Subject: VISnews 110323   
   Organization: VIS - Ufficio Stampa della Santa Sede   
   From: Vatican Information Service - Eng - txt    
      
   VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE   
      
   TWENTY FIRST YEAR - N. 56   
   ENGLISH   
   WEDNESDAY, 23 MARCH 2011   
      
   SUMMARY:   
      
   - St. Lawrence of Brindisi, Preacher and Architect of Peace   
   - Other Pontifical Acts   
   - Errata Corrige   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
   ST. LAWRENCE OF BRINDISI, PREACHER AND ARCHITECT OF PEACE   
      
   VATICAN CITY, 23 MAR 2011 (VIS) - In his general audience this morning,   
   Benedict XVI dedicated his catechesis to St. Lawrence of Brindisi (born   
   Giulio Cesare Rossi, 1559-1619), a Doctor of the Church.   
      
     The saint, who lost his father at the age of seven, was entrusted by his   
   mother to the care of the Friars Minor Conventuals. He subsequently entered   
   the Order of Capuchins and was ordained a priest in 1582. He acquired a   
   profound knowledge of ancient and modern languages, thanks to which "he was   
   able to undertake an intense apostolate among various categories of people",   
   the Pope explained. He was also an effective preacher well versed not only   
   in the Bible but also in rabbinic literature, which he knew so well "that   
   rabbis themselves were amazed and showed him esteem and respect".   
      
     As a theologian and expert in Sacred Scripture and the Church Fathers,   
   Lawrence of Brindisi was an exemplary teacher of Catholic doctrine among   
   those Christians who, especially in Germany, had adhered to the Reformation.   
   "With his clear and tranquil explanations he demonstrated the biblical and   
   patristic foundation of all the articles of faith called into question by   
   Martin Luther, among them the primacy of St. Peter and his Successors, the   
   divine origin of the episcopate, justification as interior transformation of   
   man, and the necessity of good works for salvation. The success enjoyed by   
   St. Lawrence helps us to understand that even today, as the hope-filled   
   journey of ecumenical dialogue continues, the reference to Sacred Scripture,   
   read in the Tradition of the Church, is an indispensable element of   
   fundamental importance".   
      
     "Even the lowliest members of the faithful who did not possess vast   
   culture drew advantage from the convincing words of St. Lawrence, who   
   addressed the humble in order to call everyone to live a life coherent with   
   the faith they professed", said the Holy Father. "This was a great merit of   
   the Capuchins and of the other religious orders which, in the sixteenth and   
   seventeenth centuries, contributed to the renewal of Christian life. ...   
   Even today, the new evangelisation needs well-trained, zealous and   
   courageous apostles, so that the light and beauty of the Gospel may prevail   
   over the cultural trends of ethical relativism and religious indifference,   
   transforming the various ways people think and act in an authentic Christian   
   humanism".   
      
     Lawrence was a professor of theology, master of novices, minister   
   provincial and minister general of the Capuchin Order, but amidst all these   
   tasks "he also cultivated an exceptionally active spiritual life", the Pope   
   said. In this context he noted how all priests "can avoid the danger of   
   activism - that is, of acting while forgetting the profound motivations of   
   their ministry - only if they pay heed to their own inner lives".   
      
     The Holy Father then turned his attention to another aspect of the saint's   
   activities: his work in favour of peace. "Supreme Pontiffs and Catholic   
   princes repeatedly entrusted him with important diplomatic missions to   
   placate controversies and favour harmony between European States, which at   
   the time were threatened by the Ottoman Empire. Today, as in St. Lawrence's   
   time, the world has great need of peace, it needs peace-loving and   
   peace-building men and women. Everyone who believes in God must always be a   
   source of peace and work for peace", he said.   
      
     Lawrence of Brindisi was canonised in 1881 and declared a Doctor of the   
   Church by Blessed John XXIII in 1959 in recognition of his many works of   
   biblical exegesis and Mariology. In his writings, Lawrence "also highlighted   
   the action of the Holy Spirit in the lives of believers", the Pope said.   
      
     "St. Lawrence of Brindisi", he concluded, "teaches us to love Sacred   
   Scripture, to become increasingly familiar with it, daily to cultivate our   
   relationship with the Lord in prayer, so that our every action, our every   
   activity, finds its beginning and its fulfilment in Him".   
   AG/                                                                     VIS   
   20110323 (650)   
      
   OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS   
      
   VATICAN CITY, 23 MAR 2011 (VIS) - The Holy Father appointed:   
      
    - Fr. Benedito Araujo of the clergy of the archdiocese of Sao Luis do   
   Maranhao, Brazil, as coadjutor bishop of Guajara-Mirim (area 89,700,   
   population 233,000, Catholics 140,000, priests 21, permanent deacons 1,   
   religious 63), Brazil. The bishop-elect was born in Paco do Lumiar, Brazil   
   in 1963 and ordained a priest in 1991.   
      
    - Archbishop Antonio Guido Filipazzi as apostolic nuncio to Indonesia.   
   NEC:NN/                                                         VIS 20110323   
   (80)   
      
   ERRATA CORRIGE   
      
   VATICAN CITY, 23 MAR 2011 (VIS) - Yesterday's English-language edition of   
   VIS, reporting on the presentation of the newly-published Decree on the   
   Reform of Ecclesiastical Studies of Philosophy, erroneously attributed the   
   following words to Fr. Charles Morerod O.P., rector of Rome's Pontifical   
   University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum): "A non-Christian philosopher   
   cannot be useful to theology whereas a Christian philosopher who wishes to   
   prove the existence of God can have the opposite effect". Fr. Morerod's   
   actual words were: "A non-Christian philosopher can be useful to theology   
   whereas a Christian philosopher who wishes to prove the existence of God can   
   have the opposite effect".   
   .../                                                                    VIS   
   20110323 (110)   
   _____________________________________________   
      
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