Abu Dhabi – A new Catholic church dedicated to Saint Paul was inaugurated today, Friday, June 12, in Mussaffah, in the presence of Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of State.
The day before, the initial opening ceremony was also attended by the Minister for Culture Nahyan bin Mubarak, who in his speech stressed that the opening of a new church highlights the “religious tolerance” of national leaders, while Cardinal Parolin noticed how the consecration and dedication of a new church also represents “a sign of vitality” of the local church community, and Bishop Paul Hinder, OFM, apostolic Vicar for South Arabia, expressed gratitude “for the stability and the peace that we enjoy in this Country”.
UAE is home to about 900 thousand Catholics: the community is made up of immigrant workers who mostly come from other Asian countries: Philippines and India. The new Catholic church, the second built in the Country – where today Cardinal Parolin celebrated the first Mass, with the rites of consecration and dedication, before thousands of faithful – will offer its pastoral service primarily to the more than 60 thousand Catholics residing in the region that includes the towns of Mussaffah, Mohammed bin Zayed City and Khalifa City. The church will celebrate Masses in English, Arabic, Malayalam and Tagalog.
During Mass – concelebrated also by Bishop Hinder and Camillo Ballin MCCJ Bishop, Apostolic Vicar of North Arabia – Cardinal Parolin also recalled “the good will of past and present rulers, for their generosity in providing the land for the construction of new churches in the Country”. The permission granted by local authorities for the construction of new places of worship – said the Vatican secretary of State – is “a concrete sign of hospitality that the Emirates has now shown towards Christians”, and testifies their commitment in favor of “a society based on coexistence and mutual respect”.
The place of worship was built on land granted by the Municipality of Abu Dhabi, on the orders of local authorities. “The Christians who live in this country – said Cardinal Parolin yesterday, Thursday, June 11 – need opportunities to grow in their faith and witness it. My message to the Christian community is that may they be supported in their desire to grow in faith and to be charitable to others”….
(Vatican Radio) The Vatican’s Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, on Thursday inaugurated the second Catholic Church to be opened in Abu Dhabi, one of the United Arab Emirates. St Paul’s Church is in the Musaffah industrial area. The emirate’s other Catholic Church is Joseph’s Cathedral in Al Mushrif. The 1200-seat church will have daily…
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(Vatican Radio) Thursday 11 June was the Holy See’s “National Day” at Expo Milan 2015, the theme of which is “Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life”.
Vatican authorities and Milan’s Archbishop, Cardinal Angelo Scola, were present at Expo for a series of events celebrating the Holy See’s presence at the International Exposition, a presence that highlights the value of the Catholic Church’s contribution in “feeding the planet” and providing “energy for life” in every sense of the word.
But the Holy See is present at Expo every day of the six-month long Exposition with its very own yellow and white Pavilion.
The leitmotiv of the Pavilion has been chosen from the Gospel and is written, in 12 different languages on the external walls of the building. It reads: “Not by bread alone” and “Give us our bread today”.
Vatican Radio’s Linda Bordoni visited Expo 2015 in Milan and spent some time at the Holy See Pavilion where a guide pointed out the strong symbolic relevance of food and how the creators’ of the Pavilion have focused on its deeply social and collective significance as well.
Take a brief tour of the Pavilion with Linda Bordoni:
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Thursday 11 June was the Holy See’s “National Day” at Expo Milan 2015, the theme of which is “Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life”. Vatican authorities and Milan’s Archbishop, Cardinal Angelo Scola, were present at Expo for a series of events celebrating the Holy See’s presence at the International Exposition, a presence that…
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(Vatican Radio) Journey, service and giving freely of oneself: true Christian witness encompasses all of these characteristics. That’s what Pope Francis stressed in his Homily at Santa Marta Thursday. The Pope stressed that followers of Jesus are called to serve and to proclaim the Gospel freely – and not to be deceived by the belief that Salvation comes through riches.
In his Homily, the Pope drew inspiration from the Gospel passage in which Jesus sends out his disciples to proclaim the Good News. A disciple of the Lord, he said, is called to set out on a journey that is not a “stroll” but a mission to proclaim the Gospel and spread the good news of Salvation.
Announce the Good News through an inner journey
This, he added, “is the task Jesus gives to his disciples. If a disciple stays still and doesn’t go out, he does not give back to others what he has received in Baptism; he is not a true disciple of Jesus. He lacks the missionary; he can’t get out of himself [to be able] to bring something good to others “:
“The journey of the disciple of Jesus is to go beyond [the limits] to bring this good news. But there is another pathway for the disciple of Jesus: the inner journey, the path within, the path of the disciple who seeks the Lord every day, through prayer, in meditation.”
If the disciple does not continuously seek God in this way, the Pope said, the Gospel that he takes to others will be weak, watered down – a Gospel with no strength.
A disciple of Jesus who does not serve others is not Christian
“This dual journey,” the Pope said, “is the double path that Jesus wants from his disciples.” It also requires service, the Pope stressed. “A disciple who does not serve others is not Christian. The disciple has to do what Jesus preached in those two pillars of Christianity: the Beatitudes and the ‘protocol’ on which we shall be judged, Matthew (chapter) 25.” These two pillars, he stressed, correctly “frame” evangelical service.
If a disciple is not journeying to serve, there’s no reason for the journey, Pope Francis added. “If his life is not for service, there is no point in living the Christian life [it: non serve, per vivere, come Cristiano].”
One can become boastful and think, “’Yes, I am Christian; I am at peace, I confess, I go to Mass, I fulfill the commandments,’” the Pope cautioned. But the true disciple is called to service to the other: “service to Jesus in the sick, the imprisoned, the hungry, those with no shirt on their back,” the Pope said. Jesus wants this of us because He is to be found in them: “Service to Christ in others.”
Serve freely vs the deceitfulness of riches
Pope Francis then recalled Jesus’ words to His disciples, “Freely you have received, freely [you must] give.” “The journey of service is free,” the Pope stressed, “because we have received Salvation for free, pure grace, none of us has bought salvation, none of us has deserved it. It [comes to us through] pure grace of the Father in Jesus Christ, in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ”:
“It ‘s sad when you find Christians who forget this Word of Jesus:’ Freely you have received, freely give’,” the Pope added. “It’s sad when you find Christian communities – whether it be parishes, religious congregations, dioceses – which forget this ‘gratuity’ because behind this…there is the deception [to assume] that salvation comes from riches, from human power.”
Pope Francis summed up his Homily with these three key words: “ Journey , as a sending off to announce [the Gospel]. Service : the life of a Christian is not for himself; it is for others, as was the life of Jesus.” And the third word, the Pope noted, is “ Gratuity” or “Freely:”
“Our hope is in Jesus Christ [so that He] gives us such hope as [that which] never disappoints. ” But, he cautioned, “when hope is in how comfortable the journey is, or the hope is in a selfish desire to get things for oneself and not to serve others or when hope is in riches or in the small securities of this world, all this collapses. The Lord himself makes it collapse.”
(from Vatican Radio)…