(Vatican Radio) Following the celebration of Mass on Sunday for the Jubilee of Prisoners, and after the recitation of the Marian Prayer, Pope Francis made an appeal in favour of the improvement of living conditions in prisons all over the world, in order, he said, “that it fully respects the human dignity of detainees.”
In addition, the Pope reiterated the need for a criminal justice system that is not only punitive, but is open to hope and the prospect of re-inserting the offender into society.
“In a special way”, he added, “I submit for the consideration of the competent civilian authorities in all countries the opportunity to make, in this Holy Year of Mercy, an act of clemency towards those prisoners who will be considered eligible to benefit from this measure.”
The Pope also recalled on Sunday, the Paris Agreement on the climate of the planet which came into force on Friday. Pope Francis said, “this breakthrough proves that humanity has the ability to work together for the protection of creation and to put the economy at the service of people to build peace and justice.”
The Holy Father expressed the hope that a conference on climate which opens on Monday in Marrakech, Morocco, would continue its work aimed at caring for the common home.
During his Angelus address Pope Francis remembered the thirty-eight martyrs who were beatified on Saturday in Shkodra, Albania.
He said, “they preferred to suffer imprisonment, torture and eventually death, in order to remain faithful to Christ and the Church.”
“Their example”, he added “helps us find strength in the Lord that supports us in times of trouble and inspires acts of kindness, forgiveness and peace.”
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Sunday celebrated Mass for the Jubilee of Prisoners in St Peter’s Basilica, telling those present, “by learning from past mistakes, you can open a new chapter of your lives.”
Below is the English translation of the Pope’s homily
The message that God’s word wants to bring us today is surely that of hope.
One of the seven brothers condemned to death by King Antiochus Epiphanes speaks of “the hope God gives of being raised again by him” (2 Macc 7:14). These words demonstrate the faith of those martyrs who, despite suffering and torture, were steadfast in looking to the future. Theirs was a faith that, in acknowledging God as the source of their hope, reflected the desire to attain a new life.
In the Gospel, we have heard how Jesus, with a simple yet complete answer, demolishes the banal casuistry that the Sadducees had set before him. His response – “He is not God of the dead, but of the living; for all live to him” (Lk 20:38) – reveals the true face of God, who desires only life for all his children. The hope of being born to a new life, then, is what we must make our own, if we are to be faithful to the teaching of Jesus.
Hope is a gift of God. It is placed deep within each human heart in order to shed light on this life, so often troubled and clouded by so many situations that bring sadness and pain. We need to nourish the roots of our hope so that they can bear fruit; primarily, the certainty of God’s closeness and compassion, despite whatever evil we have done. There is no corner of our heart that cannot be touched by God’s love. Whenever someone makes a mistake, the Father’s mercy is all the more present, awakening repentance, forgiveness and reconciliation.
Today we celebrate the Jubilee of Mercy for you and with you, our brothers and sisters who are imprisoned. Mercy, as the expression of God’s love, is something we need to think about more deeply. Certainly, breaking the law involves paying the price, and losing one’s freedom is the worst part of serving time, because it affects us so deeply. All the same, hope must not falter. Paying for the wrong we have done is one thing, but another thing entirely is the “breath” of hope, which cannot be stifled by anyone or anything. Our heart always yearns for goodness. We are in debt to the mercy that
In his Letter to the Romans, the Apostle Paul speaks of God as “the God of hope” (15:13). Paul almost seems to tell us that God too hopes. While this may seem paradoxical, it is true: God hopes! His mercy gives him no rest. He is like that Father in the parable, who keeps hoping for the return of his son who has fallen by the wayside (Lk 15:11-32). God does not rest until he finds the sheep that was lost (Lk 15:5). So if God hopes, then no one should lose hope. For hope is the strength to keep moving forward. It is the power to press on towards the future and a changed life. It is the incentive to look to tomorrow, so that the love we have known, for all our failings, can show us a new path. In a word, hope is the proof, lying deep in our hearts, of the power of God’s mercy. That mercy invites us to keep looking ahead and to overcome our attachment to evil and sin through faith and abandonment in him.
Dear friends, today is your Jubilee! Today, in God’s sight, may your hope be kindled anew. A Jubilee always brings with it a proclamation of freedom (Lev 25:39-46). It does not depend on me to grant this, but the Church’s duty, one she cannot renounce, is to awaken within you the desire for true freedom. Sometimes, a certain hypocrisy leads to people considering you only as wrongdoers, for whom prison is the sole answer. We don’t think about the possibility that people can change their lives; we put little trust in rehabilitation. But in this way we forget that we are all sinners and often, without being aware of it, we too are prisoners. At times we are locked up within our own prejudices or enslaved to the idols of a false sense of wellbeing. At times we get stuck in our own ideologies or absolutize the laws of the market even as they crush other people. At such times, we imprison ourselves behind the walls of individualism and self-sufficiency, deprived of the truth that sets us free. Pointing the finger against someone who has made mistakes cannot become an alibi for concealing our own contradictions.
We know that in God’s eyes no one can consider himself just (cf. Rom 2:1-11). But no one can live without the certainty of finding forgiveness! The repentant thief, crucified at Jesus’ side, accompanied him into paradise (cf. Lk 23:43). So may none of you allow yourselves to be held captive by the past! True enough, even if we wanted to, we can never rewrite the past. But the history that starts today, and looks to the future, has yet to be written, by the grace of God and your personal responsibility. By learning from past mistakes, you can open a new chapter of your lives. Let us never yield to the temptation of thinking that we cannot be forgiven. Whatever our hearts may accuse us of, small or great, “God is greater than our hearts” (1 Jn 3:20). We need but entrust ourselves to his mercy.
Faith, even when it is as tiny as a grain of mustard seed, can move mountains (cf. Mt 17:20). How many times has the power of faith enabled us to utter the word pardon in humanly impossible situations. People who have suffered violence and abuse, either themselves, or in the person of their loved ones, or their property… there are some wounds that only God’s power, his mercy, can heal. But when violence is met with forgiveness, even the hearts of those who have done wrong can be conquered by the love that triumphs over every form of evil. In this way, among the victims and among those who wronged them, God raises up true witnesses and workers of mercy.
Today we venerate the Blessed Virgin Mary in this statue, which represents her as a Mother who holds Jesus in her arms, together with a broken chain; it is the chain of slavery and imprisonment. May Our Lady look upon each of you with a Mother’s love. May she intercede for you, so that your hearts can experience the power of hope for a new life, one worthy of being lived in complete freedom and in service to your neighbour.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) The Statute of the Pontifical Academy for Life, signed by the Holy Father on 18 October, was published on Saturday, and will come into effect on 1 January 2017.
The following is a working translation of the text.
Part I
Nature and Aims
Article 1 – Introduction
§ 1 – The Pontifical Academy for Life, which has its seat in Vatican City State, was instituted by the Supreme Pontiff St. John Paul II by the Motu Proprio Vitae Mysterium of 11 February 1994.
The aim of the Pontifical Academy for Life is the defence and promotion of the value of human life and the dignity of the person.
§ 2 – The specific task of the Academy is to:
a) study questions and issues connected with the promotion and defence of human life from an interdisciplinary perspective;
b) educate in a culture of life – in relation to those aspects that belong to its specific range of competence – through suitable initiatives, always in full respect of the Magisterium of the Church;
c) inform the authorities of the Church, the various institutions of the biomedical sciences, social-healthcare organisations, the mass media and the civil community in general about the most relevant results of its study and research activities in a clear and prompt manner (cf. Vitae Mysterium, 4).
§ 3 – The Academy has a task of a prevalently scientific nature, directed towards the promotion and defence of human life (cf. Vitae Mysterium, 4). In particular, it studies the various aspects that relate to the care of the dignity of the human person at the different ages of existence, mutual respect between genders and generations, the defence of the dignity of each single human being, the promotion of a quality of human life that integrates material and spiritual value, with a view to an authentic “human ecology”, which may help to recover the original balance of Creation between the human person and the entire universe (cf. Chirograph, 15 August 2016).
§ 4 – In carrying out the activity provided for in this Statute, the Pontifical Academy for Life cooperates with the Dicasteries of the Roman Curia, primarily the Secretary of State and the Dicastery for the Laity, the Family and Life, in relation to their respective competences and in a spirit of collaboration.
§ 5 – In order to promote and disseminate the culture of life, the Academy maintains close contacts with university Institutions, scientific Societies and research centres that pursue the various themes connected with life.
Part II
Organisation
Article 2 – The Structure of the Academy
The Pontifical Academy for Life is made up of a Presidency and a Central Office, and the Members, who are also called Academicians.
Article 3 – The Presidency
The Presidency is made up of the President, the Chancellor and the Governing Council. The direction and running of the ordinary and extraordinary activities of the Academy are the responsibility of the President, together with the Chancellor, assisted by the Governing Council. The Ecclesiastical Advisor also belongs to the Presidency.
§ 1 – The President
a) The President is appointed by the Supreme Pontiff, remains in office for the period indicated in the letter of appointment, and can be reconfirmed in office.
b) The President officially represents the Pontifical Academy, directs it in all its activities and is answerable on its behalf to the Holy Father; he convenes and chairs the Governing Council; establishes the agenda and implements the resolutions of the Governing Council. The President convenes and presides over the sessions of the Academy and may invoke the extraordinary collaboration of individual Members.
§ 2 – The Chancellor
a) The Chancellor, appointed by the Supreme Pontiff for the period indicated in the letter of appointment, can be reconfirmed in office.
b) The Chancellor can represent the Pontifical Academy for Life on behalf of the President, and collaborates with him in the direction and running of the activities of the Academy.
§ 3 – The Governing Council
a) The Governing Council of the Pontifical Academy for Life is composed of the President, a possible Vice President, the Chancellor and six Councillors appointed by the Supreme Pontiff, of whom four are chosen from among the Ordinary Members of the Academy, the fifth is proposed by the Dicastery for the Laity, the Family and Life, and the sixth is the President of the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family. Each Councillor remains in office for five years and can be reconfirmed in office. The Ecclesiastical Advisor, if appointed, also belongs to the Governing Council (cf. § 4 of this Article).
b) The Governing Council meets in ordinary session at least twice a year to deliberate on the general orientations of the ordinary activities of the Academy and to address special questions connected with the life of the Academy.
c) The Governing Council can meet in extraordinary session to examine grave questions that cannot be postponed. At such sessions all the members of the Governing Council who are present have the right to vote.
d) The Governing Council chooses and appoints the Corresponding Members of the Pontifical Academy for Life, as referred to in Art .5, § 3 of these Statutes, also assessing external proposals, and approves the programmes of study of the General Assemblies and the educational activities, contributing to the general direction of the annual programmes.
§ 4 – The Ecclesiastical Advisor
a) The Ecclesiastical Advisor is appointed by the Supreme Pontiff for a five-year period of office that can be reconfirmed. This office may remain vacant when the office of President or that of Chancellor is held by an Ecclesiastic.
b) The Ecclesiastical Advisor has the task of ensuring that the declarations of the Pontifical Academy for Life are in conformity with Catholic doctrine according to the teachings of the Magisterium of the Church. In addition, he is entrusted with maintaining relations with the Ecclesiastical Superiors.
Article 4 – The Central Office
a) The Central Office of the Pontifical Academy for Life has its seat in the Vatican. It is the executive organ of the Presidency for the overall organisation, implementation and coordination of the activities of the Academy. The Central Office performs its functions in accordance with the directives of the President and the Chancellor.
b) In order to perform its activities in a more effective way, the Central Office is organised into two sections: the scientific section and the technical-administrative section or Secretariat.
§ 1 The scientific section
The scientific section attends to the activities of the Academy in relation to study and research on the basis of the aims set out in the Statutes and the specific tasks of the Pontifical Academy for Life (cf. Article 1).
To this end, the section is organised in three areas: study, formation and information.
§ 2 The technical-administrative section or Secretariat
The technical-administrative section attends to the secretarial and administrative activities of the Academy.
Article 5 – The Members or Academicians
The Pontifical Academy for Life is made up of the Ordinary Members, the Corresponding Members, the Honorary Members and the Young Researcher Members. The appointment of a Member to the Academy requires ascertained willingness to collaborate with the Academy in a spirit of service, solely for the fulfilment of his specific tasks.
§ 1 – Ordinary Members
The Ordinary Members may number up to a maximum of seventy. They are appointed by the Holy Father after hearing the opinions of the Governing Council for a five-year period of office, on the basis of their academic qualifications, proven professional integrity and expertise, and faithful service to the defence and promotion of the right to life of every human person.
Upon the termination of their five-year period of office, ordinary Members may be reconfirmed for subsequent mandates, up to the age of eighty.
§ 2 – The Honorary Members
Some Academicians are appointed by the Holy Father as Honorary Members, linked in a particular way to the life and activity of the Academy.
§ 3 – The Corresponding Members
The Corresponding Members are chosen and appointed for a five-year period of office by the Governing Council on the basis of their professional integrity and expertise, and their acknowledged commitment to the promotion and defence of human life.
At the end of their five-year period of office, corresponding Members can be reconfirmed for a maximum of two further mandates.
§ 4 – Young Researcher Members
The Young Researcher Members come from disciplines associated with the areas of research of interest to the Academy, with a maximum age of 35, selected and appointed by the Governing Council for a five-year period, renewable for one further mandate.
§ 5 – Indications and Rules regarding Members
a) The Academicians are chosen, without any religious discrimination, from amongst ecclesiastical, religious and lay personalities of various nationalities who are experts in the disciplines pertaining to human life (medicine, the biological sciences, theology, philosophy, anthropology, law, sociology, etc.).
b) The new Academicians undertake to promote and defend the principles regarding the value of life and the dignity of the human person interpreted in conformity with the Magisterium of the Church.
c) The Academicians are required to take part in the General Assemblies, in which they present scientific communications, notes and memoranda, debate, vote and have the right to propose appointments and subjects for study and research to the Governing Council.
d) In the case of inability to take part in the works of the General Assembly, the Academicians must adequately justify their absence.
In the case of unjustified absence on more than two occasions during a five-year mandate, the Academician ipso facto ceases to be a Member of the Academy.
e) The position of Academician can be revoked, following the procedure stipulated by the Regulations of the Academy, in the event of a public and deliberate action or declaration that is clearly contrary to the aforementioned principles, or gravely offensive to the dignity and credibility of the Catholic Church and the Academy itself.
f) Institutional political positions in the person’s own country or abroad are not compatible with appointment to or exercise of the office of Member of the Pontifical Academy for Life. Thus, should a Member of the Academy accept such a position he or she is suspended from his or her academic functions, and he or she cannot publicly use the title of Member of the Academy until this institutional office has come to an end.
Part III
Scientific activity and operational instruments
Article 6 – Description of ordinary activities
The scientific and interdisciplinary activity of the Pontifical Academy for Life shall maintain a close connection with the bodies and institutions through which the Church is present in the world of the biomedical sciences, of health, and of healthcare organisations, also offering its collaboration to medical doctors and researchers (including those who are non-Catholics and non-Christians) who recognise that the dignity of man and the inviolability of human life from conception to natural death, as enunciated by the Magisterium of the Church, is the essential moral foundation of the science and art of medicine.
To achieve the aims of its Statutes (cf. Art. 1), the Pontifical Academy for Life:
a) organises a General Assembly every year in which all the Members take part;
b) convenes and coordinates the activity of work groups of a national and international
character;
c) studies the legislation in force in the various countries of the world, the directions of international health-care policy, and the principal currents of thought that bear upon the contemporary culture of life;
d) publishes the results of its study and research and disseminates its cultural and operational proposals through publications and other instruments of mass communication;
e) organises national and international meetings on bioethical questions and issues of great interest;
f) organises initiatives that involve formation in bioethics, takes part in them, and offers its own contribution;
g) participates with its representatives in the most important scientific, biomedical, juridical, political, philosophical, anthropological, charitable-welfare, moral and pastoral (etc.) initiatives pertaining to the aims of the Academy itself.
Part IV
Financial Instruments
Article 7 – Financial resources
As an Institution supported by the Holy See, the Pontifical Academy for Life every year presents a budget for its ordinary and extraordinary activities to the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See, in accordance with current legislation.
§ 1 – The Foundation Vitae Mysterium
Resources provided by the Foundation Vitae Mysterium are primarily destined for the support of the ordinary or extraordinary activities of the Academy. In the case of sufficient availability of financial resources, a part of these resources can also be allocated to the funding of study grants and other initiatives for formation in bioethics, in particular for people from developing countries, or in regions where the culture of life is most in need of support.
Part V
Final Provisions
Article 8 – Regulations
In order to ensure the effective implementation of these Statutes, the President and the Chancellor, after hearing the opinions of the Governing Council, will submit the Regulations of the Pontifical Academy for Life to the Cardinal Secretary of State for his approval.
These Regulations shall contain, in addition to a list of positions and job descriptions of the Central Office, supplementary provisions relating to the structure and the working of the Academy.
This Statute is approved for five years. I order its promulgation through publication in the daily “L’Osservatore Romano” and subsequently in the Acta Apostolicae Sedis, entering into force on 1 January 2017.
From the Vatican, 18 October 2016.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Saturday evening welcomed the Third World Meeting of Popular Movements at the Vatican. The Meeting brings together organizations of people on the margins of society, including the poor, the unemployed and those who have lost their agricultural land.
In his remarks, he brought up many of the themes he discussed during his speech to the Second World Meeting of Popular Movements in Bolivia on 9 July 2015.
Pope Francis warned against the rule of money, which governs with “the whip of fear, inequality, and violence – economic, social, cultural and military – which creates more and more violence in a downward spiral that never seems to end.”
“The entire social doctrine of the Church and the magisterium of my predecessors rebels against the idol-money that reigns – tyrannizing and terrorizing humanity – instead of serving” said the Holy Father.
“No tyranny can be sustained without exploiting our fears,” – continued the Pope – “Citizens are walled-up, terrified, on one side; on the other side, even more terrified, are the excluded and banished.”
Pope Francis said this fear “is fed and manipulated.”
“Because fear – as well as being a good deal for the merchants of arms and death – weakens and destabilizes us, destroys our psychological and spiritual defenses, numbs us to the suffering of others, and in the end it makes us cruel,” he explained.
Pope Francis praised the members of the Popular Movements for giving dignity to the worker, and doing their part to reduce unemployment through their cooperatives.
He also thanked them for their assistance to migrants, and recalled the scenes he saw when he visited the Greek island of Lesbos, where the sight of so many children demonstrated the “bankruptcy of humanity.”
“What happens in the world today, if it is a bank which goes into bankruptcy, immediately there appear outrageous sums to save it,” – Pope Francis said – “But when the bankruptcy of humanity arrives, not one-thousandth of that will be used to save our suffering brothers and sisters? Thus the Mediterranean has become a cemetery, and not just the Mediterranean … many cemeteries are near walls; walls stained with innocent blood.”
The Holy Father told the organizations they are called to “revitalize and re-establish democracies going through a real crisis.”
“Do not fall into the temptation of being put into a box that reduces you to secondary actors or, worse, to mere administrators of the existing misery,” he said.
The Pope also warned them against corruption.
“The measure is very high: we must live the vocation of serving others with a strong sense of austerity and humility,” he said.
The Holy Father concluded by praying that God “fill you with his love and defend you on the path, providing sufficient strength to sustain you, and give you the courage to break the chain of hatred; that strength is hope.”
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Thirtyeight martyrs killed between 1945 and 1974 by the Communist regime have been beatified in the city of Shkodër in northwestern Albania.
The ceremony took place in the Square of St. Stephen’s Cathedral and was presided over by Cardinal Angelo Amato , Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.
In his homily Cardinal Amato said: “While the persecutors dissolve like so many black shadows which are lost forever in the darkness of eternal oblivion, martyrs are guiding lights that shine in the sky of humanity, showing the true face of man’s goodness, his profound identity created in the image of God”.
The canonical process for the recognition of the martyrdom and the official approval of the witness and sacrifice for the faith culminated in a decree promulgated by Pope Francis in April 2016 which gave the green light for the beatification of the martyrs.
Saturday’s beatifications double the number of Catholics declared blessed after having died during communist rule in Eastern Europe.
Father Anton Zogaj was shot on a beach near Durres after refusing to divulge confessional secrets.
Father Lazer Shantoja , a nationally admired poet, was shot in the head after being forced to crawl in excruciating pain when his arms and legs were broken under torture.
Archbishop Nikolle Vincenc Prennushi of Durres, who died of torture and exhaustion in 1949, two years into a 20-year hard labor sentence as an “agent of foreign powers.”
Bishop Frano Gjini of Lezhe, who died in 1948 declaring his “spirit and heart are with the Pope,” according to the execution record.
Father Shtjefen Kurti was sentenced and shot for “reactionary anti-state activities” in 1971 after secretly baptizing another convict’s child at a labor camp.
Father Giovanni Fausti , Italian vice provincial of Albania’s Jesuit order, who was beaten and spat at by communist onlookers during his trial and execution.
The list also features two priests drowned in 1948 when their heads were forced down in a prison cesspit with rifle butts; several foreign clergy, including one who was shot for giving last rites to a wounded fugitive; and three lay Catholics including 22-year-old Franciscan novice, Sister Maria Tuci , who died in Shkoder’s civic hospital after being tied in a sack and tortured.
Archbishop Angelo Massafra of Shkoder, President of the Albanian Bishops’ Conference reportedly said the list of martyrs had been agreed upon after Church consultations in 1994 and 2000, but added that many others could also be declared blessed in future.
Around 130 Catholic priests were executed or died through imprisonment, alongside thousands of lay Christians, under communist rule in Albania, which lasted from 1944 to 1991.
Catholics currently make up a tenth of Albania’s population of 2.9 million, according to a 2011 census, making them the second largest religious group after Muslims, many of whom also died under communist rule.
(from Vatican Radio)…