(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis urged members of Secular Institutes to work for a renewed charism that unites the lay and consecrated aspects of their lives and mission. His remarks came in a message sent on his behalf by the Secretary, of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, to participants attending the World Conference of members of Secular Institutes held in Rome this week.
The Pope wrote that they are both lay and consecrated people and both aspects are on the same level and equally important. He encouraged the members of the Secular Institutes to live an intense life of prayer, saying their greatest challenge is to be schools of sainthood here on earth, living normal lives but always at the service of others and bearing witness to the values of brotherhood and friendship.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) With the canonization of Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta (Kolkata) drawing near, the U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See, Kenneth Hackett, shared his memories of her and in one anecdote described how she was able to exert her moral influence over the then Reagan Administration. Ambassador Hackett knew and worked closely with Mother Teresa and her Missionaries of Charity Order while he served as president of Catholic Relief Services and the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See has launched an online exhibit documenting the strong ties Mother Teresa had with the United States. He was interviewed by Susy Hodges.
Listen to the interview with U.S. Ambassador Kenneth Hackett:
Describing himself as “ecstatic” over Mother Teresa’s canonization, Ambassador Hackett said he felt it was definitely overdue or as he put it, “a long time in coming.” He paid tribute to Mother and the Missionaries of Charity Order she founded, saying she extended “mercy, kindness, concern and compassion to those who have absolutely fallen through society’s cracks” such as people on the streets who are dying or children who have been abandoned. Hackett had earlier described her as a “field hospital” saint, taking the metaphor used one day by Pope Francis at his morning Mass to describe the action of the Church in reaching out to those who are in need.
“A great sense of humour”
Turning to her personality, Hackett disclosed that she had “a great sense of humour” and was adept at “tweaking” people by pricking their consciences when it came to their responsibilities to help the poor and needy. When she did that to him, the ambassador described his reaction:
“You felt like you had got a thunderbolt right through you!”
Asked to share any special memories or anecdotes about Mother Teresa, Hackett stressed that she “knew how to move the agenda” not just with people like him but also with Presidents and the powerful. As an example, he described one incident where in his earlier post as head of Catholic Relief Services he was in a meeting with leading members of the U.S. Agency for International Development during the time of the “big famine” in Ethiopia during the 1980’s.
Mother Teresa’s letter to President Reagan
He said they were having an “argument” at that meeting about U.S. government plans to cut food donations to the Ethiopian government when somebody brought in a note from (the then) Secretary of State George Schultz saying that “the President wants an answer in half an hour to Mother Teresa’s letter asking President Reagan why he is cutting food to the needy in Ethiopia.” Describing Mother Teresa as “bold”, Hackett said as a result of that intervention, food supplies were NOT cut to Ethiopia and this was an example of her strong moral influence, even when it came to world leaders.
Hackett spoke about the online exhibit which the U.S. embassy to the Holy See launched on August 26th and which documents the strong ties Blessed Teresa had with the United States. He said the exhibit includes many photos and a four-minute video showing Mother Teresa during some of her frequent visits to the U.S. and explained how Americans, regardless of their faith, always held Mother Teresa in high regard. Hackett said this was very apparent because during her U.S. visits, Catholic Relief Services received “thousands” of requests from people wishing to volunteer their services.
(from Vatican Radio)…
« Non-Violence: A
Style of Politics for Peace ». This
is the title of the Message for the 50 th
World Day of Peace (1st january 2017) , the fourth of
Pope Francis. Violence and Peace are at
the origin of two opposite ways to building society. The proliferation of hotbeds
of violence produces most serious negative social consequences. The Holy Father
sums up this situation in the expression: “A Third World War in Pieces”. Peace,
by contrast, promotes social positive consequences and it allows the
achievement of real progress. Therefore, we should act within what is possible,
and negotiate ways of peace even where they seem tortuous and impractical. Thus,
non-violence can acquire a more
comprehensive and new meaning. It will not only consist of desire, of moral
rejection of violence, barriers, destructive impulses, but also of a realistic political
method that gives rise to hope. Such a political method is based
on the primacy of law. If the rights and the equal dignity of every person are
safeguarded without any discrimination and distinction, then non-violence , understood as a political
method, can constitute a realistic way to overcome arm conflicts. In this
perspective, it becomes important to increasingly recognize not the right of
force but the force of right. With this Message ,
Pope Francis wants to show a further step, a path of hope, appropriate to
today’s historical circumstances. In this way, the settlement of disputes may
be reached through negotiation without then degenerating into armed conflict. Within
such a perspective the culture
and identity of Peoples are respected and the opinion that some are morally
superior to others is overcome. At the same time, however,
it does not mean that one Nation can remain indifferent to the tragedies of
another. Rather it means a recognition of the primacy of diplomacy over the noise
of arms. Arms trade is so widespread that
it is generally underestimated. Illegal arms trafficking supports not a few world’s
conflicts. Non-violence as a
political style can and must do much to stem this scourge. *** The World
Peace Day initiated by Paul VI is celebrated
each year on the first day of January. The Holy Father’s Message is sent to all Foreign Ministries of the world and it
indicates the diplomatic concerns of the Holy See during the coming year….