Subject: VISnews 111010
Organization: VIS - Ufficio Stampa della Santa Sede
From: Vatican Information Service - Eng - txt
VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE
TWENTY FIRST YEAR - N. 173
ENGLISH
MONDAY, 10 OCTOBER 2011
SUMMARY OF PASTORAL VISIT TO LAMEZIA TERME, SERRA SAN BRUNO
- Never Surrender to the Lure of Pessimism
- Lay People Must Contribute to Building the Common Good
- Monasteries Are Indispensable to Modern Society
- Silence and Solitude Reveal the Presence of God
OTHER NEWS: 8 - 10 OCTOBER
- Audiences
- Other Pontifical Acts
___________________________________________________________
NEVER SURRENDER TO THE LURE OF PESSIMISM
VATICAN CITY, 9 OCT 2011 (VIS) - Benedict XVI today made a pastoral visit to
Lamezia Terme and Serra San Bruno, located in the region of Calabria in
southern Italy. He began the day by travelling by plane from Ciampino
airport in Rome to Lamezia Terme where he celebrated Mass at an industrial
area on the outskirts of the town.
"In this Sunday's liturgy we heard the parable narrating the wedding feast
to which many guests were invited", said the Holy Father in his homily. "The
image of a banquet is often used in Scripture to indicate joy in communion
and in the abundance of the Lord's gifts. ... Many people were invited, but
something unexpected happened: they refused to participate in the feast,
they had other things to do". However this did not deter the king who was
organising the feast. "He was not discouraged but sent his servants out to
invite others. The refusal of the first invitees had the effect of extending
the invitation to everyone, including the poor, the abandoned and the
disinherited. ... However there was a condition to attending this wedding
feast: guests had to wear the wedding robe. Entering the hall, the king
realised that someone had chosen not to wear it and, for this reason, that
guest was excluded from the feast".
To explain the significance of the "wedding robe", the Holy Father quoted
from a commentary written by St. Gregory the Great. "In a certain sense, the
guest who responded to God's invitation to participate in His banquet had
faith, which opened the door of the hall to him, but he lacked something
essential: the wedding robe, which is charity, love. ... In symbolic terms
the robe is woven with two threads: ... love of God and love of neighbour.
We are all invited to be guests of the Lord, to enter with faith into His
banquet, but we must wear and preserve the wedding robe, which is charity,
we must live with profound love for God and for neighbour".
"I have come to share with you the joys and hopes, the toils and
commitments, the ideals and aspirations of this diocesan community",
Benedict XVI told the faithful. "This beautiful region is seismic not only
in a geological sense, but also in structural, behavioural and social terms.
It is a land where problems are acute and destabilising, a land where
unemployment is a great concern, where an often pitiless criminality damages
the fabric of society, a land which seems to be in a perpetual state of
emergency. To that emergency you people of Calabria have responded with
surprising readiness, with an extraordinary capacity to adapt to
difficulties. ... Never surrender to the lure of pessimism, never close in
on yourselves. Draw on the resources of your faith and your human
capacities; strive to increase collaboration, to look after one another and
the public good; preserve the wedding robe of love".
The Pope then went on to recall that his visit coincided with the end of
the five-year pastoral plan of the local Church. He praised the initiatives
that had been completed during that time, including a school for the Social
Doctrine of the Church, expressing the hope that "such initiatives will
produce a new generation of men and women capable of promoting the common
good more than private interests". He also had words of encouragement for
clergy and lay people who work to prepare Christian couples for marriage and
the family "providing a response that is both evangelical and effective to
the many challenges facing the family and life today".
Finally, the Holy Father praised priests for the work they do, encouraging
them "increasingly to root your own spiritual lives in the Gospel, ...
detaching yourselves from the worldly consumer mentality which is such a
recurring temptation in the times in which we live. ... Use discernment and
ecclesiastical criteria to evaluate groups and movements", he said.
"Do not be afraid to live and bear witness to the faith in the various
fields of society, in the multifarious situations of human life", he
concluded, addressing the faithful. "Thanks to the light of faith and the
force of charity, you have every reason to be strong, trusting and
courageous".
PV-ITALY/ VIS
20111010 (720)
LAY PEOPLE MUST CONTRIBUTE TO BUILDING THE COMMON GOOD
VATICAN CITY, 9 OCT 2011 (VIS) - "I know that there are various Marian
shrines here in Calabria and that popular piety is very vibrant", said the
Pope in his remarks preceding the Angelus this morning. He invited the
faithful to continue to practice that piety "in the light of the teaching of
Vatican Council II, of the Apostolic See and of your pastors".
The Holy Father went on: "Let us also invoke the intercession of the
Blessed Virgin for the most serious social problems of this area and of all
Calabria, especially those affecting the world of work, of the young and of
people with disabilities. They require greater attention from everyone,
particularly the institutions. In communion with your bishops I invite you,
the lay faithful, not to fail to use your skills and responsibilities to
contribute to the construction of the common good".
Following the celebration of the Eucharist and the Angelus, the Pope went
to the episcopal residence of Lamezia Terme here he had lunch with local
bishops. He also offered lunch to the poor at the local Caritas canteen who
ate the same menu as the Pope and his entourage. At 4.45 p.m. he boarded a
helicopter to travel to Serra San Bruno.
PV-ITALY/ VIS
20111010 (220)
MONASTERIES ARE INDISPENSABLE TO MODERN SOCIETY
VATICAN CITY, 9 OCT 2011 (VIS) - At 5.15 p.m. today, the Holy Father arrived
by helicopter at Serra San Bruno, then continued his journey by car to the
Carthusian monastery of Sts. Stephen and Bruno. He was greeted on the square
in front of the monastery by Bruno Rosi, mayor of Serra San Bruno, then
addressed some words to the many faithful from the local area who had
gathered there to see him.
The Pope recalled the visit made to Serra San Bruno by John Paul II in
1984, noting that it is "a great privilege" to have a "'citadel' of the
spirit" such as the Carthusian monastery on one's local territory.
"Monasteries have an important, I would say indispensable, role", he said.
"Their purpose today is to 'improve' the environment, in the sense that
sometimes the air we breathe in our societies is unhealthy, it is polluted
by a non-Christian mentality, at times even a non-human mentality, because
it is dominated by economic interests, concerned only with worldly things
and lacking a spiritual dimension.
"In such a climate not only God but also our fellow man is pushed to the
margins, and we do not commit ourselves to the common good. Monasteries,
however, are models of societies which have God and fraternal relations at
their core. We have great need of them in our time".
Benedict XVI completed his remarks by exhorting the faithful of Serra San
Bruno "to treasure the great spiritual tradition of this place, and seek to
put it into practice in your daily lives".
PV-ITALY/ VIS
20111010 (270)
SILENCE AND SOLITUDE REVEAL THE PRESENCE OF GOD
VATICAN CITY, 9 OCT 2011 (VIS) - Having addressed the local people of Serra
San Bruno, the Holy Father entered the Carthusian monastery of Sts. Stephen
and Bruno where he was greeted by the prior, Fr. Jacques Dupont. At 6 p.m.
the Pope presided at Vespers with the monastic community in the monastery
church.
In his homily the Pope explained that the aim of his visit was to confirm
the Carthusian Order in its mission, "more vital and important today than
ever before", he said. The spiritual core of the Carthusians, founded by St.
Bruno, lies in the desire "to enter into union of life with God, abandoning
everything which impedes such communion, allowing oneself to be seized by
the immense love of God and living from that love alone", through solitude
and silence.
Technological progress, the Holy Father noted, has made man's life more
comfortable but also "more agitated, even convulsive". The growth of the
communications media means that today we run the risk of virtual reality
dominating reality itself. "People are increasingly, even unwittingly,
immersed in a virtual dimension, thanks to the audiovisual images that
accompany their lives from morning to evening. The youngest, having been
born in this state, seem to fill each vacant moment with music and images,
almost as if afraid to contemplate the void. ... Some people are no longer
capable of remaining silent and alone".
This situation of modern society and culture "throws light on the specific
charism of the Carthusian monastery as a precious gift for the Church and
for the world, a gift which contains a profound message for our lives and
for all humanity. I would summarise it in these terms: by withdrawing in
silence and solitude man, so to speak, 'exposes' himself to the truth of his
nakedness, he exposes himself to that apparent 'void' I mentioned earlier.
But in doing so he experiences fullness, the presence of God, of the most
real Reality that exists. ... Monks, by leaving everything, ... expose
themselves to solitude and silence so as to live only from what is
essential; and precisely in living from the essential they discover a
profound communion with their brothers and sisters, with all mankind".
This vocation, the Pope went on, "finds its response in a journey, a
lifelong search. ... Becoming a monk requires time, exercise, patience. ...
The beauty of each vocation in the Church lies in giving time to God to work
with His Spirit, and in giving time to one's own humanity to form, to grow
in a particular state of life according to the measure of maturity in
Christ. In Christ there is everything, fullness. However we need time to
possess one of the dimensions of His mystery. ... At times, in the eyes of
the world, it seems impossible that someone should spend his entire life in
a monastery, but in reality a lifetime is hardly sufficient to enter into
this union with God, into the essential and profound Reality which is Jesus
Christ".
"The Church needs you and you need the Church", the Holy Father told the
monks at the end of his homily. "You, who live in voluntary isolation, are
in fact at the heart of the Church; you ensure that the pure blood of
contemplation and of God's love flows in her veins".
Following the celebration, the Holy Father met with the monastic community
in the refectory, he signed the visitors book then visited a cell and the
infirmary of the monastery. He then returned by helicopter to Lamezia Terme
whence he departed by plane for Rome at 8 p.m.
PV-ITALY/ VIS
20111010 (610)
AUDIENCES
VATICAN CITY, 10 OCT 2011 (VIS) - The Holy Father today received in separate
audiences:
- Bishop Barthelemy Adoukonou, secretary of the Pontifical Council for
Culture, accompanied by members of his family.
- Bishop Giuseppe Sciacca, secretary general of the Governorate of Vatican
City State, accompanied by members of his family.
AP/ VIS
20111010 (60)
OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS
VATICAN CITY, 10 OCT 2011 (VIS) - The Holy Father appointed Fr. Nuno Bras da
Silva Martins, rector of the major seminary of "'Cristo Rei' dos Olivais",
as auxiliary of the patriarchate of Lisbon (area 3,735, population
2,233,000, Catholics 1,867,000, priests 608, permanent deacons 75, religious
1,559), Portugal. The bishop-elect was born in Vimeiro, Portugal in 1963 and
ordained a priest in 1987. Since his ordination he has worked as a vice
pastor, editor of a diocesan weekly newspaper and professor of theology. He
has published a number of works on theological subjects and was rector of
the Pontifical Portuguese College in Rome from 2002 to 2005.
On Saturday 8 October it was made public that the Holy Father:
- Appointed Cardinal Renato Raffaele Martino, president emeritus of the
Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, as his special envoy to
celebrations marking the centenary of the cathedral of Yangon, Myanmar, due
to take place on 8 December.
- Accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the diocese of
Sonsonate, El Salvador, presented by Bishop Jose Adolfo Mojica Morales, upon
having reached the age limit, appointing Bishop Fabio Reynaldo Colindres
Abarca, military ordinary for El Salvador, as apostolic administrator "ad
nutum Sanctae Sedis" of the same diocese.
- Appointed Fr. Marek Solarczyk of the clergy of the diocese of
Warszawa-Praga, Poland, pastor of the cathedral, as auxiliary of the same
diocese (area 3,300, population 1,138,000, Catholics 1,098,000, priests 643,
religious 1,542). The bishop-elect was born in Wolomin, Poland in 1966 and
ordained a priest in 1992. Having gained his doctorate in theology from the
Pontifical Academy of Theology in Warsaw he worked as vice pastor in a
number of parishes. From 2005 to 2009 he was vice rector of the diocesan
seminary and continues to teach in high schools and the seminary.
NEA:NA:RE/ VIS
20111010 (310)
_____________________________________________
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