SUMMARY:
- JESUS
CAME TO LIBERATE HUMAN BEINGS IN THEIR ENTIRETY
-
METROPOLITAN ARCHBISHOPS, VISIBLE EXPRESSION OF THE UNIVERSALITY OF
THE CHURCH
- POPE TO
TRAVEL TO CASTELGANDOLFO ON 3 JULY
-
CARDINAL JOSEPH ZEN ZE-KIUN, SPECIAL ENVOY FOR CENTENARY OF BIRTH OF
BLESSED PETER TO ROT
- ONLY
FOLLOWING JESUS LEADS TO THE NEW BROTHERHOOD
- STS.
PETER AND PAUL ACCOMPANY BELIEVERS ALONG THE PATH OF FAITHFULNESS TO
CHRIST
-
AUDIENCES
- OTHER
PONTIFICAL ACTS
______________________________________
JESUS
CAME TO LIBERATE HUMAN BEINGS IN THEIR ENTIRETY
Vatican
City, 1 July 2012 (VIS) - The miraculous cures of the daughter of
Jairus and of the woman who suffered haemorrhages provided the theme
for the Pope's remarks before praying the Angelus today.
Addressing
the faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square, Benedict XVI explained
that both episodes can be interpreted at two levels: "the purely
physical: Jesus tends to human suffering and heals the body; and the
spiritual: Jesus came to heal the human heart and to give salvation,
and He asks people to have faith in Him". The two episodes again
show that Jesus "came to liberate human beings in their
entirety", he said. "First is the physical healing, but
this is closely tied to a deeper healing, which bestows the grace of
God upon those who are open to Him in faith".
All this,
the Holy Father went on, invites us "to overcome a purely
horizontal and materialistic view of life. We ask God to cure us of
our problems, to meet our concrete needs - and it is right that we
should do so. Yet we must insistently ask for an ever stronger faith,
that the Lord may renew our lives, and a firm trust in His love, in
His providence which does not abandon us".
"Jesus'
concern for human suffering makes us think of all those who help the
sick to carry their crosses, in particular physicians, healthcare
professionals and those who provide pastoral care in nursing homes.
They are the 'reserves of love' who bring peace and hope to the
suffering. In the Encyclical 'Deus Caritas est' I noted that, while
such invaluable service requires professional competence as a primary
and fundamental requirement, this in itself is not enough". The
sick need "need humanity and heartfelt care".
"Let
us call upon the Virgin Mary to accompany our journey of faith and
our commitment to concrete expressions of love, especially to those
in need, as we invoke her maternal intercession for our brothers who
live with suffering in body or spirit".
After the
Angelus prayer, Benedict XVI expressed the hope that "the
holidays may be a time to strengthen our faith through prayer and
charity".
METROPOLITAN
ARCHBISHOPS, VISIBLE EXPRESSION OF THE UNIVERSALITY OF THE CHURCH
Vatican
City, 30 June 2012 (VIS) - At midday today the Holy Father received
the metropolitan archbishops upon whom he yesterday imposed the
pallium in the course of a Mass in the Vatican Basilica. The
archbishops were accompanied by members of their families.
"The
presence of metropolitan archbishops from all over the world is a
visible expression of the universality of the Church, called to make
Christ known and to announce the Gospel on all the continents and in
different languages", said the Pope in his remarks to the group.
"I assure you of my constant prayers that you may carry out your
episcopal mission with joy and fidelity, building your diocesan
communities in charity, supporting them with the witness of faith and
helping them to express a rewed enthusiasm at meeting the person of
Christ. ... Carry back to your communities the experience of intense
spirituality and authentic evangelical unity of these days, that it
may touch the hearts of believers and reverberate throughout society,
leaving traces of good", the Holy Father concluded.
POPE
TO TRAVEL TO CASTELGANDOLFO ON 3 JULY
Vatican
City, 30 June 2012 (VIS) - The Prefecture of the Pontifical Household
today announced that on Tuesday 3 July the Holy Father will travel to
the Apostolic Palace of Castelgandolfo.
Over the
summer months private and special audiences will be suspended, while
the Wednesday general audiences - likewise suspended during the month
of July - will begin again at Castelgandolfo on Wednesday 1 August.
On Sundays and Solemnities during this period, the Pope will pray the
Angelus from the Apostolic Palace of Castelgandolfo.
CARDINAL
JOSEPH ZEN ZE-KIUN, SPECIAL ENVOY FOR CENTENARY OF BIRTH OF BLESSED
PETER TO ROT
Vatican
City, 30 June 2012 (VIS) - Made public today was the letter in which
the Holy Father appoints Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun S.D.B., bishop
emeritus of Hong Kong, China, as his special envoy to celebrations
marking the centenary of the birth of Blessed Peter To Rot, catechist
and martyr of Papua New Guinea, due to take place in Rabaul on 7
July.
The
mission accompanying the cardinal will be made up of Bishop Rochus
Josef Tatamai M.S.C. of Bereina, whose recently deceased father was a
nephew of the blessed, and Fr, Francis Mell, a priest of the
archdiocese of Rabaul and judicial vicar at the archdiocesan tribunal
of first instance.
ONLY
FOLLOWING JESUS LEADS TO THE NEW BROTHERHOOD
Vatican
City, 29 June 2012 (VIS) - At 9 a.m. today, Solemnity of Sts. Peter
and Paul, Apostles, Benedict XVI concelebrated the Eucharist in the
Vatican Basilica with new metropolitan archbishops, upon whom he
imposed the pallium. As is customary, a delegation from the
Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople also attended the ceremony.
The music for the liturgy was provided by the Choir of the Sistine
Chapel, as well as by members of the Choir of Westminster Abbey whom
the Pope thanked for their participation.
Following
the Gospel reading the Pope pronounced his homily, extracts of which
are given below:
"Christian
tradition has always considered St. Peter and St. Paul to be
inseparable: indeed, together, they represent the whole Gospel of
Christ. ... Peter and Paul, much as they differ from one another in
human terms and notwithstanding the conflicts that arose in their
relationship, illustrate a new way of being brothers, lived according
to the Gospel, an authentic way made possible by the grace of
Christ’s Gospel working within them. Only by following Jesus does
one arrive at this new brotherhood: this is the first and fundamental
message that today’s solemnity presents to each one of us, the
importance of which is mirrored in the pursuit of full communion, so
earnestly desired by the Ecumenical Patriarch and the Bishop of Rome,
as indeed by all Christians.
"In
the passage from St. Matthew’s Gospel that we have just heard,
Peter makes his own confession of faith in Jesus, acknowledging Him
as Messiah and Son of God. He does so in the name of the other
Apostles too. In reply, the Lord reveals to him the mission that He
intends to assign to him, that of being the “rock”, the visible
foundation on which the entire spiritual edifice of the Church is
built. But in what sense is Peter the rock? How is he to exercise
this prerogative, which naturally he did not receive for his own
sake? The account given by the Evangelist Matthew tells us first of
all that the acknowledgement of Jesus’ identity made by Simon in
the name of the Twelve did not come “through flesh and blood”,
that is, through his human capacities, but through a particular
revelation from God the Father. By contrast, immediately afterwards,
as Jesus foretells His passion, death and resurrection, Simon Peter
reacts on the basis of “flesh and blood”: he “began to rebuke
him, saying, this shall never happen to you”. And Jesus in turn
replied: “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me”. The
disciple who, through God’s gift, was able to become a solid rock,
here shows himself for what he is in his human weakness: a stone
along the path, a stone on which men can stumble".
"Here
we see the tension that exists between the gift that comes from the
Lord and human capacities; and in this scene between Jesus and Simon
Peter we see anticipated in some sense the drama of the history of
the papacy itself, characterised by the joint presence of these two
elements: on the one hand, because of the light and the strength that
come from on high, the papacy constitutes the foundation of the
Church during its pilgrimage through history; on the other hand,
across the centuries, human weakness is also evident, which can only
be transformed through openness to God’s action.
"And
in today’s Gospel there emerges powerfully the clear promise made
by Jesus: “the gates of the underworld”, that is, the forces of
evil, will not prevail. ... Peter will have to be defended from the
“gates of the underworld”, from the destructive power of evil.
Jeremiah receives a promise that affects him as a person and his
prophetic ministry; Peter receives assurances concerning the future
of the Church, the new community founded by Jesus Christ, which
extends to all of history, far beyond the personal existence of Peter
himself.
"Let
us move on now to the symbol of the keys, which we heard about in the
Gospel. ... The key represents authority over the house of David. And
in the Gospel there is another saying of Jesus addressed to the
scribes and the Pharisees, whom the Lord reproaches for shutting off
the kingdom of heaven from people. This saying also helps us to
understand the promise made to Peter: to him, inasmuch as he is the
faithful steward of Christ’s message, it belongs to open the gate
of the Kingdom of Heaven, and to judge whether to admit or to refuse.
Hence the two images - that of the keys and that of binding and
loosing - express similar meanings which reinforce one another. ...
The parallelism “on earth ... in the heavens” guarantees that
Peter’s decisions in the exercise of this ecclesial function are
valid in the eyes of God".
"The
authority of loosing and binding consists in the power to remit sins.
And this grace, which defuses the powers of chaos and evil, is at the
heart of the Church’s mystery and ministry. The Church is not a
community of the perfect, but a community of sinners, obliged to
recognise their need for God’s love, their need to be purified
through the Cross of Jesus Christ. Jesus’ sayings concerning the
authority of Peter and the Apostles make it clear that God’s power
is love, the love that shines forth from Calvary".
"The
iconographic tradition represents St. Paul with a sword, and we know
that this was the instrument with which he was killed. Yet as we read
the writings of the Apostle of the Gentiles, we discover that the
image of the sword refers to his entire mission of evangelisation.
... This was certainly not the battle of a military commander but
that of a herald of the Word of God, faithful to Christ and to His
Church, to which he gave himself completely. And that is why the Lord
gave him the crown of glory and placed him, together with Peter, as a
pillar in the spiritual edifice of the Church.
"Dear
Metropolitan Archbishops, the pallium that I have conferred on you
will always remind you that you have been constituted in and for the
great mystery of communion that is the Church, the spiritual edifice
built upon Christ as the cornerstone, while in its earthly and
historical dimension, it is built on the rock of Peter. Inspired by
this conviction, we know that together we are all cooperators of the
truth, which as we know is one and “symphonic”, and requires from
each of us and from our communities a constant commitment to
conversion to the one Lord in the grace of the one Spirit".
STS.
PETER AND PAUL ACCOMPANY BELIEVERS ALONG THE PATH OF FAITHFULNESS TO
CHRIST
Vatican
City, 30 June 2012 (VIS) - At the end of this morning's Mass
concelebrated with forty-three metropolitan archbishops upon whom he
imposed the pallium, the Holy Father appeared at the window of his
study to pray the Angelus with faithful gathered below in St. Peter's
Square.
"The
signs of the lives and glorious deaths of the humble fisherman of
Galilee and the Apostle of the Gentiles are inscribed into the very
history of Rome, which has rightly chosen them as her protectors",
the Pope said. "Treasuring the memory of their shining witness,
we recall the venerable beginnings of the Church which in Rome
believes, prays and announces Christ the Redeemer. Yet Sts. Peter and
Paul blaze not only in the skies of Rome, but also in the hearts of
believers all over the world who, illuminated by their teaching and
example, walk the paths of faith hope and charity".
Benedict
XVI continued: "On this journey of salvation the Christian
community, strong and serene in the presence of the living spirit of
God, feels impelled to continue along the path of faithfulness to
Christ and announcement of His Gospel to men and women of all times.
Part of this fruitful spiritual and missionary journey is the
consigning of the palliums to metropolitan archbishops, which I
performed this morning in the basilica; an eloquent rite which
highlights the intimate communion of pastors with Peter's Successor
and the profound ties which bind us to apostolic tradition. It is, in
fact, a dual treasure of sanctity in which the unity and catholicity
of the Church come together: a precious treasure to be rediscovered
and experienced with renewed enthusiasm and constant commitment".
AUDIENCES
Vatican
City, 2 July 2012 (VIS) - The Holy Father today received in audience:
-
Cardinal Giuseppe Versaldi, president of the Prefecture for the
Economic Affairs of the Holy See.
-
Archbishop Pier Luigi Celata, secretary emeritus of the Pontifical
Council for Inter-religious Dialogue.
On
Saturday 30 June he received in audience Cardinal William Joseph
Levada, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
OTHER
PONTIFICAL ACTS
Vatican
City, 2 July 2012 (VIS) - The Holy Father:
-
Appointed Bishop Gerhard Ludwig Muller of Regensburg, Germany, as
prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and as
president of the Pontifical Commission "Ecclesia Dei", of
the Pontifical Biblical Commission and of the International
Theological Commission, at the same time elevating him to the dignity
of archbishop. He succeeds Cardinal William Joseph Levada, whose
resignation from the same offices the Holy Father accepted, upon
having reached the age limit.
- Removed
Archbishop Robert Bezak C.SS.R., from the pastoral care of the
archdiocese of Trnava, Slovakia.
On
Saturday 30 June it was made public that the Holy Father:
-
Appointed Fr. Miguel Angel Ayuso Guixot M.C.C.J., president of the
Pontifical Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies, as secretary of
the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue.
-
Appointed as presidents delegate of the Thirteenth Ordinary General
Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, due to be held in the Vatican from
7 to 28 October on the theme: "The new evangelisation for the
transmission of the Christian faith": Cardinal John Tong Hon,
bishop of Hong Kong, China; Cardinal Francisco Robles Ortega,
archbishop of Guadalajara, Mexico, and Cardinal Laurent Monsengwo
Pasinya, archbishop of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo.
-
Accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the diocese of
Dunkeld, Scotland, presented by Bishop Vincent Paul Logan, in
accordance with canon 401 para. 2 of the Code of Canon Law.
-
Accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the diocese of Phu
Cuong, Vietnam, presented by Bishop Pierre Tran Dinh Tu, upon having
reached the age limit. He is succeeded by Coadjutor Bishop Joseph
Nguyen Tan Tuoc.
-
Accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the diocese of Quy
Nhon, Vietnam, presented by Bishop Pierre Nguyen Soan, upon having
reached the age limit. He is succeeded by Coadjutor Bishop Matthieu
Nguyen Van Khoi.
-
Appointed Bishop Marian Rojek, auxiliary of Przemysl of the Latins,
Poland, as bishop of Zamosc-Lubaczow (area 8,144, population 486,624,
Catholics 472,742, priests 469, religious 168), Poland.
On Friday
29 June it was made public that the Holy Father:
-
Accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the territorial
prelature of Corocoro, Brazil, presented by Bishop Toribio Ticona
Porco, upon having reached the age limit.
-
Appointed Fr. Claudio Dalla Zuanna S.C.I., vicar general of the
Dehonian Fathers, as archbishop of Beira (area 78,018 population
1,490,000, Catholics 828,000, priests 77, religious 134), Mozambique.
The archbishop-elect was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1958 and
ordained a priest in 1984. He has served in missionary and pastoral
work in Mozambique and as counsellor general of his order.
-
Appointed Fr. Joseph Alessandro O.F.M. Cap., vicar general of the
diocese of Garissa, Kenya, as coadjutor of the same diocese (area
142,704, population 847,500, Catholics 8,500, priests 17, religious
29). The bishop-elect was born in Paola, Malta in 1949 and ordained a
priest in 1970. He has worked in education, including as rector of
INSERM (Institutum Nationale Studiorum Ecclesiasticorum Religiosorum
Melitensium), and has also held various positions of responsibility
in his religious congregation.
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