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Month: September 2016

Pope sends his condolences on death of former Italian President Ciampi

(Vatican Radio)  Pope Francis has sent a telegramme to the Italian Senate expressing his condolences for the death of former Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi.
Senator Ciampi served as the Prime Minister of Italy from 1993 to 1994 and as President of the Italian Republic from 1999 to 2006. He passed away on Friday at the age of 95 in a clinic in Rome.
In the telegramme, the Holy Father extended his “deeply felt condolences” to Mr. Ciampi’s wife and children.
He also recalled the “sincere friendship which bound this illustrious man of the institutions to Pope St. John Paul II”.
The Holy Father closed the telegramme by extending his Apostolic Blessing.
Below, please find the original telegramme in Italian:
GENTILE SIGNORA FRANCA PILLA CIAMPI
C/O SENATO DELLA REPUBBLICA – PALAZZO GIUSTINIANI
VIA DELLA DOGANA VECCHIA  29  00186  ROMA
DESIDERO PORGERE LE MIE PIU’ SENTITE CONDOGLIANZE A LEI, AI FIGLI E A TUTTI I FAMILIARI IN QUESTO MOMENTO DI DOLORE PER LA MORTE DEL SENATORE CARLO AZEGLIO CIAMPI, PRESIDENTE EMERITO DELLA REPUBBLICA ITALIANA, CHE RICOPRI’ LE PUBBLICHE RESPONSABILITA’ CON SIGNORILE DISCREZIONE E FORTE SENSO DELLO STATO. NEL RICORDARE LA SINCERA AMICIZIA CHE LEGAVA QUESTO ILLUSTRE UOMO DELLE ISTITUZIONI A SAN GIOVANNI PAOLO SECONDO, ELEVO FERVIDE PREGHIERE DI SUFFRAGIO INVOCANDO DAL SIGNORE PER LA SUA ANIMA LA PACE ETERNA. CON TALI SENTIMENTI INVIO A LEI E AI CONGIUNTI LA BENEDIZIONE APOSTOLICA
FRANCISCUS PP 
(from Vatican Radio)…

H.S. Envoy to UN Archbishop Jurkovic on rights of the elderly

(Vatican Radio) The Holy See’s Permanent Observer to the United Nations in Geneva, Archbishop Ivan Jurkovic, lamented how often in today’s throw-away culture, the elderly feel useless and alone because they have lost their proper place in society. His remarks came during an address on Wednesday at a Session of the UN’s Human Rights Council dealing with the Rights of Older Persons. Archbishop Jurkovic expressed the Holy See’s concern over the “increasing discrimination” faced by the elderly and said some of the biggest challenges to their welfare include poverty and inadequate access to health care. He also said the Holy See considers of “utmost importance” the need to “keep older people engaged in decision-making about their lives and their social integration.”
 
Please find below the full text of Archbishop Jurkovic’s address to the U.N. Session:
 
Mr. President,
My Delegation is grateful for the Report of the Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons.  As presented in the Report, the population of older persons represents the fastest growing segment of the global population. “By 2050, for the first time, there will be more older persons than children under the age of 15 worldwide, and it is projected that the number of older persons will more than double from 900 million currently to nearly 2 billion”.  In a world that is living a critical demographic transformation the elderly face a number of particular challenges in the enjoyment of their human rights that need to be addressed urgently. The major  challenges  summarized  by  the  Independent  Expert  in  the  area  of  health  care,  the  right  to  work,  social protection, access to justice, violence and abuse, the participation of older persons, and their  increasing discrimination, represent a grave concern for the Holy See.
One  of  the  most  pressing  challenges  to  the  welfare  of  older  persons  is  poverty,  including  their  often inadequate living conditions. As highlighted in the Report, “Poverty and lack of income security constitute major concerns for many older persons. Social transfers, in particular adequate  pensions,  significantly  contribute  to  ensuring  the  financial  security  of  older  persons  and  are  a  suitable  means  of  reducing  the  at-risk-of-poverty  rate,  their  vulnerability  and  social  exclusion”.
Pensions are essential to ensuring rights, dignity and income security for older persons. The right to  income  security  in  old  age,  as  grounded  in  human  rights  instruments  and  international labour  standards,  includes  the  right  to  an  adequate  pension.  However, “nearly half of all people over pensionable age do not receive a pension. For many of those who do receive a pension, pension levels are not adequate.”
As a result, most of the world’s older women and men have no income security, have no right to retire and have to continue working as long as they can – often with poor remuneration and in precarious conditions.  Yet, despite lower income levels, older persons  may  be  the  main  providers  for  the  household  and  the  primary  caregivers,  including  for  the  care  of  grandchildren and other members of the family.
 
Mr. President,
In a society often dominated by the logic of efficiency and profit, the elderly can easily be considered unproductive and useless. Several States have recognized the relatively low standard of  living  among  older  persons  as  compared  to  other  segments  of  the  population,  including  the  prevalence of poverty, and even extreme poverty.
In  the  sector  of  health  care,  older  patients  are  usually  discharged  with  complex  medical  problems, high stress and vulnerability, and these factors place the elderly at risk for poor outcomes.  Transitional  care,  such  as  a  discharge  planning  programmes,  facilitates  the  care  process  from hospital to home. The sustainable access to health care can be realized through stronger policies in strengthening the primary care and by helping families, even to financial subsidies, to take care of parents at home.
Older  people have  a  wealth  of  skills  and  experiences,  they  have  lived  through  situations  others  cannot  even  imagine,  and  yet  we  continue  to  dismiss  these  lifetimes  of  experiences  when  they begin to need care and support and instead people become a list of care needs.  On a macro  level, older people contribute  financially to society  and to the workplace, and at a local level,  they  contribute  to  their  communities  and  individual  networks  in  terms  of  experience.  They  have  also  contributed  for  many  decades  which  is  often  forgotten.  In  the  Political  Declaration  and  Madrid  International  Plan  of  Action  on  Ageing  (2002),  States  have  foreseen  the  human  right  of  older  persons  to  participate  in  all  aspects  of  society,  highlighting  the  rights  to  work,  to  health,  to  independence  and  to  accessibility.  Consistent  with  the  Madrid  Plan  of  Action,  the  Holy  See  considers of utmost importance to  keep older people engaged in decision-making about their lives  and their social integration. Often these decisions are relegated to others even when older persons are competent to decide and discern their best interest. Respect for their human dignity and rights  requires  that  they  be  engaged  in  such  decisions  and  that  others  take  over  responsibility  for  determining  their  care  only  when  there  is  verified  evidence  that  they  are  incapable  of  doing  so.
Making  cities  inclusive  of  older  persons  means  generating  opportunities  for  their  economic  and  social participation in accessible and safe environments. It also means providing affordable housing  as  well  as  the  basic  health  and  social  services  needed  to  support  ageing  in  place.  This will necessitate a reflection on and development of more just and equitable policies aimed at re-defining the concept of social utility for those who have retired from the system of paid employment but who are quite capable and needed to strengthen the fabric of society through volunteer service and social presence as respected and learned members of families and communities. As stated by Pope Francis a society that does not take care of the elderly has no future. “The elderly are those who transmit history to us, who transmit doctrine, who transmit the faith and give it to us as an inheritance.”
The Holy See considers essential the promotion of policies and systems of education that propose an alternative approach to the dominant “throw-away culture” that judges human beings simply by what they produce. So often, the elderly feel useless and alone because they have lost their proper place in society.
Mr. President,
Living longer must never be seen as an exception, a burden or a challenge, but rather it must be recognized as the blessing that it is. Older persons enrich society and their positive and constructive presence in society is valued.  The  elderly  are  a  source  of  wisdom  and  a  great  resource. The quality of a society, of a civilization, may also be judged by how it treats its elderly and by the place reserved for them in communal life. Existing arrangements to protect the human  rights  of  older  persons  are  inadequate  and  dedicated  measures  to  strengthen  the  international  protection  regime  are  required.  Bearing  in  mind  the  General  Assembly  Resolution  67/139  of  20  December 2012 about the need to strengthen the protection of the human rights of older persons, the  Holy See wishes that the existing divergences will be soon overcome, given the millions of older  persons waiting for their human rights to become a reality.
 
Thank you, Mr. President.
(from Vatican Radio)…

Pope Francis issues motu proprio harmonizing Canon Law codes

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis issued an Apostolic Letter motu proprio on Thursday, in which he brings the basic legal instruments that govern the Latin Church and the Eastern Churches in communion with Rome more closely into accord with one another in several different specific areas regarding the discipline of the sacraments, and ecclesial identity of the faithful.
The Holy Father has introduced material changes only to the Code of Canon Law that governs the Latin Church, in order to bring the Latin code into harmony with the Eastern code, especially as regards the valid celebration of marriages with spouses of mixed Rite, the circumstances under which a spouse may change Rite, how to determine the Rite to which a child belongs properly, and other questions in a similar vein.
A note issued by the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts explains that  the reason for the reforms is that of responding to the desire to facilitate the pastoral care of all the faithful, especially of those  very great and increasing numbers of Eastern Christians living in predominantly Latin environments.
Below, please find the full text of the motu proprio in Latin
**************************************
Litterae Apostolicae Motu Proprio datae
            Quibus nonnullae normae Codicis Iuris Canonici immutantur.
FRANCISCUS PP.
De concordia inter Codices valde solliciti, quasdam discrepantias animadvertimus inter Codicis Iuris Canonici et Codicis Canonum Ecclesiarum Orientalium normas reperiri.
Duo enim Codices partim communes normas continent, partim vero peculiares ac proprias, id quod utrumque autonomum reddit. Oportet tamen ut etiam peculiares normae apte inter se componantur. Namque discrepantiae, si et quatenus adsint, in pastorali praxi incommoda secum ferunt, praesertim cum relationes inter membra tum ad Ecclesiam latinam tum ad aliquam Ecclesiam orientalem pertinentia moderandae sunt.
Id accidit praesertim nostris temporibus, cum nempe ex populorum migratione sequatur ut plures christifideles orientales in regionibus latinis degant. Quaestiones pastorales et iuridicae haud paucae inde sunt exortae, quae ut solvantur accommodatas normas postulant.  Speciatim est memorandum christifideles orientales ad suum cuiusque ritum servandum teneri, ubicumque terrarum inveniantur (cfr CCEO can. 40 § 3; Conc. Oecum. Vat. II, Decr. Orientalium Ecclesiarum , 6), ac proinde auctoritatis ecclesiasticae competentis est maximopere curare ut congrua media apparentur quibus ipsi hanc suam obligationem implere queant (cfr CCEO can. 193, § 1; CIC can. 383 §§ 1-2; Adhort. ap. postsyn. Pastores gregis , 72). Normarum concordia  haud dubie medium est quod valde iuvabit ut venerabilium rituum orientalium incremento faveatur (cf. CCEO can. 39), ita ut Ecclesiae sui iuris curam pastoralem efficacius exercere valeant.
Prae oculis tamen habenda est necessitas agnoscendi peculiares notas disciplinares illius regionis in qua relationes interecclesiales eveniunt. In Occidente enim, qui est maiore ex parte latinus, oportet consentaneam aequilibritatem servari inter tutelam iuris proprii minoris partis orientalis et obsequium exhibendum erga historicam traditionem canonicam maioris partis latinae, ita ut indebiti concursus et conflictus vitentur omniumque catholicarum communitatum in illa regione commorantium  fructuosa cooperatio foveatur.
Accedit et alia ratio ut normae CIC expressis quibusdam compleantur dispositionibus, iis quidem similibus quae in CCEO continentur, postulatio nempe ut accuratius determinentur relationes cum christifidelibus ad Ecclesias orientales non catholicas pertinentibus, quorum in praesentia auctus est numerus in territoriis latinis.
Prae oculis quoque habendum est canonistarum commentaria animadvertisse discrepantias quasdam inveniri inter utrumque Codicem ac fere unanimiter ostendisse quae sint praecipuae quaestiones et quomodo eae concordes sint reddendae.
Finis igitur normarum quae his Litteris Apostolicis Motu Proprio datis introducuntur in eo consistit ut perveniatur ad concordem disciplinam, quae certam signet viam sequendam singulis in casibus in exercitio curae pastoralis.
Pontificium Consilium de Legum Textibus per Commissionem peritorum in Iure canonico orientali et latino quaestiones repperit quae prae ceteris egere videntur accommodata renovatione legislativa sicque textum elaboravit transmissum ad triginta circiter totius orbis Consultores et Iuris canonici cultores necnon ad Auctoritates Ordinariatuum latinorum pro orientalibus. Expensis receptis animadversionibus, novus textus approbatus est a Sessione Plenaria Pontificii Consilii de Legum Textibus.
 His omnibus perpensis, quae sequuntur decernimus:
Art. 1. Canon 111 CIC integre sequenti textu substituitur, in quo adiungitur nova paragraphus et nonnullae expressiones mutantur:
§1 Ecclesiae latinae per receptum baptismum adscribitur filius parentum, qui ad eam pertinent vel, si alteruter ad eam non pertineat, ambo concordi voluntate optaverint ut proles in Ecclesia latina baptizaretur; quodsi concors voluntas desit, Ecclesiae sui iuris ad quam pater pertinet adscribitur.
§2 Si vero unus tantum ex parentibus sit catholicus, Ecclesiae ad quam hic  parens catholicus  pertinet adscribitur.
§3 Quilibet baptizandus qui quartum decimum aetatis annum expleverit, libere potest eligere ut in Ecclesia latina vel in alia Ecclesia sui iuris baptizetur; quo in casu, ipse ad eam Ecclesiam pertinet quam elegerit.
Art. 2. Canon 112 CIC integre sequenti textu substituitur, in quo adiungitur nova paragraphus et nonnullae expressiones mutantur:
§1. Post receptum baptismum, alii Ecclesiae sui iuris ascribuntur:
1° qui licentiam ab Apostolica Sede obtinuerit;
2° coniux qui, in matrimonio ineundo vel eo durante, ad Ecclesiam sui iuris alterius coniugis se transire declaraverit; matrimonio autem soluto, libere potest ad latinam Ecclesiam redire;
3° filii eorum, de quibus in nn. 1 et 2, ante decimum quartum aetatis annum completum itemque, in matrimonio mixto, filii partis catholicae quae ad aliam Ecclesiam sui iuris legitime transierit; adepta vero hac aetate, iidem possunt ad latinam Ecclesiam redire.
§2. Mos, quamvis diuturnus, sacramenta secundum ritum alius Ecclesiae sui iuris recipiendi, non secumfert adscriptionem eidem Ecclesiae.
§3. Omnis transitus ad aliam Ecclesiam sui iuris vim habet a momento declarationis factae coram eiusdem Ecclesiae Ordinario loci vel parocho proprio  aut sacerdote ab alterutro delegato et duobus testibus, nisi rescriptum Sedis Apostolicae aliud ferat; et in libro baptizatorum adnotetur.
Art. 3. Paragraphus secunda can. 535 CIC integre sequenti textu substituitur:
§ 2. In libro baptizatorum adnotentur quoque adscriptio Ecclesiae sui iuris vel ad aliam transitus, necnon confirmatio, item quae pertinent ad statum canonicum christifidelium, ratione matrimonii, salvo quidem praescripto can. 1133, ratione adoptionis, ratione suscepti ordinis sacri, necnon professionis perpetuae in instituto religioso emissae; eaeque adnotationes in documento accepti baptismi semper referantur.
Art. 4. Numerus secundus primae paragraphi can. 868 CIC integre sequenti textu substituitur:
§1. 2° spes habeatur fundata eum in religione catholica educatum iri, firma § 3 ; quae si prorsus deficiat, baptismus secundum praescripta iuris particularis differatur, monitis de ratione parentibus.
Art. 5. Canon 868 CIC posthac tertiam paragraphum habebit ut sequitur:
§3. Infans christianorum non catholicorum licite baptizatur, si parentes aut unus saltem eorum aut is, qui legitime eorundem locum tenet, id petunt et si eis corporaliter aut moraliter impossibile sit accedere ad ministrum proprium.
Art. 6. Canon 1108 CIC posthac tertiam paragraphum habebit ut sequitur:
§3. Solus sacerdos valide assistit matrimonio inter partes orientales vel inter partem latinam et partem orientalem sive catholicam sive non catholicam.
Art. 7. Canon 1109 CIC integre sequenti textu substituitur:
Loci Ordinarius et parochus, nisi per sententiam vel per decretum fuerint excommunicati vel interdicti vel suspensi ab officio aut tales declarati, vi officii, intra fines sui territorii, valide matrimoniis assistunt non tantum subditorum, sed etiam,  dummodo alterutra saltem pars sit adscripta Ecclesiae latinae, non subditorum.
Art. 8. Prima paragraphus can. 1111 CIC integre sequenti textu substituitur:
§ 1. Loci Ordinarius et parochus, quamdiu valide officio funguntur, possunt facultatem intra fines sui territorii matrimoniis assistendi, etiam generalem, sacerdotibus et diaconis delegare, firmo tamen eo quod praescribit can. 1108 § 3 .
Art. 9. Prima paragraphus can. 1112 CIC integre sequenti textu substituitur:
§ 1. Ubi desunt sacerdotes et diaconi, potest Episcopus dioecesanus, praevio voto favorabili Episcoporum conferentiae et obtenta licentia Sanctae Sedis, delegare laicos, qui matrimoniis assistant, firmo praescripto can. 1108 § 3 .
Art. 10. Canon 1116 CIC posthac tertiam paragraphum habebit, ut sequitur:
§3. In iisdem rerum adiunctis, de quibus in §1, nn. 1 et 2, Ordinarius loci cuilibet sacerdoti catholico facultatem conferre potest matrimonium benedicendi christifidelium Ecclesiarum orientalium quae plenam cum Ecclesia catholica communionem non habeant si sponte id petant, et dummodo nihil validae vel licitae celebrationi matrimonii obstet. Idem s acerdos, semper necessaria cum prudentia,  auctoritatem competentem Ecclesiae non catholicae, cuius interest, de re certiorem faciat.
Art. 11. Prima paragraphus can. 1127 CIC integre sequenti textu substituitur:
§ 1. Ad formam quod attinet in matrimonio mixto adhibendam, serventur praescripta can. 1108; si tamen pars catholica matrimonium contrahit cum parte non catholica ritus orientalis, forma canonica celebrationis servanda est ad liceitatem tantum; ad validitatem autem requiritur interventus sacerdotis , servatis aliis de iure servandis.
Quaecumque vero a Nobis hisce Litteris Apostolicis Motu Proprio datis decreta sunt, ea omnia firma ac rata esse iubemus, contrariis quibuslibet non obstantibus, peculiari etiam mentione dignis, atque decernimus ut per editionem in actis diurnis L’Osservatore Romano promulgentur et deinde in Actis Apostolicae Sedis commmentario officiali edantur.
Datum Romae, apud Sanctum Petrum, die XXXI mensis Maii anno MMXVI, Pontificatus Nostri quarto.
(from Vatican Radio)…

Pope Francis: Mary is our Mother, who defends us

(Vatican Radio) In a “world that suffers the crisis of a great orphanhood,” we have a Mother that accompanies and defends us. That was the message of Pope Francis during the morning Mass at the Casa Santa Marta on the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows.
The Gospel of the day brings us to Calvary. All the disciples had fled, except for St John and a few women. At the foot of the Cross is Mary, the Mother of Jesus. Everyone is looking at her, saying, “That’s the mother of this delinquent! That is the mother of this subversive!”
“And Mary heard these things. She suffered terrible humiliation. And she also heard the dignitaries, even some priests, whom she respected, because they were priests, [saying] “You who are so good, come down! Come down!” With her Son, naked, there [on the Cross]. And Mary had such great suffering, but she didn’t go away. She didn’t deny her Son! He was her flesh.”
Pope Francis recalled that, when he was in Buenos Aires and would visit prisoners in the jails, he always saw lines of women waiting to enter:
“They were moms. But they were not ashamed: their flesh was there inside. And these women suffered not only the shame of being there – “Look at her! What did her son do?” — but they also suffer the ugly humiliation of the searches they had to undergo before entering. But they were mothers, and they went to find their own flesh. And so it was with Mary: she was there, with her Son, with that very great suffering.”
Jesus, the Pope said, has promised not to leave us orphans, and on the Cross he gives us His Mother as our Mother:
“We Christians have a Mother, Jesus’ [Mother]; we have a Father, Jesus’ [Father]. We are not orphans! And she gives birth to us in that moment with such great sorrow: She is truly a martyr. With a pierced heart, she accepts giving birth to all of us in that moment of sorrow. And from that moment she becomes our Mother, from that moment she is our Mother, the one who takes care of us and is not ashamed of us: she defends us.”
The mystics of the early centuries, Pope Francis said, counsel us to take refuge under the mantle of the Mother of God in moments of spiritual turbulence: “The devil can’t enter there.” He continued, explaining that Mary is a mother, and she will defend as a Mother. The West later took this advice to heart and composed the Latin version of the Marian antiphon: Sub tuum praesidium, “under your mantle, under your protection, O Mother!” We are safe there, he said.
“In a world we could call an orphan,” Pope Francis concluded, “in this world that suffers the crisis” of a great experience of being orphaned, “perhaps our help lies in saying ‘Look to your Mother!’” We have a mother “who defends us, teaches us, accompanies us; who is not ashamed of our sins. She is not ashamed, because she is our Mother. May the Holy Spirit, this friend, this companion along the way, this Paraclete or advocate Whom the Lord has sent, make us understand this very great mystery of the maternity of Mary.”
(from Vatican Radio)…

Pope warns against the temptation to embrace false idols

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Thursday reflected on how we are created in the image and likeness of the Creator, and warned us – God’s children – against the temptation of undermining our intrinsic dignity by embracing false idols.  
The Pope’s words came during a speech to members of the Italian Biblical Association whom he received in the Vatican on the occasion of National Biblical Week.
Pope Francis remarked on the theme chosen for the occasion which focusses on the male-female polarity in the Scriptures.
He recalled the cycle of catechesis held by St. John Paul II during the first part of his pontificate regarding the many aspects of the relationship between man and woman stemming from the analysis of biblical texts. 
The Pope said that he himself, during a Catechesis last year, had occasion to stress that “God, after having created the universe and all living beings, created his masterpiece, the human being, whom He made in his own image: ‘in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them’” (Gen 1:27).
And inviting those present to reflect on how we are created in the image and likeness of the Creator, he said that it is essential to note the differences that exist within creation.
This, he said, helps us to understand the dignity of all men and women, a dignity which has its roots in the same Creator. 
The Pope said we must never forget we are all children of God and we are not only shaped by Him, but guided by Him just as a father does with his children.
He warned against the possibility of ‘degrading’ this dignity that has been granted to us by God and said this happens when we embrace idolatry, when we make place in our hearts for false idols – as narrated in the Bible passage about the exodus from Egypt when Moses, tempted by the devil, built an idol made of gold (Ex 32). 
This idol of gold, Pope Francis said, symbolizes the attractive force of wealth, and the fact that man loses his dignity when riches take the place of God in his heart.
Reiterating the preciousness of the gift of dignity, Pope Francis reflected on the possibility of sharing this dignity so that it triggers a positive reciprocity and he invited those present to ask the question ‘How can I make the other feel worthy? How can I “infect” the other with dignity?”
When one despises, segregates or discriminates, the Pope concluded, he does not “share or infect the other” with  his God-given dignity
(from Vatican Radio)…