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VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE
ANNO XXII - N° 47
DATA 01-03-2012
Summary:
- JESUS, OUR CONTEMPORARY
- SOLIDARITY WITH CHRISTIANS IN THE HOLY LAND
- BENEDICT XVI'S PRAYER INTENTIONS FOR MARCH
___________________________________________________________
JESUS, OUR CONTEMPORARY
Vatican City, 1 March 2012 (VIS) - A congress organised by the Cultural
Project Committee of the Italian Episcopal Conference (CEI) was held recently
in Rome on the theme: "Jesus, Our Contemporary". For the occasion, Benedict
XVI sent a message to
Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, archbishop of Genoa and president of the CEI.
"The name and the message of Jesus of Nazareth", the Pope writes, "frequently
arouse interest and exert strong attraction, even among people who do not
succeed in adhering to His word of salvation. We are therefore impelled to
evoke an increasingly
profound and thorough understanding, in ourselves and everywhere, of the real
figure of Jesus Christ. This can only spring from the hermeneutic of faith,
placed in a fruitful relationship with historical reason. It was for this
purpose that I wrote my
two books on Jesus of Nazareth".
"On several occasions in the course of my pontificate, I have recalled the
need to give priority to opening a pathway to God in human hearts and lives.
... We cannot entrust our lives to an indefinite superior body or to a cosmic
force, but to God Whose
face as Father has been made familiar by the Son, 'full of grace and truth'.
Jesus is the key that opens the door of wisdom and love to us, that dispels
our loneliness and keeps hope alive in the face of the mystery of evil and
death. The life of Jesus
of Nazareth, in Whose name many believers in various countries of the world
today still face suffering and persecution, cannot therefore be confined to a
distant past but is crucial to our faith today.
"What does it mean", the Pope adds, "to say that Jesus of Nazareth, Who lived
between Galilee and Judea two thousand years ago is a 'contemporary' of every
man and woman alive today, and in every epoch? Romano Guardini explains it to
us in words that
remain as timely as when they were written: 'His earthly life entered into
eternity and in this way is related to every hour of earthly time, redeemed by
His sacrifice'".
"Jesus enters human history forever, where He lives on in all His beauty and
power in that frail body which is the Church, ever in need of purification but
also full of divine love. To Him she turns in the liturgy, to praise Him and
to receive authentic
life. The contemporaneity of Jesus is revealed in a special way in the
Eucharist, in which He is present with His passion, death and resurrection. It
is this that makes the Church contemporaneous with every human being, capable
of embracing all people
and all epochs because she is guided by the Holy Spirit in order to perpetuate
the work of Jesus in history".
___________________________________________________________
SOLIDARITY WITH CHRISTIANS IN THE HOLY LAND
Vatican City, 1 March 2012 (VIS) - Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, prefect of the
Congregation for the Oriental Churches, has sent a letter to the bishops of
the world concerning the traditional Good Friday collection for the Holy Land.
The letter, which also
bears the signature of Archbishop Cyril Vasil S.J., secretary of the
congregation, has the purpose of sensitising the Catholic Church around the
world with regard to the Holy Land, and of promoting initiatives of prayer and
fraternal charity towards
Christians of Jerusalem, Israel, Palestine and neighbouring countries.
"The Son of God made man, after having crossed this land announcing the
Kingdom and confirming the word with mighty works, wonders and signs, went up
to the Holy City to immolate Himself", reads the English-language version of
the letter. "From that
time, every Christian finds himself at home in that City and in that Land.
This is possible thanks to the pastors in this place, who, by the will of the
Lord Jesus, continue in our day also to gather our brothers and sisters in the
faith to celebrate
the love of Him Who 'makes all things new'.
"The Congregation for the Oriental Churches hereby reminds the bishops of the
entire world of the unceasing request of Pope Benedict XVI that the mission of
the Church in the Holy Places be generously supported. Although specifically
pastoral, this
mission at the same time offers a praiseworthy social service to all without
exception. In this way, fraternity, which can overcome division and
discrimination, increases and gives renewed impetus to ecumenical dialogue and
inter-religious
collaboration. This constitutes an admirable work of peace and reconciliation,
which is all the more necessary today, as we share the Holy Father’s
preoccupation 'for the people of those countries where hostilities and acts of
violence continue,
particularly Syria and the Holy Land'".
"This year, Good Friday seems more fitting than ever as a sign of the needs of
both pastors and faithful, which are bound up with the sufferings of the
entire Middle East. For the disciples of Christ, hostility is often the daily
bread which nourishes
the faith and sometimes makes the echo of martyrdom. Christian emigration is
exacerbated by the lack of peace, which tends to impoverish hope, changing it
into the fear of facing alone a future that seems to exist only in the
abandonment of one’s
own country.
"Nonetheless, as was the case for the Gospel’s grain of wheat, so the
trials of Christians in the Holy Land prepare without doubt a brighter
tomorrow. The dawning of this new day, however, requires support now for
schools, medical assistance,
critical housing, meeting places, and everything else that the generosity of
the Church has devised".
"We have the duty to restore the spiritual patrimony which we have received
from these Christians’ two millennia of fidelity to the truth of the
faith. We can and must do this by our prayer, by concrete assistance, and by
pilgrimages. The Year of
Faith, which marks the fiftieth anniversary of Vatican Council II, will
provide particular motivation for us to direct our steps towards that Land.
... Next Good Friday, around the Cross of Christ, let us be conscious of being
together with these
brothers and sisters of ours. May the loneliness that is at times strongly
felt in their situation be overcome by our fraternity".
Also made public today was a report prepared by the Custody of the Holy Land
(a province of the Order of Friars Minor with responsibility for the Holy
Places), listing the works carried out with the proceeds of the Good Friday
collection of 2011.
Restoration and maintenance has been carried out on numerous shrines, churches
and convents in the Holy Land including such places as Bethlehem, Jerusalem
(Gethsemane and the Shrine of the Flagellation, among others), Jaffa, Magdala
and Mount Tabor.
Other initiatives sought to improve welcome services for pilgrims.
A significant part of the proceeds was used to fund student scholarships, to
help small business, and to build houses, schools and areas for children.
Other recipients of aid included families, parish communities, the poor and
cultural institutions.
___________________________________________________________
BENEDICT XVI'S PRAYER INTENTIONS FOR MARCH
Vatican City, 1 March 2012 (VIS) - Pope Benedict's general prayer intention
for March is: "That the whole world may recognise the contribution of women to
the development of society".
His mission intention is: "That the Holy Spirit may grant perseverance to
those who suffer discrimination, persecution or death for the name of Christ,
particularly in Asia".
___________________________________________________________
Per ulteriori informazioni e per la ricerca di documenti consultare il
sito: www.wisnews.org e www.vatican.va
Il servizio del VIS viene inviato soltanto agli indirizzi di posta
elettronica che ne hanno fatto richiesta. Se per qualunque motivo
non si desidera continuare a riceverlo, si prega di visitare nostra pagina
dinizio:
http://212.77.1.245/news_services/press/vis/italinde.php
Copyright (VIS): Le notizie contenute nei servizi del Vatican
Information Service possono essere riprodotte parzialmente o totalmente
citando la fonte: V.I.S. - Vatican Information Service.
--Boundary_(ID_rG3RCuG701P5DWIG4slgMw)
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Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT
VISnews120301
VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE ANNO XXII - N° 47DATA 01-03-2012
Summary: - JESUS, OUR CONTEMPORARY -
SOLIDARITY WITH CHRISTIANS IN
THE HOLY LAND - BENEDICT XVI'S PRAYER INTENTIONS FOR MARCH ___________________________________________________________
JESUS, OUR CONTEMPORARY
Vatican City, 1 March 2012 (VIS) - A congress organised by the Cultural
Project Committee of the Italian Episcopal Conference (CEI) was held recently
in Rome on the theme: "Jesus, Our Contemporary". For the occasion, Benedict
XVI sent a message to
Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, archbishop of Genoa and president of the CEI.
"The name and the message of Jesus of Nazareth", the Pope writes,
"frequently arouse interest and exert strong attraction, even among people who
do not succeed in adhering to His word of salvation. We are therefore impelled
to evoke an increasingly
profound and thorough understanding, in ourselves and everywhere, of the real
figure of Jesus Christ. This can only spring from the hermeneutic of faith,
placed in a fruitful relationship with historical reason. It was for this
purpose that I wrote my
two books on Jesus of Nazareth".
"On several occasions in the course of my pontificate, I have recalled the
need to give priority to opening a pathway to God in human hearts and lives.
... We cannot entrust our lives to an indefinite superior body or to a cosmic
force, but to God
Whose face as Father has been made familiar by the Son, 'full of grace and
truth'. Jesus is the key that opens the door of wisdom and love to us, that
dispels our loneliness and keeps hope alive in the face of the mystery of evil
and death. The life of
Jesus of Nazareth, in Whose name many believers in various countries of the
world today still face suffering and persecution, cannot therefore be confined
to a distant past but is crucial to our faith today.
"What does it mean", the Pope adds, "to say that Jesus of Nazareth, Who
lived between Galilee and Judea two thousand years ago is a 'contemporary' of
every man and woman alive today, and in every epoch? Romano Guardini explains
it to us in words that
remain as timely as when they were written: 'His earthly life entered into
eternity and in this way is related to every hour of earthly time, redeemed by
His sacrifice'".
"Jesus enters human history forever, where He lives on in all His beauty
and power in that frail body which is the Church, ever in need of purification
but also full of divine love. To Him she turns in the liturgy, to praise Him
and to receive
authentic life. The contemporaneity of Jesus is revealed in a special way in
the Eucharist, in which He is present with His passion, death and
resurrection. It is this that makes the Church contemporaneous with every
human being, capable of embracing
all people and all epochs because she is guided by the Holy Spirit in order to
perpetuate the work of Jesus in history".
Vatican City, 1 March 2012 (VIS) - Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, prefect of the
Congregation for the Oriental Churches, has sent a letter to the bishops of
the world concerning the traditional Good Friday collection for the Holy Land.
The letter, which
also bears the signature of Archbishop Cyril Vasil S.J., secretary of the
congregation, has the purpose of sensitising the Catholic Church around the
world with regard to the Holy Land, and of promoting initiatives of prayer and
fraternal charity
towards Christians of Jerusalem, Israel, Palestine and neighbouring
countries.
"The Son of God made man, after having crossed this land announcing the
Kingdom and confirming the word with mighty works, wonders and signs, went up
to the Holy City to immolate Himself", reads the English-language version of
the letter. "From that
time, every Christian finds himself at home in that City and in that Land.
This is possible thanks to the pastors in this place, who, by the will of the
Lord Jesus, continue in our day also to gather our brothers and sisters in the
faith to celebrate
the love of Him Who 'makes all things new'.
"The Congregation for the Oriental Churches hereby reminds the bishops of
the entire world of the unceasing request of Pope Benedict XVI that the
mission of the Church in the Holy Places be generously supported. Although
specifically pastoral, this
mission at the same time offers a praiseworthy social service to all without
exception. In this way, fraternity, which can overcome division and
discrimination, increases and gives renewed impetus to ecumenical dialogue and
inter-religious
collaboration. This constitutes an admirable work of peace and reconciliation,
which is all the more necessary today, as we share the Holy Father’s
preoccupation 'for the people of those countries where hostilities and acts of
violence continue,
particularly Syria and the Holy Land'".
"This year, Good Friday seems more fitting than ever as a sign of the needs
of both pastors and faithful, which are bound up with the sufferings of the
entire Middle East. For the disciples of Christ, hostility is often the daily
bread which
nourishes the faith and sometimes makes the echo of martyrdom. Christian
emigration is exacerbated by the lack of peace, which tends to impoverish
hope, changing it into the fear of facing alone a future that seems to exist
only in the abandonment of
one’s own country.
"Nonetheless, as was the case for the Gospel’s grain of wheat, so the
trials of Christians in the Holy Land prepare without doubt a brighter
tomorrow. The dawning of this new day, however, requires support now for
schools, medical assistance,
critical housing, meeting places, and everything else that the generosity of
the Church has devised".
"We have the duty to restore the spiritual patrimony which we have received
from these Christians’ two millennia of fidelity to the truth of the
faith. We can and must do this by our prayer, by concrete assistance, and by
pilgrimages. The Year
of Faith, which marks the fiftieth anniversary of Vatican Council II, will
provide particular motivation for us to direct our steps towards that Land.
... Next Good Friday, around the Cross of Christ, let us be conscious of being
together with these
brothers and sisters of ours. May the loneliness that is at times strongly
felt in their situation be overcome by our fraternity".
Also made public today was a report prepared by the Custody of the Holy
Land (a province of the Order of Friars Minor with responsibility for the Holy
Places), listing the works carried out with the proceeds of the Good Friday
collection of 2011.
Restoration and maintenance has been carried out on numerous shrines, churches
and convents in the Holy Land including such places as Bethlehem, Jerusalem
(Gethsemane and the Shrine of the Flagellation, among others), Jaffa, Magdala
and Mount Tabor.
Other initiatives sought to improve welcome services for pilgrims.
A significant part of the proceeds was used to fund student scholarships,
to help small business, and to build houses, schools and areas for children.
Other recipients of aid included families, parish communities, the poor and
cultural
institutions.
Vatican City, 1 March 2012 (VIS) - Pope Benedict's general prayer intention
for March is: "That the whole world may recognise the contribution of women to
the development of society".
His mission intention is: "That the Holy Spirit may grant perseverance to
those who suffer discrimination, persecution or death for the name of Christ,
particularly in Asia".
Per ulteriori informazioni e per la ricerca di documenti consultare il
sito: www.wisnews.org e www.vatican.va Il servizio del
VIS viene inviato soltanto agli indirizzi di posta elettronica che ne
hanno
fatto richiesta. Se per qualunque motivo non si desidera continuare a
riceverlo, si prega di visitare nostra pagina dinizio: http://212.77.1.245/news_services/press/vi
/italinde.php
Copyright (VIS): Le notizie contenute nei servizi del Vatican
Information Service possono essere riprodotte parzialmente o totalmente
citando la fonte: V.I.S. - Vatican Information Service.
--Boundary_(ID_rG3RCuG701P5DWIG4slgMw)--
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