(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has sent a letter to Cardinal Franc Rodé, CM, his special envoy at the celebration of the 550th anniversary of the Madonna of Shkodra’s arrival in the Church of Genazzano near Rome, Italy.
The celebration takes place on 26 April at the National Shrine of Shkodra in Albania.
It commemorates the arrival of the Madonna of Shkodra at the Madonna of Good Council Church in Genazzano after the Albanian sanctuary was destroyed by the Ottomans in 1467.
Cardinal Franc Rodé is the Prefect-emeritus of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.
Please find below the Latin text of the Pope’s letter:
Venerabili Fratri Nostro
FRANCISCO S.R.E. Cardinali RODÉ, C.M.
Praefecto olim Congregationis pro Institutis vitae consecratae
et Societatibus vitae apostolicae
Quingentesima et quinquagesima anniversaria memoria appropinquante adventus praeclarae imaginis Dominae Scodrensis in sacram aedem Genatiani, prope Romam, Matri Boni Consilii dicatam, fideles dilectae terrae Albaniae Beatam Mariam Virginem singulari cultu prosequuntur eaque intercedente Salvatori gratias agunt pro omnibus beneficiis saeculorum decursu acceptis. In archidioecesi potissimum Scodrensi-Pulatensi varia incepta suscipiuntur in praeparanda praecipua festivitate die XXVI mensis Aprilis celebranda. Mater Dei enim, cuius memorata icona peculiari splendore eminet, christifideles Albanienses difficilibus temporibus auxiliis est prosecuta apud Filium suum et Dominum nostrum divina dona efflagitans. De hac re sanctus Ioannes Paulus II clare est locutus qui in visitatione apostolica in Albaniam die XXV mensis Aprilis anno MCMXCIII in cathedrali Scodrensi lapidem benedixit novi sanctuarii aedificandi atque totum Albaniensem populum Matri Boni Consilii concredidit.
His rerum adiunctis diligenter consideratis Venerabilis Frater Angelus Massafra, O.F.M., Archiepiscopus Metropolita Scodrensis-Pulatensis atque Conferentiae Episcopalis Albaniensis Praeses, humanissime rogavit ut eminentem virum mitteremus, qui Nostras vices memorato die gereret Nostramque erga istum populum dilectionem manifestaret. Ad Te autem, Venerabilis Frater Noster, qui, Sloveniae clarus filius, olim pergrave munus Praefecti Congregationis pro Institutis vitae consecratae et Societatibus vitae apostolicae diligenter exercuisti, mentem Nostram vertimus atque Te hisce Litteris MISSUM EXTRAORDINARIUM NOSTRUM nominamus ad celebrationem quae die XXVI huius mensis Aprilis apud Sanctuarium Nationale Scodrense agetur.
Sollemni ibidem praesidebis Eucharistiae atque Archiepiscopum Metropolitam aliosque sacros Praesules, sacerdotes, religiosos viros mulieresque, publicas auctoritates atque universos christifideles Nostro salutabis nomine. Optamus etiam ut de pondere Marialis cultus in historia Ecclesiae quae est in Albania loquens, omnes adstantes sermone tuo ad diligentiore usque modo viam per Mariam ad Iesum prosequendam cohortaberis.
Nos autem Te, Venerabilis Frater Noster, in tua missione implenda precibus comitabimur intercessionem ipsius Dominae Scodrensis invocantes atque beatorum martyrum Albaniensium Vincentii Prennushi et XXXVII Sociorum. Denique Benedictionem Nostram Apostolicam libentes Tibi impertimur, signum Nostrae erga Te benevolentiae et caelestium donorum pignus, quam omnibus celebrationis participibus rite transmittes.
Ex Aedibus Vaticanis, die XXII mensis Aprilis, anno MMXVII, Pontificatus Nostri quinto.
FRANCISCUS
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis celebrated the funeral rites for Cardinal Attilio Nicora in St. Peter’s Basilica on Monday.
Cardinal Nicora, the former president of the Vatican’s Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See (APSA), died on Saturday at the age of 80.
The funeral rites and homily were delivered by Cardinal Angelo Sodano, Dean of the College of Cardinals.
Cardinal Sodano recalled the long and generous service offered by Cardinal Nicora to the Holy See, saying he “was consecrated to the service of the Church”.
During the Mass at the Altar of the Chair, Pope Francis presided over the rites of Commendatio and Valedictio.
In a telegramme sent on Sunday , the Holy Father expressed his gratitude for the Cardinal’s precious service to the Church and to civil society in Italy, especially in the legal field, noting his contribution to the revision of the Lateran Pacts and later his work as President of APSA and AIF.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis will make a private visit to the northern Italian towns of Bozzolo and Barbiana on 20 June 2017 to pray at the tombs of Don Primo Mazzolari and Don Lorenzo Milani.
Bozzolo is in the Diocese of Cremona and Barbiana is in the Diocese of Florence.
A communique from the Holy See Press Office says the visit “will take place in a private rather than an official form”.
The Holy Father recently dedicated a video message to Don Lorenzo Milani .
Please find below the full programme of the Pope’s visit:
Tuesday, 20 June
7.30 Departure by helicopter from the Vatican heliport
9.00 Arrival at the sports field of Bozzolo, Mantua
The Holy Father is welcomed by:
His Excellency Msgr. Antonio Napolioni, bishop of Cremona and the Mayor of Bozzolo
Parish of San Pietro: prayer at the tomb of Don Primo Mazzolari (1890-1959)
The Holy Father will give a commemorative address to the faithful present in the Church
10.30 Departure from the sports field of Bozzolo
11.15 Arrival at the forecourt in front of the Church of Barbiana
The Holy Father is welcomed by:
His Eminence Cardinal Giuseppe Betori, archbishop of Florence and the Mayor of Vicchio, Florence
Private visit to the cemetery, and prayer at the tomb of Don Lorenzo Milani (1923-1967), on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of his death
In the Church: encounter with the living disciples of Don Milani and brief visit to the vicarage in the adjacent garden: the Holy Father gives a commemorative address, in the presence of the disciples, to a group of priests from the diocese and some young people housed in family residences (a total of around 200 people)
12.30 Departure from Barbiana
13.15 Return to the Vatican
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Never forget that our faith is concrete, and rejects compromises and idealizations. That was the message of Pope Francis at the morning Mass at the Casa Santa Marta.
Among those present at the Mass were the Cardinal counselors of the C-9, who are meeting with the Holy Father on Monday. The Pope reflected on the liberty the Holy Spirit gives us, which brings about the proclamation of the Gospel without compromises or rigidity.
Listen to our report:
Following the Easter break, Pope Francis on Monday resumed his regular morning Masses, focusing his homily on the Gospel account of Jesus’ meeting with Nicodemus. The Holy Father said that Jesus, with love and patience, explained to Nicodemus that he must be “born from above… born of the Holy Spirit.”
To understand this better, the Pope said, one can consider the first Reading, taken from the Acts of the Apostles. Peter and John have healed a crippled man, and the doctors of the Law don’t know what to do, how “to hide” what happened, “because the event was public.” When they were questioned, Peter and John “answered with simplicity”; and when they were ordered not to speak about what happened, Peter responded, “No! We cannot remain silent about what we have seen and heard. And we will continue to do as we have been doing.”
The Word became flesh; our faith is concrete
See, then, the Pope said, “the concreteness of a fact, the concreteness of the faith” in contrast to the position of the doctors of the law who “wanted to enter into negotiations, to come to a compromise”: Peter and John “have courage, they have frankness, the frankness of the Spirit,” “which means speaking the truth openly, with courage, without compromises.” This is “the point,” “the concreteness of the faith”:
“At times we forget that our faith is concrete: the Word was made flesh; it is not made an idea. And when we recite the Creed, everything we say is concrete: ‘I believe in God the Father, Who made heaven and earth; I believe in Jesus Christ Who was born, Who died…’ These are all concrete things. Our Creed does not say, ‘I have to do this, I have to do that, I have to do something else, or that some things are for these ends.’ No! They are concrete things. [This is] the concreteness of the faith that leads to frankness, to bearing witness even to the point of martyrdom, which is against compromises or the idealization of the faith.”
At times, even the Church has fallen into “a theology of ‘yes you can,’ ‘no you can’t”
For these doctors of the law, he continued, the Word “was not made flesh: it was made law: and you must do this up to this point, and no further”; “you must do this, and nothing else”:
“And so they were imprisoned in this rationalistic mentality, which did not end with them. Because in the history of the Church – although often the Church Herself has condemned rationalism, illuminism – later it often happened that it fell into a theology of ‘yes, you can, no you can’t; up to this point, thus far.’ And it forgot the strength, the liberty of the Spirit, this rebirth of the Spirit that gives you liberty, the frankness of preaching, the proclamation that Jesus Christ is Lord.”
The Lord gives us the Spirit in order to proclaim the Gospel without rigidity
“Let us ask the Lord,” the Pope said, for “this experience of the Spirit Who comes and goes and bears us onward; of the Spirit Who gives us the anointing of the faith, the anointing of the concreteness of the faith”:
“The wind blows where it will and you hear the voice, but you don’t know where it is coming from or where it is going. So it is for anyone who is born of the Spirit: He hears the voice, he follows the voice, he follows the voice of the Spirit without knowing where it will end. Because he has made an option for the concreteness of the faith and the rebirth of the Spirit. May the Lord grand to all of us this paschal Spirit, of going forward along the path of the Spirit without compromises, without rigidity, with the liberty of proclaiming Jesus Christ as He Who has come: in the flesh .”
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has sent a video message to a festival organised to promote books and reading, which is taking place in Milan from 19 to 23 April.
The videomessage is dedicated to Don Lorenzo Milani, the prior of Barbiana, and writer of many works including “letter to a professor”.
The Italian priest is also being remembered at the event entitled “Time for Books”.
In the videomessage the Holy Father describes Don Milani as a believer, in love with the Church even though he was hurt, and a passionate educator with a vision for school life.
He goes on to say that “going to school means opening the mind and heart to reality, to the richness of its aspects, its dimensions.”
The Pope adds that Don Milani displayed a spiritual restlessness, fueled by love for Christ, the Gospel, the Church, society, and school, which he increasingly dreamed of as a “field hospital” to help the wounded, and to help make the lives of the marginalized and discarded better.”
(from Vatican Radio)…