(Vatican Radio) Archbishop Zygmunt Zimowski, President of the Pontifical Council for Health Care Workers, on Friday released his message for the 63rd World Leprosy Day .
The theme of this year’s message is ‘ To live is to help to live ‘.
World Leprosy Day is traditionally help around the world on the last Sunday of January. It was begun in 1954 by French philanthropist and writer, Raoul Follereau, as a way to raise awareness of this deadly ancient disease.
The full message is below:
Message of H.E. Msgr. Zygmunt Zimowski, the President of the Pontifical Council for Health Care Workers (for Health Pastoral Care), on the Occasion of the Sixty-Third World Leprosy Day
To live is to help to live
(31 January 2016)
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
This sixty-third World Leprosy Day, which has the title ‘To Live is to Help to Live’, constitutes for everyone an opportunity to continue with the fight against this terrible infection, as well as to weaken the ostracism that often burdens the people who carry its unmistakable signs.
This is a marginalisation that can be traced back to a natural sense of self-defence in relation to a disease which at one time was incurable, and to an almost ‘ancestral’ fear which, however, today no longer has any reason to exist given that leprosy can be defeated and those who have been cured of it can go back to living.
The distancing, like the exclusion from of social life, of those who carry its signs are, therefore, totally unreasonable and indeed they provoke further and unjustified sufferings in totally innocent people who already suffer as a result of the lesions – which are often also accompanied by disability – that are provoked by this disease. In this sense, those who have good health are called to help those who still today are the victims of an unjustified social stigma to live in a dignified way.
This constitutes a concrete sign of solidarity, of authentic fraternity, and of mercy, in line with what – during this Jubilee Year – we are taught by Pope Francis, who points out to us that we must manage to help them, ‘looking them in the eye’, without being ‘afraid to touch them’, so that ‘this gesture of help may also be a gesture of communication…a gesture of tenderness’. [1]
This commitment, in addition, forms a part of that concern that the Holy Father himself emphasised in his Message for the forthcoming World Day of the Sick which will be celebrated on 11 February in the Holy Land: ‘In Mary’s concern we see reflected the tenderness of God. This same tenderness is present in the lives of all those persons who attend the sick and understand their needs, even the most imperceptible ones, because they look upon them with eyes full of love’. In this concrete and disinterested gesture one can truly recognise in action the theme chosen for this event: to live is to help to live.
Making its own the commitment of the Church to caring for people with leprosy and supporting those who have been cured of it, and in order to increase the sensitivity of men and women of good will, our Pontifical Council for Health Care Workers, cooperating, respectively, with the Sasakawa Foundation and the Raoul Follereau Foundation, has organised two study days which will be held on Friday 10 and Saturday 11 June 2016 in the Vatican.
At that event, those taking part will be able to be present at the celebration of the Eucharist presided over by Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square on Sunday 12 June, on the occasion of the Jubilee for the Sick and Disabled.
I take this opportunity to send my greetings to those with leprosy and to thank dutifully those who do all they can for all those people who have to be treated and cared for, or who are relegated to the margins of society because of this disease, which is still endemic in various countries of Asia, South America and Africa. Equally, we must feel ourselves committed to finding a new impetus against this disease, broadening activities involving information and prevention, but above all fostering, as a gesture of true ‘com-passion’, the social and occupational reintegration of those who have been cured of it and who – despite the fact that they carry the marks of this disease on their bodies – have maintained intact their dignity as persons.
In this work let us take as an example, and be inspired by, many Saints and Blesseds, as well as by men and women of good will, who have dedicated, and at times sacrificed, their lives to be at the side of people with Hansen’s disease, even at a time when leprosy was clinically incurable and a source of innumerable deaths. Amongst the most representative we can but remember St. Damien de Veuster, St. Marianne Cope, the Blessed Jan Beyzym, and Albert Schweitzer.
In expressing by this Message the gospel nearness that the Church still and always intends to bear witness to, both with people who are afflicted by leprosy and with those who take care of them, I entrust the celebration of this World Leprosy Day to the maternal care of the Most Holy Mary, in whose steps we may follow in order to cross – with care and joy – the threshold of the Holy Door of Mercy and meet He who is true Life.
[1] Pope Francis, Angelus (15 February 2015).
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Archbishop Rino Fisichella, President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization, held a press conference on Friday (29 Jan) to discuss the Missionaries of Mercy to be sent out into the world by Pope Francis for the Jubilee of Mercy and the temporary exposition of the body of St. Padre Pio of Pietrelcina in St. Peter’s Basilica for the Lenten season.
Archbishop Fisichella also gave some statistics on the number of pilgrims participating in Jubilee Year events taking place in Rome, saying that “as of today 1,392,000 people have participated in Jubilee events,” of which some 40% come from abroad, mostly from French or Spanish speaking countries.
Yet he reminded all the most important element of the Jubilee Year is not numbers, but an experience of God’s mercy. “A Holy Year of mercy goes well beyond numbers, for it is intended to touch the hearts and the minds of people in order to assist them in coming to understand the ways in which God’s great love manifests itself in their daily lives. It is a time during which to assess our lives of faith and to understand how we are capable of conversion and renewal, both of which come from recognizing the importance of remaining focused upon what is essential.”
Archbishop Fisichella also related the life stories of the two saints whose relics are in Rome for the Jubilee Year, Saint Leopold Mandić and Saint Padre Pio of Pietrelcina, giving the details of where and when their remains will be exposed.
He went on to speak of the Missionaries of Mercy who Pope Francis will send out into the world on Ash Wednesday, recalling the words of the Bull of Indiction, Misericordiae vultus . “The Missionaries of Mercy are a select number of priests who have received from the Pope the charge to be privileged witnesses in their respective Churches of the extraordinariness of this Jubilee event. It is only the Pope who nominates these Missionaries, not the Bishops, and it is he who entrusts them with the mandate to announce the beauty of the mercy of God while being humble and wise confessors who possess a great capacity to forgive those who approach the confessional. The Missionaries, who come from every continent, number over 1,000.”
The full text of Archbishop Fisichella’s speech is below:
“It is has been almost two months now since Pope Francis opened the Holy Door of St. Peter’s. Since that moment, the Doors of Mercy have been opened all around the world. The incredible number of people who have registered for these events allows us to acknowledge how this insight of Pope Francis, his idea of having this Extraordinary Jubilee, has answered a true need of the people of God who are receiving this event of grace with great joy and enthusiasm. We can conclude from this participation that the Jubilee is being intensely lived in all the world and in every local Church, where this time of grace is being organized as a genuine form of renewal for the Church and as a particular moment of the new evangelization.
Every day we receive thousands of pictures and documents from around the world attesting to the commitment and the faith of believers. Yet all of this activity has not stopped a substantial number of pilgrims from arriving in Rome during this period. According to the data available to us on a daily basis, as of today 1,392,000 people have participated in Jubilee events. An interesting detail is that 40% of those who have attended come from abroad, speaking largely Spanish and French. We have registered pilgrims from Bangladesh, Hong Kong, Korea, Kenya, Mozambique, El Salvador, New Zealand, Argentina, Mexico, the Fiji Islands, Russia, Belarus, the Seychelles, the Ivory Coast, Chad, Kuwait, the U.S.A., Albania and from many other countries. I would like to reiterate that this is not the criteria by which to judge the actual outcome of the Jubilee. A Holy Year of mercy goes well beyond numbers, for it is intended to touch the hearts and the minds of people in order to assist them in coming to understand the ways in which God’s great love manifests itself in their daily lives. It is a time during which to assess our lives of faith and to understand how we are capable of conversion and renewal, both of which come from recognizing the importance of remaining focused upon what is essential. In any case, a general evaluation of the Jubilee cannot be made after only two months but must be done at its conclusion. All of the other considerations at the moment are incomplete and temporary and, thus, do not merit particular attention.
During this period, Pope Francis has carried out two particular signs of his concrete witness of mercy. On Friday, December 18, he opened the Door of Charity in the homeless shelter, “Don Luigi di Liegro”, where he celebrated Holy Mass in the refectory. On January 15, he visited the nursing home for the aged, “Bruno Buozzi” in Torrespaccata, after which he went to Casa Iride where he spent time with those in vegetative states who are being assisted by their families. These signs possess a symbolic value before all of the many needs that are present in society today. They are, however, intended to stir in all of us a greater awareness of the many situations of need in our cities and to offer a small response of caring and aid.
There are two particular events that now merit our attention. The first pertains to the presence in Rome of the urns containing the relics of Saint Leopold Mandić and Saint Padre Pio of Pietrelcina. Such an occasion is of great significance for it is an unprecedented event, given the stories of these two saints who spent their lives in the service of the mercy of God. Padre Leopold (1866-1942) was canonized by John Paul II on December 16, 1983 and is less well known than Padre Pio. Yet, his hunger for holiness spread beyond the Church of Padua, where he lived the major part of his life and where his memory and his relics remain. Originally from Croatia, this Capuchin father dedicated all of his life to the confessional. For almost thirty years, he spent from ten to fifteen hours a day in the secrecy of his cell, the very place which became a confessional for thousands of people who found in their relationships with him the privileged witness of forgiveness and of mercy. Some of his brothers noted that he was “ignorant and too lenient in forgiving everyone without discernment.” Yet, his simple and humble response to this charge leaves one speechless: “Should the Crucified blame me for being lenient, I would answer Him: Lord, you gave me this bad example. I have not yet reached the folly of your having died for souls.” Padre Pio (1887-1968), who was canonized in 2002 and also by John Paul II, does not require lengthy presentations. This simple Capuchin friar spent his entire life at San Giovanni Rotondo without ever leaving that town. Certainly, during his life, some in Rome caused him to suffer, but his holiness always prevailed. In the silence of obedience, he also became a privileged witness of mercy, dedicating all of his life to the celebration of the Sacrament of Reconciliation. We are grateful to the Capuchin Fathers and to the Bishops of the Dioceses of Padoa and Manfredonia-Vieste-San Giovanni Rotondo for having responded so graciously to the wish of the Pope that the relics of these two saints remain in Rome for a period of time during the Jubilee.
The program is quite simple. The urns containing the relics will arrive in Rome on February 3 where they will be placed in the Church of San Lorenzo Fuori le Mura. The church will be open to the faithful starting at 15:00 with a celebration of reception. The relics will remain in San Lorenzo until 20:30 the following day, during which time there will be a number of celebrations reserved for the vast extended Franciscan Family. An all-night vigil is being organized in the Jubilee Church of San Salvatore in Lauro, which will begin at 22:00 on February 4. The prayer will continue until the following day, February 5, with various celebrations and will conclude with Holy Mass at 14:00 presided by His Excellency Michele Castoro, the Archbishop of Manfredonia-Vieste-San Giovanni Rotondo. At 16:00, a procession with the two urns containing the relics will begin from San Salvatore in Lauro and then proceed the entire length of Via della Conciliazione in order to arrive at the sagrato of St. Peter’s Basilica. There on the sagrato, His Eminence Angelo Cardinal Comastri, the Archpriest of St. Peter’s Basilica, will receive the relics and after a moment of prayer, will then accompany the relics into the Basilica where they will be placed in the central nave before the Altar of the Confession for people to venerate. The relics will remain in St. Peter’s for veneration until the morning of February 11 when, after the Holy Mass of thanksgiving at 7:30 am at the Altar of the Chair, they will be returned to their original homes. It is opportune to note that on February 10, Ash Wednesday, the Basilica will remain closed in the morning for the General Audience and then, in the afternoon, Holy Mass will be celebrated in the Basilica to mark the beginning of Lent. Thus, those who wish to venerate the relics are kindly asked to choose to do so on one of the previous days and to follow along the Jubilee reserved walkway in order to enter through the security check point as rapidly as possible.
As previously noted, the second event pertains to the celebration that will take place on Ash Wednesday when the Holy Father will give the mandate to the Missionaries of Mercy. As attested to in the Bull of Indiction, Misericordiae vultus , the Missionaries are to be a “sign of the Church’s maternal solicitude for the People of God, enabling them to enter the profound richness of this mystery so fundamental to the faith. There will be priests to whom I will grant the authority to pardon even those sins reserved to the Holy See, so that the breadth of their mandate as confessors will be even clearer. They will be, above all, living signs of the Father’s readiness to welcome those in search of his pardon. They will be missionaries of mercy because they will be facilitators of a truly human encounter, a source of liberation, rich with responsibility for overcoming obstacles and taking up the new life of Baptism again. They will be led in their mission by the words of the Apostle: ‘For God has consigned all men to disobedience, that he may have mercy upon all’” (Rom 11:32).
Thus, the Missionaries of Mercy are a select number of priests who have received from the Pope the charge to be privileged witnesses in their respective Churches of the extraordinariness of this Jubilee event. It is only the Pope who nominates these Missionaries, not the Bishops, and it is he who entrusts them with the mandate to announce the beauty of the mercy of God while being humble and wise confessors who possess a great capacity to forgive those who approach the confessional. The Missionaries, who come from every continent, number over 1,000. I am delighted to announce that there are Missionaries coming from many distant countries and, among these, some of which have a uniquely significant importance such as: Burma, Lebanon, China, South Korea, Tanzania, United Arab Emirates, Israel, Burundi, Vietnam, Zimbabwe, Latvia, East Timor, Indonesia, Thailand, and Egypt. There will also be Oriental Rite priests.
We have received a great response for participation but must place a limit on the large number of requests in order to ensure that the specific sign value, one which expresses how truly special the initiative is, be maintained. All of the Missionaries have received the permission of their respective diocesan Bishops or Religious Superiors and will make themselves available to those requesting their services throughout the entirety of the Jubilee but, most especially, during the Lenten Season.
There will be 700 Missionaries arriving in Rome. Pope Francis will meet with them on February 9 in order to express his feelings regarding this initiative which will certainly be one of the most touching and significant of the Jubilee of Mercy. On the following day, only the Missionaries of Mercy will concelebrate with the Holy Father, during which time they will receive the “mandate”, as well as the faculty to absolve those sins reserved to the Holy See. An interesting story may help to capture the pastoral interest that this initiative has garnered around the world. Father Richard from Australia will visit 27 communities in his rural Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle where there is only one church and no priests in residence. Traveling in a camper, he will journey from community to community as a “Missionary of Mercy on Wheels”! This is but an example of the way in which the Jubilee is meant to reach all, allowing everyone to touch the closeness and the tenderness of God.
Finally, regarding other Jubilee events, the first Jubilee Audience will be held in St. Peter’s Square on Saturday, January 30. Pope Francis has responded generously to the many requests he has received from pilgrims who wish to meet him. Consequently, one Saturday a month has been added to the official calendar for a special audience, one which will be in addition to the regular Wednesday Audiences. This first audience already has 20,000 people registered. Another event of particular interest is the Jubilee for the Curia, the Governorate, and Institutions connected to the Holy See to be held on February 22. This celebration will begin with a reflection given by Father Marco Rupnik at 8:30 am in the Paul VI Hall. After this meditation, there will be a procession through St. Peter’s Square which will pass through the Holy Door. Holy Mass will then be celebrated by Pope Francis at 10:00.
The Jubilee continues to following its course and we are certain that, in accord with the desires of Pope Francis, it will be an important occasion “to live out in our daily lives the mercy which the Father constantly extends to all of us.”
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis received the participants in the annual Plenary Session of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) on Friday in the Vatican.
Listen to Christopher Altieri’s report:
The CDF is tasked with a range of responsibilities, from determining the doctrinal soundness of theological and catechetical works, to advising and giving judgment on matters relating to areas like medicine and bioethics, to conducting canonical trials in cases of child sex abuse by clergy – work for which the Holy Father had words of praise and encouragement.
Pope Francis focused his broad-ranging remarks around three distinct points: the inter-relatedness of the corporal and spiritual works of mercy; the importance of collegiality in ecclesial life and governance; the complementary relationship of charismatic and hierarchical gifts in the life and mission of the Church.
“When, in the evening of life,” said Pope Francis, “it shall be asked of us what we did to feed the hungry and give drink to the thirsty, equally shall it be asked of us if we helped people find their way out of doubt, if we were committed to welcoming sinners – admonishing or correcting them, if we were capable of combatting ignorance, especially that ignorance which regards Christian faith and the good life.”
The Pope went on to praise the initiatives of the CDF in building and strengthening rapports with various bishops’ conferences, especially those of Europe, which, he said, “contribute to stirring up in the faithful a new missionary élan and a greater openness to the transcendent dimension of life, without which Europe risks losing that humanistic spirit which she loves and defends.”
Pope Francis went on to explain that the Church’s hierarchical structure and the movements of the Spirit in the Church’s life are both gifts of God to be cherished and nurtured, especially through an ever-greater appreciation of Synodality. “The relation between the hierarchical and charismatic gifts, in fact, directs us to its Trinitarian root, in the bond that unites the divine Logos incarnate and the Holy Spirit, who is always a gift of the Father and the Son.”
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) The 51 st International Eucharistic Congress is taking place in Cebu, Philippines drawing thousands of delegates from around the globe to reflect on the central role of the Eucharist in the life of the Church.
Among those attending the week-long event is the Vatican’s top diplomat at the United Nations in New York, Archbishop Bernardito Auza . Archbishop Auza, the Holy See’s Permanent Observer at the UN in New York, is Filipino himself so his visit to Cebu is a return home.
He tells our correspondent in Cebu, Sean Patrick Lovett, that the centrality of the Eucharist in the Catholic faith is directly related to issues of international political concern such as hunger, poverty and human rights.
Listen to Sean Patrick Lovett’s interview with Archbishop Auza:
Archbishop Auza says he has been pleasantly surprised to hear so many of the week’s discussions centre on hunger and cultural and interreligious dialogue to name a few of the social justice themes on the agenda. “The question of justice, the question of the environment, all of these things are the biggest themes which are also discussed at the United Nations,” he adds.
The Holy See and the Catholic Church, he observes, have much to contribute to the International community and to the United Nations by way of offering a unique religious perspective, and new points of view to dialogue on issues of global concern.
He stresses that all these universal concerns are coming “into our reflection on the Eucharist” in Cebu.
Hunger, interfaith dialogue, social justice “from the perspective of the Eucharist”
Viewing hunger and cultural and interfaith dialogue “from the perspective of the Eucharist,” he notes, “could be very, very interesting and surprising at the same time but indeed for us, [the Eucharist] is …the source, also the inspiration of our participation in the international community. And it is from that particular perspective – our religious perspective – that the international community is also very interested in our participation, in our point of view. That’s why the Holy Father practically opened the [UN] Summit this year on the 2030 Development Agenda where the number one goal is to eradicate hunger and eliminate extreme poverty.”
Bringing love for the Eucharist into dialogue with other faiths
The Vatican Nuncio recounts how the Eucharist “is always available to people” in the Philippines where almost every church, he says, offers 24/7 Eucharistic adoration or other alternatives for veneration if a chapel should be closed. “So bringing this great love of the Eucharist also to the social justice concern to eradicate hunger, eradicate extreme poverty – to bring this love for the Eucharist into the question of dialogue with culture, dialogue with other religions, is something that really expands our vision and also expands our love and our own idea of the Eucharist. So we see the Eucharist as the source also of all these dialogues: that we have to go out into the world and try to be useful, try to be friendly, try to live with others in a harmonious manner.”
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Let us pray to God that the weakness that leads us to sin will never lead to corruption. This was the theme of Pope Francis homily at daily Mass on Friday morning, a theme he has taken up many times. Beginning with the first reading, which tells the story of David and Bathsheba, the Pope distinguished between regular sinners and those who are corrupt. Unlike regular sinners, the corrupt do not feel the need for forgiveness.
Listen to Christopher Wells’ report:
One can sin often, and always return to God seeking forgiveness, never doubting that it will be obtained. It is especially when one becomes corrupt – when one no longer sees the need to be forgiven – that problems begin.
The corrupt feel they don’t need God
This is the attitude King David assumes when he becomes enamoured with Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah, an army officer fighting on the frontlines. The Pope outlined the story narrated in the Scripture. After David seduced Bathsheba, he found out that she was pregnant, and he hatched a plot to cover-up his adultery. He recalled Uriah from the front and encouraged him to visit his wife. Uriah, though, did not go to his wife, but stayed with the other officers in the king’s palace. David then tried to get him drunk, but this plan also fails.
“This puts David in a difficult position,” the Pope said. “But he says to himself, ‘I can do it.’ He sends a letter, as we read: ‘Place Uriah up front, where the fighting is fierce. Then pull back and leave him to be struck down dead.’ He condemns him to death. This man, this faithful man [Uriah] – faithful to the law, faithful to his people, faithful to his king – carries his own death sentence.”
The security of corruption
“David is a saint, but also a sinner.” He falls on account of lust, the Pope said, and yet God still loves him very much. However, the Pope notes, “the great, the noble David” feels so secure – “because the kingdom was strong” – that after having committed adultery he does everything in his power to arrange the death of a loyal man, falsely passing it off as an accidental death in battle:
“This is a moment in David’s life that makes us see a moment through which we all can pass in our life: it is the passage from sin to corruption. This is where David begins, taking the first step towards corruption. He has the power, he has the strength. And for this reason, corruption is a very easy sin for all of us who have some power, whether it be ecclesiastical, religious, economic, political… Because the devil makes us feel certain: ‘I can do it’.”
Sinners, yes; but not corrupt
Corruption – from which David was saved by the grace of God – had wounded the heart of that “courageous youth” who had faced the Philistine with a sling and five small stones. “Today I want to emphasize only one thing,” the Pope concluded. “There is a moment where the attitude of sin, or a moment where our situation is so secure and we see well and we have so much power” that sin “stops” and becomes “corruption.” And “one of the ugliest things” about corruption is that the one who becomes corrupt thinks he has “no need for forgiveness.”
“Today, let us offer a prayer for the Church, beginning with ourselves, for the Pope, for the Bishops, for the priests, for consecrated men and women, for the lay faithful: ‘Lord, save us, save us from corruption. We are sinners, yes, O Lord, all of us, but [let us] never [become] corrupt!’ Let us ask for this grace.”
(from Vatican Radio)…