(Vatican Radio) The Ordinary Council of the Synod of Bishops met this week (18 and 19 November) to reflect on the outcome of this October’s Extraordinary Synod on the Family and to prepare the guidelines for next year’s Ordinary Synod. Scheduled to take place from 4th to 25th october 2015, the next Synod’s theme is “The vocation and the mission of the family in the Church and in the contemporary world.” In an opening address at this week’s meeting, the Synod’s Secretary General Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri spoke of the freedom, sincerity and spirt of brotherly communion that characterized this October’s Synod which enabled each participant to offer his own contribution to the discussions. The participants agreed that the episcopal conferences should carry out further study and discussion of the themes relating to the family between now and the next Synod. Most of the time during this week’s meeting was taken up with preparing the guidelines for next year’s Synod which are being taken from the final report or “ Relatio Synodi ” of this October’s Synod. These guidelines will be sent to the Bishops’ Conferences at the beginning of December and their replies will be sent back so they can be incorporated into the next Synod’s working document or “ Instrumentum Laboris ” before the summer of 2015. (from Vatican Radio)…
Vatican City, 20 November 2014 (VIS) – The Ordinary Council of the Synod of Bishops will meet on 18 and 19 November to reflect on the results of the Third Extraordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, held during October, and to prepare for the 14 th General Ordinary Assembly on the theme “The vocation and the mission of the family in the Church and in the contemporary world”, to be held from 4 to 25 October 2015. The Holy Father will chair the Council on Tuesday 18 and his presence will underline the importance he accords to the Synod as an expression of episcopal collegiality and to the family, the theme of the two Assemblies: the extraordinary Assembly held this year and the Ordinary one, in the preparatory stages. Alongside the secretary general, Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri, and the under-secretary, Archbishop Fabio Fabene, the meeting was attended by Cardinals Christoph Schonborn, Wilfried F. Napier, Peter K.A. Turkson, George Pell, Donald W. Wuerl, and Luis A. Tagle, and by Archbishops Bruno Forte and Salvatore Fisichella. Bishop Vincenzo Paglia, president of the Pontifical Council for the Family, also participated by invitation. In his introduction to the work of the Synod, the secretary general emphasised the climate of freedom and sincerity and the spirit of fraternal communion that characterised the Assembly, in which everyone was encouraged to contribute. Also, the final document, the Relatio Synodi, faithfully reflects the multi-faceted results of the Synod and offers a good summary of the process that took place during the Assembly. In the meeting, it was agreed that the current period between the two Assemblies, which is unprecedented in the history of the Synod as an institution, is of great importance. It is necessary to take the path followed so far as a starting point and to make the most of this special opportunity to deepen knowledge of the themes and to promote discussion at the level of the episcopal conferences, finding the means and the tools necessary to further involve various ecclesial bodies in the synodal reflection on the family. Various ideas on communication were also considered, which may be useful in view of the preparation for the upcoming Ordinary Assembly. The majority of the work was devoted to the preparation of the Lineamenta for the next Ordinary Assembly. The guidelines will be made up, as previously indicated, of the Relatio Synodi, accompanied by a series of points to help in its reception and elaboration. The Lineamenta are expected to be sent to the Episcopal Conferences at the beginning of December, so that the answers can be received in good time to allow them to be developed in the Instrumentum Laboris before the summer of 2015….
Vatican City, 20 November 2014 (VIS) – The Holy Father has appointed Bishop Peter Andrew Comensoli as bishop of Broken Bay (area 2,763, population 930,000, Catholics 395,000, priests 109, permanent deacons 6, religious 155), Australia. Bishop Comensoli is currently auxiliary of the archdiocese of Sydney, Australia….
(Vatican Radio) The Pontifical Council for Pastoral Health Care is sponsoring a three-day conference this week on autism. The theme of the event is: The Person with Autism Spectrum Disorders: Animating Hope . The conference is to bring together 650 experts from 57 countries to discuss a broad array of topics connected with the disease and its treatment, including diagnosis, treatment, research, and social solidarity with sufferers and their families.
Among the participants are the co-founders of the New York-based Autism Speaks foundation, Bob and Suzanne Wright, who established their organization in 2005, in order to promote awareness, develop and deliver resources, foster research into the causes of the condition, contribute to the development of treatment strategies, and help support sufferers and their families.
Click below to hear Bob and Suzanne Wright’s extended conversation with Vatican Radio’s Chris Altieri
Bob Wright told Vatican Radio that the Vatican-organized gathering is an example of the kind of contribution that religion can make to the common good. “I am so proud to be here at the Vatican, where the [Pastoral Health Care dicastery] is taking three days away from its other activities to have all kinds of scientists come in and talk about autism, about family, about getting together and making things happen – when we have other people using religion for money, for corruption, for terrorism, for horrible things, this example of the Vatican [shows] the right way to be spiritual and [religious].” he said. His wife and co-founder, Suzanne Wright, expanded on the point. “The religion aspect and the spiritual aspect to me is very helpful,” she said, adding, “we need to show compassion and understanding in taking care of [those with autism].”
Genuine care and compassion were the central themes of Pope Francis’ recent remarks to Catholic doctors in Italy. “The dominant thinking,” he said, “sometimes suggests a ‘false compassion’, that which believes that it is: helpful to women to promote abortion; an act of dignity to obtain euthanasia; a scientific breakthrough to ‘produce’ a child and to consider it to be a right rather than a gift to welcome; or to use human lives as guinea pigs presumably to save others.” He went on to say, “Attention to human life, especially that in greatest difficulty.” The Holy Father also said, “There is no human life that is more sacred than another – every human life is sacred.”
An estimated 70 million people worldwide are living with autism and autism-spectrum disorders.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Jesus weeps today when the doors of our hearts, those of the pastors of the Church, are closed to His surprises not recognizing the One who brings peace said Pope Francis at Mass Thursday morning in Casa Santa Marta.
Commenting on the Gospel of the Day, Pope Francis said Jesus weeps over Jerusalem because its people did not recognize the One who brings peace. He said the Lord weeps because of the “closure of heart” of His “chosen city, His chosen people. They had no time to open the door. They were too busy, too self-satisfied. And He continues to knock on doors as he knocked on the door of the heart of Jerusalem, at the gates of His brothers, His sisters; on our doors, the doors of our hearts, the doors of the Church. The people of Jerusalem were content with their way of life and did not need the Lord: they failed to realize that they needed salvation. This is why they had closed their heart before the Lord”. “Jesus weeps” over Jerusalem – said the Pope – the same as He “weeps over His Church, over us today”
“Why did Jerusalem not welcome the Lord? Because [the people] were content with what they had, and did not want any problems. But – as the Lord says in the Gospel – ‘if you only knew, on this day, what brings you peace. You did not recognize the time of your visitation ‘. The city was afraid to be visited by the Lord; afraid of the gratuity of the Lord’s visit. The city felt safe in the knowledge of what it could handle. We all feel safe in the things that we can handle … But the visit of the Lord, its surprises, those we cannot handle “.
And Pope Francis added: “Jerusalem was afraid of this: of being saved by the surprises of the Lord. The [people] were afraid of the Lord, their Bridegroom, their Beloved. And so Jesus wept. When God visits His people, He brings joy, He leads us to conversion. We all fear happiness – that joy that the Lord brings, because we cannot control it. We are afraid of conversion because conversion means allowing the Lord to lead us “.
“Jerusalem was content, happy – the Pope said – its temple worked. The priests made sacrifices, people came on pilgrimage, the teachers of the law had arranged everything, everything! Everything was clear! All the commandments were clear … And with all of this Jerusalem had closed the door”. The Cross, which was the “price of that refusal” – the Pope noted -, shows us the love of Jesus and what leads Him to “weep today – often – for His Church”.
“I ask myself: today we Christians who know the faith, the catechism, who go to Mass every Sunday, we Christians, we pastors are we content with ourselves? Because we have organized everything and do not need new visits from the Lord … And the Lord continues to knock on the door of each one of us and of His Church, the pastors of the Church. Yes, the door of our hearts, of the heart of the Church, of her pastors will not open: and the Lord weeps, even today”.
The Pope also urged people to examine their conscience, “Let us reflect on ourselves, as we are right now before God”.
(from Vatican Radio)…