Subject: VISnews 110222
Organization: VIS - Ufficio Stampa della Santa Sede
From: Vatican Information Service - Eng - txt
VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE
TWENTY FIRST YEAR - N. 35
ENGLISH
TUESDAY, 22 FEBRUARY 2011
SUMMARY:
- Presentation of Holy Father's Lenten Message for 2011
- Renew Our Acceptance of Baptismal Grace during Lent
- Cardinal Baldelli to Take Possession of His Diaconate
- Other Pontifical Acts
___________________________________________________________
PRESENTATION OF HOLY FATHER'S LENTEN MESSAGE FOR 2011
VATICAN CITY, 22 FEB 2011 (VIS) - This morning in the Holy See Press Office,
a press conference was held to present the 2011 Lenten Message of the Holy
Father Benedict XVI. The title of this year's Message is: "You were buried
with Him in Baptism, in which you were also raised with Him".
Participating in today's conference were Cardinal Robert Sarah, president
of the Pontifical Council "Cor Unum"; Msgr. Giampietro Dal Toso and Msgr.
Segundo Tejado Munoz, respectively secretary and under secretary of the same
council, and Myriam Garcia Abrisqueta, president of the Spanish association
"Manos unidas".
Referring to the bonds between Baptism and charity, which the Holy Father
emphasises in his Message, Cardinal Sarah affirmed that "in the face of the
very real suffering that we encounter on a global level ... we are obliged
to seek out concrete solutions to alleviate misery. ... But Christ founded
the Church to give much more. Suffering, both global and personal, ...
requires an answer that only the possession of eternal life can give", as
promised by Baptism. The new nature received in Baptism "is the source of
specific deeds of charity on behalf of our brothers and sisters", he
explained.
The president of "Cor Unum" then went on to identify three elements of the
Holy Father's message which, he said, represent "a road map to rekindle the
supernatural life that was given to us in Baptism". Firstly, the Pope "fixes
for us concrete appointments with specific persons and events on the five
Sundays of Lent. He puts before us the Word of God proclaimed on those
Sundays. By doing so, he wishes us to experience a personal encounter with
Christ, the answer to the deepest longings of the human person and the
world". Secondly, "the encounter with Christ in His Word and the Sacraments
manifests itself in concrete works of mercy". Finally, Lent is presented to
us as "a path or journey, a span of time to bring to fruition the seed
planted at Baptism".
For her part, the president of "Manos unidas" recalled how "more than
fifty years ago the women of the World Union of Female Catholic
Organisations launched an appeal for attention to be given to hunger in the
world. In a beautiful expression of 'feminine genius' in the Church they
published a manifesto, ... inspired by their nature, as mothers, to give and
protect life; and as Catholic women called by Jesus Christ 'to bear witness
to a universal and effective love for the human family'".
"From the very beginning", she concluded, "they understood that they had
to struggle against hunger: hunger for bread, hunger for culture and hunger
for God. ... In this way this organisation of the Church in Spain has stood
alongside men and women in more than sixty countries through some 25,000
development projects".
OP/ VIS
20110222 (480)
RENEW OUR ACCEPTANCE OF BAPTISMAL GRACE DURING LENT
VATICAN CITY, 22 FEB 2011 (VIS) - Made public today was the 2011 Lenten
Message of the Holy Father Benedict XVI. The text, dated 4 November 2010,
has as its title a passage from St. Paul's Letter to the Colossians: "You
were buried with Him in Baptism, in which you were also raised with Him".
Extracts from the English-language version of the document are given below:
"The fact that, in most cases, Baptism is received in infancy highlights
how it is a gift of God: no one earns eternal life through their own
efforts. The mercy of God, which cancels sin and, at the same time, allows
us to experience in our lives 'the mind of Christ Jesus', is given to men
and women freely".
"Hence, Baptism is not a rite from the past, but the encounter with
Christ, which informs the entire existence of the baptised, imparting divine
life and calling for sincere conversion; initiated and supported by Grace,
it permits the baptised to reach the adult stature of Christ.
"A particular connection binds Baptism to Lent as the favourable time to
experience this saving Grace. ... In fact, the Church has always associated
the Easter Vigil with the celebration of Baptism. ... This free gift must
always be rekindled in each one of us, and Lent offers us a path like that
of the catechumenate, which, for the Christians of the early Church, just as
for catechumens today, is an irreplaceable school of faith and Christian
life. Truly, they live their Baptism as an act that shapes their entire
existence.
"In order to undertake more seriously our journey towards Easter and
prepare ourselves to celebrate the Resurrection of the Lord - the most
joyous and solemn feast of the entire liturgical year - what could be more
appropriate than allowing ourselves to be guided by the Word of God? For
this reason, the Church, in the Gospel texts of the Sundays of Lent, leads
us to a particularly intense encounter with the Lord, calling us to retrace
the steps of Christian initiation: for catechumens, in preparation for
receiving the Sacrament of rebirth; for the baptised, in light of the new
and decisive steps to be taken in the 'sequela Christi' and a fuller giving
of oneself to Him".
"The Lenten journey finds its fulfilment in the Paschal Triduum,
especially in the great vigil of the Holy Night: renewing our baptismal
promises, we reaffirm that Christ is the Lord of our life, that life which
God bestowed upon us when we were reborn of 'water and Holy Spirit', and we
profess again our firm commitment to respond to the action of the Grace in
order to be His disciples.
"By immersing ourselves into the death and resurrection of Christ through
the Sacrament of Baptism, we are moved to free our hearts every day from the
burden of material things, from a self-centred relationship with the 'world'
that impoverishes us and prevents us from being available and open to God
and our neighbour. ... Through the traditional practices of fasting,
almsgiving and prayer, which are an expression of our commitment to
conversion, Lent teaches us how to live the love of Christ in an ever more
radical way.
"Fasting, which can have various motivations, takes on a profoundly
religious significance for the Christian: by rendering our table poorer, we
learn to overcome selfishness in order to live in the logic of gift and
love; by bearing some form of deprivation - and not just what is in excess -
we learn to look away from our 'ego', to discover Someone close to us and to
recognise God in the face of so many brothers and sisters. For Christians,
fasting, far from being depressing, opens us ever more to God and to the
needs of others, thus allowing love of God to become also love of our
neighbour.
"In our journey, we are often faced with the temptation of accumulating
and love of money that undermine God's primacy in our lives. The greed of
possession leads to violence, exploitation and death; for this, the Church,
especially during the Lenten period, reminds us to practice almsgiving -
which is the capacity to share. The idolatry of goods, on the other hand,
not only causes us to drift away from others, but divests man, making him
unhappy, deceiving him, deluding him without fulfilling its promises, since
it puts materialistic goods in the place of God, the only source of life".
"The practice of almsgiving is a reminder of God's primacy and turns our
attention towards others, so that we may rediscover how good our Father is,
and receive His mercy.
"During the entire Lenten period, the Church offers us God's Word with
particular abundance. By meditating and internalising the Word in order to
live it every day, we learn a precious and irreplaceable form of prayer. ...
Prayer also allows us to gain a new concept of time: without the perspective
of eternity and transcendence, in fact, time simply directs our steps
towards a horizon without a future. Instead, when we pray, we find time for
God, to understand that His 'words will not pass away', to enter into that
intimate communion with Him 'that no one shall take from you', opening us to
the hope that does not disappoint, eternal life".
"The Lenten period is a favourable time to recognise our weakness and to
accept, through a sincere inventory of our life, the renewing Grace of the
Sacrament of Penance, and walk resolutely towards Christ.
"Dear brothers and sisters, through the personal encounter with our
Redeemer and through fasting, almsgiving and prayer, the journey of
conversion towards Easter leads us to rediscover our Baptism. This Lent, let
us renew our acceptance of the Grace that God bestowed upon us at that
moment, so that it may illuminate and guide all of our actions. What the
Sacrament signifies and realises, we are called to experience every day by
following Christ in an ever more generous and authentic manner".
MESS/ VIS
20110222 (1020)
CARDINAL BALDELLI TO TAKE POSSESSION OF HIS DIACONATE
VATICAN CITY, 22 FEB 2011 (VIS) - The Office of Liturgical Celebrations of
the Supreme Pontiff today announced that at 6.30 p.m. on Sunday 27 February
Cardinal Fortunato Baldelli, penitentiary major of the Apostolic
Penitentiary, will take possession of the diaconate of St. Anselm on the
Aventine, Piazza dei Cavalieri di Malta 5, Rome.
OCL/ VIS
20110222 (70)
OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS
VATICAN CITY, 22 FEB 2011 (VIS) - The Holy Father:
- Appointed Bishop Gerald Cyprien Lacroix I.S.P.X., auxiliary of the
archdiocese of Quebec, Canada, as metropolitan archbishop of the same
archdiocese (area 35,180, population 1,192,108, Catholics 1,027,166, priests
737, permanent deacons 91, religious 3,515). The archbishop-elect was born
in Saint-Hilaire de Dorset, Canada in 1957 he was ordained a priest in 1988
and consecrated a bishop in 2009.
- Appointed Bishop Gilles Lemay, auxiliary of the archdiocese of Quebec,
Canada, as bishop of Amos (area 127,237, population 111,220, Catholics
88,875, priests 35, religious 96), Canada. He succeeds Bishop Eugene
Tremblay, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese the
Holy Father accepted, upon having reached the age limit.
- Appointed Msgr. Charles Drennan of the clergy of Christchurch, New
Zealand, diocesan chancellor, as coadjutor of the diocese of Palmerston
North (area 36,200, population 470,000, Catholics 59,099, priests 58,
religious 141), New Zealand. The bishop-elect was born in Christchurch in
1960 and ordained a priest in 1996.
- Appointed Fr. Jean Kockerois of the clergy of the archdiocese of
Mechelen-Brussels, Belgium, dean of Brussels-south; Fr. Jean-Luc Hudsyn of
the clergy of the archdiocese of Mechelen-Brussels, episcopal vicar for
Brabante Vallone, and Fr. Leon Lemmens of the clergy of Hasselt, Belgium,
official of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches, as auxiliaries of
the archdiocese of Mechelen-Brussels (area 3,635, population 2,524,000,
Catholics 1,615,000, priests 1,909, permanent deacons 90, religious 3,761).
Bishop-elect Kockerois was born in Brecht, Belgium in 1957 and ordained a
priest in 1993. Bishop-elect Hudsyn was born in Uccle, Belgium in 1947 and
ordained a priest in 1972. Bishop-elect Lemmens was born in Boorsem, Belgium
in 1954 and ordained a priest in 1977.
- Appointed Archbishop Edward Joseph Adams, apostolic nuncio to the
Philippines, as apostolic nuncio to Greece.
- Appointed Bishop Joseph Kalathiparambil of Calicut, India, as secretary
of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant
Peoples.
- Accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the diocese of San
Luis, Argentina, presented by Bishop Jorge Luis Lona, upon having reached
the age limit. He is succeeded by Coadjutor Bishop Pedro Daniel Martinez.
NER:RE:NEC:NEA:NN:NA/ VIS 20110222 (370)
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