(Vatican Radio) “Without women, there is no harmony in the world.” That was the message of Pope Francis in his homily at the morning Mass at the Casa Santa Marta. At the center of his reflection was creation of woman, as told in Genesis. Men and women are not equal; the one is not superior to the other. But it is the woman, and not the man, who brings that harmony which makes the world a beautiful place.
Pope Francis was continuing his reflections on creation, the subject of the Readings for the past few days, taken from the Book of Genesis. The Lord had formed every sort of animal, but the man did not find a companion in any of them; he was alone. Then the Lord took a rib and created woman, who the man recognized as “flesh of his flesh.” “But before seeing her,” the Pope said, “the man dreamed of her… In order to understand a woman, it is necessary first to dream of her.”
Without women, there is no harmony
“Often when we speak about women,” the Pope said, we think of them in a ‘functionalist’ manner. Instead, we should see women as bearers of a richness that men do not possess: women bring harmony to creation:
“When women are not there, harmony is missing. We might say: But this is a society with a strong masculine attitude, and this is the case, no? The woman is missing. ‘Yes, yes: the woman is there to wash the dishes, to do things…’ No, no, no! The woman is there to bring harmony. Without the woman there is no harmony. They are not equal; one is not superior to the other: no. It’s just that the man does not bring harmony. It’s her. It is she who brings that harmony that teaches us to caress, to love with tenderness; and who makes the world a beautiful place.”
Exploiting people is a crime, but exploiting women is worse: it destroys harmony
In his homily, the Pope considered three moments in Creation: the solitude of the man, the dream, and the destiny of both the man and the woman: to be “one flesh.” The Holy Father gave a concrete example: Once, during an audience, while he greeted the people, he asked a couple who were celebrating their 60 th wedding anniversary, “Which of you has had the most patience?”
“And they looked at me, they looked me in the eyes – I’ll never forget those eyes, eh? – then they turned and they told me, both together: ‘We are in love.’ After 60 years, this means ‘one flesh.’ And this is what the woman brings: the capacity to love one another. Harmony for the world. Often we hear: ‘No, it is necessary in this society, in this institution, that here there should be a woman because she does this, she does these things.’ No, no, no, no! Functionality is not the purpose of women. It is true that women should do things, to do things as we all do. The purpose of women is to make harmony, and without women there is no harmony in the world. Exploiting persons is a crime of ‘lèse-humanité’: it’s true. But exploiting a woman is even more serious: it is destroying the harmony that God has chosen to give to the world. It is to destroy.”
Exploiting a woman, then, is not only a crime: it amounts to “destroying harmony,” the Pope said, referring also to the day’s Gospel story of the Syrophoenician woman.
God has created woman so that we would all have a mother
Pope Francis concluded his reflection with a personal note:
This is the great gift of God: He has given us woman. And in the Gospel, we have heard what a woman is capable of, eh? She is courageous, that one, eh? She went forward with courage. But there is more, so much more. A woman is harmony, is poetry, is beauty. Without her the world would not be so beautiful, it would not be harmonious. And I like to think – but this is a personal thing – that God created women so that we would all have a mother.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis met on Thursday with Jesuits who write for the ‘ Civiltà Cattolicà’ magazine, currently celebrating its 4000th edition. Founded in 1850 and originally available only in Italian, the publication is now adding editions in English, French, Spanish and Korean.
As well as sending the writers a hand-signed note, the Pope reflected at length on the importance of poetry, art and pioneering intellectual research, as the magazine seeks to build bridges with many peoples and cultures.
Listen to Philippa Hitchen’s report:
Your writing must not just defend Catholic ideas, but must witness to Christ in the world with a restless, open-ended and imaginative spirit. That’s was the Pope’s message to his Jesuit colleagues as he encouraged the work of this “ancient and precious” publication, a copy of which, he confided, “is often on my desk”.
Remain on open seas
Describing the Civiltà Cattolica’ s long history as a boat’s voyage on the open seas, the Pope told its current contributors never to be afraid of the storms, but to proceed courageously, guided by the Spirit, into uncharted waters.
He noted how the magazine has always had a particular link to the popes of the past century and a half, starting with Pope Pius IX who approved the original statutes in 1866. Since then, he said, the publication has been the expression of a group of writers who share not only their intellectual experiences, but also a charismatic inspiration and daily life together in the community where they live.
Mission to the frontiers
All Jesuits, Pope Francis continued, are called to carry out their mission on the frontiers and margins of society, in a spirit of dialogue and discernment. Civiltà Cattolica , he said, can help build bridges across those frontiers, with the new language editions serving to “broaden your horizons” and enter into dialogue with people in different parts of the globe.
Restlessness
The Pope focused on the need for Catholic writers to be restless, reminding them that Christian traditions are not rare treasures to be locked away in a museum display case. In this restless spirit, he said, they should draw inspiration from the French Jesuit St Peter Faber , co-founder of the order and a pioneer of ecumenism in the 16th century.
Openness
The second quality he urged them to strive for was that of openness in order to face the challenges of a world caught in a crisis of mediocrity, relativism, rigidity and a throw-away culture. Only an open-minded spirit, like that of the pioneering Italian Jesuit Matteo Ricci , who helped bring Christianity to China, will be able to confront the complex political, economic and humanitarian crises of our world, beginning with the drama of global migration.
Imagination
Finally Pope Francis urged the writers to be imaginative, like the versatile Jesuit painter and architect Andrea Pozzo . Reflecting on the importance of poetry, painting and other art forms, the Pope said the Church must rediscover its human genius, helping us to see that life is not black and white, but rather a colour painting with subtle shading. Use your imagination, he concluded, to remain flexible, with a sense of humour, a merciful heart and an interior freedom.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has urged all those involved in Catholic education to be builders of a more united and peaceful world.
In an address on Thursday morning to the Congregation for Catholic Education that is holding its Plenary Assembly, the Pope pointed out that institutes of education have meaning only in relation to the formation of the person.
Thus, he called on all educators to help young people to be builders of a more united and peaceful world.
And, the Pope reminded those present, more than others, Catholic institutions have a mission to offer horizons that are open to transcendence.
Listen to the report by Linda Bordoni :
“Gravissimum educationis” he recalled highlights the fact that education is at the service of an integral humanism and that the Church, as a mother and an educator, always looks to the younger generation from the perspective of an integral formation of the human person, both in view of his own ultimate goal, and for the good of society of which he is a member.
Pope Francis stressed the need for a culture of dialogue saying our world has become a global village in which each person belongs to humanity and shares in the hope for a better future for the whole family of nations.
Unfortunately, he said, there are many forms of violence, poverty, exploitation, discrimination, marginalization and restrictions on freedom that create a culture of waste.
“Within this context, Catholic educational institutions are called to be on the front line in practicing a grammar of dialogue” which, he said, is the basis of encounter and of the enhancement of cultural and religious diversity.
Dialogue, the Pope said, is constructive when it takes place in an authentic atmosphere of respect, esteem, sincere listening, without the need to blur or mitigate one’s identity.
So it is encouraging, he continued, to hope that the new generations, who are brought up to know how to engage in Christian dialogue, will leave school and university classrooms with the motivation to build bridges and find new answers to the many challenges of our time.
Referring to the methodology of St. Thomas, the Pope said that in a more specific sense, Catholic schools and universities are called to teach a method of intellectual dialogue which is aimed at revealing the truth.
Concluding, Pope Francis said “there is a final expectation that I would like to share with you: the contribution of education in sowing hope”.
“Man cannot live without hope and education generates hope. In fact, education gives birth, it helps grow, it’s part of the dynamics of giving life” he said.
A life that is born, he explained, is the most gushing source of hope; it reaches out in search of beauty, goodness, truth and communion with others for a common growth.
“I am convinced that young people today need above all to lead a life that builds the future” he said.
So educators, Francis pointed out, must listen to young people, something we are preparing to do at the next Synod of Bishops which is dedicated to them.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Thursday met with a delegation from the Anti-Defamation League encouraging them to cultivate justice and foster accord and telling them “the fight against anti-Semitism can benefit from effective instruments, such as information and formation.”
Listen to Lydia O’Kane’s report
The Anti-Defamation League was founded in 1913 “to stop the defamation of the Jewish people and to secure justice and fair treatment to all,” and on Thursday just like his predecessors, Saint John Paul II and Benedict XVI, Pope Francis received a delegation from the organization, which has maintained relations with the Holy See since the Second Vatican Council.
Speaking to those gathered the Pope recalled his visit last year to the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp saying, “there are no adequate words or thoughts in the face of such horrors of cruelty and sin; there is prayer, that God may have mercy and that such tragedies may never happen again.”
Denouncing anti-Semitism, in all its forms, the Holy Father reaffirmed that “the Catholic Church feels particularly obliged to do all that is possible with our Jewish friends to repel anti-Semitic tendencies”.
Today more than ever, Pope Francis continued, “the fight against anti-Semitism can benefit from effective instruments, such as information and formation.”
Faced with too much violence spreading throughout the world, the Pope underlined, “we are called to a greater nonviolence, which does not mean passivity, but active promotion of the good”, which he added, included the dignity of human life from conception to natural end.
The Holy Father encouraged the delegation sow the seeds of goodness by cultivating justice, fostering accord, and sustaining integration. Only in this way, he said, “may we gather the fruits of peace.”
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) The Pontifical Academy of Sciences has issued a statement following its summit on Organ Trafficking and Transplant Tourism which was held in Rome this week. In it the participants resolve “to combat these crimes against humanity through comprehensive efforts that involve all stakeholders around the world.”
Below find the English language statement
In accordance with the Resolutions of the United Nations and the World Health Assembly, the 2015 Vatican Summit of mayors from the major cities of the world, the 2014 joint declaration of faith leaders against modern slavery, and the Magisterium of Pope Francis, who in June 2016, at the Judges’ Summit on Human Trafficking and Organized Crime, stated that organ trafficking and human trafficking for the purpose of organ removal are “true crimes against humanity [that] need to be recognized as such by all religious, political and social leaders, and by national and international legislation ,” we, the undersigned participants of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences Summit on Organ Trafficking, resolve to combat these crimes against humanity through comprehensive efforts that involve all stakeholders around the world.
Poverty, unemployment, and the lack of socioeconomic opportunities are factors that make persons vulnerable to organ trafficking and human trafficking for the purpose of organ removal. Destitute individuals are victimized in schemes of organ trafficking when induced to sell their organs in a desperate search for a better life. Similarly, desperate are the patients who are willing to pay large amounts and travel to foreign destinations as transplant tourists to obtain an organ that may keep them alive— oblivious of the short and long-term health consequences of commercial transplantation. Unscrupulous brokers and health care professionals make organ trafficking possible, disregarding the dignity of human beings. The operative procedures are performed in unauthorized facilities that clandestinely serve transplant tourists. But organ trafficking can also occur at legitimate facilities, in situations where individuals who are willing to sell their organs present themselves to transplant centers as a relative or altruistic friend of the recipient. The media have made an important contribution to public understanding in highlighting the plight of trafficked individuals by publishing their independent investigations of transplant-related crimes and corrupt healthcare professionals and unregulated facilities.
A number of international legal instruments define, condemn, and criminalize these practices, namely the United Nations Protocol against Trafficking in Persons (Palermo Protocol), the Council of Europe Convention against Trafficking in Human Beings, and the Council of Europe Convention against Trafficking in Human Organs. We support these documents, which assert that the transplant professionals who commit or abet these crimes should be held legally accountable whether the offenses take place domestically or abroad.
The legal instruments of the recent past are an important link to emerging innovative policy to combat social inequality. Trafficking in human beings for the purpose of organ removal and organ trafficking are contrary to the United Nations General Assembly 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development as an issue of human rights and social justice because the poor are exploited for their organs and yet not able to receive a transplant if they suffer organ failure. Jeffrey Sachs has written that “Sustainable development argues that economic policy works best when it focuses simultaneously on three big issues: first, promoting economic growth and decent jobs; second, promoting social fairness to women, the poor, and minority groups; and third, promoting environmental sustainability” . Countries in conflict and without domestic stability can become the locations of transplant-related crimes.
Progress has been made by healthcare professionals aligned with the Declaration of Istanbul to curtail organ trafficking. Nevertheless, a number of destinations for transplant tourism remain around the world where appropriate legislation to curtail these crimes and protect the poor and vulnerable do not exist or are poorly enforced. These practices also persist because some states have failed in their responsibility to meet the need of their citizens to obtain an organ transplant.
Thus, aware of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the UN Palermo Protocol on Human Trafficking, the Resolutions of the World Health Assembly (2004 and 2010), the Council of Europe Convention against Trafficking in Human Beings, the Council of Europe Convention against Trafficking in Human Organs, the Madrid Resolution on Organ Donation and Transplantation, and the Declaration of Istanbul, and as a result of the data on organ trafficking presented at this PAS Summit on Organ Trafficking, we the undersigned pledge our commitment to combat these illicit and immoral practices as a community of stakeholders fulfilling the directive of Pope Francis to combat human trafficking and organ trafficking in all their condemnable forms.
The following recommendations from the PAS Summit on Organ Trafficking are proposed to national, regional and municipal governments, ministries of health, to the judiciary, to the leaders of the major religions, to professional medical organizations, and to the general public for implementation around the world:
1. That all nations and all cultures recognize human trafficking for the purpose of organ removal and organ trafficking, which include
the use of organs from executed prisoners and payments to donors or the next of kin of deceased donors, as crimes that should be
condemned worldwide and legally prosecuted at the national and international level.
2. That religious leaders encourage ethical organ donation and condemn human trafficking for the purpose of organ removal and
organ trafficking.
3. That nations provide the resources to achieve self-sufficiency in organ donation at a national level—with regional cooperation as
appropriate—by reducing the need for transplants through preventive measures and improving access to national transplant
programs in an ethical and regulated manner.
4. That governments establish a legal framework that provides an explicit basis for the prevention and prosecution of transplantrelated crimes, and protects the victims, regardless of the location where the crimes may have been committed, for example by
becoming a Party to the Council of Europe Convention against Organ Trafficking.
5. That healthcare professionals perform an ethical and medical review of donors and recipients that takes account of their short- and
long-term outcomes.
6. That governments establish registries of all organ procurement and transplants performed within their jurisdiction as well as all
transplants involving their citizens and residents performed in another jurisdiction, and share appropriate data with international
databanks.
7. That governments develop a legal framework for healthcare and other professionals to communicate information about suspected
cases of transplant-related crimes, while respecting their professional obligations to patients.
8. That responsible authorities, with the support of the justice system, investigate transplants that are suspected of involving a crime
committed within their jurisdiction or committed by their citizens or residents in another jurisdiction.
9. That responsible authorities, insurance providers, and charities not cover the costs of transplant procedures that involve human
trafficking for the purpose of organ removal or organ trafficking.
10. That healthcare professional organizations involved in transplantation promote among their members awareness of, and
compliance with, legal instruments and international guidelines against organ trafficking and human trafficking for the purpose of
organ removal.
11. That the World Health Organization, the Council of Europe, United Nations agencies, including the United Nations Office on Drugs
and Crime, and other international bodies cooperate in enabling a comprehensive collection of information on transplant-related
crimes, to yield a clearer understanding of their nature and scope and of the organization of the criminal networks involved.
(from Vatican Radio)…