SUMMARY:
-
FOSTERING VOCATIONS TO THE PRIESTHOOD IS A CONSTANT CHALLENGE FOR THE
CHURCH
- POPE
SPEAKS ABOUT ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST
-
SOLIDARITY OF CHURCH WITH EARTHQUAKE VICTIMS IN ITALY
- POPE
PRESIDES MEETING OF HEADS OF DICASTERY OF ROMAN CURIA
- HOLY
SEE PRESS OFFICE DIRECTOR ON POPE'S MEETINGS WITH CARDINALS
-
COMMUNICATIONS ADVISOR FOR THE SECRETARIAT OF STATE
-
AUDIENCES
- OTHER
PONTIFICAL ACTS
______________________________________
FOSTERING
VOCATIONS TO THE PRIESTHOOD IS A CONSTANT CHALLENGE FOR THE CHURCH
Vatican
City, 25 June 2012 (VIS) - A press conference was held this morning
in the Holy See Press Office to present the document "Pastoral
Guidelines for Fostering Vocations to Priestly Ministry". The
conference was presented by Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski; Archbishop
Jean-Louis Brugues O.P., and Msgr. Angelo Vincenzo Zani, respectively
prefect, secretary and under secretary of the Congregation for
Catholic Education.
The
cardinal explained that the document had been requested during the
plenary of the congregation in 2005. Preparation began in 2008 on the
basis of replies and suggestions from the various episcopal
conferences, and the final text was approved by the Holy Father on 25
March 2012, twentieth anniversary of the Apostolic Exhortation
"Pastores dabo vobis".
The
document is divided into three parts, of which the first examines the
current situation of priestly vocations in the world today, and the
relevant forms of pastoral care. Part two analyses the identity of
the ministerial priesthood, while part three makes some suggestions
for the pastoral care of vocations. The key to understanding the
text, the cardinal said, lies in the idea that "fostering
vocations to the priesthood is a constant challenge for the Church".
Part one
of the document identifies three factors which hinder vocational
pastoral care, evident above all in Churches of ancient Christian
tradition in the west: falling birthrates and the crisis in families,
the spread of a secularised mentality, and the difficult conditions
in which priests live and exercise their ministry.
"In
the light of those difficulties", said Cardinal Grocholewski,
the document "lays down the conditions necessary to ensure that
the grace of the call finds fertile terrain in the Church, and
openness among young people to the priestly vocation". This
includes "creating a fruitful soil for Christian life in the
ecclesial community; ... the irreplaceable function of prayer; ...
the importance of integrated pastoral care; ... a new drive to
evangelisation and the mission; ... the central role of the family;
... a coherent and joyful witness of life on the part of priests; ...
the educational effectiveness of voluntary work; ... and the
importance of schools and universities".
For his
part Archbishop Brugues explained that part two of the document
covers certain specific elements which, he said, "must be
highlighted, precisely because they are being threatened or put in
the shade and set aside by the well-known difficulties in Church life
and by contemporary culture. This risks provoking dangerous
deviations in the value of vocations to priestly ministry".
These
elements include "a tendency towards the progressive
transformation of the priesthood into a profession". This can be
associated with "the danger of exaggerated activism, an
increasing individualism which not infrequently closes priests in a
perverse and depressing solitude, and the confusion of roles in the
Church which comes about when we lose the sense of distinction
between roles and responsibilities, and not everyone comes together
to collaborate in the one mission entrusted to the People of God".
Part two
also emphasises the fact that priestly ministry is to be understood
"in the framework of a dialogue of love between God and man
which, though it exists in all Christian vocations, assumes the
characteristic of a call to a typical, stable and demanding
relationship with Jesus Himself, the one model of the priesthood in
the New Testament. ... This new and specific relationship with Jesus
causes the person called to enter into an equally new and specific
relationship with the Christian community".
Finally,
part three of the document focuses on certain aspects of formation
for the priestly ministry. These include "a profound experience
of community life in order to avoid new forms of clericalism; ...
complete integration and emotional maturity; ... intense and obedient
participation in the ecclesiastical context, with concrete love for
one's own particular Church; ... generous openness to the universal
dimensions of the mission; ... the decisive role of those who
accompany vocations and ... the presentation of exemplary figures of
priests".
The
conference ended with some words from Msgr. Angelo Vincenzo Zani, who
explained how the text "reiterates the fact that a fruitful
terrain for vocations is a Christian community which listens to the
Word, prays with the liturgy, and demonstrates charity. The document
calls the entire Church trustingly to redouble her efforts to educate
people to welcome the call of God to priestly ministry, which still
today we believe is spread by His Providence and adapted to the needs
of the Church and of the evangelisation of the world".
POPE
SPEAKS ABOUT ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST
Vatican
City, 24 June 2012 (VIS) - This morning, Solemnity of the Birth of
St. John the Baptist, Benedict XVI made his customary Sunday
appearance at the window of his private study to pray the Angelus
with faithful gathered below in St. Peter's Square.
"With
the exception of the Virgin Mary, John the Baptist is the only saint
for whom the liturgy celebrates the day of birth", said the
Pope. "This is because his birth is closely connected to the
mystery of the Incarnation of the Son of God. From the womb, in fact,
John was the precursor of Jesus. His prodigious conception was
announced by the Angel to Mary as a sign that 'nothing will be
impossible with God'. ... The four Gospels give great importance to
the figure of John the Baptist as the prophet who concluded the Old
Testament, then opened the New by indicating Jesus of Nazareth as the
Messiah, the Anointed One of God. And indeed Jesus would speak of
John in these terms: 'This is the one about whom it is written: See,
I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way
before you'".
"John's
father Zechariah", the Holy Father went on, "was a priest
of the Old Testament order. He did not immediately believe in such
unexpected paternity and was therefore made mute until the day of the
child's circumcision". On that day, "moved by the Holy
Spirit, Zechariah spoke thus of his son's mission: 'And you, child,
will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before
the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his
people by the forgiveness of their sins'.
"All
this happened thirty years later", Pope Benedict added, "when
John began performing baptisms in the River Jordan, calling people to
prepare themselves, by that act of penance, to the imminent coming of
the Messiah, which God had revealed to him during the period he spent
in the wilderness of Judea. For this reason he is called 'Baptist';
in other words 'Baptiser'. When one day Jesus Himself came from
Nazareth to be baptised, John at first refused, then consented; he
saw the Holy Spirit come to rest upon Jesus, and heard the voice of
the heavenly Father proclaiming His Son".
Yet the
Baptist's mission was not yet complete. "Shortly afterwards he
was asked to precede Jesus also in violent death. John was
decapitated in the prisons of King Herod, thus bearing compete
witness to the Lamb of God Whom he had been the first to recognise
and announce".
SOLIDARITY
OF CHURCH WITH EARTHQUAKE VICTIMS IN ITALY
Vatican
City, 24 June 2012 (VIS) - After praying the Angelus, the Holy Father
recalled the fact that today in Italy marks the Day of the Pope’s
Charity and he thanked parish communities, families and faithful for
their "constant and generous support which goes to help so many
of our bothers and sisters in difficulty".
In this
context he also reminded the faithful that he will make a brief visit
to areas recently affected by earthquakes in northern Italy. "I
would like this to be", he said, "a sign of the solidarity
of the entire Church, and therefore I invite everyone to accompany me
with their prayers".
Finally,
he also had words of greeting for Polish faithful who, with the
archbishop of Poznan, the Oratorian Fathers and pilgrims at the
shrine of the Mother of God in Gostyn, are celebrating the five
hundredth anniversary of its foundation. "Let us thank God",
the Pope said, "for the grace which that place has showered upon
generations of faithful through the intercession of the Virgin Mary.
May her protection accompany you always".
POPE
PRESIDES MEETING OF HEADS OF DICASTERY OF ROMAN CURIA
Vatican
City, 23 June 2012 (VIS) - This morning in the Bologna Hall of the
Vatican Apostolic Palace, Benedict XVI presided at a meeting of heads
of dicasteries of the Roman Curia.
HOLY
SEE PRESS OFFICE DIRECTOR ON POPE'S MEETINGS WITH CARDINALS
Vatican
City, 24 June 2012 (VIS) - Fr. Lombardi has provided journalists with
information about meetings the Pope held on Saturday 23 June, first
with heads of dicasteries of the Roman Curia, and subsequently with
Cardinals George Pell, archbishop of Sydney, Australia; Marc Ouellet,
prefect of the Congregation for Bishops; Jean-Louis Tauran, president
of the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue; Camillo
Ruini, vicar general emeritus of His Holiness for the diocese of
Rome, and Jozef Tomko, prefect emeritus of the Congregation for the
Evangelisation of Peoples.
"In
the context of the circumstances that have arisen following the
publication of reserved documents, the Holy Father is seeking to
deepen his knowledge of the situation through continuous dialogue
with those people who share with him the responsibility for governing
the Church", Fr. Lombardi said.
"Last
Saturday, as has already been made public, he became more fully
informed on the course of the investigations in a meeting with the
Commission of Cardinals responsible for conducting them, led by
Cardinal Julian Herranz.
"This
morning he is participating in the meeting with heads of dicasteries
which, as is customary, is focusing on the issue of coordinating the
work of the Roman Curia, something which is particularly important
and urgent today in order to bear effective witness to the spirit of
union which animates it.
"In
the afternoon he has chosen to meet with a number of members of the
College of Cardinals who, by virtue of their vast and varied
experience serving the Church, not only in Rome but also
internationally, may profitably exchange ideas and suggestions with
the Holy Father in order to help re-establish that climate of
serenity and trust in the service of the Roman Curia.
"Naturally
the Holy Father will, over coming days, continue his discussions and
reflections, also taking advantage of the fact that many pastors have
come to Rome for the Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, which is an
extraordinary opportunity for the community of the universal Church
to feel united to the Pope in prayer, service, and the witness of
faith for mankind in our time".
COMMUNICATIONS
ADVISOR FOR THE SECRETARIAT OF STATE
Vatican
City, 24 June 2012 (VIS) - The American journalist Gregory Burke, who
is currently Rome correspondent for Fox News, will shortly take up
the post of "communications advisor" to the Secretariat of
State, according to an announcement made by Holy See Press Office
Director Fr. Federico Lombardi S.J.
"This
new figure", Fr. Lombardi explained, "will have the task of
dealing with communications issues in the work of the Secretariat of
State, and will oversee relations with the Holy See Press Office and
other media institutions of the Holy See".
AUDIENCES
Vatican
City, 25 June 2012 (VIS) - The Holy Father today received in
audience:
- Fra'
Matthew Festing, prince and grand master of the Sovereign Military
Order of Malta, accompanied by an entourage.
-
Cardinal Marc Ouellet P.S.S., prefect of the Congregation for
Bishops.
-
Cardinal Jose Manuel Estepa Llaurens, archbishop military ordinary
emeritus of Spain.
On
Saturday 23 June he received in audience: Cardinal George Pell,
archbishop of Sydney, Australia; Cardinal Marc Ouellet P.S.S.,
prefect of the Congregation for Bishops; Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran,
president of the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue;
Cardinal Camillo Ruini, vicar general emeritus of His Holiness for
the diocese of Rome, and Cardinal Jozef Tomko, prefect emeritus of
the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples.
OTHER
PONTIFICAL ACTS
Vatican
City, 25 June 2012 (VIS) - The Holy Father appointed Fr. Pius Riana
Prapdi, vicar general of the archdiocese of Semarang, Indonesia, as
bishop of Ketapang (area 34,600, population 543,314, Catholics
101,593, priests 30, religious 91), Indonesia. The bishop-elect was
born in Painiai, Indonesia in 1967 and ordained a priest in 1995. He
studied in Rome and has worked, among other things, in pastoral care
and as director of diocesan Caritas. He succeeds Bishop Blasius
Pujaraharja, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same
diocese the Holy Father accepted, upon having reached the age limit.
On
Saturday 23 June it was made public that he:
- Gave
his consent to the canonical election by the Synod of Bishops of the
Greek-Melkite Church of Bishop Jean-Abdo Arbach B.C., apostolic
exarch for faithful of Greek-Melkite rite resident in Argentina, as
metropolitan archbishop of Homs, Hama and Yabroud (Catholics 30,000,
priests 19, permanent deacons 1, religious 29), Syria.
-
Appointed Archbishop Alain Paul Lebeaupin, apostolic nuncio in Kenya
and permanent observer to the United Nations Environment and Human
Settlements Programs (UNEP and UN-Habitat), as apostolic nuncio to
the European Union.
-
Appointed as members of the Council of Cardinals for the Study of the
Organisational and Economic Problems of the Holy See: Cardinal
Polycarp Pengo, archbishop of Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania; Cardinal
Telesphore Placidus Toppo, archbishop of Ranchi, India, and Cardinal
John Tong Hon, bishop of Hong Kong, China.
You
can find more information at: www.visnews.org
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