(Vatican Radio) Message of Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, Prefect of the Congregation for the Eastern Churches at the Memorial Lecture in honor of Archbishop Benedict Mar Gregorios – Pontifical Urbanianum College, Rome, Saturday, 17 October 2015.
Your Beatitudes Cardinal George Alencherry and Cardinal Mar Cleemis,
Honorable Ambassador Sreenivasan,
Your Excellencies,
Reverend Father Rector and brother Priests, Sisters, my dear friends,
We have gathered together for a most propitious occasion: to recall the person of Archbishop Benedict Mar Gregorios, second Metropolitan of the Syro-Malankara Church in view of the approaching Centenary celebration of his birth. The visit of the Major Archbishops to Rome for the Synod of Bishops has made this possible, along with the generous participation of the honorable Ambassador.
1. It is not my purpose to expound upon the life and vision of Mar Gregorios; I myself have come to learn about this revered figure. I would like to note, however, how very important it is to celebrate such great figures in the life of the Church. A Church is the communion of believers, who receive and transmit the precious gift of faith in many diverse ways. A bishop holds a unique place in this process of extending the life of the Church throughout time and space. In a still more particular way does the Head and Father of sui iuris Church exercise this responsibility. Not only did the man we remember today, Archbishop Mar Gregorios, lead the Syro-Malankara Church for four decades, but he led it through a key time of growth and formation.
2. In a certain sense, Mar Gregorios reflects the early life of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church; he was himself a fruit of the Reunion Movement. The young Varghese Thangalathil was inspired by Mar Ivanios, who ordained him to the holy priesthood and entrusted to him the care of the newborn Church. It became, by the end of the Mar Gregorios’s life, a mature and integrated part of the Catholic Church both in India, as manifested his Presidency of the Catholic Bishop’s Conference, and in the world, as manifested by his participation at the Second Vatican Council and reception of Pope St John Paul II in Trivandrum.
3. Every true pastor is a bridge: from man to God, from the past to the future, from the local community to the rest of the Body of Christ. Archbishop Mar Gregorios can surely be seen as a consummate bridge for souls. In particular, he can be an intercessor for the ecumenical movement and, through his promotion of education, for secularists to faith in Christ. These are the tasks, which Providence has assigned especially to the Syro-Malankara Church, in light of its historical and social circumstances. For all her faithful, then, Benedict Mar Gregorios should remain a guide.
4. Lastly, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, I note that the late Archbishop’s legendary love of nature, combined with his solicitude for the material needs of the poor, is particularly timely and relevant to us all. As Pope Francis has reminded us in the Encyclical Letter Laudato Si: “Today, however, we have to realize that a true ecological approach always becomes a social approach; it must integrate questions of justice in debates on the environment, so as to hear both the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor” (n. 49). With great interest, I look forward to hearing details about the man whom God called forth nearly a hundred years ago to play such a key role in the Church, especially in our beloved Malankara Catholic Church. Thank you.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Speaking ahead of the Angelus at the conclusion of the Holy Mass on Sunday, Pope Francis appealed once again for peace in the Holy Land. “I am following with great concern the situation of high tension and violence that afflicts the Holy Land,” he said. “In this moment,” he continued, “there is need of great courage and great strength of soul in order to say ‘No’ to hatred and vengeance, and to carry out acts of peace.”
Pope Francis prayed that God might strengthen both political leaders and people, that they might have to courage to oppose violence and to take concrete steps aimed at decreasing tensions. In the present middle-east context, he said, peace in the Holy Land is more crucial than ever: “God, and the good of humanity, seek this of us.”
(from Vatican Radio)…
Homily of His Holiness Pope Francis
Mass of the Twenty-Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time
with the Rite of Canonization
Sunday, 18 October 2015
Today’s biblical readings present the theme of service. They call us to follow Jesus on the path of humility and the cross.
The prophet Isaiah depicts the Servant of the Lord (53:10-11) and his mission of salvation. The Servant is not someone of illustrious lineage; he is despised, shunned by all, a man of sorrows. He does not do great things or make memorable speeches; instead, he fulfils God’s plan through his humble, quiet presence and his suffering. His mission is carried out in suffering, and this enables him to understand those who suffer, to shoulder the guilt of others and to make atonement for it. The abandonment and sufferings of the Servant of the Lord, even unto death, prove so fruitful that they bring redemption and salvation to many.
Jesus is the Servant of the Lord. His life and death, marked by an attitude of utter service (cf. Phil 2:7), were the cause of our salvation and the reconciliation of mankind with God. The kerygma, the heart of the Gospel, testifies that his death and resurrection fulfilled the prophecies of the Servant of the Lord. Saint Mark tells us how Jesus confronted the disciples James and John. Urged on by their mother, they wanted to sit at his right and left in God’s Kingdom (cf. Mk 10:37), claiming places of honour in accordance with their own hierarchical vision of the Kingdom. Their horizon was still clouded by illusions of earthly fulfilment. Jesus then gives a first “jolt” to their notions by speaking of his own earthly journey: “The cup that I drink you will drink… but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared” (vv. 39-40). With the image of the cup, he assures the two that they can fully partake of his destiny of suffering, without, however, promising their sought-after places of honour. His response is to invite them to follow him along the path of love and service, and to reject the worldly temptation of seeking the first place and commanding others.
Faced with people who seek power and success, the disciples are called to do the opposite. Jesus warns them: “You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant” (vv. 42-44). These words show us that service is the way for authority to be exercised in the Christian community. Those who serve others and lack real prestige exercise genuine authority in the Church. Jesus calls us to see things differently, to pass from the thirst for power to the joy of quiet service, to suppress our instinctive desire to exercise power over others, and instead to exercise the virtue of humility.
After proposing a model not to imitate, Jesus then offers himself as the ideal to be followed. By imitating the Master, the community gains a new outlook on life: “The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (v. 45). In the biblical tradition, the Son of Man is the one who receives from God “dominion, glory and kingship” (Dan 7:14). Jesus fills this image with new meaning. He shows us that he enjoys dominion because he is a servant, glory because he is capable of abasement, kingship because he is fully prepared to lay down his life. By his passion and death, he takes the lowest place, attains the heights of grandeur in service, and bestows this upon his Church.
There can be no compatibility between a worldly understanding of power and the humble service which must characterize authority according to Jesus’ teaching and example. Ambition and careerism are incompatible with Christian discipleship; honour, success, fame and worldly triumphs are incompatible with the logic of Christ crucified. Instead, compatibility exists between Jesus, “the man of sorrows”, and our suffering. The Letter to the Hebrews makes this clear by presenting Jesus as the high priest who completely shares our human condition, with the exception of sin: “We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin” (4:15). Jesus exercises a true priesthood of mercy and compassion. He knows our difficulties at first hand, he knows from within our human condition; the fact that he is without sin does not prevent him from understanding sinners. His glory is not that born of ambition or the thirst for power; it is is the glory of one who loves men and women, who accepts them and shares in their weakness, who offers them the grace which heals and restores, and accompanies them with infinite tenderness amid their tribulations.
Each of us, through baptism, share in our own way in Christ’s priesthood: the lay faithful in the common priesthood, priests in the ministerial priesthood. Consequently, all of us can receive the charity which flows from his open heart, for ourselves but also for others. We become “channels” of his love and compassion, especially for those who are suffering, discouraged and alone.
The men and women canonized today unfailingly served their brothers and sisters with outstanding humility and charity, in imitation of the divine Master. Saint Vincent Grossi was a zealous parish priest, ever attentive to the needs of his people, especially those of the young. For all he was concerned to break the bread of God’s word, and thus became a Good Samaritan to those in greatest need.
Saint Mary of the Immaculate Conception devoted her life, with great humility, to serving the least of our brothers and sisters, especially the children of the poor and the sick.
The holy spouses Louis Martin and Marie-Azélie Guérin practised Christian service in the family, creating day by day an environment of faith and love which nurtured the vocations of their daughters, among whom was Saint Therese of the Child Jesus.
The radiant witness of these new saints inspires us to persevere in joyful service to our brothers and sisters, trusting in the help of God and the maternal protection of Mary. From heaven may they now watch over us and sustain us by their powerful intercession.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) The program for Pope Francis’ Apostolic Voyage to Kenya, Uganda, and the Central African Republic was released on Saturday. The November 25-30 journey will be Pope Francis’ first visit to Africa as Pope.
The five day visit will include a visit to a poor neighbourhood in Nairobi, Kenya; a visit to the Anglican and Catholic martyrs’ shrines in Namugongo, Uganda; and a visit to a refugee camp in the Central African Republic.
Below, please find the program for Pope Francis’ Apostolic Voyage to Kenya, Uganda, and the Central African Republic:
Wednesday 25 November 2015
07:45 Departure from Rome Fiumicino to Nairobi, Kenya
17:00 Arrival at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi
Welcome ceremony at the State House
18:00 Courtesy visit to the President of the Republic at the State House in Nairobi
18:30 Meeting with the civil authorities of Kenya and with the diplomatic corps
Thursday 26 November 2015
08:15 Interreligious and Ecumenical Meeting in the Salon of the Apostolic Nunciature in Nairobi
10:00 Holy Mass on the Campus of the University of Nairobi
15:45 Meeting with clergy, religious men and women, and seminarians, at the athletic field of St Mary’s School
17:30 Visit to the United Nations Office in Nairobi (U.N.O.N.)
Friday 27 November 2015
08:30 Visit to the poor neighbourhood of Kangemi in Nairobi
10:00 Meeting with young people in Kasarani Stadium
11:15 Meeting with the Bishops of Kenya in the VIP room of the Stadium
15:10 Farewell ceremony at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi
15:15 Departure by air from Nairobi for Entebbe
16:50 Arrival at Entebbe International Airport in Uganda
Saturday 28 November 2015
08:30 Visit to the Anglican Sanctuary of the Martyrs at Namugongo
09:00 Visit to the Catholic Sanctuary of the Martyrs at Namugongo
09:30 Holy Mass for the Martyrs of Uganda in the area of the Catholic Sanctuary
15:15 Meeting with yout at Kololo Air Strip in Kampala
17:00 Visit to the House of Charity of Nalukolongo
18:00 Meeting with the Bishops of Uganda in the Residence of the Archbishop
19:00 Meeting with priests, religious men and women, and seminarians in the Cathedral
Sunday 29 November 2015
09:00 Farewell ceremony at the Airport of Entebbe
09:15 Departure by air from Entebbe for Bangui in the Central African Republic
10:00 Arrival at M’Poko International Airport of Bangui
Welcome ceremony
11:00 Courtesy visit to the president of the state of transition in the Presidential Palace “de la Renaissance”
11:30 Meeting with civic leaders and with the diplomatic corps
12:15 Visit to a refugee camp
13:00 Meeting with the Bishops of the Central African Republic
16:00 Meeting with the Evangelical Community at the headquarters of FATEB (the Faculty of Evangelical Theology of Bangui)
17:00 Holy Mass with priests, religious men and women, catechists, and young people at the Cathedral of Bangui
19:00 Confessions of some young people; and the beginning of the Vigil of Prayer in front of the Cathedral
Monday 30 November 2015
08:15 Meeting with the Muslim community in the central Mosque of Koudoukou in Bangui
09:30 Holy Mass in the Stadium at the Barthélémy Boganda Sports Complex
12:15 Departure ceremony at M’Poko International Airport of Bangui
12:30 Departure by air for Rome
18:45 Arrival at Rome/Ciampino Airport
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) The Synod of Bishops meeting in Rome took the opportunity on Saturday of celebrating the 50th anniversary of the creation of the Synod of Bishops by Pope Paul VI. The Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Vincent Nichols, was among the Synod Fathers speaking on the event. Cardinal Nichols spoke on the “Importance and Influence of the Synod of Bishops on the Life and Mission of the Church in Europe.”
Below, please find the full text of Cardinal Vincent Nichols’ address:
Commemoration of the 50th Anniversary
of the Creation of the Synod of Bishops
17 October 2015,Aula Paolo VI
Importance and influence of the Synod of Bishops in the life and mission of the Church in Europe
Reflections of H.E. Cardinal Vincent Nichols
Archbishop of Westminster
Most Holy Father, Your Eminences, your Excellencies, Reverend Fathers, Sisters, Ladies and Gentlemen; brothers and sisters in Christ.
It is an honour to speak to you about the Synod of Bishops from a European perspective and in relation to the impact of the Synod of Bishops on Europe. Some of you may well be asking, ‘Why is someone from that offshore island speaking on behalf of this great continent?’ For an answer you have to ask His Eminence Cardinal Baldisseri.
i) Collegialitas Affectiva
I will begin in a very personal manner. I started my seminary formation in 1963. In September of that year, at the age of 17, I arrived in the Venerable English College, here in Rome,shortly before the Second Session of the Second Vatican Council. For these meetings of the Council all the bishops of England and Wales resided in the English College. For a young 17 year old, the sight of so many bishops was a wonder to behold! I had never seen anything like it. I have become more accustomed to it now! But it was there that I learned my first lesson in the meaning of Episcopal Collegiality, ‘ collegialitas affectiva ‘.
If I remember correctly, during that second session, each morning the bishops came down the College staircase, one by one, and were collected at the door, individually, and brought by car to St Peter’s Basilica for the day’s proceedings of the Council. It was the prince bishop escorted fittingly to his important task.
By the third and fourth sessions of the Council, however, the scene had changed. Now the bishops came down the stairs together, walking out of the doors of the College and on into the Piazza Farnese where they all entered a bus and travelled together for their day’s work. Now they were brothers in the Lord, bound together in the challenge of a shared task, being fashioned into an affective college in a new spirit flowing through the Church. The Synod of Bishops, created in 1965, was a key way in which that spirit was to be expressed and strengthened. Without doubt, it has fashioned strong and enriching relationships between bishops and between bishops and the Holy Father which would have been unimaginable before the Council.
ii) Eurocentrism
My task however is to reflect on the Synod and Europe. In doing so, I ask you to remember that in the course of the 20th Century, Europe was possibly the most clearly divided of all the continents. Two great wars and a long period of ‘cold war’, two powerful atheistic ideologies, had rendered the continent and its people into powerful warring factions, wars that had cost millions of lives and fashioned inflexible attitudes and stereotypes in the minds of all. Europe was not only deeply divided but also absorbed within itself.
Slowly, the meetings and the work of the Synod of Bishops have contributed to the dissolving of our Euro-centric vision not only of the world but also of the Church. Some may speak of it as the internationalisation of the Curia. But it goes deeper than that.
It has been to do with the profound discovery that the riches of the Church are to be found well beyond its European heartland and the European-led missionary endeavours of the last century and before. For example, here in this Aula, I first came to appreciate the perseverance of the missionary endeavour of the Church in Japan which over a hundred years has born little explicit fruit and yet is continued to this day. The struggles and heroism of the Church in China have been eloquently expressed here simply by the enforced absence of Chinese bishops from this hall. The conflicts faced by the Church in parts of Africa and the vitality of the theological traditions of the Church in South America have all been presented here and shared with us European bishops. We now appreciate particularly that the ‘resourcing’ of the life and thought of the Church comes from many places, thanks be to God.
For me, one of the most exhilarating moments was during the 1998 Special Assembly of the Synod for Oceania. Mass was celebrated in the St Peter’s Basilica to the sound of conch shell horns and enriched processions and great garlands of flowers evoking the space, beauty and freshness of remote Pacific islands where Christianity was still in its first generation of disciples. How well I remember the joy of bishops from those islands, some of whom had travelled for a week in order to arrive in Rome. They had never imagined that such an embrace awaited them here in Rome. I thank God for the rich variety of Catholic life that the Synods have brought to us all, dissolving for ever the Europe-centred imaging of the Church which can so inhibit our discussions.
iii) Synods of European Bishops
The contribution made to Europe by the institution of the Synod of Bishops is, I suppose, most clearly seen in the two Special Assemblies for Europe of the Synod of Bishops which have been held, the first in 1991 and the second in 1999. The memory of these two Synods brings to mind some of the great figures who have held leading roles here: in 1991 Cardinal Lustiger of Paris, Cardinal Glemp from Krakow, Cardinal Vlk from Prague and Cardinal Ruini as Relator. In their lives they embodied some of the great themes of the Church in Europe: relations with Judaism in the light of the Holocaust; the battle for hearts and minds of the Church in Poland; the virtual imprisonment of the Church in Czechoslovakia where for so many years Cardinal Tomasek, Cardinal Vlk’s predecessor, had his every move monitored by government observers, both through the windows of his residence and from within. Yet, he was a rock, or, as was told to a friend of mine, he was held by the people, living under the hammer of communism, to be, and I quote, ‘the father of our nation.’
That first Synod was intended in the mind of Pope St John Paul II to get the Church breathing with both lungs, both Catholic and Orthodox, even though the first attempt that was needed was to get West and East to breath together. I have to say that, from many points of view, this Special Assembly did not fully live up to those expectations. Suspicions ran too deeply. The language that was used was that of the ‘exchange of gifts’, the East having the gifts of strong tested faith and martyrdom and the West being seen as decadent and affluent. For some the ‘exchange of gifts’ became a request for financial support in return for the holiness of heroic faith. The level of self-criticism among us all was not profound. We, from the West, knew something of the challenges we were facing, of secularism, humanism and a culture of indifference, but were still far from facing its depth. Some from the East, in 1991, were looking for a return to a past position of social strength, if not dominance.
There was no final document from this Synod. The distance between East and West was greater than had been realised and the wounds from seventy years of submission to the Soviet Union still hurt too much.
Eight years later the Second European Special Assembly of the Synod contributed to a fine Papal Exhortation, ‘ Ecclesia in Europa ‘ (28 June 2003). At this Synod there was much more mutuality. In the West we were learning about the real depth and radical nature of the challenges we were facing and were beginning to find a focus on the task of the New Evangelisation, in countries in which socialisation had been accepted as also providing essential Evangelisation. But culture and Gospel were pulling apart rapidly. And the Churches of the East were finding that with their new openness what flooded in most powerfully were the materialistic centred philosophies and cultures of the West, dissolving the religious resolve of many, which for some had been intertwined with heroic resistance to a foreign occupier. Our problems were finding common ground and our encouragement and inspiration, one for another, becoming much more mutual. Europe, from the Atlantic to the Urals, as envisaged by Pope St John Paul II, was becoming more of a reality, but not a Christian or Catholic reality as might have been hoped.
iv) Other expressions of Collegiality in Europe
It would be amiss of me not to include in this reflection the emergence and work of the Council of European Bishops’ Conferences. Although there have been times of tension around the institution it has, without doubt, continued and complemented the work of the European Synods of Bishops and effectively served the collegiality enjoyed in this continent. Its Presidents have included some of the great leaders of European Catholic life: Cardinal Martini, Cardinal Hume, Cardinal Vlk and its present President, Cardinal Erdö. The annual meetings of the Presidents of every Bishops’ Conference in Europe, which have taken place every year since 1996, are vital exchanges of the joys and trials in which both common ground and differences of perspectives are now more easily understood and readily embraced. So too the three great European Ecumenical Assemblies organised by CCEE have made a significant contribution especially to the faith and enthusiasm of the many young people who attended them.
In these ways the work of the Synod of Bishops has been carried forward in Europe.
v) Challenges
There are, of course, challenges facing the Synod itself:
* It is difficult to measure the impact of the Post-Synodal documents. Some stand out:Familiaris Consortio; Christifiledes Laici, Pastores Dabo Vobis, Sacramentum Caritatisand Evangelii Gaudium.Others have had less impact.
* Relationships with the media, especially in western European countries, are always delicate, as a free, investigative press and a desire to control the flow of information are always going to clash.
* Patterns of consultation prior to these Synods on the Family have been invigorating but also frustrating, partly because the questions were fashioned in a manner not conducive to a widespread response and partly because a public consultation carries with it responsibilities of accountability which we have been asked not to fulfil.
* Also, I must confess, that the methodology of the Synod meeting itself demands much stamina! But despite shortfalls, the Synod of Bishops is a transforming gift in the Church, with even more potential yet to be realised.
vi) The present moment
Now the world has changed. Europe is not what it was even in 1999. Any parish in the Diocese of Westminster, for example, will have parishioners from 30 or 40 different nations. As we know too well, the migration towards Europe of peoples from wars, violence and poverty in Arab States and from elsewhere is challenging our European sense of presence and status in the world. The European Union is facing critical questions and tensions, especially the temptation to remain a fortress, protecting itself and its material benefits and comforts, which, of course, have been drawn from the world over. Each country has its own challenges and difficulties. Europe has its enemies and must act with vigilance. But, and I quote, ‘It is right that we should be silent when children sleep, but not when they die.’
The last meeting of the Presidents of European Bishops’ Conference took place a few weeks ago, in Jerusalem, in the presence of the Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops. Not only were we able to give encouragement to our Christian brothers and sisters in the Holy Land, but we could also see some of our common challenges. Among them, perhaps first among them, were the challenges facing the family today and the strength which the family brings. We spoke of the cultural tsunami of ‘gender theories’ sweeping through sections of our societies. At the same time, we recognised together that the family is the first witness to the faith in society, the first workshop in the faith and the backbone of every parish, the first tutoring in humanity for every person. Europe knows clearly now this challenge and the need to find ways of holding before people the full invitation of marriage in the Lord, its faithfulness, its fruitfulness and its witness. We bishops of Europe, now together, are ready to play our part in this Synod. We thank God with full hearts for all that we have received in this Aula since the institution of the Synod of Bishops fifty years ago and all that we are receiving in these days and those still to come.
Dixi. Gratias.
+ Cardinal Vincent Nichols
Archbishop of Westminster
(from Vatican Radio)…