S+L’s highly-anticipated documentary Across the Divide airs on TV for the first time tonight, Sunday, June 24 at 9:00 pm ET / 6:00 pm PT, repeating at 1:00 am ET / 10:00 pm PT. There will also be a public screening of the film in Halifax on Monday, June 25, followed by a discussion panel featuring Church leaders and experts on the Holy Land. (Visit our website to reserve tickets.) This is the second public screening, following the sold-out premiere in Vancouver, which the B.C. Catholic reported on last week.
With the TV premiere and Halifax screening fast approaching, here are some early responses to Across the Divide, starting with the Archbishop of Vancouver, Most Rev. J. Michael Miller:
This film puts a personal face on the ever-present religious and political conflict in the Holy Land. It presents the story of Bethlehem University, caught in the middle of the sad reality of injustice, violence, intolerance and fear that dishonour the Holy Land – a land that should be a wellspring of hope and faith.
The film also received praise from Most Rev. Richard Smith, the Archbishop of Edmonton and President of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops:
I have had occasion to review Across the Divide and I must say that I find it excellent. Having recently witnessed firsthand the many complex challenges facing the peoples of the Holy Land, I find that your documentary that tells the story of Bethlehem University is a message that provides a foundation for genuine hope for all who pray for a future of peace for the people of that currently very troubled land.
The Vancouver Sun, the B.C. Catholic and the Catholic Register are among the publications talking about Across the Divide. Additionally, the latter two newspapers recently published an editorial by the film’s writer/co-director Kris Dmytrenko. Following tonight’s TV premiere, we’re eager to hear what viewers across the country will have to say about it. Be sure to share your comments on S+L’s Facebook page.
Dies Irae Sung By Youth Choir — It Can Be Done
Seen in Vancouver, Canada.
Redeemer Pacific Chamber Choir.
Let scholae cantorum be duly promoted. Even, or especially, in universities.
As prescribed by V. II, let the Church’s patrimony of Gregorian chant, polyphony and organ music be preserved with all care.
Many thanks to Redeemer Pacific for teaching this to our youth. This is the type of college I would want my kids to study at.
Keep up the good work, guys!
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How To Teach Catholic Culture — Seen in Canada
A lovely event hosted by
.
This is how it’s done. How we teach.
Youth were introduced to theatre and to sacred music at the same event: both collaborative forms of fine art that use live performances to present an experience. What sets this apart as worthy of special mention? It was the right theatre and the right music.
The first time yours truly has heard the Dies Irae in ages. A real treat.
Thanks, guys!
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PODCAzT 132: Ratzinger on Conscience and Truth – Part 3
PODCAzT 132: Ratzinger on Conscience and Truth – Part 3
In 1991 Joseph Card. Ratzinger gave a talk to American Bishops called “Conscience and Truth”. This talk is useful today, especially in the context of two major controversies that are going on as I write, namely, the defense of the proper definition of marriage and, of course, the attacks on the consciences of Catholics and others by the Obama Administration, which is trying to undermine the our first liberties.
The talk is longish, so I have broken it into three parts. PODCAzT 130 included my preliminary comments and Part 1 of the talk, “A Conversation On The Erroneous Conscience And First Inferences”. PODCAzT 131 had Part 2: “Newman and Socrates: Guides to Conscience”.
Now for Part 3: “Systematic Consequences: the two levels of conscience – Anamnesis – Conscientia” and then an Epilogue.
BTW… at the end is the wonderful rendering of the Battle Hymn of the Republic with US Army Chorus sang for Pope Benedict when he visited Pres. Bush at the White House. I included the verse:
In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,
With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me:
As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free,
While God is marching on.
See the original article here:
To the victims of earthquakes to show the solidarity of the Church
2012-06-25 L’Osservatore Romano
The Visit that the Pope will make on Tuesday, 26 June, to the region of
Emilia struck by earthquakes signifies “a sign of the whole Church’s solidarity”
for the earthquake victims. Benedict XVI stressed this point after the
recitation of the Angelus on Sunday, 24 June, in St Peter’s Square.
Recalling
that this Sunday was the Day for the Pope’s Charities in Italy, the Pontiff
thanked community parishes, families and the faithful for their “their constant
and generous support” which “benefits many brothers and sisters in difficulty”.
Before that Benedict XVI spoke about St John the Baptist – whose birth we
celebrate the solemnity of – underlining his mission as “the precursor of Jesus”
and highlighted that “the four Gospels “place great emphasis” on the figure of
“the prophet who closes the Old Testament and opens the New by identifying Jesus
of Nazareth as the Messiah, the Anointed One of the Lord”.
Of this vocation the horizon had already been delineated by the father of
John, Zechariah – husband of Elizabeth, cousin of the Virgin Mary – speaking of
his son as “prophet of the Most High” destined to go “before the Lord to prepare
his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of
their sins”.
All this – the Pope recalled – “came to pass 30 years later when John began
baptizing people in the River Jordan, calling them to prepare themselves with
this act of penance for the imminent coming of the Messiah, which God had
revealed to them during their wanderings in the desert of Judaea”.
When one day Jesus himself came from Nazareth to be baptized, the Pope
continued, “John at first refused but then consented; he saw the Holy Spirit
settle on Jesus and heard the voice of the heavenly Father proclaiming him his
Son”. But the mission of the Baptist was not yet completed: “Shortly afterwards
he was also asked to precede Jesus in a violent death: John was decapitated in
King Herod’s prison and thus bore a full witness to the Lamb of God who had
recognized him and publicly pointed him out beforehand”.
In conclusion, Benedict XVI called upon the Virgin Mary – who “helped her
elderly kinswoman Elizabeth when she was expecting John to bring her pregnancy
to completion” – to help “everyone to follow Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God,
whom the Baptist proclaimed with deep humility and prophetic fervour”.
See original article here:
To the victims of earthquakes to show the solidarity of the Church
Pope Benedict receives Grand Master of the Order of Malta
2012-06-25 Vatican Radio
(Vatican Radio) At the Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI on Monday received the Grand Master of the Order of Malta, Fra’ Matthew Festing, accompanied by the Order’s Sovereign Council. The traditional audience took place on the occasion of the Feast of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, the patron of the Order. The chief work of the Order of Malta involves humanitarian assistance and medical and social activities. In many countries, the Order’s volunteer corps provide social services as well as first aid and emergency medical services.
Excerpt from:
Holy See: Transparency, justice needed with foreign debt
2012-06-25 Vatican Radio
(Vatican Radio) The Holy See is seeking transparency and justice as guiding principles on foreign debt.
“Unjust, and especially exploitative, economic transactions are invalid and must be made just, even if each party agreed to the legal terms of the exchange, as it may happen when the rich lend to the poor,” said Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, the Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations in Geneva.
Speaking during a meeting of the Human Rights Council, Archbishop Tomasi said human rights must be fundamental to any system of international loans.
“Financial relationships that increase inequality and do not promote income convergence are contrary to justice,” he said.
Archbishop Tomasi also pointed out that transparency in the process can help make sure money is spent wisely.
“We acknowledge the role that corruption has played and continues to play in aggravating the problem of debt obligations in many less developed countries,” he said.
The full text of Archbishop Tomasi’s statement
Madam President,
1. The Holy See strongly supports the Report’s assertion that human rights as well as the rules of justice and ethics apply to all economic and social relations, including foreign debt obligations. Human rights criteria for evaluating foreign debt can be an important tool for moving development from the narrow “economic” or material understanding to one based on integral human development, one that promotes “the development of each man and of the whole man”. This recognizes the “right to development” grounded in the humanity of each and every person, from conception to natural death, regardless of their age, nationality, race, religion, ethnicity, sex and disability status. At the same time, we acknowledge the role that corruption has played and continues to play in aggravating the problem of debt obligations in many less developed countries.
2. A people-centered ethics is one that is grounded in a view of the human person which emphasizes human dignity, the basis of human rights, for human rights are those rights that spring from what it means to be human. All just economic activity respects this human dignity. Wealth and debt must serve the common good. If justice is violated, wealth and debt become instruments of exploitation, especially of the poor and marginalized. But unjust, and especially exploitative, economic transactions are invalid and must be made just, even if each party agreed to the legal terms of the exchange, as it may happen when the rich lend to the poor. For many years now all have come to recognize that “the heavy burden of external debt (…) compromises the economies of whole peoples and hinders their social and political progress.”/a>
3. Foreign debt is just a symptom of the lack of justice in the flow of capital in the world. “The debt question is part of a vaster problem: that of the persistence of poverty, sometimes even extreme, and the emergence of new inequalities which are accompanying the globalization process. If the aim is globalization without marginalization, we can no longer tolerate a world in which there live side by side the immensely rich and the miserably poor, the have-nots deprived even of essentials and people who thoughtlessly waste what others so desperately need. Such contrasts are an affront to the dignity of the human person.”
Thus, in evaluating foreign loans consideration should be given to: (1) Reducing unethical loan practices and (2) Better aligning foreign loans with authentic human development. If both the loan process and the loan use have to respect human rights there is a much better chance that the money from the loan will promote development and the necessary environment for the enjoyment of human rights. Many of the barriers to development arise because the human costs and benefits of economic activities are not given adequate, or any, weight in the decision making process. “Human costs always include economic costs, and economic dysfunctions always involve human costs” and the consequent violation of human rights.
4. While institutionalizing the inclusion of human rights into the cost and benefit calculations will present challenges, we would like to remind the Council that every past improvement in human rights and expansion of participation and inclusion faced the same challenge. In a few words, financial relationships that increase inequality and do not promote income convergence are “contrary to justice”./a>
5. Along with the Report, and most objective observers, the Holy See recognizes that loans to developing countries have at times promoted inequality and have become barriers to development rather than serving as tools to promote development. Often this is due to changes in outside economic circumstances which can turn a good and just loan arrangement into a barrier to development and a vehicle for exploitation. One such change in outside circumstances that the Report addresses and responds to relates to fluctuations in currency values.
6. The Holy See supports the new principle for transparency in foreign loans at all levels and by all actors (borrowers, lenders and international agencies) in order to lessen the chance of the grave mistakes that were made in the past, when corruption led to secret loans for dubious purposes, taken out by leaders not interested in the common good with the poor in developing countries bearing the burden. We support this reform and encourage efforts to correct the injustices of past loans with more aggressive debt forgiveness.
The Holy See hopes that “the process of debt cancellation and reduction for the poorest countries will be continued and accelerated. At the same time, these processes must not be made conditional upon structural adjustments that are detrimental to the most vulnerable populations.” The Holy See supports the Human Rights Council’s call to end conditionality in debt forgiveness and renegotiation, and supports its call to respect the sovereignty and right of each country to independently plan its own development strategies and not be forced by outside agencies or governments to pursue policies which are more in the interest of the lending nations than the common good of the developing nations. Furthermore, programs for debt cancellation or relief should not result in insurmountable obstacles to future responsible borrowing that may be critically necessary for the long-term development and prosperity of the country at risk.
7. Greater transparency will also help in preventing the building up of unsustainable levels of debt by developing nations. In both developing and developed countries the lack of transparency in the accumulating of debt has added to economic uncertainty in the world financial system. The Guiding Principles on Foreign Debt and Human Rights move in the direction of a concrete solution. Sovereign debt cannot be viewed as an exclusively economic problem. It affects future generations a well as the social conditions that allow the enjoyment of human rights of vast numbers of people entitled to the solidarity of the whole human family.
Thank you, Madam President.
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Card. Turkson: Church must respond to challenges of rural life
2012-06-25 Vatican Radio
(Vatican Radio) “The hunger and insecurity which recent Popes have denounced is a scandal, an offence against our generous Creator and his poor sons and daughters. Even those who live on the land have to struggle for their daily bread.” Speaking at the IV World Congress on Rural Life, Cardinal Peter Turkson, the President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, says we must do more to meet the challenges posed by the modern world.
Cardinal Turkson began his intervention with a look at his own country of Ghana, where gold-mining has failed to improve the condition of most of the population. “My story about Ghana is, sadly, representative of many rural communities in our world not only wounded by sin but also being rapidly transformed by the ambiguous process of globalization.”
Cardinal Turkson says the Church must respond to the problems facing rural life: “No matter how complex such problems are, the Gospel requires the Church’s creative, collaborative, and determined response.” He points to the social teaching of Pope Benedict XVI, especially in Caritas in veritate, as a starting point for the Church’s response to those problems. In that Encyclical, the Holy Father reminds us that “Integral human development is primarily a vocation, and therefore it involves a free assumption of responsibility in solidarity on the part of everyone” (Civ 11). Cardinal Turkson points out, “On the one hand, those in rural life make a vital contribution to the integral human development of all humankind; at the same time, those in rural life want opportunities to develop integrally themselves, their families and their communities. Only if we have both, are we fulfilling God’s design for his sons and daughters. And only if we take an integrated view of the challenges and marshal our expertise and good intentions in an integrated manner, can we hope for improvement in the most needed areas without deterioration in others.”
Below, please find the full text of Cardinal Turkson’s speech to the IV World Congress on Rural Life.
IV WORLD CONGRESS ON RURAL LIFE
“Evolution and problems of the rural world facing the challenges of globalization”
(Rome, 25/06/12)
For the Integral Development of God’s Land and People
Introduction: Signs of Yesterday and TomorrowYour Eminence, your Excellencies the Minister, the Director General of the FAO, (the Mayor of Rome), the President of ICRA, distinguished participants in the IV World Congress on Rural Life; dear brothers and sisters in Christ: In the name of ICRA and of PCJP, I welcome you warmly to the IV World Congress on Rural Life.
We gather in Rome fifty years after the First International Meeting of Catholics in Rural Life held in September 1962; fifty years after Pope John XXIII’s encyclical Mater et Magistra, one-quarter of which was devoted to land tenure and agriculture. Fifty years ago, oriented by Vatican II, the Church looked ahead, towards our present day:
The 1960s bring promising prospects: recovery after the devastation of the war, the beginning of decolonization, and the first timid signs of a thaw in the relations between the American and Soviet blocs. This is the context within which Blessed Pope John XXIII reads deeply into the “signs of the times” [cf. Pacem in Terris]. The social question is becoming universal and involves all countries: together with the labour question and the Industrial Revolution, there come to the fore problems of agriculture, of developing regions, of increasing populations, and those concerning the need for global economic cooperation. Inequalities that in the past were experienced within nations are now becoming international and make the dramatic situation of the Third World ever more evident. (Compendium, 94)
We are, thank God, beyond colonial times and the Cold War. But the signs of those times have become the agenda of today in the context, which Pope John virtually foresaw, of globalization: signs like agriculture, developing regions, population increase and decrease, and inequalities growing in scope and intensity. The problems in these areas will continue to worsen in the absence of global responsibility.
My words of greeting begin in Ghana, where I ask: who is paying for the real cost of gold? I will then consider the rural sector in its global context, to which, thirdly, the Church responds with analysis and teaching. I would then hearken to our faith foundations, and conclude with a new mandate to tackle the challenges in a truly faith-based holistic manner.
I. Land: to Whose Benefit?
Let me begin in my home country of Ghana (formerly, Gold Coast) with its long history of mining, especially gold.What happens to inhabitants when open-pit mining takes over forest reserves and rural farmland? The consequences can be far-reaching. In Ghana farmers have been arrested in their fields because a ministry of the government ceded their land to a mining company without their knowledge, not to mention compensation. Once the mine is operating and some of their land is gone, the villagers continue to suffer losses. The explosions that expose the ore also damage houses and destabilize their foundations, forcing villagers to relocate, again without compensation. To process gold ore requires cyanide, a process that can pollute local drinking water, kill fish and sicken villagers who, of course, have no ready access to healthcare. Mining has not improved the lives of many Ghanaians.
Should we imagine that the scientists and engineers, who do know how to blast an open pit and use cyanide to extract gold, do not know how to avoid ruining houses and poisoning water? Of course not. But the corporations and government-agencies in charge typically respond that the wealth created for the many outweighs the unfortunate consequences for a few.
Would that this were true! In spite of its mining wealth, Ghana remains largely underdeveloped, with about 80% of its 24 million people living on less than US$2 a day. In 2001, Ghana became one of the Highly Indebted Poor Countries and benefited from massive debt relief. But the HIPC initiative drew attention to how the country had failed to turn its mineral wealth into economic assets that would help the populace emerge from economic hardship and under-development. What HIPC did not make manifest is that the bulk of the profits goes abroad, to owners and shareholders. As little as 10% of mining profits remains in Ghana.
All of us here know this to be true. Economic statistics and social studies teach us such facts, which our own encounters with rural people make personal. My story about Ghana is, sadly, representative of many rural communities in our world not only wounded by sin but also being rapidly transformed by the ambiguous process of globalization, to which we now turn.
II. The Rural Sector in the Global Context
Psalm 24 affirms that “the earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof,” but with Pope Benedict we observe and decry a far different situation: “Life in many poor countries is still extremely insecure as a consequence of food shortages, and the situation could become worse: hunger still reaps enormous numbers of victims.” (Civ 27)
The hunger and insecurity which recent Popes have denounced is a scandal, an offence against our generous Creator and his poor sons and daughters. Even those who live on the land have to struggle for their daily bread. Since the Green Revolution of the 1960s, corporate agriculture has been claiming it can meet the world’s needs – yet 2 billion are still food insecure.Prospects of long-term integral human development seem very remote.
Globalization, increasingly powered by communications technology, has further complicated the challenges facing rural communities. Our present global economic crisis was caused by unregulated and risky financial speculation, especially in the so-called derivatives market. Financial speculators, wary of the risk and potential loss of profit, turned to other global markets to “hedge,” that is, to protect their investments. One such market was agricultural commodities futures. When billions of dollars flood in and out of this market every day, such speculation causes food prices to spike. In 2008, this led to an explosion of food riots around the world. Food prices, no longer set by the usual criteria of supply and demand in their complex interplay, fell prey to market speculation. Far removed from the land where people live and grow food, traders peer into computer screens and bet on the future prices of crops. Later in 2008 began the full-blown financial and monetary crisis.
Global oil prices also influence food prices; first, because petroleum products are a major requirement in agriculture; and second, because of the growing demand for biofuels. This so-called ‘green’ solution promises to wean us from our dependence on petroleum oil. It has resulted in ‘land grabs’ of unprecedented proportions, forcing many small subsistence farmers off their land and flooding the cities with large populations of internally displaced persons.
On these upheavals, Pope Benedict has reflected in Caritas in veritate: “Nature, especially in our time, is so integrated into the dynamics of society and culture that by now it hardly constitutes an independent variable.” (Civ 51) That is, nature cannot be properly understood as standing apart from human culture and society. As Pope John Paul II said earlier, “we cannot interfere in one area of the ecosystem without paying due attention both to the consequences of such interference in other areas and to the well-being of future generation.”
The effects of unmanaged globalization are multiple: on food production, on rural life, on the natural environment. How are farming communities to contend with such practices? Let us turn to Pope Benedict’s social teaching which not only assigns responsibilities where they belong but provides a comprehensive approach to the challenges posed by globalization to the rural world.
III. The Church Responds
No matter how complex such problems are, the Gospel requires the Church’s creative, collaborative, and determined response. In Caritas in veritate the Holy Father begins with food insecurity, to articulate the long-term institutional responses that are needed under both normal and emergency circumstances:
Hunger is not so much dependent on lack of material things as on shortage of social resources, the most important of which are institutional. What is missing, in other words, is a network of economic institutions capable of guaranteeing regular access to sufficient food and water for nutritional needs, and also capable of addressing the primary needs and necessities ensuing from genuine food crises, whether due to natural causes or political irresponsibility, nationally and internationally. The problem of food insecurity needs to be addressed within a long-term perspective, eliminating the structural causes that give rise to it and promoting the agricultural development of poorer countries. (Civ 27)
The Holy Father notes that, in addition to institutional change and over-arching policies, particular streams of investment are needed:
This can be done by investing in rural infrastructures, irrigation systems, transport, organization of markets, and in the development and dissemination of agricultural technology that can make the best use of the human, natural and socio-economic resources that are more readily available at the local level, while guaranteeing their sustainability over the long term as well. (ibid.)
An additional element is involvement and empowerment of those who are directly affected, and respect for their traditional knowledge:
All this needs to be accomplished with the involvement of local communities in choices and decisions that affect the use of agricultural land. In this perspective, it could be useful to consider the new possibilities that are opening up through proper use of traditional as well as innovative farming techniques, always assuming that these have been judged, after sufficient testing, to be appropriate, respectful of the environment and attentive to the needs of the most deprived peoples. (ibid.)
Thus the three dimensions spelled out by Benedict XVI are the needed institutions, the well-focused investments, and the broad participation of rural peoples. Obviously in touch with competent research and expert analysis, the Church makes use of these within its holistic, long-term view of human needs and potential. Moreover, the Holy Father is unafraid to speak of human ideals as well as human failings, thanks to our Catholic faith and tradition, to which we now turn.
IV. Foundations in Faith and the Church
The Church has long opted for the rural world. This extends back to the people of Israel whose life on the land became the setting of Israel’s experiences of God’s blessings and curses: fertility of the land and abundant harvest represented divine blessing, while drought and poor harvest signified divine curses.
Later, the prophets often spoke of salvation in natural, rural and agricultural terms, for example, “As the rain and the snow come down from the heavens and do not return without watering the earth, making it yield and giving growth to provide seed for the sower and bread for the eating, so the word that goes from my mouth does not return to me empty, without carrying out my will and succeeding in what it was sent to do” (Isaiah 55: 10-11). Our Lord Jesus uses similar imagery to proclaim our Father’s generosity. Yet today, “hunger still reaps enormous numbers of victims among those who, like Lazarus, are not permitted to take their place at the rich man’s table, contrary to the hopes expressed by Paul VI” and indeed by our Lord himself when he told the cutting parable of luxury enjoyed in full view of starvation.
The Church blesses the land – before planting, during its growth, and at harvest time. During the holy Mass, gifts of bread and wine are blessed, recognizing the work of the Creator and human hands. This makes the Eucharist a cosmic action, a prayer of thanksgiving for our salvation. We Catholics in particular are a profoundly sacramental people, not only in our sacramental celebrations, but also in seeing the entire created world as mediating God’s bountiful love and care.
A proverb of the Akans in Ghana says: Adwen nnyi baakofo tsirmul: “Knowledge cannot be in only one head.” Accordingly, our Church and related organizations have shared useful knowledge with men and women in rural communities. They have increased awareness of basic rights to information and even property, and developed leadership and practical skills. It is with both faith and competence, with hard work and liturgical celebration, that we want to embrace what God and the Church ask of ICRA and PCJP at this Congress.
V. In Conclusion, a New Mandate
Excellencies, esteemed delegates, dear brothers and sisters: from 1962 to today, Mater et Magistra has provided fundamental guidance for ICRA. During these same first fifty years, Catholic Social Teaching has deepened and developed remarkably, culminating for us in Caritas in veritate of 2009. We thank God for the knowledge he has put in our heads. Building on it, may I now propose that Caritas in veritate provide the overarching orientation and basic criteria for many years to come.
One sentence serves to draw my reflections to a challenging conclusion: “Integral human development is primarily a vocation, and therefore it involves a free assumption of responsibility in solidarity on the part of everyone” (Civ 11). On the one hand, those in rural life make a vital contribution to the integral human development of all humankind; at the same time, those in rural life want opportunities to develop integrally themselves, their families and their communities. Only if we have both, are we fulfilling God’s design for his sons and daughters. And only if we take an integrated view of the challenges and marshal our expertise and good intentions in an integrated manner, can we hope for improvement in the most needed areas without deterioration in others.
May this IV World Congress on Rural Life help us faithfully to discover our vocation, freely to take up our responsibilities, and joyfully to strengthen our solidarity on the long way ahead.
Source:
Card. Turkson: Church must respond to challenges of rural life
Priests in the third millennium
2012-06-25 Vatican Radio
(Vatican Radio) While any vocation to the priesthood is a gift from God, the future of the priesthood also depends on the present coherence of Christian life in families, parishes, communities and priests themselves, who must help create a space that encourages young men to consider priestly life in an often discouraging world. Vatican Radio’s Emer McCarthy reports
listen: 
Four years in the making, this Monday the
Congregation for Catholic Education
presented a guideline to help local churches promote vocations to the priesthood and religious life. The 27-page document is divided into three main parts that tackle the state of vocations in today’s world, the vocation and identity of priesthood and suggestions for the promotion of vocations to priestly life.
The document is the result of a questionnaire sent out across the universal Church following the 2008 plenary assembly of the Congregation and was drawn up in collaboration with Congregations for the Evangelization of Peoples, for the Oriental Churches, for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, and for the Clergy.
Describing the current situation of priestly vocations as “good and bad”, the document begins by focusing on traditionally Christian countries in the West. In notes how unbridled consumerism, falling birth-rates and a fall in religious practice have led to a decline in vocations and an increasingly elderly pool of priests to serve the Church.
It puts this down to a series of reasons that leads to young men ignoring a vocation to priestly ministry: the spreading of a secularized mentality that discourages the response of young people to follow the Lord Jesus more radically and more generously; parents, who “reserve little space to the possibility of a call to a special vocation”; the gradual marginalization of the priest in social life, with the consequent loss of his relevance in the public sphere.
These elements include “a tendency towards the progressive transformation of the priesthood into a profession”. This can be associated with “the danger of exaggerated activism, an increasing individualism which not infrequently closes priests in a perverse and depressing solitude, and the confusion of roles in the Church which comes about when we lose the sense of distinction between roles and responsibilities, and not everyone comes together to collaborate in the one mission entrusted to the People of God”.
“Furthermore, in many places the choice of celibacy is questioned. Not only a secularized mentality, but also erroneous opinions within the Church bring about a lack of appreciation for the charism and the choice of celibacy”.
It states that “however much the pastoral ministry for vocations in Europe and in the Americas is organized and creative, the results obtained do not correspond to the efforts made”. Instead it says that “where clear and challenging proposals of Christian life are offered”, particularly through new evangelisation initiatives that are carried out in cooperation with the domestic Church, there are signs of recovery.
Again and again the document returns to the first form of Christian life and community – the family, parish and movement or association. It states young people are more open to God’s call when they are presented with a strong example of Christian life in the home, or wider community. Moreover, young men often feel encouraged to consider a vocation as a result of the “joyful witness of the priests” they have encountered in their lives.
The Congregation suggests that pastoral ministry of vocations must offer boys and young men a Christian experience where they can know first hand the reality of God Himself. This means making families aware of the important role they play in forming a vocation. It encourages an experience of community life before entrance to the seminary and underlines the importance of a clear understanding of the commitments the priesthood entails, in particular with regard to celibacy. It concludes, “fostering vocations to the priesthood is a constant challenge for the Church” in particular, “a welcome for the call of God to ministerial priesthood”.
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CATHOLIC NEWS WORLD : SATURDAY JUNE 23, 2012
Introduction
With the Apostolic
Letter of 11 October 2011,
, Pope Benedict XVI declared a
Year of Faith
. This year will
begin on 11 October 2012, on the 50
th
anniversary of the opening of
the Second Ecumenical Vatican Council, and will conclude on 24 November 2013,
the Solemnity of our Lord Jesus Christ, Universal King.
This year will be a
propitious occasion for the faithful to understand more profoundly that the
foundation of Christian faith is “the encounter with an event, a person, which
gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction.”
[1] Founded on the encounter with the Risen Christ, faith can
be rediscovered in its wholeness and all its splendor. “In our days too faith is
a gift to rediscover, to cultivate and to bear witness to” because the Lord
“grants each one of us to live the beauty and joy of being Christians.”
[2]
The beginning of the
Year of Faith
coincides
with the anniversaries of two great events which have marked the life of the
Church in our days: the fiftieth anniversary of the opening of the
, called by Blessed Pope
(11
October 1962), and the twentieth of the promulgation of the
Catechism of the
Catholic Church
, given to the Church by Blessed Pope
(11 October 1992).
The Council, according to Pope
,
wanted “to transmit doctrine, pure and whole, without attenuations or
misrepresentations,” in such a way that “this sure and immutable teaching, which
must be respected faithfully, is elaborated and presented in a way which
corresponds to the needs of our time.”
[3] In this regard, the opening words of the Dogmatic
Constitution
remain of primary importance: “Christ is the Light of nations.
Because this is so, this Sacred Synod gathered together in the Holy Spirit
eagerly desires, by proclaiming the Gospel to every creature, (cfr. Mk 16:15) to
bring the light of Christ to all men, a light brightly visible on the
countenance of the Church.”
[4] Beginning with the light of Christ, which purifies,
illuminates and sanctifies in the celebration of the sacred liturgy (cfr.
Constitution,
) and with His divine word (cfr. Dogmatic Constitution,
), the Counil wanted to elaborate on the intimate nature of the
Church (cfr. Dogmatic Constitution,
) and its relationship with the contemporary world (cfr. Pastoral
Constitution,
). Around these four Constitutions, the true pillars of the
Council, are arranged the Declarations and Decrees which address some of the
major challenges of the day.
After the Council the Church – under the sure
guidance of the Magisterium and in continuity with the whole Tradition – set
about ensuring the reception and application of the teaching of the Council in
all its richness. To assist in the correct reception of the Council, the Popes
have frequently convoked the Synod of Bishops,
[5] first instituted by the Servant of God,
, in 1965,
providing the Church with clear guidance through the various post-Synodal
Apostolic Exhortations. The next General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, to be
held in October 2012, will have as its theme:
The New Evangelization for the
Transmission of the Christian Faith
.
From the beginning of his
pontificate, Pope
has worked decisively for a correct understanding of the Council, rejecting as
erroneous the so-called “hermeneutic of discontinuity and rupture” and promoting
what he himself has termed “the ‘hermeneutic of reform’, of renewal in the
continuity of the one subject-Church which the Lord has given to us. She is a
subject which increases in time and develops, yet always remaining the same, the
one subject of the journeying People of God.”
[6]
The
Catechism of the Catholic Church
, in this
same vein, is both an “authentic fruit of Vatican Council II”
[7] and a tool for aiding in its reception. The Extraordinary
Synod of Bishops of 1985, convoked on the occasion of the twentieth anniversary
of the closing of the Second Vatican Council and to measure its reception,
suggested the preparation of a Catechism in order to offer the People of God a
compendium of all Catholic doctrine and a sure point of reference for local
catechisms. Pope John Paul II accepted this proposal as a desire which “fully
responds to a real need of the universal Church and of the particular
Churches.”
[8] Compiled in collaboration with the entire Episcopate of
the Catholic Church, this Catechism “truly expresses what could be called the
symphony of the faith.”
[9]
The
Catechism
includes “the new and the old
(cfr. Mt 13:52), because the faith is always the same yet the source of ever new
light. To respond to this twofold demand, the
Catechism of the Catholic
Church
on the one hand repeats the old, traditional order already followed
by the Catechism of St Pius V, arranging the material in four parts: the
Creed,
the
Sacred Liturgy,
with pride of place given to the
sacraments, the
Christian way of life,
explained beginning with the Ten
Commandments, and finally,
Christian prayer.
At the same time, however,
the contents are often expressed in a new way in order to respond to the
questions of our age.”
[10] This
Catechism
is “a valid and legitimate
instrument for ecclesial communion and a sure norm for teaching the faith.”
[11] The content of faith finds “ its systematic and organic
synthesis in the
Catechism of the Catholic Church
. Here, in fact, we see
the wealth of teaching that the Church has received, safeguarded and proposed in
her two thousand years of history. From Sacred Scripture to the Fathers of the
Church, from theological masters to the saints across the centuries, the
Catechism
provides a permanent record of the many ways in which the
Church has meditated on the faith and made progress in doctrine so as to offer
certitude to believers in their lives of faith.”
[12]
The
Year of Faith
is intended to contribute to
a renewed conversion to the Lord Jesus and to the rediscovery of faith, so that
the members of the Church will be credible and joy-filled witnesses to the Risen
Lord in the world of today – capable of leading those many people who are
seeking it to the “door of faith.” This “door” opens wide man’s gaze to Jesus
Christ, present among us “always, until the end of the age” (Mt 28:20). He shows
us how “the art of living” is learned “in an intense relationship with him.”
[13] “Through his love, Jesus Christ attracts to himself the
people of every generation: in every age he convokes the Church, entrusting her
with the proclamation of the Gospel by a mandate that is ever new. Today too,
there is a need for stronger ecclesial commitment to new evangelization in order
to rediscover the joy of believing and the enthusiasm for communicating the
faith.”
[14]
At the invitation of Pope Benedict XVI,
[15] the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, in
consultation with the competent Dicasteries of the Holy See and with the
contribution of the
Committee for the Preparation of the Year of Faith
,
[16] has drawn up this
Note
, with some recommendations
for living this time of grace, without precluding other initiatives which the
Holy Spirit will inspire among Pastors and faithful in various parts of the
world.
Recommendations
“I know him in
whom I have believed” (2 Tm 1:12). These words of St Paul help us to understand
that faith is “first of all a personal adherence of man to God. At the same
time, and inseparably, it is a free assent to the whole truth that God has
revealed.”
[17] Faith which is a personal trust in the Lord and the
faith which we profess in the Creed are inseparable; they focus on each other
and they require each other. There exists a profound bond between the lived
faith and its contents. The faith of the Witnesses and Confessors is also the
faith of the Apostles and Doctors of the Church.
Thus, the following
recommendations for the
Year of Faith
desire to aid both the encounter
with Christ through authentic witnesses to faith, and the ever-greater
understanding of its contents. These proposals are intended as examples to
encourage a ready response to the invitation of the Holy Father to live fully
this
Year
as a special “time of grace.”
[18] The joyous rediscovery of faith can also contribute to
consolidate the unity and communion among the different bodies that make up the
wider family of the Church.
I. On the level of the Universal
Church
1. The main ecclesial event at the beginning of the
Year
of Faith
will be the XIII General Assembly of the Ordinary Synod of Bishops,
convoked by Pope Benedict XVI in October 2012, dedicated to
The New
Evangelization for the Transmission of the Christian Faith
. During this
Synod, on 11 October 2012, there will be a solemn celebration of the beginning
of the
Year of Faith
, in remembrance of the fiftieth anniversary of the
opening of the Second Vatican Council.
2. In the
Year of Faith
pilgrimages of the faithful to the See of Peter are to be encouraged, to
profess faith in God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, in unity with him who
today is called to confirm his brothers and sisters in the faith (cfr. Lk
22:32). It is also important to promote pilgrimages to the Holy Land, the place
which first saw the presence of Jesus, the Savior, and Mary, his Mother.
3.
During this
Year
, it will be helpful to invite the faithful to turn with
particular devotion to Mary, model of the Church, who “shines forth to the whole
community of the elect as the model of virtues.”
[19] Therefore, every initiative that helps the faithful to
recognize the special role of Mary in the mystery of salvation, love her and
follow her as a model of faith and virtue is to be encouraged. To this end it
would be proper to organize pilgrimages, celebrations and gatherings at the
major Marian shrines.
4. The next World Youth Day, in Rio de Janeiro in July
2013, will offer a special occasion for the young to experience the joy which
comes from faith in the Lord Jesus and communion with the Holy Father, in the
greater family of the Church.
5. It is hoped that many symposia, conferences
and large gatherings will be held, even at the international level, to encourage
encounters with authentic witness to the faith and to promote understanding of
the contents of Catholic doctrine. Noting how, still today, the Word of God
continues to grow and spread, it will be important to give witness that “all the
anguish and all the longing of the human heart finds fulfilment”
[20] in Christ Jesus and that faith “becomes a new criterion
of understanding and action that changes the whole of man’s life.”
[21] Some conferences should be particularly dedicated to the
rediscovery of the teachings of Vatican Council II.
6. The
Year of
Faith
will offer a special opportunity for all believers to deepen their
knowledge of the primary documents of the Second Vatican Council and their study
of the
Catechism of the Catholic Church
. This is especially true for
candidates for priesthood, particularly during the propeduetic year or in their
first years of theological studies, for novices in Institutes of Consecrated
Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, as well as for those in a period of
discernment for joining an Ecclesial Association or Movement.
7. This
Year
will provide an auspicious time for a more attentive reception of the
homilies, catechesis, addresses and other speeches and documents of the Holy
Father. Pastors, consecrated persons and the lay faithful are invited to renew
their efforts in effective and heart-felt adherence to the teaching of the
Successor of Peter.
8. During the
Year of Faith
, in cooperation with
the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity, various ecumenical
initiatives are to be planned, aimed at “the restoration of unity among all
Christians” which “is one of the principal concerns of the Second Vatican
Council.”
[22] In particular, there will be a solemn ecumenical
celebration in which all of the baptized will reaffirm their faith in
Christ.
9. A
Secretariat
to coordinate all of the different
initiatives promoted by various Dicasteries of the Holy See, or other events
relevant to the Universal Church, will be established within the Pontifical
Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization. This
Secretariat
should be informed timely of the main events and can also suggest appropriate
initiatives. The
Secretariat
will open a dedicated website with the goal
of making available useful information regarding living out the
Year of Faith
more effectively.
10. At the conclusion of this
Year
, on the
Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Universal King, there will be a Eucharist
celebrated by the Holy Father, in which a solemn renewal of the profession of
faith will take place.
II. On the level of Episcopal Conferences[23]
1. Episcopal Conferences, in light of the
specific mission of the Bishops as teachers and “heralds of the faith,”
[24] can dedicate a day of study to the topic of faith, its
personal witness and its transmission to new generations.
2. The
republication in paperback and economical editions of the Documents of Vatican
Council II, the
Catechism of the Catholic Church
and its
Compendium
is to be promoted, as is the wider distribution of these texts through
electronic means and modern technologies.
3. A renewed effort to translate
the documents of Vatican Council II and the
Catechism of the Catholic Church
into languages which lack a translation is desirable. Initiatives of
charitable support to enable translations into the local languages of mission
countries, where the local Churches cannot afford the expense, are to be
encouraged. This should be done under the guidance of the Congregation for the
Evangelization of Peoples.
4. Pastors should work to promote television and
radio transmissions, films and publications focusing on the faith, its
principles and content, as well as on the ecclesial significance of the Second
Vatican Council. This should be done using the new styles of communication,
especially on the popular level, making these things available to a wider
public.
5. The Saints and the Blessed are the authentic witnesses of the
faith.
[25] It is, therefore, opportune that Episcopal Conferences
work toward the dissemination of a knowledge of the local Saints of their
territory, also by modern means of social communication.
6. The contemporary
world is sensitive to the relationship between faith and art. It is, therefore,
recommended that Episcopal Conferences maximize the catechetical potential –
possibly with ecumenical cooperation – of the artistic patrimony of the region
entrusted to their pastoral care.
7. Educators in centers of theological
studies, seminaries and Catholic universities should be encouraged in their
teaching to demonstrate the relevance within their various disciplines of the
contents of the
Catechism of the Catholic Church
and of the implications
derived from them.
8. It would be useful to arrange for the preparation of
pamphlets and leaflets of an apologetic nature (cfr. 1 Pt 3:15), which should be
done with the help of theologians and authors. Every member of the faithful
would then be enabled to respond better to the questions which arise in
difficult contexts – whether to do with sects, or the problems related to
secularism and relativism, or to questions “arising from a changed mentality
which, especially today, limits the field of rational certainties to that of
scientific and technological discoveries,”
[26] or to other specific issues.
9. It is hoped that
local catechisms and various catechetical supplements in use in the particular
Churches would be examined to ensure their complete conformity with the
Catechism of the Catholic Church
.
[27] Should a catechism or supplement be found to be not
totally in accord with the
Catechism
, or should some lacunae be
discovered, new ones should be developed, following the example of those
Conferences which have already done so.
10. The
Year of Faith
will
also be an appropriate time to examine, in collaboration with the Congregation
for Catholic Education, the
Ratio
of formation for future priests,
ensuring that the contents of the
Catechism for the Catholic Church
are
present
in their theological studies.
III. At the Diocesan level
1. It
is hoped that each particular Church would have a celebration of the opening of
the
Year of Faith
and a solemn conclusion to it, in which to “profess our
faith in the Risen Lord in our cathedrals and in the churches of the whole
world.”
[28]
2. It would be desirable that each Diocese in the
world organize a study day on the
Catechism of the Catholic Church
,
particularly for its priests, consecrated persons and catechists. On this
occasion, for example, the Eastern Catholic Eparchies could hold a meeting with
their priests to give witness to their specific experience and liturgical
tradition in the one faith in Christ. Also, in this way, young particular
Churches in mission territories would be able to give renewed witness to that
joy of faith which is so often particular to them.
3. Each Bishop could
devote a pastoral letter of his own to the topic of faith, keeping in mind the
specific pastoral circumstances of the portion of the faithful entrusted to him,
reminding them of the importance of the Second Vatican Council and of the
Catechism of the Catholic Church
.
4. It is hoped that in each Diocese,
under the leadership of the Bishop, catechetical events will be organized,
especially for the youth and those searching for a sense of life, helping them
to discover the beauty of ecclesial faith, promoting encounters with meaningful
witnesses to the faith.
5. It would be appropriate for each particular Church
to review the reception of Vatican Council II and the
Catechism of the
Catholic Church
in its own life and mission, particularly in the realm of
catechesis. This would provide the opportunity for a renewal of commitment on
the part of the catechetical offices of the Dioceses which – supported by the
Commissions for Catechesis of the Episcopal Conferences – have the duty to care
for the theological formation of catechists.
6. The continuing education of
the clergy can be focused during this
Year of Faith
on the documents of
Vatican Council II and on the
Catechism of the Catholic Church
, treating
such themes as “the proclamation of the Risen Christ”, “the Church – sacrament
of salvation”, “the mission of evangelization in the world today”, “faith and
disbelief”, “faith, ecumenism and inter-religious dialogue”, “faith and eternal
life”, “the hermeneutic of reform in continuity” and “the
Catechism
in
ordinary pastoral care.”
7. Bishops are invited to organize penitential
celebrations, particularly during Lent, in which all can ask for God’s
forgiveness, especially for sins against faith. This
Year
also provides
an appropriate occasion in which all can approach the Sacrament of Penance with
greater faith and more frequently.
8. It is hoped that there will be a
renewed creative dialogue between faith and reason in the academic and artistic
communities, through symposia, meetings and days of study, especially at
Catholic universities, in order to demonstrate that “there cannot be any
conflict between faith and genuine science, because both, albeit via different
routes, tend towards the truth.”
[29]
9. It is also important to promote encounters with
those persons who, “while not claiming to have the gift of faith, are
nevertheless sincerely searching for the ultimate meaning and definitive truth
of their lives and of the world,”
[30] taking as an example the dialogues of the
Courtyard
of the Gentiles
, sponsored by the Pontifical Council for Culture.
10. The
Year of Faith
can be an opportunity to pay greater attention to Catholic
schools, which are a perfect place to offer to students a living witness to the
Lord and to nurture their faith. This can be done by making use of good
catechetical tools, like the
Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic
Church
and
Youcat
.
IV. At the level of the
parish/community/association/movement
1. In preparation for the
Year of Faith
, all of the faithful are invited to read closely and
meditate upon Pope Benedict XVI’s Apostolic Letter,
.
2. The
Year of Faith
“will also be a good opportunity
to intensify the
celebration
of the faith in the liturgy, especially in
the Eucharist.”
[31] In the Eucharist, mystery of faith and source of the new
evangelization, the faith of the Church is proclaimed, celebrated and
strengthened. All of the faithful are invited to participate in the Eucharist
actively, fruitfully and with awareness, in order to be authentic witnesses of
the Lord.
3. Priests should devote greater attention to the study of the
documents of Vatican Council II and the
Catechism of the Catholic Church
,
drawing from them resources for the pastoral care of their parishes –
catechesis, preaching, Sacramental preparation. They should also offer cycles of
homilies on the faith or on certain specific aspects such as, for example, “the
encounter with Christ”, “the fundamental contents of the Creed”, and “faith and
the Church.”
[32]
4. Catechists should hold more firmly to the
doctrinal richness of the
Catechism of the Catholic Church
and, under the
direction of their pastors, offer guidance in reading this precious document to
groups of faithful, working toward a deeper common understanding thereof, with
the goal of creating small communities of faith, and of giving witness to the
Lord Jesus.
5. It is hoped that there will be a renewed commitment in
parishes to the distribution of the
Catechism of the Catholic Church
, and
of other resources appropriate for families, which are true domestic churches
and the primary setting for the transmission of the faith. This might be done,
for example, during the blessing of homes, the Baptism of adults, Confirmations
and Marriages. This can contribute to the deepening of Catholic teaching “in our
homes and among our families, so that everyone may feel a strong need to know
better and to transmit to future generations the faith of all times.”
[33]
6. The promotion of
missions
and other popular
programs in parishes and in the workplace can help the faithful to rediscover
the gift of Baptismal faith and the task of giving witness, knowing that the
Christian vocation “by its very nature is also a vocation to the apostolate.”
[34]
7. During this time, members of Institutes of
Consecrated Life and of Societies of Apostolic Life are asked to work towards
the new evangelization with a renewed union to the Lord Jesus, each according to
their proper charism, in fidelity to the Holy Father and to sound
doctrine.
8. Contemplative communities, during the
Year of Faith
,
should pray specifically for the renewal of the faith among the People of God
and for a new impulse for its transmission to the young.
9. Associations and
Ecclesial Movements are invited to promote specific initiatives which, through
the contribution of their proper charism and in collaboration with their local
Pastors, will contribute to the wider experience of the
Year of Faith
.
The new Communities and Ecclesial Movements, in a creative and generous way,
will be able to find the most appropriate ways in which to offer their witness
to the faith in service to the Church.
10. All of the faithful, called to
renew the gift of faith, should try to communicate their own experience of faith
and charity
[35] to their brothers and sisters of other religions, with
those who do not believe, and with those who are just indifferent. In this way,
it is hoped that the entire Christian people will begin a kind of mission toward
those with whom they live and work, knowing that they “have welcomed the news of
salvation which is meant for every man.”
[36]
Conclusion
Faith “is the lifelong
companion that makes it possible to perceive, ever anew, the marvels that God
works for us. Intent on gathering the signs of the times in the present of
history, faith commits every one of us to become a living sign of the presence
of the Risen Lord in the world.”
[37] Faith is both a personal and a communal act: it is a
gift from God that is lived in the communion of the Church and must be
communicated to the world. Every initiative for the
Year of Faith
should
be designed to aid in the joyous rediscovery of the faith and its renewed
transmission. The recommendations provided here have the goal of inviting all of
the members of the Church to work so that this
Year
may be a special time
in which we, as Christians, may share that which is most dear to us: Christ
Jesus, the Redeemer of mankind, Universal King, “leader and perfecter of faith”
(Hb 12: 2).
Given in Rome, at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the
Faith, on 6 January 2012, the Solemnity of the Epiphany of the
Lord.
William Cardinal Levada
Prefect
Luis F.
Ladaria, S.J.
Secretary
SHARED FROM http://www.annusfidei.va/content/novaevangelizatio/en.html
[1] Benedict XVI, Enc. Letter, Deus
caritas est, 25 December 2005, n. 1.
[2] Id., Homily
on the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, 10 January 2010.
[3] John XXIII, Address of the solemn opening of the
Ecumenical Vatican Council II, 11 October 1962.
[4] Conc. Ecum. Vat. II, Dogmatic Constitution, Lumen
gentium, n. 1.
[5] The Ordinary Assemblies of the Synod of Bishops have treated
the following topics: The preservation and strengthening of the Catholic
Faith, its integrity, vigor, development, historical and doctrinal coherence
(1967), The ministerial priesthood and justice in the world (1971),
Evangelization in the modern world (1974), Catechesis in our time
(1977), The Christian Family (1980), Penance and reconciliation in the
mission of the Church (1983), The vocation and mission of the laity in
the Church and in the world (1987), The formation of priests in actual
circumstances (1991), Consecrated life and its mission in the Church and
in the world (1994), The Bishop: Servant of the Gospel of Jesus Christ
for the hope of the world (2001), The Eucharist: source and summit of the
life and mission of the Church (2005), The Word of God in the life and
mission of the Church (2008).
[6] Benedict XVI, Address
to the Roman Curia, 22 December 2005.
[7] Id., Porta
fidei, n. 4.
[8] John Paul II, Address on the closing of the Second
Extraordinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, 7 December 1985, n. 6. The
same Pope, in the initial phase of this Synod, during the Angelus of 24
November 1985, said: “Fatih is the principal foundation, it is the cornerstone,
the essential criterion of the renewal willed by the Council. From faith come
custom, the stile of life and practical direction in every
circumstance.”
[9] Id., Apostolic Constitution, Fidei
depositum, 11 October 1992, n. 2.
[12] Benedict XVI, Porta
fidei, n. 11.
[13] Id., Address
to the participants in the meeting organized by the Pontifical Council for the
Promotion of the New Evangelization, 15 October 2011.
[14] Id., Apostolic Letter, Porta
fidei, n. 7.
[16] This Committee, formed by the Congregation for the
Doctrine of the Faith, according to the mandate of the Holy Father, Benedict
XVI, includes among its members: Cardinals William Levada, Francis Arinze,
Angelo Bagnasco, Ivan Dias, Francis E. George, Zenon Grocholewski, Marc Ouellet,
Mauro Piacenza, Jean-Pierre Ricard, Stanisław Ryłko and Christoph Schönborn;
Archbishops Luis F. Ladaria, and Salvatore Fisichella; Bishops Mario del Valle
Moronta Rodríguez, Gerhard Ludwig Müller and Raffaello Martinelli.
[17] Catechism of the Catholic Church, n.
150.
[18] Benedict XVI, Apostolic Letter, Porta
fidei, n. 15.
[19] Conc. Ecum. Vat. II, Dogmatic Constitution, Lumen
gentium, n. 65.
[20] Benedict XVI, Apostolic Letter, Porta
fidei, n. 13.
[22] Conc. Ecum. Vat. II, Decree, Unitatis
redintigratio, n. 1.
[23] The following recommendations made for Episcopal
Conferences are also offered, in an analogous way, to the Synods of Bishops of
Patriarchal and Major Archepiscopal Churches, as well as to the Assemblies of
Hierarchs of the other Eastern Catholic Churches sui iuris.
[24] Conc. Ecum. Vat. II, Dogmatic Constitution, Lumen
gentium, n. 25.
[25] Benedict XVI, Apostolic Letter, Porta
fidei, n. 13.
[27] John Paul II, Apostolic Constitution, Fidei
depositum, n. 4.
[28] Benedict XVI, Apostolic Letter, Porta
fidei, n. 8.
[32] Cfr., Benedict XVI, Apostolic Exhortation, Verbum
Domini, 30 September 2010, nn. 59-60, and 74.
[33] ID., Apostolic Letter, Porta
fidei, n. 8.
[34] Conc. Ecum. Vat. II, Decree, Apostolicam
actuositatem, n. 2.
[35] Cfr. Benedict XVI, Apostolic Letter, Porta
fidei, n. 14.
[36] Conc. Ecum. Vat. II, Pastoral Constitution, Gaudium
et spes, n. 1.
[37] Benedict XVI, Apostolic Letter, Porta
fidei, n. 15.
Original article:
Vatican Hires New Communications Adviser …
Rorate congratulates both the Vatican and Fox News Channel’s Greg Burke on his hiring as a senior communications adviser reporting to the Secretary of State. God knows there is a need for talent in this position. We welcome Mr. Burke’s hiring and for a fruitful and productive working relationship.
Link:
50 years of the 1962 Missal The actual Mass of the Council
The Decree of the Sacred Congregation of Rites establishing the 1962 edition of the Missale Romanum was promulgated exactly 50 years ago today: June 23, 1962, a few months before the opening of the Second Vatican Council and with all rubrics and classifications fully aligned with the Codex Rubricarum promulgated along with the motu proprio Rubricarum Instructum of 1960. It is the edition used by traditional Catholics all over the world, as defined by Pope Benedict XVI in Summorum Pontificum – the “Missal of John XXIII”. Or is it? As you will see in our series dedicated to the Missal of 1962 in the upcoming weeks and months, even the recognition of the definitive edition of the 1962 Missal is tricky – several details would still be added, including the famous addition of Saint Joseph to the Canon, to reach the text we have today in most sacristies. A text that, despite being quinquagenarian, has indeed been “free”, following a short period in force and decades of persecution and offensive limitations, for a very short time, under five years
See original article:
COLUMN: Kent – Canadian military makes moves for Asian presence
Canadian military ups Asian presence
A major showing at this week’s RIMPAC 2012 naval exercises off Hawaii may only be the start of a push by Canada to have a solid presence in Asia
by Simon Kent
Then there were two.
Last month China sent its first aircraft carrier Shi Lang to sea for trials. At 66,000-tons, the reconfigured former Soviet ship is a significant new player in a building South Asia arms race that has drawn the attention of both the US and Canada.
Now India has followed suit. Its refurbished aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya began long-delayed sea trials June 8, leaving Sevmash shipyard in northern Russia for the White Sea.
After a $2.3 billion conversion at Sevmash — originally contracted in 2005 for $943 million — the former Soviet vessel now sports a full flight deck and bow ski jump, allowing aircraft launches without catapult assistance.
The 45,400-ton Vikramaditya will remain at sea for the rest of June and India hopes to begin initial flight operations within 12 months.
That’s not all. The Indian Navy is confident it will have two fully-fledged aircraft carrier battle groups (CBGs) by 2015 or so despite slippages in refit of the Vikramaditya and construction of a 40,000-ton indigenous aircraft carrier (IAC) at Cochin Shipyard. India does lack long-range attack submarines for escort and a close-in defence weapons system for the capital ships, but it is a start predicated on experience.
Unlike China, India has been operating escort aircraft carriers or almost 50 years. It brings a core of naval pilots and fully developed doctrine to the task of maintaining fixed wing flight operations at sea, although never on a scale demanded by the sheer size of the Vikramaditya.
Both these ships represent a southern shift in the global balance of military power that the US and more recently Canada have acknowledged.
It also comes in a year when, for the first time, Asia’s military spending will surpass Europe’s, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
The U.S. Navy recently confirmed it will be sending its most advanced ships and aircraft to the Asia-Pacific region as it builds its biggest presence there since the end of World War II.
Admiral Cecil Haney, the commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, revealed two weeks ago that under a policy recently outlined by Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, a full 60 per cent of the US Navy’s fleet will be deployed to the Pacific by 2020.
There will also be a forward deployment of troops that already includes a permanent US Marine brigade for the tropical city of Darwin in far north Australia and other troops and assets in Singapore.
Further possible staging posts include the Philippines, South Korea as well as Japan.
For its part, Canada is seeking willing allies in the Asia Pacific region with a view to building and maintaining a military hub.
“We’re doing the rounds, signaling Canada’s intention to reassert our credentials in the Pacific,” is how Canadian Defence Minister Peter MacKay describes our new Asian posture.
Although Canada’s footprint will be nothing like that of the US, or the expanding military might of the likes of China and India, it will involve something more than planting a flag on a deserted stretch of coral atoll.
The most likely scenario will see a port facility made available in a trading centre like Singapore with access to an airfield. MacKay said any regional military hub would be similar to the arrangements Canada has reached with Kuwait and Jamaica, to give it military footholds in the Middle East and the Caribbean.
Canada’s new military engagement with Asia will be visible sooner rather than later and starts Friday at the biannual Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) naval exercises off Hawaii.
Canada is contributing a major contingent of military assets to what is the largest naval exercise in the world. The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) alone will provide five surface ships and the maiden overseas deployment of the submarine HMCS Victoria.
The RCAF will send 15 planes including seven CF-188 Hornet fighter jets, surveillance planes and refuellers, as well as helicopters, a dive team and 150 infantry soldiers from the Canadian Army’s 2nd Battalion Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry.
A total of 1400 Canadian personnel will be involved.
At the command level, Canadian officers will hold three senior leadership positions in RIMPAC 2012.
Rear-Admiral Ron Lloyd will be the Deputy Commander Combined Task Force; Brigadier-General Michael Hood will be the Combined Forces Air Component Commander; and Commodore Peter Ellis will serve as the Commander Combined Task Force 176, an amphibious Task Group led by the United States Ship Essex.
All of which lives up to Defence Minister MacKay’s perception of Canada’s new “we need to be present” engagement with Asia and the Pacific.
How that squares against any cutbacks in future Canadian defence funding is yet to be made clear.
Originally posted here:
COLUMN: Kent – Canadian military makes moves for Asian presence
COLUMN: Kinsella – Assisted suicide ruling is all wrong
British Columbia court ruling is a dying shame
by Warren Kinsella
VANCOUVER - Cementing its reputation as the place where wild-eyed legal decisions are given the fullest possible expression, a British Columbia court last week decided to turn Canadian law on its head.
Matters of life and death, too.
As you may have heard, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Lynn Smith ruled laws prohibiting assisted suicide were “discriminatory,” and gave an ailing B.C. woman the green light to kill herself with the help of her doctors.
Everyone else looking to kill themselves, however, will have to wait a year. Smith decided to give Parliament 12 months to get its laws in congruence with, you know, her view of things.
A 64-year-old Okanagan Valley resident, Gloria Taylor, suffering from ALS, was given a “constitutional exemption” from the law, which came as a surprise to those of us who laboured under the view that the Constitution did not permit “exemptions.”
Getting in on the polling business, the B.C. judge proclaimed there existed “a strong societal consensus about the extremely high value of human life, (but) public opinion is divided regarding physician-assisted death.”
Actually, it isn’t. Surveys, such as they are, tell us Canadians overwhelmingly favour “assisted suicide” — which is The Mother of All Oxymorons, if you ask me — and, based on how leading Ottawa journalists (Andrew Coyne, Paul Wells, et al.) recently mocked the fate of Jun Lin, the alleged victim of Luka Magnotta, I wouldn’t necessarily agree we place “extremely high value on human life,” either.
But Smith’s judgment, unfortunately, is the law. It joins a long line of other B.C. legal rulings that prove, inarguably, that the judicial nuts do indeed roll into the judicial corners.
Religious points of view about Smith’s 400-page judgment are predictable and unnecessary. There are a sufficient number of secular arguments against “assisted suicide” to persuade sensible politicians to recognize that Smith’s judgment will lead us into perilous waters.
Thus, euthanasia for the “terminally ill” is hazardous because we don’t possess a working a definition of terminal. Jack Kevorkian, the “Dr. Death” who killed dozens of Americans until his own (perhaps timely) passing, defined terminal as “any disease that curtails life even for a day.”
Even a day? In the pro-death crowd, that’s actually considered conservative. The co-founder of the Hemlock Society defines it as “terminal old age.” Others declare a person terminal when death will occur in a “relatively short time.”
Given that we all start to die the moment we are born, you can perhaps see the problem here. One man’s terminal is another man’s weeks, or months, or years.
As a liberal, I have another problem with terminating those who are “terminal.” The overriding theme in every discussion of health care, nowadays, is cost. Politicians and bureaucrats — conservative ones in particular — are always obsessively looking for ways to contain health-care expenditures.
So, for example, after the passage of Oregon’s Measure 16 — which legalized assisted suicide — the state’s leading health bureaucrat declared such measures would be paid for as “comfort care” under the Oregon Health Plan. Which, coincidentally enough, provides medical coverage for hundreds of thousands of Oregonians who are poor.
Months later, Oregon then announced plans to cut back on health-care coverage for poor citizens. Offing the poor? Funded. Helping them get better? Not.
One of the principal arguments against “assisted suicide,” however, came to me from my father, who — before his death eight years ago this month — received the Order of Canada for his writings about euthanasia.
“I’m a doctor,” he said to me and some of my buddies one evening at the supper table. “I went to school to save lives, not end them. Will the state now start funding schools where students receive training in killing supposedly sick people?”
Good question. I doubt Justice Lynn Smith has an answer, however.
Tags: assisted suicide, euthan
See original article:
Nativity of St. John the Baptist – 160 ieme Anniversaire de l’Institut Canadien-francais d’Ottawa
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| Statue of St. John the Baptist in Notre Dame Cathedral |
Grant, we pray, almighty God, that your family may walk in the way of salvation and, attentive to what Saint John the Precursor urged, may come safely to the One he foretold, our Lord Jesus Christ. Who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
* * * * * *
Celebrating with the Knights and Dames of Malta
the 160th Anniversary
of l’Institut Canadien francais d’Ottawa
St. John the Baptist is the Patron not only of French Canadians, but also of other groups such as the Order of Malta, which was established under the patronage of St. John as a hospice for ill and needy pilgrims in eleventh century Jerusalem. They came to celebrate at the Cathedral this morning; some of them posed on the steps following 10h30 Mass.
This evening, there will be festive dinner for the Institut Canadien Francais here in Ottawa where the social club was founded on this very day in 1852–one hundred sixty years ago.
Some details on their founder from their website:
Joseph-Balsora Turgeon, 1810-1897
par Jean Yves Pelletier
Né à Terrebonne, au Bas-Canada, en 1810, Joseph-B. Turgeon arrive à Bytown probablement en 1836 à l’âge de 26 ans. Il exerce le métier de forgeron, puis travaille dans l’industrie du bois et s’associe à un commerce de voitures.
En 1844, il fait partie de la fanfare appelée Les musiciens de Bytown que dirige le capitaine Paul Favreau. Succédant à Jean Bédard, Turgeon est élu conseiller municipal pour le quartier nord de la Basse-Ville de Bytown en 1848, puis réélu en 1849. Cette même année, il est nommé juge de paix. C’est en cette qualité qu’il tente d’apaiser la foule à une assemblée publique tenue au marché By le 17 septembre 1849. L’assemblée dégénère en une sanglante bagarre entre les deux factions politiques – les Tories (conservateurs) et les Reformers (libéraux) – et entre Canadiens-Français, Irlandais et Canadiens-Anglais. C’est cette triste journée que l’on a surnommé « Stoney Monday ».
En 1851 et en 1852, Turgeon est de nouveau élu conseiller municipal pour le quartier centre. En 1852 il devient commissaire d’écoles puis fonde et devient le premier président de l’Institut canadien-français. Membre d’un cabinet de lecture – le Mechanics’ Institute — fondé par un certain monsieur Powell, Joseph-B. Turgeon proteste avec véhémence quand on propose l’exclusion des Canadiens français. En quittant la salle avec quelques-uns de ses compatriotes, il annonce qu’il fondra un cercle littéraire qui survivra longtemps après la disparition du cabinet de langue anglaise. C’est ce cercle littéraire qui deviendra plus tard l’Institut canadien-français d’Ottawa.
Élu maire de Bytown en 1853, c’est au cours de son mandat que Turgeon réussit à obtenir des fonds pour les écoles des sœurs grises dites Sœurs de la Charité d’Ottawa. Il propose aussi que Bytown obtienne le statut de ville et qu’elle prenne le nom de « Ottawa ».
Il siège de nouveau à la commission scolaire en 1855, est nommé capitaine de la milice no 2 d’Ottawa en 1856, puis élu de nouveau au conseil municipal en 1862. C’est à titre de conseiller scolaire et avec l’aide de son ami l’avocat Richard W. Scott, qu’il propose un système d’écoles séparées à Ottawa.
À partir de la fin des années 1860, Turgeon se retire progressivement de la vie publique et il se retrouve agent général de la compagnie Mosgrove, rue Rideau. En reconnaissance de ses efforts soutenus pour la cause catholique, il est fait Chevalier de l’Ordre de St-Grégoire le Grand pour sa contribution à l’établissement des écoles séparées catholiques à Ottawa.
Ami de l’Évêque de Bytown, Mgr Joseph-Eugène-Bruno Guigues, Joseph-B. Turgeon a été, de par ses fonctions officielles, l’hôte de plusieurs dignitaires venus à Bytown et Ottawa, dont Lord Elgin, Gouverneur général, Mgr Bedini, nonce apostolique et le capitaine Henry de Belvèze, représentant de Napoléon III.
Marié à Mary Ann Donohue en premières noces et en secondes noces à Marie Elizabeth Mesnard, il est le père de quatre enfants.
Il meurt à Hull le 17 juillet 1897 à l’âge de 87 ans. Son service funèbre est célébré dans la chapelle de l’Université d’Ottawa avec la participation de la chorale de la paroisse Saint-Joseph. En plus des membres de sa famille, des amis du défunt étaient présents tels Sir Richard W. Scott, Secrétaire d’État, Honoré Robillard, ancien député fédéral, Frank McDougal, ancien maire, Joseph Boyden et J.B. Jackson, hommes d’affaires.
See the original post:
Nativity of St. John the Baptist – 160 ieme Anniversaire de l’Institut Canadien-francais d’Ottawa
Archbishop Smith At Lesnes Abbey…
Archbishop Peter Smith, chatting here with
at Lesnes Abbey, after the Blessed Sacrament Procession, at which he gave a really good sermon emphasising the fact that Jesus Christ is really and truly present in the Blessed Sacrament, and that all Catholics believe this! Not said often enough IMHO…
See the original post:
John the Baptist is a Priest
Zachariah goes up to the altar of incense to offer incense, the Angel of the Lord, Gabriel appears, and tells him his wife will bear him a son, who will call John, he disbelieves and in struck dumb. Unlike the majority of the Temple’s priest Zachariah is “righteous”.
He remains dumb until after John’s birth, Elizabeth names him and Zachariah signs his agreement, the peoples amazement is twofold. Remember he is a priest, and so therefore is the infant John. The first reason for amazement is Zachariah’s speech returns, and immediately he pronounces the blessing he should have done in the Temple after burning incense, he does so by announcing the Benedictus:
Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; because he hath visited and wrought the redemption of His people:
And hath raised up an horn of salvation to us, in the house of David his servant:
As he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets, who are from the beginning:
Salvation from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us:
To perform mercy to our fathers, and to remember his holy testament,
The oath, which he swore to Abraham our father, that he would grant to us,
That being delivered from the hand of our enemies, we may serve him without fear,
In holiness and justice before him, all our days.
And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways:
To give knowledge of salvation to his people, unto the remission of their sins:
Through the bowels of the mercy of our God, in which the Orient from on high hath visited us:
To enlighten them that sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death: to direct our feet into the way of peace.
This the second reason for the peoples amazement, these words this prophecy. Yet another reason is simply that Zachariah calls him John, a name unknown in his family. As a priest Zachariah was landless, at a time when not everyone believed in the Resurrection, one lived for as long as memory of you was kept alive, it was kept alive in the land and in one’s sons, priests were landless hence the shock that John was not going to keep anyone’s memory alive. John is a sign of something new, a break from the past.
The landless priest dwells in the desert, again a sign that here is a priest who takes his ministery seriously. Priests were expected to be celibate when ministering in the Temple John’s loins are girt, some have suggested he had a relationship to the Essenes who practiced both baptism and perpetual celibacy. He lives on the sweetness of wild honey, it is “wild” not cultivated, it is supplied by divine providence.
This priest divides, he separates the just from the unjust, the clean from the unclean. This seems to be real role for Jewish priests; the priest inspect people for leprosy, judge whether an animal is fit for sacrifice. The priest was expected one who discerns between that which is pleasing to God and that which is not.
He makes two important priestly acts of discernment: first, identifying what is good, that Jesus is the acceptable sacrifice pleasing to God, “Behold the Lamb of God…”. Secondly identifying what is bad, this brings about his death; he condemns the incestuous relationship between Herod and Herodias. Priests were expected to be prophetic but had been compromised since the time of the Maccabees.
The Temple priests seem happy to gossip but John denounces clearly and without comprise identifying the good and holy and denouncing the impure and unholy.
Excerpt from:
Great to see that, John. Fondest memories of my childhood are of Sunday Latin Mass, followed by a rugby match at the pitch alongside the chapel. We often joked that it was best to play close to the parish priest in case Last Rites were needed!
-Donnacha
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