SUMMARY:
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THE FAMILY IS "GOOD NEWS"
-
CONSISTORY OF 11 FEBRUARY: NEW SAINTS
-
ANGELUS: INVESTING IN LIFE AND THE FAMILY
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POPE TO NEW PATRIARCH OF BABYLON OF THE CHALDEANS: MINISTRY AT THE
SERVICE OF RECONCILIATION, MUTUAL ACCEPTANCE, AND PEACE FOR THE IRAQI
PEOPLES
-
CONSECRATED MEN AND WOMEN: DO NOT JOIN PROPHETS OF DOOM
-
HOLY FATHER'S SPECIAL ENVOYS
-
AUDIENCES
-
OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS
______________________________________
THE
FAMILY IS "GOOD NEWS"
Vatican
City, 4 February 2013 (VIS) – This morning in the Press Office of
the Holy See, Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, president of the Pontifical
Council for the Family presented the details of the conference "From
Milan to Philadelphia: Perspectives of the Pontifical Council for the
Family", which analysed the results of the 7th World Meeting of
Families that took place in Milan in May of last year. Also
participating in the press conference were married couple Francesca
Dossi and Alfonso Colzani, directors of the Archdiocese of Milan's
Service for Families.
The
archbishop noted that that event "showed the vital force that
families represent in the Church and in society itself. … Of
course, there are many problems related to marriage and the family,
but we must not forget … that the family continues to be the
fundamental 'resource' of our society. … The statistics are
unanimous in pointing out that the family is the first place of
safety, refuge, and support for life and remains at the top of the
vast majority of young person's wishes. In Italy, for example, around
80% of young people say that they prefer marriage (whether it be
civil or religious) and only 20% would choose co-habitation. … In
France, surveys indicate that 77% want to build their family life,
staying with the same person throughout their lives. … On the other
hand, the need for family is inscribed on the human heart, since God
tells us 'It is not good for the man to be alone'."
"This
profound truth, which marks human life so radically, seems to take a
beating from counter culture. … There is an escalation in the race
to individualism that is breaking up the family as well as other
forms of society. That is why the breakdown of the family is the
first problem of contemporary society … It is true that much of
contemporary Western History has been conceived as a liberation from
every bond: from ties to others and thus the family, from any
responsibility toward the other. It is also true that bonds have,
sometimes, oppressed individuality. But today, the vertigo of
solitude with its cult of 'me', free from any attachment … and the
disorientation caused by globalization further accentuate our
becoming locked within ourselves and the temptation of
self-absorption."
"The
Church," he continued, "is concerned … with the current
crisis in marriage and the family, because she is aware that both are
a Gospel, a good news for men and women today who are often alone,
lacking love, parenting, and support. … The Church, an 'expert in
humanity' knows well … the high price of the fragility of the
family, which is paid mainly by the children (born and unborn), by
the elderly, and by the ill. … At times in various historical
periods there have been transformations, even profound ones, in the
institution of the family. But it has never abandoned its 'genome',
its deep dimension, that is, its being as an institution formed by a
man, a woman, and children. That is why a careful cultural reflection
and an even more vigorous defence of the family is urgent, so that it
might be placed?and quickly?at the centre of politics, the economy,
and culture, in the different countries as well as in the different
international organizations, even involving believers of other
religious traditions and all persons of good will."
"The
Pontifical Council for the Family feels the urgency to help from
within as well as from outside the confines of the Church in order to
rediscovery the value of the Family. ...There is great work to be
done on the cultural level: working to restore value to a culture of
the family so that it might x once more become attractive to and
relevant for life itself and for society. … Taking care of a family
does not mean restricting oneself to a segment of life or of society.
Today it means widening horizons beyond oneself and deciding to
participate in the building of a society that is familial, even of
embracing the 'family' of peoples and nations."
The
prelate concluded by pointing out the initiatives that the pontifical
council will launch throughout this year up to the next World Meeting
of Families in Philadelphia, including the presentation of the
Charter of Rights of the Family?which that dicastery has developed
over thirty years?at the sites of the United Nations in New York and
Geneva, and the European Parliament. In April, a series of seminars
entitled "Dialogues for the Family" will begin, in which
experts in different fields will address issues concerning the main
challenges related to marriage and the family. In Rome, at the end of
June, an international congress of Catholic lawyers will take place,
focusing on the rights of the family. Finally, in October, the
plenary assembly of the pontifical council will look at the Charter
of the Rights of the Family. On the 26th and 27th of that month, for
the Year of Faith, there will be a pilgrimage of families to the tomb
of St. Peter.
CONSISTORY
OF 11 FEBRUARY: NEW SAINTS
Vatican
City, 4 February 2013 (VIS) – On Monday, 11 February, an Ordinary
Public Consistory will be held in the Consistory Hall of the Vatican
Apostolic Palace for a vote on canonization of the following
Blesseds:
-
Antonio Primaldo and Companions, martyrs,
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Laura di Santa Caterina da Siena Montoya Y Upegui, virgin, foundress
of the Congregation of the Missionaries of Mary Immaculate and St
Catherine of Siena, and
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Maria Guadalupe Garcia Zavala, co-foundress of the Congregation of
the Handmaids of St Margaret Mary (Alacoque) and the Poor.
ANGELUS:
INVESTING IN LIFE AND THE FAMILY
Vatican
City, 3 February 2013 (VIS) – The Holy Father's Sunday meditation
before praying the Angelus today, was dedicated to the Gospel of St.
Luke, which narrates Jesus' return to the synagogue in Nazareth after
a period of absence. Jesus reads a prophecy from Isaiah regarding the
Messiah and makes it known that it is referring to Him, which
provokes confusion among his countrymen who, on the one hand admire
Him but on the other hand ask: "Isn’t this the son of Joseph?"
or rather, "what aspirations could a carpenter from Nazareth
have?"
"Recognizing
this rejection, which confirms the proverb 'no prophet is accepted in
his own land', Jesus addresses the people in the synagogue with words
that sound like a provocation. He cites two miracles performed in
favour of the non-Isrealites by the great prophets Elijah and Elisha
in order to demonstrate that, at times, there is more faith outside
of Israel. At that point, the reaction is unanimous, everyone gets up
and they throw Him out, even trying to throw Him off a precipice.
With tremendous calm, however, He walks through the midst of the
enraged crowd and takes his leave. At this point it is natural to
ask: Why did Jesus want to provoke this rupture? At the beginning,
the people admired Him and perhaps He could have gotten certain
agreement … but this is precisely the point. Jesus did not come to
seek the agreement of humanity?as He will tell Pilate in the end?but
to 'to testify to the truth'. The true prophet does not obey anyone
but God, and places himself at the service of truth, ready to pay in
person. It is true that Jesus is the prophet of love, but love has
its own truth. Better yet, love and truth are two names for the same
reality, the two names of God. These words of St. Paul echo in
today's liturgy: 'love... is not pompous, ... it does not seek its
own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over
injury,e 6it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the
truth.' Believing in God means renouncing our own prejudices and
welcoming the concrete face in which He reveals himself: the man
Jesus of Nazareth. This path also leads to recognizing and serving
him in others."
"Mary's
attitude in all this is enlightening. Who more than she was familiar
with Jesus' humanity? But she was never scandalized like her fellow
Nazarenes. She safeguarded the mystery in her heart and always know
how to welcome him again and anew in her faith journey, up to the
night of the Cross and the full light of the Resurrection."
After
praying the Angelus, the Holy Father noted that this first Sunday in
February marks the Day for Life in Italy. "I join with all the
Italian bishops," he said, "whose messages invite us to
invest in life and in the family as an effective answer to the
current crisis. I greet the Movement for Life and wish them success
in their initiative called 'One of Us', to make Europe more and more
a place in which the dignity of each human being is protected. I also
greet the representatives of the Faculty of Medicine from the
University of Rome, particularly the professors of obstetrics and
gynaecology, … and encourage them to train health care workers in
the culture of life."
POPE
TO NEW PATRIARCH OF BABYLON OF THE CHALDEANS: MINISTRY AT THE SERVICE
OF RECONCILIATION, MUTUAL ACCEPTANCE, AND PEACE FOR THE IRAQI PEOPLES
Vatican
City, 3 February 2013 (VIS) – Benedict XVI has written a letter to
His Beatitude Louis Raphael Sako, the new Patriarch of Babylon of the
Chaldeans, granting the "Ecclesiastica Communio" requested
of him by the Patriarch.
In
the text the Pope asks the Lord to fill His Beatitude with "every
grace and blessing" and that he be enlightened "in order to
tirelessly proclaim the Gospel, following the living tradition that
dates back to St. Thomas the Apostle. May the good and eternal
Shepherd sustain you in the faith of our fathers and give you the
zeal of yesterday's and today's martyrs to safeguard the spiritual
and liturgical heritage of the venerated Chaldean Church as its
'Pater et Caput'. May your ministry be a comfort to the faithful
Chaldeans in the motherland and in diaspora, but also to the entire
Catholic community and for Christians living in the land of Abraham,
as a stimulus for reconciliation, for mutual acceptance, and for
peace for the entire Iraqi population."
At
the same time, the Holy Father wrote a letter, in Latin, to Cardinal
Leonardo Sandri, prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental
Churches, naming him as the pontifical delegate to preside, Monday, 4
February in the Vatican Basilica, over the Eucharistic celebration in
confirmation of the ecclesial communion with the new Patriarch.
CONSECRATED
MEN AND WOMEN: DO NOT JOIN PROPHETS OF DOOM
Vatican
City, 2 February 2013 (VIS) – At 5:30pm this afternoon in the
Vatican Basilica, Benedict XVI presided at Mass for the Feast of the
Presentation of the Lord and the Day of Consecrated Life for members
of institutes for consecrated life and societies of apostolic life.
Following are ample excerpts of the Holy Father's homily.
"'A
light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people
Israel', thus Simeon defines the Messiah of the Lord at the end of
his song of blessing. The theme of light, … is strongly present in
this liturgy. In fact, the liturgy opens with a … procession in
which the general superiors of the institutes for consecrated life
represented here carried lit candles. This sign, specific to the
liturgical tradition of this Feast, is very expressive. It shows the
beauty and the value of consecrated life as the reflection of
Christ's light and recalls Mary's entrance into the Temple: the
Virgin Mary, consecrated woman par excellence, carried Light itself
in her arms, the incarnate Word who had come to dispel the darkness
of the world with God's love."
"You
are all represented in that symbolic pilgrimage, which in the Year of
Faith expresses even more strongly your own assembly in the Church,
to be confirmed in the faith and to renew the offering of yourselves
to God. … In the light of Christ, with the many charisms of
contemplative and apostolic life, you cooperated in the Church's life
and mission in the world. In this spirit of gratitude and communion,
I would like to offer you three invitations so that you might fully
enter through that 'door of faith' that is always open to us."
"Firstly,
I invite you to nourish a faith that is capable of illuminating your
vocation. In this regard I urge you to remember, in an interior
pilgrimage, of the 'first love' with which the Lord Jesus Christ
warmed your heart, not out of nostalgia, but to nourish its flame.
This is why it is necessary to be with Him, in the silence of
adoration, and thus to reawaken the desire and the joy of sharing
one's life and choices, of the obedience of the faith, the
blessedness of the poor, and the fundamental nature of love."
Secondly,
I invite you to a faith that knows how to recognize the wisdom of
weakness. In today's joys and afflictions, when the harshness and
weight of the cross make themselves felt, do not doubt that Christ's
'kenosis' is already a paschal victory. In societies of efficiency
and success, your life, marked by its 'minority' and by the weakness
of the small, by its empathy with those who have no voice, becomes an
evangelic sign of contradiction."
"Finally,
I invite you to renew the faith that makes you pilgrims toward the
future. By its nature consecrated life is a pilgrimage of the spirit,
in search of a Face that sometimes shows itself and sometimes hides
itself: 'Faciem tuam, Domine, requiram'. May this be your heart's
constant desire, the fundamental criterion that guides your path,
both in its small daily steps as well as in its more important
decisions. Do not fall in with the prophets of doom who proclaim the
end or the non-sense of consecrated life in the Church in our days.
Rather, 'put on the Lord Jesus Christ', 'put on the armour of light'
… and remain wakeful and vigilant."
"The
joy of consecrated life necessarily goes through participation in
Christ's cross. That is how it was for Mary, Most Holy. Hers is the
suffering of a heart that is wholly one with the Heart of the Son of
God, pierced by love. God's light springs forth from that wound, and
from the suffering, sacrifice, and gift of self that consecrated
persons live out of love for God and others shines forth that same
light, which evangelises the nations. On this Feast, I wish
particularly for you consecrated persons, that your lives might
always have the flavour of evangelic 'parrhesia', so that, in you,
the Good News might be lived, witnessed to, announced, and shine
forth as the Word of truth."
HOLY
FATHER'S SPECIAL ENVOYS
Vatican
City, 4 February 2013 (VIS) – Published today was the papal letter
naming Cardinal Fernando Filoni, prefect of the Congregation for the
Evangelisation of Peoples, as the Holy Father's special envoy to the
ceremony commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Shrine of Our Lady
of Good Heath that will take place in Vailankanni, India and the 25th
anniversary of the institution of the Conference of Catholic Bishops
of India (CCBI) scheduled for 9–11 February. The letter, written in
Latin, is dated 10 January.
Also
named were the members of the mission who will accompany the
cardinal: Fr. Michael Arockisamy, rector of the sanctuary Basilica of
Vailankanni and Fr. Alex Joseph Vadakumthala, vicar general of the
Archdiocese of Verapoly, Kerala, India.
Also
published today was the papal letter, dated 10 January and written in
Latin, written to Archbishop Zygmunt Zimowski, president of the
Pontifical Council for Pastoral Assistance to Health Care Workers,
naming him special envoy to the celebration of the 21st World Day of
the Sick on 11 February, which will take place at the Marian Shrine
of Altotting, Bavaria, Germany. The mission to accompany the
archbishop is composed of Msgr. Ludwig Limbrunner, rector of the
shrine of Altotting, and Msgr. Gunther Mandl, director of the
Business Office of the Diocese of Passau.
AUDIENCES
Vatican
City, 4 February 2013 (VIS) – Today, the Holy Father received in
separate audiences:
His
Beatitude Louis Raphael I Sako, Patriarch of Babylon of the
Chaldeans, along with members of the Synod of Bishops of the Chaldean
Church,
Archbishop
Paul Richard Gallagher, apostolic nuncio to Australia and titular of
Hodelm, and
eight
prelates from the Emilia-Romagna region of the Italian Episcopal
Conference on their "ad limina" visit:
-
Archbishop Antonio Lanfranchi of Modena-Nonantola,
-
Archbishop Luigi Negri of Ferrara-Comacchio,
-
Archbishop Lorenzo Ghizzoni of Ravenna-Cervia,
-
Bishop Francesco Lambiasi of Rimini,
-
Bishop Tommaso Ghirelli of Imola,
-
Bishop Enrico Solmi of Parma,
-
Bishop Douglas Regattieri of Cesena-Sarsina, and
-
Bishop Massimo Camisasca, F.S.C.B., of Reggio Emilia-Guastalla.
On
Saturday, 2, February, the Holy Father received in separate
audiences:
Cardinal
Marc Ouellet, P.S.S., prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, and
seven
prelates from the Emilia-Romagna region of the Italian Episcopal
Conference on their "ad limina" visit:
-
Cardinal Carlo Caffarra, archbishop of Bologna,
-
Archbishop Paolo Rabitti, emeritus of Ferrara-Comacchio,
-
Bishop Claudio Stagni of Faenza-Modigliana,
-
Bishop Lino Pizzi of Forli-Bertinoro,
-
Bishop Carlo Mazza of Fidenza,
-
Bishop Gianni Ambrosio of Piacenza-Bobbio, and
-
Bishop Francesco Cavina of Carpi.
OTHER
PONTIFICAL ACTS
Vatican
City, 2 February 2013 (VIS) – Today, the Holy Father appointed:
Bishop
Joseph Effiong Ekuwem as archbishop of Calabar (area 7,754,
population 1,192,031, Catholics 381,230, priests 74, religious 71),
Nigeria. Archbishop Ekuwem, previously bishop of Uyo, Nigeria,
succeeds Archbishop Joseph Edra Ukpo, whose resignation from the
pastoral care of the same archdiocese the Holy Father accepted, upon
having reached the age limit.
Bishop
Jesús Juárez Párraga, S.D.B., as archbishop of Sucre (area 49,975,
population 630,000, Catholics 552,00, priests 92, permanent deacons
1, religious 236), Bolivia. Archbishop Párraga, previously bishop of
El Alto, Bolivia, succeeds Archbishop Jesús Gervasio Pérez
RodrÃguez, O.F.M., whose resignation from the pastoral care of the
same archdiocese the Holy Father accepted, upon having reached the
age limit.
Bishop
Jean Teyrouz, I.C.P.B., as bishop of the Eparchy of
Sainte-Croix-de-Paris of the Armenians (Catholics 30,200, priests 4,
religious 6), France. Bishop Teyrouz, previously curial bishop of the
Patriarchate of Cilicia of the Armenians, Lebanon, succeeds Bishop
Gregoire Ghabroyan, I.C.P.B., whose whose resignation from the
pastoral care of the same eparchy the Holy Father accepted in
accordance with canon 210 para. 1–2 of the Code of Canons of the
Eastern Churches.
Archbishop
Michael August Blume, S.V.D., as apostolic nuncio to Uganda.
Archbishop Blume, titular of Alexanum, was previously apostolic
nuncio to Benin and Togo.
Fr.
Percy Lorenzo Galvan Flores as prelate bishop of Corocoro (area
28,823, population 244,000, Catholics 214,000, priests 19, permanent
deacons 2, religious 5), Bolivia. The bishop-elect was born in Tomas
Frias, Potosi, Bolivia and was ordained a priest in 1991. He has
served in several pastoral roles as well as having been rector of the
San Cristobal Seminary of the Archdiocese of Sucre, Bolivia between
2001 and 2005 and vicar general of that same archdiocese between 2005
and 2007. Most recently he has been pastor of San Jose Parish, Sucre,
director of the Ecclesiatical Museum, and a member of the Economic,
Presbyteral, and Pastoral Councils of that archdiocese.
Msgr.
Michel Aupetit as auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Paris (area
105, population 2,233,818, Catholics 1,340,291, priests 1,353,
permanent deacons 109, religious 2,831), France. The bishop-elect was
born in Versailles, France in 1951 and was ordained a priest in 1995.
Licensed in medicine by the faculty of Bichat-Claude Bernard
Hospital?with a specialization in bioethics, which he taught for nine
years at the Henri Mondor Hospital of Creteil?he practised medicine
for 12 years in Paris. Since ordination he has served in several
pastoral roles and, since 2006, has been the vicar general of the
Archdiocese of Paris. The Holy Father has assigned him the titular
see of Maxita.
Fr.
Eugenio Coter as vicar apostolic of Pando (area 86,261, population
208,867, Catholics 187,981, priests 24, religious 33), Bolivia. The
bishop-elect was born in Gazzaniga, Italy in 1957 and was ordained a
priest in 1981. Since ordination the bishop-elect has served as
pastor to several Italian and Bolivian parishes as well as having
been a member of a diocesan pastoral council, an episcopal delegate
for social outreach and, most recently, the spiritual director of the
San Luis Seminary of the Archdiocese of Cochabamba, Bolivia. The Holy
Father has assigned him the titular see of Thibiuca. He succeeds
Bishop Luis Morgan Casey, whose resignation from the pastoral care of
the same vicariate apostolic the Holy Father accepted, upon having
reached the age limit.
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