(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Friday paid a surprise visit to the San Carlo community at the Italian Centre for Solidarity (CeIS) near Castelgandalfo in the Alban hills. Founded by Father Mario Picchi, the San Carlo community works to prevent and combat social exclusion, focusing especially on those suffering from drug addiction.
Listen to Christopher Wells’ report:
The unscheduled visit came as part of the Pope’s plan to make a concrete gesture linked to the works of mercy on one Friday of every month throughout this Jubilee year.
The President of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of New Evangelization, Archbishop Rino Fisichella, who accompanied the Holy Father, said the 55 young people and the volunteers living at the community centre were astonished to see him arrive unannounced and without a security escort.
The Archbishop said Pope Francis spent time talking to each one of them and listening to their stories of battling drug dependency. Founded in the late 1960s, the centre also welcomed Pope Paul VI and Pope John Paul II, who met with its young residents during an official visit in September 1983.
“With this sign,” the Archbishop said, Pope Francis “wanted to emphasize the need for continued confidence in the power of Mercy, which continues to support our pilgrimage and which, even in the coldest hours, makes us feel the warmth of God’s presence.”
(from Vatican Radio)…
Charity is the “beating heart” in the life
of the Church and the “compass” which orients our steps. Pope Francis spoke on
Friday morning, 26 February, to the participants in an international conference
organized by the Pontifical Council Cor Unum on the 10 th
anniversary of the publication of Benedict XVI’s encyclical Deus Caritas Est.
The following is the English text of the Holy Father’s address which was
delivered in Italian. Dear Brothers and Sisters, I welcome you on the occasion of the
International Conference on the theme: “Love will never end (1 Cor 13:8):
Prospects ten years on from the Encyclical Deus Caritas Est ”, organized
by the Pontifical Council Cor Unum, and I thank Monsignor Dal Toso for the
words of greetings addressed to me on behalf of all of you. The first Encyclical of Pope Benedict xvi
concerns a theme that allows us to retrace the entire history of the Church,
which is also a history of charity. It
is a story of the love received from God, to be carried to the world: this
charity received and given is the fulcrum of the history of the Church and of
the history of each one of us. The act
of charity is not, in fact, simply almsgiving to ease one’s conscience. It includes a “loving attentiveness towards
the other” (cf. Evangelii Gaudium , 199), which considers the other as
“one with himself” (cf. St Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, ii-ii, q. 27, art.
2), and desires to share friendship with God.
Charity, therefore, is at the centre of the life of the Church and, in
the words of St Thérèse of the Child Jesus, is truly the heart of the Church. Both for individual members of the faithful
and for the Christian community as a whole, the words of Jesus hold true: that
charity is the first and greatest of the commandments: “You shall love the Lord
your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind,
and with all your strength…. You shall love your neighbour as yourself” (Mk
12:30-31). The present Jubilee Year is also an
opportunity to return to this beating heart of our life and our witness, to the
centre of the proclamation of faith: “God is love” (1 Jn 4:8, 16). God does not
simply have the desire or capacity to love; God is love: charity is his
essence, it is his nature. He is unique,
but not solitary; he cannot be alone, he cannot be closed in on himself because
he is communion, he is charity; and charity by its nature is communicated and
shared. In this way, God associates man
to his life of love, and even if man turns away from him, God does not remain
distant but goes out to meet him. This
going out to meet us, culminating in the Incarnation of his Son, is his
mercy. It is his way of expressing
himself to us sinners, his face that looks at us and cares for us. The Encyclical reads: “Jesus’ programme is ‘a
heart which sees’. This heart sees where
love is needed and acts accordingly” (n. 31).
Charity and mercy are in this way closely related, because they are
God’s way of being and acting: his identity and his name. The first aspect which the Encyclical
recalls for us is the face of God: who is the God we can encounter in Christ?
How faithful and unsurpassable is his love?
“No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s
friends” (Jn 15:13). All our expressions of love, of solidarity, of sharing are
but a reflection of that love which is God.
He, without ever tiring, pours out his love on us, and we are called to
become witnesses to this love in the world.
Therefore, we should look to divine charity as to the compass which
orients our lives, before embarking on any activity: there we find direction;
from charity we learn how to see our brothers and sisters and the world. Ubi amor, ibi oculus , say the
Medievals: where there is love, there is the ability to see. Only by “remaining in his love” (cf. Jn
15:1-17) will we know how to understand and love those around us. The Encyclical — and this is the second aspect
I wish to emphasize — reminds us that this charity needs to be reflected more
and more in the life of the Church. How
I wish that everyone in the Church, every institution, every activity would
show that God loves man! The mission
that our charitable organizations carry out is important, because they provide
so many poor people with a more dignified and human life, which is needed more
than ever. But this mission is of utmost
importance because, not with words, but with concrete love it can make every
person feel loved by the Father, loved as his son or daughter and destined for
eternal life with him. I would like to
thank all those who daily are committing themselves to this mission which
challenges every Christian. In this
Jubilee Year, my intention has been to emphasize that we can all experience the
grace of the Jubilee by putting into practice the spiritual and corporal works
of mercy: to live the works of mercy means to conjugate the verb “to love”
according to Jesus. In this way then,
all of us together can contribute concretely to the great mission of the
Church: to communicate the love of God which is meant to be spread. Dear brothers and sisters, the message of
the Encyclical Deus Caritas Est remains timely, indicating the ever
relevant prospect for the Church’s journey.
The more we live in this spirit, the more authentic we all are as
Christians. Thank you again for your commitment and for
what you will be able to achieve in this mission of charity. May the Blessed Mother always assist you, and
my blessing be with you. Please do not
forget to pray for me. Thank you….
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Friday met with participants at an international conference organised by the Pontifical Council ‘Cor Unum’ to mark the tenth anniversary of Pope Benedict XVI’s first encyclical ‘Deus Caritas Est’.
Reflecting on the theme of the conference, ‘Love will never end’, Pope Francis said the message of the encyclical remains timely, especially in this Jubilee year as we celebrate the central belief of our faith, that God is love.
Listen:
The love which we receive from God and share with others, he said, is “the fulcrum of the history of the Church and of the history of each one of us.” The act of charity, the Pope said, is not simply almsgiving to ease one’s conscience, but rather a “loving attentiveness towards the other” and a desire to share friendship with God.
Even if we turn away from God, the Pope told participants, it is in God’s nature to communicate his love and mercy to us. The mission of charitable organisations is of utmost importance, he said, because, it is not with words, but with concrete love that we can make every person feel loved by the Father. The Pope concluded by thanking all those who daily are committing themselves to this charitable mission which remains a challenge to every Christian. The more we live in this spirit of receiving and sharing God’s love with others, he said, the more authentic we all are as Christians.
Please find below the full address by Pope Francis to participants at the conference organised by the Pontifical Council ‘Cor Unum
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
I welcome you on the occasion of the International Conference on the theme: “Love will never end (1 Cor 13:8): Prospects ten years on from the Encyclical Deus Caritas Est”, organized by the Pontifical Council Cor Unum, and I thank Monsignor Dal Toso for the words of greetings addressed to me on behalf of all of you.
The first Encyclical of Pope Benedict XVI concerns a theme that allows us to retrace the entire history of the Church, which is also a history of charity. It is a story of the love received from God, to be carried to the world: this charity received and given is the fulcrum of the history of the Church and of the history of each one of us. The act of charity is not, in fact, simply almsgiving to ease one’s conscience. It includes a “loving attentiveness towards the other” (cf. Evangelii Gaudium, 199), which considers the other as “one with himself” (cf. Saint Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, II-II, q. 27, art. 2), and desires to share friendship with God. Charity, therefore, is at the centre of the life of the Church and, in the words of Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus, is truly the heart of the Church. Both for individual members of the faithful and for the Christian community as a whole, the words of Jesus hold true: that charity is the first and greatest of the commandments: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength… You shall love your neighbour as yourself” (Mk 12:30-31).
The present Jubilee Year is also an opportunity to return to this beating heart of our life and our witness, to the centre of the proclamation of faith: “God is love” (1 Jn 4:8, 16). God does not simply have the desire or capacity to love; God is love: charity is his essence, it is his nature. He is unique, but not solitary; he cannot be alone, he cannot be closed in on himself because he is communion, he is charity; and charity by its nature is communicated and shared. In this way, God associates man to his life of love, and even if man turns away from him, God does not remain distant but goes out to meet him. This going out to meet us, culminating in the Incarnation of his Son, is his mercy. It is his way of expressing himself to us sinners, his face that looks at us and cares for us. The Encyclical reads: “Jesus’ programme is ‘a heart which sees’. This heart sees where love is needed and acts accordingly” (no. 31). Charity and mercy are in this way closely related, because they are God’s way of being and acting: his identity and his name.
The first aspect which the Encyclical recalls for us is the face of God: who is the God we can encounter in Christ? How faithful and unsurpassable is his love? “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (Jn 15:13). All our expressions of love, of solidarity, of sharing are but a reflection of that love which is God. He, without ever tiring, pours out his love on us, and we are called to become witnesses to this love in the world. Therefore, we should look to divine charity as to the compass which orients our lives, before embarking on any activity: there we find direction; from charity we learn how to see our brothers and sisters and the world. Ubi amor, ibi oculus, say the Medievals: where there is love, there is the ability to see. Only by “remaining in his love” (cf. Jn 15:1-17) will we know how to understand and love those around us.
The Encyclical – and this is the second aspect I wish to emphasize – reminds us that this charity needs to be reflected more and more in the life of the Church. How I wish that everyone in the Church, every institution, every activity would show that God loves man! The mission that our charitable organizations carry out is important, because they provide so many poor people with a more dignified and human life, which is needed more than ever. But this mission is of utmost importance because, not with words, but with concrete love it can make every person feel loved by the Father, loved as his son or daughter and destined for eternal life with him. I would like to thank all those who daily are committing themselves to this mission which challenges every Christian. In this Jubilee Year, my intention has been to emphasize that we can all experience the grace of the Jubilee by putting into practice the spiritual and corporal works of mercy: to live the works of mercy means to conjugate the verb “to love” according to Jesus. In this way then, all of us together can contribute concretely to the great mission of the Church: to communicate the love of God which is meant to be spread.
Dear brothers and sisters, the message of the Encyclical Deus Caritas Est remains timely, indicating the ever relevant prospect for the Church’s journey. The more we live in this spirit, the more authentic we all are as Christians.
Thank you again for your commitment and for what you will be able to achieve in this mission of charity. May the Blessed Mother always assist you, and my blessing be with you. Please do not forget to pray for me. Thank you.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) The Benedict XVI Centre for Religion and Society is a new interdisciplinary endeavor designed to create synergy and explore existing connections among the social sciences as these pertain to religion and the study of religion. Founded by St. Mary’s University, Twickenham , with the approval of the Secretariat of State of the Holy See, the Benedict XVI Centre for Religion and Society brings together existing strands of research and seeks to foster new projects with partner researchers and organizations.
The Centre’s founding ethos and central conviction is rooted in the enduring vision of Catholic higher education, as enunciated in the Apostolic Constitution Ex corde Ecclesiae of Pope St. John Paul II on the nature and purpose of the Catholic university in the life of the Church and the world.
Among the external affiliates of the Centre is Vatican Radio’s Chris Altieri, who spoke with the Centre’s founder and first Director, Dr. Stephen Bullivant , about the initiative and its efforts to recover the Christian roots of our increasingly secular culture.
Click below to hear Chris Altieri’s extended conversation with Dr. Stephen Bullivant
“The vision for the Centre comes from various streams: obviously – with the name – Pope Benedict XVI visited St. Mary’s in 2010 , and did several events at St. Mary’s, and this 5 th anniversary [year] seemed like a good opportunity to remind ourselves of that honor,” he said. “More broadly,” Bullivant continued, “my own work, in theology and particularly in sociology and the social sciences, has long been impressed – long before I was a Catholic – by Pope Benedict’s – and prior to that, Joseph Ratzinger’s – engagement with secular thought – particularly his very famous dialogue with [renowned philosopher] Jurgen Habermas and his dialogue with [Italian philosopher and politician] Marcello Pera , and the call for a ‘Courtyard of the Gentiles’,” which has since become a reality through the Pontifical Council for Culture.
One of The Benedict XVI Centre’s first major initiatives is a book offering an assessment of Bl. Pope Paul VI’s Encyclical Letter, Humanae vitae , in occasion of the 50 th anniversary of the Letter’s promulgation in 1968. Humanae vitae at 50 will feature contributions from leading scholars and researchers in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences, brought together to give a critical re-engagement with the Encyclical’s teaching in light of recent medical, social, cultural, and demographic realities, both within and beyond the global Catholic Church.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, Prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches , spoke on Thursday to an international conference organized by the German Episcopal Conference and the University of Munich.
The International Conference Between World Society and Regional Transformations: Christians, Christian Churches, and Religion in a Changing Middle East took place in Rome on 24-26 February. Many Catholic and Orthodox leaders from the Middle East took part in the event.
Cardinal Sandri’s address came at a roundtable entitled “A multi-confessional Christianity: Dialogue and relations between the Christian churches in Arab countries”.
The official English translation of Cardinal Sandri’s address is below:
Excellencies,
Esteemed Professors,
Reverend Fathers and Students,
I thank you for the invitation to participate in this conference. I welcome the occasion to extend through the organizers, and in particular through H.E. Archbishop Schick, my lively sentiments of gratitude for all that the German Episcopal Conference – especially by means of the Catholic aid agencies – has done and is doing to assist in the dramatic situation of our Christian brothers and, more generally, of all those suffering in the Near and Middle East, due to war, violence and persecution. This Conference represents an effort related to that of managing the emergency of refugees and asylum-seekers, and to attempts to obtain respect for corridors for humanitarian aid and relief for the hardest hit areas. All of this increases our desire that the agreements for a cease-fire discussed in recent days might be effective in the field, on pain of the complete destruction and total emptying of certain centers which have already been tried to the extreme.
1. The theme of today’s Panel asks us to reflect on the multi-confessional presence of Christians in Arab Countries. In this regard, I would like to underline certain aspects from the point of view of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches, which does not have competence over all of the regions under consideration by this Conference. For example, the Countries of the Arabian Peninsula, which are under the jurisdiction of the Apostolic Vicariates of Northern Arabia and Southern Arabia (Bishop Ballin and Bishop Hinder), belong to the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples. This division is an object of study and debate on account of its multiple implications for interreligious, diplomatic and political dialogue. At the same time, it characterizes the Catholic Church in the region, to the degree that a decision of the Supreme Pontiff Saint John Paul II, later confirmed by Pope Benedict XVI, limited even the competencies of the Catholic Eastern Patriarchs (for example, the Melkites should have an Exarchate which is still found in the Annuario Pontificio with its See in Kuwait). In the Orthodox sphere, a different perception of the territory is found, as is seen through the still unresolved controversy between the Greek-Orthodox Patriarchs of Jerusalem and Antioch regarding the appointment of a Metropolitan in Qatar. Despite these distinctions, the presence of Catholic Christians in various parts of the Persian Gulf is extraordinary (reaching, certainly, to more than one million faithful). Many come from the Philippines, from Sri Lanka, from India, carrying their own patrimony of faith. When inserted into a very different culture a difficult situation is created: in demanding work conditions, often without their family, which has remained in the motherland, they must seek to retain their roots, also with regard to cultivating their faith. It is a common experience which I hear recounted by the Pastors of the Syro-Malabar and Syro-Malankara Churches, who together have nearly 400.000 faithful in the region.
A similar challenge is experienced in the Patriarchal Diocese of Jerusalem of the Latins. To its Vicariate for Hebrew speaking Catholics (Saint James Vicariate) is entrusted also the care of migrants, who are becoming ever more numerous. Insofar as they also have come seeking work, one could, with the passage of time, see the consolidation of an ecclesial reality which can no longer be defined merely as Arab or Hebrew speaking, but as much more diverse: in fact, Jerusalem, as Mother Church, becomes ever more a true reflection of the entire world.
If we turn our minds to Lebanon and Jordan, we see also there hundreds of thousands of refugees who have been welcomed, and each camp corresponds to different phases of the more or less recent history of the Countries concerned: there are camps for Palestinians, for Syrians and now also for the displaced persons from the Plane of Ninevah. The welcome guaranteed by the two national Caritas organizations, in addition to all of the support networks which form part of the governmental efforts, could legitimately be included in the “identity card” of these Countries: “Welcoming Country”.
I do not wish to omit a small mention also of Egypt, which I visited in January of 2013, and which I well remember not only for the Christian communities historically present, but also for the participation of young people who originated from sub-Saharan Africa, from South Sudan and Eritrea at celebrations.
2. Why this long introduction? I consider it necessary that one grasp the complexity of the realities in these territories, characterized by presences and challenges both “ancient and new”. Ancient are the roots of Christianity; more precisely, there the story of salvation has its beginnings and its full expression. Ancient are the Churches, which arose from the preaching of the Apostles: to them, we are all debtors for the Gospel. Ancient are the divisions which have developed through doctrinal controversies and also due to political factors in diverse epochs; equally ancient is the coexistence which developed with the arrival of Islam, in addition to that with the Jewish communities, which survived in the centuries before the creation of the State of Israel in 1948. History has also run through not a few periods of violence, of living as a minority and sometimes of genuine persecution. In light of these complex factors, we are also confronted with new elements: the ecumenism of blood, anticipated by Saint John Paul II with the shared remembrance of martyrs during the Jubilee of 2000, was taken up again strongly by Pope Francis. It serves as a frame for truly historical events in the life of the Churches, including the non-Catholic ones, and in ecumenical relations. I think, for instance, of the Pan Orthodox Synod which will take place in Crete in June of this year, of the meetings between Pope Francis and the Patriarch Bartholomew, the great prayer for Peace in the Holy Land in the Vatican Gardens in 2014, and the recent event of the embrace in Cuba between the Holy Father and the Patriarch of Moscow, Kirill.
I would like, however, to cite two additional events: first, the presence in Rome, last April 12th, beside Pope Francis, of the three Armenian Patriarchs, Catholic and Apostolic, for the proclamation of Saint Gregory of Narek as Doctor of the Church and in order to commemorate the victims of the tragic deeds of 1915. And second, the election of the new Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East, which occurred in September of 2015. This marked an historic step, namely, the return of the See to Iraq, after decades in which it had been moved to the United States of America. These facts bear witness to the reality of Churches that have set themselves in motion, which do not only go out to the existential peripheries as Pope Francis has urged us, helping the displaced and the refugees, but which seem together to recognize that their only center is Christ, in Whom all equally believe and profess as the only Lord of history and Savior of man. With His Name on their lips, 21 Christian Copts died, slaughtered on the bank of the Mediterranean just over a year ago. With His Name in their hearts, our brothers fled the Plane of Nineveh in August of 2014, and, united by all they have in common, began to collaborate on assistance projects in Erbil which transcend the distinctions between Syro-Catholic, Chaldean or Syro-Orthodox.
3. If the first part of our reflection emphasized the key word “welcome”, the second underlined the movement towards unity among the Churches and the Christian confessions. It is significant to pronounce these two key words here in Rome, in close physical proximity to the Domus Sanctae Marthae transformed by the Holy Father into a House of welcome and unity. These words are thereby recalled to the Church and to the world, and in the first place they are lived in the concrete events of each day. The very existence and collaboration between the Churches in the Middle East raise very precise questions at multiple levels. To the world of international politics: every attempt more or less veiled to break up and rearrange the institutional equilibriums in the Region on the basis of agreements of convenience for economic or strategic interests must be exposed. Christians should not be moved about by planners with their own objectives but rather recognized as citizens of equal dignity with the possibility to remain and become agents of unity and reconciliation. Only extraordinary shortsightedness fails to recognize them as leaven of societies, capable in time of causing an increased orientation towards the best aspects of democracy, rather than having to import and impose it with force from without, something of which the last decades have given us sad experience. Christians should be able to remain or to return, if they have had to flee contrary to their will: as human beings, they are worth more than any deposit, known or unknown, of petroleum, gas or arms for trafficking! At seeing the Christian presence weakened or even extinguished relative to its historic configuration, I have the impression that this will only contribute, unfortunately, to the further aggravation of the intra-confessional tensions of the Islamic world, which seemed dormant for some centuries.
A question arises also for the Churches of Europe, more so even than for those of the “New World” – the United States and Canada, or even Australia: how capable are we of thinking of ourselves as Churches genuinely in communion, having to share spaces and see an increase of jurisdictions, as may be required for an adequate pastoral assistance and a common evangelizing effort in societies that are already secularized? If a stable welcome among us has been given to tens of thousands of Syro-Catholic, Chaldean, Melkite, Armenian, and Maronite brothers (to cite only the Catholic Churches of the Middle East), how well are we providing for them by asking the respective Patriarchs for priests to be sent? And if the personal parishes, called for by the law of the Church, for the Oriental faithful become insufficient for an adequate service, are we disposed to collaborate sincerely towards the erection of structures such as Apostolic Exarchates, or do we rather run the risk of understanding ourselves as the unique custodian of the Ecclesial Institution? I think of what Aleppo used to represent: the Christian capitol of Syria, as it were, with six Catholic cathedrals and other Orthodox ones. I can imagine such a reality reproducing itself in our countries, without scandal to anyone, as long as the primacy remains with Christ, Who is the One known, announced and celebrated, although in various rites and languages.
Here I have made only some suggestions, which, together with the expert contributions of the other speakers, might give a start to our discussion. Thank you.
(from Vatican Radio)…