* Original message posted in: VATICAN.
* Crossposted in: IN_CATHOLIC.
[continued]
challenges, her prayers to St. Joseph and her unflagging devotion to the
Sacred Heart of Jesus, to whom she dedicated her new congregation, gave this
holy woman the graces she needed to remain faithful to God and the Church.
Through her intercession, may her followers today continue to serve God and
the Church with faith and humility".
Giulia Salzano "well understood the importance of catechesis in the Church
and, uniting educational skill to spiritual zeal, she dedicated herself to
this with generosity and intelligence, contributing to the formation of
Subject: VISnews 101018
Organization: VIS - Ufficio Stampa della Santa Sede
From: Vatican Information Service - Eng - txt
people of every age and social class. She repeated to her fellow sisters
that she wanted to teach catechism until the last hour of her life, showing
with her whole being that if 'God created us to know, love and serve Him in
this life', nothing should take precedence over that task. May the example
and intercession of St. Giulia Salzano sustain the Church in her perennial
task of proclaiming Christ and forming authentic Christian consciences".
The Pope concluded his homily by referring to Battista Camilla da Varano,
who "bore profound witness to the evangelical significance of life,
especially by her perseverance in prayer. ... Completely immersed in the
depths of the divine, hers was a constant ascent along the path of
perfection, demonstrating heroic love for God and neighbour. Her journey was
marked by great sufferings and mystical consolations, for she had in fact
decided, as she herself wrote, 'to enter into the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus
and to drown in the ocean of His most bitter sufferings'. In an age in which
the Church was experiencing a relaxation of customs, she decisively followed
the way of penitence and prayer, animated by the ardent desire for renewal
of the Mystical Body of Christ".
HML/ VIS
20101018 (840)
ANGELUS: SAINTS ARE THE LIVING IMAGE OF GOD'S LOVE
VATICAN CITY, 17 OCT 2010 (VIS) - Following Mass this morning, during which
he canonised Stanislao Soltys, Andre Bessette, Candida Maria de Jesus
Cipitria y Barriola, Mary of the Cross MacKillop, Giulia Salzano and
Battista da Varano, the Holy Father prayed the Angelus with thousands of
faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square.
Addressing French-speaking pilgrims, the Pope encouraged them to follow in
the footsteps of St. Andre Bessette, "in order to accept freely and lovingly
the will of God in your lives", and to show the same charity that the new
saint showed "towards your brothers and sisters who are suffering hardship".
Speaking English he then called for the example of St. Andre Bessette and
St. Mary MacKillop to inspire people "by the example of their holy lives".
Saints, he said to German faithful, "are the living image of God's love, ...
models to follow and advocates for our lives as Christians".
Speaking Spanish he entrusted the Congregation of the Daughters of Jesus
to the intercession of their founder, St. Candida Maria de Jesus Cipitria y
Barriola, and expressed the hope that young people "may increasingly welcome
the Lord's call and commit their lives entirely to proclaiming the greatness
of His love".
"From Stanislao Soltys (called Kazimierczyk)", said the Pope in Polish,
"we learn the spirit of prayer, of contemplation and of sacrifice for
others. May he always maintain the Church in Poland in the presence of the
Lord".
Finally, the Holy Father greeted Italian pilgrims celebrating the
canonisation of Sts. Battista da Varano and Giulia Salzano. He reminded them
that today marks the closure of the forty-sixth Social Week of Italian
Catholics, and expressed the hope that "the search for the common good may
always be the firm foundation for the commitment of Catholics in social and
political activities".
ANG/ VIS
20101018 (310)
THE CATHOLIC CHURCH HAS LEFT INDELIBLE TRACES IN COLOMBIA
VATICAN CITY, 18 OCT 2010 (VIS) - This morning in the Vatican, the Holy
Father received the Letters of Credence of Cesar Mauricio Velasquez Ossa,
the new ambassador of Colombia to the Holy See.
The Pope recalled that the new ambassador is beginning his mission to the
Holy See "at a time of particular significance for Colombia: the
commemoration of the bicentennial of the beginning of the process that led
to independence and the constitution of the republic". He stated that, "not
only during these last two centuries but from the dawn of the arrival of
Spanish in America, the Catholic Church has been present in each of the
stages of the historical destiny of your country, always playing a major and
decisive role". This "selfless work ... has left indelible traces in various
areas of your country, such as culture, art, healthcare, social cohesion,
and peace-building".
"The Church in Colombia does not demand any special privileges in this
rewarding task," the Holy Father stressed. "She yearns only to serve the
faithful and all those who open their hearts to her, ... ever ready to
support anything that promotes education of new generations, care of the
sick and elderly, respect for indigenous peoples and their legitimate
traditions, eradication of poverty, drug trafficking, and corruption, care
of prisoners, displaced persons, and migrant workers, as well as assistance
to needy families. In effect, this means continuing to co-operate faithfully
for the integral growth of the communities in which pastors, religious, and
faithful carry out their service, motivated only by the demands that stem
from their priestly ordination, their religious consecration, or their
Christian vocation".
"In this context of mutual co-operation and friendly relations between the
Holy See and the Republic of Colombia, ... once again I wish to express the
Church's interest in protecting and fostering the inviolable dignity of
human beings, to which end it is essential that the legal system should
respect natural law in such essential areas as safeguarding human life from
conception to natural end, the right to be born and to live in a family
founded on marriage between a man and a woman, or the right of parents to
give their children an education consistent with their own moral criteria
and beliefs. All of these are irreplaceable pillars in building a society
that is truly worthy of humanity and our fundamental values".
"In this solemn meeting", the Pope concluded, "I would also like to
express my spiritual closeness and the assurance of my prayers for those in
Colombia who have been unjustly and cruelly deprived of their freedom. I
also pray for their families and, in general, for the victims of violence in
all its forms, asking God that so much suffering be ended and that all
Colombians may live in reconciliation and peace in that blessed land, so
filled with natural resources, ... which must be preserved as a magnificent
gift from the Creator".
CD/ VIS
20101018 (500)
EL SALVADOR: EVANGELISATION, AN INCENTIVE AGAINST VIOLENCE
VATICAN CITY, 18 OCT 2010 (VIS) - "The ties binding the faithful people of
El Salvador to the Chair of the Prince of the Apostles are proof of a noble
tradition and cannot be separated from the history and customs of that
blessed land", the Holy Father said this morning to Manuel Roberto Lopez
Becerra, El Salvador's new ambassador to the Holy See.
"Within her own specific field of competence and with independence and
freedom, the Church in El Salvador seeks to promote the public good in all
dimensions, and to foster the conditions that enable men and women to
develop fully. ... Evangelising and bearing witness to love for God and for
all persons without exception becomes an effective element in eradicating
poverty and is a vigorous incentive to fight against violence, impunity, and
drug trafficking, which are wreaking such havoc, especially among youth. ...
The ecclesial community also finds itself continuously called upon when so
many people are in need of adequate housing and employment, ... and are
being force to emigrate from the country. Similarly, it would be strange if
the disciples of Christ remained neutral to the aggressive presence of
sects, which seem to offer an easy and convenient religious response, but
which are actually undermining the culture and customs that have shaped the
Salvadoran identity for centuries, obscuring the beauty of the Gospel
message and tearing apart the unity of the faithful".
"It is consoling", the Pope noted, "to behold your country's efforts to
construct an increasingly harmonious and supportive society as it advances
along the path opened by the 1992 agreements, which put an end to the long
and destructive internal conflict suffered by El Salvador - a land of great
natural riches that speak eloquently of God and that must be earnestly
preserved and protected in order to bequeath them in all their vitality to
new generations. The Salvadoran people, with their spirit of sacrifice and
hear work, will find great joy if the peace process is seen to be daily
confirmed".
"In this regard, I ask the Almighty ... that your compatriots be given
whatever aid necessary to renounce the causes of conflict definitively,
replacing enmity with mutual understanding and ensuring protection for
people and their belongings. In order to achieve these goal, people must be
convinced that nothing is to be gained by violence, indeed that everything
is worsened because violence is a dead end. ... By contrast, peace is the
yearning of every human being who takes pride in that name. As a gift of the
Divine Saviour, it is also a task in which everyone should co-operate
unhesitatingly, finding strong support in the State through legal, economic,
and social provisions as well as proper police and security forces to ensure
people's welfare in accordance with the law".
"In this struggle", Benedict XVI concluded, "they will always find the
outstretched hand of the children of the Church, whom I exhort that, with
their witness as disciples and missionaries of Christ, they may increasingly
identify with Him, asking Him to make every Salvadoran an architect of
reconciliation".
CD/ VIS
20101018 (530)
LETTER TO SEMINARIANS OF BENEDICT XVI
VATICAN CITY, 18 OCT 2010 (VIS) - Given below are ample extracts from the
English-language version of a Letter to Seminarians, written by the Pope to
mark the end of the Year for Priests and dated 18 October.
"When in December 1944 I was drafted for military service, the company
commander asked each of us what we planned to do in the future. I answered
that I wanted to become a Catholic priest. The lieutenant replied: 'Then you
ought to look for something else. In the new Germany priests are no longer
needed'. I knew that this 'new Germany' was already coming to an end, and
that, after the enormous devastation which that madness had brought upon the
country, priests would be needed more than ever. Today the situation is
completely changed. In different ways, though, many people nowadays also
think that the Catholic priesthood is not a 'job' for the future, but one
that belongs more to the past. You, dear friends, have decided to enter the
seminary and to prepare for priestly ministry in the Catholic Church in
spite of such opinions and objections. You have done a good thing. Because
people will always have need of God, even in an age marked by technical
mastery of the world and globalisation: they will always need the God Who
has revealed Himself in Jesus Christ, the God Who gathers us together in the
universal Church in order to learn with Him and through Him life's true
meaning and in order to uphold and apply the standards of true humanity.
Where people no longer perceive God, life grows empty; nothing is ever
enough".
"In this letter I would like to point out - thinking back to my own time
in the seminary - several elements which I consider important for these
years of your journeying.
"(1) Anyone who wishes to become a priest must be first and foremost a
'man of God', to use the expression of St. Paul. For us God is not some
abstract hypothesis. ... God has revealed Himself in Jesus Christ. ... It
follows that the most important thing in our path towards priesthood and
during the whole of our priestly lives is our personal relationship with God
in Jesus Christ. The priest is not the leader of a sort of association whose
membership he tries to maintain and expand. He is God's messenger to His
people. He wants to lead them to God and in this way to foster authentic
communion between all men and women. That is why it is so important, dear
friends, that you learn to live in constant intimacy with God. When the Lord
tells us to 'pray constantly', He is obviously not asking us to recite
endless prayers, but urging us never to lose our inner closeness to God".
"(2) For us God is not simply Word. In the Sacraments He gives Himself to
us in person, through physical realities. At the heart of our relationship
with God and our way of life is the Eucharist. Celebrating it devoutly, and
thus encountering Christ personally, should be the centre of all our days.
... In the liturgy we pray with the faithful of every age - the past, the
present and the future are joined in one great chorus of prayer. As I can
state from personal experience, it is inspiring to learn how it all
developed, what a great experience of faith is reflected in the structure of
the Mass, and how it has been shaped by the prayer of many generations.
(3) "The Sacrament of Penance is also important. It teaches me to see
myself as God sees me, and it forces me to be honest with myself. ... Even
when we have to struggle continually with the same failings, it is important
to resist the coarsening of our souls and the indifference which would
simply accept that this is the way we are. ... Moreover, by letting myself
be forgiven, I learn to forgive others. In recognising my own weakness, I
grow more tolerant and understanding of the failings of my neighbour.
"(4) I urge you to retain an appreciation for popular piety, which is
different in every culture yet always remains very similar, for the human
heart is ultimately one and the same. Certainly, popular piety tends towards
the irrational, and can at times be somewhat superficial. Yet it would be
quite wrong to dismiss it. Through that piety, the faith has entered human
hearts and become part of the common patrimony of sentiments and customs,
shaping the life and emotions of the community".
"(5) Above all, your time in the seminary is also a time of study. The
Christian faith has an essentially rational and intellectual dimension. Were
it to lack that dimension, it would not be itself. ... I can only plead with
you: Be committed to your studies! ... The point is not simply to learn
evidently useful things, but to understand and appreciate the internal
structure of the faith as a whole, so that it can become a response to
people's questions, which on the surface change from one generation to
another yet ultimately remain the same. For this reason it is important to
move beyond the changing questions of the moment in order to grasp the real
questions, and so to understand how the answers are real answers. It is
important to have a thorough knowledge of Sacred Scripture as a whole, in
its unity as the Old and the New Testaments. ... It is important to be
familiar with the Fathers and the great Councils in which the Church
appropriated, through faith-filled reflection, the essential statements of
Scripture. ... I do not need to point out the importance of knowing the
essential issues of moral theology and Catholic social teaching. The
importance nowadays of ecumenical theology, and of a knowledge of the
different Christian communities, is obvious. ... But you should also learn
to understand and - dare I say it - to love canon law, appreciating how
necessary it is and valuing its practical applications. ... I will not go on
with this list, but I simply say once more: love the study of theology and
carry it out in the clear realisation that theology is anchored in the
living community of the Church, which, with her authority, is not the
antithesis of theological science but its presupposition. Cut off from the
believing Church, theology would cease to be itself and instead it would
become a medley of different disciplines lacking inner unity.
"(6) Your years in the seminary should also be a time of growth towards
human maturity. It is important for the priest, who is called to accompany
others through the journey of life up to the threshold of death, to have the
right balance of heart and mind, reason and feeling, body and soul, and to
be humanly integrated. ... This also involves the integration of sexuality
into the whole personality. Sexuality is a gift of the Creator yet it is
also a task which relates to a person's growth towards human maturity. When
it is not integrated within the person, sexuality becomes banal and
destructive. Today we can see many examples of this in our society. Recently
we have seen with great dismay that some priests disfigured their ministry
by sexually abusing children and young people. Instead of guiding people to
greater human maturity and setting them an example, their abusive behaviour
caused great damage for which we feel profound shame and regret. As a result
of all this, many people, perhaps even some of you, might ask whether it is
good to become a priest; whether the choice of celibacy makes any sense as a
truly human way of life. Yet even the most reprehensible abuse cannot
discredit the priestly mission, which remains great and pure. Thank God, all
of us know exemplary priests, men shaped by their faith, who bear witness
that one can attain to an authentic, pure and mature humanity in this state
and specifically in the life of celibacy. Admittedly, what has happened
should make us all the more watchful and attentive, precisely in order to
examine ourselves earnestly, before God, as we make our way towards
priesthood, so as to understand whether this is his will for me. It is the
responsibility of your confessor and your superiors to accompany you and
help you along this path of discernment".
"(7) The origins of a priestly vocation are nowadays more varied and
disparate than in the past. Today the decision to become a priest often
takes shape after one has already entered upon a secular profession. Often
it grows within the communities, particularly within the movements, which
favour a communal encounter with Christ and His Church, spiritual
experiences and joy in the service of the faith. It also matures in very
personal encounters with the nobility and the wretchedness of human
existence. ... The movements are a magnificent thing. You know how much I
esteem them and love them as a gift of the Holy Spirit to the Church. Yet
they must be evaluated by their openness to what is truly Catholic, to the
life of the whole Church of Christ, which for all her variety still remains
one. The seminary is a time when you learn with one another and from one
another. In community life, which can at times be difficult, you should
learn generosity and tolerance, not only bearing with, but also enriching
one another. .. This school of tolerance, indeed, of mutual acceptance and
mutual understanding in the unity of Christ's Body, is an important part of
your years in the seminary.
"Dear seminarians, with these few lines I have wanted to let you know how
often I think of you, especially in these difficult times, and how close I
am to you in prayer. Please pray for me, that I may exercise my ministry
well, as long as the Lord may wish".
MESS/ VIS
20101018 (1680)
AUDIENCES
VATICAN CITY, 18 OCT 2010 (VIS) - The Holy Father today received in audience
Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, archbishop of Genoa, Italy and president of the
Italian Episcopal Conference.
On Saturday 16 October he received in separate audiences:
- Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, archbishop of Krakow, Poland, accompanied by
Jozef Michalik of Przemysl of the Latins, president of the Polish Episcopal
Conference; Bishop Stanislaw Budzik, auxiliary of Tarnow and secretary
general of the Polish Episcopal Conference, and Archbishop Kazimierz Nycz of
Warsaw.
- Cardinal Marc Ouellet P.S.S., prefect of the Congregation for Bishops.
AP/ VIS
20101018 (100)
OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS
VATICAN CITY, 18 OCT 2010 (VIS) - The Holy Father:
- Accepted the resignation from the office of auxiliary of the archdiocese
of Milwaukee, U.S.A., presented by Bishop Richard J. Sklba, upon having
reached the age limit.
- Appointed Dom Diego Gualtiero Rosa O.S.B., abbot of the monastery of S.
Maria del Pilastrello in Lendinara, Italy, as abbot of the territorial abbey
of Monte Oliveto Maggiore (area 49, population 495, Catholics 495, priests
15, religious 30), Italy. He succeeds Dom Michelangelo Riccardo Tiribilli,
O.S.B., whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same territorial
abbey the Holy Father accepted, in accordance with the statues of the
Benedictine Olivetan Congregation.
On Saturday 16 October it was made public that he appointed:
- Fr. Jaime Rafael Fuentes, teacher at the "Mons. Mariano Soler" Faculty of
Theology of Uruguay, as bishop of Minas (area 17,776, population 76,100,
Catholics 69,900, priests 17, permanent deacons 1, religious 12), Uruguay.
The bishop-elect was born in Montevideo, Uruguay in 1945 and ordained a
priest in 1973.
- As members of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith: Cardinal
Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice
and Peace; Cardinal Marc Ouellet P.S.S., prefect of the Congregation for
Bishops; Archbishop Angelo Amato S.D.B., perfect of the Congregation for the
Causes of Saints, and Archbishop Kurt Koch, president of the Pontifical
Council for Promoting Christian Unity.
- Fr. Massimo Palombella S.D.B., professor at Rome's Pontifical Salesian
University and founder and director of the Inter-University Choir of Rome,
as director of the Pontifical Choir.
RE:NER:NA/ VIS
20101018 (260)
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- Origin: VIS - Ufficio Stampa della Santa Sede (1:396/3)
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* Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS-Meridian, MS-bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)
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