(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis is urging Christians to support families in need so that children are raised in “healthy and peaceful environments.”
In a short video message in Spanish issued Thursday, the Pope offers a prayer intention for the month of March. He reflects on the theme: “the family is one of the most precious assets of humanity. But, is it not perhaps the most vulnerable?”
“When a family is exposed to economic, health, or other difficulties, the children grow up in an environment of sadness.”
Meditating on this issue, Pope Francis says, “I want to share with you and with Jesus my prayer intention for the month: That families in need may receive the necessary support and that children may grow up in healthy and peaceful environments.”
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) All true Christians should embody the compassion of the Good Samaritan, offering caring witness towards those who suffer: t his is the message at the heart of Fr. Ermes Ronchi’s Lenten meditation for Pope Francis and the Roman Curia on the fifth day of their spiritual exercises in Ariccia, in the hills outside Rome. His reflection draws on the tears shed by Mary Magdalen after finding Jesus’ tomb empty. She is stopped by a voice which asks “whom are you seeking and why are you crying?” The 3 verbs that lead to compassion The risen Jesus, Fr. Ronchi explains, “is the Lord of life” and he cares about Mary Magdalen’s tears. In his last hours on the Cross on Good Friday, Jesus was concerned for the pain and anguish suffered by a thief, Fr. Ronchi observes. And in the early hours of Easter, he was concerned about Mary’s pain and her love. “Jesus is the man of encounter,” the priest says: “he never looks for a person’s sins, but always focusses on their suffering and need.” We too, can learn from Jesus’s concern and from the compassion of the Good Samaritan, Fr. Ronchi asserts. They “saw, stopped and touched” – three verbs which lead to compassion and to action to ameliorate suffering. Compassion: a physical “kick in the gut” There are many scenes in the Gospel in which Jesus feels compassion after witnessing human suffering. This word, says Father Ronchi, in the Greek text alludes to “a cramp in the belly.” True compassion, therefore, is not an abstract or noble thought but a physical kick in the gut. It is this visceral reaction, he stresses, that causes the good Samaritan not to “pass by” the suffering man as do the priest and the Levite. “The real difference is not between Christians, Muslims or Jews – the real difference is not between those who believe and those who say they do not believe,” Fr. Ronchi notes. “The real difference is between those who stop and those who do not stop to help the injured…If I spend an hour simply shouldering a person’s pain, I get to know him better; I am wiser than the most well-read of people. I am full of the knowledge of life.” Mercy is never shown from a “distance” Fr. Ronchi ponders the third verb, “to touch:” “Whenever Jesus is moved, he touches,” recalls the preacher of the exercises. “He touches the untouchable:” a leper – among the most despised of human waste. He touches the son of the widow of Nain and “violates the law, does what one cannot do: he takes the dead boy, raises him up again and gives him back to his mother”: When we look upon those who need our mercy, says Fr. Ronchi – the refugees, migrants, the poor – we should be impelled to stop, to touch. “If I see, I stop and I touch. If I wipe away a tear, I know I am not changing the world; I cannot change the structures of iniquity, but I have injected into it the idea that hunger is not invincible.” “Mercy,” he concludes, “is all that is essential to human life…And God forgives thus: not with a document but with His hands, a touch, a caress.” (from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has given provisional approval to a new series of norms governing the establishment and management of funds for the advancement of investigations into the lives of people proposed for sainthood. Given by Papal rescript, the approval ad experimentum for a period of three years governs the way funds for the Causes of Saints are established and managed, especially at the so-called “Roman phase” of the process, which follows initial evidence collection at the diocesan level and the preparation of a position paper – often thousands of pages long and containing painstakingly assembled intimate details of the proposed saint’s earthly life and career – to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in Rome, which forms the basis of the Roman phase proper. All of this can prove extremely costly and time-consuming. The new norms seek to increase transparency in the process and assist in cost containment by requiring regular and detailed accounting, creating disciplinary procedures in case of misuse, and providing for the liquidation of funds established for causes, once the process reaches its conclusion. In addition, the new norms provide for the creation of a “solidarity fund” that is supplied by freely given donations from the promoters of causes or any other source. In the case of real and genuinely documented need, appeals for assistance from the Solidarity Fund are to be made by the promoters of causes, through the local bishop. The Congregation for the Causes of Saints will evaluate case by case. (from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) The Vatican on Wednesday said there is “a lack of political will on the part of the different Institutions of the International community” to address attacks on the right of religious freedom.
The comments were made during a United Nations Human Rights Council discussion on the Report of the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief.
“Minimizing the essential role that religion has in all societies will not be the answer to the current challenges found in the interplay of [the freedom of religion and the freedom of expression],” said Msgr. Richard Gyhra, Chargé d’Affaires a.i. of the Permanent Mission of the Holy See to the United Nations and Other International Organizations in Geneva.
“We live in a world subject to the ‘globalization of the technocratic paradigm,’ which consciously aims at a one-dimensional uniformity and seeks to eliminate all differences and traditions in a superficial quest for unity,” he continued.
“Religions thus have the right and the duty to make clear that it is possible to build a society where ‘a healthy pluralism which respects differences and values them as such’ is a precious ally in the commitment to defending human dignity… and a path to peace in our troubled world,” said Msgr. Gyhra.
“The tendency to globalization is not necessarily bad. On the contrary, if it unites us, it can be noble. However, we are all aware that ‘globalization makes us neighbors, but does not make us brothers’.”
The Vatican diplomat said another essential aspect to the respect for freedom of religion or belief and its relationship with freedom of expression is the limitation that some forms of national legislation impose by not permitting an open exercise of the freedom of religion.
“For a diminution of violations of this essential right, it is imperative that all persons of all religious persuasions, or of no religion, are treated equally as citizens in the fullest sense, without discrimination and persecution because of their convictions or beliefs,” Msgr. Gyhra said.
The full text of Msgr. Gyhra’s address is below
Intervention by Msgr. Richard Gyhra, Chargé d’Affaires a.i. of the Permanent Mission of the
Holy See to the United Nations and Other International Organizations in Geneva
at the 31 st Session of the Human Rights Council
Item 3 – Report of the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief
Geneva, 9 March 2016
Mr. President,
The Special Rapporteur on the freedom of religion or belief has provided us with a rather thought-provoking Report which addresses the interplay and interconnectedness of this freedom with the freedom of expression. The ongoing and world-wide terrorist attacks, as well as the greater relation between religion and tolerance, underscore the necessity of reflecting upon these basic freedoms, of how we approach and understand them, and the “rights” and “obligations” demanded by them. Studies and statistics indicate a rather sober and sad reality when they show that limits and abuses of the freedom of religion or belief are continuing to increase in many countries. This trend is very alarming for the Holy See as it seems to indicate a lack of political will on the part of the different Institutions of the International community to address the causes of such violence and that there is a long path that lies ahead in the area of mutual understanding and dialogue. Often times, the public reactions to these unfortunate and violent events drive a greater wedge between these two rights, pushing them further apart as if they are opposite rights or innately antithetical. On the contrary, these freedoms, as with all rights, are to be understood within the framework of the universality and interdependence of all fundamental human rights. The danger arises, however, when human rights are understood from an approach that considers freedom as complete license or autonomy, the exercise of one’s freedom without any reference to the other or to the “obligation” which corresponds to the right. As the Special Rapporteur notes, “the two rights under discussion here are rights of “everyone” and thus held by all human beings who should be able to exercise them free from fear and free from discrimination… (they) epitomize the principle of equality which underpins the human -rights approach as a whole.”
Minimizing the essential role that religion has in all societies will not be the answer to the current challenges found in the interplay of these two freedoms. We live in a world subject to the “globalization of the technocratic paradigm,” which consciously aims at a one-dimensional uniformity and seeks to eliminate all differences and traditions in a superficial quest for unity. Religions thus have the right and the duty to make clear that it is possible to build a society where “a healthy pluralism which respects differences and values them as such” is a “precious ally in the commitment to defending human dignity… and a path to peace in our troubled world.” The tendency to globalization is not necessarily bad. On the contrary, if it unites us, it can be noble. However, we are all aware that “globalization makes us neighbors, but does not make us brothers”.
Therefore, if this tendency pretends to makes us all the same, it destroys the individuality of every person. Freedom of religion or belief is a fundamental right which shapes the way we interact, alone or in community, with our neighbors whose religious views differ from our own. Religious freedom is rooted in respecting the freedom of conscience. By its very nature it transcends places of worship and the private sphere of individuals and families and seeks to build the common good of all persons. As Pope Francis says, religious freedom allows us to seek “the truth and dignity of the human person and human rights. In a world where various forms of modern tyranny seek to suppress religious freedom, or try to reduce it to a subculture without right to a voice in the public square, or to use religion as a pretext for hatred and brutality, it is imperative that the followers of the various religions join their voices in calling for peace, tolerance and respect for the dignity and rights of others.”
Mr. President,
For the Holy See, freedom of religion and freedom of speech are called to coexist as fundamental human rights. There is a truth, however, that must not be overlooked; namely, that everyone has the right to practice his or her religion freely, without offending others. Furthermore, we must not offend other believers, make war or kill in the name of one’s own religion, in God’s name. “To kill in the name of God is an aberration. I believe that this is the most important thing about religious freedom: to exercise it in freedom, without offending, but also without imposing it or killing for it.”
“Everyone not only has the freedom of expression, the right, but also the obligation, to say what they think in order to promote the common good. We have the obligation to speak openly, to enjoy this freedom, but without offending others. We cannot provoke others, we cannot insult their faith, we cannot mock their faith.”
In this sense, there is a delicate interplay of these two fundamental rights that must be carefully maintained by respecting the freedom of conscience of others, by exercising our freedom in a responsible and respectful way, not as complete autonomy or license but rather as the freedom to choose what is truly good for the individual, his community and for the common good, and by treating others as we wish to be treated.
Another essential aspect to the respect for freedom of religion or belief and its relationship with freedom of expression is the limitation that some forms of national legislation impose by not permitting an open exercise of the freedom of religion, a fundamental human right as articulated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. For a diminution of violations of this essential right, it is imperative that all persons of all religious persuasions, or of no religion, are treated equally as citizens in the fullest sense, without discrimination and persecution because of their convictions or beliefs.
Mr. President,
In conclusion, the enjoyment of the freedom of religion or belief is a fundamental human right that cannot be simply brushed aside, as if our societies have moved beyond any religious belief or sentiment. With many conflicts occurring at the hands of some extremists, religion has unfortunately been portrayed as the culprit that must be excised from modernity by way of the scalpel of freedom of expression. This effort is not only misguided, but contrary to the nature of the human person. In fact, freedom of religion and freedom of expression cannot exist separately, for they are interdependent and united. Thus, they should always be enjoyed together through a reasonable and respectful exchange.
Thank you, Mr. President.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) The theme of transparency regarding the Church‘s assets and the question regarding the fight against hunger and food waste were two key points during the Sixth meditation of the Pope’s Lenten Retreat.
Led by Father Ermes Ronchi who is preaching to Pope Francis and to members of the Roman Curia at their retreat in the town of Ariccia, the exercises focus on ten questions from the Gospels.
The question at the heart of Wednesday morning’s reflection was “How many loaves do you have?” (Mark 6:38, Matthew 15:34).
“The thing that most hurts Christians – Father Ronchi said – is the clergy’s attachment to money,” whilst what makes them happy is “the sharing of the bread”.
Father Ronchi began his meditation saying “Some people are so hungry that for them God cannot but have the form of a loaf of bread”.
“Life – he said – begins with hunger; to be alive is to be hungry”. And if you take that a step further one must consider the hunger of millions of people in the world: “the siege of the poor”, millions of outstretched hands asking for something to eat does not – he said – ask for a religious definition. “How does the Church respond?”
No to smoke screens
Quoting from the Gospel reading which tells of the multiplication of the loaves and the fish, Ronchi points out that Jesus has a very practical approach when he tells the disciples to sum up what they have in hand.
He said that all disciples, including the ones today, are called to quantify their assets.
“How much money do you have? How many houses? What standard of living? You must check! How many cars and how much jewelry in the form of crucifixes or rings?” he said.
The Church – Father Ronchi concluded – must not be afraid of transparency.
To share is to multiply
“If you are transparent you are truthful. When you are true you are free.” Father Ronchi observed that Jesus did not allow anyone to ‘buy’ him, and “he never entered the palaces of the powerful if not as a prisoner.”
He explained that Jesus’ logic is that of giving – not of hoarding. He said that the verb ‘to love’ in the Gospel translates into ‘to give’. The miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and the fish shows us that Jesus is not concerned with the quantity of the bread; what he desires is that the bread be shared.
“According to a mysterious divine rule: when my bread becomes our bread, then little becomes enough. Hunger begins when I keep my bread to myself, when the satiated West holds on to its bread, its fish, its assets… It is possible to feed the earth, there is enough bread. There is no need to multiply it, it would be sufficient to just distribute it, starting with ourselves. We do not need prodigious multiplications: we need to beat the Goliath of selfishness, of food waste and the hoarding of few”.
“The hunger of others has rights over me”
Quoting from the Gospel of Luke Father Ronchi said: “Give and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap…” In this promise of Jesus – Father Ronchi said – is the mysterious, immense economy of giving and its hundredfold return which turns every budget upside down.
And the last question will be – he continued: “Have you given little or a lot to life?” – Life depends on this, not on assets.
“A gift of five loaves of bread is sufficient to change the world” he said.
Father Ronchi concluded saying that the miracle of the five loaves and the two fish that the nascent Church put in the hands of Christ who did no calculations and held nothing back for his own supper or that of his disciples, shows us that a drop in the ocean can give meaning and hope to life”.
(from Vatican Radio)…