Popular piety as an opportunity for a new evangelization
David Schwingenschuh is pastor of the two parishes of Krieglach and Langenwang in the diocese of Graz-Seckau in the province of Styria in southeastern Austria. In this article, he talks about the folk traditions of rural Austria and the pastoral challenges in the area.
David Schwingenschuh-August 21, 2023-Reading time: 4minutes
The parishes of Krieglach and Langenwang are located in the Mürz valley, AustriaThe town is characterized by transit from the northeast to the southwest, with the railroad and the highway as thoroughfares, so the patron saint of the parish church of Krieglach is very appropriate: it is dedicated to St. James the Apostle. With more than 5,000 and just over 3,000 inhabitants, they are not particularly large and, like other towns and the surrounding countryside, are characterized by the coexistence of agriculture and small industrial enterprises. Therefore, in secular and ecclesiastical life, the traditions and customs of these villages, some of them quite old, are preserved alongside all the innovations of the 21st century.
The starting point for my reflections is my own position as a parish priest in this rural region of Austria. On the one hand, there is a popular religious tradition, and a deep-rooted pastoral structure. On the other hand, I am serving as a priest alone where 50 years ago three priests ministered.
Moreover, on the one hand, there is a strong change in the religious and ecclesiastical life of the population, but on the other hand, there is a call for a new evangelization or mission in the country itself.
Some people see traditional expectations of the priest and the parish as an obstacle to a new pastoral ministry and dismiss them as a waste of time. I try to see it differently, and was encouraged to do so by an article in 30giorni that I read as a very young parish priest in 2008. It described the work of priests in Buenos Aires who, with the active support of their then bishop, Jorge Bergoglio, reached out and evangelized many people in troubled areas of the city through popular devotion, chapels and related social works.
Evangelization through popular piety
So why reject what already exists in order to implement something new and unproven? "A bird in the hand is better than a hundred in the air," the saying goes. Why not use the elements of popular piety to proclaim the faith? After all, some overly intellectual or supposedly modern events attract few people, while numerous traditional festivals draw crowds. It seems to me that these simple and popular feasts take especially seriously the truth of faith of the Incarnation, because the bodily part of the human being is not blurred. Nor is the social aspect forgotten, because the greatest need in our latitudes is probably loneliness, which is counteracted by these liturgical-pastoral celebrations.
Blessing of the horses
A good example is the so-called "blessing of the meat", officially called "Blessing of the Easter Food". It is celebrated in different chapels and crossroads and attracts very many people, who bring large baskets of meat, eggs and bread to be blessed. Instead of reprimanding them for never coming to church, you can briefly and concisely explain the message of the resurrection and, with a bit of humor, give them an admonition as well. Since there are many positions, trained lay people are also commissioned to lead the prayers and a simple blessing. In general, it is a great help to have faithful lay people in this occupation, who relieve one of many tasks. Often they also act as catechists, but sometimes they are very practical and functional, as the following point shows.
Road crossings and other customs
There are many chapels and roadside crosses that are lovingly cared for. They are often remote, in small villages, and I try to gather the faithful there at least once a year and strengthen them in their faith with the Eucharist or a Marian devotion. Often, after the Mass, an agape or even a small feast is held, which greatly enhances the bond with the local population. Often, in the course of such a meeting, a conversation about faith or initiation into a sacrament takes place.
In some valleys, several crosses, often located in the middle of farmhouses or isolated in the forest, are connected to form a route, which is then followed to celebrate a Way of the Cross during Lent. In addition, there are some festivals associated with traditions, such as All Saints' Day, St. Martin, St. Elizabeth, St. Barbara, St. Nicholas, the Three Kings and many more. These customs are especially good for children and, therefore, also for parents.
At Easter there are other unique customs. For example, a solemn procession of the different villages, accompanied by music bands, altar boys and priests in the early morning of Easter Day. This recreates the journey of the apostles Peter and John to the empty tomb.
Blessing of a Bildstock
As these customs were restricted or impossible to celebrate during the pandemic, many people have become aware of how attached they were to them and how much their faith means to them. As a result, participation has recently been very high again and it has become an opportunity to proclaim the faith. It seems to me that with a dash of humor and a deep seriousness about the concerns of others, one can sow the message of hope in people's hearts in a pious and authentic way, and then ask the Lord of the harvest for his blessing and grace for the germinated seed.
During WYD Lisbon 2023, a healing took place that some, like the author of this article, consider miraculous. It is up to the Church to determine if it is really a supernatural event.
For Christians, things do not happen by chance. God's Providence guides and takes care of us. God continues to speak to man. He does it through the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ spoke through signs (miracles) and words. His way of explaining his teaching was typical of his culture and his Aramaic language, that is, through parables, symbolic images, etc. This way of communicating is better understood by men of all times because it is directed to the heart of man and not only to his understanding.
These signs and images used by Jesus are a source of light for the heart of man when he tries to ponder ("meditate") them in his heart. St. Luke explicitly says that the behavior of Jesus as an adolescent (full of theological and anthropological symbolism) is difficult to understand, Mary, for her part, kept all these things, meditating on them in her heart. (Lk 2:19).
In recent times God has communicated very clear messages through his most holy Daughter, Mother and Spouse, the Virgin Mary. And He continues to do so with signs (miracles) and images, events that are worth pondering in the heart, in the spirit of the Gospel teaching that the Church preserves and teaches.
In this miracle there are some circumstances, signs and images that encourage consideration and pondering. That is why I have been encouraged to write about it.
The miracle
Jimena is a 16-year-old Spanish girl who is going to WYD '23 in Lisbon with a group of friends on a trip organized by a youth club and an Opus Dei school in Madrid. For two and a half years she had lost the 95% of her sight. The doctors had labeled it incurable. She had begun to study the Braille reading system. Before the trip - she says - she felt that the Virgin was going to cure her and asked her parents, family and friends to pray a novena to the Virgin of the Snows, whose feast is celebrated on August 5, to ask for her cure. With faith, they started that novena and she went to WYD. On Saturday, August 5, she attended Holy Mass as she used to do on those days of WYD. Jimena went to communion. She began to cry. Filled with tears during the thanksgiving after Communion, she opened her eyes and could see perfectly. She herself tells about it in an audio that has spread through the social networks.
My thoughts
1. God continues to work miracles when He wants, how He wants and to whom He wants. Why to Jimena he does and not to others. God knows what suits each soul. For some, it is not convenient for the Lord to work a miracle for them because they know that it will not do them any good or, by not doing it, they will achieve better things for themselves and for those who are with them. On the other hand, to work miracles, Our Lord asks us for faith and trust in Him. Jimena believed, she was convinced that Our Lady would cure her. That is why she asked her family and friends to start a novena to Our Lady of the Snows.1 whose feast is celebrated on August 5 and on the day the novena of prayers ended. And with that conviction, physically blind, she went to Lisbon to participate in WYD '23. Why the novena to the Virgin of the Snows, I do not know. We will have to ask her.
Jimena's father, tells ACI Prensa with simplicity and integrity the details of what he defines as "a leap in faith" and a "gift from the Virgin Mary for WYD".
To see, we must accept from the heart the will of God the good Father. He knows what is best for each one of us and in each circumstance..
2. Need to cry to see. Jimena comes to communion blind at Mass on August 5. She takes communion, goes back to her pew and begins to cry without stopping, with her eyes closed. At the end, with her eyes full of tears, she opens her eyes and sees perfectly.
It seems as if the Lord tells us that it is important to see but that we can only truly see if we first learn to cry. Pope Francis in the Philippines in 2015, in a spontaneous way, explained the need to cry as a way to explain things that have no answer (in this case it was the child prostitution suffered by that poor girl who while asking the Pope broke into tears due to the memories of the experience she had gone through). Here you can see it:
We need to purify the heart in order to see. Crying is a bodily expression of what is happening in the heart. We men suffer all kinds of experiences in life. Many of them leave traces in the heart. We cannot hide them or keep them quiet. Crying helps to bring them out and to share them with others who welcome the suffering or the joy that weeping produces. It is especially necessary to weep for personal sins and the sins of men, to weep for the presence of evil in the world, for the deceit of the devil into which so many souls fall.
Just the day before, the Pope spoke during his Stations of the Cross address about the need to weep. He said the following:
Jesus walks and waits with his love, he waits with his tenderness, to comfort us, to wipe away our tears. I ask you a question now, but do not answer it out loud, each of you answer it to yourself: do I cry from time to time? Are there things in life that make me cry? We have all wept in life, and we still weep. And there Jesus is with us, He weeps with us, because He accompanies us in the darkness that leads us to weeping. each one of us says it to Him now, in silence.
Jesus, with His tenderness, wipes away our hidden tears. Jesus hopes to fill, with his closeness, our loneliness. How sad are the moments of loneliness! He is there, he wants to fill that loneliness. Jesus wants to fill our fear, your fear, my fear, those dark fears He wants to fill with His consolation.
Each one of us think of our own suffering, think of our own anxiety, think of our own miseries. Do not be afraid, think about them. And think of the desire for the soul to smile again.
Jimena has a great sorrow in her heart that makes her suffer a lot and she cries at the moment of communion and asks full of faith for her healing. It seems as if the Lord wants to remind us that we must learn to open our hearts to God and weep for our miseries so that compunction and true love may cleanse and purify the presence of evil in our hearts. But it is necessary to weep before Jesus Christ who heals us. And we find Jesus Christ in our heart and in the Eucharist. Crying before other people can console and help, but it does not heal in depth. Weeping before Jesus Christ consoles and heals the heart. Our Lord continues to be the same, He continues to heal the men and women of our time.
To see we first need to learn to cry for what really matters in life.
3. Blind people see. It strikes me that the miracle takes place in a blind person and not, for example, in a paralytic, a deaf person or in any other type of handicap. It seems as if the Lord, through Our Lady, is telling us to see. To those who know that they are blind to the things of God and recognize it, He confirms - if they ask for help with faith - that they can see or recover their sight, if at some point they lost it; To those who do not see and say they see, He tells them the same with this miracle: that they see the truth, not their truth. The devil with his lies blurs our sight and leaves us blind by promoting pride in us. Pride that blinds and does not allow us to recognize and accept the things that have happened in our life, our personal mistakes or the mistakes of others committed against us. With humility and faith, as Jimena does, we have to ask God through the Blessed Virgin to see the important things in life that can only be seen with the heart.
To see, we need to recognize and accept that we do not see, and want to see.
4. The Eucharist and Our Lady. The miracle takes place during the celebration of Holy Mass and just after Jimena receives the Body of Jesus Christ in communion. It seems that God wants to make clear the centrality of the Eucharist in the life of the Church. The Eucharist, the greatest and greatest miracle that takes place on earth every day. It is as if God wants to confirm that we have to take care of the Eucharist. The Eucharist makes the Church. This is the title of the last encyclical of St. John Paul II. Without the Eucharist the Church would disappear. It is as if the Lord wants to emphasize the need to adore, celebrate and take care of the Eucharist. In the Eucharist, Jesus Christ is the center and root of Christian life or, as the Second Vatican Council says, the source and summit of the Church's life.
Faith moves the heart of Jesus Christ. Jimena herself says in her audio, "this has been a test of faith". We Christians are always before the proof of faith of the presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. He is there with His Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity. Either one believes or one does not believe. And if one believes, one must be consistent with the immensity of God's love that this implies. This supposes: to go to Him in the Eucharist to praise Him, to adore Him, to make reparation to Him, to thank Him, to impetrate Him. The Blessed Virgin brings us to her Son in the Eucharist. To the three little shepherd seers of Fatima, before the first apparition of Our Lady, an angel appeared several times. In his last apparition, he gave them the Body and Blood of Jesus to receive communion under the two species. The apparitions of the Blessed Virgin followed.
Jimena, family and friends made a novena to Our Lady of the Snows. They asked the Virgin Mary. Once again, she answered the prayers of a little girl. Our Lady always attends to the prayers of her children. God in his providence grants what is asked for. Mary undoubtedly and by faith, intercedes in a special way for us. The Lord has once again made clear the powerful intercession of his Mother, Mediatrix of all graces. He wants us to ask through his Mother. Our Lady is with the young. She does not abandon young people who do not see or do not want to see. She opens our eyes to the mystery of her Son.
To see we need to see Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. To achieve this, Mary is the shortest and surest way.
5. The context of the miracle. This miracle took place at a very specific moment: it occurred in a very special context of ecclesial communion, the WYD. 1.5 million young people gathered by Pope Francis and with the participation of dozens of bishops from all over the world and hundreds of priests from the five continents. On that day, August 5, the Pope was in Fatima. About 200,000 pilgrims had come to pray to Our Lady together with Francis, who curiously was accompanied by sick young people who had not been able to attend the WYD. Fatima, a Marian shrine so closely linked to recent events in human history. The diffusion of its message and history is universal.
It seems as if the Lord, through Our Lady, is asking us: keep yourselves united, in communion with my Vicar on earth, around my Mother. Keep your unity. Pray together, work together, suffer together and hearts will see. And at the same time she asks us to bear witness to the graces we receive. In Jimena's case it was also a corporal grace. And all this communion that was experienced at WYD, the joy of faith, all this must be witnessed in today's world, especially by young people.
To see we need to be united with the Pope and with each other, the children of the Church. Seeing together to walk together.
Epilogue
Nowadays we are saturated with audiovisual images of things, sometimes very shocking. And one gets used to seeing things that a few years ago we found fascinating or very shocking. Now, really, on Youtube, Tiktok, etc., few things amaze us anymore.
With this miracle live, in the middle of WYD, with the Pope present, with 1.5 million young people, Our Lord and his Mother have given us this grace that we cannot let pass by as just another video on Tiktok or Youtube. No. We must stop to think and above all to pray. We must ponder things in the presence of God, as Our Lady and the saints did. And there receive the lights of the Holy Spirit that He wants to send us.
Especially those of us who have participated in this WYD have a greater sensitivity to do so. But especially the young people of today, Christians or not, should do it. 1.5 million young people together with a venerable old man of 86 years singing and adoring Jesus Christ and his Mother is not a superficial matter. And if, in addition, there has been a patent miraculous event like Jimena's, it would be sad to remain indifferent.
As an anecdotal comment. The environment of Christian formation in which Jimena has grown up, both in her family and in school, is that of the spirituality of Opus Dei. This preaches the universal call to holiness in ordinary life. The charism that the Holy Spirit instilled in the founder of Opus Dei, St. Josemaría Escrivá, inspires us to seek Jesus Christ in the most ordinary of daily life without expecting or looking for extraordinary things. St. Josemaría himself (who received extraordinary graces in his life, carried out with total discretion) said in this sense: I am not a miracle worker. I have written for years, and I have said so many times by word of mouth, that the miracles of the Gospel are enough for me. But if I were to affirm that I do not touch God, that I do not feel the full force of his Omnipotence, I would be lying!2
The fact that I come from a family and Christian environment that is not very prone to miracles or "miracles", but on the contrary, to ordinary Christian life and daily work, makes me see on the one hand the good humor of God, and on the other hand, makes me think with more conviction that God has wanted to speak to us through this miracle through Mary's intercession.
And on another occasion St. Josemaría said: Our life does not contain miracles. It contains, instead, our daily trifles, our work well done, our life of piety and, above all, the ineffable complement of the strength and Omnipotence of God. But we cannot be satisfied with the personal ambition to reach Heaven alone: if we are truly united to God and trust in God, we will see to it that all souls know the Lord and follow him, loving his commands.3
For this, Mary speaks to us once again through Jimena and WYD. She commands us to take care of ourselves in the 21st century. that all souls may know the Lord and follow him, loving his commands.
1 It is the invocation of the Virgin venerated in the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome. It is the oldest temple dedicated to the Virgin in the West. It dates from the second half of the fourth century. The Virgin appeared to a Roman couple and simultaneously to Pope Liberius. The Virgin asked them to build a temple there to honor her. The place to build it would be on one of the hills of Rome where it would have snowed. So, on a hot August 5, it snowed on the Esquiline Hill where the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore has stood ever since. The famous icon of the Madonna is located there. Salus Populi Romani. In Rome she is very much venerated. This is the image that Pope Francis always visits before and after every trip he makes outside of Rome.
2 JAVIER ECHEVARRÍA, Memoria del Beato Josemaría Escrivá (Interview with Salvador Bernal), Rialp, 2nd edition, Madrid 2000, pp. 175-176.
3 JAVIER ECHEVARRÍA, Memories of Blessed Josemaría Escrivá (Interview with Salvador Bernal), Rialp, 2nd ed.
Monsignor Masondole: "In Africa there is no shame in saying 'I am a Christian'."
Monsignor Simon Chibuga Masondole is bishop of the diocese of Bunda, Tanzania. He comes from a tribe of the Ukerewe Islands, a community that has been sustained by catechists, since there were no priests in the region. In this interview with Omnes, he talks about the Church in Africa.
Monsignor Simon Chibuga Masondole had a visit in May to ad limina with the Pope and then was in Spain visiting Tanzanian seminarians who are studying in the country. In this interview with Omnes, he tells us about the main challenges and strengths of the African church, the differences in the experience of faith between Africa and Europe and the current situation of his diocese, which shares characteristics with many others on the African continent.
How do you perceive the situation of the Church in Africa and in Tanzania in particular? What strengths and challenges do you see?
One of the main characteristics of the Church in Tanzania is that it is a young church, it is growing, it has just celebrated 150 years of its evangelization. There are a large number of conversions, both of young people and adults. The families that converted the longest time ago are also characterized by the fact that they are the best rooted in the faith and are the seedbed of vocations for the Church.
In this context, there are many apostolic movements, for example the Missionary Childhood or TYCS (Tanzanian Catholic Students). In addition, many young people who are in university form choirs. The choir in Tanzania is like an apostolic movement, they have their registration, their rules. Their way of evangelizing is through singing. It is not just like the "parish choir" in Europe, it is a concrete apostolate.
Monsignor Simon before the Confirmation of the children (in red and white) of Murutunguru parish.
In the face of this blessing that is the increase in the number of Christians, and the hope of seeing the Church grow, we have the difficulty that we lack pastors, both in terms of numbers and formation. Not only in Tanzania, but in Africa in general.
On the other hand, it is also noted that in Africa there is a kind of syncretism. There are no frontiers of saying: I am a Catholic and this is what is proper to Christian life. Therefore, there are many situations in which there are people who come to the Catholic Church asking for help or prayer because they are sick, but if the problem is still present and they do not see this need satisfied, they have no problem in going to other confessions or elsewhere.
They can spend a morning in a Catholic church asking for the anointing of the sick, but then go to a Pentecostal healing prayer, and if that does not work for them either, they go to a shaman or a healer. So, it is true that there is a need of the Lord, but also a daily need to overcome these difficulties. So the challenge is also this evangelizing task, to deal with this syncretism, which in part comes from a faith that is not yet firm, which is still developing, and on the other hand, from a tradition of millennia that is very anchored.
This group of Christians who "wander" with their problems from one place to another is growing and has a certain size. It is a challenge for the Church in Africa to attend to them, but also to help them to become more firmly rooted in the Catholic faith and in these frontiers of faith.
Another difficulty encountered not only by the Church, but also by the African population, is the proliferation of groups that call themselves Christians, but who are basically preachers of falsehood, seeking personal gain. For example, with formulas such as: "If you step on this sacred oil, you will be rich".
They take advantage of that human need that people have. Recently we have had a case in Kenya: at Easter, the pastor preached that the encounter with Christ is through death, and he has influenced people to the point that they have been fasting to death, and the police have had to intervene. Another case has been the one we call the Jesus of Tongaren, a man who has proclaimed himself Jesus saying that he has come to earth at the Second Coming, and he has a group of followers.
Or a few years ago another preacher who said it was the end of the world and made people smear themselves with oil and set fire to the church with the people inside, and there were deaths. They are usually Pentecostal groups, although not only, there are other branches. So another challenge for the Church in Africa is the increase of these groups, who say that the Holy Spirit has spoken to them and asked them to found something new. Through preaching they also raise funds. There is one particular group where each type of blessing involves a different amount of money: if it's just a few words, it's a certain amount; if I have to lay hands on you, another amount.
The Catholic Church must take care to preach the authentic Gospel, but also help and attend to these people who are deceived, abused and swindled using the name of Christ.
We must also ask for more vocations, promote vocation ministry, but, at the same time, strengthen the formation of priests, who are children of their time and can come with traditions or customs that are not proper to Christianity.
But the good thing is that the number of Christians is increasing, in Tanzania in particular there are more Christians than Muslims. The positive thing is that there is no fundamentalism, there is a freedom of relationship between confessions, but we must also set the limit of, without being fundamentalist, being able to recognize what fits in the Catholic faith and what does not.
What do you consider to be the main differences between the Church in Europe and in Africa?
The first difference is that the Church in Africa is growing rapidly in the number of Christians, while in Europe growth has slowed down.
In Spain, in the parishes where I have been, I have seen that there are young people, while, in what I know of Italy, this is very difficult to find. Although it is a bad thing, I think that in general, in Europe, I was happy to see that in Spain there is still a living seed of the Gospel.
Also, in Africa, there is no shame in saying "I am a Christian" or "I am looking for God". Young people at university are not ashamed to say that they are Christians, that they are going to church, to choir rehearsal... Catholic professionals are not ashamed either, you can be a doctor and it is known that you are a Christian and there is no problem. In Europe I do see this embarrassment when it comes to saying that you are a Christian, or announcing the Gospel. And there seems to be a belief that you cannot be a good professional and a Catholic, that they are incompatible.
Another difference with respect to what I have already said is that in the Church in Africa, in the liturgical celebration, the expression of faith through the body comes into play very much. For example, in every hymn there is always a choreography, it is not only music. Or there are also the children of the Missionary Childhood, who are in charge of dancing in the Eucharist. In the European liturgy, everything is more static. It is the death of emotion, as opposed to the liveliness of expression in the Church in Africa: dancing, clapping, the vigelegele or shout of jubilation, and also in the entrance procession the choir has an entrance step.
It is a liturgical dance, of course, but you don't just walk in. In Europe, to see emotions there has to be an accident on the road. But if not, they are not expressed. The other day, speaking with the rector of Jaen, we were commenting that nowhere in the Bible is it written that the Mass has to be a rigid body Mass. The important thing is to respect the liturgical rite, but that does not prevent emotional or corporal expression.
Perhaps in Europe we are seeing more exaltation of the body through tattoos, piercings... But not in the liturgical celebration. Recovering corporeality in the celebration is also a way of purifying the conception of corporeality among young people, instead of piercings and tattoos.
The Church in Africa I am able to provide this slackness within the rite, to understand that my faith is also manifested through the body. Man is body and soul.
Another difference is the meaning of the offertory in the Mass. On the one hand, there is the economic offering. I am not so familiar with the situation in Spain, but my experience in Italy, where I have lived for ten years, is that the normal thing is to give 50 cents. The meaning of the offering is lost as an expression that you unite your life to the Lord's surrender, and this has a material meaning. This is very much alive in Africa. If a community sees that it needs a church, it does not wait for the bishop to order it to be built. They set about it, take up collections, and build it.
Perhaps this is because in Europe people are used to the fact that priests receive a salary, but they lose the connection that it is the people who support the priests. On the other hand, there is the material offering. In Africa, along with money, they also offer things: chickens, eggs, matches, salt, flour, fruit... These things are really an offering, the person is giving it up and gives it to the church, and then the priest administers it: some things he will use for his own sustenance, because he has no other way of supporting himself, and others to distribute to the poor.
However, what I have observed in Europe is that when something that is not money is offered, in youth or children's masses, it is a symbolic offering, for example: "I offer you these shoes in representation of our Christian walk". But after the mass the shoes are taken away, there is no offering so that at least those shoes serve a poor person, it is not a real offering.
Is the whole Church in Africa supported by offerings, no one receives a salary?
No, no one receives a salary. In Africa there is no such thing. Unless it is a priest who works in a school, then he receives his teacher's salary. But a parish priest, or a bishop, does not receive a salary, they live on the offerings of the masses and what the people give, either financially or materially. There is also the payment of the tithe at the end of the month, which is another form of offering. Depending on the type of work that is done, there is an assigned amount, which is not really the 10 %, it is symbolic. Civil servants have an allotted amount, which is different from farmers or students.
What the priest does is that what he receives through the tithe and the offering he administers: for his own sustenance (from food to gasoline for the car to go to celebrate mass in the villages or to attend to the sick), for the development and repairs of the Church and for the needs of the poor. The problem is that the city parishes are wealthier and live more comfortably, and the parishes in the villages are in greater need.
You have sent several seminarians to study at the University of Navarra in Pamplona. How do you think this experience can enrich them?
I started sending priests and seminarians to study in Navarra when I was studying in Rome. There I met a priest who told me that he had studied in Navarra. He gave me the contact to talk to the bishop and we got a place for the first Tanzanian priest who went to Navarra. Bidasoafrom my diocese of Bunda. While he was in Navarra, he discovered that seminarians could also go, so we asked for them for the following year and began to send them as well.
The bishop with the Tanzanian seminarians studying in Bidasoa, Navarra.
There are many benefits in seminarians and priests going to study abroad. In the first place, in this way they see that the Church is one, catholic, apostolic and Roman. They see the universality and unity of the Church. All the institutes or universities are a good of the Church, so they are for everyone. Going to study at any university is a way of experiencing in the flesh that the Church is one, and that everywhere there are Catholic universities and the theology is the same.
Not all seminaries have a system that allows them to welcome foreign students. Bidasoa is one of the few international ones, it is expressly designed for the formation of seminarians coming from different parts of the world, it is not a diocesan seminary.
On the other hand, teaching also involves a tradition. You cannot compare the tradition of Christian life and Christian universities that the Church in Europe has with that of Tanzania, which has just celebrated 150 years since the arrival of the first missionaries.
The Church in Europe has a treasure of teaching, libraries, books, well-trained teachers, who are also researchers and writers, which is not available in Africa. It is useless to say that we are in the same conditions.
The idea is for them to receive this training so that they can bring it to the African church and enrich it.
I have had the opportunity in this visit to Spain to see many libraries, and it is the first time I have seen a parchment book. Or I, for example, I have a doctorate in Liturgy from the Pontifical Athenaeum of St. Anselm, and I have seen for the first time a sacramentary, the first liturgical books. I had studied or memorized things that I had never been able to see physically. The Church in Africa does not have that wealth, or a library in which to see these things.
On the other hand, in Africa we are of the Latin rite. There is the Coptic, in Egypt, but basically we are of the Latin rite. However, in Europe there is the Roman, the Mozarabic, the Ambrosian... On this trip to Spain, I had the opportunity to attend for the first time a Mass of the Mozarabic rite.
In addition, in every local church there is a form of popular piety. To be able to leave home and see other cultural ways of living and expressing the faith is a great richness, because there are many things to learn. It also helps to know what is negative, in order to prevent it from happening in the diocese of origin.
Tradition is deepening, it is development. In Africa we still don't have it. You study what a basilica is, but in Africa there are no such large buildings. I think there are two in all of Africa that could be considered basilicas. In Europe there is so much history, and so many architectural styles, with Romanesque, Gothic, Baroque, Renaissance, Neoclassical churches... That is a wealth.
Or the canons of a cathedral, in Africa it is a figure that does not exist, but here I have seen that it is very common. Studying in another diocese opens your horizons and perspectives.
There was an African Christian tradition, but mostly in the northern part, and with the arrival of Islam it was lost. So within Africa there was a communication barrier of what could have been the African tradition of the Christian faith.
I would also like to make an appeal to the Western Church to open its doors a little more. In Africa we lack these roots of history, education, liturgical tradition... If this is not known and is not deepened, there is also the risk that the African faith lacks roots. It would help us a lot if the West would open more doors to the African church and it would be easier to receive this formation. It is necessary to foster this firmness in the faith.
Conversely, it is also a benefit for the European church. The African church is young, it is not yet afraid to say "I am Catholic". That young Africans come to the European church is a testimony. It is a faith without fear. And it is also a benefit for the local church to see another way of living the faith. The exchange is beneficial for everyone. We need each other to really be universal.
What was your vocation process like and what encouraged you to become an ordained priest?
I come from a Christian family and my vocation came when I was a child. There are two key moments that I can remember. When I was 5 or 6 years old, the bishop came to my island for the first time (I am from Ukara, an island in the Ukerewe archipelago in Lake Victoria). They had just finished building the first kigango in Bukiko, my hometown, and the bishop came to inaugurate it. I remember how we welcomed the bishop, the singing... The bishop spoke about the importance of parents being committed to their children's education. Of all the children, he came up to me, put his hand on my head and said: "A child like this, if he studies, one day he can become a priest".
The second moment came shortly after. There were no priests on the island, they came only to celebrate Easter and Christmas. There was no mass even on Sundays, because we didn't have a ferry as we do now, we had to go by fishing boat. The faith in my community has been preserved and spread by the catechists, and I have been formed through them as well.
My mother took me to Christmas Mass that year and left my older brother in charge of the house. The parish is very far away and we had to walk there, so we couldn't all go. I remember entering the church and seeing a priest for the first time. I said: "I want to be like him. Then I studied in the minor seminary, then in the major seminary and was ordained a priest in 2006. I was consecrated bishop in 2021.
What are the main pastoral challenges of your diocese?
The diocese of Bunda is very young, it is twelve years old, it was erected in the last year of Pope Benedict XVI. So it is still growing.
One of the first difficulties in the diocese are some deeply rooted traditions and customs, such as the veneration or fear of certain animals considered as totems. For example, in the islands, the python snake. To the extent that if we put a python, even if it were dead, at the door of the church, no one would go, because they think it might curse them, even though they are Christians.
The belief that the python has the power to curse them is far greater than their Christian faith.
If there were a python at the door of my parish, I wouldn't go in either.
(laughs)
But you would fear it as a snake, not as a sacred animal that has the power to curse you dead or alive.
Then there are customs so deeply rooted that it is very difficult to extirpate. For example, purification rites: if you become a widow or widower, although it is more common in women, you have to purify yourself, and the means is to sleep with another man. Or polygamy. In certain tribes, being monogamous is frowned upon, you have to be polygamous, and that affects Christian life, marriage and families. In particular, it is very difficult for men of the Kurya tribe to come to mass for this reason.
Or there are also times when, for example, the fifth wife wants to become a Christian. She asks to be baptized, but continues to live as a fifth wife. For the administration of the sacraments, this is also a pastoral problem.
There are other administrative problems: we do not have a curia, a building to manage things. We have made in the living room of my residence a division with three small offices, but we still lack that structure, although we are trying to get it.
Moreover, the diocese of Bunda is a poor diocese. To have trained priests to train the people, you need money. That is why receiving a scholarship for us is a great help.
On the other hand, we have very few priests. Therefore, catechists in our diocese are very important, but they have to be well trained. The two big works we have in hand now are the construction of the curia and a small school for catechists, with classrooms, office, which can also serve as a place of retreat where they can go for a weekend or a month and do an intensive course in pastoral themes or liturgy. Since catechists are a key element in the evangelization of our diocese, it is necessary that they have a formation according to the work they do.
We are taking small steps to grow, but we are still in a very early stage. But we are very encouraged and moving forward.
Steven Schloeder: "With architecture we seek to express a deeper truth."
Architect and theologian Steven Schloeder reviews in this interview with Omnes the fundamental aspects of sacred architecture and its historical evolution.
Architect and theologian, Steven Schloeder seeks to respond to contemporary challenges in building Catholic churches by drawing on the symbolism that has accompanied them throughout history. In his book Architecture in Communion (Ignatius Press), not yet translated into English, speaks of three main symbols in the language of architecture: the body, the temple and the city.
How does the architecture symbolize and represent the importance of what is being celebrated?
-Primarily, we build churches for the celebration of the liturgy, which is necessarily a communal event of believers in Christ gathered together. The liturgy manifests the Body of Christ. The Church is the Body of Christ, and the continuation of the Body of Christ on Earth. It is a physical and spiritual, eternal and temporal, heavenly and earthly reality.
God reveals himself through symbols, and Christ has revealed to us the meaning of specific symbols: the symbol of the body, the blood, of his crucifixion. They are sacramental, effective symbols, the true reality in which we participate. The liturgy is both material and spiritual, communal and hierarchical.
When we approach a church from the outside, on the street, it helps if it looks like a church. Not all contemporary churches look like churches, and that is a problem that needs to be addressed. When we approach a church, we approach the heavenly Jerusalem, the City of God, the Body of Christ, the Temple of the Holy Spirit, and I think the local parish or cathedral should be thought of as the presence of the heavenly Jerusalem in our city. It is an interruption in the fabric of the city, the place where something sacred is happening. In Revelation there is this image of the heavenly Jerusalem descending, God living among men, and that is what we should really see when we see a church and what we architects should express in some way.
Once we are inside the Church and approach the altar, the language of the altar helps us to understand that we are entering a sacred event and a sacred place. Very significant is the crucifix as the central icon of the liturgy, as Cardinal Ratzinger said.
This is not just a meal, it's not just a table, it's not just a gathering of people, but of the people on Earth and that of the heavenly Jerusalem, the Church triumphant. I think the formality of the language of architecture and things like symmetry, height or quality materials are fundamental, because we are trying to express something that is tremendously important. We express importance and dignity through the value and the way we treat things in our material culture.
An altar, for example, is not just a wooden board, like a table for eating. Using good vestments, valuable liturgical objects, such as the chalice or ciborium, good linen and good quality stone helps us to understand the importance of what is being said. Then, of course, there are the liturgical texts themselves, the prayers of the priest and the responses. That is what conveys the intention of the church: to offer this perfect sacrifice at Mass.
That's why there's liturgical discipline: fasting before receiving Communion, being in a state of grace before receiving Communion, dressing appropriately, having a sense of real dignity in terms of the material setting of the church. I think that's one of the important things about previous generations of architecture, that the church was very deliberate and intentional in their material culture and architectural.
It showed that it was something of great importance and deserved our full attention.
How have churches evolved over time? What have been the most important turning points?
-We know that at the beginning the communities met in houses. Very soon, in the middle of the second century, there began to be vestiges of consecrated churches. We have no archaeological evidence of this, because they have been lost. The earliest surviving churches date from about a century later, but we have evidence through written documents that there were churches about a hundred years earlier, visible buildings that could be identified as places of worship. Christians had settled in communities that could own land and build. This occurs very early in the history of Christianity. Before Constantine, during the persecutions in the late 3rd-early 4th century, Lactantius, for example, the historian, talks about large buildings being destroyed as part of the persecution. So the Church was having a strong identity when it came to leaving its mark on the city or town.
Eusebius has a fantastic passage in his History about the dedication of the cathedral of Tyre that speaks about the symbolism, the beauty and the importance of the building. I think Eusebius is not inventing this language of ecclesial architecture, but there was already a well-established knowledge of what a church should be, because he writes at the beginning of the fourth century and he has a fully formed theology of architecture that I don't think came to him all of a sudden, but he is expressing what the Church had already cultivated. So there were already monumental buildings that were important and identifiable.
Perhaps under Constantine, who is the head of Eusebius, the Church probably adopted a formality imitating the royal court, considering it suitable for the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords. At that time the basilica plan was adopted, the traditional form of the church, which appeared in the third century and probably somewhat earlier. From this point on, there were a series of stylistic innovations: Byzantine architecture, Romanesque, Gothic...
The point is that each of these styles follows a pattern. We find a communality in the formal language of architecture. First of all there is a language related to the body: symmetrical and hierarchical (we have head, chest, legs...). And this is something precious that I think we have to recover both in architecture and in art: to reencounter our body in a sacramental sense.
In a church in the form of a cross, the head is the apse, where the bishop's seat is, because it represents Christ ruling the Church, the transept is the chest, where the altar is, the heart; from there the arms come out, and the feet are the entrance, because you enter walking into the Church. There is a symbolic way of thinking related to the body.
I also believe this refers to the Incarnation and defends it as the "logos," which is communicative, formative and creates reality. The Incarnation of Christ in a human body is always our model for understanding who we are as persons and as Church. We immediately recall St. Paul (1 Cor. 12:12).
There is also language related to the temple, to the Tent of Meeting and Solomon's temple. Christ himself speaks of his body as "the temple". He himself establishes these relationships. St. Paul develops this, and Eusebius also speaks of it. We always think of form symbolically. With architecture, we seek to express a deeper truth.
In Revelation 21-22, we see that the tabernacle is then transformed into the City. If we look at a Gothic church, it is brilliant the way it is represented: every part of the building, the ciborium or the baldachin over the altar, is a small building. The buttresses outside the building are little shrines and all the shrines are little houses that make up a city. The aisles and corridors are like roadways. There are direct analogies that help us understand this interconnection between the body, the temple and the city.
Throughout the centuries, regardless of the style of the church, this is the main language, which somehow refers to the fact that we are body and we live in buildings, houses, which is the family house, the domestic church. This is fundamental to the importance of the family as the central nucleus of society. And it also underlies the concept that we are social beings and we have to live in community in order to grow. The church as a building and the theology of architecture should somehow represent all of this. They are concepts faithful to the way God has revealed himself to us: the Body of Christ and the Church as temple, as the heavenly city.
Then we come to the twentieth century, which is a radical break. Especially, it arises in Germany, through the work of Rudolf Schwarz, for example, and the Bauhaus. Many other people who were not part of the Bauhaus were doing similar things, but we talk about modernist architecture in general.
The churches cease to be hierarchical, and begin to have circular forms. German Lutherans and Catholics begin to play with other more centralized forms. And at that point I think we have lost the unity of the church as a symbolic presentation of the heavenly reality. Not that it's completely divorced from the earlier, but the centralized form, which generally has some sort of swooping, tent-like form, is a decisive break in the continuity that was there 1900 years earlier. It becomes the main form of sacred architecture in Europe and America, especially after World War II and the rise of modernism. Many of the cities of Europe that had been bombed were rebuilt with modernist forms.
What has been the evolution of the baptistery and its symbolism?
-The main thing about baptism is that it is one of the sacraments of initiation, which introduces us into the Body of Christ. In the earlier rite, before the revisions of the sixties, there was very interesting language related to moving from the region of darkness into the realm of life. There was a series of prayers as the person first entered the church, because you were being ushered into the Kingdom. The baptistery back then was fenced in, with a fence around it or some kind of protective contraption, because there was a sense of being brought back to primal innocence and righteousness, and the gates of Paradise were being opened for us. Baptism is an entrance into the Church, into the Kingdom of God, coming out of darkness and chaos, and light becomes a very important element.
Now usually the baptistery is placed at the entrance of the church, which is not wrong, it is in fact an entrance to the church, but it is often placed in line with the altar, at least in the United States. Because in the United States in the fifties a German liturgist published a book in which he said that the most important thing was the altar and then the baptistery, and everybody gathers around both of them. So they line up and everybody has to dodge the baptistery, you can't have a straight procession. This became a stylistic motif.
The symbol that has been lost is that the baptistery is also a place of death, where we die to our sins and become a new man. The baptistery is the womb in which Christians are born, but also the tomb where we die and are born in Christ. It is possible that the old models are no longer in force: if we look at some of the famous baptisteries, such as those of Pisa, Florence or Ravenna, they are usually octagonal in shape, based on the Roman mausoleum. But we have to recover a way to express the different meanings of the baptistery: water, life, death, being incorporated into the Body of Christ. We architects play with a language rich in symbolism with which we try to convey and support what the Church is trying to teach us, and the baptistery is a microcosm in this sense.
In architecture, I believe that in the last twenty years we have been working to recover the sacramental dimension of the building.
What about the confessional?
-What we know about confession is that in the old days, when murderers were on their way to execution, they would cry out: "I have sinned, pray for me". We have some documents of that. Then in the early church you could confess once in a lifetime, so it was usually done towards the end of life. You had to stand on the steps of the church and confess your sins to the bishop. And everybody knew about it. So I think it's been reasonable to develop private confession from a more pastoral perspective, which was especially developed through the monks in Ireland.
Today, I have seen confessionals that have glass booths, like an office space, with a table for the penitent and the confessor. It is very transactional. I think we have to recover the sense of confession as a sacrament that deserves its own space, like the baroque confessional, where you have the priest in the center and space for the penitents on either side. It becomes an object in the space, in the place of the sacrament.
During the last twenty years there has been a revision of the importance of private, discreet and anonymous confession, both for the priest and the penitent. It is an encounter with Christ, through the minister and the words of Christ's priest. We are in an interesting time in the development of sacred architecture, where we have the priest face to face and become familiar with him, and the same is true in confession.
As a theologian and architect, what I seek is to flesh out the language of architectural arrangement and form, so that it supports what the Church does sacramentally.
What characteristics do the elements of the sanctuary have to have and what should be taken into account when building them?
-The altar is central and prevalent, and the ambo is the place of proclamation. In the time of St. John Paul II the concept of "the two tables" was developed: the table of sacrifice and the table of the Word. I think it is important to establish a relationship between the Word proclaimed and the Word as bread (Mt 4:4). They are two elements that should be architecturally related.
Then we also have the place of the Eucharistic reservation, the tabernacle. I do not know what the situation is in Spain, but a few years ago there was a great movement in the United States that sought to separate the tabernacle into a separate chapel. It was, in a way, imposed by the liturgists. Nowadays, the tendency is to reestablish the tabernacle in the temple, and I think rightly so. Because one of the arguments was that since the priest is now facing the assembly, he is turning his back on the tabernacle.
But the language of the tabernacle already solves that. It is the Tent of Meeting. What's appropriate is that it's opaque and solid, and covered, so it's its own room, its own sacred space, when it's properly constructed. It's the same language of "concealing" or "veiling" that's in the Tent of Meeting or in Solomon's temple. When the doors are closed, life can go on. When they are open, we see the Lord in his glory, in the shechinah. This enables us to live our lives in the presence of God. For, if we see God face to face, what can we do but fall on our knees in worship?
I believe that the point we are at now, returning the tabernacle to its original place, works, because, when we enter a church, we kneel before the Lord who is in the tabernacle, we do not need to look around to find him.
As for the see, Church documents point out that it emphasizes the presence of the minister as Christ presiding among his people. The priest is representing the bishop. It is a place of dignity, a place of presidereThe church does not tell us much about it. The Church does not tell us much about it. In some of the older documents, it talks about the seat being placed at the apex, the highest point of the sanctuary, but it shouldn't look like a throne. But if you look at any royal throne, it is always in the highest place, in the center. So there are mixed messages in the language of the seat. It is a place of service, a place to preside, but it should not be a throne or a cathedra.
Then there is the crucifix itself. In the words of Cardinal Ratzinger, it is the central icon of the liturgy, because everything has to do with the wood of the Cross and the crucifixion of Christ and his death on the Cross. So where is the best place to put it? What does it represent? We are not praying to the Cross, nor are we praying to Christ, we are participating with Christ in his offering to the Father, and that is the theology of the crucifix, that is the central message of the Mass in its sacramental, priestly and sacrificial sense.
Christ the High Priest offering Himself on the Cross. At The feast of faithRatzinger said that the crucifix becomes an open iconostasis to which both the priest and the assembly look. It is in the middle, above the altar, and I think it is a precious and reasonable place, it becomes a point of reference shared by the whole church in prayer, the ministerial priest and the royal priesthood, of baptism, offering our lives united with the minister in one priest.
That is the dynamic of the liturgy, which the crucifix should support. It has the importance of developing the theology of the laity as members of the baptismal priesthood. And that was a very clear message in the documents of the Second Vatican Council, that there really is a sacrifice that we as laity are called to offer, and it is the sacrifice of St. Paul's letter to the Romans: present yourselves as "a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God" (Rom 12:1). So I believe we are called to take our whole life and bring it to the altar. As we present the offerings of bread and wine, we are presenting our hearts for Christ to heal and we are also offering our own lives.
Rimini to bring together scientists, intellectuals and artists in a cultural event
The 44th edition of the Meeting for Friendship among Peoples will be held in Rimini from August 20 to 25, 2023. This year's event will focus on the theme "Human existence is an inexhaustible friendship".
The Peoples' Friendship Meeting will begin on Sunday, August 20 with a Mass presided over by Cardinal Matteo Zuppi and concelebrated by the Bishop of Rimini, Nicolò Anselmi.
Meeting History
Organized by the Catholic movement of Communion and LiberationThe first edition of the meeting was held in 1980. In 2008, the promoting committee, constituted as an association since December 8, 1980, was transformed into the Meeting for Friendship among Peoples Foundation, the entity in charge of organizing the meeting every year.
This foundation, according to the website, "was born from the desire of some friends to meet, get to know and bring to Rimini all that is beautiful and good in the culture" of our time. The Meeting Foundation "bets on the desire and passion that every man has in his heart to create a common ground for meeting and dialogue". Volunteers are a key pillar in the organization of the event, putting "in common" their inclination "towards truth, goodness and beauty".
During seven days in August, the Meeting gathers every year important personalities from different academic and artistic fields and from different religions and cultures, and is defined as "the cultural festival with more participation in the world" and "a place of friendship where peace, coexistence and friendship among peoples can be built".
The program is very varied: it includes lectures on different topics (economics, art, literature, science, politics...), round tables, exhibitions, concerts and theatrical performances.
Edition 2023
The theme of the 2023 edition, "Human existence is an inexhaustible friendship," is "an invitation to discover the deeper meaning of friendship, its generative force, its origins and its prospects for the existence of every human being and for the construction of a new society. Friendship has always been at the center of the human heart's desire; it is a gift that no one can claim".
This year, the program will address topics related to education, press responsibility, science, physics, politics, friendship in the Bible, nuclear fusion, vocation at work, the encyclical Fratelli Tutti, reason and faith, artificial intelligence, healthcare, demography, literature and poetry, architecture, blue and circular economy, nature, among others.
Tolkien, Dostoyevsky and motorcycle GP
Some of the highlights are the meeting on Friday 25 with the President of Italy, Sergio Mattarella, or the interview with Marco Bezzecchi, moto GP rider. There will also be a music contest, the Meeting Music Contest and a creative writing workshop.
In relation to the performing arts, the staging of Dostoyevsky's "The Dream of a Ridiculous Man", starring the Italian theater icon Gabriele Lavia, and the concert "The Heart in Everything", dedicated to the surgeon and educator Enzo Piccinini, in the process of beatification, are worth mentioning.
Tolkien will also be present in the program with the lecture "The mission of Frodo: individual and company in 'The Lord of the Rings'. 50 years after Tolkien's death", by Giuseppe Pezzini, professor at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, and Paolo Prosperi, priest of the Fraternity of St. Charles Borromeo.
The Meeting will also include presentations that recall personalities such as Aldo Moro, Lorenzo Milani, Dorothy Day, the Venezuelan Blessed José Gregorio Hernández, the Blessed Pino Puglisi or the Japanese Takashi Pablo Nagai, medical survivor of the atomic bomb in the process of beatification, of whom Ediciones Encuentro has recently published a book, "What never dies". This last paper, entitled "Inexhaustible Friendships. 'What never dies'. The figure of Takashi Nagai", will feature the participation of Paola Marenco, vice president of the Committee of Friends of Takashi and Midori Nagai.
Pope's message
On the occasion of the Meeting, the Pope sent a message to the Bishop of Rimini, Monsignor Nicolò Anselmi, through Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, in which he emphasized that the Meeting for Friendship among Peoples seeks "to be a place of friendship between individuals and peoples, opening paths of encounter and dialogue".
Finally, the communiqué underlines that "Pope Francis hopes that the Meeting for Friendship among Peoples will continue to promote the culture of encounter, open to all, excluding no one, because in everyone there is a reflection of the Father (...). May each of the participants learn a little to approach others in the manner of Jesus (...)".
Ana and Gerardo went through a difficult infidelity ordeal. They had taken the issue to the divorce. On the day the final signature was due, she did it, but he stopped. Something deep inside told him that it would not solve anything. He thought of his children, renounced his criteria and in the name of God decided not to sign: "I don't want to get divorced," he told the lawyer. He got up and walked out of there determined to fight for the unity of his family.
Ana was inwardly happy about that act. She realized that she did not want to put an end to his marriageHe just wanted to put an end to their problems. Since then, both have restarted their relationship. They forgave each other, renewed their home with the understanding that only God gives us the capacity to truly love, to forgive what seems unforgivable, to die to ourselves for the greater good.
Today the family of Gerardo and Ana serve the Lord, they are witnesses of the fruits of forgiveness and announce it with enthusiasm.
The teaching of Christ
To forgive is not human but divine. It is not possible for us to forgive what we consider unforgivable. It arises in the bowels of the heart that "I don't want to, it's not fair, I don't deserve it, why me?
Only Jesus Christ speaks of a forgiveness necessary for life. No one else, no other way of thinking approaches forgiveness as He does. Our genuine search for justice affirms: "he who does it pays it".
But God arrives on earth and his words disconcert us:
"Be kind and compassionate to one another, and forgive one another, just as God forgave you in Christ" (Eph 4:32).
"For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you" (Mt 6:14).
"So you must tolerate one another and forgive one another if anyone has a complaint against another. As the Lord forgave you, so you also must forgive" (Col 3:13).
"Judge not, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven" (Lk. 6:37).
Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times must I forgive my brother who sins against me, up to seven times? -Jesus answered him, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times" (Mt 18:21-22).
We do not want to forgive but we realize that it is necessary. You think of your children whom you love and do not want them to suffer. Suddenly you know that it is by giving up yourself that you can save them. Perhaps you begin to understand that God did the same for you. "Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much fruit" (Jn 12:24).
Nowadays, homes and hearts are broken as a consequence of infidelity. While it is necessary to put an end to this scourge and to live faithful love, it is also fundamental to strengthen love in the family through Christian forgiveness, the true forgiveness, the one that edifies, the one that rebuilds from faith and puts an end to evil in the only possible way: in abundance of good!
J. Marrodán: "We are called more than ever to seek common ground."
Javier Marrodán, journalist and professor in the School of Communication at the University of Navarra, was ordained a priest on May 20 by Korean Cardinal Lazzaro You Heung-sik, prefect of the Dicastery for the Clergy, along with 24 other members of Opus Dei. After almost 100 days of ordination, he speaks to Omnes from Seville about his pastoral work and current issues.
Francisco Otamendi-August 18, 2023-Reading time: 6minutes
It was not possible to interview Javier Marrodán from Navarre when he was ordained priest in Rome by the Cardinal of Korea Lazzaro You Heung-sik, Prefect of the Clergy. Now, with almost a hundred days as a priest, he talks to Omnes about some of his concerns.
For example, his "admiration" for Albert Camus, the object of his doctoral thesis. Marrodán is moved that "someone supposedly far from God and the Church like Albert Camus proposes a way of living so close to the Gospel, and that he does it in such a convinced and authentic way".
Partly for this reason, he believes that "today we are called more than ever to seek points of encounter and to discover in others concerns and aspirations related to our own," and he gives the example of Jesus with the Samaritan woman at the well of Sychar, as seen in the interview.
Javier Marrodán comments on the "passion to evangelize through joy" that the Pope Francisand on "the love of enemies", he points out that "it is not usual to have declared or aggressive enemies, but almost all of us keep in some corner of our souls our little black lists. Getting out of that spiral is a real revolution".
You have been a priest for three months. Are these first hundred days going as you had imagined? How is your pastoral task? What did Cardinal Lazzaro You Heung-sik underline to you at the ordination?
-I have made my debut as a priest in Seville. I live in the Colegio Mayor Almonte and for now I am attending some activities related to the work of Opus Dei: a retreat, some retreats, meditations for young people, a camp for girls in the Sierra de Cazorla... I also lend a hand in the church of Señor San José. Cardinal Lazzaro You Heung-sik reminded us in his ordination homily that Christ himself would speak through us, that he would offer through our hands the absolution of sins and reconcile the faithful with the Father.
Almost every day I spend some time in the confessional and I always try to remember the father in the parable of the prodigal son: I hope that God can make use of me to welcome all those who come to him, and I would like not to tarnish or hinder his mercy in any way. Pope Francis wrote to the 25 priests who were ordained in May that "God's style is compassion, closeness and tenderness". And the prelate of Opus Dei also asked us to be welcoming, to sow hope. I hope never to stray from these coordinates.
He has worked in Navarra Newspaperhas also been a teacher. It is often said that "journalism is a priesthood". How do you see it? Will you continue to tell things?
- I think it can be said that journalism essentially consists in providing information so that society can have more and better elements of judgment, so that people can make their decisions more freely. In this sense, we can speak of a certain professional continuity: after all, the priest also tries to effectively transmit the good news of the Gospel.
There is, however, a relevant difference that I have already noticed in these first weeks of pastoral work. As a journalist, I have long devoted myself to uncovering and documenting stories and then telling them, and there was a very clear purpose that is almost like a premise of news work: it is about telling stories for someone.
As a priest, the stories I get to know and hear do not belong to me, they do not come to me to be written down or completed: they are stories that many people place in my hands so that I can present them to God, so that I can tell them to him alone. In that sense, the difference is profound.
Every day, when I approach the altar to celebrate Holy Mass, I carry with me the worries, sins, illusions, troubles, joys and tears of those who have turned to God through me, sometimes unconsciously. There are still stories and I am still a mediator, but now I turn in another orbit, in God's orbit.
Your last book was "Pulling the thread". What did you want to tell us?
-I think the main characteristic of this book is precisely that I didn't want to say anything. I started writing it during the first confinement, in a somewhat improvised way, without any editorial aspiration. I mainly devoted myself to gather scattered stories that I had already written, stories of people and events that have been important to me for diverse and very personal reasons. Then I saw that all that material could be ordered and cohesive, that it had a meaning. The subtitle sums it up in a way: 'All the stories that have led me to Rome'..
I suppose that at heart the book is a hymn of thanksgiving to God, who has crossed my paths with those of so many good, interesting and unforgettable people. And it offers some clue as to the change of direction I have taken at this point in life.
You have been a member of Opus Dei for 41 years. How did you perceive that God was calling you to the priesthood? Can you offer some advice on how to live the passion of evangelization with joy, as the Pope asks?
-I had considered on many occasions the possibility of the priesthood, but there was a very specific day in 2018 when I saw it in a much clearer way. I think that the word 'call I sensed that Jesus Christ was encouraging me to spend the coming years trying to do his part in a ministerial way, transmitting his messages, helping him to administer the sacraments, involving myself fully in the great 'field hospital' that is the Church - the expression is Pope Francis' - trying to be one more among the priests. "holy, learned, humble, cheerful and sporting". that St. Josemaría wanted. I like the expression 'help God'. that Etty Hillesum used, that's what I'm going to try to do from now on.
Regarding the passion of which the Pope speaks, I think that one key is precisely that of evangelizing through joy: we Christians have more and better reasons than anyone else to be happy in spite of everything, to offer the best version of ourselves, to find ourselves at ease in the world. All this comes from the personal encounter of each one of us with Jesus: if we allow ourselves to be challenged and loved by him, we cease to be pilgrims and become apostles. "Joy is missionary." the Pope repeated several times during the memorable WYD vigil in Lisbon.
Sometimes social and political positions seem irreconcilable. From your point of view as a professor of communication, and now as a priest, how do you reconcile antagonistic positions with the legitimate defense, for example, of a Christian vision of society that underlines the dignity of the human person?
- During the years I spent in Rome, I completed my degree in Moral Theology and a doctoral thesis entitled 'The Theological and Moral Dimension of Literature. The case of Albert Camus'. I became interested in Albert Camus years ago, when I read the first chapter of the first volume of 20th Century Literature and Christianity, by the great Charles Moeller, a Belgian priest who established a very interesting dialogue from the perspective of faith with the great authors of his time.
I admire and am moved by the fact that someone supposedly far from God and the Church like Albert Camus proposes a way of living so close to the Gospel, and that he does it in such a convinced and authentic way. I ventured with this thesis because I was attracted to the idea of building a bridge with Camus from the shore of theology. Sometimes we reduce our relationships to those people or institutions with whom we are in total harmony.
This phenomenon can be seen in a mathematical way in social networks, which offer a confirmation bias, but something similar happens in politics and in society, so often fractured by those antagonistic positions you mention in your question. I believe that today we are called more than ever to seek points of convergence and to discover in others concerns and aspirations related to our own. The Samaritan woman at the well of Sychar led a morally disordered life, but she was above all a person who was searching. Jesus took advantage of her longing and channeled it in a way she could not have imagined.
Jesus said: love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you. In 1932, St. Josemaría arranged for a picture with these words of Jesus to be displayed in the centers of the Work: "A new commandment I give unto you, that you love one another."Any comments?
One of the most revolutionary messages of the Gospel is that of love for enemies. It is not usual to have declared or aggressive enemies, but almost all of us keep in some corner of our soul our little black lists. Getting out of this spiral is a real revolution. I think that the novelty of Jesus' commandment has as much to do with the fact that he posed it for the first time as with the evidence that it is always new, precisely because we men easily tend to the contrary.
The new commandment is a call to overcome our inclinations, our accumulated grievances, our prejudices, what appears to be easier or more comfortable; it is an invitation to give the best of ourselves in our relationship with any other person.
The wildfires that started on August 8 on the island of Maui in Hawaii have left, as of August 15, 99 dead, dozens missing and thousands affected. As the days go by, this figure could increase, according to Hawaii Governor Josh Green. Although the fires are already under control, the authorities continue the rescue and search work.
The fire destroyed thousands of structures, mostly residential areas in the town of Lahaina, a city of 12,000 inhabitants on the west coast of the island of Maui and the second largest in the archipelago. Other communities severely affected were the area of "Kihei" and the inland communities known as "Upcountry".
On August 11, President Biden declared the state of Hawaii a disaster area and made available to the state a range of federal assistance ranging from temporary shelters to financial aid for victims. State and local authorities have also made available six temporary shelter centers, shelters, mobile medical centers, transportation and assistance centers.
The Diocese of Honolulu
The Pope FrancisIn his message after the Angelus on August 13, he expressed his sadness for the tragedy and assured his prayers for the victims. Also, in a telegram sent the day before, His Holiness expressed his closeness and solidarity with those who lost loved ones.
Ecclesiastically, Maui and the other islands of the Hawaiian Archipelago belong to the Diocese of Honolulu, governed by Msgr. Clarence R. Silva. The diocese has 66 parishes served by 56 priests. On the island of Maui there are 18 churches, one of them called "Maria Lanakila", located in the historic center of Lahaina, one of the most devastated areas. However, the parish was not affected. This church was built in 1846, although the first Mass celebrated in the city of Lahaina was in 1841.
God is still near
Bishop Clarence Silva visited the disaster area in Maui and presided at Mass on August 13 at Sacred Hearts Church in Kapalua. In his homily he said that even in the midst of these dramatic events, God's voice assures us of his love and care.
Despite this tragedy, he noted, "God never abandons us, but embraces us with whispers of comfort and love. God's hand is near and visible through the thousands of people in Hawaii, the United States and around the world who are praying for you. The whisper of God's love is louder than the noise and drama of the disaster," the cardinal said. During his visit, Bishop Silva listened to the dramatic accounts of families who suffered damage or loss. "Contemplating the rubble of the city of Lahaina was a very sad moment," he said.
Hawaii became the 50th state of the United States in 1959. It is located 3,200 kilometers southwest of California. It is an archipelago of 8 islands with several islets and atolls. Its capital is Honolulu. Due to its natural beauty and climate, tourism is the main economic activity of the state.
To help those affected in Maui, the Catholic Charities of Hawaii have issued a call for donations through their official web site
In addition, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles has asked all of its parishes to take up a special collection on the weekends of August 19-20 and 26-27 to send to disaster victims. The proceeds from the Los Angeles parishes will be sent to Hawaii through the Pontifical Mission Societies of Los Angeles ("The Pontifical Mission Societies in Los Angeles").
Welcoming others. 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time (A)
Joseph Evans comments on the readings for the 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time and Luis Herrera offers a short video homily.
Joseph Evans-August 17, 2023-Reading time: 2minutes
How much the Holy Father insists on the care and welcome of migrants and refugees! Time and again Pope Francis has urged the world, and the Church, to be more open to our suffering brothers and sisters who come to our shores fleeing poverty and persecution, whatever their ethnic or religious background. A true Catholic heart makes no distinctions. Being Catholic, for Francis, means both "going out to everyone," especially the excluded - those on the "existential peripheries," as he puts it - and "welcoming everyone," loving first and only then thinking about practical problems, and even then only to solve them.
But this insistence is not an invention of the Pope. It is the teaching of the Bible and, very concretely, of our Lord Jesus. And this is made very clear in today's readings. At a time when holiness, for the people of Israel, was often seen as something exclusive, keeping a distance from the pagan nations, who were seen as idolaters and sources of temptation, God insists through the prophet Isaiah on integrating them into the life and worship of Israel.
"Those strangers who have joined themselves to the Lord to serve him, to love the name of the Lord and to be his servants, who observe the Sabbath without profaning it and keep my covenant, I will bring them to my holy mountain, I will make them rejoice in my house of prayer; their burnt offerings and sacrifices shall be acceptable on my altar; for my house is a house of prayer, and so shall all peoples call it.".
In the second reading, St. Paul speaks of having been "sent to the pagans"a fact of which he is proud. In fact, he explains, his ministry to them is in part to incite the Israelites to conversion. Our own outreach to non-Catholics and other ethnic groups can also lead us to conversion.
And the whole gospel is about Jesus reaching out to a person - a pagan woman - beyond the limits considered "acceptable" by the Israelites of that time. Jesus uses a graphic image to teach that his primary mission was certainly directed toward Israel itself: "It is not well", he says, "taking bread from the children and throwing it to the puppies". Certainly, many Israelites would have seen the pagans as mere dogs. But Jesus uses the image in a deeper sense: Israel is God's chosen people, his firstborn, his son, and therefore has a preferential right to his teaching. But the woman's response surprises Jesus and leads him to praise her for her great faith: "But she replied: 'You are right, Sir; but the little dogs also eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table'.". As we also see on other occasions (cf. Mt 8:10), the pagans can, if they have the opportunity, show more faith than God's own people.
And the same is true today: if they have the opportunity, foreigners, immigrants, refugees, migrants can also surpass us in faith. So let us not see them as a problem, but as an evangelizing opportunity.
Homily on the readings of the 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time (A)
The priest Luis Herrera Campo offers its nanomiliaA short one-minute reflection for these Sunday readings.
The "Vocation of St. Matthew" is a famous painting by the Italian painter Michelangelo Merisi Caravaggio. The richness of its symbolism and its subject matter express profound realities of Christian doctrine.
Alfonso García-Huidobro-August 17, 2023-Reading time: 9minutes
The "Vocazione di San Matteo" (1599-1600) by the Italian master Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio lends itself, both for the words of the Gospel on which it is inspired and for its rich symbolism, to a theological commentary. The chromatic contrasts, typical of the baroque technique of chiaroscuro, the expressiveness of the faces and the intensity of the gazes, and many other small details, immediately capture the attention of the observer. The same can be said of some elements or objects whose meaning is not understood at first glance, such as, for example, the fact that the blind window located at the top has large proportions, when the light that dominates the scene does not enter through it.
Important aspects of the table
A first glance at the lower part of the painting, delimited by the horizontal projection of the base of the window, reveals a group of seven people. In the upper part it is possible to see, from left to right, an area of darkness, a window and the entrance of a ray of light.
In the lower part, we can see a first group of five people gathered around a tax collection table, which suggests that they are engaged in the tax collection trade or, at least, that they collaborate in that trade. They are dressed in the style of the 15th-16th century, that is, of Caravaggio's time. In the second group, by contrast, we can distinguish two figures dressed in ancient tunics, characteristic of the time of Christ. It can be said, therefore, that between the two groups of people a temporal separation is symbolized. From the point of view of the composition of the painting, the line that separates the present from the past is the projection of the vertical median of the window.
In the group of collectors, first of all, the progressive variety of ages that characterizes the group is striking: the boy in yellow and red, almost a child, with a candid and innocent look; another boy in black and white, with the features and bearing of an adolescent; the one in red and blue, who seems to have already reached a certain maturity; the bearded and mature man in the center and, finally, the old man, half bald and nearsighted.
Some objects carried or used by the collectors are also striking: a showy white feather hat (the second one is in the half-light), a sword, a money bag tied to the belt, the coins and the account book on the table and also a pair of glasses. It could be understood that these are objects more or less characteristic of the trade.
Symbolism
It is therefore not difficult to see a symbolism in this characterization. There is the collector in all the stages of his profession (from apprenticeship to retirement), and, if you want, with a broader vision, the man of all times in the various stages of his life. The collection table and the objects already described are like a staging of the world with its characteristic elements: beauty and vanity, power and strength, money and the desire for profit, and a certain eagerness for self-sufficient wisdom. It is the usual and characteristic place of vocation: man immersed in the cares of the world.
The two figures on the right are both standing. Christ is clearly singled out by the halo on his head. It is noteworthy that only his face is illuminated, partially in the half-light, and his right hand, completely extended. The gaze conveys determination, and the hand, strongly evocative of the gesture it assumes, suggests both empire and softness. The feet, barely perceptible in the half-light, are not in the direction of the face and the hand, but are almost perpendicular to them, in the direction of departure, in line with the Gospel text: "When he was going away from there, he was going out of the house"., As Jesus passed by, he saw a man named Matthew". The left arm and left hand are also barely discernible in the half-light, and the open position in which they are found suggests invitation and welcome.
The second figure -according to common opinion- was added later by Caravaggio himself. It almost completely covers the figure of Christ and it can be affirmed with certainty that it is St. Peter, since he carries in his hand the staff of the shepherd, in charge of shepherding the flock. Peter, in fact, was constituted as the first successor of the Good Shepherd according to the commission he received from him: "Feed my sheep" (cf. Jn 21:16). His position so close to Christ confirms him as his disciple, as does the gesture of his left hand, which is like a replica of the gesture of the Master's hand. His feet, like those of Christ, are in movement, but not in the direction of the exit, but directed towards the interior of the scene.
The relative position, the tonality of the colors, the gestures and movements of the figures of Christ and Peter have a significance. Peter's body almost completely hides Christ and leaves behind him only the face and hand of the Master. His dull and tired appearance contrasts with Christ's youthful bearing, empire and energy.
Hence the figure of Peter can be interpreted as a symbol of the Church: he transmits from generation to generation the gestures and words of Christ, even if he does not always succeed in doing so with the original strength and splendor, due to the fragile human condition of those who compose it. The direction in which she turns, towards the table, confirms her mission of being in the world, in the midst of men; and the staff she carries in her hand, her condition of pilgrim throughout history, until the end of time.
Elements of the upper part
The upper part of the painting, in contrast to the scene depicted in the lower one, is of absolute simplicity and stillness. It consists of only three elements: the ray of light entering from the right, a blind window and an area of complete darkness. The only sign of movement is the beam of light entering the scene, but in such a serene and stable way that it seems motionless. It is possible to understand the relationship of these three elements according to the resource of contrast, so typical of baroque painting: the window is the border between light and darkness.
But now, shouldn't we ask ourselves if the parts of the painting, with meaning and significance in themselves, do not form a whole, a unity of meaning, as happens in every masterpiece? For example, is the window closely related to Mateo's vocation? The answer is obviously yes. There is a unity of meaning and there is also a key to the compression of the whole painting. That key is the outstretched hand of Christ. And now we will see why.
Vocation
Christ's hand is not in the geometric center of the painting, but at the dramatic crossroads of the scene. There converge the line that joins the gaze of Christ and the tax collector seated at the center of the table; the projection of the vertical median of the window that, as already mentioned, constitutes a temporal border of the scene: the group of tax collectors on the left, in the present, Christ and Peter on the right, in the past; and, thirdly, the diagonal formed by the ray of light that seems to govern the direction of Christ's hand.
The gesture of Christ's hand is quite unique and does not go unnoticed to the eye of those who know the Roman art of the time and the rooms of the Vatican. It is an evocation of the scene of the creation painted by Michelangelo Buonaroti on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Christ's right hand is a mirror replica of Adam's left hand. Hence it can be said that Christ is represented as a new Adam: "For if by the fall of the one man all died, how much more did the grace of God and the gift that is given in the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abound to all" (cf. Rom 5:15).
Hence it is also clear that vocation is a grace intimately linked to the creation of each man, since it is what gives meaning to his existence. But because it is precisely the right hand of Christ and because Christ not only has the human nature of Adam, but also the divine nature of God the Father, that hand is the image of the omnipotent power and will of the Father: the finger of God.
On the other hand, the blind, opaque and simple window, as already mentioned, does not fulfill the function of letting light into the scene. Its function is symbolic and very important, given its dimensions. It hides something that usually goes unnoticed and is even despised: the cross. In the context of the painting, it can be interpreted as the cross of Christ. Placed on high, just above the Master's hand, it is the sign of the Christian and the place where Christ brings to fulfillment his own vocation: to give his life for the salvation of the world.
The cross is the way of life for the one who has received the vocation and wants to be a disciple of Christ: "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me".(Mt 16:24). Finally, it is the means to attain salvation and beatitude, the goals of the Christian vocation. Not only Christ died in it, but also Peter and Matthew. Both gave proof of their faithfulness as disciples of Christ and crowned their own vocation.
The cross, placed in the composition of the painting as a frontier between light and darkness, symbolizes, then, the instrument that allows to settle the permanent opposition between good and evil, truth and lie, and, in the case of vocation, between indecision and the passage of faith.
Who is Mateo?
Finally, one might ask who of the five collectors is Matthew, since from the point of view of contemporary criticism it has been questioned whether he is the bearded collector in the center, on whom the observer's gaze is naturally focused.
First of all, there is a common element that allows us to characterize each of the seven characters that make up the scene: the gaze. There is an intense play of glances that dominates the silent communication between the characters and fills the instant with dramatic tension. The two collectors on the left keep their gaze fixed on the money that is on the table, absolutely absorbed in it and without even noticing the presence of Christ and the other one on the right. Pedro.
They symbolize that portion of men who, immersed in the material, are as if incapable of perceiving the presence and existence of God and of all that is spiritual. The other three tax collectors, on the other hand, have their eyes fixed on Christ and Peter who, like two mysterious visitors from the past, have suddenly burst onto the scene. They, too, look at the tax collectors. There is, however, only one crossing of gazes that is explicitly singled out: that of Christ and that of the tax collector in the center. Both cross each other in Christ's outstretched hand.
Secondly, it does not seem to be by chance that the gesture of the hand of Christ, Peter and the tax collector in the center are presented in trio: the hand of Christ is the hand of the one who calls; the hand of Peter, the hand of the one who has already been called; and the hand of the tax collector, the hand of the one who is being called. Filled with astonishment and perplexity, he wonders if he is the one being called or if it is his companion seated on his right, at the end of the table.
Thirdly, in the group of collectors there are only two faces visible almost completely and specially illuminated. The one that shines the brightest is the small one in yellow and red, with a white feathered hat. It is not possible to establish with certainty the origin of the source that illuminates him. In the case of the collector in the center, it is clear that the light that illuminates his face does not come from Christ. It comes from the diagonal beam of light. His face is literally framed by the projection of the upper and lower part of that ray, whose origin or source is not possible to see.
Hence it can be said that the collector in the center is precisely Matthew. The soft ray of light that reaches his face is but a symbol of the grace that comes from above, that is, from God the Father. God the Father who is in heaven, transcendent to the world, but condescending to men, has always been considered the invisible, inaccessible and mysterious source of all grace. The immutable and serene tone of the ray of light, which introduces balance and harmony into the scene, symbolizes the timeless origin of that which is prior to vocation, that is, election. The one who chooses is God the Father.
The point of confluence of the soft ray of light, of the gaze and of the hand of Christ, is also the face of the collector of the center. Christ, seconding the will of the Father, actualizes in time the eternal election, and calls: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, (...) for in him he chose us before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love" (Eph 1:4).
The answer to vocation
Now it only remains to wait for the free response from the one who has been chosen and called. From the one who still has his right hand close to the money. It is precisely the instant immortalized by Caravaggio.
By way of conclusion, a question and a consideration: did the artist's creative intuition lead him to interpret in his work the precise moment of Matthew's vocation, not only in a masterly way from the aesthetic point of view, but also with astonishing theological depth... We do not know. What is clear is that the "Vocazione di San Matteo" is still there, in the Contarelli chapel of the church "San Luigi dei Francesi" a few steps from "Piazza Navona", in Rome, causing admiration and amazement in those who contemplate it.
However, one detail cannot go unnoticed: the table represented in the painting, around which the tax collectors are gathered, leaves a free space in the angle where the observer necessarily stands. That emptiness seems to be an invitation for the observer of the 16th century, of the 21st century and of every era to leave his passive contemplation and enter the scene as one more character... And, perhaps, ask himself the decisive question, the most important one: the question about his own vocation, why and for what am I in this world?
Every year, one of the most important pastoral events for Christian families in Austria takes place in Pöllau, a small town in the eastern Austrian region of Styria: the "Styria Festival".Jungfamilientreffen"or "Meeting of young families". This year it was held from July 18 to 23, and 170 families and more than 200 helpers took part, a total of almost 1,000 people from all over Austria and some neighboring countries. The motto of the week was: "Renew the glory!". The focus was on the family: each participating family also came to meet other families, recharge, exchange and encourage each other, pray together, "strengthen the marriage and receive the sacraments".
It all started there more than 30 years ago. Within the Catholic Charismatic Renewal and with great and obvious support from the parish and the parish priest, youth meetings began in Pöllau in 1992. When the young people grew up, got married and had children themselves, meetings for young families began, and so in 2003 there was the first "Meeting of young families": they wanted to experience what they had experienced in Pöllau as young people: the community of young Christians, the renewal in faith and the new joy in Christian life, praying and singing together and also having fun together, now as families, and to pass this on to their children and also to other families.
Not only with "charismatic" enthusiasm, but with much dedication and effort, faith and joy, the organizers and from the beginning many volunteers have so far organized 21 such meetings with about 3,300 families, and have carried them out with great success; success, not only in the worldly sense, but each time with much spiritual gain, an experience with much joy for all, for the participating families and the helpers, who are mostly young people.
Three essential elements
In what for the families - for the parents and for the children - is simply a great all-round program, an objective observer could identify three main elements: conferences and workshops, spiritual program, conviviality.
The titles of the conferences, such as "Truthfulness and love", "Freedom and depth", "Sources of conjugal love" speak for themselves to adults: transmitting lasting values, and at the same time a practical help for families and their future.
But at the center and throughout the week is the spiritual program, with Holy Mass, morning and evening prayer, the vigil or rather the Feast of Mercy, the pilgrimage. The daily Mass is celebrated in the large church of the village, right next to the area where the events take place. In the tent with the Blessed Sacrament the Lord can be adored in the Sacrament of the Altar for several hours a day. Again and again, children and young people come to pray for a while; for them it is very natural to meet Jesus here, "in the middle of the meadow".
And all with joyful conviviality throughout the day, with a special program for children with children's theater and the Mayan Bee, and sessions for young people with talks and discussions. Throughout the day, it's like a constant exchange of families with each other, during meals together, during walks in the meadow, or even couples with each other during the marriage renewal. On the website of the "Young Families Meeting" you can read the testimony of Andreas and Maria: "We received so many graces as a couple, we were comforted at the marriage renewal vigil and God gave us guidance for raising our children".
New approach
The "Encounters of Young Families" are supported by the ICF, the Christian Family Initiative. ICF works on behalf of the Austrian Bishops' Conference. Their website describes their work: "As ICF we see ourselves as providers and organizers of offers for families, married couples and children. Our concern is to serve families and strengthen them in their vocation. With our offers we want to make people aware again of the high value of marriage and family in our society." ICF Director Robert Schmalzbauer has been involved in the young family meetings as an animator together with his wife Michaela from the very beginning. Since then, they have become grandparents, and their eight children participate: the younger ones still in the children's program, the older ones already as parents with their own children.
Not only his own experience, but also decades of pastoral work with families have led Robert Schmalzbauer to the conviction that the family is essential for pastoral work with young people. He says it is clear to everyone that young people are the future. But when young people grow up in a family strengthened in faith and in their own lives, they grow up in a different way. "And when many young people come back here to serve families together with priests and religious, it influences their view of marriage, of the family and also of the priesthood or religious vocation. They see here that families need priests and priests need families."
That is why it is important to take great care of the families in Pöllau, so that this week means for them a strengthening as a family, also as a Christian and believing family: that there is a well thought-out program for all ages; that there are as many volunteers to take care of everything that is needed; that the couples also have space for this with the help of the program for the children, so that they can also have enough time for them during this week.
Thus, the Meeting of Young Families becomes a spiritual event for everyone, for the couples, for the whole family and for the organizers and volunteers, which strengthens them for the coming weeks and months and makes them look forward to the next Meeting of Young Families. On the website https://jungfamilien, Christoph and Katharina say: "Our family has become more deeply united during this week and our relationship has experienced a more intimate dimension. We were able to feel God in our family.
In 2024, the meeting will no longer be held in Pöllau, because the parish no longer has the necessary infrastructure there, so that it is no longer feasible to hold the meeting in the usual way. The new location is the Benedictine Abbey of Kremsmünster in Upper Austria, which was founded in the year 777 and has a lot of experience with large-scale events, with the monthly "Treffpunkt Benedikt" (Benedict Meeting Point) as a spiritual offer for young people.
Artificial Intelligence, advantage or danger in the educational field?
How can technology, and in particular Artificial Intelligence, be used to improve teaching processes and enhance education? What are the challenges and advantages for teachers and students? To answer these questions Omnes interviewed Rushton Huxley, founder of the organization "Next Vista for Learning".
The emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) marks a milestone in computing and society. The remarkable progress made in this field will have an increasingly profound impact on all areas of human activity, political, economic and social. Pope Francis has pointed out that it is necessary to be vigilant that a logic of violence does not take root in the use of AI. That is why the theme for the next World Day of Peace, January 1, 2024, is "Artificial Intelligences and Peace."
In this regard, the Dicastery for Human and Integral Development notes that the Holy Father asks to establish a dialogue to learn about the potential and risks of AI. The Pontiff exhorts to guide the use of AI in a responsible way and that it be at the service of humanity. "The guardianship of the dignity of the person and care for human fraternity are indispensable conditions for technological development to contribute to the promotion of justice and peace in the world", the Dicastery indicates.
One of the fields with enormous potential is the use of AI in the service of education. The tools derived from AI have the capacity and potential to change for better (or worse) the way we learn. How to use technology and in particular Artificial Intelligence to improve teaching processes and enhance education? What are the challenges and advantages for teachers and students?
To answer these questions, Omnes interviewed Rushton Huxley, founder of the organization "Next Vista for Learning"and teacher of "Creative Solutions for the Global Good" and "Advanced Solutions for the Global Good" at Junipero Serra Catholic High School in San Mateo California. Huxley was the keynote speaker at the C3 Conference for Global Communication offered by the Archdiocese of Los Angeles Aug. 2-4 to train Catholic school faculty and staff on the potential of AI in Catholic educational institutions.
Could you tell us a little about your work and the organization you founded "Next Vista Learning"?
- I am the founder and executive director of Next Vista Learning, which I have been running for 18 years. The organization has a website that is basically a library of videos made by and for teachers and students around the world on creative approaches to teaching and learning. I'm also the director of innovation at Junipero Serra Institute in San Mateo, California. And I teach there with another teacher.
Why was Next Vista Learning created?
- In 2005 I noticed that many children were having trouble learning some subjects in school. I knew that, somewhere, there was a teacher who had a smarter or more creative way to explain it. So I decided to create a space where those clever and short explanations were freely available to children. Over time, videos were also added to the library where the children themselves explain some topics and demonstrate how they learned them, sharing ideas on how to learn. We already have about 2,800 videos on the website. They cover various topics from learning English to community service. There is different content in this space.
Do you think artificial intelligence will mark a before and after in education?
- Yes. I have been in the world of educational technology for a long time and in recent years many tools have emerged that give you the ability to create your own digital media and the ability to collaborate in teams, for example, with "Google Workspace". Today it is possible to show maps to students through virtual reality. Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI), such as GPT chat, or "Google Bard" challenges us in many ways. One of those items is to think about whether in teaching we have been asking students to formulate their questions and answer them correctly. For example, if we want them to learn to write, we may ask them to write a very elaborate text, with precise indications. In that case what we should do is teach them to think about what kind of things there should be before generating the writing. Then evaluate it and finally complement it. It is very important that children learn to write, but there are new ways to do it thanks to the tools we have at our disposal.
From an educational perspective, what are the advantages and disadvantages of artificial intelligence applications?
- For me, the hope of this is that people think very differently about their own possibilities. The biggest advantage for a teacher is that they save time. Because you can tell the application, "Write a syllabus for the class on this topic." The teacher takes that information and uses it in class. The 80 % of the work is already done. Or for example if we ask the AI for ideas to work on the topic of the civil rights struggle in the United States. The app is probably going to tell you to ask students to read Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail". Or ask the AI, "give me 10 questions for students about that argument." With this technology you get what's useful in a matter of seconds and that will allow you as a teacher to be more creative in deciding how to teach or improve your class.
In the case of AI and students there are many ways they can tap into its potential. For example if they write an essay and want to improve it, they can put it into the AI application and ask it for ideas to refine it. Then they can get feedback. This is obtained not because the AI is thinking like a human, but because it can generate writing that is consistent with the question you ask it, based on the vast amount of information it has available. As another example, a student might ask the application, "Give a one-page summary of this topic. Why choose that topic? So that, the next day, that student will go to class and know what the professor is going to present and thus be able to contribute to the class. They are not going to be experts, but when the professor starts teaching the subject they are going to understand it better. And if they have a hard time, they could ask the AI to generate a summary of the same topic using simple terminology in plain English (for English-speaking students). Another example. For English (or language) learners they might ask the AI to generate a list of vocabulary related to some topic. What are learners not going to find in an AI? If they ask it to describe a city like Los Angeles or New York, the AI will do it. But if you ask it for information about the life of your granny who lives in the city of Coalinga, California, it probably won't produce results.
One of the risks of AI is dishonesty or cheating in the classroom, i.e. students copying and pasting a text that is not theirs. This is an extremely sensitive behavior that in American universities carries very serious penalties including expulsion. How to prevent it?
- In that sense it is a risk. If we don't talk to students about the really good, honest and amazing things about how they can use this technology, they are effectively going to see it simply as a tool for cheating. The question we have to ask ourselves is "are we creating the factors to make students more likely to cheat?" The skills are possessed because they have been practiced and improved. On the academic side, the simpler the instructions we give our students, the easier they can do it. AI allows us to challenge students to think more complexly about the world around them, about the validity of sources, about their ability to evaluate the quality of a well-written text with grammar and spelling used correctly. But for a student to think with such a schema, he or she has to have knowledge of grammar and spelling to then recognize and evaluate.
To get them to that point, it's important to show them life stories or experiences where they appreciate how creative and innovative approaches can be helpful to others and make a difference in a community. "Can I do something that makes a difference in my community?" Even if it's something small, that builds confidence. The teacher's task is to enable the student to know that there is a space where they can do something very interesting and academically meaningful. This involves making changes in the way teachers work. A lot of things come from very simple changes. I wrote a book called "Making Your Teaching Something Special." It is based on the premise that little things done in quantity and quality make you a better teacher. For example, something that happens in every classroom is that the students keep yelling and seem to be uncontrollable. The teacher has to find ways to get them to shut up. He or she can yell "shut up" several times in a loud voice; but maybe that yelling reminds a child of the yelling he or she hears at home and results in a bad cognitive association. But if the teacher changes the strategy and instead of yelling, gets a farm bell (I'm from Texas and we use those bells a lot) and smiles at them to tell them to shut up, the students will most likely begin to associate the farm bell noise with silence.
Going back to generative AI, there are little things you can use to be a better teacher. There are many things we can do to make our work more effective and satisfying on a personal and professional level.
Joseph Evans comments on the readings of the Assumption of Mary (A).
Joseph Evans-August 15, 2023-Reading time: 2minutes
The precious holiday that we celebrate today teaches us that MariaAt the end of her life on earth, she was assumed body and soul into Heaven. The Church does not define whether she died or not, but most theologians and saints throughout the centuries have thought that Mary did experience death, not as a punishment for sin, but to be completely united to her Son, who willingly suffered death to save us. Our Lady helps us not to be afraid of death and to die to ourselves every day, because this is the way to life. So too, therefore, is old age.
Today's first reading shows us Our Lady in glory. Not only "shines like the sun"as Jesus says will happen to the righteous. It is "dressed in the sun"with a crown of twelve stars and the moon at his feet. His glory is far greater than ours because his holiness is far greater. This teaches us how God generously rewards us and gives us the hope of Heaven. But this was because Mary humbled herself. She is exalted by her humility, as can be seen in her response to the angel (Lk 1:38) and her Magnificat. The proud and rich are cast down, and the humble are exalted. If we want to share in Our Lady's heavenly glory, we must be humble and poor.
This feast also teaches us the importance of femininity: Mary is assumed into Heaven with a woman's body (not only with a purely spiritual soul), as the first of all holy women. Femininity is very important for God. We are made in the image and likeness of God as male and female. But true womanhood involves all that we see Mary living: her total response to God and her flexibility to respond to his plans, even when they seem to change her own; her generosity in going to help those in need, as she went to help her cousin; and the joy with which she reaches out, praising God with a joyful heart, a heart that rejoices in God's power and saving works, and rejoices in being one of his little ones.
True femininity is Mary's attentive gaze towards the needs of others, as at Cana, and her boldness in turning to her Son, and her gentle insistence. It is her courage at the foot of the Cross. She cannot do much, but she is there, and that is already a lot. True femininity is Mary's maternal concern for the Church, holding her together when she was in danger of breaking, and her presence at Pentecost in the heart of the praying Church, for what is the Church without the prayer of women?
Mary intercedes for us from Heaven and invites us to follow her. And, again, the way to follow her is to ask her help to be humble. "Cast down the mighty from the throne and exalt the lowly"Mary helps us to see ourselves and to live as servants, and to find our joy in this. Mary helps us to see ourselves and to live as servants, and to find our joy in this.
Today, August 15, we celebrate the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, that is, that Mary was taken to Heaven body and soul and that, therefore, her body is already glorified, as a foretaste of what will happen to all the saved at the end of time.
On August 15, we celebrate the Asunción This is one of the most popular Christian feasts, but it is based on one of the most unpopular articles of our creed, that of the "resurrection of the flesh": how few believe it!
It would be a curious exercise if we went to one of those crowded shopping avenues where reporters usually do the typical street surveys to ask citizens about their beliefs in life after death. Many would deny us the major; others would affirm without ambiguity to believe in the reincarnation or in the fusion with an ambiguous cosmic energy; if some would dare to speak of an ethereal sky with clouds and angels?But few, very few, would categorically affirm to believe -as the Church affirms- that their body, that is, their own body (hands, feet, teeth, liver, stomach...), will resurrect transfigured at the end of time for eternal life. Do you think the sample would be very different if the survey were made at the door of a parish church at the exit of Mass? I have my doubts.
The dogma of the Assumption of Mary, whose feast we make coincide in mid-August with countless local Marian invocations, proclaims that the Virgin, like her Son, is risen in body and soul and already lives eternally with Him. Mary's fate is the same that awaits us. This is what Jesus promised us. Her only privilege is to have anticipated the moment. She did not have to wait, as we do, for the end of time. VIP treatment for a truly VIP woman, none other than the mother of God.
But why is it so hard for us to believe it? Forgive me for insisting, but the subject seems to me to be very important because it touches the foundation of Christianity: the empty tomb. If Christ has not risen, what does faith consist in?
I think one of the reasons for this disbelief is that it is quite counterintuitive. When someone dies, we see how their body is corrupted. Even if we read the ancient scriptures, the testimonies of the early Christians and say that we expect the resurrection, we do not know very well how it will be because the material disappears in our temporal dimension. Much more intuitive are the Platonic ideas that permeate our culture and Christianity with it.
The classic division between mortal body and immortal soul causes us to fall again and again into a doctrine, the dualistic one, which is contrary to what the Christian community has believed historically and believes today. From time to time, Manichean ideas (also contrary to the deposit of our faith), such as those that seduced St. Augustine and from which he repented so much, in which the body is considered the origin of evil while the spirit is the origin of good, also adhere to us from time to time.
On these two doctrines are based many of the ideological colonizations that Pope Francis has once again denounced in the WYDW and that today permeate the majority of people's thinking. The younger generations, for example, see it as normal to hand over their body on a night out to an unknown person with whom they would not even share their telephone number, because the body is, after all, just matter that will be eaten by the earth. It's like a different reality to me.
On the other hand, there are more and more people who reject their body because they see in it the origin of the evil that affects them. Some do not agree with their sex, others with their silhouette or their face. They see themselves as pure souls (in which there is no room for error) trapped in a (wrong) body and are willing to mutilate it or force it until it has the shape or use they believe to be perfect. There is also the case of those who ask for their ashes to be scattered in this or that idyllic place as a way to stop being themselves and join an impersonal universe.
In the face of these forms of dualism, Manichaeism or practical materialism, the Church affirms that the human being is both a bodily and a spiritual being. Body and soul have dignity. Hence the centuries-old respect for one's own body and that of one's neighbor even after death. For the flesh is not a kind of disposable sheath or shell, but is, in itself, the human being, the perfect work of the Creator, the temple of the Holy Spirit.
Glorify God with your body," St. Paul asked the Corinthians. Mary was a pioneer in this, placing her flesh, her whole life, at the service of God and humanity. And that is why we commemorate the fact that her flesh is now immortal. A piece of advice to celebrate this feast: look at yourselves in the mirror, contemplate every detail (whether you like it or not) thinking, like Mary, that if God has willed it so: "Behold the handmaid of the Lord". Look at your hands, bring them close to your mouth and kiss them: they will accompany you in eternity. And glorify God with them: join them together to pray, extend them to embrace those who need affection or consolation, raise them to help those who need it and clap them to applaud Mary in her assumption into heaven. She awaits us (here and there) in body and soul.
Journalist. Graduate in Communication Sciences and Bachelor in Religious Sciences. He works in the Diocesan Delegation of Media in Malaga. His numerous "threads" on Twitter about faith and daily life have a great popularity.
August 15 is the feast of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary body and soul into Heaven. Although it was proclaimed a dogma of faith in 1950, the Assumption has been part of the tradition of the Church for centuries.
María Loreto Cruz Opazo-August 15, 2023-Reading time: 4minutes
Those of us who believe in Christ have the Virgin Mary as a model of life to follow, precisely because she had a privileged relationship with her son Jesus: He lovingly shared his glorious destiny with her. This is what gives her the merit to be Our Mother and to be present in the Catholic devotion with the feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Asunción or, in the Orthodox liturgy, with the Dormition. From time immemorial it has been celebrated by many peoples through popular religiosity with various artistic expressions, who have expressed their belief and affection for the Assumption (St. Bernard said: "I never feel so happy or fearful as when I have to speak of the glory of the Virgin Mary").
The Christian tradition that comes from the Apostles recalls that Mary was taken body and soul to Heaven at the end of her earthly life. This is because in everything she followed the way of her Son to the end: "Knowledge of the true Catholic doctrine on the Virgin Mary will always be the exact key to understanding the mystery of Christ," as Paul VI said (Nov. 21, 1964).
Dormition
She was glorified so that she would not suffer from the corruption of death. It is said that she fell asleep because theological speculation says that, if she did not sin because she was Immaculate, then she did not die either. But, in the same way, it is discussed theologically speaking that, if she was solidary in everything with Jesus Christ (who being in all innocence assumed the sins of humanity), she could have suffered and died like Him. But the truth is that there is no record of any illness, only the assumption of her possible old age under the care of the apostle John (see John 19:27).
Scene of the Dormition, from the painting Assumption of the Virgin, Fra Angelico
Therefore, as her life was extraordinary, her death must also have been extraordinary, and from faith it is logical to think that she died incorrupt, as other saints also experienced. Hence the positive conclusions offered by the Puebla Document when it tells us that "Mary is a guarantee of feminine greatness; and that she shows the specific way of being a woman..." (#299). "Mary, the wise woman (see Luke 2:19-51), is the woman of salvation who placed all her femininity at the service of Christ and his saving work" (see Gal 4:4- 6; LG 56).
Church tradition
By faith we believe that the Virgin was assumed into heaven, and since the origins of Christianity there have been both the sensus fidei (LG 12) as the consensus fidelium in agreement on this. In fact, it was the believing people who, through letters to the Holy See, asked for the Assumption of Mary to be declared a dogma of faith; and Pope Pius XII in 1950, gathering the faith of the whole tradition of the Church, published the Apostolic Constitution Munificentissimus Deus.
And so he proclaimed it a dogma of faith with these words: "After raising to God many and repeated prayers and invoking the light of the Spirit of Truth, for the glory of Almighty God, who bestowed on the Virgin Mary his peculiar benevolence; for the honor of his Son, immortal King of the ages and conqueror of sin and death; To increase the glory of the same august Mother and for the joy and gladness of the whole Church, by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, of the blessed Apostles Peter and Paul and by our own authority, we pronounce, declare and define it to be a divinely revealed dogma that the Immaculate Mother of God, ever Virgin Mary, at the end of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory".
This feast should not be confused with the Ascension of the Lord, which refers to Jesus Christ, who, being God, rose to heaven without needing any help, forty days after his resurrection. Christ left when everything was accomplished and by his own merits; on the other hand, Our Lady was fetched by the angels, because no human could do something so supernatural: all miracles are works of God.
The "Transit of Mary".
Although Sacred Scripture does not give us direct information in this regard, in the East they speak of the "Transitus of Mary", which is also a form of invocation of the Virgin, and this liturgical feast has always been celebrated. In the same way, we find the Psalm that says: "Thou shalt not let thy faithful one experience corruption"(15:10-11), referred to the event of the resurrection and subsequent ascension, because Jesus did not remain in the tomb, but it can also be applied to his mother Mary, because she is always faithful to God.
The Assumption shows us the way
The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches us that: "The Immaculate Virgin, preserved immune from every stain of original sin, at the end of her life on earth, was assumed body and soul into the glory of heaven and exalted by God as Queen of the universe, in order to be conformed more fully to her Son, Lord of lords and conqueror of sin and death. The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin constitutes a singular participation in the Resurrection of her Son and an anticipation of the resurrection of other Christians" (CEC # 966).
This is the good news for all of us: more than looking at her from the altars, elevated as a privileged or distant creature, we should rejoice that her assumption points out to us and opens the way; and that it is also a promise that we will all be with her in our bodies transformed into glorious ones: when we cease to be pilgrims and reach Heaven.
Layman, married, belongs to Opus Dei: "It reminds me that I can do something great with my life".
The prelate of Opus Dei recently recalled that the laity are "the raison d'être of Opus Dei". According to information from the prelature, about 92,000 belong to it. We spoke with one of them about what this path means in his life.
Juan Portela-August 14, 2023-Reading time: 2minutes
Pablo García-Manzano is a layman who belongs to the Opus DeiHe has been married for 18 years and has 7 children. In this interview with Omnes, he tells us about his vocation within the Work and how he lives his faith in his parish and daily life.
What does it mean to you to be a member of Opus Dei, and how does it influence your life?
-It means for me to know that I am part of a small family within the Church. The call to Opus Dei reminds me, without anything strange, that I am a little child of God and that I can do something great with my life, despite all my failures, and help others to do the same. Especially at work it moves me to try to do well and offer it to God. It also influences my marriage and my family, because it gives it the meaning I mentioned before. I love St. Josemaría's phrase when he told married couples that "your road to heaven" is called by the name of each one's wife.
What is your relationship with the Prelate and with the priests of the Prelature?
-The relationship with the Prelate is very normal, I call him Father as we do in Opus Dei, because I know I can count on his prayer and encouragement to follow this path. I also pray for him. I go to confession regularly with priests of the Prelature, and they also guide me, give me advice, etc. I insist that he is very familiar to me and I remember that when I saw the Prelate for the first time (he was Don Alvaro del Portillo at the time), I felt a great tranquility, as if he had known me for a long time.
What is your relationship with the parish and the bishop where you live?
-I attend Mass in the parish or elsewhere, I'm just one of them. My wife and I know the parish priest, we invited him to tea when he replaced the previous one. The curate celebrated our wedding Mass with another priest. And the same with the bishop: I feel and I am one of the faithful of a huge diocese (archdiocese of Madrid), and when we participate in any celebration where he is, we try to greet him, tell him our names and those of our children. We pray for him every day, as we do in the Work.
How do you participate in the evangelizing mission of the Church?
-It seems to me that it follows from all of the above. On the one hand, it does not imply anything special or added. On the other hand, it changes everything because the way to participate in this evangelizing mission consists simply in trying to show that Jesus Christ is risen, that in spite of my personal failures he loves me; and this, in the midst of my family, friends, work and also of course in the midst of the good and the difficulties of every day.
Could you add any additional information about yourself?
-I have been married to Monica for 18 years, and we have 7 children. I have been a Lawyer at the Council of State since 2002, although I am currently on leave of absence and I work as a lawyer. A few years ago I made a foray into active politics-administration, in the Ministry of Energy, and I keep a very good memory of that stage. I also worked for 4 years at the IESE business school. I love my job and my familywhich I consider to be my great hobby. I also enjoy good Spanish and English literature and I love classic movies, especially John Ford. Although I am a big fan of the amazing Spanish tennis players of the last years, my dream would be to play against Roger Federer at Wimbledon... and beat him. I'm an Atlético de Madrid fan, despite the odds.
Some faithful Catholics often assume that they are true parishioners because they have been attending Mass at their church for years.... but think again!
"How to become a parishioner of the parishWhat do you mean, I'm not a parishioner? I've been attending Mass regularly for years," is the typical response of many when they learn that they are not "official" parishioners.
Some faithful Catholics often assume they are because they have been attending Mass at their church for years... but think again!
The receptionist at a well-known church in Manhattan says that most people take for granted that they are parishioners and are often surprised and sometimes angry when they learn that attending Mass regularly does not grant them an official pass. Johanna has been working at the parsonage for over nineteen years and has heard and seen it all.
It involves more than just sitting in the pew every Sunday or chatting with members of the congregation before and after Mass. "Many people call the Parish House and are surprised to discover that they are not parishioners," says Johanna. "To be considered parishioners, they have to officially register through the rectory or the parish website."
To combat this confusion, Johanna suggests that "the information be written on the Church's website," because it would make things easier for them and their families in the future.
If you want to get married in your Church, baptize a baby, or are asked to be a godparent at a baptism or confirmation, you will need a note of catholicity. With a membership record, your local parish can comply; without it, it cannot.
The "advantage" of registration
There are also other advantages to registering.
To begin with, it is an affirmation of one's faith. Yes, you may recite the Nicene Creed, also known as "the Creed," at Sunday Mass, but by making a solid commitment to your "spiritual home," you will bear much fruit. Secondly, you immediately become part of a Catholic ecclesial community, and what's better than that?
The people with whom you attend the Mass Sunday and daily become your extended family. Your parishioners will rejoice with you at every sacrament, whether it is Baptism or First Communion, and they will rejoice with you on your wedding day. And, when unexpected illness or death strikes you or a loved one, your church family will be there to comfort and support you. If you are a registered parishioner, you will be easier to help; you will not be just another face in the congregation, but an identifiable person.
We need not only relational support and connection, but also spiritual guidance and instruction.
And when you are a registered parishioner, you are more likely to maintain a lasting relationship with the clergy of your church, which offers excellent advantages, such as the specific encouragement, motivation and spiritual guidance of a trusted priest who knows you on a personal level.
Maria Dabrowska, mother of St. MaximilianShe was a pious young woman who thought of becoming a nun, but the political problems of the time did not make it possible. Poland, her homeland, was occupied by the Russians, who had closed the convents and dispersed the religious. There were only a few clandestine convents. Then he asked: "Lord, I do not want to impose my will on you. If your designs were otherwise, give me at least a husband who does not blaspheme, does not drink alcohol, does not go to the tavern to have fun. I ask you, Lord, with real interest". She wanted to start a Christian family life and God listened to her. The chosen one was Julius Kolbe, a fervent Catholic who belonged to the Franciscan Third Order, of which he was a leader and into which she also entered. He was sweet and sensitive, almost shy, and without vices.
The young couple lived in the city of Pabiance, where they had a workshop and had a great devotion to the miraculous image of Our Lady of Czestochowa, highly venerated in Poland. It is not surprising that one of their sons, Raymond, born in 1894, decided to enter the seminary, and did so at the age of 13 with the Franciscan Fathers in the Polish city of Lvov, which was then occupied by Austria. It was there that he adopted the name Maximilian. He finished his studies in Rome where he obtained a doctorate in theology and later in philosophy. In 1918 he was ordained a priest.
The Immaculate Conception
Maximilian was very devoted to the Immaculate Conception. Moved by this, he founded in 1917 a movement called "The Militia of the Immaculate" whose members would consecrate themselves to the Blessed Virgin Mary and would have the objective of fighting by all morally valid means for the construction of the Kingdom of God throughout the world. In Maximilian's own words, the movement would have: "a global vision of Catholic life under a new form, which consists in the union with the Immaculate". He initiated the publication of the monthly magazine "Caballero de la Inmaculada" (Knight of the Immaculate)., oriented to promote knowledge, love and service to the Virgin Mary in the task of converting souls for Christ. With a circulation of 500 copies in 1922, it would reach close to one million copies in 1939.
In 1929 he founded the first "City of the Immaculate" in the Franciscan friary of Niepokalanów, 40 kilometers from Warsaw, which over time would become a city consecrated to Our Lady and, in the words of St. Maximilian, dedicated to "conquering the whole world, all souls, for Christ, for the Immaculate, using all licit means, all technological discoveries, especially in the field of communications".
Missionary and prisoner
In 1931, the Pope requested missionaries to evangelize Asia. Maximilian volunteered and was sent to Japan where he remained for five years. There he founded a new city of the Immaculate Conception. (Mugenzai No Sono) and publishes the magazine "Knight of the Immaculate Conception" in Japanese (Seibo No Kishi). He returned to Poland as spiritual director of Niepokalanów, and three years later, in the middle of the World War, he was imprisoned along with other friars and sent to concentration camps in Germany and Poland.
He was released a short time later, precisely on the day dedicated to the Immaculate Conception, but was taken prisoner again in February 1941 and sent to the Pawiak prison, and then transferred to the Auschwitz concentration camp where, despite the terrible living conditions, he continued his ministry. He was assigned the number 16,670 and sent to forced labor. Like his comrades, he suffered humiliations, beatings, insults, dog bites, jets of ice water when he was devoured by fever, thirst, hunger, dragging corpses back and forth from the cells to the crematorium oven... Auschwitz was the anteroom to hell.
The dedication of his life
One night in 1941 a prisoner escaped from the concentration camp and, according to an intimidating rule of the Nazis, for every man who escaped, ten should die. The first choice fell on 41-year-old Polish sergeant Franciszek Gajowniczek, who in the midst of the silence began to cry and say, "My God, I have a wife and children. Who is going to take care of them?" Then Maximilian Kolbe offered to replace him, saying, "I offer myself to replace this man, I am a Catholic priest and a Pole, and I am not married."
The officer agreed and Father Kolbe was sent, along with the other nine, to a cell where they would receive neither food nor water. On the second or third day some of them began to die. In the meantime, prayers and hymns to the Virgin were heard in that dungeon. The Germans had a Polish guard in charge of removing the corpses of those who died and emptying the latrine placed in the cell. He has told it, and his account is in the coffers of the courts of justice and in the Vatican archives. Kolbe and three others lasted until the fifteenth day. The commandant needed the cell for a new batch of condemned prisoners and had the camp doctor give them an injection of carbolic acid to extinguish the last pulse of their lives. It was August 14, 1941. Kolbe was 47 years old.
Beatification and canonization
Pope Paul VI declared him blessed in 1971. Among the pilgrims who attended from Poland was a little old man by the name of Franciszek Gajowniczek: he was the man for whom Kolbe had given his own life thirty years earlier. Years later, John Paul II, shortly after his election as Roman Pontiff, visited Auschwitz and said: "Maximilian Kobe did as Jesus did, he did not suffer death but gave his life". On October 10, 1982, this pope, a Pole like Kolbe, canonized him before an enormous crowd gathered in St. Peter's Square, including many Poles.
On the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of his canonization, the Friars Minor Conventual of Poland opened the archives of Niepokalanow (City of the Immaculate). Among the saint's manuscripts, the last letter he wrote to his mother stands out. A letter that reflects a special tenderness and that makes one think that the sacrifice with which he offered his life voluntarily was something that matured throughout his life. This is the text of the letter:
"Dear Mother: Towards the end of May I arrived together with a railway convoy at the Auschwitz concentration camp. As for me, everything is going well, dear mother. You can rest assured for me and for my health, because the good God is everywhere and thinks with great love of everyone and everything. You had better not write to me before I send you another letter because I do not know how long I shall be here. With cordial greetings and kisses, Raymond Kolbe".Maximiliano was unable to send any new letters to his mother.
Pope Francis has focused today's reflection on the Angelus in Sunday's Gospel, Jesus walking on the waters.
The Holy Father began his commentary with a question: "Why did Jesus make this gesture, perhaps out of an urgent and unforeseeable need, to help his own who were blocked by the headwind? However, it was Jesus himself who planned everything, he made them go out at night, even - says the text - "forcing them" (cfr v. 22). Perhaps to give them a demonstration of greatness and power? But this is not like Him. Then why did He do it?"
The sea as a symbol of evil
Francisco He went on to indicate that, behind this gesture of Christ, there is a message. He explained that "at that time the great expanses of water were considered the seat of evil forces that could not be controlled by man; especially if they were agitated by the storm, the abysses were a symbol of chaos and referred to the darkness of the underworld.
Then, the disciples were in the middle of the lake in the darkness: in them there is the fear of drowning, of being absorbed by evil. And here comes Jesus, who walks on the water, that is, above the forces of evil, and says to his disciples: 'Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid' (v. 27). This is the meaning of the sign: the evil powers, which frighten us and which we do not manage to dominate, with Jesus become bigger. He, walking on the waters, wants to tell us: 'Do not be afraid, I put your enemies under your feet': not people, they are not the enemies, but death, sin, the devil: these enemies He steps on them for us".
"Lord, save me!"
The Pope also emphasized that this scene, far from being an event of 2000 years ago, has a very contemporary message: "Christ today repeats to each one of us: 'Courage, it is I, do not be afraid. Courage, that is, because I am me, because you are no longer alone in the troubled waters of life. And then, what to do when we find ourselves in the open sea and at the mercy of contrary winds? What to do in fear, when we see only darkness and feel lost?
Two things, which in the Gospel the disciples do: they invoke and welcome Jesus. They invoke: Peter walks a little on the water towards Jesus, but then he gets scared, sinks and cries out: 'Lord, save me' (v. 30). This is a beautiful prayer, which expresses the certainty that the Lord can save us, that He overcomes our evil and our fears. Let us also repeat it, especially in times of 'storm': 'Lord, save me.
The Pope invites us to welcome Jesus
The Holy Father then stressed the importance of welcoming Jesus into our boat, in every suffering: "And then the disciples welcomed Jesus into the boat. The text says that, as soon as he got on board, 'the wind died down' (v. 32). The Lord knows that the boat of life, as well as the boat of the Church, is threatened by contrary winds and that the sea on which we sail is often rough.
He does not save us from the fatigue of navigation, but rather - the Gospel underlines it - he urges his own to set out: that is, he invites us to face difficulties, so that these too become places of salvation, occasions to meet him. He, in fact, in our moments of darkness comes to meet us, asking to be welcomed, like that night on the lake".
In conclusion, the Pope invited the participants to ask themselves how each one of them applies these questions in their lives and ended by asking for the help of Mary, Star of the Sea: "So, let us ask ourselves: in my fears, how do I behave? Do I go forward with my own strength or do I call on the Lord? And how is my faith doing? Do I believe that Christ is stronger than the waves and the adverse winds? But above all: do I sail with him, do I welcome him, do I make room for him in the boat of life, do I entrust the helm to him? Mary, star of the sea, help us to seek the light of Jesus in the dark crossings".
New initiative launched to eradicate nuclear weapons
The Archdioceses of Santa Fe, Seattle and Nagasaki, and the Diocese of Hiroshima, have signed a covenant committing them to work together to eradicate nuclear weapons.
On the anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, a new agreement has been signed. agreement to work together for the eradication of nuclear weapons in the world. The covenant is signed by the Archdioceses of Santa Fe, Seattle and Nagasaki, and the Diocese of Hiroshima.
The first objective is to achieve significant progress before August 2025, the 80th anniversary of the bombing. To this end, various measures related to both the political and religious spheres are clarified.
Politics and nuclear weapons
In the communiqué sent by the signatories, they invite all political leaders to collaborate in this work and outline some concrete steps to achieve the objectives. First, they call for recognition of "the tremendous and lasting human suffering inflicted by the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki". They also call for acknowledgement of "the environmental impacts caused by uranium mining and nuclear weapons research, production and testing around the world."
The third point of the pact is to "reiterate that a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be waged". As part of this, the agreement mentions that the G20 in November 2022 declared that the use and threat of use of nuclear weapons is "inadmissible".
On the other hand, it calls for commitments to take "concrete steps to prevent a new arms race, to avoid the use of nuclear weapons and to make progress in nuclear disarmament". Alongside these commitments, the pact recalls "the international mandate to engage in serious multilateral negotiations leading to nuclear disarmament, promised more than half a century ago in the 1970 Non-Proliferation Treaty."
As a last political step, the agreement invites "support for the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, signed and first ratified by the United States and the European Union". The Vatican".
Measures from the Church
For their part, the religious leaders are committed to creating an initiative to promote a world without nuclear weapons. In this effort, they hope to count on the collaboration of other dioceses and leaders of other denominations.
As part of the initiative, the archdioceses and the diocese are going to carry out some concrete actions such as:
-listening to and talking with bombing survivors, uranium miners, peace activists, nuclear engineers, military and diplomats;
-to ask God's help through prayer and by celebrating at least one annual Mass with this special intention to end nuclear weapons and with a collection to support victims and repair environmental damage;
-Promote the signing and ratification of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
The archbishops' and bishops' communiqué invites "priests, religious and lay people to actively participate in this partnership" so that it can "create a legacy of peace for present and future generations."
The note announcing the agreement ends by appealing to the intercession of Christ and Our Lady for this initiative to come to fruition.
The encyclical Veritatis Splendor of St. John Paul II deals with the foundations of moral theology. Published in 1993, 30 years ago, its premises are still very relevant today. One specific area of application is the theology of the body.
José Miguel Granados-August 13, 2023-Reading time: 2minutes
This past August 6 marked the thirtieth anniversary of the publication of the important encyclical letter "Veritatis splendor" (VS) of Pope St. John Paul II on the foundations of morality. Among other topics, it recalls the need for an adequate understanding of the truth of the human body in order to offer a doctrine adequate to divine revelation and to the "essentially human experience".
First of all, he briefly considers some insufficient and erroneous theories that lead to serious deviations in action and life (cf. VS n. 46). In this regard, he denies the alleged conflict between freedom and moral law, between conscience and nature. Likewise, he rejects the objection that accuses the Catholic conception of the natural moral law of physicalism and biologistic naturalism.
In reality, man cannot decide the meaning of his behavior without relying on nature, which is shaped according to the Creator's plan; moreover, he is capable of understanding this natural law with his reason.when it is well conformed (cf. VS n. 47).
It is therefore false to claim that freedom is uprooted from the human essence, exorbitant, empty of content, exposed to arbitrary choice, and that it treats the human body as a brute being devoid of meaning and moral values. For the natural moral law evidences and prescribes certain purposes, rights and duties, which are based on the bodily and spiritual nature of the human person and his social condition.
The doctrine of the Church affirms that the rational, spiritual and immortal soul is the form of the body and the principle of unity of the human being, who exists as a whole - in unity of body and soul, as a unified totality - as a person. For all these reasons, he concludes: "The person, through the light of reason and the help of virtue, discovers in his body the precursory signs, the expression and the promise of the gift of self, according to the wise design of the Creator. It is in the light of the dignity of the human person - which must be affirmed for its own sake - that reason discovers the specific moral value of certain goods to which the person is naturally inclined" (VS n. 48).
In addition, John Paul II has extensively developed the doctrine on the "theology of the human body": it constitutes a doctrinal body, which forms an authentic philosophical-theological anthropology-ethics from the key of nuptiality, in dialogue with the currents of classical and contemporary thought. We will explain the sources and the keys to this original contribution of the Pope to the family in successive installments.
Catholic school personnel participate in Artificial Intelligence conference
The Catholic Communication Collaborative Conference 2023 (C3), an educational technology professional development initiative for teachers, staff and volunteers involved in teaching in Catholic schools, was held in Los Angeles, California, in early August.
The Catholic Communication Collaborative Conference 2023 (C3), an educational technology professional development initiative for teachers, staff and volunteers involved in teaching in Catholic schools, was held August 2-4 in Los Angeles, California.
The event was attended by 1,200 participants and was held at Mary Star of the Sea High School in San Pedro, California. The theme of this year's conference was "Discover". Over the course of three days, 85 workshops and courses were held, both in person and virtually, on the use of online tools as well as the latest advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI) for education.
José Gomez, Archbishop of Los Angeles, said: "Remember that everything we do in communication is to serve Jesus. We are here to serve Him and to bring people to a new encounter with Him. The Church needs to have a strong presence in the culture. digital. We all have a responsibility in the mission of the Church and therefore we all have the task of using these new technologies to share our faith. The new tools must serve the mission of the Church," said Gomez.
GPT Chat
The opening session was presented by Rushton Hurley founder of the Next Vista for Learning organization and was entitled: "GPT Chat: An Earthquake in our Professional Terrain". In his talk, Hurley explored the implications of emerging technologies, especially AI and how they can be used in the service of schools and parishes. "You've heard of Chat GPT. Do you truly know what it does - does it write or does it generate writing?" he asked attendees. There is a big difference. In writing you tell stories, anecdotes, experiences, etc. "Chat GPT cannot say 'Yesterday I went to the beach' as it is a tool that makes word predictions. It doesn't think," said the presenter. Hurley also invited attendees to be aware that AI can produce misguided results, have biases, or simply be totally wrong. For example, "if you ask an AI application (that does not have a built-in calculator) to multiply three random digits of 18 or more digits, the answer is likely to be false. That's because no one has ever asked that question before," Hurley explained, so there is no exact answer.
Even when it produces false results, the AI application will present its solution with enormous certainty, he said. In that sense, "I am frightened by the capacity of AI to generate an impressive amount of misinformation or false information," he said, adding that certainty is not synonymous with accuracy, as the latter is not the central point of AI tools. "When using them," he said, "we must think that it is necessary to verify the veracity of the answers." And that is why critical thinking goes hand in hand with the use of AI.
Origin of the C3 conference
The C3 conference is part of an initiative of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles which began in 2009 and is offered every year to promote the use and learning of technology in teaching among the academic staff of Catholic institutions.
The conference was made possible by the Archdiocese of Los Angeles' grant since 1960 of a radio license for educational purposes administered by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission.
Pietro Annigoni, in the parish church of Ponte Buggianese
Pietro Annigoni wanted to say new things with a conventional living language. In that sense, his choice is clearly divergent from that of Lucio Fontana: he starts from the tradition of the greats of the past to produce something totally original. The example is in a cycle of frescoes in a church in Ponte Buggianese, in the province of Pistoia (Italy).
In the first article of this section I chose to write about the art of Lucio Fontana, a well-known Italian-Argentine artist who has created numerous works of sacred art, including three Stations of the Cross that can be counted among the works of contemporary sacred art in terms of style and execution. The informal style, although the figures are recognizable, the essentiality of the colors in two of the three Stations of the Cross (the white and the terracotta), the sketchy form, one might say sketchy, with powerful plastic effects and, in a certain way, new, compared to the past, make Fontana's work remarkable.
Passionate about drawing
The second artist I have chosen to present, Pietro Annigoni, is situated at the antipodes of Fontana. The choice is not random, because with it I want to underline the possible variety of approaches. Pietro Annigoni (June 7, 1910, Milan - October 28, 1988, Florence) is a painter who criticized the modernism of the century in which he lived, and forcefully claimed, with originality and creative force, the possibility of making an original and fully twentieth-century art, even in the wake of the Western figurative tradition.
The second of three brothers, his father Ricciardo was an engineer from Milan who moved to Florence for work, his mother Therese was an American from San Francisco, but of Ligurian origin. Pietro had a passion for drawing from an early age. And as fate would have it, in Florence this passion was kindled even more when he came into contact with the artistic tradition of the city, which has always been based on drawing. On September 22, 1950, on his return from the Venice Biennale, Annigoni noted in his diary: "In the Mexican pavilion, remarkable brute force, but force. Fauvism, cubism, abstractivism... Yes -I understand-, overcoming limits and conclusions, hopes placed in the freshness of new incentives, eagerness to reach greater lyricism. Result: sensual decorativism, destined in a short time to be diluted and annihilated. It would be important to say new and interesting things with a lively and communicative conventional language".
At the school of the great
That is what it is all about, to say new and interesting things with a lively and communicative conventional language. In sacred art, it could be objected that there is no need to say new things, because Christian sacred art must say what we already know, the content of faith, which is immutable. Of course this is so, but on one condition, namely, that by re-proposing the good news (which is not by chance new) we also succeed in making its eternal and shattering novelty perceptible. Language can also be "conventional", but it must nevertheless be "living and communicative".
I believe that Annigoni has shown, with his artistic work, to have done just that, that is, to use the figurative language of Western art, educated in the school of the greats of the past, to produce something new and totally original, which before the twentieth century could not even have been imagined. The example is in a rural parish church in Ponte Buggianese, in the province of Pistoia, where the master Annigoni, together with his pupils - that is, a group of student-friends - realized from July 1967 an impressive cycle of frescoes.
If Fontana, with his "White Way of the Cross", also innovated technically the art of glazed ceramics, looking for new effects, Annigoni chooses instead an ancient and complex pictorial technique such as fresco painting, which requires slow procedures, much reflection and preparation, because the execution must be free of corrections. The result, however, is not "neo-whatever", even if it includes references and quotations from works of the past.
The "Descent from the Cross" in Florence: a new result
Before going into some of the works of the cycle, I want to take a step back, and return to a work that dates back to the period 1937-1941, in the convent of San Marco in Florence. It is a Descent of Christ from the Cross, in the central scene, and two lunettes, respectively with Adam and Eve, and the killing of Abel by Cain, and two pairs of saints on either side of the deposed Christ (Saint Antoninus Pierozzi and Saint Catherine of Siena, on one side, and Saint Thomas Aquinas and Jerome Savonarola, on the other).
Let us read again in Annigoni's diary: "I began the fresco of St. Mark with the Descent from the Cross (...) For the first part of the work I decided to have a really dead body for the figure of Christ, so I consulted the anatomy professor of a hospital and obtained permission to choose in the cold room. There were four or five, practically all skeletons.
I took the only one that could serve my purpose and tried to hang it from a ladder, but it was too rigid (...). In the end I had to use a live model". Annigoni wants to paint from life, he uses models, he reconstructs the scene, but the result is new. The dead Christ, livid, disarticulated, hangs already detached from the nails. He is supported by a sheet that passes under his arms. No one can see who is holding him. There are no stairs around. It is a "communicative" vision and the ancient language is "alive".
Contemplating this work by Annigoni, one is spontaneously reminded of Annigoni's theology of the body. St. John Paul IIThe reading of anthropological theology seeks in corporeality the mystery of Christ, who assumed the flesh that was created in the image and likeness of God, to the point that it can be affirmed with certainty that Jesus, before becoming incarnate, was mysteriously the original and original model of Adam and Eve.
"The body, in fact, and only the body," said John Paul II on February 20, 1980, at the General Audience (later collected in the volume "Man and Woman Created Them"), "is capable of making visible what is invisible: the spiritual and the divine. He was created to transfer to the visible reality of the world the mystery hidden from eternity in God, and thus to be a sign of it". The corporeality, through its "visible" masculinity and femininity, according to John Paul II, thus constitutes a sacrament understood as a sign that effectively transmits to the visible world the invisible mystery hidden in God.
It is clear that Christian sacred art has and will always have among its distinctive elements the artistic reflection on the incarnation, on corporeality, on the dimension of true man-true God, in which humanity unveils (reveals, precisely) the divinity.
Three outstanding frescoes in Ponte Buggianese
Let us now return to the Ponte Buggianese to stop at three particularly significant frescoes.
The Descent and Resurrection of Christ, from 1967, on the back wall of the church, is a fresco that exceeds 90 square meters. The composition is highly original: in the center is Christ deposed, exactly as seen in the convent of St. Mark, but here we see that there are two angels on either side, holding him with a sheet; on the cross, Jesus appears resurrected in an irregular and very white mandorla. There is an enormous contrast between the dead man hanging and the risen one, who is also physically larger, upright, moving, with open arms showing the wounds. Below, on both sides of the door, in an apocalyptic setting, Adam and Eve contemplate the scene. Above them, angels sound the trumpets of judgment.
The second scene I would like to highlight is in the first chapel as you enter on the right, and represents the resurrection of Lazarus, painted in 1977. Here too there is a lot of strength and originality in the composition. Christ has on his right and left Martha and Mary (one of the two holds her nose because of the stench of the corpse), others are in the background, as witnesses, and three stand on a nearby hill and watch. Christ has his gaze fixed on the mummy walking towards him. In this, as in the other frescoes, Annigoni's ability to execute portraits and to make each person in the scene experience specific emotions, which in this case are marked by wonder, awe, and amazement, is striking.
Annigoni devoted much time to portraiture, and at one point in his career he produced works for well-known personalities, including the young Queen Elizabeth II, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, John XXIII, the Shah of Persia Reza Pahlevi and the Empress Farah Diba. Annigoni alternated these illustrious portraits with portraits of poor, destitute people, such as the 1945 Cinciarda, now in the Villa Bardini museum in Florence, or the 1972 fresco entitled "Charity for Mercy" in Florence, in which a brother of Mercy carries a wounded man on his shoulders using the "zana", a wicker basket with a seat.
The last work of the Ponte Buggianese cycle that I want to mention for its originality is the scene of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. It is a fresco from 1979. Christ is in anguish, he seems lost and alone. In front of him there is a gigantic angel with outstretched wings assisting him without his interaction. In the foreground, with flashes worthy of Mantegna, are the three sleeping disciples. Once again, Annigoni demonstrates that it is possible to "say new and interesting things with a lively and communicative conventional language".
Opus Dei prelate responds to Pope's motu proprio on personal prelatures
The prelate of Opus Dei, Fernando Ocáriz, has published a message in which he refers to the recent motu proprio of Pope Francis, by which he has modified the Code of Canon Law in relation to personal prelatures.
On August 8, the Holy See published the motu proprio modifying the canons that regulate the canons that regulate the personal prelatures in the Code of Canon Law. Opus Dei published a note on August 9 indicating that it would take this modification into consideration in the adaptation of the prelature's statutes. The following day, Fernando Ocáriz, the prelate of Opus Dei, published a letter in which it reacts to the motu proprio.
Ocáriz begins by pointing out that Opus Dei welcomes "with sincere filial obedience these dispositions of the Holy Father" and asks the members of the Prelature to remain united in this attitude. Immediately, the prelate affirmed that "the Holy Spirit leads us at all times," since Opus Dei is "a reality of God and of the Church. In this way the faithful of the Work live the spirit of the founder, St. Josemaría, always very united to the Pope.
Updating the bylaws
Next, Fernando Ocáriz mentioned the process of updating the statutes of the Work that is being carried out and reiterated that this new motu proprio will be taken into account during the adaptations that will be made. For this reason, the Prelate once again asked for prayers "so that this work will be successful".
In the letter he makes a second call to unity with the Pope and Ocáriz expresses his desire that all the members of Opus Dei strengthen their sense of filiation with the Church, as well as their closeness to all their brothers and sisters. He encourages the faithful of the Work to continue being "apostles who magnanimously sow understanding and charity, with the joy that comes from an encounter with the Lord.
The laity and Opus Dei
Finally, the prelate's message makes a specific reference to the section of the modifications that mentions the laity, "the raison d'être of Opus Dei: ordinary Christians in the midst of the world, who seek God through their professional work and their ordinary life". Fernando Ocáriz emphasizes that the lay members of the Work "are faithful of their dioceses, like any other Catholic". He adds that they are "also members of this supernatural family [Opus Dei], thanks to a specific vocational call.
The prelate's message ends by alluding to his trips to Australia and New Zealand, and advising to turn to the intercession of Our Lady, whose Solemnity of the Assumption is celebrated next week.
According to the World Food Program, in 2022 approximately 258 million people suffered from extreme hunger. With Russia threatening not to allow the distribution of grain by Ukraine, the numbers are expected to increase and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has issued a statement on the subject.
In 2022 some 258 million people suffered from extreme hunger, according to data provided by the World Food Program. This figure is expected to rise, given the Russian threat not to allow Ukraine to distribute grain. The growing concern has prompted the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) to issue a note talking about the subject.
The release is signed by Bishop David J. Malloy, chair of the USCCB's International Justice and Peace Committee. The release includes a plea to world leaders to work to ensure food security for all.
As Malloy states, "The World Food Program estimates that 345 million people will suffer acute hunger this year, and 129,000 will potentially face starvation in places like Afghanistan, SyriaYemen, the Horn of Africa and Myanmar".
Therefore, the U.S. bishops join in what Pope Francis has already expressed with concern: "I appeal with all my heart that everything possible be done to solve this problem and to guarantee the universal human right to food. Please do not use wheat, a staple food, as a weapon of war."
The relationship between armed conflict and hunger is very close. For this reason, the president of the International Justice and Peace Committee makes in his note an "appeal to world leaders to look beyond narrow national interests, focus on the common good and unite to ensure that critical food supplies can reach those most in need."
The statement of the Cardinal concludes with a strong exhortation: "The most vulnerable cry out in hunger. With the compassion of Christ, we must listen to their cries and help them".
Pope Francis and hunger
Pope Francis has also spoken about the global hunger crisis repeatedly throughout his pontificate. Already in December 2013 he invited "all the institutions of the world, the whole Church and each one of us, as one human family, to give voice to all the people who suffer silently from hunger, so that this voice may become a roar capable of shaking the world."
Francis has insisted many times on this issue because, as he stated in 2014, "food is an inalienable right". For this reason, he went so far as to express in 2016: "I hope that the struggle to eradicate hunger and thirst of our brothers and sisters and with our brothers and sisters will continue to challenge us, that it will not let us sleep and that it will make us dream, both. May it challenge us to creatively seek solutions for change and transformation".
With this book, the poet Carmelo Guillén Acosta, author of fifteen books of poetry and many writings on literary criticism, inaugurates the cultivation of a new genre: biography.
Manuel Casado Velarde-August 11, 2023-Reading time: 4minutes
The book "Behind the Beauty of the Gift" is a biography, which the author describes as "literary", of a person Pepe Molero, with whom he shares the fact that he is an aggregate member of Opus Dei. As the poet Carlos Javier Morales also points out in the prologue, this is not a chronological account of the thousand and one adventures of the biographer. What the author conveys is "the marvelous gift of having met an extraordinary person who has spontaneously helped him to become another extraordinary person" (p. 13).
Behind the beauty of the gift
AuthorCarmelo Guillén Acosta
EditorialRialp : Rialp
Pages: 176
Madrid:: 2023
Molero's biographical plot serves the author to highlight how "the spirituality of Opus Dei impels to holiness in the midst of the world, in the boiling heat of the world's circumstances" (p. 39). Readers of Guillén Acosta's poetry know how well his poems rhyme with the beauty of a common and meaningful life like that of Molero. His latest collection of poems (En estado de gracia, Sevilla, Renacimiento, 2021) is a pure hymn to "the value / that each thing has, however fragile it may be" (p. 13), to the sacredness of matter and the prosaic.
The biography reaches its densest and most poetic, most personal pages, when Carmelo Guillén steps away from the intense hustle and bustle of Pepe Molero's life, and recapitulates and reflects on the thread of the life of a person who has known how to conjugate like few others, in the present tense, the verbs to serve and to love. Pepe Molero's life is a hymn to the gift of friendship: "A man who, wherever he sits, knows how to integrate himself with great naturalness" (p. 80). Wherever he finds himself, in the constant movement of his life, "he does not feel like a loose verse, abandoned by the hand of God; there he discovers the warmth of the hearts of other human beings who have also made of their lives a gift" (p. 84).
"A vitalist, very vitalist person, enormously enterprising. He continually remembers to live. [...] A willful man, no complainer, determined, creative, one of those who build their existence on the small details, on the small print of the ordinary. [...A person] who has enjoyed and enjoys life like no one else. [...] An all-rounder. Nothing stops him. He's up for anything. He always seems to have been like that" (pp. 112, 116). Those who enjoy Pepe Molero's friendship could say what Juan Ramón Jiménez said of José Moreno Villa: "I don't know what it is about this friend that always comes in handy".
The epigraph provocatively titled "Apology for Lay Celibacy" (pp. 128-132) represents, in my opinion, the "do de pecho" of the biography. For this reason, the length of the quotation (pp. 128-129) will allow me: When Pepe Molero asked for admission to Opus Dei, he knew that the gift entailed apostolic celibacy to be lived in the boiling heat of the world's square. There is no question of withdrawing to the desert like the hermits, or to a monastery far from the worldly noise.
The call that God proposes to him has as its setting the daily hustle and bustle of the asphalt streets, the crosswalks, the shop windows with sophisticated advertisements, the neighbors' meetings at the entrance of his block, the coffee shop on the corner, the atmospheric pollution, the natural desire for the weekend to arrive for recreation and, of course, the professional work carried out with the greatest possible perfection as an offering to God. That is where he is asked to be and that is where Pepe Molero must be Pepe Molero, the same one who dresses and fits.
He does not doubt it: his thing is that tremor that makes him open the window and greet that neighbor ready to start his car; to be aware of the rise in the price of bread or gasoline; to get lost in a fair in the crowd; to surround himself, if necessary, with frivolous friends who are surprised that he is celibate, attends mass daily, works hard, is always happy, is generous and is ready to serve others and to avoid environments where he is sure that his Love is offended.
The key word of the biography is already in the title: beauty. It portrays "the person of the Work who wants to be faithful to his vocation and is enthusiastic about the beauty of the ordinary, lived to the full" (p. 165), "always relearning the nuances of wonder and eagerness and continually making of his existence a hymn of praise to the God of creation, whose beauty has not been denied him: he has known how to accept it, I do not know whether because he was born with the stamp of the tireless wanderer or because the quest of the instant leads him to always encounter the permanent" (p. 166), with the certainty that God is his end, in the words of Agustín Altisent, "not only after this life, but already now. And he savors it without flames, because it tastes better and is more lasting" (p. 167).
In the omnipresent culture of suspicion in which we are comfortably ensconced, a culture "according to which every Beauty is a deception that must be unmasked; [... culture] that sees in virtues lies and in vice a manifestation of sincerity" (Catherine L'Ecuyer), biographies such as that of Carmelo Guillén Acosta incite to discover the beauty that is solidly integrated in truth and goodness. This is the purpose imposed by the biographer when writing this book: "To sing an ordinary life, without apparent brightness, lived in its fullness, in its joy". And for this, the life of Pepe Molero, "from the gift of his vocation" (p. 174), has come to him like a ring to his finger.
The "personal prelatures" are a juridical reality, born of the Second Vatican Council, for the purposes specified in the conciliar text, and should not be assimilated to any other.
Assimilating the "Personal prelatures"In my opinion, the Second Vatican Council is not being interpreted correctly. The Council, for the ecclesial purposes it specifies in the Decree "Presbyterorum Ordinis"But no, the Second Vatican Council spoke precisely of "Prelatures" and it is not too much to suppose that the Council Fathers knew how to distinguish between "Prelatures" and "Associations".
The "personal prelatures" are a juridical reality, born of the Second Vatican Council, for the purposes specified in the conciliar text, and should not be assimilated to any other, much less to an Association.
If it were necessary to look for an assimilation, which some seem to like so much, it would have to be assimilated, in some way, to the territorial prelatures, which already existed at the time of the Council and the Council Fathers were well aware of what they were.
Here, as always in language, the noun is important, not so much the adjective.
Isabel F. Abad: "Art allows us to get closer to faith".
Nártex is an association dedicated to deepening Christian art. In this interview with Omnes, Isabel Fernández Abad, president of Nártex, tells us about the association and its initiatives.
Isabel Fernández Abad is an art historian. Her professional life and training have been between cultural management and teaching. She is currently president of Narthexan association that "develops initiatives aimed at deepening the authentic meaning of Christian art, discovering to the public its artistic entity and its theological and devotional value". She is also a high school teacher and mother of 5 children.
How and why was Nártex born?
-Nartex was born from the concern shared with some of our fellow students to tell everything that is really behind a work of art with a religious theme, everything that usually disappears among dates, techniques, curiosities and other historical data that, while still important, hide the true message and purpose of the work. Those of us who today make up the management team were providentially coinciding in different environments and little by little we were working and expanding the different areas covered by our association today.
The first of all, and the one that defines the identity of Nartex, was the area of summer projects: these are small communities of volunteer guides who, during the summer, make themselves available to visitors in various churches to offer a lively Christian welcome and a guided tour based on faith. These projects are now being carried out all over Europe and are organized within the framework of the European federation Ars et Fides and the A.R.C. youth associations, among which we are.
Increasingly, the lack of training in the humanities means that many people visit temples and "do not understand" what they see. How can we recover the catechetical sense of art?
-It is true that the lack of knowledge of our faith and all that surrounds it is increasing, not only when we talk about Sacred History, but also when we ignore all the vicissitudes of history in which faith has played an essential and defining role. But while this could be a handicap, in reality it only makes what we offer from Nártex more interesting and surprising, an authentic approach to faith lived through one of the most beautiful manifestations of it: art.
At the same time, with this scenario, does it make more sense than ever to promote the "via pulchritudinis"?
-It is true that today more than ever man has become immune to the ugly, the grotesque, the absurd, it seems that since childhood he has been trained for it. But it is also true that, in the depths of his heart, even he who has taken the most crooked path, recognizes the beauty and the truth of the things of God, of creation itself, and feels relief and enjoys the reality of the beauty of a church, a cathedral or contemplating a work of art in the Prado Museum. It is not that it makes sense to promote this way, but that "it is the way". The same one that the Lord uses to make his way into our hearts.
What differentiates a Nartex guide from a regular tour guide? How are Nartex guides trained?
-A Narthex guide is one who not only has the appropriate historical-artistic knowledge of the place or the work he is explaining, but who has been able to transcend its meaning, to deepen and make it his own to the point of living his faith in it, through it, and thus illuminates his discourse. I am sure that many tour guides with faith also do this.
From Nártex we study and provide the appropriate tools to reach this deep understanding: the symbolic meaning of the temple, the liturgy as an organizing element, prayer through art... These are some of the topics in which we train our guides and volunteers so that, in front of any space or work, regardless of its style or time, they are able to reach that deep meaning, that experience of which we speak, and transmit it. It is not a matter of catechizing, it is simply a matter of enlightening, the rest is in His hands.
What are the keys to your way of bringing art closer to people?
-I would say that welcome, knowledge and a deep personal and testimonial component is the most characteristic of our guides and volunteers. We usually work on itineraries and discourses that try to approach the work as simply as they are true, and help the visitor to make a personal journey through the monument. We want it to be more than just a bunch of information that is given to them and that they receive passively, we want it to be something that they can take with them into their own lives.
During the year, you do a lot of activities, how are they developed and how are they financed?
In Nártex throughout the year you can participate in conferences, guided tours, excursions, hours of art and prayer, almost free of charge. We are financed by donations and membership fees. We also receive occasional requests to attend groups and to organize specific visits, which leave us a small profit. Nártex is a non-profit civil cultural association that does not depend on any specific reality or movement. Our funding is scarce, but that has never been an obstacle to continue our work.
In summer, it is not uncommon to find Narthex volunteers in the main European cathedrals and temples. What is the feedback of these activities?
-As we said at the beginning, this is one of the most attractive projects of the association, every year we send volunteers to more than 30 European churches and cathedrals, among which we can find St. Mark's in Venice, Notre Dame de Paris, Bourges Cathedral, Bourdeaux... and so many others. The experiences are often unforgettable for them: friendship, faith, culture, personal and professional experience for some... We love to hear them talk about their destinations when they return and all the anecdotes they tell about how the tourists receive the service or how their life in community has been during those days.
It is true that the personal component and the speech is essential, but the mere fact of being on a trip to Münster, Germany, for example, and finding a Spaniard at the door of the cathedral who welcomes you like at home is simply wonderful and very well received by the visitors, who leave precious observations and testimonials in our visit notebooks. Even when there have been difficulties in the projects or things have not gone as well as expected, the volunteers bring back a positive balance of the experience.
"WYD is an encounter with the living Christ through the Church," Pope says
Pope Francis resumed his Wednesday general audiences on August 9. The audience was held in the Paul VI Hall at 9:00 a.m., and the Pope focused his meditation on World Youth Day, which concluded on Sunday, August 6 in Lisbon.
The Gospel chosen for this audience was that of the Visitation of Mary to her cousin Elizabeth, which is the central theme of the Gospel. 37th World Youth DayThis year's event was held in Lisbon from August 2 to 6.
The Pope's reflection focused entirely on this event, indicating at the beginning of his speech that "this WYD in Lisbon, which came after the pandemic, was felt by all as a gift from God that set the hearts and steps of young people in motion once again, so many young people from all parts of the world - so many!
WYD is a new beginning of pilgrimage
Francis recalled that the pandemic generated much isolation, which especially affected young people. "With this World Youth Day, God has given a 'push' in the opposite direction: it has marked a new beginning of the great pilgrimage of young people across the continents, in the name of Jesus Christ. And it is not by chance that it was in Lisbon, a city that overlooks the ocean, a city that symbolizes the great explorations by sea".
Mary, guide for young people
The Holy Father also wanted to underline the relationship that this WYD has kept with the Virgin Mary: "At the most critical moment for her, [Mary] goes to visit her cousin Elizabeth. The Gospel says: 'She got up and left in haste' (Lk 1:39). I like very much to invoke the Virgin Mary in this aspect: the Virgin 'in haste,' who always does things in haste, never makes us wait, because she is the mother of all.
Thus Mary still today, in the third millennium, guides the pilgrimage of young people in the footsteps of Jesus. As she did precisely one century ago in Portugal, in FatimaI was there when she spoke to three children, entrusting to them a message of faith and hope for the Church and for the world. For this reason, during WYD, I returned to Fatima, the place of the apparitions, and together with some sick young people, I prayed that God would heal the world of the sicknesses of the soul: pride, lies, enmity, violence. And we renewed our consecration, of Europe, of the world, to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. I prayed for peace, because there are so many wars everywhere in the world, so many.
Encounter with Christ
On the other hand, the Pope spoke of the enthusiasm of the young people, of their good experiences in the parishes of the dioceses of Portugal and of the excellent welcome of the Portuguese families. Mentioning the most important events (the welcoming ceremony, the Vigil and the final Mass), the Pope recalled that these days "were not a vacation, a tourist trip, nor a spiritual event closed in itself; WYD is an encounter with the living Christ through the Church. Young people go to meet Christ. It is true that where there are young people there is joy.
Young people who have passed through Rome
Concluding his speech, the Pontiff pointed out that this wave of hope from WYD benefits both the participants and the dioceses that welcome them: "My visit to Portugal on the occasion of WYD benefited from its festive atmosphere, from the wave of young people who peacefully invaded the country and its beautiful capital. I thank God for this, thinking especially of the local Church which, in return for the great effort made in organizing and hosting the event, will receive new energy to continue on its journey, to cast its nets with apostolic passion.
The young people in Portugal are already a vital presence today, and now, after this 'transfusion' received by the Churches all over the world, they will be even more so. And so many young people, on their return, have passed through Rome, and there are even some here who have participated in this Day. After the applause of those present, the Pope commented that "where there are young people, there is noise. They know how to do it well.
WYD: an example of peace
The Holy Father also stressed that WYD is an example that countries can live together peacefully: "While in Ukraine and elsewhere in the world there is fighting, and while in certain hidden rooms war is being planned, WYD has shown everyone that another world is possible: a world of brothers and sisters, where the flags of all peoples fly together, side by side, without hatred, without fear, without closures, without weapons! The message of the young people has been clear: will the 'great ones of the earth' listen to it? It is a parable for our time, and still today Jesus says: 'He who has ears, let him hear! He who has eyes, let him see!'".
In conclusion, he thanked the President of Portugal, the bishops, volunteers (he highlighted the high number of volunteers: 25,000) and other people in charge of the organization of WYD. He also asked God's blessing, through the Virgin Mary, for all the young people and the people of Portugal, and prayed a Hail Mary with the assembly.
A summary of today's reflection was then read in several languages, and the Pope addressed a few words in Italian to the pilgrims from each country present in the hall. In the case of the Spanish-speaking pilgrims, the Pope greeted them in Spanish, saying: "I see Mexican, Colombian, Panamanian, Salvadoran flags...", which caused a standing ovation among those present.
The meeting ended with the recitation of the Our Father and the Pope's blessing to those present.
Throughout these days, several pilgrims have told Omnes their testimonies. From different countries, with different stories, all these people have shared the last few days with Pope Francis in the WYDW of Lisbon.
A non-practicing young woman has recently arrived in Portugal accompanying her friends. There she was impressed by everything she saw, to the point that WYD reminded her "that there are still good things in this world, there is hope".
This young woman says that many pilgrims are excited to meet Catholics from countries on the other side of the globe and in all the meeting places you can see people exchanging gifts or gestures to remind each other of the beauty of sharing a common faith. "There is a lot of friendship and collaboration," people make room as soon as they see pilgrims arrive at a place, offer each other water, sunscreen, or anything else that might be needed.
The Cross is a symbol of victory
An English student named Tom who was at the Stations of the Cross expresses his opinion saying that he would have liked the silence before the prayer, but that in spite of everything it was a pleasant moment and that the arrival of the Pope immediately created a great climate of joy.
Tom explains that the Stations of the Cross prayer is a good time for young people to realize the Lord's sacrifice and that "the Cross is a symbol of victory, not defeat. We should rejoice in it and we should also contemplate it".
Lisbon, the home of all
A couple who hosted pilgrims during this WYD told Omnes their testimony. Two pilgrims stayed in their house during these days, but they were also helping in a house with 24 volunteers from different countries.
Family hosting pilgrims during WYD Lisbon 2023.
Through their actions, this couple wanted to remind all the young people and volunteers "that they are not alone, because this Day is theirs. We are helping them to feel at home here in Lisbon, because Lisbon is everyone's home. This welcoming family also expressed the hope that WYD will produce "many vocations and people with a deep-rooted faith".
Finding God in music
Nacho, one of the members of the musical group Kénosis who gave a concert to the young people at WYD, explains that the whole experience "has been very impacting" and "proof that God continues to act in the midst of the world".
He describes the days as "a week of harmony and joy, of friendship and fraternity, in which we all take care of each other". But he does not hide that there were also hard moments: "sleeping away from home, the crowds for meals and events, the long walks to get to the places...". All this is part of an experience "with many gifts from the Lord and, moreover, as good gifts are: unexpected".
As a member of Kénosis, Nacho points out that "it has been a privilege to be able to live this WYD with this family, transmitting the Lord through our music, and being able to feel Him through the music of many other people from different countries". This World Youth Day has been full of songs: "wherever we have gone, music has been with us and the Lord, through it, has touched many hearts".
An unforgettable experience
Marta, an 18-year-old pilgrim, describes these days at WYD in Lisbon as "an unforgettable experience" that has made her "grow as a person". She also notes that she has been "surprised to see so many people moving for the faith and uniting through prayer despite each speaking different languages." "In addition, I have met a lot of amazing people and I take a lot of anecdotes with me. Personally, I recommend it and I would repeat it without hesitation," he concludes.
Thank you, Lisbon. Next stop: Seoul
Like these stories, WYD Lisbon has left many testimonies of young people who have felt the Pope's closeness to them. Now, the pilgrims are preparing to respond to the invitation of the Holy Father, who has called everyone to Rome for the Jubilee of 2025.
Pilgrims next to the public transport set up in Lisbon for WYD.
Women in the Church have always been "artisans of the human".
An international congress to be held in Rome on March 7-8, 2024, will delve into ten female figures who have distinguished themselves over the centuries in the field of evangelization in the areas of education, spirituality, peace and dialogue.
Giovanni Tridente-August 9, 2023-Reading time: 2minutes
There is always a lot of talk about the role of the woman in the Church, often forgetting the many examples of dedication witnessed over the centuries by many women in the fields of education, spirituality, social promotion, peace and dialogue, for example, as true "artisans of the human". The next conference international and inter-university conference, to be held in Rome on March 7 and 8, 2024 at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, aims to draw inspiration from these examples.
In particular, the congress will dwell in detail on the great female contributions to the Church and evangelization in different eras and countries through ten emblematic women, but different in style and dedication, starting with St. Josephine Bakhita (1869-1947), Magdeleine of Jesus (1898-1989), for the themes of dignity, dialogue and peace; St. Elizabeth Ann Seton (1774-1821) and Mary Mackillop (1842-1909) for the theme of charity in education; St. Catherine of Siena (1874-1949) and Catherine Tekakwitha (1656-1680) for the theme of prayer.
And again, the figures of St. Teresa of Calcutta (1910-1997) and Rebecca-Rafqa Ar-Rayès (1832-1914) will be highlighted as "compassionate heart", while the testimonies of Maria Beltrame Quattrocchi (1884-1965) and the Venerable Daphrose Mukansanga (1944-1994) will be given as "fruitfulness of gift".
These figures will be presented during the two-day Congress by academics, biographers and historians, including Susan Timoney of the Catholic University of America, Maeve Heaney of the Catholic University of Australia, Maronite Patriarchal Vicar Rafic Warcha and Gabriella Gambino, Undersecretary of the Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life. The final reflections will be entrusted to the Academic Vice Rector of the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, Cristina Reyes.
The Promoter Committee is composed of the Catholic University of Avila (UCAV), the Pontifical Urbaniana University, the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, the Institute of Higher Studies on Women of the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum and the Pontifical Theological Faculty Teresianum of Rome.
The event is also sponsored by the Dicastery for Culture and Education, the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints and the Section for Fundamental Questions of Evangelization in the World of the Dicastery for Evangelization and will be organized in preparation for the Jubilee of 2025. It will also be broadcast on the youtube channels of the organizing universities in Italian, Spanish, English and French.
Participants will be able to contribute a free offering that will benefit a charitable project in the Holy Land.
On August 8, 2023, Pope Francis promulgated a motu proprio modifying some norms of the 1983 Code of Canon Law concerning personal prelatures. What changes in this figure, and what is the significance of the reform?
Luis Felipe Navarro-August 8, 2023-Reading time: 4minutes
Following in the direction marked by the Apostolic Constitution "Praedicate Evangelium"The reform of the Roman Curia, article 117, confirms the dependence of the Roman Curia on the personal prelatures of the Dicastery for the Clergy. It should be recalled that since the law regulating the Roman Curia in 1967 (Apostolic Constitution "The Roman Curia is a Roman Curia"), the law has been in force since the beginning of the Roman Curia in 1967.Regimini Ecclesiae Universae"of St. Paul VI, Article 49, § 1) to the recent reform of the Roman Curia (19 March 2022), the prelatures depended on the Dicastery for Bishops.
The main novelties of this motu proprio are twofold: it provides that personal prelatures are assimilated, without identifying themselves, to clerical associations of pontifical right endowed with the faculty of incardination; and it recalls that the laity obtain their own pastor and their own Ordinary by means of domicile and quasi-domicile.
Let's take a general look at both aspects.
Clerical associations with power to incardinate
1. Clerical associations are regulated in the 1983 Code of Canon Law (CIC) only by canon 302. It is a very brief canon, the only survivor of a set of canons drafted during some stages of the elaboration of the 1983 Code of Canon Law. This canon reads as follows: "Those associations of the faithful which are under the direction of clerics, make the exercise of sacred orders their own and are recognized as such by the competent authority are called clerical".
This residual canon does not explain all that clerical associations are, or were intended to be. In it, a technical concept of clerical association is forged that is distinguished from clerical associations (canon 278). In the project it was thought that some of these associations would have the faculty to incardinate clerics, that among their members there would be lay faithful, and that they would often have an evangelizing function in places where the Church was not yet present. They were associations endowed with a strong missionary character that demanded the exercise of Holy Orders to carry out this mission of evangelization. For this reason, they had to have a public character in the Church (there is no room for associations that take possession of Holy Orders and are of a private nature). Taking into account the role of the ordained ministry, it was foreseen that the government would fall to priests (cfr. my Commentary to canon 302, in Martin de Azpilicueta Institute, Faculty of Canon Law, University of Navarra, Exegetical commentary to the Code of Canon Law, Vol. II/1, Pamplona, third edition, 2002, p. 443-445).
After a few years, some clerical associations felt the need to be able to incardinate some or all of their members, depending on the case, in order to ensure the stability of their charism and the operational effectiveness of their structures. In response to this need, on January 11, 2008, Pope Benedict XVI granted the Congregation for the Clergy the privilege of granting some clerical associations the faculty to incardinate members who request it. Subsequently, in the motu proprio "Competentias quasdam decernere"As of February 11, 2022, these clerical associations are included among the incardinating entities (cf. the new canon 265).
There are currently several clerical associations with the faculty to incardinate: some are very autonomous, such as the Saint Martin Community ("Communauté Saint Martin") or the Jean-Marie Vianney Society ("Société Jean-Marie Vianney"). Although they were already clerical associations before, it was only in 2008 that they received the faculty of incardination. Also among the clerical associations is the Brotherhood of Diocesan Priests (erected as a clerical association in 2008, although it had a different juridical configuration before).
There are three that are born and linked with greater or lesser intensity to a movement: the clerical association of the Emmanuel Community (2017), linked to the Emmanuel Community; the clerical association "Opera di Gesù Sommo Sacerdote" (2008), of the movement "Pro Deo et Fratribus - Familia di Maria" ("Opera di Gesù Sommo Sacerdote" Pro Deo et Fratribus - Famiglia di Maria, approved in 2002), and the Missionary Fraternity of St. Egidio, approved in 2019 (currently the Moderator is a priest: cfr. Annuario Pontificio 2023, p. 1692; previously it was a Bishop, Msgr. Vincenzo Paglia: cfr. Annuario Pontificio 2021, p. 1657). In these cases, the Moderator or Responsible is attributed the faculties of Ordinary, as this motu proprio does (articles 1 and 2).
Pastoral care for the laity
2. Another novelty of this motu proprio is that it confirms that canon 107, § 1 applies to the lay faithful linked to prelatures: "Both by domicile and quasi-domicile, each person has his own pastor and Ordinary", also to those who belong to prelatures and other hierarchical or aggregate entities (on the other hand, this provision has little relevance with respect to clerics: the fundamental juridical bond of the cleric is incardination).
At this point, the new canon makes explicit what already existed and was applied before. The laity of the Prelature were and are also faithful of the dioceses. to which they belong because of their domicile or quasi-domicile. This is a general provision whose purpose is to guarantee that each member of the faithful has someone to whom to go to receive the sacraments and the Word of God.
Indeed, in its pastoral care of the faithful, the Church wants to ensure that each member of the faithful has his own pastor and Ordinary.
The first criterion used is very simple: the domicile, that is, the place of habitual residence. Since the organization of the Church follows fundamentally a territorial criterion, it is provided that by the habitual residence the faithful have someone to turn to: they belong to a parish or to a diocese.
Of great interest is that the Church and its law are concerned to attribute not only one Ordinary, but that a faithful can have several Ordinaries and parish priests at the same time, according to the place of residence (a less stable residence comes into play: the quasi-domicile, which is acquired with three months of residence: cfr. canon 102, § 2). It is even possible for a person to have an Ordinary or parish priest based on non-territorial criteria (a military man will have the Ordinary of the Military Ordinariate(or, if a member of a personal parish, he will have as pastor the pastor of that personal structure). But this personal Ordinary and pastor are added to the Ordinary and pastor for the territory.
In this area it is clear that the faithful enjoy great freedom. For the celebration of certain sacraments, he can choose the parish priest or the Ordinary from among the various possibilities offered by the law.
The authorLuis Felipe Navarro
Rector of the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, Professor of Personal Law, Consultant to the Dicastery for the Laity, the Family and Life.
Holy See modifies the legal framework for personal prelatures
The Holy See has made public a change in the Code of Canon Law regarding personal prelatures. The modification directly affects the only personal prelature constituted until now, Opus Dei.
On August 8, 2023, the Holy See published a modification of the Code of Canon Law in the points related to personal prelatures. These changes directly affect the only personal prelature constituted up to now, the Opus Dei.
The modification is made in Book II, Part I, Title IV of the Code, specifically in canons 295 and 296. In the first place, according to the new wording of paragraph 1 of canon 295, personal prelatures are henceforth assimilated to public clerical associations of pontifical right with the faculty to incardinate clerics. This is a figure already regulated by canon 302 in a generic way, and in canon 265 with a specific allusion to the possibility that the Holy See may grant to some of these associations the possibility of incardinating.
There are currently a few organizations of this type, such as the Emmanuel Community, which in 2017 amended its statutes to adapt the collaboration between clergy and faithful in its body.
New statute of the prelate
Secondly, the status of the prelate in personal prelatures is also modified. If before the Code of Canon Law said that he is "their proper Ordinary", now it refers to him as "moderator", which corresponds to the assimilation with public clerical associations. The new wording adds that the prelate "will be endowed with the faculties of Ordinary", as required by the relationship he must maintain with the clergy incardinated in the prelature. This precision is introduced both in paragraph 1 of canon 295, as well as in paragraph 2 which refers to the obligations of the prelate with respect to his own clergy.
The position of the laity
With regard to the position of the laity in relation to the personal prelature, basically the same regulation present in the 1983 Code is maintained, although a reference to canon 107 is introduced to recall that the lay faithful have their own pastor and Ordinary according to the domicile where they reside.
The personal prelature of Opus Dei
These changes come at a time when the modification of the statutes of the personal prelature of Opus Dei is in process, precisely as a result of the requirements of the apostolic constitution "Praedicate evagelium" and of the motu proprio of "Ad charisma tuendum"issued on July 14, 2022, which concretized for this prelature the new framework designed by the aforementioned apostolic constitution.
Towards the birth of the State of Israel. The First World War
Ferrara concludes with this article a series of four interesting cultural-historical summaries to understand the configuration of the state of Israel, the Arab-Israeli question and the presence of the Jewish people in the world today.
Both pan-Arab and pan-Islamic nationalism began to become "local", or rather, to identify a Palestinian problem in the face of the growing Jewish presence in the region. PalestineRashid Rida (1865-1935), a Syrian Muslim who, won over by the ideas of Al-Afghani and Abduh, became convinced of the need for Arab independence, while identifying Arabism with Islam, elements which in his opinion were indissolubly linked.
The "Palestinian problem
Rashid Rida was the founder of Al-Manar magazine and author of the first anti-Zionist article, in which he accused his compatriots of immobility. With Rida, a specific Palestinian national consciousness germinated within pan-Arab and pan-Islamic nationalism. It is important to mention the two currents of thought that emerged from the Arab national awakening first and the Palestinian national awakening later, since the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) is practically a child of the former, with the Fatah movement (of which Yasser Arafat was the leader and of which the current president of the Palestinian National Authority is a member); of the latter, on the other hand, Hamas is a direct descendant. At present, both currents fight fiercely against each other, each claiming to be the legitimate representative of the Palestinian people and their aspirations.
The over-promised land
The presence of Western powers in the territories ruled by the Ottoman Empire does not date back to the end of the 19th century. In fact, as early as the 15th century, several European states signed treaties with the Porte to secure privileges. This was the case of the Republic of Genoa (1453, immediately following the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople), followed by Venice (1454) and other Italian states. Then it was the turn of France, which signed several agreements with the Ottoman Empire, the most important in 1604.
All these bilateral pacts signed between the Sublime Porte and the European states took the name of Capitulations and established that, in religious and civil matters, the foreign subjects present in the Ottoman territories referred to the codes of the countries of which they were citizens, imitating the model known as "millet". This legislative model stipulated that each non-Muslim religious community was recognized as a "nation" (from the Arabic "millah", Turkish "millet") and was governed by the religious head of that community, vested with both religious and civil functions. The highest religious authority of a Christian community or nation (such as the Armenians), for example, was the patriarch.
Since, traditionally, the Latin Catholic Church was not very present in the Ottoman territories, the Capitulations, especially the agreements with France, favored the influx of Catholic missionaries. Other powers - including in particular the Austro-Hungarian Empire, but later above all Germany, Constantinople's historical ally also in the First World War - began to compete with each other in the field of the protection of the Empire's non-Muslim minorities, and into this game entered at the beginning of the 20th century Great Britain, which until then had remained almost empty-mouthed because it had not found any minorities to protect. If European international politics had tried, until then, to keep alive the "great sick man" that was the Ottoman Empire, the entry of Constantinople into the war on the side of the Germanic Empire and against the Entente powers (Great Britain, Russia and France) pushed the latter to agree to the partition of the "Turkish carcass". Here began the great game of nations over the future of the very peoples who had been subject to the Sublime Porte. We cite, in particular, a series of agreements and declarations that concern more closely the area of the Middle East that interests us:
- Hussein-McMahon Agreement (1915-1916): the essence of this agreement, contracted between the Sherif Hussein of Mecca (ancestor of the present King Abdallah of Jordan) and Sir Arthur Henry McMahon, British High Commissioner in Egypt, was that Great Britain, in exchange for support in the conflict against the Turks and important economic concessions, would undertake to guarantee, once the war was over, the independence of an Arab kingdom extending from the Red Sea to the Persian Gulf, would undertake to guarantee, once the war was over, the independence of an Arab kingdom extending from the Red Sea to the Persian Gulf and from south-central Syria (the north was within French interests) to Yemen, with the Sherif of Mecca at its head.
- Sykes-Picot Agreement. This agreement was stipulated between Great Britain, in the person of Sir Mark Sykes, and France, represented by Georges Picot, in parallel to the negotiations with the Sherif Hussein of Mecca, testifying to the extent to which the ambiguous and blind policy of the European states in the area, later followed by the United States, had caused devastating damage over time.
The pacts stipulated that the former Ottoman Empire (in the eastern part, i.e. part of Cilicia and Anatolia, together with present-day Palestine/Israel, Lebanon, Syria and Mesopotamia) would be divided into Arab states under the sovereignty of a local leader, but with a sort of right of first refusal, in political and economic matters, for the protecting powers, which would be: France for the interior zone of Syria, with the districts of Damascus, Hama, Homs, Aleppo up to Mosul; Great Britain for the interior part of Mesopotamia, for Transjordan and the Negev.
For other areas, direct administration by the two powers was envisaged (France in Lebanon, in the coastal areas of Syria and parts of Cilicia and eastern Anatolia; Great Britain for the districts of Baghdad and Basra). Palestine, for its part, would remain under the administration of an international regime agreed upon with Russia, the other allies and the jerife of Mecca.
- Balfour Declaration (promulgated in 1917 but with negotiations dating back to 1914). With this declaration Britain affirmed that it looked favorably on the creation of a "national home," a deliberately vague definition, in Palestine for the Jewish people. However, the British were well aware that 500,000 Arabs would never have agreed to be ruled by even 100,000 Jews. Therefore, they reserved the option of annexing Palestine to the British Empire, favoring Jewish immigration there, and only then giving the Jews the possibility of self-rule.
We know that British General Allenby entered Jerusalem victoriously, liberating it from the Ottomans, and that after the Great War, Britain, which had promised Palestine to half the world, kept it for itself. But that is another story.
The authorGerardo Ferrara
Writer, historian and expert on Middle Eastern history, politics and culture.
In the Catholic regions of Germany, Austria and Switzerland there are numerous crosses, made of many different materials and of various designs. A tradition that is still alive today.
During the Middle Ages, crosses began to be erected on roads or crosses; it is attributed to Pope Leo III, in 779, the phrase: "Let crosses be erected at the corners of the roads where people usually meet"; but even somewhat earlier, in the seventh and eighth centuries, the so-called "high crosses" spread in Ireland and Anglo-Saxon countries, from where they passed, for example, to Spain. While in the Iberian Peninsula stone crosses or road crosses predominate, many of them related to the Camino de Santiago, in Germany, Austria and Switzerland they are made of all kinds of materials -stone, metal or wood-. Also in this cultural sphere their origin goes back to the Middle Ages; but, since the Protestant Reformation, this popular devotion was reserved to the regions that remained Catholic, such as the Rhineland, Bavaria, Austria and some parts of Switzerland.
The Bildstock
Among the many types of crossroads, perhaps the most typical of the Alpine regions is the so-called "Bildstock" or "Bilderstock" ("picture/image hut"). However, although it is usually associated with the Alps, it also occurs in Franconia, in the Catholic parts of Baden, Swabia, in Eichsfeld, in the Fulda area, Münsterland, Upper Lusatia and in the Rhineland: Cologne - where more than 200 of these crosses are found - even has a district called "Bilderstöckchen" - the suffix -chen denotes diminutive, a quite usual usage in the city of the famous cathedral - so called because there was a stand with images there, first mentioned in 1556.
Bildstock St Barnabe
These crosses are usually erected preferably along roads and at crossroads; they are often small works of art that invite you to stop, as they comfort the walker. Sometimes they have survived for centuries; others are more recent. Sometimes they have been preserved in their original place, sometimes they have been saved from the elements and extensively renovated.
Different types of crosses
It is practically impossible to establish a typology, since they range from simple stone stelae to authentic chapels. In many cases they simply reproduce a crucifix, with or without the Virgin; but in many others they have images of saints. Sometimes they are closed with grilles, behind which there are valuable reliefs, paintings or polychrome pictorial works. Other times, at the base of a road cross is engraved the year of construction, a short prayer, a petition, a thanksgiving, a blessing or a biblical quotation: "Praised be Jesus Christ, Hail Mary", "Holy Mary, pray for us", "Only in the cross is salvation" or "Have mercy on us". Many times, the popular devotion concretizes the prayer: "God bless our fields and protect them from hail, frost and drought".
Origins of the tradition
Their origins are also very diverse: from being simple road markers to the famous "plague crosses" in memory of various epidemics, to the memory of an accident or a deceased person, or also the fulfillment of a vow. Sometimes they are also places of pilgrimage and procession. In the month of May, in many places people go to hermitages with images of the Virgin, for example, of the Pietà.
The crosses are also places of pilgrimage on the occasion of the feasts of the Ascension and Corpus Christi. In rural places, the three days before Ascension are called Rogation Days, when processions are held to pray for good weather and a good harvest; the crosses on the roads serve as processional stations. During the festive processions of Corpus Christi, the crosses of the roads are decorated and serve as altars to give the blessing.
Next to many crosses there is usually a bench, which invites us to reflect on the images that are represented there, which revolve around the redemptive work of Christ. Therefore, these crosses not only help to find the way in a literal sense, but also the way of life.
Some crosses of particular relevance
At BavariaIn Frauenberg, there are two crosses related to World War I and World War II. The first, called "Garma-Kreuz" ("Garma Cross") because it is located on a farm of that name, was built by soldiers returning from World War I in memory of their fallen comrades and in gratitude for having survived the battles. In addition, near it grows a type of rose that has the significant name of "Peace".
The so-called "Müller Cross" was erected by the family of the same name after World War II. It was done out of double gratitude: on the one hand, Fritz Müller had survived when he fled the advancing Russian troops from his native Silesia to Lower Bavaria. And his wife Marianne, who had been expelled from the Sudetenland, also arrived safely. "The two of us were on the road for months, with only the most necessary possessions and under adverse conditions," they recall. After half a century since their escape, they erected a cross as a sign of gratitude.
In Kemoding (northeast of Munich), the Faltenmaier family keeps a German-Russian cross: a Russian occupation soldier discovered the cross after the war and took it home with him. His grandson Wadim Ulyanov from Minsk returned it to Andreas Faltenmaier during his visit to Belarus: "It was to return to Germany to serve as a reminder for peace in the world," says Mr. Faltenmaier, who also made a pilgrim cross weighing about 20 kilograms so that he could make a pilgrimage with it to the pilgrimage in the nearby district of Maria Thalheim, although "because of COVID restrictions I have only been able to do this once so far.
Well known in Bavaria is also the "Cross on the Green" near Munich, which was erected in the 19th century and is a popular destination for hikers and pilgrims. It stands on a hill, opening up to a breathtaking view of the landscape.
Although most road crosses tend to follow a traditional shape, Anton Eibl has designed a very modern cross in the aforementioned village of Kemoding, too, located at the eastern end of the village, next to a fruit tree and two benches. On a wooden base at the height of a person, there is a forged metal artwork with a golden ball in the center: "I always wanted to put a cross," says Eibl, "but with a slightly different shape. I think it turned out well; the sphere symbolizes the heart of Jesus."
A joyful fruit: the profession in New York of the girl who baptized in Tanzania
Most parish priests often enjoy seeing many of those they baptize grow up, cultivate relationships with them, and celebrate some of their other sacraments. However, for missionary priests, like Reverend Edward Dougherty, it's rather unlikely that they will have the opportunity to see their 'flock' flourish. But sometimes, God surprises us.
Reverend Edward Dougherty, M.M. has been a Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers missionary priest for forty-four years and served as superior general. He spent over a decade in Rome and twelve years in Africa and is now part of St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York, where he brings a "missionary dimension" to the parish.
While the geography, climate, local customs, and food might have changed for Fr. Dougherty throughout the years, one thing remains the same: he still loves to perform Baptisms.
Father Dougherty recently sat down with Omnes and shared how he unexpectedly reunited with a girl he baptized almost four decades ago. It's a story about a Baptism, a chance encounter, and a final profession of religious vows.
Baptism and the encounter
Fr. Dougherty's first overseas mission assignment was in Tanzania, Africa, where he met Susan Wanzagi when He baptized her when she was four. Unbeknownst to this missionary priest and future missionary sister, they would cross paths some twenty-seven years later in New York, in front of the Maryknoll building.
Father Dougherty recalled, "She approached me and said, 'Are you Fr. Dougherty?' And I said, yes." To his surprise, she shared, "I am Susan Wanzagi; you are the priest who baptized me at Zanaki Parish." He discovered that a little girl whom God entrusted him to Baptize "…in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit" all those years ago was also endowed with the spirit of mission. Some would say it's a 'small world,' but the faithful know- it's providential! Fr. Dougherty agrees, "God definitely had a hand in it."
At that time, Susan had already begun her formation program and was on her path to becoming a Maryknoll Sister. Fr. Dougherty was working as Superior General, and his time in Tanzania seemed like a lifetime ago. The chance encounter could only have been ordained by God.
They stayed in touch and would periodically meet when they could. Fast forward ten years, Susan Wanzagi invites the priest whom she never knew, but the one who was there to perform her first sacrament in her home country, 7 488 miles away from the place where she would profess her final vows. He happily accepted.
Profession of vows
The Eucharistic Celebration and Final Profession of Religious Vows occurred on Sunday, July 16, at the Maryknoll Sisters Center Annunciation Chapel in Maryknoll, New York. Fr. Dougherty began the Mass by thanking Susan for her "kind invitation" to be part of the special day and said he was "thrilled to be in your company today."
Missionary spirit
The jovial priest said he referred to the Liturgy of Baptism "and its missionary command because it was at her Baptism that I first met Susan." He continued: "I'd like to think that baptizing her all those years ago started her missionary journey, but she had to take it up, and today we celebrate this missionary disciple." He concluded by saying how proud of Susan they were and that Susan "professing her Final Vows proclaims that our mission spirit has not diminished".
Sister Susan expressed her joy, "I am feeling happy as well as ready to do the mission of God and to share this service and love with the people I serve."
While we might think that Sr. Susan's 'mission' will begin upon her arrival in the country where she will serve, in fact, it commenced at her Baptism.
For Catholics, it all starts at Baptism. It's the day when our family and their friends gather around to dote on the gift God gave them: the gift of Life. It's an opportunity to love the child unconditionally, cherish them, protect them fearlessly, and teach them how to be a disciple of Christ by the simple eloquence of their examples. It's joyous because it's the day the baptized becomes a member of the Church. And it is, according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC)… the first sacrament and gives access to the other required sacraments. It's also the moment God calls us to begin our unique mission.
On the evening of Saturday, August 5, millions of young people joined Pope Francis in Tejo Park (Lisbon, Portugal), to participate in the vigil of the WYDW. After several performances and testimonies, the Holy Father addressed the pilgrims.
The Pope reflected on the motto of World Youth Day: "Mary arose and departed without delay" (Lk 1:39). "One wonders: why does Mary get up and go in haste to see her cousin?". As Francis pointed out, Elizabeth was pregnant, but so was Mary, so why did she set out on the journey? The Holy Father answered, "Mary performs a gesture not asked for, not obligatory, Mary goes because she loves."
Our Lady was full of joy, both for the pregnancy of her cousin Elizabeth and for her own. The Pope explained that "joy is missionary, joy is not for oneself, it is to bring something". Therefore, he asked the young people: "You who are here, who have come to meet, to seek the message of Christ, to seek a beautiful meaning to life, are you going to keep this for yourselves or are you going to take it to others?
Achieving this joy, Francis said, is not something we do on our own, "others prepared us to receive it. Now let us look back, all that we have received, all that we have received and have prepared, all that, has prepared our heart for joy. If we look back, we all have people who were a ray of light for our lives: parents, grandparents, friends, priests, religious, catechists, animators, teachers. They are like the roots of our joy". This provokes in everyone a call, because "we too can be, for others, roots of joy".
However, the Pope pointed out that we can sometimes fall into discouragement, even though we are in search of the joy. "Do you think that a person who falls in life, who has a failure, who even makes heavy, strong mistakes, is finished? No. What is the right thing to do? Get up. And there is a very nice thing that I would like you to take with you today as a souvenir: the alpines, who like to climb mountains, have a very nice little song that goes like this: 'In the art of climbing - the mountain - what matters is not not to fall, but not to stay fallen'".
The Holy Father wanted to summarize his idea in a single idea, that of the journey. "To walk and, if one falls, to get up; to walk with a goal; to train oneself every day in life. In life, nothing is free. Everything is paid for. There is only one thing free: the love of Jesus. So, with this free thing that we have - the love of Jesus - and with the desire to walk, let us walk in hope, let us look at our roots and let us go forward, fearless. Do not be afraid.
Pope announces that the next WYD will be in South Korea
On the day of the Transfiguration, WYD 2023 came to an end. During the Sending Mass, Pope Francis addressed the youth in his homily and announced that the next WYD in 2027 will be held in Seoul, South Korea.
On August 6, the Sunday of the Transfiguration, the WYD 2023. The meeting of the young people and the Pope ended with a Mass of sending forth, during which the Holy Father addressed the pilgrims in a homily and announced the site of the next WYD: Seoul, South Korea.
Francis began by inviting everyone to ask themselves what they take with them back to daily life after these days. The Pope himself answered the question with three verbs: "to shine, to listen and not to be afraid".
Regarding the first verb, Francis explained that Christ was transfigured just after announcing to the apostles his Passion and Death. He wanted to give them some light before the trial. "Today too we need some light, a flash of light that is hope to face so much darkness that assails us in life."
The Pope pointed out that Jesus "is the Light that does not go out". God illuminates our whole life, "we shine when, welcoming Jesus, we learn to love like Him". The Holy Father asked that no one be deceived in this regard, he clarified that acts of love are necessary to have that light.
With regard to the second verb 'to listen', Francis encouraged everyone to read the Word of GodThe Pope urged them to go into the Gospel to listen to Jesus, "for He will tell you the way of love".
Finally, the Pope encouraged young people not to be afraid. He affirmed that young people are the present and the future, and it is precisely to them that Christ says "do not be afraid".
"I would like to look into the eyes of each one of you and tell you not to be afraid," Francis stressed. "Moreover, I tell you something very beautiful, it is no longer me, it is Jesus himself who is looking at you at this moment." Christ, who knows each one of you, is the one who says today and here "do not be afraid."
The importance of gratitude
After Mass, the Pope gave the symbols of WYD 2023 to several young people representing the five continents. He then addressed a few words to all before the Angelus prayer. During his address, he pointed out the importance of gratitude and the desire to reciprocate the good.
"The Lord makes us feel the need to share with others what God has put in our hearts," said Francis, who was the first to thank the ecclesiastical and civil authorities for their work during these days of WYD, all the volunteers and workers, and the city of Lisbon itself. The Pope also thanked St. John Paul II for starting these days years ago and for interceding for them from Heaven.
The Holy Father encouraged everyone to take care of what God has sown in their hearts. "Keep present in your minds and in your hearts the most beautiful moments, so that when moments of tiredness and discouragement come, which are inevitable, and perhaps the temptation to stop walking, with the memory you will rekindle the experiences and the grace of these days. Because, never forget, this is the reality, this is you: God's holy and faithful people, who walk with the joy of the Gospel".
Francis also greeted all the young people who were unable to participate in WYD and thanked them for joining in as much as they could. He also wanted to share a dream that he has in his heart, "the dream of peace, the dream of young people who pray for peace".
South Korea to host the next World Youth Day
The Holy Father invited everyone to Rome to celebrate the Jubilee of Youth in 2025 and, at the end of his speech, he announced the location of the next WYD in 2027: "it will take place in Asia, in South Korea, in Seoul".
Finally, Francis thanked Jesus and Holy Mary for their presence in every WYD and in the life of each one of us.
On Saturday morning, August 5, the Pope visited the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima, erected on the site where Our Lady appeared to some shepherd children in 1917. In the Chapel of Apparitions, the Pope prayed the rosary accompanied by pilgrims and sick young people.
Today, August 5, after celebrating Mass in private, the Pope traveled by car to the Figo Maduro Air Base in Lisbon, where, at 8 o'clock (Lisbon time) he was taken by military helicopter to Fatima.
The Pope was welcomed at the heliport by the Bishop of Leiria-Fatima and President of the Portuguese Episcopal Conference, Monsignor José Ornelas Carvalho. The Pope then drove to the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima.
There, he gave some bouquets of roses and a golden rosary to Our Lady and prayed in silence for a few moments before the image of Our Lady of Fatima. Afterwards, a multilingual rosary, with each mystery in a different language, was prayed with sick young people in the Chapel of Apparitions.
Pilgrimage is a Marian trait
At the conclusion of the recitation of the rosary, the Pope, after praying again in silence before the image of Our Lady of Fatima, gave a speech in Spanish, in which he pointed out that the rosary is "a most beautiful and vital prayer, vital because it puts us in contact with the life of Jesus and Mary. And we meditated on the joyful mysteries, which remind us that the Church can only be a home full of joy. The small chapel in which we found ourselves is a beautiful image of the Church: welcoming and without doors, an open-air sanctuary in the heart of this square that evokes a great maternal embrace.
He also pointed out that "pilgrimage is the Marian trait that unites the mysteries we have prayed. In fact, Mary receives the proclamation of joy, that 'Rejoice' (Lk 1:28) that changes her life; and she immediately begins a pilgrimage, which unfolds in the following mysteries: she goes to Elizabeth, then to Bethlehem, then to the temple in Jerusalem, to which she finally returns to meet Jesus. Mary walks, she does not stop. She does so also in history, when she comes down to meet us, as in Fatima, and invites us to go on pilgrimage, not only with our bodies, but above all with our lives.
As he did yesterday, the Pope did not conclude his speech and, putting aside his papers, he improvised a few words, stressing that the Virgin "rushes", "goes running" where it is needed.
Apparitions of the Angel
In the full speech, the Pope indicated that Fatima is "a school of intercession" and commented on some of the phrases of the angel who appeared to the children before Our Lady did: "The little ones of Fatima became great in intercession thanks to an angel who, a year before Our Lady's coming, instructed them. He appeared to them and said: 'Do not be afraid'. Always, when God comes, fears vanish.' Then the angel introduced himself: 'I am the angel of peace. Always, where God is, there is peace. Then he made a request: 'Pray with me'. And he taught them a prayer, which was not oriented to ask for themselves and for their own needs, as we often do, but of adoration and intercession. Worship of God and intercession for others.
Then the angel knelt down, bowed his forehead to the ground and invited them to pray saying: 'My God, I believe, I worship, I hope and I love you. I ask your forgiveness for those who do not believe, do not worship, do not hope and do not love you'. And then he added: 'The Hearts of Jesus and Mary are attentive to the voice of your supplications'. This is the certainty: God always listens to our prayers; they are never useless, but always necessary, because prayer changes history.
In fact, the angel of peace explained that prayers and sacrifices made with love bring peace to the world. Finally, his last words to the children, as if assigning them a task, were: 'Comfort your God. Not only do we need God's consolation, but He asks us to console Him, because He suffers; He suffers from evil, from divisions, from the lack of peace, and He asks for prayer and love".
Our Lady's apparitions
Underlining once again the importance of intercession, the Pope also commented on one of Our Lady's apparitions at Fatima: "In 1917, when Our Lady appeared, in this same month of August, she said something surprising. Some sick people were presented to her, she took an interest in them, but immediately took on a serious, sad expression, as if pointing to a more worrisome illness. She said to them: 'Pray, pray much; and make sacrifices for sinners, because many souls go to hell because they have no one to sacrifice and intercede for them'.
We, on the other hand, perhaps we would have expected her to say: there are those who condemn themselves because they are bad, because the world is going badly, because there is little faith, because there is atheism, relativism. But no, Our Lady did not speak of this; she is a Mother and does not point the finger at anyone or at society; she does not criticize or complain, but shows her concern because there is a lack of compassion for those who are far away, because there is no one to pray and offer, because there is little love and zeal".
He concluded his speech with a call to accept this "invitation to responsibility, to take care of those who do not believe, do not hope, do not love. And God will take care of us. Let us pray, because Fatima is a school of prayer. Now, as at the time of the apparitions, there is also war. Our Lady asked us to pray the Rosary for peace. She did not ask it as a favor, but with maternal solicitude, she said: 'Pray the Rosary every day for the peace of the world and the end of war. Let us therefore unite our hearts, let us pray for peace, let us consecrate the Church and the world anew to the Immaculate Heart of our most sweet Mother".
Pope's second visit to the shrine
At the end of the event, which was attended by more than 200,000 people, the Holy Father gave the final blessing and greeted some of the young people present.
Back in Lisbon, the Pontiff will go to the Colégio de São João de Brito, at 6:00 p.m. (Lisbon time), where he will have a private meeting with members of the Society of Jesus of Portugal. In the evening, the vigil will be held in Tejo Park, one of the most important events of the WYDW.
This was the Pope's second visit to the shrine of Fatima, where he was already on May 12 and 13, 2017, the 100th anniversary of Our Lady's apparitions.
Pope points out that "the Cross is the greatest meaning of love".
This afternoon at 6:00 p.m. (Lisbon time) the Pope's Way of the Cross took place with pilgrims from all over the world, on the "Hill of Encounter" of WYD Lisbon 2023.
The Pope was greeted with songs upon his arrival at the "Hill of the Encounter" at the WYDW to celebrate the Stations of the Cross. The musical animation of the prayer included the participation of the "Singing Hands" project, composed of six deaf people who choreographed the songs in sign language, translating the lyrics of each song.
At the beginning of the Stations of the Cross, the Pope addressed the pilgrims in Spanish, pointing out that "Jesus is the way and we are going to walk with Him, because He walked with us when He was among us". He indicated that "the way that is most engraved in our hearts is the way of Calvary, the way of the cross, (...) Let us look at Jesus who is passing by and let us walk with Him".
The beauty of the crucified
He also emphasized that in the Incarnation and the Cross God "comes out of himself to walk among us (...). The cross that accompanies every World Youth Day is the figure of this journey, the cross is the greatest meaning of love. He added that with this love "Jesus wants to embrace our life, yours, that of each one of us (...). And no one has more love than he who gives his life for others. Do not forget this. And this is what Jesus taught, that is why when we look at the crucified one, so painful, we see the beauty of the love that gives life for each one of us".
He went on to emphasize that "Jesus is walking, but he is waiting for something, he is waiting for our company, he is waiting to open the windows of my soul, of the soul of each one of us".
In conclusion, he asked young people to dare to love: "He hopes to push us to embrace the risk of loving. To love is risky. It is a risk, but it is worth taking (...) Today we are going to walk the path with him, the path of his suffering, the path of our loneliness". He invited the pilgrims to reflect on their own suffering and "on the desire for the soul to smile again. And Jesus walks to the cross, dies on the cross, so that our soul can smile".
The Way of the Cross with the Pope
The Stations of the Cross began with a group of young people forming a pyramid, symbolizing Calvary. At each station, the youth choreographed the stations on the WYD stage. Each scene was also accompanied by panels designed by the Portuguese Jesuit Nuno Branco, representing Jesus at the different moments of the Stations of the Cross.
Some of the 14 Stations of the Cross were accompanied by video testimonies of young people: the third, "Jesus falls for the first time," featured Esther, a 34-year-old Spanish woman who had an abortion and, years later, returned to the Church; the seventh station, "Jesus falls for the second time," featured the video of Joao, a 23-year-old Portuguese man who was bullied at school and, years later, suffered from depression. The eighth station featured the testimony of Caleb, a 29-year-old American who suffered from drug addiction and came out of it thanks to his encounter with Christ.
The reflections have revolved around themes such as depression, intolerance, the destruction of Creation, or individualism.
Finally, the Pope gave his blessing and personally greeted all the artists who participated in the preparation and representation of the Stations of the Cross.
This morning the Pope heard the confessions of some young pilgrims at World Youth Day. Afterwards, he went to the Serafina Parish Center for a meeting with assistance and charity centers. Francis could not finish his speech because he could not see the text well, so he improvised a few words. This afternoon, the Stations of the Cross will take place with young people from all over the world.
This morning the Pope celebrated Mass in private and then went to the Vasco de Gama Garden where, at 9.00 a.m. (Lisbon time), he heard confessions from some of the young people participating in the World Youth Day.
In this park, called "Forgiveness Park" at WYD, there are 150 confessionals built by prisoners from the prisons of Coimbra, Paços de Ferreira and Porto.
He then drove to the Serafina Parish Center to meet at 9:45 a.m. (local time) with some representatives of assistance and charity centers.
"Charity is the goal of the Christian journey."
The meeting was attended by the Serafina Parish Center, the Casa Famiglia Ajuda de Berço and the Acreditar association.
After an opening hymn, the Pope was welcomed by the parish priest and director of the center. He was then introduced to the three centers participating in the meeting and the Pontiff began a speech in Spanish.
In it, Francisco recalled the WYD motto, which refers to the Visitation of Mary, as an example of charity: "It is beautiful to be here together, in the context of World Youth Day, as we contemplate the Virgin Mary getting up and going to help her elderly relative Elizabeth (cf. Lk 1:39). Charity, in fact, is the origin and goal of the Christian journey, and your presence, a concrete reality of 'love in action', helps us not to forget the path, the meaning of what we do. Thank you for your testimonies, of which I would like to underline three aspects: doing good together, acting concretely and being close to the most fragile".
He also recalled that each person is a "unique gift": "Each one of us is a gift, a unique gift-with its limits-a precious and sacred gift for God, for the Christian community and for the human community. So, as we are, let us enrich the whole and let us allow ourselves to be enriched by the whole".
An impromptu speech
The Holy Father stopped the reading in the middle of the speech, indicating that "the spotlights" did not allow him to see well. He commented that he would send the text of the speech to those present so that they could read it and, leaving the papers, he continued speaking in an improvised manner, to the applause of the audience.
He pointed out that it is necessary to emphasize "the concrete. There is no abstract love, it does not exist, platonic love is in orbit, it is not in reality". He also stressed that "concrete love" is the one that "gets its hands dirty".
He invited the participants to ask themselves: "Is the love I feel concrete or abstract?" and if, when we shake hands with a sick person, we want to clean it: "Am I disgusted by the poverty of others? Do I always look for distilled life, that which exists in my fantasy but not in reality?". "How many distilled lives, useless, that pass through life without leaving a trace, because their life has no weight. And here we have a reality that leaves weight, which is an inspiration to others," he continued. He also wanted to highlight the work of the charitable associations: "You generate new life continuously, with your commitment, you are generating inspiration. Thank you for that. I thank you from the bottom of my heart, keep going and don't get discouraged, and if you get discouraged, take a glass of water and keep going".
At the end of the meeting, the Our Father was prayed and the Pope gave the final blessing. He then went to greet the children of the choir and gave them each a rosary. He then went to the Apostolic Nunciature for lunch at 12 noon (Lisbon time) with Cardinal Manuel Clemente and ten young people of different nationalities.
Rise up" catechesis of the bishops
At the same time as these meetings of the Pope with different institutions, the "Rise up" catecheses of the bishops for pilgrims are taking place. An Arab seminarian who attended one of these catecheses reflects on the topics discussed: "We young people cannot be disciples of the cell phone. Social networks are not our teachers, but Christ Jesus, the true Teacher. It is vital that young people have good criteria and good formation in their faith and in the doctrine of the Church in order to truly live tolerance".
This evening, at 6:00 p.m. (Lisbon time), the Pope's Way of the Cross with the WYD pilgrims will take place on the "Hill of the Encounter".
St. Charbel: a light of hope for Lebanon in crisis
Saint Charbel is a Lebanese saint famous for performing more than 29,000 miracles since his death in 1898. Devotion to his figure is widespread in his native country, which finds in this saint a very valuable intercessor in the face of crises in the territory.
Bernard Larraín-August 4, 2023-Reading time: 5minutes
Three years ago, on August 4, 2020, world public opinion was focused on the tremendous explosion in the port of Beirut, capital of Lebanon. What has happened since that terrible day?
Lebanon is a millenary country in the Middle East where very diverse cultures and peoples have lived and continue to live. The Bible mentions Lebanon at least seventy times. For a long time it was a largely Christian country, although today it is estimated that only thirty percent of the Lebanese are Christian.
Twentieth century and early twenty-first century
The recent history of this country is full of lights and shadows. After the First World War, Lebanon ceased to be part of the Ottoman Empire and remained under French mandate for 20 years. Independence came on November 22, 1943. The first years of independent institutional life were characterized by relative stability and progress. Lebanon was known as the Switzerland of the Middle East, and Beirut was considered the cultural capital of the Arab world. Unfortunately, tensions between the different groups triggered a civil war between 1975 and 1990 that left 100,000 dead and a deep wound in the collective memory.
Then followed years of some internal tranquility until the assassination of Prime Minister Rafic Hariri in 2005 and the fateful summer of 2006 marked by the 33-day war between Israel and the paramilitary group "Hezbollah" (the "party of God"), during which about 1300 people were killed. After 10 years of reconstruction efforts following the civil war, the country was again partially destroyed.
Five years later, in 2011, Lebanon will again be affected by conflict. That year, the civil war in Syria started. This resulted in one and a half million (it is not easy to make a precise estimate) Syrian refugees starting to arrive in Lebanon fleeing the war. The shock was great for the small size of the country and its five million inhabitants.
Lebanon today
But it was in 2019, when the country went financially bankrupt and a major political, social and economic crisis was generated. Massive street protests began on October 17, 2019 and only ended with the other major crisis triggered by Covid in early 2020. The coup de grace came with the Beirut port explosion on August 4, 2020 that destroyed much of the city and left hundreds dead. The images and videos went around the world because of how impressive it all was. The explosion was the event that somehow summed up in one afternoon all the dramas that the country was experiencing.
The situation caused many people, including many Christians, to lose hope and decide to leave the country where they were born to seek a better future for their families. To this day, three years after this tragedy, it is not well known what happened and whoever dares to investigate the facts may end badly.
Thus, the country is immersed in a serious crisis from which there is no way out in the short term. There is no President of the Republic, electricity and water services are very deficient, the currency has lost practically all its value and many people want to emigrate.
In the midst of this dark and difficult situation, the feast of the great local saint, St. Charbel, celebrated a few days ago (third Sunday of July in the Maronite rite), came to give light and hope to the Lebanese people. Those who have come to Lebanon will have been surprised to discover this great national figure everywhere. In addition to being present in the churches or monasteries that abound in the country, the face of this old hermit monk is on bars, tattoos, buses, buildings, streets. This face radiates peace and serenity so necessary in regions of war.
The life of St. Charbel
Charbel was born in 1828 into a humble family in Biqa' kafrâ, a village located at an altitude of 1,600 meters in the mountainous north of Lebanon. His parents, deeply Christian peasants, passed on their faith to their five children and gave them the example of a pious life. Youssef, the youngest of them, was characterized from an early age by his piety and virtues. Moved in part by the example of his two hermit monk uncles, he felt called to enter the monastery of Our Lady of Mayfouk. He stayed there for a year before being sent in 1852 to St. Maron Monastery in Annaya, where he entered the Lebanese Maronite order under the name of Charbel.
Father Charbel lived a life that was tremendously austere and completely turned towards eternity, centered on constant dialogue with God and on the EucharistHe had very few contacts with other people. Only on certain occasions, at the request of his superiors, did he receive people seeking his spiritual advice because his fame as a man of God spread throughout the country. He was also entrusted with some missions outside the monastery, which he fulfilled with a great spirit of obedience and discretion.
Charbel died at the age of 70, on December 24, 1898, during the Christmas vigil. His superior summarized his luminous life in the written record: "faithful to his vows, of exemplary obedience, his conduct was more angelic than human".
The saint of miracles
After his death, the fame of the Lebanese saint spread prodigiously and impressive miracles were quickly attributed to him, especially healings, which to this day continue to attract countless people to Annaya, in the Lebanese mountains, to pray before his mortal remains and to visit the places where he lived saintly. While during his lifetime Charbel limited his social contacts to a minimum, today some three million visitors come to see him each year.
It is not uncommon to hear in Lebanon of someone to whom Charbel has done a small or big favor lately. Not for nothing is it said that St. Charbel is the saint who performs the most miracles, and not only for Christians. Indeed, people from all over the world come to Anaya and many Muslims also come to pray to him.
Since his death, more than 29,000 miracles have been attributed to him, of which 10% have benefited unbaptized people. The first of these was a mysterious light illuminating his tomb shortly after his death, which attracted many people. St. Charbel continues to be a light for the Lebanese people, Christians and Muslims, in this crisis that the country of the millenary Cedar is going through.
Prayer for Lebanon
The following is the prayer for Lebanon of the Cardinal Bechara RaïMaronite Patriarch of Antioch and all the East: "Lord, help the Lebanese, all Lebanese, to be able to resist, to have the patience to preserve their spiritual, moral and national values. And You, Lord, You always intervene in history when You want and at the time You want. But we know well, we are convinced that You will intervene to help this Lebanon and these Lebanese who live in hope and who pray. In Lebanon, the people are a praying people. Lord, listen to their prayer!
In Dardilly, not far from Lyon (France), a land of deep Christian tradition, on May 8, 1786, the following was born Juan Mariathe saintly priest of Ars. He was the fourth of six brothers from a peasant family. Very soon after, the French Revolution broke out and the faithful had to gather in secret for Mass celebrated by one of those heroic priests, faithful to the Pope, who were so furiously persecuted by the revolutionaries. He had to make his first communion in another town, in a room with the windows carefully closed, so that nothing would show outside.
Vocation to the priesthood
At seventeen, John Mary decided to become a priest and began his studies, leaving the work in the fields to which he had been dedicated until then. Father Balley lends himself to help him, but Latin becomes very difficult for this young peasant. At one point he began to feel discouraged and decided to make a pilgrimage on foot to the tomb of St. Francis de Regis to ask for his intercession.
Due to a mistake, he was called up in 1809, which was exempted for seminarians. He fell ill and, without paying attention to his weakness, he was sent to fight in Spain. He was unable to follow his companions and, discouraged, he was forced to desert and had to remain hidden for three years in the mountains of Noës. An amnesty allowed him to return to his village shortly before his mother's death and to resume his priestly studies. His superiors recognized his conduct, but his performance was very poor and he was dismissed from the seminary. He tried to join the Brothers of the Christian Schools, but was unsuccessful. Father Balley lent himself to continue preparing him and finally, on August 13, 1815, the Bishop of Grenoble ordained him a priest at the age of 29.
Destination, Ars
The archbishopric of Lyon entrusted him with a very small village north of the capital called Ars. The territory was not even considered a parish. He arrived on February 9, 1818 and practically never left again. Twice he would be appointed to another parish, and twice he himself would try to leave, but Divine Providence always intervened so that St. John Mary would come to shine, as patron of all the priests of the world, precisely in a parish of a tiny village.
The first years were spent entirely devoted to his parishioners: he visited them house by house; he cared for the children and the sick; he was in charge of the enlargement and improvement of the church..... He was deeply involved in the moralization of the people: war against taverns, fight against Sunday work, efforts to banish religious ignorance and, above all, his dramatic opposition to dancing, which would cause him trouble and displeasure, including accusations before his superiors. However, years later it could be said that "Ars is no longer Ars". The devil, who did not look favorably on his actions, attacked the saint with violence. The struggle against him sometimes had a dramatic character. The anecdotes are copious and, on some occasions, overwhelming.
First pilgrimages to Ars
John Mary used to help his fellow priests in the neighboring villages and those peasants would then turn to him when difficulties arose, or simply to go to confession and receive good advice. This was the beginning of the famous pilgrimage to Ars.
It began as a local phenomenon in the dioceses of Lyon and Belley, but then it spread so widely that it became famous throughout France and even in the whole of Europe. Pilgrims began to flock from everywhere, and books were published to serve as guides. A special ticket office was even established at the Lyon station to dispatch tickets to Ars.
Instrument of God's graces
That poor priest, who had laboriously completed his studies, and who had been relegated to one of the worst villages in the diocese, was to become a sought-after advisor for thousands of souls. And among them would be people from all walks of life, from distinguished prelates and famous intellectuals, to the most humble sick and poor troubled people. He must have spent the day in the confessional, preaching or attending to the poor. It is surprising that he could survive with that kind of life. As if that were not enough, his penances were extraordinary.
God blessed his activity abundantly. He, who had hardly done his studies, performed marvelously in the pulpit, without any time to prepare himself. He solved very delicate problems of conscience. After his death there will be testimonies, abundant to the point of unbelievable, of his gift of discernment of consciences: to one he reminded him of a forgotten sin, to another he clearly manifested his vocation, to another he opened his eyes to the dangers in which he found himself, to others he discovered his way of helping in the Church... With simplicity, almost as if it were a matter of hunches or occurrences, the saint showed himself to be in intimate contact with God and to be illuminated by Him. And all with great cordiality. We have the testimony of people belonging to the highest echelons of French society who left Ars in admiration of his courtesy and gentleness. His extreme humanity also led him to the foundation of "La Providencia": a house that, exclusively for charity, she founded to take in the poor orphans of the surrounding area.
A saint passes away
On Friday, July 29, 1859, he felt indisposed. He went down, as usual, early in the morning to church, but he could not resist in the confessional and had to go outside to get some fresh air. Before the eleven o'clock catechism he asked for some wine, sipped a few drops and went up to the pulpit. He could not be understood, but his tear-filled eyes, turning towards the tabernacle, said it all. He continued confessing, but by evening it was clear that he was mortally wounded. He rested badly and asked for help: "The doctor can do nothing. Call the priest of Jassans.
He let himself be cared for like a child. He didn't grumble when they put a mattress on his hard bed and obeyed the doctor. And a touching event took place. The heat was unbearable and the neighbors of Ars, not knowing what to do to relieve him, went up to the roof and spread sheets that they kept damp all day long. The whole town saw, bathed in tears, that their priest was leaving them. The bishop himself came to share their grief. After a moving farewell to his father and pastor, the holy priest thought only of dying and, with a heavenly peace, on Thursday, August 4, 1859, he gave his soul to God "as a worker who has finished his day well".
Pope Pius XI canonized him on May 31, 1925. Three years later, in 1928, the Pope named the Curé of Ars Patron of parish priests and pastors of souls.
Pope stresses at WYD that "there is room for everyone in the Church".
The young people attending WYD in Lisbon joyfully welcomed Pope Francis in the Parque Eduardo VII, in what was the first meeting between the pilgrims and the Holy Father.
The young people joyfully welcomed Pope Francis in the Edward VII Park, in what was the first meeting between the pilgrims and the Holy Father during WYD at Lisbon. The moments prior to the Pope's arrival were marked by music and expectation. As soon as the car in which Pope Francis was traveling approached the enclosure, the park was filled with shouts of welcome.
When the Holy Father arrived on stage, a group of artists performed a dance. After this, the patriarch of Lisbon, Cardinal Manuel José Macário do Nascimento Clemente, said a few words of welcome and thanked the youthful spirit that always maintains the spirit of the Holy Father. Francisco.
During the ceremony there was also a parade of flags of the countries participating in this meeting. Immediately after, the WYD icons arrived at the site. All this under the watchful eye of Pope Francis, who was all smiles.
The liturgical moment of the ceremony then began. The Pope said a prayer before the choir sang the Alleluia and a passage from the Gospel according to St. Luke was proclaimed. The chosen passage was that of the 72 disciples sent by Christ to spread the Good News.
God calls us
After the Gospel, Pope Francis addressed a speech to the young people, which began by thanking all the organizers and workers of WYD. The Holy Father told those present that "you are not here by chance, the Lord has called you. Not only in these days, but from the beginning of your lives".
Francis encouraged everyone to think that the meaning of everyone's life is that God calls each of us by name. "None of us is a Christian by chance, we were all called by name."
Francis explained that "we have been called because we are loved. In the eyes of God we are precious children". The Lord wants to make each one of us "a unique and original masterpiece", which implies "a beauty that we cannot glimpse".
The Pope encouraged pilgrims to remember this to one another. He also wanted to emphasize that "we are loved as we are, without make-up, and we are called by name. It is not a figure of speech. If God calls you by name, it means that for God none of us is a face, a face, a heart".
Francis also spoke of the illusions of virtual life and social networks that do not know the person, but focus only on their usefulness. Something that does not happen with Christ, because Jesus "cares about each one of you".
Pope Francis invites to welcome
It is true that in the Church we are all sinners, but we are the "community of the called, each one as we are". For this reason, the Pope affirmed that "in the Church there is room for everyone, no one is superfluous. Jesus says it clearly".
Francis stressed that "the Lord does not point his finger, but opens his arms". In the Gospels we can see that "Jesus never closes the door, but invites you to come in and see".
On the other hand, the Pope encouraged young people to be restless and to ask questions. "Never tire of asking questions. Asking questions is good, indeed, it is often better than giving answers."
The Holy Father concluded his speech by recalling once again that "God loves us, he loves us as we are, not as we would like to be or as society would like us to be". In this task of living in awareness of this, we are accompanied by Holy Mary, "our great help", for "she is our Mother".
Finally, Pope Francis wanted to address some words of encouragement to all the young people gathered: "Do not be afraid, be courageous, go forward".
Pope speaks to young people about the Good Samaritan
This morning, at 10:40 a.m. (Lisbon time), the Pope met with young people from Scholas Ocurrentes, an International Organization of Pontifical Right erected by Francis in 2013, at the headquarters in Cascais (Portugal).
Scholas Ocurrentes defines itself as "a youth movement for education that seeks to give back to us the meaning of what we do through sports, art and technology. We are committed to creating an inclusive and transformative environment, where every young person can develop their potential and contribute positively to the world around them".
On the morning of August 3, the headquarters of Cascais, in Portugal, was visited by Pope Francis, in one of his official acts for the World Youth Day which is being held this year in Lisbon.
The President of Scholas Ocurrentes received the Pope and gave a welcoming greeting, in which he pointed out that "as you yourself have said on several occasions, education today requires going back to the origins to integrate in every young person the language of the heart with the language of the mind and the language of the hands. That is why Scholas, since you were bishop in Buenos Aires, has been giving them a meaningful life through sports, art and technology.
Youth testimonials
Then, three young people belonging to different religions gave their testimonies: Paulo Esaka Oliveira da Silva (Evangelical), Mariana dos Santos Barradas (Catholic) and Aladje Dabo (Muslim).
Paulo Esaka pointed out that "Scholas is a community where several people can enter, several people can participate and have a place to express themselves, to be able to show their feelings, to show what they live day by day, and I think that is Scholas itself (...)". For her part, Mariana dos Santos said that for her "this project was much more than an opportunity. It was really an encounter where not only did I meet different people, but I was also able to really build bridges with the community and have the opportunity to really get to know these people that we don't see so often, we even have immense differences with us. However in these differences we find our commonalities (...)".
To conclude the testimonies, Aladje Dabo indicated that "as soon as I met Scholas I fell in love with it because it also responds to my passions. One of my passions is precisely to contribute to the welfare of the community, to care for my neighbor, and that is the essence of Scholas (...) Because it does not see race, it does not see religion, it does not see our culture per se, but it values interculturality (...)".
A 3 kilometer mural
The Pope was also presented with a 3-kilometer artistic mural, and Francis had a relaxed chat with the young people present. He told them, in Spanish, that "a life without crisis is an aseptic life (...), it has no taste at all". He added that "crises must be assumed and resolved (...) and rarely alone". He invited the young people to live their problems in community, since together it is easier to face problems. Speaking of the biblical account of Creation, he reflected on how God transforms chaos into cosmos. "The same thing happens in our lives," he said.
The Pope was then invited to paint on the mural. At the end of the event, Francis gave Scholas Ocurrentes an icon representing the Good Samaritan. He explained the image to those present and commented that "sometimes in life you have to get your hands dirty so as not to get your heart dirty". The icon is modern, but made faithfully following the traditional techniques of egg tempera painting on a board prepared with gold leaf.
At the end of the meeting, the Pope gave his blessing and asked the young people to pray for him.
On leaving the building, Francis, accompanied by the religious leaders present, attended the planting of an olive tree of peace by the young people.
He then went to the Apostolic Nunciature for lunch. The next event will be at 4:45 p.m. (Lisbon time), the first big meeting with young people from all over the world, which will take place in the Eduardo VII Park, in the center of Lisbon.
Pope asks young people to embody the beauty of the Gospel
During the morning of August 3, Pope Francis met with young students of the Portuguese Catholic University, during which he gave a speech in which he compared the figures of the pilgrim and the university student.
On August 3, Pope Francis met with a group of young students from the Portuguese Catholic University. The meeting was part of his agenda in the WYDW and began after the performance of a musical piece, followed by a welcoming speech given by the university's rector, Isabel Capeloa Gil.
Several students had the opportunity to offer their testimonials, based on "Laudato si'The Global Education Pact, the "Global Education Pact," the "Francisco's Economy"and the "Pope's Fund". After the speeches, the Holy Father addressed all those present.
Francis began by speaking about the figure of the pilgrim, which "literally means setting aside the daily routine and setting out on a purposeful journey, moving 'across the fields' or 'beyond the confines,' that is, out of one's comfort zone, toward a horizon of meaning."
The pilgrim is a reflection of the human condition, Francis explained. "Everyone is called to confront great questions that do not have a simplistic or immediate answer, but invite us to undertake a journey, to surpass ourselves, to go beyond." And this, which in a general way applies to everyone, can be seen especially in the life of university students.
The Pope encouraged everyone to be demanding and critical in this journey of searching that we are following. "Let us be wary of prefabricated formulas, of answers that seem to be within reach, pulled out of the sleeve like trick playing cards; let us be wary of those proposals that seem to give everything without asking for anything."
Young people searching without fear
Francis went further and called for courage in this process, recalling the words of Pessoa: "To be dissatisfied is to be man". For this reason, the Holy Father assured that "we must not be afraid of feeling restless, of thinking that what we have done is not enough. To be dissatisfied - in this sense and in its just measure - is a good antidote to the presumption of self-sufficiency and narcissism. Incompleteness defines our condition as seekers and pilgrims because, as Jesus says, 'we are in the world, but not of the world'".
The Pope stressed that restlessness should not worry us. Alarm bells should go off "when we are ready to substitute the road to travel for stopping at any oasis - even if that comfort is a mirage; when we substitute faces for screens, the real for the virtual; when, instead of questions that tear, we prefer easy answers that anesthetize."
Francis was clear in his message to young people: "In this historic moment, the challenges are enormous and the groans are painful, but let us embrace the risk of thinking that we are not in agony, but in labor; not at the end, but at the beginning of a great spectacle. Be, therefore, protagonists of a 'new choreography' that places the human person at the center, be choreographers of the dance of life".
An education that bears fruit
The Holy Father wants young people to dream and set out to bear fruit. Therefore, he said, "Have the courage to replace fears with dreams; do not be stewards of fears, but entrepreneurs of dreams!".
Francis also took the opportunity to launch a message to those in charge of education in the world. He asked that universities avoid being engaged "in training new generations only to perpetuate the current elitist and unequal system in the world, in which higher education is a privilege for a few."
The Pope placed great emphasis on pointing out that education is a gift destined to bear fruit. "If knowledge is not accepted as a responsibility, it becomes sterile. If those who have received a higher education - which today, in Portugal and in the world, continues to be a privilege - do not strive to give back something of what they have benefited from, they have not understood what has been offered to them".
For this reason, Francis affirmed that "the degree, in fact, cannot be seen only as a license to build personal well-being, but as a mandate to dedicate oneself to a more just and inclusive society, that is, a more developed one."
Young people and real progress
The Holy Father also took the opportunity to speak about the real progress the world is asking for in order to take care of our common home. "This cannot be done without a conversion of heart and a change in the anthropological vision that is at the basis of economics and politics."
But first, another step must be taken. Francis stressed "the need to redefine what we call progress and evolution". The Pope expressed his concern, because "in the name of progress, the way has been opened to a great regression". But the Pontiff warned that he has hope in young people: "You are the generation that can overcome this challenge, you have the most advanced scientific and technological instruments, but please do not fall into the trap of partial visions".
Francis asked the young university students to keep integral ecology in mind when looking for solutions. "We need to listen to the suffering of the planet alongside that of the poor; we need to put the drama of desertification in parallel with that of refugees, the issue of migrations alongside that of the declining birth rate; we need to deal with the material dimension of life within a spiritual dimension. Not to create polarizations, but rather visions of the whole".
Incarnating the Gospel
The Pope's address ended with an allusion to the faith of young people. "I would like to tell them to make faith credible through their decisions. Because if faith does not generate convincing lifestyles, it does not make the mass of the world ferment. It is not enough for a Christian to be convinced, he must be convincing."
Francis stressed that this is the responsibility of every Catholic, called to be a disciple by Baptism. "Our actions are called to reflect the beauty - at once joyful and radical - of the Gospel." And this must be achieved by recovering "the sense of incarnation. Without incarnation, Christianity becomes ideology; it is incarnation that allows us to be amazed by the beauty that Christ reveals through every brother and sister, every man and woman."
The Pope invites not to "retire" from "apostolic zeal".
The Pope arrived yesterday, August 2, in Lisbon to celebrate WYD with young people. On the first day, he closed his agenda with vespers at the Jeronimos Monastery and today he will meet with young university students at the Portuguese Catholic University. In the afternoon, the first big meeting with young people from all over the world will take place in the Eduardo VII Park, located in the center of Lisbon.
The Pope continues his participation in the World Youth Day in Lisbon. Yesterday, after meeting in the afternoon with the President of Portugal, Augusto Ernesto dos Santos Silva, and the Prime Minister, António Costa, he went to the Jeronimos Monastery to pray vespers accompanied by bishops, priests, deacons, consecrated men and women, seminarians and pastoral workers.
He arrived at the monastery at 6:30 p.m. (Lisbon local time) and was received at the main entrance by Cardinal Manuel Clemente, the president of the Portuguese Episcopal Conference and bishop of Leiria-Fatima, Monsignor José Ornelas Carvalho, and by the parish priest.
The Pope then presided at Vespers. In his homily, delivered in Spanish, he said he was "happy to be among you to experience World Youth Day together with so many young people, but also to share your ecclesial journey, your fatigue and your hopes.
Do not "retire" from "apostolic zeal".
Reflecting on Jesus' first encounters with the apostles, the Pope pointed out that at times we can experience weariness "when it seems to us that all we have in our hands are empty nets. This is a widespread feeling in countries of ancient Christian tradition, affected by many social and cultural changes, and increasingly marked by secularism, indifference to God and a growing detachment from the practice of the faith. And here lies the danger, that worldliness enters in.
And this is often accentuated by the disillusionment or anger that some people nourish in relation to the Church, in some cases because of our bad witness and the scandals that have disfigured her face, and which call for a humble, constant purification, starting from the cry of pain of the victims, who must always be welcomed and listened to. (...) Instead, let us trust that Jesus continues to reach out his hand, supporting his beloved Bride. Let us bring to the Lord our labors and our tears, so that we can face pastoral and spiritual situations, dialoguing among ourselves with open hearts to experience new paths to follow. When we are discouraged, conscious or not entirely conscious, we 'retire', we 'retire' from apostolic zeal (...)".
However, the Papa He pointed out that it is at this moment of discouragement that Jesus gets into the boat and asks the apostles to let down their nets again. "He comes to look for us in our loneliness, in our crises, to help us begin again. The spirituality of the new beginning. Do not be afraid of him. This is life: to fall and to begin again, to be bored and to receive joy again".
Casting the "gospel net
The Pontiff also called for hope in the midst of this secularized world: "There are many abysses in today's society, also here in Portugal, everywhere. We have the feeling that enthusiasm is lacking, the courage to dream, the strength to face challenges, confidence in the future; and, meanwhile, we navigate in uncertainty, in precariousness, especially economic precariousness, in poverty of social friendship, in lack of hope. We, as the Church, have been entrusted with the task of plunging into the waters of this sea, casting the net of the Gospel, without pointing fingers, without accusing, but bringing to the people of our time a proposal of life, that of Jesus (...)".
Francis concluded his homily by asking for the intercession of Our Lady of Fatima, the Angel of Portugal and St. Anthony of Padua.
Meetings with young people
After Vespers, the Pope drove to the Apostolic Nunciature in Lisbon, where he had dinner in private. He also met with victims of abuse by the Portuguese clergy. The meeting lasted more than an hour and took place "in a climate of intense listening," as noted by Vatican News.
Today, the Pope will meet with young university students at the Portuguese Catholic University, where he will bless the first stone of the Campus Veritatis. At around 11:40 a.m. (Lisbon time), he will travel to Cascais to meet with young people at the Scholas Occurrentes headquarters.
In the afternoon, at 4:45 p.m. Lisbon time, one of the great events of this WYD will take place: the first great meeting with young people from all over the world, in the Eduardo VII Park, located in the center of Lisbon.
A girl prays after releasing a paper lantern into the Motoyasu River in front of the destroyed Atomic Bomb Dome in Hiroshima. The dropping of the atomic bomb on this city that has become a symbol of nuclear disarmament is commemorated every August 6.
Encouragement in difficult times. 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time (A)
Joseph Evans comments on the readings for the 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time and Luis Herrera offers a short video homily.
Joseph Evans-August 3, 2023-Reading time: 2minutes
The glory that Jesus revealed on Mount Tabor allowed his three closest disciples to glimpse the glory that belongs to him as the divine Son and that his Sacred Humanity will receive when he is exalted to the right hand of the Father.
It is not surprising, therefore, that the liturgy of the Church offers us as today's first reading the text from the prophet Daniel, in which we see how glory is conferred on a mysterious "Son of man". It is a prophecy of Jesus and the glory that his humanity would eventually receive.
This is the feast we celebrate today, which gives us a glimpse of the glory of which we will be even more splendid witnesses in heaven if we remain faithful. Jesus gave his three disciples this vision to prepare and strengthen them for the scandal of his Passion.
The three men who saw Him glorious on Mount Tabor would see Him weep in anguish in the garden of Gethsemane. If we are willing to remain faithful in the bad times (not that these three disciples were really faithful in the garden, but they were later), God will glorify us in heaven, where we will be witnesses and partakers of Christ's glory.
Jesus briefly lifted the curtain to show his glory and also gave a glimpse of it to two of the greatest figures of the Old Testament, Moses and Elijah. In their sojourn in the land of the dead, awaiting the unknown day of their deliverance, they too needed to know the saving value of Jesus' Passion, his "exodus," his journey beyond death to conquer it. They would have returned to tell their fellow sojourners that their long sleep would soon be over and that Jesus would take them to heaven.
We all need encouragement in difficult times and that is what Jesus offers us today, although in a certain sense all feasts, all Sundays, offer us that encouragement. Every Sunday is a new Resurrection, a foretaste of the glory and triumph that await faithful souls. Peter was certainly encouraged.
So much so that he wanted to prolong the experience by building three tents, one for Jesus, one for Moses and one for Elijah, as if to continue "camping" in this heavenly place.
This experience would linger with him so powerfully that years later he would write about it again in his second epistle (today's second reading): "This same voice, transmitted from heaven, is the one we heard while we were with him on the holy mountain....".
It talks about seeing the "sublime glory" and of hearing the Father proclaim Jesus as "my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased". A big part of heaven is to share in Jesus' own sonship, to be sons, daughters, of God in him.
And the more we live our own divine filiation, the more - guided by the Holy Spirit - we appreciate God as Father already now on earth, the more we begin to share the joy of heaven.
Homily on the readings of the 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time (A)
The priest Luis Herrera Campo offers its nanomiliaA short one-minute reflection for these Sunday readings.
Young people are in Lisbon to "share the hope of the Gospel".
The Pope arrived on August 2 in Lisbon and had a meeting with the President of Portugal, the authorities, the Civil Society and the Diplomatic Corps at the Belém Cultural Center in Lisbon. In his speech to the authorities, he affirmed that young people are in Lisbon to "share the hope of the Gospel".
After his arrival in Lisbon, the Pope traveled by car to the President's residence, the National Palace of Belém, where the welcoming ceremony and an exchange of gifts took place.
At around 12:15 p.m. (Lisbon local time), the Pontiff was received by the political authorities, civil society and the diplomatic corps at the Belém Cultural Center in Lisbon.
The Pope is "happy to be in Lisbon".
In his address to the authorities, the Pope said he was "happy to be in Lisbon, a city of encounters that embraces different peoples and cultures, and which in these days is becoming even more universal; it is becoming, in a way, the capital of the world. This fits well with its multi-ethnic and multicultural character - I am thinking of the Mouraria district, where people from more than sixty countries live in harmony - and reveals the cosmopolitan trait of Portugal, which has its roots in the desire to open itself to the world and explore it, sailing towards new and wider horizons".
He also pointed out that the sea in Lisbon "is much more than a landscape element, it is a vocation imprinted in the soul of every Portuguese (...). Faced with the ocean, the Portuguese reflect on the immense spaces of the soul and the meaning of life in the world. And I too, being carried away by the image of the ocean, would like to share some thoughts".
The Pope then reflected on the fact that the ocean unites peoples, countries, lands and continents and that "Lisbon, city of the ocean, reminds us of the importance of the whole, the value of borders as areas of contact, not as barriers that separate". Francis pointed out that today the problems of humanity are global, and only together can we face them.
WYD: "an impulse of universal openness".
Recalling that the Treaty on the reform of the European Union was signed in Lisbon in 2007, the Pope said that he hoped that "the World Youth Day be, for the 'old continent', an impulse of universal openness. Because the world needs Europe, the real Europe; it needs its role as a builder of bridges and peace in its eastern part, in the Mediterranean, in Africa and in the Middle East.
In this way, Europe will be able to contribute, within the international scenario, its specific originality, outlined in the last century when, from the crucible of world conflicts, it lit the spark of reconciliation, making possible the dream of building tomorrow with yesterday's enemy, of opening paths of dialogue and inclusion, developing a diplomacy of peace that extinguishes conflicts and eases tensions, capable of capturing the faintest signs of détente and of reading between the most twisted lines".
In this regard, the Pope reflected on Europe's drift and the path the West is following: "I think of so many unborn children and elderly people abandoned to their fate; of the difficulty of welcoming, protecting, promoting and integrating those who come from far away and knock on our doors; of the loneliness of many families struggling to bring into the world and raise their children.
"Sharing the hope of the Gospel".
He pointed out that Lisbon, which is hosting these days "an ocean of young people," gives us reason for hope. "They are not in the streets to cry out in anger, but to share the hope of the Gospel. And if from many sectors today there is a climate of protest and dissatisfaction, fertile ground for populism and conspiracy theories, the World Youth Day is an opportunity to build together.
In conclusion, the Pope pointed out three "laboratories of hope" on which to work: the environment, the future and fraternity. Regarding the latter, Francis pointed out that Christians "learn it from Our Lord Jesus Christ (...) I have learned that there are many young people here who cultivate the desire to become neighbors; I am thinking of the Missão País initiative, which brings thousands of boys and girls to live in the spirit of the Gospel experiences of missionary solidarity in peripheral areas, especially in villages in the interior of the country, where they visit many elderly people who are alone. I would like to thank and encourage, together with the many people in Portuguese society who care for others, the local Church, which does so much good, without taking center stage".
After lunch, the Pope will meet with the President of the Assembly of the Republic, Augusto Ernesto dos Santos Silva, and with the Prime Minister, António Costa.
The last act today for the Pope will be the recitation of vespers accompanied by the local clergy at the Royal Monastery of Santa Maria di Belém.
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The meeting of young families in Austria
