Pierre, Apostolic Nuncio;

- H.B. Pierbattista Pizzaballa, O.F.M., Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem;

- Stephen Brislin, Archbishop of Cape Town (Kaapstad);

- Ángel Sixto Rossi, S.I., Archbishop of Córdoba (Argentina);

- Luis José Rueda Aparicio, Archbishop of Bogotá;

- Grzegorz Ryś, Archbishop of Łódź;

- Stephen Ameyu Martin Mulla, Archbishop of Juba;

- José Cobo Cano, Archbishop of Madrid;

- Protase Rugambwa, Coadjutor Archbishop of Tabora;

- Sebastian Francis, Bishop of Penang;

- Stephen Chow Sau-yan, S.I., Bishop of Hong Kong;

- François-Xavier Bustillo, O.F.M. Conv., Bishop of Ajaccio;

- Américo Manuel Alves Aguiar, Auxiliary Bishop of Lisbon;

- Ángel Fernández Artime, S.D.B., Rector Major of the Salesians;

- Agostino Marchetto, Apostolic Nuncio;

- Diego Rafael Padrón Sánchez, Archbishop Emeritus of Cumaná;

- Luis Pascual Dri, O.F.M. Cap., Confessor at the Shrine of Our Lady of Pompeii,

Buenos Aires (who could not be present at the ceremony).

At the beginning of the celebration, the first of the new cardinals, Robert Francis Prevost, O.S.A., Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, addressed to the Pope, on behalf of all, an address of homage and thanksgiving.

The authorFrancisco Otamendi

Pope Francis

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Escriva.org: St. Josemaría's works in a renewed and expanded website

The new website escriva.org replaces the previous escrivaobras.org and contains all 14 of the author's books published so far presented in a way that eliminates problems such as language, vision, connection and device compatibility issues.

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All the works of St. Josemaría Escrivá, available in 20 languages and accessible to everyone through the web. www.escriva.org.

The new website, powered by La Studium FoundationThe book, which is the copyright holder of the works of St. Josemaría Escrivá, was presented in Valencia on Friday, September 29, in an event that included the presence of the priest Mariano FazioAna Escauriaza, historian and researcher at the CEJE (Center for Documentation and Studies Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer), and Ricardo Velesar, member of ONCE.

A website that will continue to expand

The new website contains the 14 books of St. Josemaría published so far, although the aim is to expand this collection to include his complete works as the printed edition is published, a work that will be carried out by the Rialp publishing house.

Although the website has been launched in more than 20 languages, the website's promoters plan to include more than 140 available translations of their texts.

Valencia, the city in which the first edition of "The Way"This new portal, designed for personal and consultative use, was presented on September 29, 1939, making navigation simple and intuitive.

In this sense, escriva.org makes it easier for the visually impaired and is optimized for blind people to access its contents.

General view of the audience and table at the presentation of www.escriva.org.

The message of Opus Dei today

During the presentation of this new portal, the auxiliary vicar of Opus Dei stressed that "the strength of the writings, apart from the academic or literary, is that it helps us to be better".

Mariano Fazio also underlined how, in the works of St. JosemaríaThe whole charism of Opus Dei is contained in the work of Opus Dei: "That is why there is a common thread in all the works of Opus Dei. St. JosemaríaHoliness in the midst of the world through everyday tasks".

"I can be a saint selling coupons."

Ricardo Velesar, who is visually impaired, told his testimony of conversion and the new outlook on life that he discovered thanks to the works of the founder of Opus DeiThrough St. Josemaría's writings I discovered that I could be a saint by selling coupons. This changed my life.

Velesar also explained the accessibility of the new website for the visually impaired: "This website is good news because it will allow many people around the world, whatever their situation, to access the works of this saint".

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The city of Bethlehem: history and archaeology

St. Jerome, love for the Word of God

St. Jerome was a Church Father born in Dalmatia (now in the area of Croatia and Slovenia) around 347 and died in Bethlehem in 420. His translation of the Bible into Latin is known as "the Vulgate" and his feast day is celebrated on September 30.

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St. Jerome was born in Stridon (Dalmatia) into a Christian family, and received a solid formation in Rome. He was converted and baptized around 366. He lived for a time in an ascetic community in Aquileia. His ascetic life is another legacy of the saint, as Pope Benedict XVI comments: "He has left us a rich and varied teaching on Christian asceticism. He reminds us that a courageous commitment to perfection requires constant vigilance, frequent mortifications, albeit with moderation and prudence, assiduous intellectual or manual work to avoid idleness, and above all obedience to God".

Later, St. Jerome left the community of Aquileia and was in different places: Trier, his native Stridon, Antioch or the desert of Chalcis (south of Aleppo). In addition to Latin, he knew Greek and Hebrew, and transcribed codices and patristic writings.

He was ordained a priest in 379 and left for Constantinople. There, he continued his Greek studies with St. Gregory Nazianzen. He also met St. Ambrose and corresponded with St. Augustine.

Counselor to the Pope

Later, in 382, he moved to Rome and became secretary and advisor to Pope St. Damasus. The latter asked him to make a new translation of the Bible into Latin. In addition, in Rome he was the spiritual guide of several members of the Roman aristocracy, mainly women, such as Paula, Marcela, Asela and Lea. With him, these noblewomen deepened their reading of the Bible in a "cenacle founded on the rigorous reading and study of Scripture", according to Pope Francis in a apostolic letter on St. Jerome published in 2020 for the XVI centenary of his death.

In 385, after the Pope died, St. Jerome left for the Holy Land, accompanied by some of his followers. After passing through Egypt, he went to Bethlehem, where, thanks to the aristocratic Paula, he formed two monasteries, one for men and one for women, and a place of lodging for those who were on pilgrimage to the Holy Land, "thinking that Mary and Joseph had not found a place to stay".

In Bethlehem

In the caves of Bethlehem, near the Grotto of the Nativity, he made the Vulgate, a Latin translation of the entire Bible. In addition, St. Jerome "commented on the word of God; he defended the faith, vigorously opposing various heresies; he exhorted monks to perfection; he taught classical and Christian culture to young students; he welcomed pilgrims visiting the Holy Land with a pastoral spirit," commented Pope Benedict XVI in two audiences in 2007 (7 y on November 14) dedicated to St. Jerome. In these same grottoes the saint died on September 30, 420. He was proclaimed doctor of the Church in 1567 by Pius V.

Pope Benedict XVI indicated that St. Jerome "put the Bible at the center of his life: he translated it into Latin, commented on it in his works, and above all strove to live it concretely in his long earthly existence, despite the well-known difficult and fiery character that nature gave him."

How his love for Scripture was born

Pope Francis indicates in the apostolic letter "Scripturae Sacrae Affectus" that, curiously, St. Jerome's love for Scripture was not born from the beginning. The Pope points out that St. Jerome "had loved from his youth the limpid beauty of the classical Latin texts and, in comparison, the writings of the Bible seemed to him, at first, coarse and imprecise, too rough for his refined literary taste." However, he had a dream in which the Lord appeared to him as a judge: "Questioned about my condition, I answered that I was a Christian. But the one who sat there said to me: 'You are lying; you are a Ciceronian, you are not a Christian'". It was as a result of this dream that St. Jerome realized that he loved the classical texts more than the Bible, and there began his love for the Word of God.

The Pope also comments: "In recent times, exegetes have discovered the narrative and poetic genius of the Bible, exalted precisely for its expressive quality. Jerome, instead, what he emphasized in the Scriptures was rather the humble character with which God revealed himself, expressing himself in the rough and almost primitive nature of the Hebrew language, compared to the refinement of Ciceronian Latin. Therefore, he did not devote himself to Sacred Scripture out of an aesthetic taste, but - as is well known - only because it led him to know Christ, because to ignore the Scriptures is to ignore Christ."

Bible translation process

The Pope also commented on the process that St. Jerome followed in translating the Bible: "It is interesting to note the criteria that the great biblical scholar followed in his work as a translator. He reveals them himself when he affirms that he respects even the order of the words of the sacred Scriptures, for in them, he says, 'even the order of the words is a mystery,' that is, a revelation.

Moreover, he reaffirms the need to have recourse to the original texts: 'If a discussion should arise among the Latins about the New Testament because of discordant readings of the manuscripts, we must have recourse to the original, that is, to the Greek text, in which the New Testament was written. The same thing happens with the Old Testament, if there is divergence between the Greek and Latin texts, we must have recourse to the original text, the Hebrew; in this way, everything that springs from the spring we can find in the streams'".

The Vulgate

The Vulgate was so called because it was quickly accepted by the "vulgar", the people. Pope Francis explains its origin in this way: "The 'sweetest fruit of the arduous sowing' of the study of Greek and Hebrew by Jerome is the translation of the Old Testament from the original Hebrew into Latin. Until that time, Christians in the Roman Empire could only read the Bible in Greek in its entirety. While the New Testament books had been written in Greek, for the Old Testament there was a complete translation, the so-called Septuagint (i.e. the version of the Seventy) made by the Jewish community of Alexandria around the 2nd century BC.

For Latin-speaking readers, however, there was no complete version of the Bible in their own language, but only some partial and incomplete translations from the Greek. Jerome, and after him his followers, had the merit of having undertaken a revision and a new translation of the whole of Scripture. With the encouragement of Pope Damasus, Jerome began in Rome the revision of the Gospels and the Psalms, and then, in his retreat in Bethlehem, he began the translation of all the Old Testament books, directly from the Hebrew; a work that lasted for years.

To complete this work of translation, Jerome made good use of his knowledge of Greek and Hebrew, as well as his solid Latin training, and utilized the philological tools at his disposal, in particular the Hexaplas of Origen. The final text combined continuity in the formulas, now in common use, with a greater adherence to the Hebrew style, without sacrificing the elegance of the Latin language. The result is a true monument that has marked the cultural history of the West, shaping theological language. Overcoming some initial rejections, Jerome's translation immediately became the common heritage of both scholars and Christian people, hence the name Vulgate. Medieval Europe learned to read, pray and reason from the pages of the Bible translated by Jerome".

Possibility of new translations

"The Council of Trent established the 'authentic' character of the Vulgate in the decree 'Insuper,'" the Pope continues, "however, it did not intend to minimize the importance of the original languages, as Jerome did not fail to recall, much less to prohibit new works of integral translation in the future. St. Paul VI, taking up the mandate of the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council, wanted the revision of the Vulgate translation to be completed and made available to the whole Church. Thus it was that St. John Paul II, in the Apostolic Constitution Scripturarum thesaurus, promulgated in 1979 the typical edition known as Neovulgata".

Reading in the light of the Church

At the hearing of the November 14, 2007Pope Benedict XVI continued his reflection on St. Jerome by stressing the importance of reading the Scriptures in the light of the Church, and not alone: "For St. Jerome, a fundamental methodological criterion in the interpretation of Scripture was harmony with the magisterium of the Church. We can never read Scripture on our own. We find too many closed doors and we easily fall into error. The Bible was written by the people of God and for the people of God, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

Only in this communion with the people of God can we really enter with the 'we' into the core of the truth that God himself wants to communicate to us. For him an authentic interpretation of the Bible had always to be in harmony with the faith of the Catholic Church (...) In particular, since Jesus Christ founded his Church on Peter, every Christian, he concluded, must be in communion 'with the Chair of St. Peter. I know that on this rock the Church is built'. Therefore, he openly declared: 'I am with whoever is united to the Chair of St. Peter'".

Pope Francis also indicates in this regard that for St. Jerome it was very important to consult the community: "The valuable work found in his works is the fruit of dialogue and collaboration, from the copying and analysis of the manuscripts to their reflection and discussion: to study 'the divine books I never relied on my own strength nor had as a teacher my own opinion, but I used to ask questions even about those things I thought I knew, how much more about those of which I was doubtful! That is why, aware of his own limitations, he continually asked for help in intercessory prayer, so that the translation of the sacred texts would be done 'in the same spirit in which the books were written'".

Study and charity

His love for Scripture did not cause him to neglect charity. Benedict XVI quotes some words of the saint in this regard: "The true temple of Christ is the soul of the faithful: adorn this shrine, embellish it, deposit your offerings in it and receive Christ. What is the point of decorating the walls with precious stones, if Christ dies of hunger in the person of a poor person?".

In the same way, St. Jerome said that it is necessary "to clothe Christ in the poor, to visit him in those who suffer, to feed him in the hungry, to welcome him in those who have no home".

Female education

The saint was also a great promoter of pilgrimages, especially to the Holy Land, and of women's education, as Benedict XVI points out: "An aspect rather neglected in ancient times, but which St. Jerome considers vital, is the promotion of women, to whom he recognizes the right to a complete formation: human, academic, religious and professional".

Names of the disciples of St. Jerome written in the grottoes of Bethlehem.

In this regard, Pope Francis comments in his apostolic letter that two of these disciples, Paula and Eustochius, he "entered into 'the discrepancies of the translators' and, something unheard of at that time", he allowed them "to read and sing the Psalms in the original language".

Translation as a work of charity

Pope Francis also comments that the work of translation is a form of inculturation, and therefore of charity: "Jerome's work of translation teaches us that the values and positive forms of every culture represent an enrichment for the whole Church. The different ways in which the Word of God is proclaimed, understood and lived with each new translation enrich Scripture itself, since - according to the well-known expression of Gregory the Great - it grows with the reader, receiving over the centuries new accents and new sonority.

The insertion of the Bible and the Gospel in different cultures makes the Church more and more manifest as 'sponsa ornata monilibus suis'. At the same time, it testifies that the Bible needs to be constantly translated into the linguistic and mental categories of every culture and every generation, even in the secularized global culture of our time".

In this regard, he adds: "It has been rightly recalled that it is possible to establish an analogy between translation, as an act of linguistic hospitality, and other forms of hospitality. Therefore, translation is not a work that concerns only language, but corresponds, in fact, to a broader ethical decision, which is related to the whole vision of life. Without translation, the different linguistic communities would not be able to communicate with each other; we would close the doors of history and deny the possibility of building a culture of encounter.

Indeed, without translation there is no hospitality and hostile actions are strengthened. The translator is a bridge builder. How many rash judgments, how many condemnations and conflicts arise from ignoring the language of others and not striving, with tenacious hope, in this infinite test of love that is translation! (...) Many are the missionaries to whom we owe the precious work of publishing grammars, dictionaries and other linguistic tools that provide the basis of human communication and are a vehicle of the 'missionary dream of reaching everyone'".

The Word of God transcends time

The legacy of St. Jerome can be summed up with this beautiful comment by Pope Benedict XVI in one of his audiences on the saint: "We must never forget that the word of God transcends time. Human opinions come and go. What is very modern today will be very old tomorrow. The word of God, on the contrary, is the word of eternal life, it carries in itself eternity, that which is valid forever. Therefore, by carrying in us the word of God, we carry eternal life".

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Intelligence and couple relationship

Artificial Intelligence, the focus of Social Communications

Pope Francis has announced the theme of the next World Communications Day to be celebrated in 2024. On this occasion, the theme is "Artificial intelligence and wisdom of the heart: for a fully human communication".

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– Supernatural Stampa Room has made public the theme chosen by the Pope for World Communications Day. In 2024, the theme of this day will be "Artificial Intelligence and Wisdom of the Heart: For a Fully Human Communication".

On this occasion, the Holy Father wants to focus on the technological revolution that means that "it is becoming more and more important for the world to have a better understanding of natural communicate through and with machines". This new reality brings challenges, among which the Pope highlights misinformation and loneliness.

Through the reflection invited by the Day of Social Communications, the Pope wants to seek a better orientation of Artificial Intelligence systems. Francis hopes "that a responsible awareness of the use and development of these new forms of communication will be formed in everyone". Only by learning to integrate artificial intelligence and algorithms in a responsible manner will "a fuller life of the human person" be achieved.

Artificial intelligence and anthropology

This is not the first time the Pope has spoken about artificial intelligence. Already in his encyclical "Laudato si'"expressed that "it is fair to rejoice in the face of these advances, and to be enthusiastic about the vast possibilities that these constant novelties" brought about by technology open up for us. However, he also warned that "humanity has never had so much power over itself and there is no guarantee that it will use it well, especially considering the way it is doing it.

Francis acknowledged in 2015 the multitude of advantages offered by technology, whether through Artificial Intelligence, medical advances or the modernization of industry. But he expressed concern about the impact of this on people's lives. "People no longer seem to believe in a happy future, they do not blindly trust in a better tomorrow based on current world conditions and technical capabilities. They are aware that the progress of science and technology is not the same as the progress of humanity and history, and they envision that there are other fundamental paths to a happy future. However, neither does he imagine himself renouncing the possibilities offered by technology".

The Holy Father, aware of the great weight of Artificial Intelligence and all that surrounds it, wants the Church to help integrate the great advances with a vision of man that cannot be reduced to the material plane of the "technocratic paradigm".

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500 years of the Gospel in the Philippines

St. Lorenzo Ruiz, the first Blessed of the Philippines

St. Lorenzo Ruiz was born around 1600 and died a martyr on September 29, 1637, in Nagasaki. St. John Paul II beatified him in 1981, making him the first native of the Philippines to be beatified. He was subsequently canonized.

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San Lorenzo Ruiz was born in Binondo, a district of Manila (Philippines), to a Chinese father and a Tagalog mother, both Catholics, around 1600.

He studied as a child in a Dominican school, and was later notary of a convent of the same congregation. He married and had three children. In 1636, he embarked on an expedition to Japan and other parts of Asia with some Dominican missionaries. All of them were imprisoned when they arrived on the island of Okinawa, since in 1633 an edict had been promulgated ordering that all Christians be persecuted. This was not the first persecution of Christians in Japan; the same thing had happened in 1617 and 1632.

In 1637, St. Lawrence and his companions were tried in Nagasaki and demanded to apostatize in exchange for their lives. They were tortured and some Dominicans renounced the faith, while Lawrence and other companions remained steadfast. Finally, he was hanged on September 29, 1637.

His beatification is quite recent: Pope St. John Paul II beatified him in the Philippines in 1981, together with other missionary martyrs in Japan, and in 1987 he was canonized by the same Pope in the Vatican.

Although he died on September 29, his feast day is celebrated on the 28th.

The beatification

Among St. Lawrence's fellow martyrs were nine Japanese, four Spaniards, one Frenchman and one Italian. "These witnesses (...) had also sung psalms to the Lord of mercy and power, both while they were in prison and during their execution by hanging and the pit, which lasted three days," said St. John Paul II in the homily for the beatification of saint Lawrence and companions in Manila in 1981.

He also noted that Lorenzo Ruiz, "guided by the Holy Spirit to his unexpected goal after a fortunate journey, told the tribunal that he was a Christian, that he had to die for God and that he would give his life for Him a thousand times over". The Pontiff also quoted the textual words of St. Lawrence: "Even if this body had a thousand lives, I would let them all be taken from me if you force me to turn my back on Christ.

"It was at this moment that this young father of a family professed and brought to fullness the Christian catechesis he had received in the school of the Dominican friars of Binondo (...). This is the Christian essence of the first Blessed of the Philippine nation," the Pope continued. "Just as the young Church in Jerusalem produced its first martyr for Christ in the person of Deacon Stephen, so too the young Church in Manila, founded in 1579, produced its first martyr in the person of Lorenzo Ruiz, who had served in the parish church of St. Gabriel in Binondo. (...) The example of Lorenzo Ruiz, son of a Chinese father and a Tagalog mother, reminds us that everyone's life and one's whole life must be at Christ's disposal."

The martyred companions of St. Lawrence

St. John Paul II also wanted to remember the other martyrs who were being beatified that day: "The attractive figure of the first Filipino martyr would not be fully illustrated in its historical context without commending the witness given by his fifteen companions..."., who suffered martyrdom in 1633, 1634 and 1637. They form the group led by two men: Domingo Ibáñez de Erquicia, vicar provincial of the Japanese mission and native of Régil, in the Spanish diocese of San Sebastián; and Jacobo Kyu-hei Tomonaga, native of Kyudetsu, in the diocese of Nagasaki.

Both belonged to the Dominican Province of the Holy Rosary in the Philippines, founded in 1587 for the evangelization of the Far East. Lorenzo's group of companions consisted of nine priests, two professed brothers, two members of the Third Order, a catechist and a guide-interpreter. Nine were Japanese, four were Spanish, one French and one Italian (...) 'We have come to Japan only to preach faith in God and to teach salvation to the little ones and the innocent and the rest of the people'. This is how the martyr William Courtet summed up his mission before the judges in Nagasaki".

The Pope also noted the importance of Mary for these saints: "I entrust all this to Mary, who, with her rosary, helped our martyrs to imitate and proclaim her Son; to be fearless guardians of his word, like the courageous women Magdalene of Nagasaki and Marina of Omura. I entrust the destiny of the Philippines and all Asia to Mary, Queen of the Rosary, who under the title of 'La Naval' is venerated as the protector of the freedom of the Catholic faith."

Remembrance of the Spanish martyrs

In addition to greeting the representatives of France, Italy and Japan who attended the beatification, St. John Paul II also addressed a few words in Spanish to those present: "In this ceremony of the beatification of the first Filipino martyr and of the other fifteen brothers who gave their lives for the faith in Christ, I want to remember in their own language the four Spanish martyrs Domingo Ibáñez de Erquicia, Lucas Alonso, Antonio González and Miguel de Aozaraza.

It is a tribute that I gladly pay first of all to them, who, following in the footsteps of St. Francis Xavier and the teaching of their founder, St. Dominic of Guzman, spread the Christian faith in these lands and gave the supreme witness of fidelity to the Church.

At the same time, it is a fitting tribute of grateful remembrance to Spain, which for three and a half centuries carried out the evangelization of the Philippines, making it the only nation in the East with a large Catholic majority. I am happy to be able to proclaim this in the presence of the Extraordinary Spanish Mission that has come to attend the beatification and to whom, together with the other compatriots of the newly beatified gathered here, I address my cordial greetings and my pleased thoughts".

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Laudate Deum. The good use of nature against environmental and human degradation.

Laudate Deumwhich will be published on the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi, October 4, aims to integrate the themes of Laudato sipublished in 2015.

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The title of Pope Francis' next Apostolic Exhortation will be. Laudate Deum. This was announced by the Pontiff himself last Thursday, September 21 (the news was not made public until Monday by Vatican News), during a meeting with some rectors of Latin American universities. Among the topics discussed were migration, climate change and exclusion.

The Pope urged university leaders to be creative in the formation of young people based on current realities and challenges. The rectors asked the Pope questions on environmental and climate issues to which he responded by pointing out the deplorable "throw-away culture or culture of abandonment".

He explained that this is "a culture of misuse of natural resources, which does not accompany nature to its full development and does not allow it to live". This culture of neglect," he said, "harms us all.

Laudate Deumwhich will be published on the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi, October 4, aims to integrate the themes of Laudato si, published in 2015. On the same day as the solemn opening of the 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops and the conclusion of the Feast of Creation (also known as the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation).

The feast of St. Francis of Assisi was also the date of publication of the encyclical Fratelli Tutti.

The reflection on the culture of waste, which will find a broader and more specific treatment in the pages of the document announced, starts from what the Holy Father denounces as "a lack of education to use the things that remain, to remake them, to replace them in the order of the common use of things".

Integrating the discarded

Encouraging a "good use of nature," which includes practical actions that can help the environment, Francis pointed out how environmental degradation can lead to another kind of "degradation," namely in the way we treat others, especially those already living with fewer resources.

The Pontiff's words were harsh: "The discarded, the marginalized, are men and women, entire peoples that we leave on the street like garbage, are they not? We must be aware that we use the wealth of nature only for small groups through socio-economic theories that do not integrate nature, the discarded'.

In the background, then, is the call to human ecology, a formulation used for the first time by the Pope Benedict XVI, with reverberations on the defense of life and human dignity.

And the call to maintain "humanistic values" and the promotion of "fraternal dialogue". Without forgetting the noblest vocation of the human person, politics. "In the broadest sense of the term (...) Having political openness and knowing how to dialogue with maturity with political groups, politics is not a disease, in my opinion it is the noblest vocation of a society, because it is the one that carries forward the processes of development".

In this regard, the Pope urged universities to create awareness networks. To one of the participants he said: "And at this point you use a very beautiful word, which is to organize hope".

"Recover and organize hope," Francis said, "I like this phrase that you said to me and one cannot help but consider it in the context of integral ecology, in this dimension according to which the young people of today have the right to a balanced cosmos and have the right to hope, and we must help them to organize this hope, to make very serious decisions starting from this moment."

After stressing the importance of a "regenerative culture" as opposed to the "culture of dispossession," the poisoned fruit "of an economic crisis that is not always at the service of the development of those most in need," Francis advocated alternatives that help overcome the environmental crisis and gave as an example the use of solar panels to supply electricity to the Paul VI Hall and other areas of the Vatican. "We have to be very creative in these things to protect nature" because obviously electricity is made from coal or other elements, which always create problems in nature itself and "the young people we train must become leaders on this point, convinced."

The authorAntonino Piccione

Laudato si

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St. Wenceslaus, Prince Martyr

St. Wenceslas, a Bohemian prince and martyr who lived in the 10th century and is currently the patron saint of the Czech Republic, is celebrated on September 28.

Loreto Rios-September 28, 2023-Reading time: 3 minutes

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Saint Wenceslaus (born around 907 and died in 929), martyr, whose feast day is celebrated on September 28, was prince of Bohemia.

His mother, Princess Drahomira, was a pagan, so Wenceslaus' grandmother, St. Ludmila, asked to take care of the child in order to educate him in Catholicism.

His teachings seemed to bear fruit and the boy progressed in his studies at the college of Budecz, but when he was only thirteen years old, his father died, and, although Wenceslaus inherited the throne, his mother became regent. Therefore, St. Ludmila had to return the child to his mother and was subsequently murdered on her orders.

Drahomira did not stop at this murder, but began a great persecution against Christians, prohibiting public worship, destroying churches and murdering numerous Catholics.

When Wenceslaus came of age and acceded to the throne, he restored peace and brought back the exiled priests. His reign was marked by generosity and service to God. Among other things, no death penalty was carried out in his time, and he also bought pagan slaves, baptized them and then granted them freedom.

However, despite having brought order and peace back to the kingdom, his younger brother, Boleslaus, supported by other nobles, assassinated Wenceslaus at a church door on September 28, 929.

Because of the miracles performed at his tomb, Boleslaus, apparently repentant, moved his brother's body to the church of St. Vitus in Prague, which became a place of pilgrimage. He is the patron saint of the Czech Republic.

Benedict XVI on Wenceslas

During his apostolic journey in September 2009 to the Czech Republic, Pope Benedict XVI referred to St. Wenceslas during the homily of the Mass of the saint's feast dayWe are gathered around the altar this morning by the glorious memory of the martyr St. Wenceslas, whose relic I was able to venerate before Holy Mass in the basilica dedicated to him (...). This great saint, whom you are pleased to call the 'eternal' prince of the Czechs, invites us to follow Christ always and faithfully, he invites us to be saints. He himself is a model of holiness for all, especially for those who guide the destiny of communities and peoples".

Benedict XVI also commented that St. Wenceslas "had the courage to put the kingdom of heaven before the fascination of earthly power (...) As a docile disciple of the Lord, the young sovereign Wenceslas remained faithful to the evangelical teachings imparted to him by his saintly grandmother, the martyr Ludmila. Following them, even before committing himself to the construction of a peaceful coexistence within the homeland and with neighboring countries, he strove to spread the Christian faith, calling priests and building churches.

In the first Paleo-Slavic 'narrative' we read that 'he helped the ministers of God and also beautified many churches' and that 'he benefited the poor, clothed the naked, fed the hungry, welcomed pilgrims, just as the Gospel wants. He did not tolerate injustice to widows, he loved all men, whether rich or poor'. He learned from the Lord to be 'merciful and pious' and, animated by the spirit of the Gospel, he even forgave his brother, who had made an attempt on his life.

Therefore, you rightly invoke him as the 'heir' of your nation and, in a song that is well known to you, you ask him not to let it perish. Wenceslaus died a martyr for Christ. It is interesting to note that his brother Boleslaus, by killing him, succeeded in seizing the throne of Prague, but the crown which his successors then imposed on his head did not bear his name. Instead, it bears the name of Wenceslas (...). This fact is considered as a wonderful intervention of God, who never abandons his faithful (...), and the blood of the martyr did not call for hatred and revenge, but for forgiveness and peace".

The chant to which the Pope referred is the Svatý Václave ("St. Wenceslas"), a very old Czech poem, the first surviving text in which this language is used for poetic purposes. It is documented from the 13th century, although it is probably earlier. There are also carols that speak about the saint, such as Good King Wenceslauswhich narrates the king's generosity to the poor and his faith.

Pope Francis remembers the saint

The Holy Father Francis also referred to St. Wenceslaus recently, in the general audience of wednesday, september 27, 2023I cordially greet the pilgrims from the Czech Republic who have come to Rome on the occasion of the Feast of St. Wenceslas; in particular, I greet the Ondášek Children's Choir. May the example of the principal patron of the Czech nation, who was a great witness to the faith, help you to cherish your spiritual heritage and to pass it on to your children. I bless you and your families, may Jesus Christ be praised!".

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What is the archbishopric? An archbishop explains

In this interview, Archbishop Mitchell T. Rozanski talks about his role in the Church hierarchy, the pastoral challenges he faces and his vision for the Synod on Synodality that the Catholic Church is currently experiencing.

Paloma López Campos-September 28, 2023-Reading time: 5 minutes

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Archbishop Mitchell Thomas Rozanski is, since 2020, the Archbishop of St. Louis (Missouri, United States). The archdiocese he heads has almost 500,000 Catholics in a population of more than two million people.

To care for all these people, the archdiocese has 296 priests diocesan priests and 247 religious priests. At the same time, almost a thousand religious sisters live in the territory. Many of these consecrated persons are involved in education or help in the activities of the 178 parishes.

Monsignor Rozanski ensures on a daily basis that all these people "have the means they need to continue these ministries". In addition, he frequently visits the churches of the archdiocese to be close to the faithful.

To explain his work and make known the "vibrant Church" in Missouri, the archbishop talks in this interview about his role in the Church hierarchy, the pastoral challenges he faces and his vision of the Synod on Synodality that the Catholic Church is currently experiencing.

How would you explain what your day to day is like as an archbishop?

– Well, it’s never boring. It’s day is certainly different. As an archbishop I do spend a lot of time in meetings and in administration. But my best moments as an archbishop are when I can be out with our people at parish celebrations. That’s where I really get energized.

When I was a parish priest I loved it, I loved working in a parish. But the thing about being an archbishop is that it gives me a wider vision of the Church and challenges me more in my priesthood.

How would you describe your position within the church hierarchy?

- In the ordained ministry there are three different orders: bishop, priest and diaconate. Within the office of bishop we certainly have our Holy Father, Pope Francis, and then we have the cardinals. And then the archbishops and bishops. They are all part of the episcopate. The pope is elected by the cardinals, the cardinals are called to advise the pope, the archbishops are the ones who oversee the archdioceses, and the bishop is the one who runs each individual diocese.

Do you think there are misconceptions about the figure of the archbishop?

– Yes, people think that I have more power than I do. As the archbishop, I have to live not by “fiat” or by decree, but I have to live by gathering the people of God. Some people say that all I have to do is say it to be done, but it doesn't work that way.

It is a position for great responsibility within the Church, but it is a ministry of the Church. I think that any power that I exercise has to be exercised with humility and in the light of the Gospel.

What is the most important task you perform in relation to the laity of the archdiocese?

- I think the most important task I can do as archbishop is to proclaim the faith. There is a weekly column in our archdiocesan newspaper in which I talk about faith and different aspects of it. I believe that being a proclaimer of the Word and a witness to the Gospel is very important.

There are many priests and consecrated people in the archdiocese. What are your responsibilities towards them?

- As archbishop, I am called to set the pastoral tone for ministry in the archdiocese. We have many different communities in the archdiocese, so my role is to maintain a good relationship with those religious communities, meet with them from time to time and see how we can collaborate in ministry here in the archdiocese.

Many of our religious communities are involved in education. Some are involved in ministries directly to the poor. So my goal is to encourage them to see that they have the means that they need to continue the ministries.

The Church is going through a moment of tension today and it seems to be getting worse as the Synod approaches. What would you say to the people so that they can be calm in this process and feel close to the Holy Father?

– The first thing I would say is that many do not have a sense of History. So, whenever the Church has had a major council, like we had sixty years ago in Vatican II, it really takes about a hundred years for that council to take its full effect. And I believe that Pope Francis sees his role at this point in History to help Vatican II to take its full effect in our Church. Hence, we have the Synod on Synodality.

I think that what the Holy Father has said in so many different ways is that we are not changing doctrine, we are not changing the basic teachings of the Church, but in a world where things change so quickly, we do need a different approach in how we present the Gospel.

The main things, as I see, that I can sum up in the Synod on Synodality is: the Church’s ability to listen, to encounter and to accompany. And that’s what Jesus calls of all of His disciples. I’m very hopeful and I’m very positive about this Synod.

Pope Francis greets the then Bishop of Springfield, Monsignor Mitchell T. Rozanski (CNS photo / Vatican Media)

What are the pastoral priorities of the Archdiocese of St. Louis?

- We have just gone through two years of discernment to see what we need in terms of our infrastructure, in terms of our support from the Curia and reaching out to the parishes. The driver for all of this has been evangelization. So I would say our priorities are reaching out to parishes and evangelizing. In short, I see the priorities of the Synod of Synodality as the priorities of the Archdiocese of St. Louis.

Also, we have had some creative ideas. We created a new parish for Hispanics and Latino ministry. We saw the need in a certain area of the archdiocese and put our resources there. We also sent one of our young priests to campus ministry in another diocese, to a college campus where many St. Louis natives are students.

We tend to forget about the elderly in our dioceses. How do you help them encounter God in the Archdiocese of St. Louis?

– I think we provide many opportunities for service for our elderly folks,whether it be within parishes ministries or just in prayer ministries, which is just as important. If they cannot get out of their homes, there’s always intentions they can pray for. So, keeping them connected to the Church is important, and making sure that they can perhaps be driven to church.

I think that the elderly, as Pope Francis has said many times, bring to us endless wisdom. We cannot forget our elderly.

What would you like people to know about the Archdiocese of St. Louis and its members?

– Well, we are in the midwest, which is different from other parts of the country. I find here a great hospitality and a deep sense of faith. When I celebrate Mass at different parishes I see young families in the Church, and that’s so encouraging. I see a Church that is vibrant, that realizes that we do have a mission to reach out and to evangelize, and a Church that is ready to take on those challenges.

As archbishop, what would you like to say to our readers, who might even be people from the Archdiocese of St. Louis?

- I've been in St. Louis for three years as archbishop and I feel very welcomed and grateful for the opportunities to visit so many parishes, organizations, Catholic charities... And I see the great work that the Church is doing in the archdiocese. So I would tell them to keep up the good work and ministry, and keep proclaiming the Gospel.

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From words to deeds. 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time (A)

Joseph Evans comments on the readings for the 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time and Luis Herrera offers a short video homily.

Joseph Evans-September 28, 2023-Reading time: 2 minutes

For a ship or plane to reach its destination, it has to be constantly checking that it is following the correct route and making the necessary corrections. And if while driving we realize that we have taken a wrong turn, common sense tells us to turn around and get back on the right road. The same is true in the spiritual life and this is what today's readings tell us about.

How willing are we to change, to correct our course, to admit that we were wrong? Jesus poses these questions through the graphic parable of two sons whom their father sends away to work. The first expressed his willingness to go, but did not. Perhaps he intended to go, but got distracted. And then, once he made the wrong decision, he was unable to change and do the right thing. But the other, though he was wrong to refuse his father's request at first, recognized his mistake and actually set out for the vineyard to begin work.

The first son, despite his apparent good will, continued down the path of disobedience. The second son was wise enough to turn around and ended up in the right place. Next, Jesus applies the parable to the chief priests and elders, as well as to the tax collectors and prostitutes. The latter, although they were going in the wrong direction by their sinful actions, had the good sense to change direction, to convert, thanks to the preaching of the righteous John the Baptist.

The priests and elders, although in principle they lived a "yes" to God, as a result of their state of life, in reality they did not respond to God's call through John. Their apparent yes turned into a true no.

The willingness to rectify is essential to the Christian life. We should never think that our position prevents us from admitting that we are wrong. This can happen, for example, with people in authority, even with parents. They think that their very authority prevents them from admitting their error, as if they would look bad by doing so. But in this way they only aggravate their mistake and go further and further down the wrong path.

We must all live in a state of repentance and that means rectifying many times a day. Asking for forgiveness is profoundly Christian. It is good to make numerous acts of contrition every day and to ask forgiveness also of others, whenever we need it, also of those under our authority. It is never too late to recognize that we have made a mistake, nor to turn back if we are on the wrong track.

God will always give us the grace we need to do so. And, of course, the best means to change from the wrong path to the right one is the Sacrament of Confession. There it is not only the prophet John who calls us to admit our sins, it is Jesus Christ himself who gives us the grace we need to confess them and free ourselves from them and start living in a new way, the right way.

Homily on the readings of Sunday 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time (A)

The priest Luis Herrera Campo offers its nanomiliaA short one-minute reflection for these Sunday readings.

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Pope travels to Marseille to support inclusion of migrants

Pope sings to the Mediterranean as "cradle of civilization, life and peace".

During the General Audience on Wednesday, the Holy Father made a plea for the Mediterranean to recover its vocation as "cradle of civilization, of life and of peace". He also recalled that the Gospel of Jesus Christ departed from its eastern shore, and called Europe to hope, even in the face of the "demographic winter".

Francisco Otamendi-September 27, 2023-Reading time: 4 minutes

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After his return from the "Mediterranean Meetings" in Marseille (France), and the brief summary he gave in the Angelus Sunday, the Pope has launched in the General Audience several important messages today at St. Peter's. First of all, "the dream and the shared challenge" that "the Mediterranean regain its vocation as a cradle of civilization, life and peace".

"We cannot allow the Mediterranean to become a tomb, or to facilitate war and human trafficking," the Pope exhorted. "Two thousand years ago, from its eastern shore departed the Gospel of Jesus Christ, to announce to all peoples that we are children of the one Father who is in heaven, and that we are called to live as brothers and sisters; that God's love is greater than our selfishness, and that with the help of his mercy, a just and peaceful human coexistence is possible."

"Naturally, this does not happen by magic and is not achieved once and for all. It is the fruit of a journey on which every generation is called to travel a stretch, reading the signs of the times in which it lives," Francis added. "We have been touched by this historical period, in which forced migrations have become a sign of the times, indeed, the sign that calls us all to make a fundamental choice: the choice between indifference and fraternity."

The Pope said in his catechesis that "we need a look at the Mediterranean that will help us to instill hope in our society, especially in the new generations. The Marseilles event has presented us with a human and hopeful outlook, capable of referring everything to the primary value of the human person and his or her inviolable dignity. And a look of hope that encourages us to build fraternal relationships and social friendship.

"A more humane world"

In this regard, Francis quoted St. Paul VI in his encyclical Populorum Progressiowhen he encouraged the promotion of "a more humane world for all, where all have to give and receive, without the progress of some being an obstacle to the development of others" (n. 44).

In addition, the Pope referred to the need to "work so that people, in full dignity, can choose to emigrate or not to emigrate," as reported by Omnes. "It is the theme of the Migrants and Refugees Day we have just celebrated. First of all, we must all commit ourselves so that everyone can live in peace, security and prosperity in their own country of origin. This requires personal conversion, social solidarity and concrete commitments on the part of governments at the local and international levels".

And "secondly," the Roman Pontiff pointed out, so that those who cannot remain in their homeland, "may be assured safety during their journey and be welcomed and integrated wherever they arrive."

"European "demographic winter

At the end of his address, Francis referred to Europe. "It is necessary to give hope again to our European societies, especially to the new generations. In fact, how can we welcome others if we do not first have a horizon open to the future? Young people who are poor in hope, closed in their private lives, preoccupied with managing their precariousness, how can they be open to meeting and sharing?" he asked.

The Holy Father alluded to "our societies, sick with individualism, consumerism and empty escapism," which need to open up, oxygenate the soul and spirit, and then they will be able to read the crisis as an opportunity and face it in a positive way".

"Let us think, for example, of the demographic winter that affects some European societies," Francis added. "This will not be overcome by a "transfer" of immigrants, but when our children will once again find hope in the future and will be able to see it reflected in the faces of their brothers and sisters who have come from far away."

Europe needs "passion and enthusiasm"

This was his message, and his thanks: "Europe needs to find passion and enthusiasm again, and in Marseille I can say that I have found them: in their pastor, Cardinal Aveline, in the priests and consecrated men and women, in the lay faithful committed to charity, in education, in the people of God who showed great warmth at the Mass in the Velodrome Stadium".

The Pope thanked all of them and the President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, "who with his presence has witnessed the attention of the whole of France to the event in Marseille.

May the Virgin, whom the people of Marseille venerate as Notre Dame de la Garde, accompany the path of the Mediterranean peoplesThe Holy Father, who also went to St. Mary as the Consolation of migrants, concluded by saying: "The Holy Father has always called this region to be a mosaic of civilization and hope".

St. Wenceslaus, "great witness to the faith".

This morning there was a novelty in the Audience, as Czech was added to the usual languages, due to the large number of pilgrims from this country.

The Pope greeted them with these words: "I cordially greet the pilgrims from the Czech Republic, who have come to Rome on the occasion of the Feast of St. Wenceslas; in particular I greet the Ondášek children's choir. May the example of the principal patron of the Czech nation, who was a great witness to the faith, help you to cherish your spiritual heritage and to pass it on to your children. I bless you and your families, may Jesus Christ be praised!".

The authorFrancisco Otamendi

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Amy Sinclair: "History will judge us for the barbarity of abortion".

Respect Life Month: Living radical solidarity

The chairman of the USCCB's Pro-Life Activities Committee, released a statement on Respect Life Month. In it he calls for "radical solidarity" with mothers and babies in need.

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On September 18, 2023, Bishop Michael B. Burbidge of Arlington, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' (USCCB) Committee on Pro-Life Activities, released a statement on Respect Life Month: "Living Radical Solidarity." In it, he invites all Catholics to commemorate the 50th anniversary of "Respect Life Month," and calls for "radical solidarity" with mothers and babies in need.

In 1973, the Supreme Court legalized abortion nationwide in Roe v. Wade, and since then, the month of October has been set aside by the U.S. bishops as "a time to focus on protecting God's precious gift of human life." Bishop Burbidge reminded the faithful that while Roe v. Wade has ended, Catholics are all too aware that abortion continues in most states and "is aggressively promoted at the federal level." But we still desperately need "…many prayers, sacrifices, and good works to transform a culture of death into a culture of life." He encouraged us to continue advocating and marching but said that more is needed as "laws alone" will not end the horrors of abortion.

Ending legalized abortion is paramount and a top priority; however, the most immediate thing we Catholics can do is "thoroughly surround mothers in need with lifegiving support and personal accompaniment," wrote Bishop Burbidge. This companionship and help can save babies and their mothers from abortions.

In the document, he cites St. John Paul II and how Our Holy Father first defined "radical solidarity": "In firmly rejecting 'pro-choice' it is necessary to become courageously 'pro-woman,' promoting a choice that is truly in favor of women… The only honest stance, in these cases, is that of radical solidarity with the woman. It is not right to leave her alone."

Pope Francis, too, reminds us that solidarity is not "a few sporadic acts of generosity. It presumes the creation of a new mindset." We must put the needs of vulnerable mothers and unborn babies before ours, and this is what it means to be "in radical solidarity" with women who are pregnant or raising children with little or no resources. And we must transform our own hearts and put love into action. The Holy Father said this new mindset means "addressing the fundamental challenges that lead an expectant mother to believe she is unable to welcome the child God has entrusted to her."

The statement also suggests that we align together within our local communities, dioceses, parishes, and schools in mutual efforts to pursue policies that correspond to the emotional, spiritual, and other needs of these women and children. In addition, Bishop Burbidge encourages Catholics to move beyond the "status quo and out of our comfort zones." We know we are always better together than alone.

How to help?

"Walking with Moms in Need", for example, is a nationwide and parish-based initiative, and it is an excellent way to help "transform parishes into places of welcome, support, and assistance for pregnant and parenting mothers facing difficulties." And the rewards are heavenly!

While many have felt the 'call' to serve their local communities, they are overwhelmed with demanding jobs, family responsibilities, and the challenges of getting started. Fortunately, Almighty God always makes a way for his disciples to execute his plan.

After attending an informational session at her church, Melissa, a mother of three young children and a job, felt "the Lord's call" when she volunteered to be the ministry's coordinator of Walking With Moms. Her parish now hosts "Hands Up Days" once a month, which allows families in need to "shop for free" for necessities that parishioners donate.

Melissa is an inspiration to anyone seeking to help. She said, "I think for too long we have been comfortable leaving the work of accompanying women in crisis situations – pregnant or parenting – to others in the nonprofit and government sectors. It is very clear in the Gospel that this is our job — all of us!"

Awareness and prayer

There are a ton of resources and information on ways to get involved. On the USCCB's Pro-Life Life Activities website, you can choose how you'd like to help. Two of the four pillars that they mention are awareness and prayer. We know that when we knock, He opens doors, so sign up for the "9 Days for Life Novena. "It is an annual prayer for the protection of human life. Each day's intention is coupled with a brief reflection, advice, and recommended action to "help build a culture of life."

There is a litany of challenges for pregnant women, but many contemplating abortion have financial issues that can feel insurmountable and too often impact their decisions. But "God has given each of us particular gifts, and with those gifts, He entrusts us with a role and duty within the Body of Christ... If we can lighten the burden just a little, what a difference we can make — it is literally life or death," wrote Bishop Burbidge.

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13 new cardinals for the Church

21 new cardinals for the universal Church

With the 9th consistory of Pope Francis, to be held on September 30 in the atrium of St. Peter's Basilica, the number of cardinals will rise to 241, of whom 137 will be electors in a future conclave.

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Only a few days left until the ninth consistory of Pope Francis for the creation of new cardinals, set for September 30, just a few days before the beginning of the first session of the Synod of Bishops on synodality.

With the new creations, the number of cardinal electors - who will have the right to vote in an eventual conclave because they are not yet 80 years old - will be 137, while the non-electors (over 80 years of age) will rise to 105, for a total of 241 cardinals. By the end of 2023, however, five cardinals will be 80 years old.

The new birettas will be given to 21 new collaborators of the Pontiff, from various backgrounds - mainly suburban territories - to represent "the universality of the Church, which continues to proclaim God's merciful love to all people on earth," Pope Francis explained in the announcement made in early July.

On September 30, therefore, will receive the cardinal dignity the prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, the American Robert Francis Prevost, who was in mission lands in Hispanic America; the prefect of the Dicastery for the Oriental Churches, the Italian Claudio Gugerotti, former nuncio in Ukraine from 2015 to 2020 and previously in other countries of Eastern Christian tradition; the new prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Argentinian Víctor Manuel Fernández, a renowned theologian very close to the Holy Father, who within the Argentine Episcopal Conference has served as president of the Faith and Culture Commission.

Francis has also decided to grant the purple to the Swiss apostolic nuncio Emil Paul Tscherrig, with experience in several African countries, but also in South Korea and Mongolia, before moving on to the Nordic countries, Argentina and finally Italy; to the French nuncio Christophe Louis Georges Pierre, who had his first assignment in 1977 in Wellington, New Zealand, and then in Mozambique, Cuba, Haiti, Uganda and the United States, among other countries.

Also receiving the red biretta will be the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Pierbattista Pizzaballa, an Italian from Bergamo, who joined the Custody of the Holy Land in 1999, also serving as Vicar General of the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem for the pastoral care of Hebrew-speaking Catholics in Israel; the Archbishop of Cape Town (Kaapstad), Stephen Brislin, born in Welkom in South Africa in 1956 and until 2019 president of the South African Catholic Bishops' Conference; the Archbishop of Cordoba in Argentina, Angel Sixto Rossi, a Jesuit, expert in spiritual discernment of St. Ignatius and preacher of numerous Ignatian spiritual exercises to groups of priests, religious and lay people.

Other archbishops to be created cardinals are that of Bogota, Luis José Rueda Aparicio, originally from San Gil (Santander), elected in 2021 president of the Colombian Episcopal Conference until 2024; that of Łódź, Grzegorz Ryś, born in Krakow, who in 2019 introduced the permanent diaconate in his archdiocese and created the Diocesan Missionary Seminary of the Neocatechumenal Way; that of Juba, Stephem Ameyu Mulla, born in Sudan in 1964 and doctorate from the Pontifical Urbaniana University with a thesis on religious dialogue and reconciliation in Sudan; the first years he was also rector of the seminary of the capital.

Cardinal dignity also for the current archbishop of Madrid, the Andalusian José Cobo Cano, always at the pastoral service of the capital of Spain, auxiliary bishop since 2017 and previously responsible for the Secretariat for Migration and Social Pastoral and Human Promotion; for the coadjutor archbishop of Tabora, in Tanzania, Protase Rugambwa, who in recent years was first assistant secretary and then secretary of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples and president of the Pontifical Mission Societies. And for the Bishops of Penang (Mali), Sebastian Francis; of Hong Kong, Stephen Chow Sau-yan, S. J.; of Ajaccio, Bishop François-Xavier Bustillo; the Auxiliary Bishop of Lisbon, Américo Manuel Alves Aguiar and the Rector Major of the Salesians, Father Ángel Fernández Artime.

Pope Francis has also decided to add to the College of Cardinals two archbishops and one religious who have distinguished themselves for their service to the Church: Apostolic Nuncio Agostino Marchetto, described by the Pontiff as "the greatest hermeneutic of the Second Vatican Council"; Archbishop Emeritus of Cumaná, Venezuela, Diego Rafael Padrón Sánchez; and the confessor of the Shrine of Our Lady of Pompeii in Buenos Aires, Luis Pascual Dri, OFM Cap.

The new cardinals will be present with the Holy Father at the opening Mass of the Synod of Bishops on October 4 at 9:00 a.m. in St. Peter's Square. The ceremony will be followed immediately by courtesy visits, with individual greetings to the faithful.

The authorGiovanni Tridente

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Giorgio Napolitano. His relationship with Benedict XVI and Francis

Although he was not a believer, Giorgio Napolitano always respected the pontiffs of the Catholic Church. He maintained a cordial relationship with Benedict XVI and Francis.

Antonino Piccione-September 27, 2023-Reading time: 4 minutes

The state funeral of Giorgio Napolitano was held in a secular ceremony; he will be laid to rest in the non-Catholic cemetery in Rome. However, Giorgio Napolitano's relationship with the Popes and the faith deserves to be explored in the light of his intense and rich personal, cultural, political and institutional parable. From which stands out the effigy of a respectful layman and a sharp and credible interlocutor with the Church, fleeing from ideological sectarianism and anticlerical positions.

"The wise will shine like the splendor of the firmament; those who have led many to righteousness will shine like the stars forever." This is the phrase taken from the biblical book of Daniel (chapter 12, verse 3), which Card. Gianfranco Ravasi, dedicated to the President Emeritus of the Italian Republic during the State funeral ceremony in the Chamber of Deputies. Ravasi explained that he wanted to place an ideal "flower" on Napolitano's tomb and that this flower was the phrase taken from Daniel.

"I remember with gratitude the personal meetings I had with him, during which I appreciated his humanity and clairvoyance in making important decisions with rectitude." Upon learning the news of Giorgio Napolitano's death, Pope Francis had remembered him with these words written in a telegram sent to his wife.

During his two consecutive terms as President of the Italian Republic - from May 15, 2006 to January 14, 2015 - Napolitano met several times with Benedict XVI and Francis, establishing with the two Pontiffs significant relations of reciprocal esteem and respect. He never failed to convey to both the gratitude and affection of the Italian people for their service.

His relationship with Benedict XVI

As reconstructed in recent days by L'Osservatore Romano, relations between Pope Ratzinger and Napolitano began in 2006, when the Pontiff sent a message of good wishes to the newly elected Head of State. Then came the President's official visit to the Vatican on November 20 of the same year. Then, at the Angelus in January 2007, Benedict XVI reciprocated the expressions of good wishes that the President had addressed to him the day before in his New Year's message.

On January 17, 2008, after Pope Ratzinger was prevented from visiting La Sapienza University in Rome, Napolitano wrote a letter to the Pontiff in which he regretted what had happened and described the "manifestations of intolerance" as inadmissible.

On October 4 of that year, the feast of St. Francis of Assisi, the Pope reciprocated his visit to the Vatican two years earlier by visiting the Quirinal.

He gave a series of concerts in honor of Benedict XVI on the occasion of the anniversary of his pontificate. Also significant were the messages he sent to the German Pontiff on the occasion of the World Day of Peace.

And it was also with an article in "L'Osservatore Romano" that Napolitano renewed his commitment to Benedict XVIFebruary 28, 2013, "the grateful and affectionate greetings of the Italians", thanking him for his service in the Pontificate.

The bond between the two was described in full by the president himself in an interview granted to our newspaper on July 13, 2012. "One of the most beautiful components that characterized my experience was precisely the relationship with Benedict XVI," Napolitano said in the interview.

In this sense, he pointed out that he had discovered with Pope Ratzinger "a great affinity, we experience a feeling of great and mutual respect. But there is something more, something that has touched our human chords. And for this I am very grateful to him".

Napolitano and Pope Francis

An important relationship was also immediately established with Pope Francis, punctuated by meetings and messages of mutual esteem and support. Above all, the gesture of Sunday, September 24, when the Pope visited the burial chamber of the President Emeritus installed in the Nassiriya Hall of the Senate.

Francis wished to "express - as indicated in a note distributed to journalists - with his presence and his prayer, his personal affection for him and his family, and to honor his great service to Italy." After expressing his condolences to the widow Clio Maria Bittoni and the children of Giulio and Giovanni, the pontiff observed a few minutes of silence before the corpse.

Francis' visit concluded with the signing of the register. The Pope's homage to Giorgio Napolitano was an absolute novelty in the history of Italy. It was the first presence of a pontiff in the Senate of the Republic. On the occasion of his visit to the Quirinal, Pope Francis reminded him of the nature of the mission they share: "to govern complex realities in a continuous attempt to unite".

On October 5, 2012 (Assisi, dialogue between believers and non-believers), Napolitano reflected on his spiritual life and his personal way of arguing faith, making his own Bobbio's words in De Senectute: "When I say that I do not believe in the second life [...] I do not intend to affirm anything peremptory. I only mean to say that the reasons of doubt have always seemed to me more convincing than those of certainty. Personally, I had a religious upbringing, that is, I spent all my adolescence in the sacraments and rites of the Catholic religion, which was my mother's religion and the one taught at school. But I detached myself, as Bobbio said, from a practice that did not in itself guarantee the answer to the "ultimate" questions, and I immersed myself completely in another dimension of life - political, cultural, institutional - that did not involve asking those questions. The real issue is precisely that I did not feel the urgency of those questions even for a long time. Then I was stimulated by encounters and conversations with people of authentic faith. I remember, for example, the impression made on me by La Pira [...]. One can close oneself in the conviction, or in the realization, that one has not been touched by "a light of grace", and close the discourse. On the other hand, the discourse should not end there".

The authorAntonino Piccione

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Indigenous peoples and the doctrine of the Church

Pastoral work with the indigenous peoples is progressing

At the end of September, representatives of indigenous Catholic organizations met with members of the bishops' conferences of the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. During the days of work, topics such as Catholic identity in the indigenous environment, evangelization, education, racism and poverty were discussed.

Paloma López Campos-September 26, 2023-Reading time: 2 minutes

At the end of September, representatives of Catholic indigenous organizations met in Washington with members of the bishops' conferences of the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. As later explained by the USCCBThe meeting was an opportunity for "dialogue, learning and fraternization for those who work with indigenous communities in the Catholic Church.

The goal of these conversations was to seek engagement by the Church with Native communities. The chairman of the USCCB's Native American Affairs Subcommittee, Bishop Chad Zielinski, said in a statement about the meeting that "some of the issues we addressed dealt with history that can be difficult and painful to discuss, but we must be willing to confront these issues so that we can also bring real and honest dialogue that leads to healing, and greater awareness so that history does not repeat itself."

Throughout the days of work, topics such as Catholic identity in the indigenous setting, evangelization, education, racism and poverty were discussed. All of this is part of a larger effort by the U.S. bishops' conference to design a new pastoral framework for ministry to indigenous people. The framework will be voted on during the session. plenary of next November.

Indigenous communities in the United States

According to data provided by the USCCB, there are more than 340 parishes in the United States that serve predominantly Native American congregations. Most of the people serving these congregations are members of religious orders, although there is a higher percentage of Native Americans who are lay ministers or deacons.

Despite this, there is still much to be done in the U.S. Church to achieve effective Native American ministry. Of all the archdioceses and dioceses in the country, only 30 % of them have an office or program specifically for Native Americans. However, to put this in perspective, it is important to note that Native Americans make up approximately 3.5 % of the U.S. Catholic population, and only 20 % of Native Americans consider themselves Catholic.

Many resources and studies about Native Americans in the United States can be found on the Episcopal Conference website. These include a detailed history of the Church's mission to Native Americans, activities to do with families, and statistics that help to better understand the situation.

Indigenous peoples and the doctrine of the Church

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Youth suicide and education

ColumnistsLupita Venegas

How to help a friend who no longer wants to live

The UN has expressed concern about the increase in the number of adolescents taking their own lives. This is a public health problem that requires immediate attention.

September 26, 2023-Reading time: 2 minutes

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Adolfo is a 19-year-old young man who has just lost a friend of the same age. The cause: suicide.

Just hearing this word makes your skin crawl. It is a harsh reality that shakes the soul. Adolfo and his friends are shocked by this event for which they can find no explanation. Some of them have talked about doing something about it and getting out of the pain and confusion with concrete actions.

The UN has expressed concern about the increase in the number of adolescents taking their own lives worldwide. This is a public health problem that requires immediate attention.

It is imperative to promote mental health. Experts recommend strengthening family ties in love and care. They also discourage the consumption and use of violence and vices in general.

We should consider that there have been cases of suicide without external factors that could trigger them, but it should be known that 10 % of adolescents suffer from endogenous depression and are not given adequate care and treatment.

What can we do in the face of this reality?

Be prepared on the subject and have at hand the telephone numbers of professional help in your city or country. In the United States, you can dial 988. Deepen on the meaning and value of life.
Sowing illusion! "Illusion is not the content of happiness but its wrapping", says Julián Marías. To have illusions is to live forward looking towards the future and consequently to have goals. Illusion calls for optimism, which is a fundamental basis for mental health.
To provoke gatherings of friends with altruistic purposes, not convivial gatherings with an excess of sensations, but others that encourage the noblest in their hearts. Joy and service are two virtues that should be the protagonists of youthful environments.

Lower screen time and access screens only for specific purposes of study or positive food for the mind.

Professional help is important, but even more important is a harmonious family life. When this is not the case, the group of friends becomes a fundamental factor of self-esteem and self-worth. As friends, be more aware of each other, give each other time, conversation and affection.

Search for God. There are many who fill the longing of the human soul to encounter a good God who loves them unconditionally.

Our world lives a practical atheism that disappoints young and old. It is necessary to return to God! Let us begin to pray as a family and show the beauty of faith by our example.

Pope Francis in his apostolic exhortation "Amoris Laetitia"he instructs us:

Parents who want to accompany the faith of their children are attentive to their changes, because they know that the spiritual experience is not imposed but proposed to their freedom. It is fundamental that children see in a concrete way that prayer is really important for their parents. For this reason, moments of family prayer and expressions of popular piety can have a greater evangelizing power than all the catecheses and speeches. I would especially like to express my gratitude to all mothers who pray unceasingly, as St. Monica did, for their children who have strayed from Christ (Amoris Laetitia, 288).

The authorLupita Venegas

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Vocations

Eliana and Paolo, founders of Via PacisWe told the Lord to show himself and he didn't wait".

Eliana and Paolo are, together with Father Domenico, the founders of the Via Pacis community. Today they work as volunteers in CHARISThe reality desired by Pope Francis at the service of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal.

Leticia Sánchez de León-September 26, 2023-Reading time: 7 minutes

Eliana and Paolo married very young: he was 25 and she was 20. Believers but not very practicing, with a faith - as they themselves say - a bit naif. After 5 years of marriage, they said to God, "Lord, if you exist, show yourself!" and God showed up in a powerful way.

Both Eliana and Paolo, within a few hours of each other, had a strong experience of God from which the community was born. Via Pacis, together with a diocesan priest, Father Domenico Pincelli. On June 26, this reality received the definitive decree of the Dicastery for the Laity, the Family and Life as an International Association of the Faithful..

Eliana and Paolo were the heads of this association until four years ago, when they felt the need to leave the leadership of the association to the new generations.

How did this adventure of founding the community begin? Via Pacis?

-[Paolo]It all began 45 years ago, but at that time we did not know that it was the beginning of a community. We started praying with a priest, Father Domenico Pincelli (who died in 2003) and little by little other people joined us; we would never have thought that over the years that small reality would become a reality of pontifical right!

[Eliana]We have been married for 50 years; we were already married before founding the community. We were not very practicing people, we had a somewhat naive faith, a bit superficial. At a very significant moment in our lives, we said: "God, if you are there, show yourself". The Lord's answer was not long in coming: we experienced a personal Pentecost.

It is an experience that is difficult to explain, just as it is difficult to explain the moment when one falls in love. It is an impact, it is the power of the Spirit that invades you, that makes you fall in love with God, and you say: "Our life, Lord, is in your hands, do with us what you want". And so we begin to direct our life to the service of our brothers, of the Word and of evangelization.

It was something you could see on the outside. In fact, friends around us were asking, "What's wrong with you?" and so we were able to tell them, to testify that Jesus was alive and that we had met him. We didn't know what had happened to us. In time we realized that it had been a spontaneous outpouring of the Holy Spirit with a sweeping effect of joy, a joy that bursts out of your skin, that doesn't let you sleep, that intoxicates you and makes you hungry for God and his Word.

[Paolo]We didn't know what had happened at all. We understood it later. We had an insatiable desire to read the Bible and something strange happened to us: the Bible, the same Bible that we had tried to read before and that, at times, was obscure and incomprehensible to us and that we had tried to understand by attending theology courses, now became enlightened, now spoke with clarity. The longest journey took place in us, the journey from the mind to the heart. We began to love the Word, to make it the reference point of our life. And in cascade we began to love the Church, prayer, the sacraments, and to discover above all the sacrament of reconciliation. And it was a bit like the experience of the first Christians, with the Lord calling and "adding to the community".

[Eliana]In addition to this experience of meeting Jesus, there was another fundamental relationship in our lives: the encounter with a priest: Father Domenico Pincelli. With him we established a deep, affectionate and mutually caring relationship. He was an older priest and very different from us, but with a burning love for God and a deep desire to live and die for Him. We began to meet regularly for prayer. We did it in our house and that was our home as long as numbers permitted. Then Paul perceived from the Lord that, in order not to lose what we had lived and were living, it was necessary for us to live in community: "Either we make community or we lose what we have lived". The first to accept this strange and original call was Father Domenico himself. At that time he was 55 years old, Paolo was 33 and I was 28.

[Paolo]We started living together. Thinking about it today, we realize that we were crazy: a priest living with a married couple much younger than himself. Today we realize that imprudence is often the driving force behind so much abandonment. So we began a community life: we shared our lives, our house, our time, our gifts, our money, our dreams. It was a life together that was not always easy, as you can imagine, but fruitful, capable of provoking a continuous conversion and a desire to improve.

Little by little, we were approached by people who wanted to live according to our style. This reminded us again of the Gospel: "We want to go with you because we have seen that God is with you". It was the Word of God that guided us. Another fundamental phrase of the gospel was Ezekiel 3:1: "Bring all the tithes into the temple treasury...". This Word pierced us; we were aware that love for God and love for the poor go hand in hand, and that Word told us clearly what and how to do. Thus, we made the decision to give a tenth of our income to the poor. This choice gave us and continues to give us a lot of freedom and has spread like wildfire, in the form of solidarity projects all over the world: schools, health care, soup kitchens, wells, adoptions... Today we are present in 18 countries.

[Eliana]At the same time, we discovered the charism of the community: the Lord asked us to be ambassadors of reconciliation, that is, to constantly seek to reconcile our relationships with ourselves, with others, with God and with creation. Thus we were able to discover the reconciliation-forgiveness binomial: reconciliation as the path to forgiveness and forgiveness as the path to reconciliation. In fact, the first reconciliation - in our living in community - took place between the two states of life that have perhaps always been opposed in the Church: marriage and priesthood.

Hearing you speak, it is clear that God has called you to change your life. Is that vocation?

-[Eliana]We do not understand vocation as something mystical, but as something very concrete. It is a deep desire that you find within you. Not something against your will, but something that you desire with all your strength, that directs and expands all our capacities and potentialities.

[Paolo]It is with time, looking back, that you understand that it was a call from God. It is an attraction to God, but one that requires our share of will and perseverance. Life is made of ups and downs, and it is perseverance that allows us to move forward despite the adverse currents. Thus we learn to always praise God, to "think well", to realize how grateful and fortunate we have to feel, to live each experience with the certainty that "Everything contributes to the good of those who love God". It is God who calls and acts, and we respond in daily life, which is the path to holiness. It is not something extraordinary: it is in the factory, in the school, in the family, in the workshop, in the office that we sanctify ourselves.

How does the call to the charism of Via Pacis?

-[Eliana]When we started the community, we were very fiscal, and there was a very clear and equal rule for everyone: one hour of prayer a day, weekly fasting, weekly reconciliation, community meetings, service, tithing, accompaniment... These were our pillars. Then, especially in the last 10 or 15 years, it has been understood that times are very different today than 50 years ago; it has been understood that there cannot be the same food for everyone and that the rule of life must be adapted to the times, the places, the state of life, the culture, the work, the age. So we have established the "lowest common denominator", which is what unites all the members of Via Pacis in all parts of the world and in all languages: the praying of Lauds. There is also a lot of freedom according to one's vocation: the rosary, Mass, adoration, service to the poor.

In the community there are, for example, elderly or retired people who donate their time to pray for the community and its many needs. Their work is very valuable and they form the "hard core" that sustains the community. It is a powerful means of intercession, just like fasting, which the Lord has made us discover from the beginning of this adventure. Then, many communities are engaged in adoration, listening and remaining before God in silence. For us, they exist as "communicating vessels" both within the community and within the Church.

[Paolo]Formation has always been an important aspect of the community, that is, to be able to "give a reason for the hope" that is in us. This has led us to favor and encourage a deeper study of theology: diocesan courses, licentiates, doctorates. But also to attend courses to serve better: in prisons, in listening, in personal accompaniment, in difficult marital situations, in acquiring skills in fundraising, in service to young people, in preparation for marriage. We are convinced that good must be done well and that it cannot be improvised. We must also take into account the changing times in which we live, which demand a constant openness to the novelties of the Spirit, as well as the need to learn new languages and new paradigms.

This way of life is not very fashionable. How can this way of life be explained to the world?

-[Paolo]We don't have to explain it, we have to witness it with life and in life. With two important aspects: first of all by listening to people, because today no one has time to listen. A listening that recognizes the other as important to me. The other point, consistent with our charism and with the previous point, is to continually seek a relationship with people and, therefore, dialogue. Pope Francis speaks a lot about the art of dialogue: it is an art to know how to listen and to know how to look at the person, to see him, to listen to his needs, to be a "friend", to have empathy. And in dialogue and in relationship, to be a "good mirror", that is, to reflect how beautiful and good the other person is, thus becoming sowers of good and hope.

[Eliana]Today people need to experience God. Not to hear speeches about God. That is why it seems urgent to me to be a means and a bridge to promote a personal encounter with God. Our way of living and being must make people question and be fascinated in order to be able to say "come and see".

Movements and new communities are not better than others, they are all gifts of God. And they are different so that each one can find his own reality according to his character and tastes. The inner seal of having found what one was confusingly looking for is the experience of having found home and finally being able to stop.

The authorLeticia Sánchez de León

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Chile decided on a new Constitution

Latin America

Chile accepts a proposal in favor of religious freedom

The religious denominations in Chile, represented by the coordinator, Monsignor Juan Ignacio González, presented a proposal to the Council that was approved in its entirety by the plenary on September 20, 2023.

Pablo Aguilera L.-September 25, 2023-Reading time: 2 minutes

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The Constitutional Council of Chile is a 50-member body whose sole purpose is to discuss and approve a proposal for a new text of the new Constitution. Constitution. The citizenry elected its members by popular vote on May 7, 2023, and an equal number of women and men were elected. Their work began on June 7, and each proposal must be approved by a 3/5 vote. The draft of the new Constitution must be delivered on November 7 and submitted to plebiscite on December 17.

Confessions nuns in Chile, represented by the coordinator, Monsignor Juan Ignacio González, presented a proposal to the Council, which was approved in its entirety by the plenary session of the Council on September 20. The text states:

"The right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. This right includes the freedom of every person to adopt the religion or beliefs of his choice, to live according to them, to transmit them, and to individual and institutional conscientious objection. Its exercise, due respect and protection shall be guaranteed.

a) Parents and, where appropriate, guardians have the right to educate their children and to choose their religious, spiritual and moral education in accordance with their own convictions. Families have the right to institute educational projects and educational communities have the right to preserve the integrity and identity of their respective project in conformity with their moral and religious convictions.

b) Religious freedom includes, in its essential core, the free exercise and expression of worship, the freedom to profess, preserve and change religion or beliefs, the freedom to manifest, disseminate and teach religion or beliefs, the celebration of rites and practices, all in public and in private, individually and collectively, insofar as they are not contrary to morals, good customs or public order.

c) Religious denominations may erect and maintain temples and their dependencies. Those destined exclusively to the service of a cult shall be exempt from all kinds of contributions. Churches, denominations and all religious institutions shall enjoy adequate autonomy in their internal organization and for their own purposes, and cooperation agreements may be entered into with them.

d) Any attack against temples and their dependencies is contrary to religious freedom".

Monsignor González, Bishop of San Bernardo, expressed his satisfaction with this approval.

The authorPablo Aguilera L.

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Cologne: a cathedral as a symbol of centuries of faith

The Catholic Cathedral of Dresden. The largest church in a Protestant city

The Court Church has been the Cathedral of the Diocese of Dresden-Meissen since 1980. Inside it houses not only a number of artistic treasures, but also the urns of three martyred priests.

José M. García Pelegrín-September 25, 2023-Reading time: 5 minutes

Dresden, the present-day capital of the German federal state of Saxony, has been called "Florence on the Elbe" or "German Florence" since the early 19th century. This nickname is attributed to the writer and philosopher Johann Gottfried Herder, who used it in 1802 to refer to the magnificent art collections, especially Italian, that Dresden houses. Among these works is the "Sistine Madonna" by Raphael (1512/1513).

The designation "Florence on the Elbe" is also due to Dresden's architecture. Many of the characteristic buildings, especially those of the "Dresden Baroque", were built under Italian, particularly Florentine, influence. Even the early 19th century architecture in Dresden was inspired by these models.

The Protestant "Frauenkirche" ("Church of Our Lady"), built between 1726 and 1743 according to plans by George Bähr, is an emblematic example. It was the first building north of the Alps to have a large stone dome, similar to that of the cathedral in Florence.

It was completely destroyed in the bombings of the night of February 13-14, 1945; its charred ruins served, during the German Democratic Republic, as a memorial against war and destruction. However, after the GDR's extinction, it was rebuilt between 1994 and 2005, according to the original plans, with donations from all over the world.

Next to Dresden Palace, the residence of the prince electors (1547-1806) and kings (1806-1918) of Saxony, built in various styles from Romanesque to Baroque, stands Dresden Cathedral, which was originally the Court Church ("Hofkirche"), the name by which it is still known today.

Saxony was one of the first territories to adopt Luther's "Reformation": the Elector Frederick III - nicknamed Frederick the Wise, among other things because he founded the University of Wittenberg - is known to have been one of Martin Luther's main patrons, as well as the painter Dürer.

However, Augustus "the Strong" converted to Catholicism in 1697 in order to accede to the throne of Poland, which caused tensions in Protestant Saxony; therefore, he discreetly practiced the Catholic faith in the palace chapel and, at the same time, generously supported the construction of the aforementioned Protestant Frauenkirche as Dresden's main church.

The Court Church was commissioned by his son, Elector Frederick Augustus, who had also converted to Catholicism in 1712. He succeeded him in 1733 as Elector of Saxony and in 1734 by election also as King of Poland (under the name Augustus III). In 1736 the planning of the church was entrusted to the Roman Gaetano Chiaveri, who also worked for the king in Warsaw.

Dresden Cathedral

The present cathedral was built between 1739 and 1755, and was consecrated on June 29, 1751 by the apostolic nuncio to Poland, Archbishop Alberico Archinto, under the patronage of the Holy Trinity. It was elevated to the rank of co-cathedral in 1964 and became the cathedral of the Diocese of Dresden-Meissen in 1980, when the episcopal see was transferred from Bautzen to Dresden.

Thus, the largest church in Dresden - whose main nave is 52 meters long, 18 meters wide and 32 meters high, and whose tower reaches a height of 86 meters - was once a Catholic church in a city with a clear Protestant majority. Today, Christians make up barely 20 percent of the population: 15 percent Evangelical Christians and only five percent Catholics.

It is an outstanding example of Dresden Baroque. It is the only large royal building designed by a foreign architect, the aforementioned Gaetano Chiaveri, and was inspired by churches built by Francesco Borromini and the Chapel of the Palace of Versailles. The church has three naves and has a processional aisle of 3.50 meters wide that allows processions, because in the Protestant Dresden Catholic processions could not be held outdoors.

The interior of the cathedral

The simple interior contrasts with the rich exterior decoration, with 78 figures of saints 3.50 m high sculpted in sandstone (1738-46), work of Lorenzo Mattielli, on the balustrade that surrounds the entire nave.

In the interior, contrasting with the white of the walls, the main altar in marble with gilded bronze decorations, the work of the Aglio brothers, depicting the Ascension, 10 meters high and 4.50 meters wide, the work of the Dresden court painter Anton Raphael Mengs, stands out. The painting, begun in Rome in 1752 and completed in Madrid in 1761, arrived in Dresden in 1765.

Like the Frauenkirche, the Court Church was also severely damaged during the air raids in February 1945; the roofs and vaults collapsed and the outer walls were partly completely destroyed.

The reconstruction was completed in 1965. After more than 50 years, extensive restoration works were carried out from March 2020 to February 2021.

Today, the right aisle is dedicated to the Virgin Mary, with an altar featuring a figure of the Virgin with a crown of angels, a copy of the central part of the Mühlhausen altar of the cathedral of Bamberg (made by Hermann Leitherer in 1987). On the back wall of the chapel is a sculpture of St. Mary Magdalene (Magdalene Penitent) by Francesco Baratta.

The chapels of the apse include the Blessed Sacrament - with an altarpiece on the institution of the Eucharist: the original, made in 1752 by Louis de Silvestre, was lost in 1945 and was replaced in 1984 by a recreation by the painter Gerhard Keil - and that of St. Benno, in the southeast chapel, presided over by an altarpiece by Stefano Torelli, also from 1752, representing Bishop Benno preaching the Christian faith to the Sorbos, a Slavic minority in the diocese of Dresden-Meissen. A miter of the holy bishop is preserved in a reliquary on the altar, made in 1997 by Paul Brandenburg.

The altar of the martyrs

Finally, in the left aisle is the altar of the martyrs, which houses the urns of the three martyrs Alois Andritzki, Bernhard Wensch and Aloys Scholze. Their ashes were moved in procession from the Old Catholic Cemetery on February 5, 2011. Alois Andritzki was beatified in a pontifical mass celebrated in front of the cathedral on June 13 of the same year.

On a table with the photos of the three martyrs it is written: "Here rest the urns of three martyr priests of the Diocese of Dresden-Meissen who died in the concentration camp of Dachau". Below them are reproduced the photographs of "the blessed Polish martyrs beheaded in Dresden in 1942/43".

Detail of the photos of the martyrs' altar

Cologne: a cathedral as a symbol of centuries of faith

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Derral Eves: "Producing The Chosen is not just a job; it is a vocation".

Derral Eves is a producer of the television series The Chosen. Together with Dallas Jenkins, also screenwriter and director of the audiovisual project, he embarked, in 2017, on a professional and personal adventure that has taken on dimensions unimaginable to its own creators. The producer and his team, aided by the donations of thousands of people, have brought the life of Christ and the Apostles to more than 175 countries around the world.

Maria José Atienza-September 25, 2023-Reading time: 5 minutes

With a degree in Public Relations and Advertising, Derral Eves is a well-known figure in the YouTube world. His agency has managed the presence on this network of public personalities and companies such as ABC, NBC and ESPN and has worked for events such as the SuperBowl.

With a deep knowledge of the world of audiovisual marketing, Eves is convinced that all his professional preparation has been a path to produce The Chosen.

This series on the life of Christ, the Apostles and the holy women is now a global phenomenon with over 110 million viewers in almost 200 countries around the world. They currently have plans to make it available in 600 languages.

The series continues to grow in popularity, generating 6.5 million followers on social networks and $35 million at the box office in special theatrical releases.

With three complete seasons available, production is currently in full swing on the next two. In total there are seven seasons that Eves and his team have planned for this great production, which has broken the traditional schemes of the film industry.

**How did you become involved in a project such as The Chosen?**

-After watching a Christmas short film that Dallas Jenkins made for his church. I was deeply moved and impressed by the strength of the storytelling. I realized it was made on a very low budget, but it really moved me, so I contacted Dallas.

Our conversations resulted in a shared vision of what we The Chosen could become.

I recognized the potential of this project and wanted to bring my expertise in online marketing and audience development to try to ensure its success.

You are an expert on YouTube. Is audiovisual language the key medium in our society?

-Audiovisual language has become an integral part of our society today. It's not just about entertainment; audiovisual content plays a vital role in education, communication, marketing and community building.

People are increasingly consuming information through videos, webinars and live broadcasts, as these media often offer a more engaging and accessible way to understand complex topics.

For organizations such as the Catholic Church, the use of audiovisual language can be a powerful tool for dissemination, connecting with the public and transmitting messages in an impactful way.

**What continue to be the most difficult issues in the production and development of The Chosen?**

-Manage the growth of the television series The Chosen presents a unique set of challenges. As the series attracts more attention and a growing following, it becomes more difficult to maintain the vision, values and community connection that drove its success.

Growing can offer exciting opportunities, such as reaching new audiences and expanding into other formats. However, it can also create logistical challenges: Expanding production, union relations, distribution, marketing and community engagement require careful planning and execution. And also, it can be an internal struggle to be tempted to make decisions guided by commercial interests rather than the core mission of the series.

I believe that the growth of The Chosen is not just a matter of expanding its scope, but doing so in a way that honors and preserves the integrity, spirit and community that define the series.

It is a delicate balance that requires thoughtful leadership and a commitment to the principles that gave life to the project.

The Chosen has broken the mould on crowdfunding How can this success be explained?

-The success of the crowdfunding for the television series The Chosen is undoubtedly a remarkable achievement.

I believe this success is based on several key factors:

- A strong connection with the audience: The Chosen reaches a specific audience that feels a deep connection to the content. It is more than entertainment; it is a portrayal of stories that many appreciate.

- quality productionBy maintaining high production and storytelling values, the series has earned the trust and admiration of its viewers.

-the team. The Chosen had a clear vision and mission, and that resonated with people who wanted to be part of something bigger. The series was not just another program, but a movement.

-effective use of social networks and marketing: Using various platforms allowed us to connect with potential sponsors and supporters and share our vision and purpose. This created a community that felt invested in the project and helped us spread the word.

-transparency and commitment with sponsors: Keeping sponsors in the loop and making them feel like an essential part of the project probably fostered greater trust and enthusiasm.

- the right time: The timing of the crowdfunding campaign may also have fit well with society's current interests and needs, making the series especially relevant and attractive at the time.

The combination of these elements enabled us to create a successful crowdfunding which not only met our objectives, but exceeded them, allowing us to produce a series that has marked the lives of many people.

Is the message and the figure of Jesus more interesting than we sometimes think? How do non-Christians receive this message?

Certainly, the message and figure of Jesus transcends religious boundaries and has proven to be interesting to a wide variety of people, including non-Christians.

Jesus' teachings often focus on themes such as love, compassion, forgiveness and social justice. These are universal values that resonate with people of diverse backgrounds and beliefs.

They are also of great historical interest: Jesus is a historical figure whose life and teachings have had a profound impact on Western civilization. The historical aspects of his life can be fascinating to many, regardless of their religious affiliation or belief system.

The figure of Jesus has been depicted and explored in literature, art, music and film, often in ways that have appealed to a wide audience for centuries.

What does it mean, personally, to be part of this project?

-Participation in the television series The Chosen has changed my life. The opportunity to combine my professional experience with my deeply held beliefs and love for Jesus has transformed my perspective in many ways.

Every day on this project has been a journey of faith, creativity and connection. I see the stories of people impacted by the series, and we know that The Chosen is reaching hearts and minds around the world.

Collaborating with such talented people, all united by a shared vision, has enriched my understanding of storytelling, art and humanity. But beyond that, it has reaffirmed my faith and deepened my commitment to using media as a force for good and inspiration.

This is not just a job, or even the highlight of my career; it is a vocation to which I feel privileged to have responded.

The impact of The Chosen is not only felt in the lives of its viewers, but also in my own. It's a testament to what can be accomplished when passion, purpose and profession align, and I'm incredibly grateful to be a part of it.

The Chosen

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The Pope in Marseille. The culture of encounter in the school of Mary

It has only been three days, but Pope Francis' visit to Marseille confirms the pontiff's concern for migrants and displaced persons.

Henri-Louis Bottin / José Luis Domingo-September 24, 2023-Reading time: 5 minutes

Marseille, a Mediterranean city, experienced two exceptional days as it welcomed Pope Francis, the first papal visit in almost 500 years. The Pontiff wished to participate in the "Encounters of the Mediterranean" at the invitation of Cardinal Jean-Marc Aveline, archbishop of the city. He was also responding to another invitation from France, as President Emmanuel Macron had previously told him, "It is important that you come to Marseille!". And so he did.

Seeing with the eyes of Christ

The central message of the papal visit, the encounter of peoples, was placed from the very beginning in the hands of the Virgin Mary, who presides over the encounter between Jesus and mankind. The "Good Mother" of the people of Marseille, Notre-Dame de la Garde, was venerated by Pope Francis upon his arrival at the airport on Friday afternoon.

The Supreme Pontiff placed at the feet of Our Lady the reason for his apostolic journey. In the "Marian prayer" that he made with the diocesan clergy in the basilica, he presented to us the crossing of two "gazes": on the one hand, "that of Jesus who caresses man", "from above and below, not to judge but to lift up those who are below"; on the other, "that of men and women who turn to Jesus", in the image of Mary at the wedding feast of Cana.

Addressing the priests of the diocese, the Pope encouraged them to look at each person with the compassionate eyes of Jesus, and to present to Jesus the pleas of our brothers and sisters: an "exchange of glances". The priest is both an instrument of mercy and an instrument of intercession. The Pope thus presented the framework for the theological reflection that he would develop in the following meetings.

The occasion of his visit was the interreligious meeting that brought together many representatives of the main religions of the Mediterranean. He met with them, in particular, in front of the stele erected in memory of the sailors and migrants who have disappeared at sea. He recalled that we cannot get used to "considering shipwrecks as news of events and deaths at sea as numbers: no, they are names and surnames, faces and stories, shattered lives and broken dreams".

Having a human and Christian outlook in the face of these sad events is an essential requirement for an adequate political response to the migratory crisis we are experiencing. Pope Francis reminded Christians that "God commands us to protect" the orphan, the widow and the stranger, and that this necessarily leads to "hospitality".

The sea, "mirror of the world

On Saturday morning, Pope Francis addressed the bishops and young people of different religions participating in the Mediterranean Meetings at the Palazzo del Faro. Contemplating the French shores of the Mediterranean, between Nice and Montpellier, he said he was amused to see there "the smile of the Mediterranean". He then focused his speech on three symbols that characterize Marseilles, which he praised as a model of "integration" among peoples: the sea, the port and the lighthouse.

In his opinion, the sea is a "mirror of the world", bearer of "a worldwide vocation of fraternity, a unique vocation and the only way to prevent and overcome conflicts". It is also a "laboratory of peace", but which, according to the Pope, suffers from a disease that consists not in the "increase of problems", but in the "decrease of care".

Marseille is also a port, and therefore "a gateway to the sea, to France and to Europe". In this regard, recalling the words of St. Paul VI, he insisted on the "three duties" of developed nations: solidarity, social justice and universal charity. Seeing the "opulence" on one side of the Mediterranean and the "poverty" on the other, the Pope concluded: "the mare nostrum cries out for justice".

Overcoming prejudices

Finally, at the Palazzo del Faro, Pope Francis spoke of Marseille as a "lighthouse", encouraging young people to overcome "barriers" and "prejudices", and to seek instead "mutual enrichment". In conclusion, the Roman Pontiff presented the "crossroads" facing many nations: "encounter or confrontation".

He encouraged everyone to choose the path of "the integration of peoples", even if this integration, "even of migrants", is "difficult". In his opinion, the path of integration is the only one possible, while that of "assimilation" is dangerous: because it is based on ideology and leads to hostility and intolerance. He praised the city of Marseille as a model of integration.

Following the common thread of his visit to Marseille, namely prayer to Mary, the Pope finally presided a Mass in the city's "temple of sport": the Velodrome stadium, home of Olympique de Marseille and Rugby World Cup stadium. There, where the French rugby team played against Namibia last Thursday, the Virgin of the Guard was installed. And it was about her, the Good Mother of the people of Marseille, that Pope Francis spoke during his homily.

Taking up the words of the Gospel of the Visitation, and of John the Baptist's leap of joy in Elizabeth's womb on the occasion of his encounter with the Virgin Mary, pregnant with Jesus, he spoke of two "leaps of joy": "one before life" and "the other before our neighbor". "God is relationship, and he often visits us through human encounters, when we know how to open ourselves to others."

On this occasion, the Pope condemned indifference and lack of passion for others. He again condemned "individualism, selfishness and closed-mindedness that produce loneliness and suffering", citing as victims families, the weakest, the poor, "unborn children", "the abandoned elderly", etc.

A journey under the Virgin's mantle

The people of Marseille gave him a particularly warm welcome and felt honored to receive the visit of the Supreme Pontiff. Above all, the people were delighted to welcome a Pope devoted to their "Good Mother". Many inhabitants, even those who rarely visit the Basilica of Notre Dame de la Garde, wanted to see him pass through the streets: by showing his closeness to the Virgin, the Pope showed his closeness to the people of Marseille.

Local and national political authorities of all stripes honored the Sovereign Pontiff and the entire Church with their presence, as well as large crowds from all over France, in a very festive atmosphere. Before the Mass at the Velodrome, a well-known comedian took the stage to explain that, for once, the whole stadium was supporting the same team!

Francis clearly wanted his struggle for social justice and the defense of the lives of the weakest, especially immigrants, to be entrusted to the intercession of the Virgin Mary. But the Pope acknowledged, without being naïve, that this work "is difficult", aware of the challenges that await all those who dedicate themselves to it. Francis is decidedly one of those who want to reconcile antagonistic positions, and before leaving for Rome, he asked the people of Marseille for their prayers, insisting: "This work is not easy!

The authorHenri-Louis Bottin / José Luis Domingo

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Free to choose whether to migrate or stay

The right not to emigrate, and communities to integrate, two of Francis' appeals

After his arrival from Marseille, from where he sent a message to Europe to welcome and integrate migrants, Pope Francis reiterated at the Angelus this Sunday the right of people not to emigrate, and the importance of creating communities ready to welcome, promote, accompany and integrate those who knock on our doors.

Francisco Otamendi-September 24, 2023-Reading time: 3 minutes

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"Today we celebrate the World Day of Migrants and Refugeeson the subject Free to choose whether to migrate or to stayThe Holy Father began by saying in his address to the Pope that "emigration should be a free choice, and never the only possible choice". Angelus.

"The right to emigrate has been transformed today, in fact, into an obligation, while there should be a right not to emigrate, to stay in one's own land. It is necessary that every man, every woman, be guaranteed the possibility of living a dignified life in the society in which he or she finds him or herself," the Pope pointed out.

"Unfortunately, misery, wars and climate crises force so many people to flee. This is why we are all called to create communities ready to welcome and promote, accompany and integrate those who knock at our doors," Francis encourages.

"This challenge has been the focus of the Mediterranean Meetings the last few days in Marseilles, in the concluding session of which I participated yesterday, on my way to that city, a crossroads of peoples and cultures".

Among other messages, Pope Francis encouraged participants and authorities in the French city to contribute to making the Mediterranean region "the beginning and the foundation of peace among all the nations of the world".

Fraternity and welcome in Europe

The Mediterranean is a "mirror of the world" and "carries within itself a global vocation of fraternity, the only way to prevent and overcome conflicts," the Holy Father added. "And then, there is a cry of pain that is the most resounding of all, and that is turning the mare nostrum into mare mortuum, the Mediterranean from the cradle of civilization into the tomb of dignity".

In the final sessionThe Pope referred to the "terrible scourge of the exploitation of human beings", and indicated that "the solution is not to reject, but to guarantee, to the extent of one's possibilities, a large number of legal and regular entries, sustainable thanks to a fair reception by the European continent, within the framework of cooperation with the countries of origin".

Parable of the day laborers, "God calls us".

Before the Angelus prayer, the Holy Father commented this Sunday on the parabola of the day laborers who are called at different times of the day to work in the vineyard, and the owner pays them the same remuneration.

Francis affirmed that "the parable is surprising", and that it could seem an injustice, but he stressed that the Lord wants to show us the criteria of God, who "does not calculate our merits, but loves us as sons".

"He pays everyone the same coin. His love. "God goes out at all hours to call us, He went out at dawn. He looks for us and waits for us always. God loves us and that is enough," Francis pointed out.

"Such is God. He does not wait for our efforts to come to us. He takes the initiative, he goes out to us to show us his love at every hour of the day, which, as St. Gregory the Great affirms, represents all the phases and seasons of our life until old age.

"To your heart, it is never too late. Let us not forget. He is always looking for us. Human justice is to give to each his own, while God's justice does not measure love in the scales of our yields and our failures. God loves us and that is enough. He does so because we are his children and with an unconditional love, a gratuitous love", the Roman Pontiff emphasized.

"Sometimes we run the risk of having a mercantile relationship with God, focusing more on our own goodness than on the generosity of his grace. As a Church, too, we must go out at all hours of the day and reach out to everyone. We can feel that we are at the head of the class, without thinking that God also loves those farthest away, with the same love that he has for us.

"Finally, he asked, as he usually does, if we know how to "go out to others" and if we are "generous in giving understanding and forgiveness as Jesus teaches us and does every day with me". "May Our Lady help us to convert to the measure of God, that of a love without measure".

Saturday Ecumenical Prayer Vigil

At the end, the Pope thanked the bishops of the Italian Episcopal Conference for their work, "who do everything to help our emigrant brothers and sisters", and greeted the Romans and pilgrims from so many countries, in particular the international diocesan seminary Redemptoris Mater in Cologne, Germany, and the group of people affected by the rare disease called Ataxia, with their families".
Francis has invited to participate in the Ecumenical Prayer Vigil on Saturday, October 30, in St. Peter's Square, in preparation for the Synodal Assembly that will begin on October 4, and recalled "the martyred Ukraine. Let us pray for these people who suffer so much," the Pope prayed.

The authorFrancisco Otamendi

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Free to choose whether to migrate or stay

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"Tutela Minorum" holds its plenary session: annual report and progress in local Churches

The plenary of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors opened with testimony from the victim advocacy group LOUDfence, embodied by Antonia Sobocki and Maggie Mathews.

Maria José Atienza-September 24, 2023-Reading time: 2 minutes

After a "turbulent" year, marked by the resignation of Hans Zollner SJ, the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors concluded its Plenary Assembly on September 23. The members of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors focused their days on evaluating the progress made in the implementation of the three main areas of its new mandate, one year after the renewal of its members.

The areas in question are "assisting in the updating and implementation of the Church-wide safeguarding guidelines; assisting in the implementation of Article 2 of Vos Estis Lux Mundi to ensure the reception and assistance of those who have suffered abuse and to prepare for the Holy Father an Annual Report on Safeguarding Policies and Procedures in the Church."

Regarding the latter, the Commission expects to publish a preliminary draft of the Annual Report by the end of September, with a view to publishing the first Annual Report in the spring of 2024.

Advances in private churches

The members of the Commission have reviewed the results of the global survey on the Universal Framework of Guidelines. This survey received more than 300 responses and 700 suggestions and, based on these ideas, the Commission will continue to incorporate comments until March 2024.

In addition to this document, the commission has reviewed the reports of the visits Ad Limina and prepared recommendations that will be transmitted to the respective local churches and published in the Annual Report. During this year, 13 bishops' conferences were able to express their ideas and suggestions to the commission at the meetings of their Ad Limina visits.

Aid to churches with scarce resources

One of the keys to this Plenary has been the Church's commitment to safeguarding minors. In fact, to prevent churches with scarce resources from not being able to implement the norms and protocols related to the prevention, reporting and healing of abuse cases, the Commission oversees a funding mechanism sponsored by Church donors who have pledged to provide $2.5 million in funding for these under-resourced churches. Africa is one of the most depressed areas and, in fact, 20 local churches - including bishops' conferences and conferences of religious - have expressed a desire to join the program.

Transitional justice and child abuse

In addition to this, the Plenary heard a presentation by Dr. Davin Smolin, Professor of Constitutional Law at Samford University Law School, on the applicability of the concept of transitional justice to the work of the Church in combating sexual abuse. In this regard, the Commission will consider how to incorporate this approach to addressing significant human rights abuses into its Annual Report.

Cardinal O' Malley, president of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors thanked the "commitment of such a dedicated group of safeguarding professionals from around the world" and expressed his hope that "the Commission will be able to offer support to all areas of the Church's life where good safeguarding practices should become the norm."

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"Every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered" (1Co 11:2-16).

ColumnistsMartha Reyes

God betroths the woman

The sterile woman is not only one who cannot have children but also one who feels that her life does not bear fruit, that all her efforts are in vain, that her beauty and youth are fading, that her time of happiness has expired.

September 24, 2023-Reading time: 3 minutes

The author of the Song of Songs is a God who betroths the woman of history, who decorates her with precious jewels, and with delicate compassion heals her wounds, rebuilds and redeems her, to the point of clothing her with a new dignity and purpose of life. It is God who defines His relationship with the chosen people and with the redeemed people as the relationship of the Beloved with His Beloved, of Yahweh with the Jerusalem of His predilection, of the hen longing to gather her chicks, of the shepherd in constant and absorbing care of his sheep, of the rabbi who sits the children of Galilee on his lap, and finally, of the bridegroom of the Parable who reappears as the King of Kings who unites Himself to His bride, the Church of the Apocalypse.

How many manly accents and how many feminine touches are used to write a love story that continues to be written in the life of each convert or seduced by the Lord! By presenting cases of biblical female figures, albeit from times past, I hope that each woman of today, within her particular idiosyncrasy, will read part of her own present story. And in the style of an embroidered work that intertwines or unravels, I hope that each one will find the common thread, that is, that similar episode in all the stories, the one that characterizes, matches and humanizes us all.

Elizabeth, cousin of Mary and mother of John the Baptist

In the style of several important women of the Old Testament such as Sarah, Rachel and Hannah, Elizabeth represents the barren woman, the one whom life has mysteriously deprived of the graces and generosities that by nature she should have received: the gifts of the fertility of life, of guaranteed motherhood, of a grown or multiplied family, of feeling that life has had purposes and legacies, and pain has begotten fruit. Sterility is cruelly synonymous or figure of impossibility, of sense of failure, abandonment, injustice, desert, defect or deficiency. A barren woman can come to live the feeling of the disadvantaged and neglected by the apparent silence or indifference of the author of life, or the cruelty of nature.

But the infertile woman is not only the one who cannot have children, but also the one who feels that her life is not bearing fruit, that all her efforts are in vain, that her beauty and youth fade away, that her time of happiness has expired. This is how she feels when she nostalgically sees the blessings that others seem to enjoy but that, for some reason, she has not deserved to inherit because life surprised her with emptiness, absence and loneliness.

But both Isabel and many of them, in spite of their discouragement and tiredness, despite the emotional and spiritual wear and tear that long days of unanswered prayers can produce, did not stop believing and continuing to cry out. They believed in the God of the impossible, in the Omnipotent and Unpredictable One who is capable of producing water by letting it fall from the sky or moving the deep wells of the earth. They continued to cry out to the God of Isaiah (Isaiah 43:19, Isaiah 44:3) who willingly offered to transform deserts into meadows and to make rivers flow over arid lands. They cried out to the God who promises reward and values the effort of the sacrificed (Isaiah 49:4). These women who never cease to cry out to the Almighty know that He will always be touched by a humble heart and promise her that she will not leave His presence empty or despised. And because they persevere in faith and do not allow themselves to be intimidated by the circumstances of life, they present their case in the heavenly court before the Judge of the humble and unfortunate until they obtain a ruling in their favor: you will be the mother of few or of many, physically or spiritually because your life will produce abundant fruits.

Shout for joy, O you who were barren, for look at the children of the forsaken one, they will be more numerous than those of the favored one (Isaiah 54:1). With the physically or emotionally barren woman who cries out to God for healing and life transformation, God signs a covenant of love, provision, care, defense, tenderness and fulfillment. Where once loneliness reigned, she will now live constantly under the care and attention of a provider rich in mercy; I will set your walls on precious stones, and your foundations shall be of sapphire, and your gates of crystal. All your children shall be instructed by Yahweh, and great shall be the happiness of your house. (Isaiah 54:11-13).

The longer a response from God takes is because the more elaborate the miracle will be. The angels need more time to assemble it. And the longer the prayer was cried, the greater its purpose. The children of barren women were also those who, in the biblical narratives, were born with great purposes, prophetic anointings, impressive destinies; necessary and indispensable lives for history. If you identify with Elizabeth, believe, pray, cry and cry out, and wait like her, and you too will receive the miracle of the fertility of life in its physical or spiritual manifestation. God takes time, but in the realm of eternity, He is still in time to transform realities and at any moment, surprise you with His mercies. If for a moment I hid my face from you, with immense pity and with love that has no end, I have pity on you. (Isaiah 54:8).

The authorMartha Reyes

D. in Clinical Psychology.

Woman

"Every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered" (1Co 11:2-16).

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Dealing with priests

The author addresses in this article some useful points for dealing, both personally and through written communications, etc. with priests and consecrated persons.

Alejandro Vázquez-Dodero-September 24, 2023-Reading time: 4 minutes

Among the topics of interest in this brief article that I have been writing periodically for Omnes, it occurred to me to refer to the way we treat priests and consecrated persons in general.

It is something that deserves attention, just the right amount, but it deserves it. For being who they are, for representing Who they represent - with a capital letter - because it is to the Lord that they have consecrated themselves and it is to Him that they want to show.

We will refer to the secular priest, but all that will be explained here is applicable to the secular priest. mutatis mutandis religious and, in general, to any consecrated person.

The sacred status of the priest

The priest must count on the closeness, affection and sympathy of everyone. He must have a natural, simple, spontaneous manner. But at the same time he must know that he represents Jesus Christ, that he is the bridge between God and man; and to that cause, only to that, he owes his duty.

This requires prudence and the avoidance of any misunderstanding. On the part of those who deal with a priest, there must always be a look that is not only human, because, as we have said, he has that special consideration for his sacred condition. Of course, as we said, it is necessary to show affection, closeness, openness, but it is not possible to remain only in that and not only on the human level.

The key question to ask ourselves when we deal with a priest would be: "Are we seeking Christ? That attitude will shape the way we treat him, how we look at him, how we present ourselves to him, how we love him. The relationship with the priest should always be focused on fraternal support or spiritual guidance, which is what he will procure for us.

Informal treatment. Priest, monsignor, father, priest...?

Certainly, according to the culture in question, and according to the times, the treatment with the priest is one or the other. There are places where he is called priest, as such, because his mission is to deal with the sacred; and where he is preferred to be called priest -because he heals the wounds of the soul given his mediation between God and man-; or father -by exercising the spiritual paternity of the souls he attends-.

And how to greet him informally? It would be appropriate to use terms such as apreciado or estimado, as we would do with any person who deserves our respect and consideration.

In some areas of Europe it is customary to use "don + nombre". The use of "father + name" is perhaps more typical of Anglo-Saxon or Latin American countries. This is true no matter how young the priest may be.

In informal dealings, of course, it is possible to address him on a personal level, but for what has been said above, each one should make an exercise of consideration and determine whether this would preserve the nature or purpose of dealing with the priest, to which we have already referred.

There are, however, those who prefer to address the priest as "you" and with expressions that are not so close, without this implying distance or lack of naturalness.

Obviously, the way we present ourselves - which includes the way we dress - and our gestural communication must take into account the priest's condition, which, as we have mentioned, requires the respect he demands.

Regarding the treatment of women with priests, St. John Paul II, in his 1995 letter to priests, refers in this clear and eloquent way, sufficient for our purpose:

"Thus, the two fundamental dimensions of the relationship between woman and priest are those of mother and sister. If this relationship develops in a serene and mature way, the woman will not encounter particular difficulties in her dealings with the priest. For example, she will not encounter them in confessing her faults in the sacrament of Penance. Much less will she encounter them in undertaking with priests various apostolic activities. Every priest has, therefore, the great responsibility to develop in himself an authentic attitude of brotherhood towards women, an attitude that admits of no ambiguity. In this perspective, the Apostle recommends to his disciple Timothy to treat "the older women as mothers, the younger women as sisters, with all purity" (1 Tm 5, 2).

In short, as we have already emphasized, it is a matter of being comfortable and natural in dealing with a priest, without ever forgetting what is his condition, because he represents the One he represents, and what is his mission - unique - deriving from his ministerial vocation.

Formal -protocol- treatment in written communications.

On the other hand, for written communication with a priest, it will be necessary to refer to the rules of protocol - some written, others not - and adapt them to the specific case. These also depend, like the informal treatment, on the place and the time in which one lives.

If it is a very formal letter, it would be appropriate to use "reverend father + surname" or "dear reverend father" as a greeting. But, even so, if the priest is sufficiently known, "esteemed father + surname" can be used.

If the communication is addressed to a priest of a religious order, the acronym of the order to which he belongs - OFM, CJ, etc. - should be added after the name.

If it is addressed to a brother or sister, monk or nun, the formula "brother + first name and surname" can be used, adding the initials that designate his order. And if it is the abbot or superior, "reverend + first name and surname", also adding the letters that designate his order as abbot or superior.

In these three cases, as for the way to say goodbye in writing, there are various formulas, one of which would be "Sincerely, in the sacred name of Christ + the name of the sender".

The bishop would be addressed with the expression "his excellency the reverend bishop + name and surname + of the locality or jurisdiction". And he would be dismissed with "begging your blessing, I remain respectfully yours + sender's name".

The archbishop would be addressed as "his eminence, the reverend archbishop + name and surname, as well as the name of the city where he was appointed archbishop". Likewise, he would be dismissed by asking for his blessing.

The cardinal is addressed as "your eminence + first name + cardinal + last name", and would be dismissed by asking for his blessing, as in the previous cases.

Finally, the Pope is addressed as "Your Holiness", "Sovereign Pontiff" or "Pope" without further ado. He would be dismissed with a formula such as "I have the honor to express myself to you, Your Holiness, with the deepest respect and as your most obedient and humble servant"; although if one is not a Catholic, it would be appropriate to say a brief "with the best wishes for Your Excellency, I remain from you + name of the sender".

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Plato and the crisis in education

ColumnistsSantiago Leyra Curiá

Political lessons from the ancients

From the thought of the ancients remains the theory of the political forms of which Aristotle speaks: monarchy, aristocracy and democracy. These forms can degenerate into tyranny, oligarchy and demagogy.

September 24, 2023-Reading time: 5 minutes

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From the thought of the ancients remains the theory of the forms of political organization of which Aristotle speaks: monarchy (power resides in one and uses it for the good of the community), aristocracy (in a minority that uses power for the good of the community) and democracy (in the majority of the people and uses power for the good of the community). These forms can degenerate: tyranny (the monarch uses power for his own benefit, against the good of the community); oligarchy (minorities exercise power for their own benefit, against the good of the community); demagogy (the majority uses power for its own benefit against the good of the community).

Polybius of Megalopolis

Polybius of Megalopolis observed a cyclical character in those political forms that the polis used to adopt: monarchy used to degenerate into tyranny; this was opposed by the aristocrats who, in turn, used to degenerate into oligarchy; this was opposed by the people with democracy which used to degenerate into demagogy and back to square one.

But Polybius saw that in Rome This did not happen because its constitution combined the monarchy (the consuls), the aristocracy (the senate) and the people (the elections).

Álvaro D'Ors, in his Introduction to Cicero's "The Laws", synthesizes the thought of this author as follows: "The constitution which Cicero judges perfect in his "De republica", and for which he comes to propose his leges, is, in reality, the same republican constitution of Rome, without the shadows cast upon it by the political reality of his time....".

"The virtue of that constitution lay, as Polybius had already pointed out - who, as an outsider, perhaps knew how to judge it better than the Romans themselves, and, in fact, the latter began to appreciate it in the footsteps of Polybius' praise - in its mixed character...".

Also remember that, "Within Roman juridical life a distinction was imposed between the lex, which contained a decision of the populus romanus gathered in the comitial assemblies, and the ius, which was that which was considered just according to the authority of the prudent (iuri consulti)".

Current political forms

These ideas help us to see that the ancients knew very useful things: for example, that the current political organizations, in the best cases, independently of their denomination - they define themselves as democracies and States of Law -, in reality, are mixed forms of government. As for their law, it is a mixture of the socially dominant legal consciousness of each period, of the interests of the elites of each society and of what remains of the virtues and values professed by relevant ancestors.

José Orlandis, in his work "On the origins of the Spanish nation", remembers that, with "the diocese of Spain", created by Diocletian, around the year 300, a certain higher organic unity had been initiated in which the Hispanic provinces of the Roman Empire were integrated.

But the decisive period for the formation of Spain was the VI and VII centuries and the agent that agglutinated the dispersed elements and gave them a unitary conscience of homeland and nation was a Germanic people..., the Visigothic people, as the Catalan historian Ramón de Abadal had already affirmed. It was that Spain to which St. Isidore dedicated his famous Lauds: "Thou art the fairest of all the lands that stretch from the West to India, O Spain, sacred and happy mother of princes and peoples!". This Isidorian Spain was the great western kingdom of the 7th century, the only Mediterranean power worthy of comparison with the Byzantine Empire.

The Visigothic monarchical system failed in practice because it lacked a widely recognized and respected dynastic kingship. The scriptural wisdom of the Hispanic ecclesiastical fathers, trying to give prestige to the Visigothic monarchy, found an ideal precedent in the biblical monarchs of the kingdom of Israel, in the figure of the anointed king of God.

The Visigoth monarchs were thus the first anointed kings of the West. But this sacral legitimacy did not prevent the struggle for power between political and family clans. The confrontation between the families of Chindasvinto and Wamba left its mark on the last four decades of the life of Visigothic Spain and ended up precipitating the destruction of that monarchy. The experience would advise for the future that the monarchic system should be hereditary and be endowed with a precise succession system and procedure.

Charles Louis de Secondat

Charles Louis de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu (1689/1755) was educated in a Catholic school, studied law in Bordeaux and Paris and married a French Protestant woman. In 1728 he undertook travels in Austria, Hungary, Italy, southern Germany and Romania; and in 1729 he left for London where he stayed for about two years.

A great lover of history, he is a writer of clear language. Close to the mentality of the Enlightenment, he did not share with them the idea of constant human progress. He recognized great importance to the customs so his rationalist vision is very nuanced. In 1734 he published his "Considerations on the causes of the greatness and decadence of the Romans".

In 1748 he published in Geneva "The spirit of the laws".in which he wrote that "if the executive power were entrusted to a certain number of persons drawn from the legislative body there would no longer be liberty because the two powers would be united, since the same persons would sometimes have, and could always have, a part in each other".

In this book he also says that men can make history, which does not consist of an inexorable and fatal course, but becomes intelligible through laws. For Montesquieu, the ideal laws would be based on the natural equality of men and would promote solidarity among them.

In a state there are three powers: the legislative, the executive and the judiciary. These powers embody, respectively, as in the classical doctrine of the mixed form of government, the three social forces: people, monarchy and aristocracy. There is freedom when power contains power. Therefore, the three powers, legislative, executive and judicial, must not be concentrated in the same hands. No power should be unlimited.

Political forms in Montesquieu

Decentralization also occupies a prominent place in Montesquieu's thought: intermediate bodies, such as provinces, municipalities or the nobility, insofar as they possess their own - not delegated - powers, constitute a check on central power, especially in states with a monarchical form of government.

As for the forms of government, he established a correlation between the psychological conditions of each people and the different forms of government that he distinguished:

a) The republic exists where virtue prevails, especially disinterestedness and austerity, and in cold countries where passions are not very ardent. It is based on equality. It can be aristocratic if it governs with a certain number of people moved by moderation and it can be democratic if power is exercised by the citizens as a whole. This form of government can prosper in states of small territorial extension.

b) The monarchy is the government of only one according to fundamental laws that are exercised thanks to intermediate powers. It prevails where the feeling of honor or conscience of rights and duties abounds according to the rank of each one and the love to the social distinctions. It prevails in temperate countries. It is based on the differences and inequalities freely accepted. It is the most suitable form of government for states of average territorial extension.

c) The despotic government is the one in which only one rules capriciously, without abiding by the laws. Its principle is fear and implies the equality of all under the despot. It is the most suitable form of government for an empire of great territorial extension.

The authorSantiago Leyra Curiá

Corresponding member of the Royal Academy of Jurisprudence and Legislation of Spain.

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Pope Francis' remembrance of those who died at sea

The wreath laid by Pope Francis rests on a monument dedicated to migrants and those lost at sea in Marseille.

Maria José Atienza-September 23, 2023-Reading time: < 1 minute

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Pope prays in Marseille for those who died at sea

Rome Reports-September 23, 2023-Reading time: < 1 minute

The Pope spent a few minutes in prayer in front of the monument dedicated to sailors and migrants who lost their lives in the Mediterranean in the French city.

The Pope stressed that deceased migrants are not simply numbers but people with names, surnames, faces and stories.

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

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Africa: Growing insecurity for Christians in some areas

At least 11 people killed in Mozambique, just weeks after the latest attack on Christian communities in Nigeria.

Antonino Piccione-September 23, 2023-Reading time: 3 minutes

Another bloody day for Christianity on African soil. What happened is gruesome, to the point of provoking reflection on the reasons for so much violence. Throughout Africa - with few exceptions - Christians are under threat from Islamic extremism, which is intensifying under the pressure of a growing socio-economic malaise.

A group of at least 11 Christians was massacred by terrorists in northern Mozambique. According to information released by Brother Boaventura, a missionary of the Poor Brothers of Jesus Christ in the region, the massacre of Christians took place on Friday, September 15, in the village of Naquitengue, near Mocimboa da Praia, in the province of Cabo Delgado. Frequent attacks by the most violent fringes of Muslims have been taking place in the area since 2017. According to Brother Boaventura, the Islamic extremists arrived in Naquitengue in the early afternoon and rounded up the entire population. They then proceeded to separate Christians from Muslims, apparently on the basis of their names and ethnicity. "They opened fire on the Christians, riddling them with bullets," the missionary recounts. The attack was claimed in a statement by a local group loyal to the self-styled Islamic State.

The terrorists claimed to have killed eleven Christians, but the actual number of victims may be much higher. In fact, there are several people seriously wounded. Brother Boaventura reports that this is not the first time this inhumane method has been applied. The result has been widespread panic in the area. The attacks occurred at a time when "many people were beginning to return to their communities", leading to an increase in "tension and insecurity". As reported by the Bishop of Pemba, Monsignor Antonio Juliasse, the attacks in Cabo Delgado and the neighboring province of Niassa caused the internal displacement of about one million people and the brutal murder of another five thousand.

Exactly one year ago, Isis claimed responsibility for the attack on a mission in the Mozambican province of Nampula, where four Christians were killed, including the 84-year-old Comboni missionary Sister Maria De Coppi, who was shot in the head.

A few weeks ago, Kaduna State in north-central Nigeria was once again the scene of violence against Christians by terrorist groups. On Friday night, August 25, terrorists attacked the predominantly Christian community of Wusasa in Zaria and abducted two Christians, brothers Yusha'u Peter and Joshua Peter, staff members of St. Luke's Anglican Hospital in Wusasa.

"This happened shortly after the father of the two victims was also kidnapped and taken prisoner by the terrorists," Ibrahim told Morning Star News. "Terrorists have often made our area a target for attacks and kidnappings of our people. Recently, in fact, two other Christians from our community were killed in similar attacks."
According to local reports, the two brothers had fled to Zaria from Ikara, Kaduna State, after their father was abducted there. The abductions came after Jeremiah Mayau, a 61-year-old pastor of Tawaliu Baptist Church in Ungwan Mission, Kujama, Chikun County, was shot dead on August 23.

Rev. Joseph John Hayab, president of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), also stated in a press release, "Terrorists stormed into a community in Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna and shot and killed Rev. Jeremiah Mayau, pastor of Tawaliu Baptist Church in Kujama. The incident occurred while the clergyman was working on his farm. It was a barbaric act.

Nigeria ranks first in the world in the number of Christians killed for their faith in 2022, with 5,014, according to Open Doors' 2023 World Watch List (WWL) report. It also ranks first in the world in the number of Christians kidnapped (4,726), sexually assaulted or harassed, forcibly married, or physically or mentally abused, and has the highest number of homes and businesses attacked for religious reasons. As in the previous year, Nigeria ranked second in the number of attacks on churches and internally displaced persons.

"Fulani, Boko Haram, Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) militants and others carry out raids on Christian communities, killing, maiming, raping and kidnapping for ransom or as sex slaves," the WWL report reads. "This year, violence has also spread to the country's Christian-majority south..... The Nigerian government continues to deny that this is religious persecution, so violations of Christians' rights are carried out with impunity."

Present throughout Nigeria and the Sahel, the predominantly Muslim Fulani are made up of hundreds of clans of widely varying lineages that do not hold extremist views, but some of them adhere to radical Islamic ideology, the UK's All-Party Parliamentary Group for International Freedom or Belief (APPG) noted in a 2020 report.

According to some Christian leaders in Nigeria, the Fulani attacks on Christian communities in Nigeria's central belt are inspired by a desire to forcibly take over Christian lands because desertification has made it difficult for them to sustain their herds.

The authorAntonino Piccione

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Francis to Italian catechists: "Renew the spirit of proclamation".

The Feast of St. Gennaro and its Italian Catholic Roots

The feast of St. Gennaro is celebrated from September 14 to 24. It is the oldest festival in New York and, without a doubt, the most famous.

Jennifer Elizabeth Terranova-September 23, 2023-Reading time: 4 minutes

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Autumn is in the air, and cannoli, zeppole, and sausage, and pepper sandwiches abound on Mulberry Steet- and every other square in New York's Little Italy neighborhood. This must mean that La Festa di San Gennaro has begun.

The San Gennaro Feast, as we call it in English, runs from September 14 to September 24. It is New York City longest-running festival and, undoubtedly, the most famous. Nothing says September in New York like La Festa di San Gennaro. Most people who grew up in the Tri-State area, and even outside of it, remember going to the Feast. But who was Saint Gennaro, and how did he become Little Italy's patron saint?

A food stall on the streets of New York for the feast of St. Gennaro

Italy was 'unified' in 1861, but political disunity remained in the mentality and sub-conscious minds of many of the Italians who immigrated to America. And they brought similar suspicions of the Italians who weren't their paisano-fellow townsmen. The large influx of Italians who came during the late 1800s were from the south. And southern Italian villages were insular and isolated, and Italians wanted to preserve that in their new country. "In Italy, this spirit of village cohesion was known as campanilismo—loyalty to those who live within the sound of the village church bells," notes the Library of Congress (LOC).

The apparent differences among the regions, such as dialects, food, and patron saints, would explain why the Italians from the same or nearby towns in Italy chose to live close together. Like all new immigrants, the Italians wanted to preserve their language, local traditions, and customs. This helped maintain the unity of the village. The festa was one tradition that piqued the interest of outsiders. It is a day celebrating a particular village's saint, and the residents follow an image or statue of their beloved saint. Italians cherished their dear saints as much as their food, so it is no surprise the Neapolitans would bring San Gennaro to L'America.

By the early 1920s, more than 4 million Italians had immigrated to the United States of America, and the Library of Congress reports that they "represented more than 10 percent of the nation's foreign-born population." An estimated 391,000 Italians had settled in the New York Region, in Brooklyn, the Bronx, and right across the river, in New Jersey. However, the highest concentration resided in Lower Manhattan, where many would live under some of the most horrific living conditions.

Little Italy had become a southern Italian enclave. Mulberry Street, where La Festa Di San Gennaro would eventually take place, was like a snapshot of a Neapolitan village.

The first Feast occurred in 1926 and has been going on for over 97 years. To the locals, it is known as the "Feast of all Feasts." It celebrates faith and culture, and there is always enough food. It all started when the Italian residents wanted to pay San Gennaro (San Januarius) homage.

Saint Gennaro, Italian martyr

San Gennaro was born in Benevento, Campania, around 272 AD. He is the patron saint of Naples, Italy. His feast day is celebrated every year on September 19, the anniversary of his martyrdom. When he was the bishop of Benevento, it was a time of rampant Christian persecutions, and it was at that time he would seal his fate: when he demonstrated his faith in Christ and showed how he was unafraid of the Roman Empire. Like many of our martyred Catholic saints, he was bold and undeterred of the powers of this world; he kept his gaze and focus upon God, not those who thought themselves to be Gods.

Emperor Diocletian spearheaded the genocide of Christians during this period, and many were imprisoned and killed. Bishop Gennaro would "sign his death warrant" when he visited two deacons and one layman in jail. He went to pray for them despite the inevitable consequences.

He was arrested and tortured and would eventually be beheaded. However, it is believed that decapitation was ordered only after San Gennaro was able to "calm the beasts who were initially supposed to kill him." Samples of his blood were collected by a faithful person and stored in a special place. Three times a year at the Duomo di Napoli, vials of San Gennaro's dried blood are displayed, and the faithful wait for its liquefaction, known as the "Miracle of San Gennaro."

The Neapolitans in Italy and the many who left their small southern towns over a century ago with little money or education prayed to San Gennaro for protection from fires, earthquakes, plagues, and anything they needed. Their descendants still pray to him and celebrate him every year.

Omnes strolled through the San Gennaro Feast on September 19 and spoke to some of the long-time residents and business owners.

Nicky Criscitelli was born and raised on Mulberry Street and owns Da Nico. His great-grandmother and grandfather were involved in the Feast since the 1940s. He shared: "My grandfather was the first one to make mini pizzas, and my great-grandmother sold peanuts, Torrone, and cookies, [and] she had a store. She was from Naples." I asked him whether or not San Gennaro is still thought of today and whether it's less about him and more about the food and festivities. He answered, "It's all about Saint Gennaro… it's all about Saint Gennaro, that's what the whole Feast is about!"

Stall selling sausages during the festival

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José Carlos González-HurtadoThe more science, the more God".

Given the scientific evidence accumulating in physics and cosmology, mathematics and biology, most scientists are theists," says José Carlos González-Hurtado, businessman and president of EWTN Spain, in his recent book, "Theology and theology are theories". New scientific evidence for the existence of God.

Francisco Otamendi-September 23, 2023-Reading time: 6 minutes

An executive of important multinationals, married and with seven children, José Carlos González-Hurtado (Madrid, 1964), has been able to find time in recent years (most of them living outside Spain), to present a book in which he assures to have "enjoyed enormously", and "I hope the readers do too".

The subject is "the latest scientific findings that leave no room for doubt about the need for that Something/Someone, that which we call God," says González-Hurtado. The title of the prologue, written by Alberto Dols, Professor of Condensed Matter Physics at the Complutense University of Madrid, summarizes the content of the book: 'A valuable contribution to the reflection on the relationship between science and religion'.

The book, published by Voz de Papel, "is very well documented, and to write it I have read hundreds and hundreds of documents and books in Spanish, French, English and German; it has more than 700 footnotes, but it is written so that everyone can understand it," says the author.

"In fact, I mention some anecdote with my eleven-year-old son Diego, to whom I read it as I wrote it in order to make sure it could be understood by scientists and laymen."

Interesting topics such as the second law of thermodynamics and the end of the universe were left out of the interview, but there you have the book, which is being presented these days in Madrid. The profits from its sale will go entirely to the EWTN Spain Foundation. We begin the conversation.

You consider your book necessary, and myth-busting. For example, in the face of the myth that the more science, the less God, you affirm that the more science, the more God. Tell us about theistic scientists.

- I think it is a necessary book for non-believers, but also very much for believers, and not only to increase faith and realize how much God the Creator thought of us when creating the universe, but also as an instrument of consultation and apologetics.

It is also a book to give to the skeptical brother-in-law and the agnostic neighbor. Given the evidence accumulating in Physics and Cosmology (from the Big BangThe majority of scientists are theists or religious, either in Mathematics (with Gödel's incompleteness theorems, Hilbert's negation of actual infinities, etc.), or in Biology, with the discoveries about the human genome and the birth of life, the majority of scientists are theists or religious.

In this sense, I believe this book is unique, since it gathers such evidence from all these fields of science. Arthur Compton, Nobel laureate in physics, corroborated this: "Rare are the scientists today who defend an atheistic attitude". Robert Millikan, another Nobel laureate in physics, went a step further by stating that "it is unthinkable to me that a real atheist could be a scientist; I have never met an intelligent man who did not believe in God". And finally Christian Anfinsen, Nobel laureate in Chemistry, put it even less charitably; "Only an idiot can be an atheist".

And statistically?

- The data corroborate these claims. There is a study mentioned in the book, conducted by an Israeli geneticist, Baruch Aba Shalev, which studies the beliefs of all Nobel laureates of the last 100 years, and concludes that only 10 % of the laureates in scientific subjects were atheists, while more than 30 % of the Nobel laureates in literature considered themselves unbelievers.

Other data provided in the book is that the "more scientific" or closer to the fundamental study of science, the more theistic and religious one is. And another interesting fact, young scientists are considerably more religious than scientists over the age of 65. This is not surprising, since in the last 50 years the evidence for a Creator God has accumulated -which is what the book proposes-. It is as if Providence thinks that in our time we need more scientific evidence than in other times.

In its pages he also refers to authors of the "new atheism".

- In fact, at the beginning what I do is simply to expose the opinions of these authors, blatantly dishonest, pretentious and shameless, which are anything but scientific, and in fact put many other atheist colleagues to shame.

These authors are the heirs of the rampant atheism in the 1930s that informed the most criminal ideologies in the history of mankind. I also mention that, contrary to pretence, the vast majority of these authors are not scientists, nor are they new, since most of them were born in the 40s of the last century. I am referring to Christopher Hitchens, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris, Steven Pinker, etc. Yes, Richard Dawkins studied zoology, but he is not known to have made any relevant contribution to science, although we do not lose hope.

On the other hand, the greatest living contemporary biologist, Francis Collins, director of the human genome project, was a convert and a Christian; possibly the greatest mathematician in history, Kurt Gödel, was a Christian; the father of quantum physics, Max Planck, was also a theist and a Christian, as was Werner Heisenberg. Einstein was a theist; the father of genetics, Mendel, was a Catholic priest, as was the discoverer of the Big Bang Lemaitre, Father Lemaitre.

New scientific evidence for the existence of God

Author: José Carlos González-Hurtado

Editorial: Voz de Papel

Year: 2023

What is the most current alternative to avoid the idea of a Creator?

- John Barrow was a professor of applied mathematics and theoretical physics at Cambridge University. He was a Christian who died in 2020, and he recognized that "a multitude of cosmological studies are motivated by the desire to avoid the initial singularity," i.e., to attempt to discredit the Big Bang. But the truth is that the Big Bang is part of the "standard cosmological model", as is the theory of relativity, and is beyond doubt.

The one-time NASA director of the Apollo project, who turned from atheist to theist by dint of scientific arguments - Robert Jastrow - said that "astronomers now find that they have put themselves in a dead end, because they have proved by their own methods that the world began abruptly in an act of creation of which traces can be found in every star and every planet, and every living thing in the cosmos and on earth."

The more you know about the Big Bang (Big Bang), the more you believe in God, you assure us.

- The Big Bang was the moment of creation of the universe, which occurred, with all certainty, 13.7 billion years ago. Before knowing this, the most accepted theory was the so-called Steady State theory. This theory proclaimed that the universe was infinite and timeless both "backward", i.e., without beginning, and "forward", i.e., without end. The Steady State is a theory that does not compromise atheism...; the eternal universe might seem that it does not need God but... It is already known that this is not true.

The universe will have an end, as predicted by the 2nd law of Thermodynamics, which was aggressively opposed by the atheistic scientists of the time. I even quote a letter from Frederick Engels to Karl Marx in which he admits that if this law were true, the existence of God would have to be admitted.

But the universe also had a beginning - the Big Bang- and that puts atheistic scientists and non-scientists in a bind. For if there is a beginning there will also be a Beginner. If there was creation, a Creator is also necessary. We have to think that not only all the matter in the universe was created at that moment but also that time began at the Big Bang, i.e. there was no "before" the Big Bang. This leads us to a timeless -omnipotent-, non-material and intelligent being like the creator of the Big Bang. That is what we call God.

Several topics are left out. But finally tell us about Kurt Gödel (1906-1978).

- Kurt Gödel was arguably the most important mathematician in history and one of the most brilliant logicians, perhaps the most brilliant since Aristotle. He was a great friend of Einstein with whom he lived on the Princeton University campus. They talked about politics and God. Gödel was a Christian and in the book I also refer to some of his letters, to his mother, where he comforts her and confirms that - according to him and according to science - there must be a life after this life.

Gödel was also categorical with materialism. "Materialism is false," he warned. It is one of the consequences of his mathematical theoretical developments.

He is the author of the incompleteness theorems. They are very complex theorems but they can be summarized in that Gödel shows that in any formal system -in arithmetic for example-, there are propositions that cannot be proved or disproved. That is to say that there are truths that we cannot prove except by appealing to a higher system..., and in that higher system likewise, and so on and so forth. That is to say that in the end, in order to have consistency in mathematics or in science, we must appeal to God.

I also mention in the book that Gödel formalized in mathematical language the ontological argument of St. Anselm that proves the existence of God.

The authorFrancisco Otamendi

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News about Pacem in Terris 60 years later

– Supernatural Pacem in Terrissigned by John XXIII, is addressed not only to Christians, but to all people of good will.

Antonino Piccione-September 22, 2023-Reading time: 3 minutes

Text that marks a turning point in the magisterium on the doctrine of the "just war", the "just war", the "just war" and the "just war". Pacem in TerrisThe document, signed by John XXIII sixty years ago in front of the RAI television cameras (April 11, 1963), is at the origin of another qualitative leap, the one towards other religions.

The difference between this encyclical and all the preceding ones is that it is addressed not only to Christians, but to all men of good will, for the question of peace cannot be resolved if there is no harmony among brothers or, worse still, if mistrust, if not hostility, prevails among nations and peoples.

The encyclical letter Pacem in terris It stands out, therefore, in the panorama of the pontifical magisterium of the twentieth century and continues to be a point of reference both within and beyond ecclesial frontiers.

In a message sent to Cardinal Peter Turkson, Chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, and to the participants in the International Conference commemorating the 60th anniversary of Pacem in Terris, on the theme "War and other obstacles to peace", which has been held in recent days at the Vatican's Casina Pio IV,

Pope Francis affirms that "the present moment bears an eerie resemblance to the period immediately preceding the Pacem in Terris"and the Cuban missile crisis that brought the world to the brink of "widespread nuclear destruction" in October 1962. He added: "The work of the United Nations and related organizations to raise public awareness and promote appropriate regulatory measures remains crucial."

Cardinal Peter Turkson, Chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, to which Vatican News has access, explains that the Pacem in Terris John XXIII is a "testament to humanity", and that also in the magisterium of Pope Francis "there is an invitation to humanity to consider that without respect for the dignity of persons, their freedom, love and trust, a culture of peace cannot be cultivated".

The Ghanaian cardinal recalls that while Pope Roncalli called for a ban on the use of nuclear weapons, Bergoglio "considers immoral even the mere manufacture and possession of atomic devices". Thus, there is no longer talk of a "balance between missiles, but of a change of heart".

In the background, Francis continues in his message, "the increasingly urgent ethical problems raised by the use in contemporary warfare of so-called 'conventional weapons', which should only be used for defensive purposes and not directed against civilian targets".

It is expected that the Conference, "in addition to analyzing current military and technological threats to peace, will include a disciplined ethical reflection on the grave risks associated with the continued possession of nuclear weapons, the urgent need for renewed progress in disarmament and the development of peace-building initiatives."

Turkson recalls the relevance of the encyclical: "Russia fears that pro-Western Ukraine will allow NATO to bring missiles to its border. The same fear Kennedy had 60 years ago with Cuba". The immorality of weapons of destruction must be countered by the moral authority, impartiality and diplomacy of the Pontiff and the Holy See: "When there are conflicts between nations," Turkson stresses, "one side is not chosen, but they are considered as two sons at war."

A mediation that has been successful between Argentina and Chile, or even between Spain and Germany over the Canary archipelago. Even the current mission of Cardinal Matteo Zuppi in Ukraine, Russia, the United States and China is linked to this desire to promote a peace that consists of respect for the right to human life and all other human rights."

John Paul II already wanted to remind us of the importance of the Pacem in Terris dedicating a World Day of Peace in 2003In his speech on the fortieth anniversary of the encyclical, in whose title he associated the idea of a permanent commitment that springs from it. The encyclical shows how John XXIII "was a person who was not afraid of the future"; from him emanates a sense of "trust in the men and women" of our time as a condition for "building a world of peace on earth".

This captures the perspective indicated by the Pacem in terrisWhile teaching that relations between individuals, communities and nations should be based on the principles of truth, justice, love and freedom, it reminds us that it is people who create the conditions for peace, that is, all people of good will.

Open dialogue and collaboration without barriers become the theme and style not only of the search for peace, but of all forms of coexistence. In this sense, the encyclical introduces a distinction, which aroused some discontent at the time, by placing, alongside the distinction between error and error, that between ideologies and socio-historical movements. As if to say that encounter and dialogue cannot find preclusion before the human being, whoever and wherever he or she may be.

The authorAntonino Piccione

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Layman, married, belongs to Opus Dei: "It reminds me that I can do something great with my life".

Evangelization

Lay, married, and Opus Dei: "This is an adventure for me".

Jolanta, an accounting professional, married and mother of a family, describes in this interview her life and what her vocation to Opus Dei brings to her personal evangelizing mission.

Barbara Stefańska-September 22, 2023-Reading time: 4 minutes

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Jolanta Korzeb lives in Poland, on the outskirts of Warsaw. She is a laywoman, a supernumerary of Opus Dei, a happy wife and mother of 9 children. She runs an accounting office.

In this interview for Omnes, Jolanta talks about what her formation in Opus Dei brings her, how she joins the evangelizing mission of the Church and how her family participates in the life of the parish.

What does being Opus Dei mean to you and how does it affect your life?

-Being of the Opus Dei is an adventure for me. It's like I'm sailing on a ship into the unknown; I don't know what the next ports are going to be, but God is with me on the submarine, whether the weather is good or stormy. In every situation, when I make different decisions, I know that I am not alone. As St. Josemaría emphasized, we are always God's children. This helps me to have inner peace.

Thanks to my training in the Opus DeiI know that it is possible to sanctify all of life's circumstances. I also have the feeling that the time of motherhood is not time wasted because, whatever I do, I use the gifts I have been given. In between maternity leave I have always worked outside the home. Now the children are of school age.

What is also very important to me is the constancy and regularity of formation in Opus Dei and that it is adapted to adults who have more serious moral dilemmas.

What is your relationship with the Prelate and the priests of the Prelature?

-I have had the opportunity and the good fortune to know both the current prelate, Fr. FernandoI try to write at least once a year a short letter to the Father (Prelate) to share my joys and concerns. I try to write at least once a year a short letter to Father (Prelate) to share my joys and concerns.

It is in difficult times that we have the best relationship with each other. When we lived for several years in Argentina for my husband's work and one of our sons was seriously ill, the regional vicar of that country visited us and gave us a photo of St. Josemaría with a small piece of his cassock. We know that St Josemaria is with us.

The second special moment was when I had cancer. At that time I wrote a letter to the Prelate. He sent me a picture of St. Elizabeth helping Our Lady with her blessing - 'With my most affectionate blessing'. He wrote to me that he was praying for us and that he hoped that Our Lord God would allow me to recover soon, as I was needed by my children, many people and other families.

What is your relationship with the parish in which you live?

-We live in a small parish on the outskirts of Warsaw, in the Radosc district. Our children, from the oldest to the youngest, serve or have served for several years as altar boys at mass, and we try to support them in this.

Our children are preparing for Confirmation in the parish. The children are also in the Scouts of Europe group, which is active in the parish, and have related tasks.

During Lent, a Way of the Cross is made every year through the streets of the parish. My husband and children help to organize it. We also work with the young parish vicar, Father Kamil.

We support the work that already exists in the parish, we do not add new work. We participate in the parish sports club, where our children play soccer. We also help in the renovation of the parish house.

How does it participate in the evangelizing mission of the Church?

-I consider my whole life to be evangelization, and I try to radiate joy and enthusiasm despite the difficulties and workload. I have a wonderful family. The neighbors look at us and are a little surprised, but they like it very much. Many have started going to church. So it is above all about evangelizing by example: others see a married couple happy to live close to God and children who also want to follow this path.

My husband, because of his professional work, is in contact with young couples. We go out with them for afternoon tea, for walks; our garden is full of life. The families we invite are usually not connected with the Opus Dei. This is very enriching.

Our children also like to invite their friends over. Recently, son Tom, a second grader, invited a friend over. The dad, when picking up the child, asked us to be godparents because his son is not baptized and they want him to receive the sacrament.

Could you add some more information about yourself?

-I began to benefit from Opus Dei formation as a student. I marveled at the fact that I could sanctify my life by doing the right things, at that time it was my studies. The vocation to Opus Dei has helped me in changing circumstances-marriage, children, financial problems, illness in the family-to discover the meaning of each situation. I am fortunate that my husband is a supernumerary; he belonged to Opus Dei before me. We help each other, for example, we exchange childcare so we can pray or read a spiritual book.

When I had cancer, I was practically isolated from my life for a year. Then, a group of mothers from the school my children attend organized. They signed up for "duty" and brought meals to our family. It was very evangelical and very loving. Most were Opus Dei, but not exclusively.

The authorBarbara Stefańska

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

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ACN launches campaign to support the Church in Ukraine

Caritas warehouse in Ukraine destroyed after attack

On the night of September 19, 2023, a Caritas-Spes humanitarian aid warehouse in Lviv, Ukraine, was destroyed after a Russian attack.

Loreto Rios-September 21, 2023-Reading time: 2 minutes

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The warehouse of Caritas-Spes at LvivThe Ukrainian village of Kiev, Ukraine, caught fire and burned to the ground after a Russian drone strike at night. The fire is estimated to have burned some 300 tons of humanitarian aid material, "including food, hygiene kits, generators and clothing," Caritas says. Caritas staff were not injured.

P. Vyacheslav Grynevych SAC, director general of Caritas-Spes Ukraine, explained the facts in a statement: "On the night of September 19, 2023, Russian troops attacked an industrial enterprise in Lviv, where there was a warehouse of humanitarian aid of Caritas-Spes Ukraine. The employees of the mission were unharmed, but the warehouse, with everything inside, burned to the ground (...) We will be able to calculate the final details of the losses later, as the special services are currently working on the scene. We already know that 33 pallets of food packages, 10 pallets of hygiene kits and canned food, 10 pallets of generators and clothing were destroyed".

Eduard Cava, auxiliary bishop of Lviv, noted that "Caritas had been using this warehouse for a year and a half and from this place humanitarian aid was transported further east in Ukraine to the needy. Everything has been destroyed. We thank God that there were no casualties among the employees or the security guards".

The visit of the Almsgiver

The visit to Ukraine of the President of the Republic of Ukraine is taking place these days. Pope's AlmsgiverCardinal Konrad Krajewski, as the Holy Father's envoy to inaugurate a home ("Casa del Riparo") for women and children, which will be managed by the Albertine Sisters.

"I feel pain for what happened in Lviv with the attack on the Caritas-Spes warehouse. They attacked to destroy the possibility of helping the suffering people," the cardinal said, referring to the destruction of the Caritas warehouse.

For its part, the Vatican said in a statement that "despite the continuous bombardments, the Almsgiver will inaugurate the 'House of Welcome' on behalf of Pope Francis, as a sign of support, help and closeness to the many people who have been forced to flee because of the conflict, bringing the Apostolic Blessing. On this occasion, he will also visit this week the various communities hosting refugees, thanking all the volunteers and all those who help the suffering and needy people who are far from their homes".

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Caring for music, the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music

Towards a musical liturgical theology, a new discipline

A workshop has been organized in Rome from September 21 to 22 to open up new perspectives for reflection in the ecclesiastical sciences, particularly in relation to chant.

Giovanni Tridente-September 21, 2023-Reading time: 2 minutes

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Is it possible to conceive of a theology that has as its ramification and specialization the aspect "..."?music Or can it lead theologians to delve deeper into the foundational elements of liturgical music? To answer these questions in the affirmative, a workshop has been organized in Rome, September 21-22, which aims to open up new perspectives for reflection in the ecclesiastical sciences. Specifically, the experts want to determine how to accompany the "beautiful chant" linked to liturgical celebrations "in its depth, in its height and in its life".

In this sense, the promoters of this new discipline, who will meet at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in presence and streaming, aim precisely to bring forth a theology "made from the experience of the lived liturgy". A liturgical theology, in short, that "seeks to capture the spark of Christ that comes to meet us in every celebration".

In perspective, in addition to making it a discipline to be studied with all the methodological criteria of theological reflection, it is a matter of trying to make liturgical music familiar to every believer, so that every participation in the celebration may be ever more profound. It is not a matter of Musicology -the promoters insist on clarifying-, but of a Theology that brings together Philosophy, Music and Musicology itself in its method.

In the immediate future, however, if it begins to develop as a true discipline, this TLM (Liturgical Music Theology) can serve as a guide for chapel masters, choir directors and musicians, allowing them to choose repertoires and musical interpretations appropriate for each moment of the celebration.

The promoters of the TLM go on to explain: "It is necessary to know the theology of the specific moments of the Mass, but also - going a step further - the theology of the specific moments of each individual Mass," attending to the theological character of each concrete celebration. Understood in this way, liturgical-musical theology becomes "a guide so that music truly responds to the spirit of the liturgical action", as already requested by the Second Vatican Council in Sacrosanctum Concilium.

The Rome event

The Rome workshop - which will also be broadcast via streaming - will bring together experts from various fields related to the interdisciplinary nature of this new subject: theology, liturgy, philosophy, music and musicology. The first objective will be to initiate an epistemological reflection to properly frame the TLM, also in the academic field. Secondly, it is intended to lay the foundations for further academic research on these topics, with future congresses, different types of musical performances, prizes for musical compositions, etc.

The initiative is part of the MBM International Project, coordinated by Father Ramón Saiz-Pardo, who works at the Institute of Liturgy of the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross. Speakers will include professors from the University of Opus Dei, such as José Ángel Lombo; the Dean of the Pontifical Liturgical Institute of Rome, Jordi-A. Piqué; the Rector of the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross and the Rector of the Pontifical University of Opus Dei, José Ángel Lombo. Piqué; the Rector of the Pontifical John Paul II University of Krakow, Robert Tyrała; Marco Cimagalli, of the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music, and Juan Carlos Asensio, of the Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya. A musical meditation on the Eucharist is also planned.

The authorGiovanni Tridente

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Addicted brains, yearning hearts

Integral ecology

Martha Reyes: "Without faith, psychology is paralyzed".

Dr. Martha Reyes talks to us in this second part of the interview about the psychological problems that affect Hispanic women in the U.S. and the importance of faith to heal them; healing tips and the importance of detecting red spots in a person's behavior.

Gonzalo Meza-September 21, 2023-Reading time: 6 minutes

Dr. Martha Reyes was born in Puerto Rico, but has lived most of her life in California. She has a B.A. and M.A. in Psychology from California State University. She also obtained a second master's degree and doctorate in Clinical Psychology. She is the author of several books, including "Jesus and the Wounded Woman", "Why Am I Not Happy?", "I Want Healthy Children", among others. She also has a collection of catechetical material and religious music. She has been a host and guest in several Catholic television programs. She gives conferences and directs the "Hosanna Foundation" in California.

To get to know Dr. Martha better, Omnes conducted an interview, the first part of which was published earlier. In the conversation she talks about her evolution from composer to psychologist; the Hosanna Foundation she created to help the population; the psychological problems that affect Hispanic women in the U.S. and the importance of faith to heal them; healing tips and the importance of detecting red spots in a person's behavior.

You have a book entitled "Jesus and the Wounded Woman". From your perspective, how does our faith and the community where we live, parish, for example, help to prevent and heal those wounds?

- We find many cases of women wounded and healed by Jesus in the New Testament. In my book "Jesus and the Wounded Woman" I talk about them. For example, the Syro-Phoenician woman, the Samaritan woman, the hemorrhagic woman, the bent-over woman, the woman with the alabaster perfume, the widow of Nain. These are figures that have remained engraved in the history of salvation, but they are characters with whom we can identify. In the Old Testament there are also many women like Deborah, Esther, etc., but I cannot identify with any of them because I have never led an army or sat on a throne. But I do identify with the Samaritan woman or the woman with the alabaster perfume. The Gospel presents the dialogues they had with Jesus. They are the same dialogues that all women can have with Jesus Christ. He wants to heal them, not only physically, as happened with the hemorrhoea, but to reintegrate them where they belong. In this example, after the woman was healed of the flow of blood, Jesus wanted to give her back her lost dignity and present her healthy to the community. When he said, "Who touched me?" the whole crowd stood up and had to look for her and identify her from the crowd. Jesus wanted to present her to the world as a woman healed of her dignity. They no longer have to reject her, or turn away from her, because she is now a healed woman.

Something similar happens in Jn 4, with the Samaritan woman. There at Jacob's well, Jesus meets her. She had four or five husbands and suffered stories of brokenness; however, Jesus was willing to turn those pages quickly and give her a new chapter in the story of her life. It is interesting to note that in that passage, a day earlier Jesus had tried to get to Samaria but they would not let him in. However, the next day, Jesus went to Samaria and entered through the back door; what was that door: the wounded heart of a wounded woman. When that woman was healed, he went to the city, to Samaria, and began to preach to all the Samaritans. There is another passage in the Word of God, Prov. 4:23: "First of all, guard your heart, for in it is the fountain of life". God has a special interest in healing wounded hearts. We also see this in Heb. 12:15: "Take heed to yourselves, lest any of you lose the grace of God and a bitter root spring up and injure many". And in Lk 6:45: "So a good man brings good things out of the treasure that is in his heart, but an evil man brings evil things out of his evil depths. The mouth speaks of what the heart is full of". Therefore, actions, behaviors and decisions are born and spring from the good or bad heart. And that is why the Lord is interested in healing wounded hearts and faith gives us the best tool.

Without faith, psychology is paralyzed because it becomes only intellectual concepts or proposals and hypotheses. Faith is what mobilizes healing, because the Holy Spirit is the healer. If he knows God's thoughts, how can he not know ours? The Holy Spirit is liberating and revealing. Sometimes we Catholic psychologists have the dilemma of asking ourselves, "What do I do or what do I say? I don't understand what this person is telling me because he doesn't know how to articulate his problem. He is not explaining it well. There, in those cases we can also invoke the Holy Spirit to reveal the root of the problem. Faith moves, heals and liberates. I know of cases of people who have been in psychotherapy for many years, but it was not until they went to a healing retreat and experienced a "spiritual breakdown" in front of the altar, or the Blessed Sacrament, or in the Holy MassI say that the forgiveness offered by the Lord and the healing power of the Holy Spirit are the "nuclear energy" of all healing. I say that the forgiveness offered by the Lord and the healing power of the Holy Spirit are the "nuclear energy" of all healing. Faith is in some cases the last and only possibility of healing as it happened to the hemorrhagic woman, who had spent all her money on doctors and they had not been able to find her problem until she came to Jesus.

As you pointed out, faith plays a crucial role in all disciplines, including psychology. Why do you think it is important to pause in life to analyze or attend to an emotional and psychological condition? In some cases it can even serve as prevention.

- We have to make sure that we have a clear, uncluttered and free mind to analyze, discern and decide. This is a vital transaction in life. A healthy mind is the engine that energizes existence by giving us cognitive clarity, positive emotions, visionary imagination, attainable expectations and healthy behaviors. Those behaviors that come from a healthy mind will produce achievement and great rewards. The opposite happens when we live with a damaged mind, because it leads us down a path of errors. Unhealed wounds (from childhood, adolescence, early adulthood) are a time bomb that can detonate at any moment. An overwhelmed or tired mind makes bad decisions. And poorly discerned decisions can turn into big mistakes and regrets that will later destabilize our lives. The only way we protect and defend ourselves from what I call "emotional attacks" is by acquiring the skill of filtering life's events calmly and wisely. A healthy heart is a wiser heart.

The healthy mind is a wiser mind. We do not need intelligence so much as wisdom. Wisdom is a gift from God, but it is also the addition to inner healing. To live with a healthy mind is to live life slowly and respectfully. I sometimes use this phrase in retreats with women: "we have to give an 'eviction order' to sabotaging thoughts". If we don't, we keep accumulating them. Neither our mind nor our body is built to store so much pain. These will take their toll on us and will cost us dearly as they become heaviness, disappointment and even physical illness. Jesus Christ said in Mt 11:28-29: "Come to me, you who are weary and carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble of heart, and your souls will find rest". There I see the inner healing, the healing of the heart. Meekness and humility must walk hand in hand. Jesus also adds in Mt 11:28-29: "For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light". That is to say, the yoke of life is not eliminated, there will be a yoke and a burden, but this is bearable, because when one feels accompanied and protected by God, that unbearable burden becomes a bearable and justifiable burden. As time goes by, when we make an analysis in the light of faith, we will be able to find the hidden blessings that were waiting for us behind that pain.

Unlike physical illnesses, emotional or psychological illnesses are not easily detected by laboratory tests. What are the red flags that alert the community or family that a person is not doing well?

- Red lights are lit when the person shows a droopy face, a droopy look. When he or she has lost the glow of his or her face, his or her verve and illusion. Life gives us challenges, burdens and hurts, but it also gives us ample opportunities to be excited about something or a lot. For example, every married woman should be excited about her children, even if her marriage is not going well. She should live inserted in her children's lives, looking forward to providing them with the best life possible and for as long as possible. Today we recognize an emotional and psychological condition (and we see it in some children) called: "the sad mother's disease". Children raised in such circumstances are much more likely to develop anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, bipolar disorder or even addictions.

So it's important to be on the lookout for red flags that we need to catch early. And as women, not all of us are going to live in environments with people who know how to identify those signs to help us. We have to acquire that skill ourselves to "self-analyze" and stop ourselves. I love to make visits to the Blessed Sacrament. I suggest to many sisters and people to go to the Blessed Sacrament with a notebook in hand and talk to the Lord, open their hearts and start writing. The Holy Spirit will reveal to you what is going on inside you and you will understand better and you will understand yourselves better. The Holy Spirit will give you guidelines, recommendations and new ideas that were previously hidden under the rubble of pain or the wounds of the past.

Interviews

Addicted brains, yearning hearts

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Gospel

To serve without expecting anything. 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time (A)

Joseph Evans comments on the readings for the 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time and Luis Herrera offers a short video homily.

Joseph Evans-September 21, 2023-Reading time: 2 minutes

"Seek the Lord while he allows himself to be found, call upon him while he is near.". This is what the prophet Isaiah tells us in today's first reading. But "seek the Lord" is also to respond to their search for us. Failure to do so could condemn our life, or part of it, to frustration and waste. The Gospel teaches us that God calls us at particular times and moments and, if we are negligent, we may fail to respond to those calls. God also seeks us to participate in his work, as laborers in his vineyard.

Based on the labor practices of the time, Jesus teaches us a parable that gives us many lessons about human response to God and our sensitivity or not to his calls. Some people are willing to work from the first moment. These may be those who embrace their vocation - to the priesthood or other forms of apostolic celibacy, or to marriage - at an early age. But others may be slower to discover it, perhaps not without a certain amount of guilt. This is suggested by the fact that Jesus told us that those men were "out of work"Why delay a single moment in responding to God's call? To do so, even if only for a few months or years, is a waste of our talents and leads us to miss precious opportunities to participate in God's work.

Others may lag even further behind. They are in God's radius, there in the marketplace, but they don't quite get the message that He has work for them, like Catholics who regularly go to Mass on Sundays, and even pray a little, but they fail to hear that God is calling them to do more.

Finally, the so-called "when it got dark"are people who have wasted their lives in sin or selfishness, or who have persistently found ways to elude God, even though He was always looking for them. They were there and He saw them, but they foolishly thought they had escaped His sight. But even for them a last-minute conversion is possible, and there are, thank God, souls who are converted near or at the point of death.

But the parable ends with a twist. God is so merciful that He may decide to reward latecomers with the same generosity as those who started earlier. He doesn't have to, but He could, because everything comes from Him, even our good deeds, so He can distribute His grace however He chooses. The "early risers" complain. "The latter have worked only an hour and you have treated them just as you have treated us, who have borne the brunt of the day and the embarrassment.". But here God gives a lesson to those of us who dedicate our lives to him at an early age. We should not think that we are better for doing so, or that we necessarily deserve more. Despite all their years of work, these people had forgotten a key truth: when we work for God, even when it is hard, we are not doing him a favor. On the contrary, the work itself is a blessing and part of our reward.

Homily on the readings of the 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time (A)

The priest Luis Herrera Campo offers its nanomiliaA short one-minute reflection for these Sunday readings.

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Experiences

Ramzi Saadé, a vocation to meet Muslims

Saadé is responsible in Paris for Ananie, a project whose mission is to welcome and accompany Christians coming from Islam and, on the other hand, to share, help and support parishes that need to know more about this topic.

Bernard Larraín-September 21, 2023-Reading time: 7 minutes

Elijah21. Jesus Christ for Muslims

Ramzi Saadé is a French-Lebanese priest who received a special calling: to accompany Muslims who want to convert to Christianity.

In this interview he tells us about his call to the priesthood, after a life as a businessman, and his evangelizing mission in Paris.

How was your priestly vocation born?

-I am Lebanese, of the Maronite rite, and like all Eastern Catholics I was proud of my Christian identity. I like business and I studied computer engineering. I worked for many years in business in Arab countries. I traveled a lot and handled large amounts of money. I was doing well and thought I was happy, but over time I lost my faith. I must admit that it is not always easy to follow the commandments of the Church in the professional world in which I worked.

A new professional opportunity took me to Marseille, France, where I met the Emmanuel community, and a priest in particular, who answered my questions and made me understand that God wanted me to be happy. Little by little I began to develop a spiritual life, to give up some bad habits I had, I began to struggle to be closer to God, with ups and downs, until August 15, 2002.

That day, the feast of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, I was in Paray-le-Monial, where I had decided to go for a few days because I was not feeling well spiritually. I needed a change of environment, I didn't know what was wrong with me, and I went to pray. There I had a very particular experience, in which I somehow saw Jesus, I don't know how, but the important thing is that I understood that God loved me and wanted to show it to me.

I cried a lot: it was a decisive experience in my life, but the vocation to the priesthood came some time later. At that time I was 30 years old and I did not want to be a priest. A priest accompanied me a lot in my vocational discernment until God's will became more concrete and I also began to be excited about the idea of becoming a priest.

Indeed, God respects our journey, the stages of each life and does not ask us for things that make us sad. On the contrary, God loves us and asks us things to make us happy. So here I am: priest and happy.

What does "Ananie", your mission in Paris, consist of?

-For the past twenty years we have been witnessing in the diocese of Paris an objective increase in the number of Muslims coming to the Church to ask for Baptism. This is an unprecedented situation: more and more Muslims are encountering Christ (sometimes in extraordinary ways, such as apparitions or dreams) and are coming to the parishes with requests for accompaniment. From this reality, the diocese entrusted in 2020 to Ananie, our association, the mission to support this movement, helping parishes in this delicate task, contributing to the formation of reception and accompaniment services (catechumenate-neophyte) to "walk with" these new Christians.

Being in charge of this initiative, I have created teams with a twofold mission: on the one hand, to welcome and accompany Christians coming from Islam and, on the other hand, to share, help and support parishes that need to know more about this topic.

Ananie is a place of welcome and meeting to share, to have an experience of fraternity and to be helped to integrate into a parish when they do not have one or when a first experience has not been satisfactory. In fact, Ananie wants everyone to find a parish community and to feel welcomed there because the parish must remain the first place where their Christian life is rooted. In short: Ananie's vocation is to be a concrete pastoral support for Parisian parishes and their teams.

It is said that there are many Muslims who convert every year and there would be even more if they lived in countries where their freedom of religion was respected: How many Muslims convert every year in France and in the world? What is the relationship between religious freedom and conversion?

-That's right: more and more Muslims are converting and asking to be baptized. In Iran, for example, if there were religious freedom, millions of people would ask to be baptized. But not only in Iran. In Algeria too: in that country the law, in the Constitution, protecting religious freedom was recently modified to be able to condemn converts.

The problem is not mainly legal or of the State: the main threat for these people is in their own communities and families who do not accept a change of religion. In many countries there are people who want to take the step, but they have no one, no Catholic institution to receive them, and there is also the case of people who, in the West, convert, but do not say anything to anyone because of the fear they have.

One of our main challenges is to preserve religious freedom in Europe where, as I said, many families do not allow their members to leave or change their religion. Freedom of religion is a big issue that can best be explained from the point of view of access to the Good News. In the West there is often this idea that the Muslim religion is equivalent to ours, and it is common to hear stories in which Muslims wanting to know more about the Christian faith, even from the parishes, advise them to return to the mosque and ultimately prevent them from accessing the Gospel. We must avoid at all costs the creation of closed circles, and it is a priority to have and maintain contact with these people.

Religious freedom is fundamental for the spread of faith: people are free and must feel free, and in the case of Christianity a conversion has the effect of a "snowball": one conversion leads to another and so on with many people. But this effect is possible only if people feel free. The situation in Muslim law is extremely serious for converts because the person who renounces Islam loses everything.

As far as numbers are concerned: it is very difficult to know precisely the number of converts from Islam. On the one hand, there are people who adhere to Christ in their hearts ("baptism of desire") but have not been able to take the step towards baptism. On the other hand, there are people who, having been baptized, do not say so or do not share their story. Or, if it is known in the parish, it is often not told publicly to protect them. In Paris, it is thought that 20% of the adults who are baptized come from Muslim backgrounds. In Arab countries, 100% of these people were Muslims, which is explained by the conditions in these countries with a Muslim culture and where Christian minorities have the habit of baptizing their members when they are very young.

How and thanks to what factors do Muslims enter into a relationship with Christ?

-There is a phrase that has always guided and inspired me: "He who sincerely seeks God, finds him". Every person needs to meet with others, and with the Truth, with God, in particular. This encounter changes a person's life, as it did for me. I think of St. Paul who was sincerely seeking God, but in the wrong way because he was a violent extremist of the faith who killed Christians. And God appeared to him and converted him.

Among Muslims there are many apparitions and dreams of the Lord and Our Lady. This may seem surprising and even unfair to us: there are Catholics who ask me: why do they receive these apparitions and not us? The answer is very simple: we have the means (the sacraments, the Word, etc.) to receive grace, many Muslims seek God wholeheartedly and, without having anyone to speak to them about the true faith, God intervenes directly in their hearts and lives. A

In turn, when God touches the soul of a person it is because he has a mission to become "light of the world and salt of the earth" so that other people may know the Truth.

Grace is never a "selfish" gift for the one who receives it; on the contrary, it is a responsibility and a mission to be apostles.

We Christians have that light, received in Baptism, and many times, unfortunately, we do not live up to the mission we have received and we do not let the light pass so that others may receive it.

How can Christians be better witnesses of their faith with Muslims?

-This reflection is at the heart of my mission: many Christians of Muslim origin are excluded from their family and friendship circles and, surprising as it may seem, from the Christian community. On this last point, it should be pointed out that, in general, integration is quite successful, but there are quite a few cases in which parish leaders reject Muslims because they tell them that it is not necessary to convert. Or, if they do convert, they continue to treat or refer to them as Muslims. There is a big wound in these people who are Christians of Muslim origin, but not Muslims.

We have to be very delicate and respectful with them. Even I, who am an Eastern Rite Catholic priest, have been asked many times in the West if I can have pork or alcohol.

Concretely, in order to be good instruments of God's grace, we should not be afraid to manifest our faith in our environments. For example, it is very interesting to note that many Muslims approach nuns or priests who are dressed as such on the street or in public places.

Another idea that seems important to me is to know how to explain well the differences between the two religions. If we tell a Muslim that "we believe in the same thing", as is often heard in some environments, this will discourage and disorient him, because what he is looking for is precisely that novelty and genius of Christianity, that "good news", the living God in Christ. For example, it is true that Muslims recognize the figure of Jesus and the Virgin Mary, but they do not occupy the same place as in our faith. And we must know how to explain this without hurting, but without hiding the Truth, because this is exactly what they are looking for in Christians. These differences are not an obstacle to love our Muslim brothers, they are a way of dialogue and encounter.

Finally, it should be noted that many Christians of Muslim origin suffer from depression a few years after their conversion. This is due, in part, to the feeling of having rejected their origins: their family, their culture, their national identity, etc. It is a very understandable reaction and we must be attentive to know how to accompany them in this process.

Our job at Ananie is precisely to help them understand that most of their identity is compatible with Christianity: language, dances, cuisine, family ties. This is what we see for example in Lebanon where the Maronite rite, in Arabic and Aramaic, is perfectly adapted to the local culture.

How to proclaim the Gospel to a Muslim?

-This question applies to all people, Muslim or not. I think the first thing is to love the other person. To proclaim the Gospel is to give God to the other person. If I love the other person, I want his or her good, I am giving God in some way, because God is Love.

It also seems to me that joy, a smile, is a primordial element. Joy attracts enormously, people need hope, and joy based on the hope of knowing that they are loved and saved by Jesus is key.

The authorBernard Larraín

Elijah21. Jesus Christ for Muslims

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Bishop Prieto encourages "fraternal dialogue" of parishes and charisms at Omnes Forum

The new Bishop of Alcalá spoke at the Omnes Forum together with the parish priest José Miguel Granados, the leader of Cursillos de Cristiandad María Dolores Negrillo, and the National Consiliary of Charismatic Renewal, Eduardo Toraño. They all agreed to dialogue.

Francisco Otamendi-September 20, 2023-Reading time: 7 minutes

He introduced the meeting on "The integration of ecclesial groups in parish life", which took place at the Athenaeum of TheologyBefore introducing the speakers, the editor-in-chief of Omnes, Maria José Atienza, said that the medium is well positioned in the panorama of socio-religious information.

The journalist recalled that three Ratzinger Theology prizes have already passed through the Omnes Forum. They are the professors Tracey RowlandAustralian; Hanna B. Gerl-FalcovitzGerman; and the American Jewish Joseph Weiler. Regarding the theme chosen, he referred to the "blossoming of new movements and charisms in the parishes", although there are different criteria regarding their development and integration.

This Forumwhich has also counted with the collaboration of the CARF Foundation and the Banco Sabadellwas preceded by an extensive article in the September issue of Omnes by Professor José Miguel Granados, pastor of Santa María Magdalena (Madrid), which the speakers praised for its thoughtfulness.

Praise from the Popes, problems in insertion

This was precisely the first intervention of the day. Jose Miguel Granados, with extensive pastoral experience, recalled some of the ideas presented in his analysis. In his opinion, "the integration of the various groups, associations, movements, communities and other realities of the Catholic Church in parish ministry is a matter of enormous importance for effective evangelization in our days".

On the one hand, he alluded to "the pronouncements of the last three Popes, who ponder the precious value of these new realities, which bring enormous riches to the life of the Church", and who "always encourage us to welcome them with open arms in the parishes and dioceses", while recalling "the need for an adequate insertion in them, with ecclesial criteria".

At the same time, Granados added that "there are many priests who esteem them with joy and collaborate generously with them; but also many other good pastors emphasize the serious problems they cause, expressing themselves very critical of them, to the point of excluding them from their parish communities"..

Principles for "ecclesial harmony

The pastor of St. Mary Magdalene mentioned "the fruits of Christian life and holiness produced by these new movements, groups and ecclesial initiatives," and his "sincere conviction that these realities are gifts of the Holy Spirit for our times," but alluded to these difficulties in the parishes.

Consequently, José Miguel Granados invokes, for "an ecclesial harmony," "the pastoral principles of welcome, accompaniment and gradualness, purification and conversion, integral Christian formation, as well as discernment and integration", and the exercise of human and supernatural virtues. In particular, we emphasize prudence, patience and wisdom, as well as pastoral charity and apostolic hope", and "reflection together with dialogue, in a climate of faith and prayer, under the guidance of the hierarchy".

"Steps need to be taken."

María Dolores Negrillo, a member of the Executive Board of Cursillos in ChristianityHe clearly expressed his opinion that "this ecclesial insertion" of new realities or movements in parishes has not taken place, to the point of considering that "we continue to walk in parallel".

The directive of Cursillosraised in "a very good family, but far from God", said that when she "discovered God, and that it was the Church", she went to a parish to ask what to do, and was told that "they had to think about it and that they didn't know what task to give her".

This issue of insertion "has worried me enormously," revealed María Dolores, who spoke of "stagnation" and "fear," both in one sector and in another. She cited comments from leaders of movements such as "we are not accepted in that parish", and also from parish priests in the parish in the sense that "they do not accept us". and also from parish priests in the sense that "they complicate our lives, we don't want them".

"We have to improve," said Dolores Negrillo, "let's change our mentality and take steps to walk and work together, to give that evangelization that the world needs. Let's move from the I to the we, we must take steps to know and recognize each other. We belong to a common project, and we have to walk a path of synodality". In his opinion, the keys are "listening to the Spirit", "dialogue with everyone", and "evangelizing with enthusiasm and passion".

"Living in the Spirit and of the Spirit."

The intervention of Eduardo Toraño, National Consiliary of the Charismatic Renewaland professor at the Universidad San Dámaso, had a marked theological accent. In fact, José Miguel Granados quotes in Omnes a paper by Eduardo Toraño, entitled "Movimientos eclesiales y nueva evangelización. A new Pentecost".

At the beginning, the Consiliary of Charismatic Renewal referred to the foundation and then to discernment. "It is the Spirit that vivifies the Church, and he makes himself present in human persons, it is necessary to take this into account". "The whole Church is charismatic, on the one hand; and on the other hand, the Church is always in need of renewal and updating."

In the emergence of these ecclesial realities, which John Paul II called movements, "there is a novelty, and that is to ask whether these realities are essential in the Church". "In fact, St. John Paul II and the theology of the post-conciliar period teach that hierarchical gifts (ordained ministers) and charismatic gifts are co-essential. The Lumen Gentium in its number 4 speaks of these two types of gifts".

Professor Toraño recalled an intervention of Cardinal Ratzinger in 1998 on ecclesial movements, which the Bishop of Alcalá de Henares would later quote in his words, in which he points out something that "I believe is very important: the Hierarchy, the Institution, is charismatic".

This is important in his opinion, because "if a minister, who is responsible for the government of the parish, or a bishop in the diocese, if he is not moved by the Spirit, if his charism, from which came his vocation and call, which led him to be part, as an ordained minister, of the Hierarchy, if he does not live in the Spirit and of the Spirit, and that call has been corseted, then he will not have that openness". "What is new is annoying," added the Consiliary, recalling that at times, when asked why something is done in a certain way, the answer has been: 'because it has always been done that way'."

Discernment, a gift

Among other reflections on charisms and parish life, Eduardo Toraño also referred to discernment, which is "the key. And to be able to discern, and this is one of the fundamental tasks of pastors, the pastor in his parish, the bishop in his diocese, must discern on all the questions that may arise in his area of responsibility".

"There are several elements to discernment. The first is to know. And if there are prejudices, on whatever side, there is already an impediment. It is necessary for a Pastor to know all the realities, and if possible, from the inside. It is also necessary to see the fruits. Discernment is a gift, a charism, not everyone has it," said the Charismatic Renewal Consiliary, who advised open-mindedness, charity and truth, and formation, among other things.

forum omnes — Photo: Speakers at the Omnes Forum with the director of the Ateneo de Teología, the director of Omnes and the editor-in-chief of the magazine. ©Rafa Martín

Charisms in the Church: approaches

Monsignor Antonio Prieto began by recounting the words of Cardinal Ratzinger in 1998, when St. John Paul II called all the movements convened at Pentecost of that year in Rome, with more than half a million people, and told them: "You are the springtime of the Church", "you are the response of the Holy Spirit at the end of the second millennium", quoted the Bishop of Alcalá.

Ratzinger said, according to the bishop, "How does one approach this question theologically? There are two possibilities. First, the dialectic. That there is a dialectic between the Institution in the Church and the charism. And then there is another possibility. A more historical approach. And when one looks at things more historically, one realizes that when a charism has arisen in the Church, it has suffered - then suffering is part of history - but in the end that charism has been assumed by the Church, and has helped the Church to rejuvenate itself and, as Eduardo said before, to reform itself".

The bishop then made an exposition of what it would mean to pose dialectically "institution (ordained ministry) and charism; Christology and pneumatology, or hierarchy and prophecy". And his conclusion was that "the Church is not built dialectically, but organically".

Regarding the historical approach: for example, tensions between the universal Church and the particular Church, Monsignor Prieto said: "The area assigned to the Apostles for evangelization was the whole world. The universal Church precedes the local ones, which arise as actualizations of it".

After reviewing the apostolic movements in the history of the Church, the Bishop of Alcalá referred to discernment, stressing that "the movements want to revive the Gospel in its totality, with a missionary dimension", and "they recognize in the Church their reason for being. They want to be in communion with the Church, with the successors of the Apostles and with the successor of Peter".

More about charismas

In Monsignor Prieto's opinion, and referring to the two parts (institution and charisms), both "must allow themselves to be educated by the Holy Spirit, to be purified. The charisms, although they have done much good to concrete persons, are not the property of concrete persons, but the property of the Church, and they must submit to the demands that flow from this fact".

"But also - the bishop adds - "pastors cannot fall into absolute uniformity of organizations and pastoral programs, as if putting a measure to the Holy Spirit. It would be a Church impenetrable to the Holy Spirit". "One must not label as zealous fundamentalism people animated by the Holy Spirit", but "the movements must also take into account that ubi Petrus, ibi ecclesia; ubi episcopus, ibi ecclesia".

"The ministry and the movements need each other. When one of the two poles weakens, the whole Church suffers. All must allow themselves to be measured by the rule of love for the unity of the one Church", added Monsignor Prieto before the audience of the Athenaeum of Theology. In his opinion, and these are his final words on the title of the Omnes Forum: "We are called to an integration, but this integration will not happen without an open and fraternal dialogue, and without a certain amount of suffering".

At the end of the question and answer session, Maria José Atienza thanked the collaborators for their support: Ateneo de Teología, Fundación CARF, Banco Sabadell, the attendees, among whom were members of various institutions, movements and initiatives such as Acción Católica, Alpha, Encuentro matrimonial or Focolares. He also thanked the readers and subscribers of Omnes, whose director, Alfonso Riobó, had welcomed the Bishop of Alcalá and the speakers at the beginning of the event.

The authorFrancisco Otamendi

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Diego Blanco: "With deconstruction they are changing classic heroes into monsters."

Diego Blanco is a cultural researcher, screenwriter and TV producer. He has published several books, including the saga "The Secret Fire Club". In this interview with Omnes, he talks about this work, the "woke" deconstruction and the Catholic Tolkien Association.

Loreto Rios-September 20, 2023-Reading time: 9 minutes

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Diego Blanco is a cultural researcher, scriptwriter and TV producer. He has published with Ediciones Encuentro "An unexpected path" (2016), "Once upon a time the Gospel in stories" (2020) y "The Secret Fire Club", a 7-book children's saga that concluded in June 2023.

The Secret Fire Club

TitleThe Secret Fire Club

AuthorDiego Blanco Albarova

EditorialEdiciones Encuentro

Madrid: 2020-2023

In this interview with Omnes, he talks about "Secret Fire", the deconstruction and founding of the Tolkien Catholic Association.

How did the idea of the Catholic Tolkien Association come about?

-I was worried about the appearance of the series "The Rings of Power", because I sensed before it came out, from the information that was available, what it was going to be about and that it had very little to do with Tolkien. When it was released, my worst fears were confirmed. Then I was invited by Antonio Izquierdo, a very Tolkienian priest, to his parish in Móstoles, San José Obrero, to make a review of the whole series. That day, I explained why I thought that production was so bad. It is a video that is in Youtube.

At the end of that talk, I announced that I was going to create the Catholic Tolkien Association. I did not know how, as Frodo says, but I was going to create it, because I saw the need to preserve the Catholic legacy of Tolkien's work, which is beginning to be endangered. It is no longer just that some may deny it or pay less attention to it, but it is beginning to be endangered by the "woke" deconstruction, which is an issue that worries me a lot and also has to do with the origin of "The Secret Fire Club".

So I decided to create the ATC to preserve Tolkien's Catholic legacy. They immediately signed up PaulJoaquín, and the priest who had invited me to the talk, the four horsemen of the Apocalypse. People of all kinds are coming, which is something that attracts my attention, and it is being a very nice experience, of communion also with the other founders. And we are having a great time, which is also important. There are different people with different opinions, and what has been shown is the "catholicity" that Tolkien can do, which for me has always been an important thing: that Tolkien unites. And that union is above the fact that there are different sensibilities, which are secondary, at the end of the day, because the important thing is that we are interested in this work because in one way or another it has impacted our lives.

Interesting in that sense is Tolkien's concept of applicability, that he does not intentionally seek an allegory, and is therefore an author who can reach people of very different sensibilities and beliefs.

-That is fundamental, of course it is. That it is applicable is a right that cannot be denied to anyone, because it is a right given by the author, it is sacred. The first one to make an application is me. I never say in my book ("Un camino inesperado") that I make an allegory, it is an accusation made by those who have not read me. In the prologue I say: "This is a Christian application". "An" application, does not mean that it is "the" application. But I say: I think, in my own way, I am getting Tolkien's meaning right. I'm willing to be wrong, because what I want is to learn, but with the data I have, I think that's the meaning. It's one thing if it's applicable, and another if it doesn't mean anything. Because many times, when we talk about applicability, deep down we deny the sense, the meaning.

That's not to say that Moria is Abraham's Moria or that Aragorn has to be anything specific. The important thing with ATC is to have an environment where no one feels stupid for believing that Tolkien's works have helped them in their faith. There are a lot of us whose faith has been helped by Tolkien's works, and there is a reason for that. "The Lord of the Rings" is a fundamentally religious and Catholic work (Tolkien says so in his letter to Murray), it has helped us in our faith and from there we talk, study, write articles... The question is to study him as a Catholic, which is what they have not allowed us to do, because they consider it a circumstantial thing. But in Tolkien it is central. That is a little bit the intention.

From there, we will be able to sit down and talk, which is the beauty of it, and let everyone give their opinion. It is a matter of bringing together the different sensibilities within the association. In what is essential, unity, in what is secondary, freedom, and in everything, charity, as Saint Augustine used to say. And the truth is that it is working very well, in that sense I feel very happy. We have also met people who are eager to know, because they know very little about Tolkien. Which is something that has surprised us, because we thought that only guys as "freaks" as us would join an association, but no, they are Christians who have been helped by Tolkien's work to understand themselves and want to know more.

How did the "deconstruction" affect the origin of the Secret Fire saga?

-Because all that deconstruction of tales and stories, when I got to Tolkien himself, touched my spinal cord, because Tolkien is the starting point of practically all my vital, human and Christian experience. "Secret Fire" is a response. I began to detect a problem when my children began to grow up and to read. I like to read and I want my children to read, but I began to see that in all the books they brought from school (a Catholic school), the main characters were monsters.

I started to read everything they brought and I got a shock, because, busy at work, I had become a little separated from the cultural world. I especially remember one of the books, which was about a family living on the edge of a forest. The father was a sullen and horrible woodcutter, the son kept a secret about his sexual orientation. The daughter one day gets lost in the forest and meets a witch who tells her that her family has a curse and that to remove it they have to cast a spell by all getting naked in the bathtub.

I belong to the generation of "Fray Perico y su borrico" and "El pirata Garrapata", and I said: "But what happened in between? A barbarity had happened: deconstruction. And I got scared. So with "Fuego Secreto" I tried to recover a narrative for kids that was healthy, that the archetypes of good and evil corresponded to the Judeo-Christian conception of good and evil. Because with deconstruction, already announced by Jacques Derrida in the 80s, what they are doing is "deconstructing" all the stories, changing the classic heroes for monsters.

Is this a deliberate move?

-Yes, it's intentional. I always talk about the stories, more than about Tolkien, about this change that has taken place. Because when you see a movie, you instinctively identify with the protagonist. It is natural. You see Indiana Jones, for example, and you see a hero, who doesn't have to be perfect, he can be a weak guy, with problems, but he's a moderately good man and in the end he defeats evil. Now 90 % of the protagonists of stories, series, movies are monsters.

Twilight, Hotel Transylvania, Vampirina, Monster High... This is intentional. Because I can't change society if I don't change mythology. The first changes are not legislative, they are always narrative. Tyrants know that very well. Stalin knew it perfectly well, and that is why he gathers all the writers in his house and says: "I drink to you, writers, engineers of the soul". And he said that the production of souls was much more important than the production of tanks.

Goebbels also knew this. That's why the film production of the Third Reich was enormous. It changed the narrative consciousness. The first anti-Semitic film that was released in the Third Reich was "Robert und Bertram," and it was a comedy. It's about two gulfs (the typical sympathetic gulf character) who get out of jail and come to a little town where there's a Jew who wants to marry an Aryan. And the gulfs start to play comedy pranks on him. It started with a comedy and little by little... They didn't start with "El judío Suss", or "El judío eterno", but a comedy. Because the change is always narrative at the beginning.

Now we are also having a narrative change, where good and evil have been disrupted. The protagonist with whom a child identifies is a monster. This is interesting, because it's saying to him, "It's just that everything you've believed all your life to be monstrous, everything your parents have told you is monstrous (it could be the vampire, the troll, the witch) is not true, it's good. What have your parents told you? That you can't do such a thing? They are wrong, yes you can".

Archetypes are very important, because all movies are about matching what we have inside us about good, evil, just, unjust, with what I see on the screen. The smart move that is being made now is to change the archetype, and that good is represented by a monster. There are people who consider that to be against this is a lack of mercy, for not wanting to understand the bad guy. I'm not saying that the characters have to be perfect, but if I change the story, if I change the archetype, I'm ruining society. With the excuse of gender, patriarchy, or whatever, the physiognomy of the person, and therefore of society, is being profoundly changed, because we are identifying ourselves with the bad guys.

That's why I said: "I'm going to write books where the bad guys are the bad guys, and the good guys do what they can". Because I don't like the archetype of the perfect knight-errant either, but I do advocate for a protagonist who fights against evil. With his weaknesses, his problems, like everyone else. That's why all my characters in "Fuego Secreto" are wounded: David is a very intelligent kid, and that's why he is bullied and has a terrible time, Oscar is a hypochondriac and is afraid of dying, Paula feels that she is ignored at home, Coque is a kid who has lost his father and has a stepfather who makes his life impossible, and Dani hides a secret and always has a brittle fiber a little sad.

They are characters who are wounded, but that wound not only does not prevent them from fighting against evil, but, based on it, they can fight against the bad guys. In this case, the bad guys are the servants of the Master of Lies, who tries to make their lives impossible.

Is the story allegorical?

-Yes, completely, there is no applicability because I don't know, I'm not as smart as Tolkien, this is allegorical. The Master of Lies has an army of lies, and in the saga, when a lie catches on and you believe it, it takes shape. These are the Dark Ones, characters who are monsters and take different forms to attack you and turn you into a specter convinced of those lies. Three teachers, Chesterton, Lewis and Tolkien, lead you to this combat. It is with your own reality, which the Master of Lies tries to make you believe is horrible through his monsters, that you can defeat him.

That part of the training I took a lot of care in the second book, because I wanted to put in a character who was the typical mentor, like in "Karate Kid", who talks funny, because I love mentors who talk funny. But he has a very important role, which is to teach us not to take ourselves too seriously, because, as Chesterton said, the devil fell by gravity: it's a play on words, as if to say that he took himself too seriously and that's why he fell. That's why the part of the spiritual combat has a comic element with the trainer, but at the same time a very serious one.

I am struck by the fact that there are many adults who have told me that it has helped them, because I am read by many children, but also by many parents.

And then the development is that of a classic fantasy adventure. It's more like Narnia than "The Lord of the Rings", but because I'm not yet ready to undertake a high fantasy. But I love Narnia very much, I love Lewis very much, not as much as Tolkien, but I love him very much too.

What has been the response from readers?

-I have had the opportunity to go to a lot of schools, many of them subsidized, Catholic, but many others public. It is very interesting. Because, even though I have been allegorical, I feel happy that many children read the books themselves, and it helps them in themselves. And I like that very much, because I always say that narrative helps, as Aristotle said, through catharsis. A story in a certain way announces God to you. Von Balthasar said that every story, whether you like it or not, is religious.

I have come across some very cool cases, for example the one of a kid in a public school, not at all Christian, in fifth-sixth grade. The teacher told me that this kid used to draw monsters and ugly, dark things. Once the teacher asked him: "But what are those ugly drawings? And the child answered: "They are demons". I guess he got it from manga, or something like that. The teacher told me that after reading the first two "Secret Fire" books, he stopped drawing those pictures.

For me that's great, I thank God, I don't deserve this. Because, of course, that kid, what references does he have? Who knows what his problems are at home, and if all his references are Maleficent, Vampirina and Hotel Transylvania, what is he going to draw? And yet reading my books made a change in him. And it's not because of my genius, because I don't have it, but the simple outline of good fighting evil helps them enormously, and it's something they don't have access to right now.

Finally, what are your current projects?

-Now I am working a lot on the film of "Fuego Secreto", because we are adapting the books into cartoons. I am also finishing an essay for Ediciones Encuentro, about how to understand narratively what happens in our lives.

I want to continue writing narrative, but, with these other projects, it will take a while. I would like the next one, instead of for children, to be for youth and adults.

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Korea, China, Mary Help of Christians and the Holy Spirit resound in Rome

New impetus for cooperation between the Church in China and the Vatican

Four bishops of the People's Republic of China have resumed the path of fraternal cooperation among the Churches, abruptly interrupted by the pandemic, by participating in a week-long mission to Belgium, Holland and France.

Antonino Piccione-September 19, 2023-Reading time: 3 minutes

Joseph Guo Jincai, bishop of the diocese of Chengde and recently appointed rector of the Beijing National Seminary; Paul Pei Junmin, bishop of the diocese of Shenyang; Joseph Liu Xinhong, bishop of the province of Anhui and Joseph Cui Qingqi, bishop of Wuhan; and Father Ding Yang, priest of the diocese of Chongqing: these are the four bishops of the People's Republic of China who have resumed the path of fraternal cooperation between the Churches, abruptly interrupted by the pandemic, by participating in a week-long mission in Belgium, Holland and France.

At a time of considerable geopolitical tensions, in the same days in which Cardinal Matteo Zuppi traveled to Beijing to meet with the representative for Eurasian affairs Li Hui. The topics discussed, as is well known, focused on the war in Ukraine and the dramatic social and economic upheavals that followed. Both the Holy See and China agreed on the "need to join efforts to foster dialogue and find ways that lead to peace." Space was also devoted to the issue of food security, calling for the restoration of grain exports to the most threatened countries.

Since 2018, the Holy See has been trying to weave a climate of trust with China. On the occasion of his recent trip to Mongolia, Pope Francis affirmed "that governments and lay institutions have nothing to fear from the Church's evangelizing action, because the Church has no political agenda to pursue."

The Agreement on the Appointment of Chinese Bishops signed in 2018 and renewed twice, in 2020 and 2022, should be read in this sense. That is, in a search for harmony and shared choices, capable of enabling the Church to fully carry out its evangelizing mission.

It is in this context that we can situate and interpret the initiative of the four Chinese bishops, born at the invitation of the Ferdinand Verbiest Foundation of Louvain, Belgium. A foundation created in 1982 by the Chinese Province of the CICM Missionaries (Scheut). Academic research, cultural exchange, dialogue and cooperation between the Churches are the four pillars of its mission to promote dialogue and cultural exchange with China and the Catholic Church in China. The Foundation conducts joint academic research with institutes in China and Belgium.

It cooperates with the Church in China in a spirit of Christian brotherhood and communion between the particular Churches. In addition, in cooperation with the Church in China, the foundation offers training for church ministers through seminary teaching, scholarships and pastoral and social engagement.

This is not the first time that a group of Chinese bishops has visited Belgium. Already in 2019, favored by the then recent agreement between the Holy See and China for the appointment of bishops, a group of five Chinese bishops had visited Belgium, also at the behest of the Verbiest Foundation. A visit propitiated by the circumstance of the participation of two Chinese bishops in the Synod on Youth at the Vatican in 2018. Scheut's fathers are among the greatest architects of dialogue with the East: the first missionaries in Mongolia after seventy years of socialism.

The Chinese delegation, according to Fides, arrived in Leuven on September 7, received by Father Jeroom Heyndrickx (CICM), other members of the foundation and the Catholic University of Leuven which deals with Chinese studies. During their stay, the four bishops gave a training course in Chinese for priests, religious and lay Catholics from China.

The bishops also attended meetings at the Verbiest Foundation and the Chinese College to explore new ways to revive exchanges and formation courses in cooperation with Chinese dioceses. In addition, the Chinese bishops were received by Cardinal Jozef De Kesel, President of the Belgian Episcopal Conference and Archbishop Emeritus of the Archdiocese of Mechelen-Brussels, as well as President of the same Foundation, to whom they presented the proposals for collaboration agreed with the Verbiest Foundation.

After visiting the Parc Abbey of the Norbertine Fathers in Heverlee, one of the oldest abbeys in Belgium, and Tournai, one of the oldest dioceses in Belgium, the Chinese bishops made a brief stop in the Netherlands, at the motherhouse of the SVD SVD missionaries in Steyl. In Broekhuizenvorst they paid homage to the nine martyrs: Vincentian Bishop Schraven and his companions. They also met with Jan Hendriks, Bishop of Haarlem-Amsterdam, and discussed with him the 15th International Verbiest Conference, to be held in 2024, to which Chinese Catholic scholars will also be invited.

From September 12 to 15, the Chinese bishops continued their visit to France, meeting with missionaries of the Paris Foreign Mission Society.

The authorAntonino Piccione

China

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Submerged Virgins, remembering those who died at sea

Pope to pray in Marseille for those who died at sea

On September 22 and 23, 2023, Francis will make his apostolic journey to Marseille to conclude the "Mediterranean Encounters". This will be the first time in five centuries that a Pope will visit the city.

Loreto Rios-September 19, 2023-Reading time: 2 minutes

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On Friday, September 22, 2023, the Pope's apostolic journey to Marseille will begin. The meetings on that day will include a Marian prayer with the diocesan clergy at the Basilica of Notre Dame de la Garde and a prayer with religious leaders at the Memorial dedicated to the deceased in the sea.

On Saturday, September 23, 2023, the Pope will hold an early morning private meeting with people with financial insufficiency. Afterwards, the Mediterranean Meetings will close with a concluding session at the Palais du Pharo during which the Pope will deliver a speech. The Pope will then meet with French President Emmanuel Macron. This will be the third official meeting between Francis and the President of France.

At 4:15 p.m., Holy Mass will be celebrated at the Stade Velodrome, during which the Pope will deliver his homily in Italian. At 6:45 p.m., the Pope's farewell ceremony will take place at Marseille International Airport in the presence of the French President. The plane will take off from Marseille at 7:15 pm. After a little more than an hour and a half of flight time, the Pope will arrive in Rome, where he is scheduled to land at approximately 8:50 pm.

In total, the Pope will deliver four speeches during his two-day trip to Marseille, all of them in Italian: one at the Marian prayer, another at the meeting with religious leaders, the third at the closing session of the Mediterranean Meetings and, finally, at the Mass on Saturday 23.

Five centuries since the last visit

With this trip, Francis will be the first Pope to visit Marseille in 5 centuries. Only three Popes have visited this city before: Blessed Urban V of Lozère, Gregory XI, who stayed in the city for twelve days (before embarking for Rome), and Clement VII of Florence, who visited the city to celebrate the marriage of Henry II to Catherine de Medici on October 28, 1533, the last time a Pope visited Marseille. What there have been are "future" Popes who have visited Marseille as priests or bishops, as is the case of Karol Wojtyla, the future Saint John Paul II.

Third edition of the "Mediterranean Meetings".

This will be the third edition of the "Mediterranean Encounters" program, which brings together bishops from 29 countries and young people of different nationalities.

The initiative arose from the Italian Episcopal Conference in 2020, with the aim of fostering communion between the communities around the Mediterranean and addressing the challenges facing these regions. In 2020, they were held in Bari, Italy, and in 2022, in Florence.

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Monsignor Masondole: "In Africa there is no shame in saying 'I am a Christian'."

"Europe is linked to Africa," says Church in Spain

Xavier Gómez, OP, head of migration of the Spanish Episcopal Conference, this morning linked the future of Europe to that of Africa, stating that "as long as the immense population of young people in Africa does not have conditions for the future, this will condition our continent". In this line, he recalled that people have the right not to migrate, but also to migrate "without obstacle courses".

Francisco Otamendi-September 19, 2023-Reading time: 3 minutes

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His reflection came on the occasion of the World Day of Migrants and Refugees 2023The Church celebrates next Sunday, the 24th, on a weekend in which Pope Francis travels precisely to Marseille, at the closing of the "Encounters of the Mediterranean", as it has been reporting. Omnes.

Xavier Gómez OP specified that he referred to the development of Africa "because of its proximity, but the reflection also refers to other continents, everything is interconnected". In his opinion, "the migratory phenomenon is one of the phenomena that define our changing times, because of all the connections that take place around migrations, and the way of managing and dealing with them".

"The Church has been working on hospitality and recognizing itself with migrants ever since it became the Church," he stressed, "because the Catholic Church has been culturally diverse since its beginnings. The Church never sides with migrants. It is always at the side of migrants and refugees," added Xavier Gomez, "because the Church has hospitality in its DNA.

Codifying the right not to migrate

During his appearance, the head of migrations David Melián, a lawyer from the Canary Islands who works in the delegation of migration of the diocese of Canary Islands. This jurist has been a lawyer for migrants in the Canary Islands, and then visited their families, for example in Senegal, so his perspective is extremely enriching.

Both Xavier Gómez OP and David Melián have pointed out that "the right not to migrate is not codified and does not exist as such, and this is important. The Church says why not codify it in international legislation, to protect and give more rights so that people can develop their lives with dignity in their countries of origin".

As for Senegal, "the choice is not free. They come because they have no choice," said David Melián. "The need to promote conditions in the countries of origin so that people can make a free choice is very important".

"The figures are important - in the Canary Islands right now, they are striking - but behind these figures there are people. I think that the most important thing, as José Gabriel Vera (CEE Information Director, present at the event) said before, is to talk about people, and not so much about figures. Even if it were only one person, he already has the dignity to which Xavier referred. Providing figures dehumanizes. If they only talk to us about numbers, it doesn't touch our hearts, it doesn't move us".

Atlantic Hospitality Guide

Xavier Gómez informed that his department "is preparing at the international and interdiocesan level the Atlantic Guide of Hospitality, with countries and dioceses of southern Europe, Spain, specifically the Canary Islands, some dioceses of southern Spain, Ceuta and Melilla, and others of northwest Africa, Morocco, Senegal, Mauritania, and other countries, pointing to a vision of the future to respond to the challenge of migration". A project in collaboration with the Dicastery for Integral Human Development of the Holy See.

In addition, "we have the corridors of hospitality, in which there is solidarity between dioceses in the Canary Islands and with the peninsula, in order to promote the culture of hospitality and interdiocesan solidarity to facilitate the mobility of migrants in vulnerable situations and to challenge public administrations to assume their responsibility in this area".

"And then we have the Table of the rural world," he added, "that reads positively the job opportunities and the need that exists in the emptied Spain, we are committed to connect families who want to live in the villages with municipalities and entities that are promoting the revitalization of the villages. This will contribute to revitalize the villages, small Christian communities and ensure the rooting project of these families.

"Right to migrate in dignity"

At the same level as the right not to migrate, "the Church recognizes, advocates and promotes the right to migrate in dignity, not in any way," adds Xavier Gomez. "It proposes safe and legal ways for migration, dignified and safe reception, joint rescue and search operations, because migration is very exposed and we know the drama of those who leave their lives at sea, let us assume the duty that States have to rescue people, and do it jointly. And to look for the people who are lost, including the bodies that the sea swallows".

And then, "when we talk about arrival, the Church will be advocating, as the Pope says in 'Fratelli tutti', for the recognition of all migrants, displaced persons and refugees, the right to full citizenship, an important concept, which ensures the recognition of rights. And as it was done with the Ukrainian displaced persons, when it is activated in an effective way, it grants the work permit, the residence permit, and avoids being in an irregular administrative situation".

"It cannot be that the response to dissuade people from migrating is to inflict suffering on them, that obstacle course that we put them through. This year's campaign does not lose sight of everything that has to do with human mobility: the countries of origin, transit and arrival," says the head of migration of the EEC.

The authorFrancisco Otamendi

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Klara and the sunAre we replaceable?

The basic question posed in Kazuo Ishiguro's (1954) latest novel, "Klara and the sun"(2021), has troubled many philosophers: What is the human being, what is it that makes us unique and unrepeatable?

Juan Ignacio Izquierdo Hübner-September 19, 2023-Reading time: 2 minutes

Klara is an empathetic robot with a great capacity for learning. She is waiting at the back of the store, eager to be moved to the display case for someone to pick her out. Finally, Josie, a 14-year-old girl with an illness that is robbing her of her strength, notices her. She wants to make her her best friend. Her mother agrees and they buy her; however, she seems to have a second intention, or rather a dilemma: when her daughter dies, would it be possible for the robot to replace her, imitating her in everything so exactly that it could become the "continuation" of her daughter?

For the Frenchman René Descartes (1596-1650), man is his consciousness. According to him, it would be possible to divide the world between res cogitans (thinking substance or consciousness) and res extensa (extensive substance, the body). This separation of man between consciousness and "the rest" laid the foundations for some to define us as "a consciousness that is master of its body".

The novel does not go into these depths, but the vacillations of the mother, her ex-husband, the scientist who is hired to help Klara in her task of imitation, etc., turn our stomachs. We are left with the following discussion: Is there a principle that reconciles consciousness and body? The German philosopher Robert Spaemann (1927-2018), for example, proposed that the key to overcoming this dissociation is to remember that man is a living being, since life is exteriority and interiority at the same time. Life as a principle of unity of the human being can be a way to resolve the above perplexities.

Also surprising is the point of view of the narrative. Ishiguro writes from the perspective of the robot's consciousness. Klara's "thoughts" gradually shed light on the discussion of our identity. She strives to get to know Josie, but gradually realizes that in the girl there is an invisible, distant background that might be impossible to reach, let alone imitate. It is what humans call heart. For this reason, Klara will put all her energies into taking the best possible care of Josie, so that she will be cured and will not need to be "continued" or "replaced".

The novel "Klara and the sun"moves us to reflect on the essence of man, the meaning of life, the quality of our relationships, love and all that nonsense that makes us unique and irreplaceable.

The authorJuan Ignacio Izquierdo Hübner

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Father S.O.S

Assuming the risk of service to others

Serving others has its risks and, if you assume them, you need to take measures and develop care so that your dedication does not become a heavy burden that is difficult to handle.

Carlos Chiclana-September 19, 2023-Reading time: 3 minutes

If you take your priesthood seriously, you are usually "on duty" all day long. Serving has its risks. Just as a mountaineer or a sailor, by assuming what he is going to do, takes on the risks and takes the necessary measures to face them and achieve his goal, you, by opting for the priesthood, assume the risks and it is necessary that you also develop some care.

In class, sometimes, half jokingly and very seriously, I discuss with the students whether the medical profession is a profession of service. In the end we conclude that it is. I leave a pedagogical silence and ask: "Excuse me, can you tell me where the services are?". They laugh and look thoughtful in equal parts. Serving others has a risk and, if you take it, you need to take action.

The first risk is that you will be used. It sounds strong and it is. The good thing? It confirms that you are in your place, down the hall to the right. When I lived in Cordoba, a very old Jesuit priest died. A classmate of mine said to me: "The priest of St. Hippolyte, the one in the confessional entering on the left, has died". I asked him what his name was, but he did not know; and he usually went to confession with him. Many knew him that way: the one entering on the left. There he was, without a name, to use and serve. If you feel used: be happy, that's why you came, Manolete, to fight, and with a sense of humor.

Another risk: it is tiring. It is normal for human beings to get tired and to arrive at the end of the day exhausted. According to the Gospel, this also happened to Jesus, and he went around falling asleep on his head in the middle of storms. This is exactly why you need to rest. Sometimes, when a patient writes me an email saying that he is very tired, what can he do, I reply, "Have you tried resting, see what happens?". If he has a sense of humor, he rests, and if not, he looks for another doctor. Jesus used to go to Bethany on weekends, he sought his moments of solitude. How do you take care of and respect that weekly day of rest? Do you get enough sleep? Do you eat well and in order? Do you do some physical exercise? Do you cultivate -even if only a little- some hobby? Do you keep spaces free of screens?

Serving others also requires time, a lot of time. Whether to prepare, whether to listen, whether to collect..... You know this well. If you take this risk, you will force yourself, as a consequence, to distribute your time with quality and priorities, so as not to neglect those tasks that are essential to you. In a continuous formation on the life of prayer with professionals highly occupied in the business world, as well as parents of large families, they laughed a lot because I repeated to them in all the sessions and with theatrical fuss: "I don't believe that you want to dedicate some time to prayer - I don't believe that you want to dedicate some time to prayer.time of praying- if you do not have a slot reserved in your Google Calendar, because then you get a call conference and everything goes to hell".

It has been more than scientifically proven that professionals who work with people are at a higher risk of suffering from burnoutoccupational burnout syndrome, "as a result of chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed. It is characterized by three dimensions: 1) feelings of lack of energy or exhaustion; 2) increased mental distance from work, or negative or cynical feelings about work; and 3) a sense of ineffectiveness and lack of accomplishment. It refers specifically to phenomena in the work context and should not be applied to describe experiences in other areas of life." (World Health Organization).

Your work with so many people challenges you, you get into it, you give yourself to it; it is a job maintained over time and, if you don't take care of yourself, you wear yourself out. You need to successfully manage stress. In addition to the above, it can help you to know yourself better; to know what stresses you most about your job - the famous cortisol that explains so well the Dr. Marian Rojas- and dose it (or delegate it, if you can); learn emotional regulation tools; ask for help if you don't get to the issues; have friends with whom to "vent emotionally" and who are not scared because you are a priest; lean on priest friends in particular and have vacation seasons. If you have the symptoms listed by the WHO, consult a doctor. Priests can also benefit from time off from work. Leave from work, not from being a priest.

It also has many benefits. We'll leave them for another issue, and in the meantime, enjoy being a priest and the good you do with pride: thank you!

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Displaced persons and migrants: "they are people, not numbers"

Free to choose whether to migrate or stay

From September 18 to 24, the U.S. Church commemorates National Migration Week, which culminates and is linked to World Migrants and Refugees Day.

Gonzalo Meza-September 18, 2023-Reading time: 3 minutes

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From September 18 to 24, the Church in the USA commemorates National Migration Week (NMW), which culminates and ties in with World Migrants and Refugees Day to be celebrated on September 24. The goal of NMI is to encourage reflection on the challenges faced by migrants, especially those who migrate due to social and political conflicts or tensions.

The SMN also seeks to emphasize the ways in which migrants enrich the communities where they arrive. On this occasion, many dioceses in the country will have Masses, days of reflection and prayer related to migration.

Free migration

The theme that will guide the SMN is the one used by Pope Francis for the World Day of Migrants: "Free to choose whether to migrate or to stay". If a person decides to migrate, he or she must do so freely, by choice and not out of necessity, the Holy Father points out: "For migration to be a truly free decision, it is necessary to strive to guarantee everyone an equal share in the common good, respect for fundamental rights and access to integral human development. Only in this way will it be possible to offer everyone the possibility of living in dignity and fulfilling themselves personally and as a family" (Message of the Holy Father for the 109th World Day of Migrants and Refugees).

In this sense, the bishops of Mexico and the United States say in a pastoral letter: "all people have the right to find in their own countries the economic, political and social opportunities to live with dignity and to have a full life" (Pastoral Letter "Together on the path of hope. We are no longer strangers". January 2, 2003).

The situation in the United States

Ideally, migratory flows should be a decision and not a necessity. However, the reality presents a different picture. According to the UN International Organization for Migration, there were 281 million international migrants by 2020. Of this total, more than 100 million migrated not by choice, but forced because of warsThe United States has been and continues to be a destination country for thousands of migrants, especially from Mexico and Central America. For historical, geographic and economic reasons, the United States has been and continues to be a destination country for thousands of migrants, especially from Mexico and Central America. Some 13.6 percent of the U.S. population was born outside the country and millions of residents are naturalized each year.

Although documented migration is much higher than undocumented migration ─in 2019 there were 2.5 million visitors and people who entered with the necessary permits─ thousands of people seek to enter without papers. In 2021 alone, U.S. Border Patrol authorities apprehended 1.6 million undocumented immigrants. Conservative estimates suggest that there are 12 million people in the country living in the shadows of the law, without documents.

The current U.S. immigration system, which dates back to 1986, has been overwhelmed by the unprecedented number of migrants who in recent years have tried to enter the U.S. without documents, which represents a greater risk for the person trying to do so. In 2022 alone, 853 people died trying to cross into the U.S. by swimming across the Rio Bravo, walking for hours (even with children) through the desert, without water and under temperatures of more than 50 degrees, or trying to go through inhospitable places with little surveillance by U.S. authorities.

Mark J. Seitz, Bishop of El Paso, Texas and chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee on Migration, noted: "As believers, we are compelled to respond with charity to those who have uprooted their lives in search of refuge. Efforts to manage migration, even when based on the common good, require that we address the forces that drive people to migrate. Only through collective efforts to alleviate these situations and by establishing the conditions necessary for integral human development will people be able to assert their right to remain in their country of birth."

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Pope concludes "Mediterranean Meetings" in September

Pope travels to Marseille to support inclusion of migrants

Pope Francis will make an apostolic journey to Marseille from September 22-23, 2023 to conclude the third edition of the "Mediterranean Meetings".

Federico Piana-September 18, 2023-Reading time: 2 minutes

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To promote paths "of peace, collaboration and integration around the mare nostrum, with particular attention to the phenomenon of migration". This is how Pope Francis defined yesterday, after the Angelus, the main objective of the initiative. Rencontres Méditerranéenneswhich opened a few days ago in Marseilles and which the Pontiff will conclude with a speech on September 23. The "Mediterranean Encounters"The program, with the participation of 120 young people of all religions, the Catholic bishops of all the countries bordering the Mediterranean and representatives of other Christian denominations and religious faiths, is full of elements for reflection: from interreligious round tables to moments of prayer, from the youth festival to cultural visits and theatrical performances.

Journey of hope

To the French city defined by the Pontiff himself as "a city rich in peoples, called to be a port of hope", Francis will arrive on the eve of the completion of the works, on Friday, September 22. After being received by the President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, the Pope, as a first gesture of faith, will go to the basilica of Notre Dame de la Garde for Marian prayer with the diocesan clergy. Immediately afterwards, also in the afternoon, the Pontiff will meet with the leaders of other religions for a moment of recollection before the memorial dedicated to the sailors and migrants lost at sea.

Perhaps it will be one of the central moments of the entire journey that will serve to underline, as the Pope has repeatedly said, "that the phenomenon of migration represents a challenge that is not easy, as we see also in the chronicles of these days, but which must be faced together, because it is essential for the future of all, which will be prosperous only if it is built on fraternity, putting in first place human dignity, the concrete persons, especially those most in need". For this reason, the Pontiff's speech scheduled for the conclusion of the "Mediterranean Meetings" can certainly be considered a "road map" capable of helping to understand how aid and solidarity are the only way to face a radical epochal change that is affecting the whole world.

Following in the footsteps of Bari and Florence

The Rencontres Méditerranéennes Marseille meetings do not come out of the blue. They are the fruit of two previous similar meetings: the first was held in Bari in 2020, the second took place in Florence in 2022. It could be said, in essence, that reflection on the challenges of the Mediterranean basin has never stopped. Dialogue between bishops, public administrators, different religious leaders and young people of all faiths and cultures has become the driving force behind what has now become an effective mode of action. An action for the common good.

The authorFederico Piana

Journalist. He works for Vatican Radio and collaborates with L'Osservatore Romano.

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The Sacred Heart of Jesus illuminated by the moon

The Christ of Havana

On September 18, 1915, Jilma Madera, the Cuban sculptor who created the monumental Christ of Havana, was born.

Loreto Rios-September 18, 2023-Reading time: 3 minutes

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The Christ of Havana is a monumental sculpture, about 20 meters high, representing the Sacred Heart of Jesus. It was designed and created by Jilma Madera, a Cuban sculptor born on September 18, 1915 in Pinar del Rio, Cuba, and died in 2000 in Havana.

The origin of Christ

Curiously, the construction of the sculpture is based on a promise made by Fulgencio Batista's wife when the Presidential Palace was assaulted with the intention of killing him in 1957. His wife made at that time the promise to build the image of a Christ that could be seen from any point of the city if her husband was saved, as it finally happened.

Thus, a competition was launched for projects to create the Christ and the winner was the Sacred Heart presented by Jilma Madera. The idea was that it should surpass the 35 meters of Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro, but the artist refused, since that height was not adequate for the place where the image was to be located.

The construction of the Christ

Jilma Madera went to Italy to build the sculpture, specifically to Carrara, where the quarries of the famous marble of the same name are located. Some 600 tons of marble were used to sculpt the Christ.

The artist spent about two years in Italy to carry out the whole process of creating the figure. Jilma Madera did not use any model to sculpt the image, and gave it some features, such as, for example, thick lips, to refer to Cuba's racial mix.

"I followed my principles and tried to achieve a statue full of vigor and human firmness. I gave the face serenity and integrity, as if to give (the impression of) someone who is certain of his ideas. I did not see him as a little angel among the clouds, but with his feet firmly on the ground," Madera said about his work.

Once completed, the Christ was blessed by the Pope. Pius XII and was transported by ship to Cuba, along with a large piece of marble in case it was needed later to repair possible damage.

Repairs

This additional fragment of Carrara marble that Jilma Madera brought from Italy to Cuba was used by the sculptor in 1961, when lightning struck the figure. The repair, carried out personally by the artist, took about five months.

A total of three times lightning has struck the Christ: in 1961, 1962 and 1986. After the third impact, a lightning rod was placed on the sculpture to prevent further damage.

This Sacred Heart has undergone several repairs, including one subsidized by religious institutions. In addition, the team of experts who restored it in 2013 received the National Restoration Award.

The Christ of Havana

The figure is located in the bay of Havana, specifically in the town of Casablanca, in the Loma de La Cabaña, where it was placed on Christmas Eve 1958 and inaugurated on Christmas Day of the same year.

The Christ of Havana is made up of 12 horizontal strata with 67 pieces in total, and the base on which it was erected is three meters deep. In the center of this base, a framework and a steel beam were placed that vertebrae the Christ from the base to the head. The pieces were tied with turnbuckles to the central frame and then the central space was filled with concrete.

The sculpture weighs approximately 320 tons, is 20 meters high and stands 51 meters above sea level. Since it is a Sacred Heart, the Christ is with one hand up, blessing, while the other rests on his chest. It is facing in the direction of the city, and its eyes are empty, so that, from afar, it gives the impression that it is looking at the viewer from wherever he stands.

If you get to the place where it is located, you can also enjoy breathtaking views of both the sea and the old town. Thanks to its height, El Cristo de la Habana can be seen from different points of the city.

On November 6, 2017, the sculpture was declared a National Monument.

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Soccer and religion: "Listen to your God and you will not be alone".

Sport and competition can bring people together, because they help people to give their best. Athletes who respectfully show their faith help us all to discover what is really important.

Graciela Jatib and Jaime Nubiola-September 18, 2023-Reading time: 4 minutes

The Olympic Games of antiquity had a certain religious character, since they were consecrated to Zeus. They began to be held in 776 B.C. in the city of Olympia, where the main sanctuary dedicated to this god was located. It was a celebration that took place every four years and lasted six days. On the occasion of this event, the different Greek cities enacted a truce: the Olympic peace. In this way, athletes could go to Olympia to participate in the games and return to their cities in peace. In this sense, it can be said that peace and harmony among peoples and men are at the origin of the Olympic spirit.

Religious expressions in sports

The International Olympic Committee has maintained a policy of political and religious neutrality at the Olympic Games, seeking to foster an atmosphere of unity and respect among athletes of different cultures and beliefs.

According to the Olympic Charter, the document that governs the principles and rules of the Olympic movement, any form of political, religious or racial demonstration or propaganda is prohibited at Olympic events.

This prohibition has been interpreted flexibly, as athletes may wear personal religious symbols, as long as they are not displayed in a provocative or excessive manner.

In May 2017, at the 67th FIFA Congress, held in Bahrain, the Muslim, Mohama Alarefe, from the King Saud Muslim University in Riyadh, used the event to demand that FIFA sanction soccer players who make the sign of the cross, because it is a gesture - he said in a message - that offends to their religion.

Alarefe invoked the Federation's regulations to argue that the sign of the cross violated the spirit of the rule by displaying a religious inscription. However, there are many footballers who put their faith first and continue to cross themselves at the start of matches or invoke God when they score a goal.

It is noteworthy that the song Waka Waka ("This is Africa") by Shakira, which served as the official FIFA song for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, says in one of its verses: "Hear your God and you won't be alone / You came here to shine and you have it all / [...] you have to start from scratch / to touch the sky.".

As is well known, on that occasion Spain lifted the most precious trophy in international soccer for the first time. The song captivated fans around the world. The lyrics allude to the religiosity of the players who become public references on whom the desire of the multitudes to triumph falls and who, in the face of this enormous weight, turn to supernatural help.

Soccer players pray

For their part, the players of the Argentine national soccer team that won the World Cup in Qatar in 2022 sanctified themselves with fervor and devotion before each goal; we all saw Leo Messi, captain of the team, raising his hands to the sky giving thanks to God for what was done on the field.

Angel Di Maria said: "When I put on my T-shirt, I usually start praying. I have my Jesus there, my Virgin, my crucifix and my cell phone with a picture of my wife with the girls. And I always light a candle, but in this final it was the only game of my career in which I didn't pray, I just gave thanks for the moment I was going to live.". When Pope Francis was asked about the message he would send to the Argentine champions in the World Cup, he answered: "Let them live it with humility.".

Perhaps it is worth recalling the example of Sadio Mané. On the occasion of the Ballon d'Or 2022 award ceremony, the magazine France Football The company awarded him with the Socrates Award, created to recognize soccer players with the greatest social action outside the field of play.

Mané said: "What do I want ten Ferrari cars, twenty diamond watches and two airplanes for? What will these objects do for me and for the world? I went hungry, worked in the fields, played barefoot and didn't go to school. Today I can help people. I prefer to build schools and give food or clothes to poor people.".

Away from the flashbulbs, he remains committed to Bambali, the village where he was born. Every time he enters the field of play, Mané bows in the direction of Mecca to bow to Allah. This act of honor to God has as a correlate his activity of commitment to the common good.

In a similar way, it is not strange for a player to sanctify himself, like Keylor Navas, the goalkeeper of the Costa Rican national team, who does not hide his faith and has found the strength he needs in the Catholic religion.

The Pope and soccer

Pope Francis' love of soccer is well known. Before the 2014 World Cup in Brazil he said: "My hope is that, in addition to the days of sports, this World Cup can become a celebration of solidarity among peoples.".

For the Pope, "sport is not only a form of entertainment, but also, and above all, a tool for communicating values, promoting the good of the human person and helping to build a more peaceful and fraternal society.".

On June 1, 2018, the document was presented at the Vatican. Giving the best of oneself. Document on the Christian perspective on sport and the human person.. The very title reveals the essence and reason for the Church's interest in and commitment to sport.

To paraphrase Shakira's song Hear your God and you will not be aloneIt is worth affirming that the experience of faith is a dwelling place that shelters and unites us all, even in sports.

The authorGraciela Jatib and Jaime Nubiola

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