SUMMARY:
-
THE POPE: DESPITE THE WEAKNESS OF MAN, THE LORD WILL ALWAYS SUPPORT
HIS CHURCH
-
WE MUST NOT ALLOW OURSELVES TO BE OVERCOME BY TRIBULATIONS AND
DIFFICULTIES
-
INTERVIEW WITH SUBSTITUTE FOR GENERAL AFFAIRS ON STOLEN PAPAL
DOCUMENTS
-
OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS
______________________________________
THE
POPE: DESPITE THE WEAKNESS OF MAN, THE LORD WILL ALWAYS SUPPORT HIS
CHURCH
Vatican
City, 30 May 2012 (VIS) - At the end of today's general audience, the
Holy Father made some remarks concerning recent developments in the
Vatican.
"The
events of recent days involving the Curia and my collaborators have
brought sadness to my heart. However, I have never lost my firm
certainty that, despite the weakness of man, despite difficulties and
trials, the Church is guided by the Holy Spirit and the Lord will
ensure she never lacks the help she needs to support her on her
journey.
"Nonetheless
there has been increasing conjecture, amplified by the communications
media, which is entirely gratuitous, goes beyond the facts and
presents a completely unrealistic image of the Holy See. Thus, I wish
to reiterate my trust and encouragement to my closest collaborators
and to all those people who every day, in silent faithlessness and
with a spirit of sacrifice, help me carry out my ministry".
WE
MUST NOT ALLOW OURSELVES TO BE OVERCOME BY TRIBULATIONS AND
DIFFICULTIES
Vatican
City, 30 May 2012 (VIS) - During his general audience this morning,
which was celebrated in St. Peter's Square, the Holy Father continued
a series of catecheses on Christian prayer according to St. Paul who,
the Pope said, saw it as "a real individual encounter with God
the Father, in Christ, through the Holy Spirit. This dialogue
comprehends the faithful 'yes' on the part of God and the trusting
'amen of the faithful".
In his
explanation of this relationship Benedict XVI focused on the Second
Letter to the Corinthians, where the Apostle writes: "Praise be
to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of
compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our
troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the
comfort we ourselves receive from God".
Comfort,
the Pope explained, is not to be understood as mere consolation, but
as an "exhortation not to allow ourselves to be overcome by
tribulations and difficulties. We are invited to experience every
situation in unity with Christ, Who takes all the suffering and sin
of the world upon Himself in order to bring light, hope and
redemption. Thus He enables us, in our turn, to console those who are
afflicted by any kind of suffering". Profound union with Christ
in prayer, and confidence in His presence, predispose us to share the
sufferings of our brothers and sisters.
"Our
life and our Christian journey are often marked by difficulty,
misunderstandings and pain", the Holy Father went on. "In a
faithful relationship with the Lord, in constant daily prayer, we are
able to feel the consolation that comes from God. This strengthens
our faith because it means that we enjoy a concrete experience of
God's 'yes' to man ... in Christ, the faithfulness of His love which
went so far as to give His Son on the cross".
The
faith, a gratuitous gift of God, is rooted in His fidelity, "in
His 'yes' which leads us to understand how to live our lives while
loving Him and our neighbour. The entire history of salvation is a
progressive revelation of this fidelity of God's, despite our own
infidelity and our constant denials".
In this
context the Pope pointed out that God's way of acting is quite
different from that of man. "Faced with conflict in human
relationships, often even within the family, we tend not to persevere
in gratuitous love, which requires commitment and sacrifice. However
God never loses patience with us and, in His immense mercy, precedes
us always and comes out to meet us. ... On the cross He offers us the
measure of His love, which is not calculated and has no limit".
Such faithful love can wait even for those who reject it. God always
seeks man and wishes to welcome him into His communion, to give him
fullness of life, hope and peace.
Onto the
'yes' of God is grafted the 'amen' of the Church, the response of
faith with which we conclude our prayers and which expresses our own
'yes' to God's initiative. "In our prayers we are called to say
'yes' to God, to respond with an 'amen' which is an expression of
adherence, of faithfulness to Him with all of our lives. But we can
never achieve such faithfulness by our own powers, it is not only the
result of our daily efforts; it comes from God and is founded on the
'yes' of Christ. ... We must enter into Christ's 'yes' by following
God's will so that, with St. Paul, we too can affirm that it is not
we who live, but Christ Himself Who lives in us. Then the 'amen' of
our individual and community prayers will embrace and transform all
of our lives".
INTERVIEW
WITH SUBSTITUTE FOR GENERAL AFFAIRS ON STOLEN PAPAL DOCUMENTS
Vatican
City, 30 May 2012 (VIS) - The "Osservatore Romano"
newspaper today published an interview with Archbishop Angelo Becciu,
substitute for General Affairs of the Secretariat of State,
concerning the question of stolen papal documents.
Archbishop
Becciu says that he has seen the Holy Father "suffering because,
on the basis of what has thus far emerged, someone very close to him
would seem to have acted in a completely unjustifiable manner. Of
course, the Pope's prevailing sentiment is one of pity for the person
involved, but the fact remains that he has been the victim of a
brutal action. Benedict XVI has had to witness the publication of
letters stolen from his own home, not simply private correspondence
but information, reflections, expressions of states of mind, and
effusive comments which he has received merely by virtue of his
ministry. For this reason the Pope is particularly sorrowful, also
for the violence suffered by the writers of the letters he has
received".
In the
view of the Secretariat of State, the publication of these documents
"is an immoral act of unprecedented gravity, especially because
it is not just a serious violation of the privacy to which everybody
should have the right, but a despicable abuse of the relationship of
trust that exists between Benedict XVI and those who turn to him,
even if they do so to express some heartfelt protest. The question
does not merely involve the theft of some of the Pope's letters; the
consciences of those who address him as the Vicar of Christ have been
violated, and the ministry of the Successor of the Apostle Peter has
come under attack".
It is,
Archbishop Becciu said, unjustifiable to claim that the stolen
documents were published for the cause of transparency and reform in
the Church. Robbery and accepting stolen goods are both illegal.
"These are simple concepts, perhaps too simple for some people,
but certainly when a person loses sight of them he easily loses his
way and also leads others into disaster. Renewal cannot trample moral
law on the basis of the principle that the end justifies the means,
which is not in any case a Christian principle".
A number
of articles which have appeared in newspapers in recent days have
suggested that the published documents reveal turbid dealings inside
the Vatican walls. On this subject the substitute for General Affairs
notes that, "on the one hand they criticise the monarchic and
absolutist nature of central Church government, while on the other
they are scandalised because people who write to the Pope may express
ideas or even complaints about how that government is organised. Many
of the published documents do not reveal power struggles or vendettas
but the freedom of thought which the Church is criticised for not
allowing. ... Diverging points of view, even contrasting evaluations,
are part of the normal order, and if someone feels misunderstood he
has every right to turn to the Pontiff. What is scandalous about
that? Obedience does not mean renouncing one's own opinions, but
sincerely and fully expressing one's point of view, then abiding by
the leader's decision".
In
conclusion Archbishop Becciu tells the Catholic faithful that "the
Pope has not lost that serenity which enables him to govern the
Church with determination and foresight. ... We wish to echo the
Gospel parable which the Holy Father himself mentioned a few days
ago: the winds beat against the house but it does not fall. The Lord
sustains it and no storm can bring it down".
OTHER
PONTIFICAL ACTS
Vatican
City, 30 May 2012 (VIS) - The Holy Father appointed Fr. Jeremias
Antonio de Jesus of the clergy of the diocese of Braganca Paulista,
Brazil, pastor of the parish of "Cristo Rei" in the city of
Atibaia, as bishop of Guanhaes (area 15.047, population 278,000,
Catholics 248,000, priests 26, religious 16), Brazil. The
bishop-elect was born in Atibaia in 1966 and ordained a priest in
1993. He has served in a number of parishes and worked as rector of
the major diocesan seminary of "Imaculada Conceicao".
You
can find more information at: www.visnews.org
The
news items contained in the Vatican Information Service may be used,
in part or in their entirety, by quoting the source:
V.I.S.
-Vatican Information Service.
Copyright
© Vatican Information Service 00120 Vatican City
No comments:
Post a Comment