Vatican City, 26 May 2015 (VIS) – The Ordinary Council of the Synod of Bishops today completed its two-day meeting to prepare for the 14th Ordinary General Assembly on the theme “The vocation and the mission of the family in the Church and in the contemporary world”, to be held from 4 to 25 October in the Vatican. The Council was chaired by the Holy Father, who met with Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri and Bishop Fabio Fabene (respectively secretary general and under-secretary of the Synod of Bishops) last week, and whose presence underlined the importance he attributes to the current Synod path.
Yesterday, 25 May, and this morning, the Council closely examined the plan for the Instrumentum laboris resulting from the Relatio Synodi of the Extraordinary Assembly, integrated with numerous contributions provided by the answers to the questions included in the Lineamenta sent by the Episcopal Conferences and other competent entities, as well as the many contributions received by the Secretariat General from various ecclesial bodies and individual faithful. An extensive and detailed study of the text has generated proposals and contributions for its integration and improvement. The text, thus revised and shared by the members of the Council, has been entrusted to the Secretariat General for its final redaction, translation in various languages and publication, which will take place in a few weeks’ time.
Following the examination of the Instrumentum laboris, proposals from the Secretariat General for updating the working method for the upcoming Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops were presented….
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has sent a Message to the Procurator-General of the Congregation of the Oratory, Fr. Mario Alberto Avilés, C.O., to mark the fifth centenary of the birth of the founder of the “Oratorians”, St. Philip Neri. The Message was sent to coincide with the liturgical memory of St. Philip Neri on May 26 th , though the Saint’s 500 th birthday is later this year: on July 15 th .
St. Philip Neri was a priest of Rome, and a renowned pastor and confessor in his own time, who had special care for the poor children of the city, founding for them a school and later a college. H e also instituted the Visit to the Seven Churches – a pilgrimage that took people from all walks of life on long treks to visit the ancient basilicas in the Roman countryside.
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In his Message, Pope Francis writes, “Thanks also to the apostolate of St. Philip, commitment to the salvation of souls returned to be a priority for the Church; once again, the Church recovered its understanding that pastors have to be with their people to guide and support their faith.” The Pope goes on to say, “St. Philip Neri remains a luminous model of the permanent mission of the Church in the world.”
The Congregation of the Oratory, which St. Philip Neri founded, is the first example of secular priests living a communal life: The idea of the Oratory soon spread through Italy and Europe, and today, Oratories can be found in many nations throughout the world.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has sent a Message to the Procurator-General of the Congregation of the Oratory, Fr. Mario Alberto Avilés, C.O., to mark the fifth centenary of the birth of the founder of the “Oratorians”, St. Philip Neri. The Message was sent to coincide with the liturgical memory of St. Philip Neri on May 26th,…
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