Vatican City, 9 January 2014 (VIS) – “The communion of the Church: memory and hope for Haiti five years after the earthquake” is the title of the conference beginning this morning in the Vatican. The event was organised by the Pontifical Council “Cor Unum” and the Pontifical Commission for Latin America in collaboration with the bishops of Haiti, and is a response to the Holy Father’s wish to maintain close attention to a country that continues to suffer the consequences of the earthquake, and to reiterate the Church’s closeness to the Haitian people during the reconstruction phase. It will above all offer the opportunity to present the balance of aid destined for the country and to analyse the results of the implementation of the projects carried out from 2010 to the present day.
In January 2010 the island of Haiti was afflicted by an earthquake, the epicentre of which was located near the capital, Port-au-Prince, causing the death of 230 thousand people and devastated the territory, destroying much of the infrastructure, thousands of homes, and all the hospitals on the island. According to Red Cross estimates, the disaster affected three million people.
The meeting is attended by representatives of the Holy See, the local Haitian church, and various episcopal conferences, workers from Catholic charitable organisations, religious congregations and various Holy See-accredited diplomatic representatives. The conference will begin at 9 a.m. in the St. Pius X building with greetings from Cardinal Marc Ouellet, P.S.S., president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, and a report from Cardinal Robert Sarah who, as president of “Cor Unum” until the end of 2014, managed the Holy Father’s donations to the local Church of the island. During the morning session, there will be a debate on the material and spiritual reconstruction process and there will be interventions by Cardinal Chibly Langlois, bishop of Les Cayes and president of the Episcopal Conference of Haiti, Archbishop Thomas Gerald Wenski of Miami, U.S.A., Alberto Piatti, president of the AVSI (Association of Volunteers in International Service) Foundation, engaged in a charitable works on the island, and Eduardo Marques de Almeida, former representative of the Inter-American Development Bank in Haiti. At 11.30 a.m. the delegates present will be received in audience by Pope Francis.
In the afternoon, there will be presentations by those who work in the context of reconstruction, to enable an exchange of experiences regarding the issue of international cooperation and the priorities and criteria for future action. At the end of the meeting, Msgr. Giampietro Dal Toso, secretary of “Cor Unum”, will give an overview of the problems that still remain to be resolved.
The conference will end with a Mass celebrated by Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin in the church of Santa Maria in Traspontina, at 6.30 p.m….
Vatican City, 9 January 2014 (VIS) – “The communion of the Church: memory and hope for Haiti five years after the earthquake” is the title of the conference beginning this morning in the Vatican. The event was organised by the Pontifical Council “Cor Unum” and the Pontifical Commission for Latin America in collaboration with the…
Read more
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis said only the Holy Spirit has the power to open our hearts to God and his love and not thousands of spirituality, yoga or zen courses. His words came during his homily at morning Mass on Friday celebrated in the Santa Marta residence.
Listen to this report by Susy Hodges:
The Pope’s reflections came from the day’s gospel reading that recounted how the apostles were terrified when they saw Jesus walking on water. And the reason for their terror, he explained, is that their hearts were hardened.
“Mirror” men and women and religious narcissists
Pope Francis said a person’s heart can be made of stone for many reasons, such as, for example, a painful experience in one’s life. But as he went on to point out, another reason for hardened hearts is because people are closed in on themselves.
“Creating a world within one self, all closed in. Closed within oneself, in one’s community or parish, but always closed in. And this closure can revolve around so many things. But let’s think about pride, self-sufficiency, thinking I am better than others, and vanity too, right? There are ‘mirror-men and women’ (who are wedded to their own image in the mirror), who are closed in on themselves and are constantly looking at themselves, right? These religious narcissists, right? But they have a hardened heart because they are closed in on themselves, they are not open. And they seek to defend themselves with these walls that they have created around themselves.”
Hardened hearts because of insecurity and fear
The Pope said these hardened hearts in people can also arise from a problem of insecurity, such as those who barricade themselves behind the laws and rules, as though inside a prison, to feel safer and follow these rules to the letter,
“When a heart becomes hardened, it’s not free and if it’s not free it’s because that person isn’t capable of love, that was the fate of the Apostle John in the first Reading. A love that’s perfect banishes fear: in love there’s no fear, because fear is expecting a punishment and a person who’s afraid doesn’t have a perfect love. He or she is not free. They are constantly afraid that something painful or sad will occur, that will cause their life to go badly or will endanger their eternal salvation… What an (over-active) imagination, because he or she can’t love. A person who isn’t capable of loving is not free. And their heart was hardened because they hadn’t learnt how to love.”
The Spirit makes us free and docile not yoga or zen courses
Pope Francis concluded his homily by stressing that only the Holy Spirit can teach us how to love and free us from our hardened hearts.
“You can follow a thousand catechism courses, a thousand spirituality courses, a thousand yoga or zen courses and all these things. But none of this will be able to give you the freedom as a child (of God). Only the Holy Spirit can prompt your heart to say ‘Father.’ Only the Holy Spirit is capable of banishing, of breaking that hardness of heart and making it … soft? No, I don’t like that word, … ‘docile’. Docile towards the Lord. Docile when it comes to the freedom to love.”
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis will receive in audience on Saturday participants in a conference marking the 5th anniversary of the devastating earthquake in Haiti. Around 230.000 people were killed and up to 3 million others were affected by the earthquake which struck close to the capital, Port-au-Prince, in January 2010.
Philippa Hitchen reports:
The one day conference entitled “The Communion of the Church: Memory and hope for Haiti 5 years after the earthquake” has been organised by the Pontifical Commission for Latin America and Cor Unum in collaboration with the bishops of Haiti. Its aim is to review the reconstruction efforts that have taken place over the past five years and to express the Pope’s ongoing concern for those who continue to suffer as a result of this natural disaster.
Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet, head of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, will welcome participants, followed by an introduction from Cardinal Robert Sarah, who as outgoing president of Cor Unum, has been in charge of the Pope’s donations to the people of Haiti. Among those taking part in the conference will be representatives of Catholic charitable organisations and religious institutes working in the island nation, as well as members of the diplomatic corps accredited to the Holy See.
Pope Francis will meet with the group at the end of the morning session, while Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin will preside at a Mass marking the close of the conference in the Rome church of Santa Maria in Traspontina.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Four French Imams, who’ve been part of a Catholic-Muslim delegation visiting the Vatican this week, have expressed their shock and condemnation of the attack on the satirical magazine ‘Charlie Hebdo’. Wednesday’s attack by masked gunmen in Paris left 12 people dead, with several others in critical condition.
In a statement at the end of their 3 day visit to Rome, the delegation, which includes Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, urges all believers to combat hatred and all forms of violence which destroy life, violate the dignity of the human person and undermine peaceful coexistence between peoples.
Pope Francis, who met with the delegation just as the attack was taking place, denounced the killings and offered prayers for the victims and their families. Also taking part in the delegation was Bishop Michel Dubost, who heads the French bishops’ council for interfaith relations. Philippa Hitchen talked to him about the Muslim leaders’ reactions to the attack and about the difficulty of promoting interreligious dialogue in France today…
Listen:
Bishop Dubost says it was terrible for the Muslim leaders as it was an attack on democracy which requires freedom of information – even if you don’t agree with that kind of information. He says he was very glad to be with the imams at that moment to show affection and understanding of the difficulties they face.
The Catholic leader says he was impressed with Pope Francis who spoke a little French to each of the imams, speaking to their hearts and asking them to pray for him – as believers, he says, we have a necessity to pray for each other…
Asked whether he was surprised by the attack, Bishop Dubost says people were aware this kind of crime could happen, but what strikes him most is how difficult the national dialogue has become. “We planned our meeting here,” he says, “to show that dialogue is a necessity….and I think interreligious dialogue is a kind of model for society…..if we want to build peace, we have to go and meet people…..who are not of our culture”
Bishop Dubost says he lives in a kind of condominium where all his neighbours are Muslims and there are no problems beyond the usual issues of noisy neighbours, but the difficulty is when people believe Muslims are changing the culture and way of thinking. He gives the example of Muslims not wanting men and women to go to the same swimming pool together, but he says “we have to listen to each other and try to find a way.”
Noting that it takes at least a decade for new immigrants to integrate into society, he says a key problem facing all people today is how to deal with teenagers. While French families may have a grandmother or family figure who listens to the youngsters, many immigrant families have no roots and so are especially vulnerable to the indoctrination they find on the web.
To fight against this kind of evil, Bishop Dubost says it’s vital to have a common project, to help in the education of teenagers and to bring hope, working together for the good of all society.
The Catholic-Muslim delegation included Tareq Oubrou, rector of the Bordeaux mosque, Mohammed Moussaoui, President of the Union of French Mosques, Azzedine Gaci, rector of the mosque in Villeurbanne, and Djelloul Seddiki, director of the Institute of Théologie of Paris’ Grand Mosque.
(from Vatican Radio)…