SUMMARY:
-
LOCAL CHURCHES MUST INCORPORATE THE PATRIMONY OF FAITH AND CULTURE OF
CATHOLIC IMMIGRANTS
-
FOOTPRINTS OF PAUL VI HAVE NOT BEEN ERASED OVER TIME
-
MARY OF NAZARETH: WOMAN OF THE TOTAL "HERE I AM" FOR GOD
-
AUDIENCES
-
OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS
______________________________________
LOCAL
CHURCHES MUST INCORPORATE THE PATRIMONY OF FAITH AND CULTURE OF
CATHOLIC IMMIGRANTS
Vatican
City, 18 May 2012 (VIS) - Today the Holy Father received the final
group from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, whose
prelates have been travelling to Rome over the past six months on
their quinquennial "ad limina Apostolorum" visits.
In
previous meetings, different groups of bishops emphasized the
importance of preserving and fostering the gift of Catholic unity as
an essential condition for the fulfilment of the Church’s mission
in their country. Responding to this concern, Benedict XVI focused
his address this morning on the need to incorporate the rich
patrimony of faith and culture contributed by the many Catholic
immigrants into the Church in America.
The Pope
began by praising the work carried out by the Church in America, to
respond to the phenomenon of immigration: "The Catholic
community in the United States continues, with great generosity, to
welcome waves of new immigrants, to provide them with pastoral care
and charitable assistance, and to support ways of regularizing their
situation, especially with regard to the unification of families. A
particular sign of this is the long-standing commitment of the
American Bishops to immigration reform. ... It is ... of profound
concern to the Church, since it involves ensuring the just treatment
and the defence of the human dignity of immigrants".
The
Church in America, the Pope said to the bishops, "is called to
embrace, incorporate and cultivate the rich patrimony of faith and
culture present in America's many immigrant groups, including ... the
swelling numbers of Hispanic, Asian and African Catholics. The
demanding pastoral task of fostering a communion of cultures within
your local churches must be considered of particular importance in
the exercise of your ministry at the service of unity. This diaconia
of communion entails more than simply respecting linguistic
diversity, promoting sound traditions, and providing much-needed
social programs and services. It also calls for a commitment to
ongoing preaching, catechesis and pastoral activity aimed at
inspiring in all the faithful a deeper sense of their communion in
the apostolic faith and their responsibility for the Church's mission
in the United States. ... the immense promise and the vibrant
energies of a new generation of Catholics are waiting to be tapped
for the renewal of the Church’s life and the rebuilding of the
fabric of American society".
In this
context, Benedict XVI emphasized the role of the consecrated life:
"The urgent need in our own time for credible and attractive
witnesses to the redemptive and transformative power of the Gospel
makes it essential to recapture a sense of the sublime dignity and
beauty of the consecrated life". We must, therefore, "pray
for religious vocations and promote them actively, while
strengthening existing channels for communication and cooperation"
present in each diocese.
In
conclusion, the Pope expressed his hope that the Year of Faith, which
will begin in October, "will awaken a desire on the part of the
entire Catholic community in America to reappropriate with joy and
gratitude the priceless treasure of our faith. With the progressive
weakening of traditional Christian values, and the threat of a season
in which our fidelity to the Gospel may cost us dearly, the truth of
Christ needs not only to be understood, articulated, and defended,
but to be proposed joyfully and confidently as the key to authentic
human fulfilment and to the welfare of society as a whole".
FOOTPRINTS
OF PAUL VI HAVE NOT BEEN ERASED OVER TIME
Vatican
City, 18 May 2012 (VIS) - This morning the Paul VI Chair, which will
be instituted at LUMSA (Libera Università Maria SS. Assunta)
University in Rome, was presented in the Holy See Press Office. In
attendance were: Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, prefect emeritus of
the Congregation for Bishops; Giuseppe Dalla Torre, Rector of LUMSA;
Michele Bonetti, member of the executive committee of the Paul VI
Institute in Brescia; and Sergio Gatti, general director of
Federcasse.
Cardinal
Re praised the initiative of including the chair dedicated to Paul VI
in the sphere of the coursework on contemporary history at LUMSA
because "the footprints of his work in history - as the priest
in charge of the Italian Federation of Catholic Universities (FUCI),
as well as Secretary of State of his Holiness, and later as
Archbishop of Milan and Pope - have not been erased or discoloured
with the passing of time. On the contrary, they have been made
stronger. Pope Montini was one of the great protagonists of the 20th
century".
Paul VI
has a place in history, above all for his guidance of the Second
Vatican Council, the cardinal affirmed. Even if the merit of calling
for and opening the Council falls to Blessed John XXIII, "Paul
VI led it with an expert and sure hand, respectful of the Fathers of
the Church but firm". For example, "his decision to publish
the famous 'Nota praevia', on collegiality and Petrine primacy
established the authoritative and proper interpretation of the
matter".
He also
"loved and esteemed his day and looked at the modern world with
sympathetic eyes, seeking the reconciliation between the modern age
and the Christian faith. There are few like him who have known how to
read the anxieties, the worries, the desires, and the weariness of
the human being in our days. As Pope he made historic gestures and,
as these were carried out for the first time by a pontiff, they can
be considered 'firsts': He was the first Pope to ride in an airplane;
the first to return to Palestine; the first t renounce the crown,
earmarking the proceeds of its sale to the poor; the first to go to
the United Nations; and the Pope who abolished the pontifical court,
bringing a simpler lifestyle to the Pontifical Household".
The
historical investigation to be carried out under the chair instituted
at LUMSA will be very useful for analysing two little know chapters
of Giovanni Battista Montini's life. The first is the work of
formation of the members of the Italian Federation of Catholic
Universities because the Pope "had an innate passion for the
formation of persons: religious, but also civil, social, and in some
way even political formation".
The
second is the impressive charitable activity of human and social
assistance that he organized and directed during World War II ...
through the creation of Vatican Relief for contact with prisoners and
his personal and untiring dedication to feed Jewish and political
refugees hidden in convents and religious institutions. This was in
compliance with Pius XII's wishes but the dedication with which he
devoted himself to this task, asking assistance from nations not at
war that they send ships full of provisions to Civitavecchia, north
of Rome, merit appreciation and admiration. The 'Montini Chair'",
concluded the cardinal, "will also contribute to our
remembrance".
MARY
OF NAZARETH: WOMAN OF THE TOTAL "HERE I AM" FOR GOD
Vatican
City, 18 May 2012 (VIS) - This afternoon in the Clementine Hall of
the Apostolic Palace, the Holy Father attended a viewing of "Mary
of Nazareth", a coproduction of RaiFiction, Lux Vide, BetaFilm,
Tellux, Bayerischer Rundfunk, and Telecinco Cinema directed by
Giacomo Campiotti.
At the
end of the screening the Pope addressed a few words on the film that
focuses on three female protagonists: Herodias, Mary Magdalene, and
Mary of Nazareth, whose lives cross but who choose different paths.
"Herodias",
Benedict XVI said, "remains locked within herself and her world.
She is unable to raise her gaze to read the signs from God and she is
not freed from evil. Mary Magdalene's experience is more complicated.
She is attracted by the appeal of an easy life rooted in material
things and uses various means for getting her own way up until the
dramatic moment when she is judged and is faced with her own life.
Her encounter with Jesus opens her heart and changes her existence.
But the centre is Mary of Nazareth who possesses the wealth of a life
that has been a "Here I am" for God. She is a mother who
would have always wanted to keep her son at her side, but she knows
that He is God. Her faith and her love are so great that she can
accept Him leaving to accomplish His mission. Her life is a constant
"Here I am", said to God from the Annunciation until the
Cross".
"Three
experiences", the Pope concluded, "a paradigm of how one
can build their life around selfishness, being locked within oneself
and material things, being guided by evil, or rather upon the
presence of a God who came and stays with us, who awaits us with
kindness if we make a mistake and asks that we follow Him, that we
trust in Him. Mary of Nazareth is the woman of a full and total "Here
I am" to the divine will. In her "Yes", repeated even
when faced with the sorrow of the loss of her child, we find complete
and profound beatitude".
AUDIENCES
Vatican
City, 18 May 2012 (VIS) - Today the Holy Father received in audience:
- Bruno
Joubert the new ambassador of France to the Holy See, presenting his
credential letters.
-
Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, archbishop of Genoa, Italy and president of
the Italian Episcopal Conference (CEI).
This
afternoon the Holy Father is scheduled to meet with Cardinal William
Joseph Levada, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the
Faith.
OTHER
PONTIFICAL ACTS
Vatican
City, 18 May 2012 (VIS) - The Holy Father named Msgr. Wayne
Kirkpatrick as auxiliary archbishop of the Archdiocese of Toronto
(area 13,000, population 5,749,000, Catholics 1,944,000, priests 839,
permanent deacons 123, religious 1,132), Canada. The bishop elect was
born in 1957 and ordained in 1984. He has a bachelor's degree in
philosophy from the Seminary of Philosophy at Resurrection College in
Waterloo, Ontario and a master's degree in theology from St.
Augustine Seminary in Toronto. He has a licentiate in canon law from
St. Paul University of Ottawa and was named prelate of honour by his
Holiness in 1999.
He has
served in many roles since his ordination, including 22 years in
diocesan administration, concurrently serving in parish ministry as a
pastor for 17 years. He presently serves as moderator of the curia,
chancellor, and judicial vicar of the diocese, as well as rector of
the cathedral. A little over a year ago he was elected President of
the Canadian Canon Law Society.
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