(Vatican Radio) Every Christian is called to work for the unity of the Church, allowing ourselves to be guided by the Holy Spirit who creates unity in diversity, said Pope Francis at Mass Friday morning at Casa Santa Marta.
Pope Francis based his homily on the First Reading from Saint Paul’s Letter to the Philippians, in which the Apostle – a prisoner for the Lord – urges the community to live in a manner worthy of the call they have received, striving to preserve the unity of the spirit. “Building the unity of the Church – said the Pope – is the work of the Church and of every Christian throughout history”.
Pope Francis noted that when the Apostle Peter “speaks of the Church, he speaks of a temple made of living stones , that is us”. The Pope warned that the opposite to this is “that other temple of pride, which was the Tower of Babel”. The first temple “brings unity”, the second “is the symbol of disunity, lack of understanding, the diversity of languages”.
“Building the unity of the Church, building the Church, this temple, this unity of the Church: this is the task of every Christian, every one of us. When constructing a temple or a building, the first thing ones does is find suitable land. Then one lays the cornerstone, the Bible says. And the cornerstone of the unity of the Church, or rather the cornerstone of the Church, is Jesus and the cornerstone of the unity of the Church is Jesus’ prayer at the Last Supper: ‘Father, that they may be one!’. And this is its strength!”.
Pope Francis continued that Jesus is “the rock on which we build unity in the Church”, “without this stone, all else is impossible. There is no unity without Jesus Christ at the basis: He is our certainty”. The Pope then asked, who “builds this unity?”: “It is the work of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is the only one capable of building the unity of the Church. And that is why Jesus sent him: to make the Church grow, to make it strong, to make it one”. The Spirit builds “the unity of the Church” in the “diversity of nations, cultures, and people.”
Again Pope Francis posed a question: How is “this temple built?”. Speaking on this topic, the Apostle Peter said “that we were living stones in this building”. Saint Paul on the other hand “advises us not to be stones, to be weak bricks”. The advice of the Apostle to the Gentiles in building this unity is “weak advice, according to human thought”.
“Humility , gentleness, magnanimity: These are weak things, because the humble person appears good for nothing; gentleness, meekness appear useless; generosity, being open to all, having a big heart … And then he says more: Bearing with one another through love . Bearing with one another through love , having what at heart? Preserving unity. The weaker we are with these virtues of humility, generosity, gentleness, meekness, the stronger we become as stones in this Temple “.
Pope Francis continued this is “the same path as Jesus” who “became weak” to death on the Cross “and then became strong!”. We too, should do as much: “Pride, self-sufficiency are useless”. When you construct a building, “the architect has to draw up plans. And what is the ground plan for the unity of the Church?”.
” The hope to which we have been called: the hope of journeying towards the Lord, the hope of living in a living Church, made of living stones, with the power of the Holy Spirit. Only in the ground plan of hope can we move forward in the unity of the Church. We have been called to a great hope. Let’s go there! But with the strength that Jesus prayer’ for unity gives us; with docility to the Holy Spirit, who is capable of making living stones from bricks; and with the hope of finding the Lord who has called us, to encounter Him in the fullness of time”.
(from Vatican Radio)…
The 3rd Extraordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, took place here in the Vatican, Oct. 5 to 19, on the theme, “Pastoral challenges to the family in the context of evangelization”. Half-way through the 2-week meeting, the synod on Oct. 13, came out with a mid-term report called the ‘Relatio post disceptationem, or ‘report after discussions’, summarizing the first 5 days of the synod. It was the first time that a synod report was released to the public. And soon news reports spread like wild fire that the Synod of Bishops in unexpected conciliatory language has called for greater acceptance and appreciation of divorced and remarried Catholics, cohabitating couples and homosexuals. The twist given to the some of the texts of the Relatio, caused surprise, alarm and disappointment among many a synod father. However, at midday on Oct.18, the last working day of the synod, a press briefing was held in the Vatican before that day’s voting on the revised final synod report. Holy See’s spokesman Jesuit Fr. Federico Lombardi, presented to reporters three synod fathers: Indian Cardinal Oswald Gracias, Brazilian Cardinal Raymundo Damasceno Assis and Italian Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi. All the three cardinals first expressed their views on the synod on the family, including Cardinal Gracias. Listen:
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) If the international community is serious about eradicating extreme poverty then it cannot rely on “one-size-fits-all solutions”. Moreover, it’s not just a question of “increasing the amount of money a day a person lives on”. In the long term it’s a question of eradicating inequality.
This was the message at the heart of the Holy See’s address to the United Nations in New York on the issues of eradicating extreme poverty.
Delivering the intervention, the Vatican’s Permanent Observer to the UN, Archbishop Bernardito Auza, said “countries should develop evidence-based policies and strategies to combat extreme poverty, rather than relying on pre-conceived one-size-fits-all solutions”
He noted that “the ever-increasing economic inequality excludes and leaves behind large segments of populations, because the affluent become more affluent by gaining most of the development benefits”.
Abp. Auza said “reports show that, in many parts of the world, women and children form the majority of the poor and are affected by the burden of poverty in very specific ways”.
He continued that this “often compounds an already unacceptable gap between men and women, between boys and girls in terms of access to basic services and education and in terms of the exercise of basic human rights”.
The Archbishop concluded that the global fight to eradicate extreme poverty “should be inspired and guided by ground-based policies rather than ideology, by inclusion rather than exclusion, by solidarity rather than survival of the fittest”.
Below please find the full text of Abp.Auza’s address
Mr. Chair,
As we come closer to the completion of the Second United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty (2008-2017), my delegation believes that bold commitments like the Millennium Development Goals, the new Sustainable Development Goals and the Post-2015 Development Agenda are important tools to shape development strategies, marshal resources, coordinate efforts, monitor implementation and measure results.
My delegation believes that countries should develop evidence-based policies and strategies to combat extreme poverty, rather than relying on pre-conceived one-size-fits-all solutions. Analyses and suggested solutions need to be based on on-the-ground expertise and lived experience, rather than on imposed ready-made solutions from the outside, which are not always devoid of ideological colorings.
In other words, my delegation believes that our fight to eradicate extreme poverty should be inspired and guided by ground-based policies rather than ideology, by inclusion rather than exclusion, by solidarity rather than survival of the fittest. We have to question economic models that heighten exclusion and inequality, in particular those that cause an exponentially growing gap between the haves and the have-nots, those that exclude and marginalize masses of people without work, without possibilities, without any means of escape from poverty (cf. Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium n.53).
Mr. Chair,
My delegation believes that sustainable development requires the participation of all in the life of families, communities, organizations and societies. Participation is the antidote to exclusion, be it economic, social, political or cultural. Structures and practices that exclude and leave behind members of the human family will always be barriers to full human development. The ever-increasing economic inequality excludes and leaves behind large segments of populations, because the affluent become more affluent by gaining most of the development benefits. Concrete cases of poverty, especially extreme poverty, tell us that the rising tide does not always lift all boats; often it only lifts the yachts, keeps a few boats afloat, sweeps away many and sinks the rest. This cannot be the path to a life of dignity for all. This is not the future we want.
Another barrier to sustainable development is the exclusion of women from equal and active participation in the development of their communities. Excluding women and girls from education and subjecting them to violence and discrimination violate their inherent dignity and fundamental human rights. Reports show that, in many parts of the world, women and children form the majority of the poor and are affected by the burden of poverty in very specific ways. Poverty often compounds an already unacceptable gap between men and women, between boys and girls in terms of access to basic services and education and in terms of the exercise of basic human rights. The Holy See commends those countries where significant progress has been achieved in these areas, and respectfully invites those where this problem is not yet effectively addressed to do so as a matter of urgency.
Mr. Chair,
My delegation wishes to highlight that poverty is not mere exclusion from economic development; it is as multifaceted and multidimensional as the human person himself or herself. Other than its more obvious economic expression, poverty also manifests itself in the educational, social, political, cultural and spiritual dimensions of life. Individuals and communities experience these dimensions of poverty when they are excluded from or deprived of the social, cultural, political and spiritual benefits that should be accessible to all. While economic exclusion underpins in a large measure these other forms of exclusion and poverty, we cannot equate poverty with economic poverty alone, lest we fail to grasp the complexity of the realities of poverty and human development. We must thus resist the temptation to reduce poverty eradication to merely increasing the amount of money a day a person lives on. Development is more than the sum total of resources invested into development projects and their measurable material results; it includes as well those elements that, though at times intangible and imperceptible, also truly contribute to life-transforming and greater human flourishing.
In our efforts to eradicate poverty, we must always return to the foundational principle of our efforts, namely to promote the authentic development of the whole person and of all peoples. Each of us needs to contribute. Each of us can benefit. This is solidarity.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Thursday called on all men and women of good will to fight for the abolishment of the death penalty in “all of its forms” and for the improvement of prison conditions.
The Pope was addressing a group of members of the International Association of Criminal Law whom he received in the Vatican.
In his discourse the Pope also addressed the need to combat the phenomena of human trafficking and of corruption.
And he stressed that the fact that the enforcement of legal penalties must always respect human dignity.
In a dense and impassioned discourse to the Jurists assembled in the Vatican for a private audience, Pope Francis said that the “life sentence” is really a “concealed death sentence”, and that is why – he explained – he had it annulled in the Vatican Penal Code.
Many of the off-the-cuff comments during the Pope’s speech shone the light on how politics and media all too often act as triggers enflaming “violence and private and public acts of vengeance” that are always in search of a scape-goat.
Recalling the words of Saint John Paul II who condemned the death penalty as does the Catechism, Francis decried the practice and denounced “so-called extrajudicial or extralegal executions” calling them “deliberate homicides” committed by public officials behind the screen of the Law:
“All Christians and people of goodwill are called today to fight not only for the abolition of the death penalty be it legal or illegal, in all of its forms, but also for the improvement of prison conditions in the respect of the human dignity of those who have been deprived of freedom. I link this to the death sentence. In the Penal Code of the Vatican, the sanction of life sentence is no more. A life sentence is a death sentence which is concealed”.
And Pope Francis had words of harsh criticism for all forms of criminality which undermine human dignity, there are forms of his – he said – even within the criminal law system which too often does not respect that dignity when criminal law is applied.
“In the last decades” – the Pope said – “there has been a growing conviction that through public punishment it is possible to solve different and disparate social problems, as if for different diseases one could prescribe the same medicine.”
He said this conviction has pushed the criminal law system beyond its sanctioning boundaries, and into the “realm of freedom and the rights of persons” without real effectiveness.
“There is the risk of losing sight of the proportionality of penalties that historically reflect the scale of values upheld by the State. The very conception of criminal law and the enforcement of sanctions as an ‘ultima ratio’ in the cases of serious offenses against individual and collective interests have weakened. As has the debate regarding the use of alternative penal sanctions to be used instead of imprisonment”.
Pope Francis speaks of remand or detention of a suspect as a “contemporary form of illicit hidden punishment” concealed by a “patina of legality”, as it enforces “an anticipation of punishment” upon a suspect who has not been convicted. From this – the Pope points out – derives the risk of multiplying the number of detainees still awaiting trial, who are thus convicted without benefiting from the protective rules of a trial. In some countries – he says – this happens in some 50% of all cases with the trickledown effect of terribly overcrowded detention centers:
“The deplorable conditions of detention that take place in different parts of the world are an authentic inhuman and degrading trait, often caused by deficiencies of criminal law, or by a lack of infrastructures and good planning. In many cases they are the result of an arbitrary and merciless exercise of power over persons who have been deprived of freedom.”
Pope Francis also speaks of what he calls “cruel, inhuman and degrading punishments and sanctions,” and compares detention in maximum-security prisons to a “form of torture”. The isolation imposed in these places – he says – causes “mental and physical” suffering that result in an “increased tendency towards suicide”. Torture – the Pope points out – is used not only as a means to obtain “confession or information”:
“It is an authentic ‘surplus’ of pain that is added to the woes of detention. In this way torture is used not only in illegal centers of detention or in modern concentration camps, but also in prisons, in rehabilitation centers for minors, in psychiatric hospitals, in police stations and in other institutions for detention or punishment”.
And Pope Francis said children must be spared the harshness of imprisonment – as must, at least in a limited way – older people, sick people, pregnant women, disabled people as well as parents if they are the sole guardians of minors or persons with disabilities.
The Pope also highlighted one of the criminal phenomena he has always spoken out against vehemently: human trafficking which – he says – is the result of that “cycle of dire poverty” that traps “a billion people” and forces at least 45 million to flee from conflict:
“Based on the fact that it is impossible to commit such a complex crime as is the trafficking of persons without the complicity, be it active or of omission of action of the State, it is evident that, when the efforts to prevent and combat this phenomenon are not sufficient, we find ourselves before a crime against humanity. This is even truer if those who are responsible for the protection of persons and the safeguard of their freedom become an accomplice of those who trade in human beings; in those cases the State is responsible before its citizens and before the international community”.
Pope Francis dedicates an ample part of his discourse to corruption. The corrupt person – according to the Pope – is a person who takes the “short-cuts of opportunism” that lead him to think of himself as a “winner” who insults and persecutes whoever contradicts him. “Corruption” – the Pope says “is a greater evil than sin”, and more than “be forgiven, must be cured”.
“The criminal sanction is selective. It is like a net that captures only the small fish leaving the big fish to swim free in the ocean. The forms of corruption that must be persecuted with greatest severity are those that cause grave social damage, both in economic and social questions – for example grave fraud against public administration or the dishonest use of administration”.
Concluding, Pope Francis exhorted the jurists to use the criteria of “cautiousness” in the enforcement of criminal sanctions. This – he affirmed – must be the principle that upholds criminal law:
“The respect for human dignity must operate not only to limit the arbitrariness and the excesses of State officials, but as a criteria of orientation for the persecution and the repression of those behaviors that represent grave attacks against the dignity and the integrity of the human person”.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) The Vatican on Thursday announced a significant reorganisation of the principle monastery of the Benedictine Order, located at Montecassino in Italy’s southern Campania region. A large part of the land, including 53 parishes with 37 priests and 50 women religious, which have been under the jurisdiction of the Abbey will be transferred to the local diocese of Sora-Cassino-Aquino-Pontecorvo. At the same time Pope Francis also appointed Abbot Donato Ogliari, O.S.B., as the new abbot of Montecassino.
A note issued by the Holy See Press Office said that since the Second Vatican Council the Church has been in the process of consolidating the role of abbots as fathers of the their religious communities, rather than Ordinaries who have to care for all the pastoral activities of their ecclesiastical territories.
The note says that in his 1976 Motu proprio “Catholica Ecclesia,” Pope Paul VI followed up on the suggestions of the bishops at the Second Vatican Council that no more territorial Abbeys should be established and that the existing ones should be either “more suitably defined” in terms of their territory or transformed into other ecclesiastical territories. The objective, the note says, was to encourage a more specific identity and legal definition which corresponded to the life of the monastic community, while at the same time ensuring that those living under the territorial Abbeys could enjoy the kind of pastoral care they needed in the modern world.
In order to promote this objective, in accordance with the agreements signed with the Italian State and in order to respect the great historic and cultural heritage of these territorial Abbeys, it was agreed that existing Abbeys in Italy would not be closed down, but would rather be limited to the area directly connected to the monastic community, namely the hermitage and related buildings.
Finally the note says that after lengthy reflection and careful consultation, the Holy See has decided that the time has come to bring Montecassino Abbey in line with “Catholica Ecclesia”, following on from a similar process at Subiaco Abbey in 2002, at Montevergine Abbey in 2005 and at Cava de’Tirreni Abbey in 2013. Montecassion Abbey will continue to be an ecclesiastical territory on a par with a diocese, although its territory has been significantly reduced.
(from Vatican Radio)…