(Vatican Radio) True doctrine unites; ideology divides. That was the message of Pope Francis in the homily at the morning Mass at the Casa Santa Marta on Friday.
The Pope based his reflections on the so-called Council of Jerusalem which, around the year 49 A.D., decided that gentile converts to Christianity would not have to be circumcised.
The Holy Father was commenting on the First Reading, from the Acts of the Apostles. He noted that even in the first Christian community “there were jealousies, power struggles, a certain deviousness that wanted to profit from and to buy power.” There are always problems, he said: “We are human, we are sinners” and there are difficulties, even in the Church. But being sinners leads to humility and to drawing close to the Lord, as Saviour who saves us from our sins. With regard to the gentiles who the Spirit called to become Christians, the Holy Father recalled that, in the reading, the apostles and the elders chose several people to go to Antioch together with Paul and Barnabas. The reading describes two different kinds of people: those who had “forceful discussions” but with “a good spirit,” on the one hand; and those who “sowed confusion”:
“The group of the apostles who want to discuss the problem, and the others who go and create problems. They divide, they divide the Church, they say that what the Apostles preached is not what Jesus said, that it is not the truth.”
The apostles discussed the situation among themselves, and in the end came to an agreement:
“But it is not a political agreement; it is the inspiration of the Holy Spirit that leads them to say: no things, no necessities. Only those who say: don’t eat meat at the time, meat sacrificed to idols, because that was communion with the idols; abstain from blood, from animals that were strangled, and from illegitimate unions.”
The Pope pointed to the “liberty of the Spirit” that leads to agreement: so, he said, the gentiles were allowed to enter the Church without having to undergo circumcision. It was at the heart of the “first Council” of the Church: the Holy Spirit and they, the Pope with the Bishops, all together,” gathered together in order “to clarify the doctrine;” and later, through the centuries – as at Ephesus or at Vatican II – because “it is a duty of the Church to clarify the doctrine,” so that “what Jesus said in the Gospels, what is the Spirit of the Gospels, would be understood well”:
“But there were always people who without any commission go out to disturb the Christian community with speeches that upset souls: ‘Eh, no, someone who says that is a heretic, you can’t say this, or that; this is the doctrine of the Church.’ And they are fanatics of things that are not clear, like those fanatics who go there sowing weeds in order to divide the Christian community. And this is the problem: when the doctrine of the Church, that which comes from the Gospel, that which the Holy Spirit inspires – because Jesus said, “He will teach us and remind you of all that I have taught’ – [when] that doctrine becomes an ideology. And this is the great error of those people.”
These individuals, the Pope explained, “were not believers, they were ideologized,” they had an ideology that closed the heart to the work of the Holy Spirit. The Apostles, on the other hand, certainly discussed things forcefully, but they were not ideologized: “They had hearts open to what the Holy Spirit said. And after the discussion ‘it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us.’”
Pope Francis’ final exhortation was to not be afraid in the face “of the opinions of the ideologues of doctrine.” The Church, he concluded, has “its proper Magisterium, the Magisterium of the Pope, of the Bishops, of the Councils,” and we must go along the path “that comes from the preaching of Jesus, and from the teaching and assistance of the Holy Spirit,” which is “always open, always free,” because “doctrine unites, the Councils unite the Christian community, while, on the other hand, “ideology divides.”
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) The Holy See Press Office has announced that “Peter’s Pence” will now have a Facebook page.
Peter’s Pence is the name given to the financial support offered by the faithful to the Holy Father as a sign of their sharing in the concern of the Successor of Peter for the many different needs of the Universal Church and for the relief of those most in need.
The move to Facebook follows the opening of Twitter and Instagram accounts for Peter’s Pence, which took place earlier this year.
According to a press release from the Vatican, the decision to utilize the largest social network in the world has a double objective: “on the one hand, to create a community open to everyone wherever the use of Facebook is widespread; and, on the other hand, to share and relate the activities of this longstanding Office of Solidarity.”
Peter’s Pence on Facebook “is intended to promote dialogue with all those who have a common intent, helping the most needy and concretely supporting the works of charity.” The press release gives examples of a number of projects supported by Peter’s Pence: the expansion of the “Filippo Smaldone” Institute for poor and hearing-impaired children in Kigali, Rwanda; the awarding of scholarships to help displaced university students of Iraqi Kurdistan; the opening of a new primary school for Dalit children in India.
The new “Peter’s Pence” Facebook page will be able to draw attention to these and other charitable works supported by the organization. Traditionally the collection for Peter’s Pence takes place throughout the Catholic world on the Solemnity of St Peter, 29 June, or on the Sunday closest to that feast, depending on the diocese.
As with other social media platforms, this initiative was born of the desire of the Holy See, the fruit of a close collaboration between the Secretariat of State, the Secretariat for Communications, and the Governorate of the Vatican City State.
For more information on the work of Peter’s Pence, one can visit the Peter’s Pence website .
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis welcomed hundreds of people who suffer from a rare degenerative neurological condition known as Huntington’s Disease on Thursday in the Paul VI Hall, along with their families and caregivers, as well as research leaders and patient-advocates.
Click below to hear our report
Huntington’s Disease is a genetic disorder that affects between 5 and 10 people per 100 thousand on average, worldwide – though the prevalence of the disease varies greatly from place to place, with the prevalence in much of Asia at 1 per 1 million, while in the Lake Maracaibo region of Venezuela the prevalence is as high as 700 per 100 thousand people.
The onset of the disease typically comes between 30 and 45 years-of-age, and often manifests through Parkinson’s-like symptoms, though end-stage Huntington’s usually involves full-blown dementia as well as severe physical disability.
Huntington’s Disease has no cure.
In his remarks to Huntington’s sufferers, their family-members, caregivers, researchers, and advocates on Thursday in the Paul VI Hall, Pope Francis said, “For far too long, the fears and difficulties that characterize the life of people affected by Huntington’s Disease have surrounded them with misunderstandings and barriers, veritably excluding them.”
The Holy Father went on to say, “In many cases the sick and their families have experienced the tragedy of shame, isolation and abandonment. Today, however, we are here because we want to say to ourselves and all the world: ‘HIDDEN NO MORE!’”
Pope Francis promised the support of the Church to sufferers, saying, “May none of you ever feel you are alone; may none of you feel you are a burden; may no one feel the need to run away. You are precious in the eyes of God; you are precious in the eyes of the Church!”
The Holy Father encouraged researchers to continue their work, and called for concrete solidarity in this regard, in a manner consistent with the inherent and unalienable dignity of the human person.
“May the Lord bless your task,” Pope Francis prayed, adding, “I encourage you to always pursue it with means that do not contribute to fuelling that ‘throw-away culture’ that at times infiltrates even the world of scientific research. Some branches of research, in fact, utilize human embryos, inevitably causing their destruction. But we know that no ends, even noble in themselves, such as a predicted utility for science, for other human beings or for society, can justify the destruction of human embryos.”
Finally, the Holy Father expressed the hope that the lives of every person who suffers from Huntington’s, and of those who work every day to support the sick in their pain and difficulty, be a living witness to the hope that Christ has given to all humanity.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Thursday welcomed to the Vatican Nepal’s new ambassador to the Holy See, Ramesh Prasad Khanal, and 5 others. At a formal ceremony in the Vatican, all 6 ambassadors presented their credentials to the Pope at the start of their diplomatic mission with the Holy See. The other ambassadors are from Mauritania, Trinidad e Tobago, Sudan, Kazakhstan and Niger. The Nepalese Ambassador to Germany, residing in Berlin, is the accredited non-residential Ambassador to the Holy See.
Pope Francis delivered a common address to the 6 ambassadors
The Holy See and the Kingdom of Nepal established diplomatic relations on 10 September, 1983 and on 7 October 1983, the Holy See erected the Mission sui Iuris of Nepal, meaning ‘in its own right’ or an independent mission. Prior to that, Nepal’s Catholics were under the jurisdiction of the Indian Diocese of Patna. Fr. Anthony Francis Sharma, the first native Jesuit, was appointed the first Ecclesiastical Superior of Nepal and he was installed on 8th December 1984. The following year, Archbishop Agostino Cacciavillan presented his credentials to the Nepalese King as the Holy See’s first Pro-nuncio to the kingdom. Currently, Archbishop Giambattista Diquattro is the non-residential Apostolic Nuncio or Holy See’s ambassador to India and Nepal, residing at the Apostolic Nunciature in New Delhi.
The Holy See raised the Mission Sui Iuris to the rank of Prefecture Apostolic on 8 November, 1996, with Msgr. Sharma as the first Prefect Apostolic of Nepal. As the Church grew in the Himalayan nation, it was raised to the rank of Vicariate Apostolic with Msgr. Sharma becoming its first Vicar Apostolic. He was consecrated bishop at Kathmandu’s Assumption Cathedral on 5 May, 2007, thus becoming Nepal’s first bishop.
After Bishop Sharma retired on 25th April, 2014, Pope Francis appointed Fr. Paul Simick, a priest of the Indian Diocese of Darjeeling, the Vicar Apostolic of Nepal. Bishop Sharma passed away on 8 Dec 2015, at the age of 77. Pope Francis on 25 April, 2014. However, Nepal is a fully-fledged diocese as yet.
Once the world’s only Hindu state, Nepal ceased to be so following a declaration by the Parliament in 2006. Over 81% of its some 26.5 million population is Hindu, followed by Buddhists (9%), while Christians are a tiny minority of 1.4%. According to estimates by the Catholic charity ‘Aid to the Church in Need” (ACN), Catholics number around 8,000 faithful. Protestant communities, notably the Evangelical and Pentecostal groups have a strong presence.
Khanal, Nepal’s new ambassador to the Holy See is a 55-year old diplomat. The father of two children has diplomas in journalism and Japanese language, and has also has done specialized studies in security. He is law graduate and has also a Master’s degree in political science.
Khanal has held the following posts:
* Under-secretary of the Department for Europe-America, and South, South-East and North Asia at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1988-1994)
* Second and later First Secretary at the Nepali Embassy in China (1994-1998)
* Under-secretary of the Departmant of Protocol and of international organizations and the United Nations at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1998-2001)
* First Secretary at Nepal’s Embassy in Saudi Arabia (2001-2004)
* Counsellor and later Minister Counsellor at the Nepal’s embassy in Bangladesh (2005-2009)
* Under Secretary of the Multilateral Economic Affairs Division and of Passports at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2009-2010)
* Minister Counsellor at Nepal’s Embassy in Israel (2010-2013)
* Director General of the Department of Passports at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2013-2014)
* Chief of Protocol at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2015-2016)
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) The director of the Holy See Press Office has made an announcement that Pope Francis has decided to postpone Corpus Christi celebrations.
Greg Burke announced on Thursday 18th May 2017: “The Holy Father has decided to postpone the liturgical celebration of Corpus Christi, from Thursday 15th June to Sunday 18th June.”
Burke explained that the decision was “in favour of a better participation of the People of God, of priests and of the faithful of the Church in Rome.” He added, “There is a second reason: Thursday is a weekday and so there will be less inconvenience in Rome.”
On the Feast of Corpus Christi, the faithful celebrate the belief in the body and blood of Jesus Christ’s Real Presence in the Eucharist.
(from Vatican Radio)…