SUMMARY:
-
COLOMBIA: SOW THE GOSPEL TO REAP RECONCILIATION
- POPE
WRITES TO THE TWENTY-SIXTH INTERNATIONAL MEETING FOR PEACE
-
ANGELUS: JESUS CAME TO OPEN THE HEART OF MAN
- LEBANON
WE MUST NOT RESIGN OURSELVES TO VIOLENCE
- TEN
CITY SQUARES FOR TEN COMMANDMENTS
-
MARIOLOGY SINCE VATICAN COUNCIL II
-
PASTORAL CARE OF THE ROAD/STREET IN AFRICA
-
AUDIENCES
- OTHER
PONTIFICAL ACTS
______________________________________
COLOMBIA:
SOW THE GOSPEL TO REAP RECONCILIATION
Vatican
City, 10 September 2012 (VIS) - "The history of Colombia is
indelibly marked by the profound Catholic faith of its its people, by
their love for the Eucharist, their devotion to the Virgin Mary and
the witness of charity of outstanding pastors and lay people. The
announcement of the Gospel has produced fruit among you", said
the Holy Father to a second group of prelates from the Episcopal
Conference of Colombia, who have just completed their "ad
limina" visit
Yet the
Pope also noted how, in their reports, the bishops had drawn
attention to "the devastating effects of increasing
secularisation, which is affecting people's lifestyles and upsetting
their scale of values, undermining the very foundation of Catholic
faith, of marriage, the family and Christian morals". In this
context, "tireless defence and promotion of the institution of
the family continues to be a pastoral priority for you", he
said. "Therefore, amidst the difficulties, I invite you not to
lessen your efforts but to continue to proclaim the integral truth
about the family, founded on marriage as a domestic Church and a
shrine of life".
Benedict
XVI then turned to focus on the Episcopal Conference of Colombia's
Global Plan (2012-2020) and its overall objective of "promoting
the processes of new evangelisation in order to form missionary
disciples, encourage ecclesial communion and modify society on the
basis of Gospel values. ... I accompany this intention with my
prayers, asking God that, in putting it into effect, ministers of the
Church may never cease to identify themselves with the sentiments of
Christ, the Good Shepherd, going out to meet all people ... so as to
offer them the light of His Word. Thus the dynamism of interior
renewal will lead your compatriots to revitalise their love for the
Lord, a source capable of infusing steadfast hope to live the faith
responsibly and joyfully, and irradiate it on all sides".
The Pope
went on to invite the bishops to consecrate "your best ministry
to the priests, deacons and religious under your care, ... helping
them to discern the truth of God's call that they may respond thereto
with generosity and right intention. In this context, it would be
appropriate for you, following to guidance of the Magisterium, to
favour a revision of the content and methodology of their formation,
seeking to ensure that it responds to the challenges of the present
time and the urgent needs and requirements of the People of God".
Notwithstanding
a number of hopeful signs, "violence continues to bring
suffering, solitude, death and injustice to many of our brothers and
sisters in Colombia", said the Holy Father. and he expressed his
appreciation for "the pastoral mission which, often in places
beset with difficulties and dangers, is being carried out in support
of so many people who are unjustly suffering in your beloved nation".
Finally he exhorted the episcopate to continue "to defend human
life and cultivate peace, drawing inspiration from the example of our
Saviour and humbly entreating His grace. Sow the Gospel and you will
reap reconciliation, knowing that, wherever Christ reaches, harmony
opens a way. hatred gives place to forgiveness and rivalry is
transformed into fraternity".
POPE
WRITES TO THE TWENTY-SIXTH INTERNATIONAL MEETING FOR PEACE
Vatican
City, 10 September 2012 (VIS) - Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio
Bertone S.D.B. has sent a message, in the name of the Holy Father, to
Cardinal Vinko Puljic, archbishop of Vrhbosna-Sarajevo, Bosnia and
Herzegovina, in which he greets representatives of Churches,
Christian communities and the great world religions, "as well as
the population of Sarajevo who are particularly dear to him",
and participants in the twenty-sixth International Meeting for Peace
which has been organised by the Sant'Egidio Community and its
currently taking place in that city.
"It
is a source of joy and comfort to see that this pilgrimage for peace,
which was begun at Assisi in October 1986 by Blessed John Paul II,
continues to bear fruit", the cardinal writes. He likewise
recalls how Benedict XVI relaunched, also from Assisi, "the
alliance between people of religion and others who feel no sense of
belonging to any religious tradition but who are sincerely seeking
the truth. He did so in the conviction that profound and sincere
dialogue can lead, for the former, to commitment to an ever necessary
purification of the religion they profess and, for the latter, to
openness to the great questions facing humankind and the Mystery
which surrounds the life of man. In this way, the joint pilgrimage
towards truth can be translated into a joint pilgrimage towards
peace".
"The
Holy Father", Cardinal Bertone concludes, "in the hope that
the meeting will prove fruitful, spiritually unities himself to all
those present, in the certainty that the Lord, Father of all mankind,
will continue to guide us along the paths of peace and of peaceful
encounter between peoples".
ANGELUS:
JESUS CAME TO OPEN THE HEART OF MAN
Vatican
City, 9 September 2012 (VIS) - Before praying the Angelus at midday
today. Benedict XVI focused some remarks on what he described as "a
word which, in its most profound meaning, sums up the whole message
and work of Christ. ... That word is 'ephphatha', which means 'be
opened'".
The Pope
recalled how Jesus was crossing the region known as the "Decapolis",
between the coastal area of Tyre and Sidon and Galilee, when He was
presented with a deaf man to heal. Christ touched his ears and tongue
and, looking up to heaven, pronounced the word 'ephphatha'.
Immediately the man was able to hear and speak. "This deaf man,
thanks to Jesus’ intervention, 'was opened'", the Holy Father
explained. "Before he had been closed, insulated, it was very
difficult for him to communicate; his healing was an 'opening' to
others and the world, an opening that, starting from the organs of
hearing and speech, involved his entire person and life: Finally he
was able to communicate, and thus to relate to others in a new way".
"Yet",
the Pope added, "we all know that man's closure and isolation do
not depend solely on the organs of sense. There is an inner closure
which concerns the deepest core of the person, what the Bible calls
the 'heart'. This is what Jesus came to 'open', to liberate, so as to
enable us to live our relationship with God and with others to the
full.
"That
is why I said that this little word, 'ephphatha' - be opened, sums up
Christ’s entire mission. He became man so that man, made inwardly
deaf and dumb by sin, would become able to hear the voice of God, the
voice of love speaking to his heart, and so he would learn to speak
in the language of love, to communicate with God and with others".
LEBANON
WE MUST NOT RESIGN OURSELVES TO VIOLENCE
Vatican
City, 9 September 2012 (VIS) - After praying the Angelus today the
Pope, speaking French and Arabic, spoke of his imminent apostolic
trip to Lebanon, where he is due to sign the Post-Synodal Apostolic
Exhortation of the Special Assembly for the Middle East of the Synod
of Bishops, which took place in the Vatican in October 2010.
"I
will have the happy opportunity to meet the people and the
authorities of Lebanon, as well as the Christians of that dear
country, and those who have come from nearby States", he said.
"I am not unaware of the often dramatic situation being
experienced by the peoples of that region which, for too long, has
been rent by incessant conflict. I understand the anguish of many
inhabitants of the Middle East, who are daily immersed in suffering
of all kinds which sadly and sometimes fatally affects their
individual and family lives. My thoughts go to those who, in search
of safe refuge, abandon their family and professional lives to
experience the precarious existence of the refugee. Although it seems
difficult to find solutions to the various problems affecting the
region, we must not resign ourselves to the violence and kindling of
tensions. Commitment to dialogue and reconciliation must be be the
priority for all sides involved, and it must be supported by the
international community which is becoming increasingly aware of the
importance that stable and lasting peace in the region has for the
whole world. My apostolic trip to Lebanon, and by extension to the
entire Middle East, comes about under the sign of peace and with
reference to Christ's words: 'My peace I give to you'. May God bless
Lebanon and the Middle East".
TEN
CITY SQUARES FOR TEN COMMANDMENTS
Vatican
City, 9 September 2012 (VIS) - "Ten City Squares for Ten
Commandments" is the title of an initiative, which is being
promoted by the Renewal in the Holy Spirit Association and was
inaugurated this evening in Rome's Piazza del Popolo. The initiative
involves a series of evangelisation meetings which will take place
throughout the year in various Italian cities. The Pope sent
participants a video message which was projected on giant screens set
up in Piazza del Popolo.
"What
significance do these Ten Words have for us in our current cultural
context, in which secularism and relativism risk becoming the
criteria for all choices, and in our society which seems to live as
if God did not exist?", the Holy Father asked. "Our answer
is that God gave us the Commandments to educate us in true freedom
and authentic love, that we might be truly happy. They are a sign of
love of God the Father, of his desire to teach us true discernment of
good from evil, of truth from falsehood, of justice from injustice.
They can be understood by everyone, precisely because they translate
fundamental values into concrete norms and rules; and by practising
them man is able to follow the path of true freedom, ... which leads
to life and happiness.
"When
he fails to do this", Benedict XVI added, "when in his life
man ignores the Commandments, not only does he alienate himself from
God and abandon the covenant with Him, but he also abandons life and
lasting happiness. Man left to himself, indifferent to God, proud of
his own absolute autonomy, ends up pursuing the idols of selfishness,
power and domination, poisoning his relationship with himself and
others, and following not the path of life but the path of death. The
sad experience of history, especially last century, stands as a
warning for all humankind. ... With His cross and resurrection Jesus
brought the Commandments to fullness, radically overcoming
selfishness, sin and death with the gift of Himself for love.
Accepting the infinite love of God, having faith in Him and following
the path He has laid down is the only thing that gives profound
meaning to life and opens the way to a future of hope".
MARIOLOGY
SINCE VATICAN COUNCIL II
Vatican
City, 8 September 2012 (VIS) - "Mariology since Vatican Council
II: reception, outcomes and prospects" is the theme of the
twenty-third International Mariological Congress. Receiving the
participants this morning at Castelgandolfo, the Holy Father
highlighted the appropriateness of the theme in light of the fact
that 11 October this year will mark the fiftieth anniversary of the
opening of the Council.
The Pope,
who himself participated in Vatican Council II as a young theologian,
turned his attention to chapter eight of the Dogmatic Constitution on
the Church "Lumen Gentium", entitled: "The Blessed
Virgin Mary, Mother of God, in the Mystery of Christ and the Church".
Therein "the figure of Mary - re-examined and reinterpreted from
the point of view of the Word of God, the texts of patristic and
liturgical tradition, and a broad-ranging theological and spiritual
reflection - emerges in all her beauty and uniqueness, closely
enclosed within the fundamental mysteries of the Christian faith.
"Mary,
whose faith is emphasised above all else, is part of the mystery of
love and communion of the Blessed Trinity", Benedict XVI added.
"Her participation in the divine plan of salvation and the
unique mediation of Christ is clearly affirmed and given its correct
import, thus making it a model and a point of reference for the
Church which, in her, recognises herself, her vocation and her
mission. Popular piety, which has always looked to Mary, is likewise
nourished by biblical and patristic references.
"Of
course the conciliar text was not able to cover all the questions
concerning the Mother of God, but it does provide an essential
interpretative horizon for all subsequent reflection, both the
theological and the purely spiritual and pastoral. Moreover, it
represents a valuable and highly necessary point of equilibrium
between theological rationality and the emotion of belief".
The Pope
concluded: "The unique figure of the Mother of God must be
understood and studied from different and complementary standpoints.
While the 'via veritas' remains valid and necessary, we cannot but
also follow the 'via pulchritudinis' and the 'via amoris', in order
to discover and contemplate ever more profoundly Mary's firm and
crystalline faith, her love for God and her unshakeable hope".
PASTORAL
CARE OF THE ROAD/STREET IN AFRICA
Vatican
City, 10 September 2012 (VIS) - "The Pastoral Care of the
Road/Street: A walk together" is to be the theme of the first
Integrated Meeting for the Pastoral Care of the Road/Street for the
Continent of Africa and Madagascar, due to take place in
Dar-Es-Salaam, Tanzania from 11 to 15 September. The event has been
organised by the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants
and Itinerant Peoples, in collaboration with Tanzania's Episcopal
Commission for Migrants and Itinerant Peoples.
The aim
of the meeting is to promote pastoral initiatives and programmes in
local Churches for the benefit for people who live on or from the
road/street. This includes street women and children, people of no
fixed abode, transport workers and those responsible for road safety.
Opening
addresses will be made by Cardinal Polycarp Pengo, archbishop of
Dar-es-Salaam, and Archbishop Francisco Padilla, apostolic nuncio to
Tanzania.
AUDIENCES
Vatican
City, 10 September 2012 (VIS) - The Holy Father today received in
audience:
-
Cardinal Angelo Scola, archbishop of Milan, Italy.
- Vladeta
Jankovic, ambassador of Serbia, accompanied by his wife, on a
farewell visit.
On
Saturday 8 September he received in audience:
- Andrea
Riccardi, founder of the Sant'Egidio Community, accompanied by
Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, president of the Pontifical Council for
the Family, and Marco Impagliazzo, president of the Sant'Egidio
Community.
- Seven
prelates from the Episcopal Conference of Colombia on their "ad
limina" visit:
- Bishop
Julio Hernando Garcia Pelaez of Istmina-Tado, apostolic administrator
of Quibdo.
- Bishop
Jorge Alberto Ossa Soto of Santa Rosa de Osos.
- Bishop
Guillermo Orozco Montoya of Girardota.
- Bishop
Jose Roberto Lopez Londono of Jerico.
- Bishop
Fidel Leon Cadavid Marin of Sonson-Rionegro.
- Bishop
Hector Cubillos Pena of Zipaquira.
- Bishop
Orlando Roa Barbosa, auxiliary of Ibague.
OTHER
PONTIFICAL ACTS
Vatican
City, 8 September 2012 (VIS) -The Holy Father:
-
Appointed Bishop Rolando J. Tria Tirona O.C.D., prelate of Infanta,
Philippines, as metropolitan archbishop of Caceres (area 3,207,
population 1,314,000, Catholics 1,272,000, priests 224, religious
376), Philippines. He succeeds Archbishop Leonardo Z. Legaspi O.P.,
whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same archdiocese the
Holy Father accepted, upon having reached the age limit.
-
Appointed Fr. Jojo Anand of the clergy of Simdega, India, diocesan
director of the department for evangelisation and formation in the
faith, as bishop of Hazaribag (area 21,213, population 5,347,000,
Catholics 38,875, priests 108, religious 515), India. The
bishop-elect was born in Minjiutgarha-Kutungia, India in 1959 and
ordained a priest in 1992. He studied in India and in Rome, and has
worked as director of the Faith Formation Team of the archdiocese of
Ranchi and as assistant in the cathedral. He succeeds Bishop Charles
Soreng S.J., whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same
diocese the Holy Father accepted, upon having reached the age limit.
-
Appointed Archbishop Luigi Travaglino, permanent observer of the Holy
See to the United Nations Organisations for Food and Agriculture
(FAO, IFAD and WFP), also as apostolic nuncio to the Principality of
Monaco.
-
Appointed Msgr. Piero Amenta, official of the Congregation for Divine
Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, as prelate auditor of
the Tribunal of the Roman Rota.
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