SUMMARY:
- FRANCE,
EDUCATOR OF PEOPLES, MUST RESPOND TO THE CHALLENGE OF SECULARISED
SOCIETY
-
TELEGRAM FOR THE DEATH OF CARDINAL FORTUNATO BALDELLI
-
PROTECTING THE DIGNITY AND RIGHTS OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES
- THIRD
BOOK OF JOSEPH RATZINGER - BENEDICT XVI TO BE PUBLISHED AT CHRISTMAS
-
CELEBRATIONS TO BE PRESIDED BY POPE: OCTOBER - NOVEMBER
-
AUDIENCES
- OTHER
PONTIFICAL ACTS
______________________________________
FRANCE,
EDUCATOR OF PEOPLES, MUST RESPOND TO THE CHALLENGE OF SECULARISED
SOCIETY
Vatican
City, 21 September 2012 (VIS) - This morning, Benedict XVI received
prelates of the Conference of Bishops of France, recalling that their
country “has a long spiritual and missionary tradition, such that
John Paul II called it the ‘educator of peoples’. The challenges
of a widely secularised society now call us courageously and
optimistically to seek a bold and creative response, by presenting
the permanent newness of the Gospel”.
“With
this perspective and in order to encourage the faithful of the entire
world,” he continued, “I have called this Year of Faith …
inviting an authentic and renewed conversion to the Lord, the only
Saviour of the world”. The Pontiff then went on to enumerate the
duties of the bishop who must be a “good shepherd” toward his
faithful and priests, and he called upon them to maintain a “special
care for their priests, particularly those who have been recently
ordained and those who are elderly or in need”. The Pope praised
the initiatives of the French prelates in spiritually,
intellectually, and materially assisting their closest collaborators.
He also recalled the scarcity of “workers for the Gospel in our
days. This is why,” he said, “it is necessary to pray, and to
ensure others pray, for this intention, while I encourage you to
follow the formation of seminarians attentively”.
“The
solution to diocesan pastoral problems that arise should not be
limited to organisational matters, important though they are, because
there is a danger of emphasising a search for efficiency with a sort
of ‘bureaucratisation of pastoral work’, focusing on
organisations and programmes that can become self-referential, for
the exclusive use of the members of such organisations. … Instead,
evangelisation must start from an encounter with the Lord in a
dialogue established in prayer, and then concentrate on witness in
order to help our contemporaries rediscover the signs of God’s
presence”.
The Holy
Father thanked the laity for their generosity in responding to the
call to participate in Church activities, noting at the same time
that it is necessary, on one hand, to remember that, “the specific
mission of the laity is Christian action in the public sphere, where
they act on their own initiative and in an independent manner, in the
light of faith and the Church’s teaching. It is therefore necessary
to safeguard the difference between the common priesthood of all the
faithful and the ministerial priesthood of those ordained to serve
the community: a difference that is not only of degree but of nature.
On the other hand, full fidelity to the deposit of faith taught by
the true Magisterium and professed by the entire Church must be
maintained”.
Later the
Pope spoke of one of France’s patron saints, Joan of Arc. This year
the Church celebrates the sixth centenary of her birth. He noted that
“one of the most original features of her holiness is precisely the
link between mystical experience and political mission”, and he
urged the bishops to promote her as a “model of secular sanctity in
the service of the common good”.
“I
would also like to emphasise the interdependence between the
development of the person and the development of society itself and
the fact that the family, which is the foundation of social life, is
threatened in many places by a faulty conception of human nature.
Defending life and the family in society is not at all
backward-looking but prophetic, since it entails the promotion of
values that allow the full development of the human person created in
the image and likeness of God”.
Another
of the tasks of a diocesan bishop is “to defend the unity of the
entire Church within the portion of God’s people which has been
entrusted to him, even if his heart expresses legitimately different
sensitivities that merit equal pastoral concern”. In this area the
Pope referred to “the specific expectations of younger generations
who require proper catechesis so that they might find their place
within the community of believers”. He recalled the many French
youths, accompanied by their pastors, who participated in World Youth
Day in Madrid, as a sign of the “new dynamism of the faith that
opens the doors to hope”.
Lastly,
Benedict XVI expressed his support for the programme "Diaconia
2013", which calls on diocesan and local communities as well as
all believers to “put the service of all our brothers and sisters,
especially the most fragile, at the heart of ecclesial outreach. May
that service of our brothers and sisters, rooted in God’s love,
arouse in all your faithful the desire to contribute, each to the
extent of their own strengths, to making humanity a single,
fraternal, and communal family in Christ”, he concluded.
TELEGRAM
FOR THE DEATH OF CARDINAL FORTUNATO BALDELLI
Vatican
City, 21 September 2012 (VIS) - The Holy Father sent a telegram to
Pietro Baldelli for the death of his brother, Cardinal Fortunato
Baldelli, penitentiary major emeritus of the Apostolic Penitentiary.
The cardinal died yesterday at the age of 77. In the text the Pope
recalls his "exemplary witness of Christian and priestly life",
and his "dedicated and faithful service to the Holy See,
especially in various diplomatic posts, always arousing appreciation
for his fervent apostolic zeal and his faithfulness to the Gospel".
PROTECTING
THE DIGNITY AND RIGHTS OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES
Vatican
City, 21 September 2012 (VIS) - A national meeting of indigenous
priests, religious and catechists of Colombia came to an end
yesterday in Bogota, Colombia. During the event participants
reflected on certain key themes affecting pastoral workers in
indigenous communities. The meeting was organised by the Commission
for Missionary Animation of the Colombian Episcopal Conference's
Pastoral Centre for the Evangelisation of the Faith, and coincides
with the centenary of St. Pius X's Encyclical "Lacrimabili
statu".
For the
occasion the Holy Father sent a message to Archbishop Ruben Salazar
Gomez of Bogota, president of the Colombian Episcopal Conference, in
which he notes that St. Pius X's Encyclical, "in continuity with
Benedict XIV's Encyclical 'Inmensa pastorum', highlighted the need to
work more diligently for the evangelisation of indigenous people, and
for the constant promotion of their dignity and progress".
The Pope
describes the current situation as "ripe so that - with right
intention and configured to Jesus Christ Who is the Way, the Truth
and the Life for all humankind - pastors and faithful may experience
a growing desire to protect the dignity and rights of indigenous
peoples, while these, in their turn, may feel a greater desire to do
their duty in accordance with their ancestral traditions. I pray to
the Almighty that, first and foremost, the sacredness of their life
may be protected. They must not for any reason be coerced because God
wishes no one's death and orders us to love one another as brothers.
May their lands by duly protected. May no one for any reason
manipulate indigenous peoples, and may they not be attracted by
harmful ideologies".
THIRD
BOOK OF JOSEPH RATZINGER - BENEDICT XVI TO BE PUBLISHED AT CHRISTMAS
Vatican
City, 21 September 2012 (VIS) - Today in the Vatican, the Vatican
Publishing House and the Italian publishers Rizzoli signed an
agreement concerning the publication of Benedict XVI's latest book
about the infancy of Jesus in the Gospels.
The
Vatican Publishing House gives Rizzoli the mandate to to sell the
rights to the work throughout the world. In Italy the book is due to
appear at Christmas and will be published as a joint edition of the
Vatican Publishing House and Rizzoli. The German edition is to be
published by Herder which has previously published the books of
Joseph Ratzinger. Work is continuing on translations into the major
languages. The definitive title has not yet been made public.
Joseph
Ratzinger - Benedict XVI has focused his research and his work on
making known the "person and the message of Jesus".
This new
and much awaited volume on the figure of Jesus in the Gospel
narratives of His infancy completes the two previous volumes and is
of great theological and academic importance. The earlier works are
entitled "Jesus of Nazareth" and "Jesus of Nazareth:
Holy Week".
CELEBRATIONS
TO BE PRESIDED BY POPE: OCTOBER - NOVEMBER
Vatican
City, 21 September 2012 (VIS) - The Office of Liturgical Celebrations
of the Supreme Pontiff today published the calendar of celebrations
to be presided by the Holy Father in the months of October and
November:
OCTOBER
-
Thursday 4: Pastoral visit to Loreto, Italy.
- Sunday
7: Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time. At 9.30 a.m. Mass in St.
Peter's Square for the opening of the Ordinary General Assembly of
the Synod of Bishops, and the proclamation of St. John of Avila and
St. Hildegard of Bingen as Doctors of the Universal Church.
-
Thursday 11: At 9.30 a.m. Mass in St. Peter's Square for the opening
of the Year of Faith.
- Sunday
21. Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time. At 9.30 a.m. in St. Peter's
Square, canonisation of the following Blesseds: Jacques Berthieu,
Pedro Calungsod, Giovanni Battista Piamarta, Maria del Carmen (nee
Maria Salles y Barangueras), Maria Anna Cope (nee Barbara), Kateri
Tekakwitha and Anna Schaffer.
- Sunday
28: At 9.30 a.m. Mass in the Vatican Basilica for the conclusion of
the Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops.
NOVEMBER
- Friday
2: All Souls Day. At 6 p.m. in the Vatican Grottoes, a moment of
prayer for deceased Pontiffs.
-
Saturday 3: At 11.30 a.m. Mass at the altar of the Cathedra in the
Vatican Basilica for cardinals and bishops who died during the course
of the year.
AUDIENCES
Vatican
City, 21 September 2012 (VIS) - The Holy Father today received in
audience:
-
Archbishop Henryk Jozef Nowacki, apostolic nuncio to Sweden and
Iceland.
- Ten
prelates of the Conference of Bishops of France on their "ad
limina" visit:
-
Archbishop Pierre d'Ornellas of Rennes, accompanied by Auxiliary
Bishop Nicolas Souchu.
- Bishop
Emmanuel Delmas of Angers.
- Bishop
Thierry Scherrer of Laval.
- Bishop
Yves Le Saux of Le Mans.
- Bishop
Alain Castet of Lucon.
- Bishop
Jean-Paul James of Nantes.
- Bishop
Jean-Marie Le Vert of Quimper, Cornouailles.
- Bishop
Denis Moutel of Saint-Brieuc.
- Bishop
Raymond Centene of Vannes.
-
Archbishop Gerhard Ludwig Muller, prefect of the Congregation for the
Doctrine of the Faith.
OTHER
PONTIFICAL ACTS
Vatican
City, 21 September 2012 (VIS) - The Holy Father:
-
Appointed as consultors of the Commission for Religious Relations
with Muslims within the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious
Dialogue: Fr. Cornelius Afebu Omonokhua, director of the Department
for Inter-religious Dialogue of the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria;
Fr. Amir Jaje O.P., secretary of the Episcopal Commission for
Inter-religious Dialogue of the Assembly of Catholic Bishops of Iraq;
Fr. Felix Korner S.J., professor of the theology of religions at the
Pontifical Gregorian University; Rotraud Wielandt, professor of
Islamic studies at the University of Bamberg, Germany; Ian Netton,
vice director of Arab and Islamic studies at the University of Exeter
and professor of Islamic studies at Sharjah, United Arab Emirates,
and Romana Bashir, head of the Christian Study Centre in Rawalpindi,
Pakistan.
-
Appointed Bishop Kevin W. Vann of Fort Worth, U.S.A., as bishop of
Orange in California (area 2,025, population 3,037,000, Catholics
1,291,000, priests 269, permanent deacons 96, religious 412), U.S.A.
He succeeds Bishop Tod D. Brown, whose resignation from the pastoral
care of the same diocese the Holy Father accepted, upon having
reached the age limit.
-
Accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the diocese of
Rochester, U.S.A., presented by Bishop Matthew H. Clark, upon having
reached the age limit.
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