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Congress OSC – Video & Pictures – Day 3
Congress OSC – Video & Pictures – Day 3 morning
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Pope urges faithful to overcome selfishness with Lenten charity
Vatican City, Feb 7, 2012 / 08:10 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The Catholic Church must demonstrate the power of love and show the limitations of an individualistic worldview, Pope Benedict XVI taught in a Lenten message released two weeks before Ash Wednesday.
In the letter released Feb. 7, the Pope contrasted an ethic of “custody' of others,” with “a mentality that, by reducing life exclusively to its earthly dimension … accepts any moral choice in the name of personal freedom.”
A society with this mindset, he warned, “can become blind to physical sufferings and to the spiritual and moral demands of life. This must not be the case in the Christian community!”
The Pope's message for Lent of 2012, which begins Feb. 22, drew from the New Testament's Letter to the Hebrews – particularly the verse that proclaims, “Let us be concerned for each other, to stir a response in love and good works.”
“All too often, however, our attitude is just the opposite,” Pope Benedict observed, describing “an indifference and disinterest born of selfishness and masked as a respect for 'privacy.'”
“Today too, the Lord’s voice summons all of us to be concerned for one another. Even today God asks us to be 'guardians' of our brothers and sisters, to establish relationships based on mutual consideration and attentiveness to the well-being, the integral well-being of others.”
He encouraged believers “to recognize in others a true 'alter ego,' infinitely loved by the Lord.”
“If we cultivate this way of seeing others as our brothers and sisters, solidarity, justice, mercy and compassion will naturally well up in our hearts.”
But when this love and care for others diminishes, social and global problems correspondingly increase.
The Pope cited the words of his predecessor, the Servant of God Paul VI, who declared that the world was “sorely ill” – with a sickness caused not by material factors, but by selfishness and “the weakening of brotherly ties between individuals and nations.”
“Contemporary culture seems to have lost the sense of good and evil,” Pope Benedict said, as he warned about the danger of “a sort of 'spiritual anesthesia' which numbs us to the suffering of others.”
“What hinders this humane and loving gaze towards our brothers and sisters?” he asked.
“Often it is the possession of material riches and a sense of sufficiency, but it can also be the tendency to put our own interests and problems above all else.”
“We should never be incapable of showing mercy towards those who suffer. Our hearts should never be so wrapped up in our affairs and problems that they fail to hear the cry of the poor.”
Yet even when the world's love grows cold, goodness “does exist and will prevail – because God is 'generous and acts generously',” through those who work on behalf of “life, brotherhood, and communion.”
“In a world which demands of Christians a renewed witness of love and fidelity to the Lord, may all of us feel the urgent need to anticipate one another in charity, service and good works,” the Pope stated, as he called all believers to practice the traditional Lenten disciplines of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.
“This is a favorable time to renew our journey of faith, both as individuals and as a community, with the help of the word of God and the sacraments. This journey is one marked by prayer and sharing, silence and fasting, in anticipation of the joy of Easter.”
All of these ancient practices are meant to help the faithful grow in charity – which Pope Benedict described as “the very heart of Christian life.”
In the letter released Feb. 7, the Pope contrasted an ethic of “custody' of others,” with “a mentality that, by reducing life exclusively to its earthly dimension … accepts any moral choice in the name of personal freedom.”
A society with this mindset, he warned, “can become blind to physical sufferings and to the spiritual and moral demands of life. This must not be the case in the Christian community!”
The Pope's message for Lent of 2012, which begins Feb. 22, drew from the New Testament's Letter to the Hebrews – particularly the verse that proclaims, “Let us be concerned for each other, to stir a response in love and good works.”
“All too often, however, our attitude is just the opposite,” Pope Benedict observed, describing “an indifference and disinterest born of selfishness and masked as a respect for 'privacy.'”
“Today too, the Lord’s voice summons all of us to be concerned for one another. Even today God asks us to be 'guardians' of our brothers and sisters, to establish relationships based on mutual consideration and attentiveness to the well-being, the integral well-being of others.”
He encouraged believers “to recognize in others a true 'alter ego,' infinitely loved by the Lord.”
“If we cultivate this way of seeing others as our brothers and sisters, solidarity, justice, mercy and compassion will naturally well up in our hearts.”
But when this love and care for others diminishes, social and global problems correspondingly increase.
The Pope cited the words of his predecessor, the Servant of God Paul VI, who declared that the world was “sorely ill” – with a sickness caused not by material factors, but by selfishness and “the weakening of brotherly ties between individuals and nations.”
“Contemporary culture seems to have lost the sense of good and evil,” Pope Benedict said, as he warned about the danger of “a sort of 'spiritual anesthesia' which numbs us to the suffering of others.”
“What hinders this humane and loving gaze towards our brothers and sisters?” he asked.
“Often it is the possession of material riches and a sense of sufficiency, but it can also be the tendency to put our own interests and problems above all else.”
“We should never be incapable of showing mercy towards those who suffer. Our hearts should never be so wrapped up in our affairs and problems that they fail to hear the cry of the poor.”
Yet even when the world's love grows cold, goodness “does exist and will prevail – because God is 'generous and acts generously',” through those who work on behalf of “life, brotherhood, and communion.”
“In a world which demands of Christians a renewed witness of love and fidelity to the Lord, may all of us feel the urgent need to anticipate one another in charity, service and good works,” the Pope stated, as he called all believers to practice the traditional Lenten disciplines of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.
“This is a favorable time to renew our journey of faith, both as individuals and as a community, with the help of the word of God and the sacraments. This journey is one marked by prayer and sharing, silence and fasting, in anticipation of the joy of Easter.”
All of these ancient practices are meant to help the faithful grow in charity – which Pope Benedict described as “the very heart of Christian life.”
Abuse survivor praises Pope for listening to victims
Rome, Italy, Feb 7, 2012 / 05:59 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- An Irish woman who was abused by a priest in her youth told an international symposium on clerical abuse that Pope Benedict is a model of how to listen to victims.
“Listening to victims is one of the most important things, and it was something that was maybe not done enough, and the Pope is giving an example as to how it should be done,” Marie Collins said Feb. 7.
Collins, 65, was abused while a patient in a Dublin children’s hospital. She told journalists at the “Towards Healing and Renewal” symposium at the Pontifical Gregorian University that she was particularly impressed by the Pope’s numerous meetings with victims during his apostolic visits abroad.
“The bishops should take their example from him and from his lead and listen more to victims and what they have to say,” she said.
Since being elected in 2005, Pope Benedict has met with victims of abuse during his pastoral visits to the United States, England, Germany, Australia and Malta. In the latter case, he wept while listening to what he heard from victims.
The four-day symposium has gathered representatives from 110 bishops’ conferences and more than 30 religious orders at the Jesuit-run Roman university. Its aim is to share best practices from around the world amongst the bishops and religious superiors present.
This morning the delegates heard Collins give a joint presentation with Baroness Sheila Hollins on “Healing a wound at the Heart of the Church and Society.” The baroness, who is a professor of psychiatry at St. George’s medical school at the University of London, also described Pope Benedict’s meetings with victims as “incredibly important.”
“I felt he was modeling to bishops in all of those places, ‘this is how you sit and listen to victims,’ and I think that was very, very important. That he had the ability to be able to sit and listen to what people were saying. I have huge respect for him for doing that,” she said.
The Vatican has given those bishops’ conferences and religious orders that do not have abuse guidelines in place until May 2012 to do so. They must then submit them to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith Rome for approval, revision or rejection.
“There’s absolutely no doubt that this symposium will contribute very, very positively to the various writings of those guidelines, because it’s a very valuable resource for those taking part,” said Collins.
In recent decades, Marie Collins has become a well-known campaigner in Ireland for the protection of children and justice for survivors of clerical sexual abuse. She said she found it “difficult” to tell her story today, but she persevered because it’s important for bishops and religious superiors “hear a victim’s experience” as part of the symposium.
“I felt for that reason that I should do it, and I’m very glad I did. And the response was very good,” she said.
She explained how one African bishop told them that he had “not really given the issue a great deal of importance” but that “after hearing us both speak he had changed his mind and felt that this was something he had to give a lot more attention to. So I think it was important that what we both said was heard.”
Baroness Hollins had explained to delegates how mental health problems are “very common” among victims of abuse, including “depression, anxiety, eating disorders or suicidal thoughts.” She also said she believes that listening to victims is key to helping them to heal their psychological wounds.
“Listening isn’t just something that happens once,” she remarked, “it is quite hard to listen in a way which helps a victim, a survivor feel like they’ve been heard. And so that listening has to keep on, particularly for somebody where the abuse happened a long time ago” and who has not be able to tell their story for many years.
“Listening to victims is one of the most important things, and it was something that was maybe not done enough, and the Pope is giving an example as to how it should be done,” Marie Collins said Feb. 7.
Collins, 65, was abused while a patient in a Dublin children’s hospital. She told journalists at the “Towards Healing and Renewal” symposium at the Pontifical Gregorian University that she was particularly impressed by the Pope’s numerous meetings with victims during his apostolic visits abroad.
“The bishops should take their example from him and from his lead and listen more to victims and what they have to say,” she said.
Since being elected in 2005, Pope Benedict has met with victims of abuse during his pastoral visits to the United States, England, Germany, Australia and Malta. In the latter case, he wept while listening to what he heard from victims.
The four-day symposium has gathered representatives from 110 bishops’ conferences and more than 30 religious orders at the Jesuit-run Roman university. Its aim is to share best practices from around the world amongst the bishops and religious superiors present.
This morning the delegates heard Collins give a joint presentation with Baroness Sheila Hollins on “Healing a wound at the Heart of the Church and Society.” The baroness, who is a professor of psychiatry at St. George’s medical school at the University of London, also described Pope Benedict’s meetings with victims as “incredibly important.”
“I felt he was modeling to bishops in all of those places, ‘this is how you sit and listen to victims,’ and I think that was very, very important. That he had the ability to be able to sit and listen to what people were saying. I have huge respect for him for doing that,” she said.
The Vatican has given those bishops’ conferences and religious orders that do not have abuse guidelines in place until May 2012 to do so. They must then submit them to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith Rome for approval, revision or rejection.
“There’s absolutely no doubt that this symposium will contribute very, very positively to the various writings of those guidelines, because it’s a very valuable resource for those taking part,” said Collins.
In recent decades, Marie Collins has become a well-known campaigner in Ireland for the protection of children and justice for survivors of clerical sexual abuse. She said she found it “difficult” to tell her story today, but she persevered because it’s important for bishops and religious superiors “hear a victim’s experience” as part of the symposium.
“I felt for that reason that I should do it, and I’m very glad I did. And the response was very good,” she said.
She explained how one African bishop told them that he had “not really given the issue a great deal of importance” but that “after hearing us both speak he had changed his mind and felt that this was something he had to give a lot more attention to. So I think it was important that what we both said was heard.”
Baroness Hollins had explained to delegates how mental health problems are “very common” among victims of abuse, including “depression, anxiety, eating disorders or suicidal thoughts.” She also said she believes that listening to victims is key to helping them to heal their psychological wounds.
“Listening isn’t just something that happens once,” she remarked, “it is quite hard to listen in a way which helps a victim, a survivor feel like they’ve been heard. And so that listening has to keep on, particularly for somebody where the abuse happened a long time ago” and who has not be able to tell their story for many years.
Chronicle – 7 Feb 2012
Sorry, this entry is only available in Italiano and Español.
Vespers at St. Clare – Video and Pictures
Evening Prayer at the Basilica of St. Clare. Greetings from Sr. Chiara Damiana Tiberio, OSC. Presider: Minister General, OFM.
Pope says renewal requires ‘Christ-like’ response to abuse
Rome, Italy, Feb 7, 2012 / 11:40 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Benedict XVI called upon bishops to respond in a “Christ-like” manner to clerical abuse as part of a “profound renewal” of the Church.
His Feb. 6 comments marked the opening of an international symposium in Rome to discuss the issue. The Pope’s wishes were expressed in a communiqué from Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican's Secretary of State.
“He (the Pope) asks the Lord that, through your deliberations, many bishops and religious superiors throughout the world may be helped to respond in a truly Christ-like manner to the tragedy of child abuse,” the statement said.
“As His Holiness has often observed, healing for victims must be of paramount concern in the Christian community, and it must go hand in hand with a profound renewal of the Church at every level.”
The “Towards Healing and Renewal” symposium is being organized by Rome’s Pontifical Gregorian University and runs from Feb. 6 - 9. Delegates have arrived come from about 110 bishops’ conferences, along with the superiors of more than 30 religious orders.
The message from Cardinal Bertone said that the Pope “supports and encourages every effort to respond with evangelical charity to the challenge of providing children and vulnerable adults with an ecclesial environment conducive to their human and spiritual growth.”
Pope Benedict urged symposium participants to “continue drawing on a wide range of expertise” to promote “a vigorous culture of effective safeguarding and victim support” throughout the Church.
All bishops’ conferences around the world have until May 2012 to draw up guidelines for dealing with cases of abuse. Those guidelines will then have to be approved by the Vatican. Many countries already have approved guidelines in place.
The symposium was opened on the evening of Feb. 6 with an address from Cardinal William J. Levada, Prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. His department has handled all alleged cases of abuse since 2001 when his predecessor Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, was in charge of the congregation.
“The Pope has had to suffer attacks by the media over these past years in various parts of the world, when he should receive the gratitude of us all, in the Church and outside it,” Cardinal Levada told delegates.
He outlined how then-Cardinal Ratzinger centralized and streamlined the Vatican’s procedures for dealing with allegations of abuse, while also significantly increasing penalties for those found guilty.
Cardinal Levada also explained how since his election to the papacy in 2005, Pope Benedict XVI has made a priority of implementing best practices for handling abuse allegations around the globe.
The Pope was also praised by Cardinal Levada for meeting with abuse victims during his pastoral visits to England, Malta, Germany, Australia and the United States.
“I think is it hardly possible to overestimate the importance of this example for us bishops, and for us priests, in being available to victims for this important moment in their healing and reconciliation.”
His Feb. 6 comments marked the opening of an international symposium in Rome to discuss the issue. The Pope’s wishes were expressed in a communiqué from Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican's Secretary of State.
“He (the Pope) asks the Lord that, through your deliberations, many bishops and religious superiors throughout the world may be helped to respond in a truly Christ-like manner to the tragedy of child abuse,” the statement said.
“As His Holiness has often observed, healing for victims must be of paramount concern in the Christian community, and it must go hand in hand with a profound renewal of the Church at every level.”
The “Towards Healing and Renewal” symposium is being organized by Rome’s Pontifical Gregorian University and runs from Feb. 6 - 9. Delegates have arrived come from about 110 bishops’ conferences, along with the superiors of more than 30 religious orders.
The message from Cardinal Bertone said that the Pope “supports and encourages every effort to respond with evangelical charity to the challenge of providing children and vulnerable adults with an ecclesial environment conducive to their human and spiritual growth.”
Pope Benedict urged symposium participants to “continue drawing on a wide range of expertise” to promote “a vigorous culture of effective safeguarding and victim support” throughout the Church.
All bishops’ conferences around the world have until May 2012 to draw up guidelines for dealing with cases of abuse. Those guidelines will then have to be approved by the Vatican. Many countries already have approved guidelines in place.
The symposium was opened on the evening of Feb. 6 with an address from Cardinal William J. Levada, Prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. His department has handled all alleged cases of abuse since 2001 when his predecessor Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, was in charge of the congregation.
“The Pope has had to suffer attacks by the media over these past years in various parts of the world, when he should receive the gratitude of us all, in the Church and outside it,” Cardinal Levada told delegates.
He outlined how then-Cardinal Ratzinger centralized and streamlined the Vatican’s procedures for dealing with allegations of abuse, while also significantly increasing penalties for those found guilty.
Cardinal Levada also explained how since his election to the papacy in 2005, Pope Benedict XVI has made a priority of implementing best practices for handling abuse allegations around the globe.
The Pope was also praised by Cardinal Levada for meeting with abuse victims during his pastoral visits to England, Malta, Germany, Australia and the United States.
“I think is it hardly possible to overestimate the importance of this example for us bishops, and for us priests, in being available to victims for this important moment in their healing and reconciliation.”
Congress OSC: Minister General Report
Sorry, this entry is only available in Español.
Congress OSC – Pictures – Day 2
Congress OSC – Pictures – Day 2 morning
Recorded LIve
Chronicle – 6 Feb 2012
The wind blew relentlessly all the night on Santa Maria Degli Angeli and on the House of Franciscan Missionary Sisters of the Infant Jesus where the Second International Congress of the Presidents of the Poor Clare sisters is taking place.
The wind swept away everything: the fatigue of an adventurous journey, the thrill of [...]
JPIC: Contact – Contatto – Contacto (01.2012)
Contact – Contatto – Contacto (01.2012) – English – Italiano – Español
Homily – Remember your purpose
Dear Poor Sisters of St. Clare and Brothers,
May the Lord give you peace!
It is with great joy that I welcome you here in the Porziuncula at the beginning of this II International Meeting of Presidents of the Federations of the OSC. Welcome! I pray to the Lord that these days of meetings, prayer and reflection [...]
Longstanding racketeering lawsuit against Vatican dismissed
Jackson, Miss., Feb 6, 2012 / 06:33 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- A federal court’s dismissal “with prejudice” of a 2002 lawsuit by five U.S. state commissioners against the Holy See shows the Vatican had “nothing to do” with a multi-million dollar criminal scheme against insurance companies, the Holy See’s U.S. attorney Jeffrey Lena said.
The suit charged that the Holy See had engaged in criminal fraud and racketeering in violation of federal law.
The allegations against the Holy See “make good fodder for conspiracy theorists,” said Lena, who added that journalists who “enthusiastically” publicized the allegations should “write with equal vigor upon the cases’ demise.”
State insurance regulators sued the Holy See for $600 million in 2002 in connection with the actions of financier Martin Frankel.
Frankel and his co-conspirators allegedly acquired several insurance companies from 1991 to 1999 in Mississippi, Tennessee, Missouri, Oklahoma and Arkansas and illegally used the companies’ money for his own gain.
The Vatican was first approached by Frankel’s associates under the false pretense that Frankel, who used the pseudonym “David Rosse,” was a wealthy U.S. financier who wanted to donate millions of dollars to the Church to help the poor, Lena said in a Feb. 2 statement.
Frankel proposed the creation and funding of a charitable foundation in the Vatican, allegedly intending to use the foundation in an ongoing scheme to buy insurance companies and illegally exploit them.
“The Holy See categorically rejected the notion that ‘Rosse’ could ever create a Vatican foundation,” Lena said, citing a 1998 letter from then-Holy See Secretary of State Cardinal Angelo Sodano which said no such foundation could ever be created.
Frankel then created a false foundation in the British Virgin Islands named the St. Francis of Assisi Foundation to Serve and Help the Poor and Alleviate Suffering. He claimed the organization was affiliated with the Holy See and that John Paul II had personally authorized the funding.
According to Lena, the Vatican never received any money from Frankel.
“Through these machinations, the Holy See became the unwitting victim of Frankel’s fraud, which sought to trade on the Holy See’s name and reputation to continue to purchase and loot insurance companies,” the attorney commented.
Lena said the lawsuit was filed despite the fact that the Holy See never received money from Frankel.
The lawsuit was not dismissed because of a settlement agreement, he added. Rather, the insurance commissioners filed for dismissal of their own accord.
“As today’s dismissal with prejudice shows, the state insurance regulators’ decision to sue the Holy See for Frankel’s crimes was unsupported by the evidence,” said Lena, who reported that before the lawsuit was filed two government investigations concluded that state insurance regulators had allowed Frankel’s scheme to continue uninterrupted.
Lena suggested that state regulators sued the Holy See despite the findings of the U.S. Government Accounting Office and the Tennessee Comptroller that they bore “much of the blame” for allowing the scheme to continue.
The suit charged that the Holy See had engaged in criminal fraud and racketeering in violation of federal law.
The allegations against the Holy See “make good fodder for conspiracy theorists,” said Lena, who added that journalists who “enthusiastically” publicized the allegations should “write with equal vigor upon the cases’ demise.”
State insurance regulators sued the Holy See for $600 million in 2002 in connection with the actions of financier Martin Frankel.
Frankel and his co-conspirators allegedly acquired several insurance companies from 1991 to 1999 in Mississippi, Tennessee, Missouri, Oklahoma and Arkansas and illegally used the companies’ money for his own gain.
The Vatican was first approached by Frankel’s associates under the false pretense that Frankel, who used the pseudonym “David Rosse,” was a wealthy U.S. financier who wanted to donate millions of dollars to the Church to help the poor, Lena said in a Feb. 2 statement.
Frankel proposed the creation and funding of a charitable foundation in the Vatican, allegedly intending to use the foundation in an ongoing scheme to buy insurance companies and illegally exploit them.
“The Holy See categorically rejected the notion that ‘Rosse’ could ever create a Vatican foundation,” Lena said, citing a 1998 letter from then-Holy See Secretary of State Cardinal Angelo Sodano which said no such foundation could ever be created.
Frankel then created a false foundation in the British Virgin Islands named the St. Francis of Assisi Foundation to Serve and Help the Poor and Alleviate Suffering. He claimed the organization was affiliated with the Holy See and that John Paul II had personally authorized the funding.
According to Lena, the Vatican never received any money from Frankel.
“Through these machinations, the Holy See became the unwitting victim of Frankel’s fraud, which sought to trade on the Holy See’s name and reputation to continue to purchase and loot insurance companies,” the attorney commented.
Lena said the lawsuit was filed despite the fact that the Holy See never received money from Frankel.
The lawsuit was not dismissed because of a settlement agreement, he added. Rather, the insurance commissioners filed for dismissal of their own accord.
“As today’s dismissal with prejudice shows, the state insurance regulators’ decision to sue the Holy See for Frankel’s crimes was unsupported by the evidence,” said Lena, who reported that before the lawsuit was filed two government investigations concluded that state insurance regulators had allowed Frankel’s scheme to continue uninterrupted.
Lena suggested that state regulators sued the Holy See despite the findings of the U.S. Government Accounting Office and the Tennessee Comptroller that they bore “much of the blame” for allowing the scheme to continue.
Vatican City’s government rejects corruption allegations
Vatican City, Feb 6, 2012 / 01:45 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The body responsible for the governance of the Vatican City State is denying claims of corruption leveled by its former deputy governor, Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò.
The allegations were made in private correspondence with Pope Benedict XVI and Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican Secretary of State, in spring 2011, but were only recently leaked to an Italian television station.
“The allegations contained in them cannot but lead to the impression that the Governorate of Vatican City State, instead of being an instrument of responsible government, is an unreliable entity, at the mercy of dark forces,” said an official statement issued Feb. 4.
“After careful examination of the contents of the two letters, the President of the Governorate sees it as its duty to publicly declare that those assertions are the result of erroneous assessments, or fears based on unsubstantiated evidence and are even openly contradicted by the main characters invoked as witnesses.”
The statement is signed by four leading figures involved in the running of the governorate, including the current president, Cardinal-designate Joseph Bertello, and his predecessor, Cardinal Giovanni Lajolo.
The Governorate of Vatican City State is the department responsible for such things as the buildings, maintenance, gardens and museums within the world’s smallest sovereign state. Archbishop Viganò was second-in-command between July 2009 and September 2011.
Since October 2011 he has been the papal nuncio to the United States.
In the leaked letters, which the Vatican has confirmed are authentic, Archbishop Viganò claimed nepotism and mismanagement were rife within the city-state.
In an April 4 letter to Pope Benedict, he alleged that a small number of Italian businesses were gaining the majority of contracts and then billing the Vatican at inflated prices.
“Work was always given to the same companies at costs at least double compared to those charged outside the Vatican,” he told the Pope.
The archbishop gave the example of the annual nativity scene that is built in St. Peter’s Square. His due diligence, he claimed, reduced the cost from $ 718,000 in 2009 to $392,000 in 2010.
He also criticized an unofficial group of Italian bankers, known as the Finance and Management Committee, who advise the Vatican City State on financial matters. In his April 4 letter, he claimed their involvement “resulted more in their own interests than ours,” and said that one recommended transaction “made us lose two and a half million dollars.”
During the two-year tenure of Archbishop Viganò, the governorate’s balance sheet went from running a deficit of $9.8 million in 2009 to a surplus of $28 million in 2010.
In his letters to Pope Benedict, the archbishop argued that it was his commitment to financial transparency that made him internal enemies who were seeking to push him out of the Vatican.
But the Feb. 4 statement from the Governorate of Vatican City State offered a detailed rebuttal of the claims made by Archbishop Viganò.
The statement explained that the budget of the governorate is regularly submitted to the Prefecture for the Economic Affairs of the Holy See and to its “college of international auditors” for scrutiny.
It also attributes the turnaround in the governorate’s financial situation during Archbishop Viganò’s tenure principally to two factors – improved returns from financial investments and “to an even greater extent, to the excellent results of the Vatican Museums.”
The governorate also insisted that it uses “standard bidding procedures” for major work carried out within the Vatican City State, such as the present restoration of the Colonnade of St. Peter’s Square. The bidding process is overseen by the Cardinal President of the Governorate and an “ad hoc” commission. Smaller projects are overseen by the staff of the Vatican’s Directorate of Technical Services or by “well known and well qualified external firms, on the basis of the prices in use in Italy,” the statement said.
The governorate also expressed “complete trust in, and respect for” the members of the Finance and Management Committee, and the governorate’s administrative offices and collaborators.
“All suspicions and accusations have, following careful examination, been shown to be unfounded, as have (almost to the point of seeming laughable) news reports – fruit of a certain kind of highly superficial journalism ….”
It does, however, say that the “implementation of the improvements” suggested by McKinsey management consultancy firm in a report commissioned by Cardinal Lajolo in 2009 will continue to be implemented.
The allegations were made in private correspondence with Pope Benedict XVI and Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican Secretary of State, in spring 2011, but were only recently leaked to an Italian television station.
“The allegations contained in them cannot but lead to the impression that the Governorate of Vatican City State, instead of being an instrument of responsible government, is an unreliable entity, at the mercy of dark forces,” said an official statement issued Feb. 4.
“After careful examination of the contents of the two letters, the President of the Governorate sees it as its duty to publicly declare that those assertions are the result of erroneous assessments, or fears based on unsubstantiated evidence and are even openly contradicted by the main characters invoked as witnesses.”
The statement is signed by four leading figures involved in the running of the governorate, including the current president, Cardinal-designate Joseph Bertello, and his predecessor, Cardinal Giovanni Lajolo.
The Governorate of Vatican City State is the department responsible for such things as the buildings, maintenance, gardens and museums within the world’s smallest sovereign state. Archbishop Viganò was second-in-command between July 2009 and September 2011.
Since October 2011 he has been the papal nuncio to the United States.
In the leaked letters, which the Vatican has confirmed are authentic, Archbishop Viganò claimed nepotism and mismanagement were rife within the city-state.
In an April 4 letter to Pope Benedict, he alleged that a small number of Italian businesses were gaining the majority of contracts and then billing the Vatican at inflated prices.
“Work was always given to the same companies at costs at least double compared to those charged outside the Vatican,” he told the Pope.
The archbishop gave the example of the annual nativity scene that is built in St. Peter’s Square. His due diligence, he claimed, reduced the cost from $ 718,000 in 2009 to $392,000 in 2010.
He also criticized an unofficial group of Italian bankers, known as the Finance and Management Committee, who advise the Vatican City State on financial matters. In his April 4 letter, he claimed their involvement “resulted more in their own interests than ours,” and said that one recommended transaction “made us lose two and a half million dollars.”
During the two-year tenure of Archbishop Viganò, the governorate’s balance sheet went from running a deficit of $9.8 million in 2009 to a surplus of $28 million in 2010.
In his letters to Pope Benedict, the archbishop argued that it was his commitment to financial transparency that made him internal enemies who were seeking to push him out of the Vatican.
But the Feb. 4 statement from the Governorate of Vatican City State offered a detailed rebuttal of the claims made by Archbishop Viganò.
The statement explained that the budget of the governorate is regularly submitted to the Prefecture for the Economic Affairs of the Holy See and to its “college of international auditors” for scrutiny.
It also attributes the turnaround in the governorate’s financial situation during Archbishop Viganò’s tenure principally to two factors – improved returns from financial investments and “to an even greater extent, to the excellent results of the Vatican Museums.”
The governorate also insisted that it uses “standard bidding procedures” for major work carried out within the Vatican City State, such as the present restoration of the Colonnade of St. Peter’s Square. The bidding process is overseen by the Cardinal President of the Governorate and an “ad hoc” commission. Smaller projects are overseen by the staff of the Vatican’s Directorate of Technical Services or by “well known and well qualified external firms, on the basis of the prices in use in Italy,” the statement said.
The governorate also expressed “complete trust in, and respect for” the members of the Finance and Management Committee, and the governorate’s administrative offices and collaborators.
“All suspicions and accusations have, following careful examination, been shown to be unfounded, as have (almost to the point of seeming laughable) news reports – fruit of a certain kind of highly superficial journalism ….”
It does, however, say that the “implementation of the improvements” suggested by McKinsey management consultancy firm in a report commissioned by Cardinal Lajolo in 2009 will continue to be implemented.
Identity of the Poor Clares today
Sorry, this entry is only available in Español.
Congress OSC – Video & Pictures – Day 1
Congress OSC – Video & Pictures – Day 1 morning
Participants Poor Clares and Assistants
MARIE-ESTHER NGO BATOUM,OSC
FED: SOLOFO KAMUTI
GABON –AFRICA.
MARIA DE LAS MERCEDES ALVAREZ,OSC
FED: SANTA MA. DE LOS ANGELES
CONO SUR- SUD AMERICA
MARIA JOSE DA ROSA MISTICA,OSC
FED: SAGRADA FAMILIA
BRASIL
REJEANNE PLAMONDON,OSC
FED: SAINTE CLAIRE DU QUEBEC
CANADA
MARIA NELLY DEL ESPIRITU SANTO,OSC
FED: MONASTERIOS DE CLARISAS DE
COLOMBIA
ENCARNACION REYES,OSC
FED: SAINT CLARE
PHILIPPINES
MONIQUE ALLARD,OSC
FED: SAINTE CLAIRE
FRANCE
MARIE PIERRE BALLOT,OSC
FED: NOTRE DAME DES ANGES
FRANCE
MARIE HÉLÈNE ANDRÉE MERCERON,OSC
FED: SAINT DAMIEN
FRANCE
SYLVIANE BIAN,OSC
FED: [...]
God's love overcomes the misery of illness, Pope teaches
Vatican City, Feb 5, 2012 / 12:05 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Faith in the love of Jesus Christ can overcome the suffering of long-term illness, Pope Benedict XVI said in his Sunday Angelus address on Feb. 5.
Just as Jesus faced the devil “with the power of love that was from the Father,” the Pope explained, so also a sick person can “overcome and defeat the test of disease with a heart immersed in the love of God.”
Indeed, he noted, “we all know people who have endured terrible suffering because God gave them a deep serenity.”
Pope Benedict addressed his remarks to thousands of pilgrims braving the cold and snow in St. Peter’s Square. From the window of the papal apartments, he reflected on the day's Gospel, in which Jesus “healed many who were sick with various diseases” and “cast out many demons.”
He observed how the four evangelists – Matthew, Mark, Luke and John – all describe “freedom from disease and illness of any kind, together with preaching, as the main activities of Jesus in his public life.”
While disease is “a sign of the evil in the world and in man,” Christ’s healings show that “the Kingdom of God is near,” and they serve as “a foretaste of his victory obtained by his death and resurrection.”
The Pope recognized that if healing does not arrive swiftly and suffering is prolonged, those who are sick “can remain crushed, isolated,” and even “depressed and dehumanized.”
Appropriate medical treatment is in order and, as the Pope pointed out, “medicine in recent decades has made great strides.”
But he also noted that the “Word of God” teaches “a decisive attitude” toward illness, an attitude which is “that of the faith.”
Even in the face of death, “faith can make possible what is humanly impossible.”
“But faith in what?” the Pope asked, answering that faith in God's love “is the true answer, which radically defeats evil.”
As an example of how to bear illness through the love of God, Pope Benedict highlighted the life and death of Blessed Chiara Badano, an Italian teenager who died in 1990 from an aggressive and painful bone cancer.
Although she was struck “in the bloom of youth,” those who visited her during her illness saw that she manifested “light and trust” through her love for Christ.
The Pope concluded by noting that next Saturday, Feb. 11, is the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes and also the World Day of the Sick.
On that day, he suggested, believers should imitate people of Jesus' time and “spiritually present to him all the sick people, confident that he wants to and can heal,” while also invoking the intercession of the Virgin Mary “especially in situations of immense suffering and abandonment.”
“Mary, Health of the Sick,” he declared, “pray for us!”
Just as Jesus faced the devil “with the power of love that was from the Father,” the Pope explained, so also a sick person can “overcome and defeat the test of disease with a heart immersed in the love of God.”
Indeed, he noted, “we all know people who have endured terrible suffering because God gave them a deep serenity.”
Pope Benedict addressed his remarks to thousands of pilgrims braving the cold and snow in St. Peter’s Square. From the window of the papal apartments, he reflected on the day's Gospel, in which Jesus “healed many who were sick with various diseases” and “cast out many demons.”
He observed how the four evangelists – Matthew, Mark, Luke and John – all describe “freedom from disease and illness of any kind, together with preaching, as the main activities of Jesus in his public life.”
While disease is “a sign of the evil in the world and in man,” Christ’s healings show that “the Kingdom of God is near,” and they serve as “a foretaste of his victory obtained by his death and resurrection.”
The Pope recognized that if healing does not arrive swiftly and suffering is prolonged, those who are sick “can remain crushed, isolated,” and even “depressed and dehumanized.”
Appropriate medical treatment is in order and, as the Pope pointed out, “medicine in recent decades has made great strides.”
But he also noted that the “Word of God” teaches “a decisive attitude” toward illness, an attitude which is “that of the faith.”
Even in the face of death, “faith can make possible what is humanly impossible.”
“But faith in what?” the Pope asked, answering that faith in God's love “is the true answer, which radically defeats evil.”
As an example of how to bear illness through the love of God, Pope Benedict highlighted the life and death of Blessed Chiara Badano, an Italian teenager who died in 1990 from an aggressive and painful bone cancer.
Although she was struck “in the bloom of youth,” those who visited her during her illness saw that she manifested “light and trust” through her love for Christ.
The Pope concluded by noting that next Saturday, Feb. 11, is the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes and also the World Day of the Sick.
On that day, he suggested, believers should imitate people of Jesus' time and “spiritually present to him all the sick people, confident that he wants to and can heal,” while also invoking the intercession of the Virgin Mary “especially in situations of immense suffering and abandonment.”
“Mary, Health of the Sick,” he declared, “pray for us!”
Detroit's blogging bishop documents Roman pilgrimage
Rome, Italy, Feb 4, 2012 / 06:39 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Currently on an “ad limina” visit to the Vatican, Detroit Auxiliary Bishop Arturo Cepeda is taking the Michigan faithful along with him by means of his blog.
“My blog is for all of my people in the Archdiocese of Detroit who can actually follow every single movement that I do,” Bishop Arturo Cepeda told CNA Feb. 3. “I call it a ‘virtual pilgrimage.’”
“So I’m blogging every single day, every meeting I go to. I take pictures and send them to my blog. I’m able to text and tell them what my feelings are and what’s going on.”
Ordained in May 2011 as an auxiliary bishop for Detroit, 42-year-old Bishop Cepeda is making the pilgrimage required of all dioceses every five years to meet with the Pope.
The current visit allows the bishops of Detroit and Cincinnati to update the Pope and the Vatican on the health of the Church in their regions of the U.S.
For Bishop Cepeda, the “updating” goes two ways.
“For example, when I go to meetings with the different Vatican congregations, I give those reading the blog some idea of the issues we’ve just discussed,” he explained.
The auxiliary bishop's relative youth places him in a generation more at ease with the world of new media like Facebook, Twitter, and blogs.
“I’m a product of the 70s, and that was when that particular technological revolution began,” he said, “so I’ve always been on top of all the technological gadgets that are out there and I feel very comfortable with it all – and I believe that our future generations of Catholics feel very comfortable with it too.”
As the Church approaches Pope Benedict XVI’s “Yearof Faith” which begins in October 2012, Bishop Cepeda also believes that such technologies can aid in the “New Evangelization” of the traditionally Christian West.
“I do believe in the new media and I do believe in communication. It’s a gift not only for society but it’s also a gift for our Church.”
“We want to communicate our feelings, we want to communicate our thoughts. We want to communicate faith, and truth, and how the truth can change our culture.”
Recent blog entries by the bishop have covered his Feb. 3 audience with Pope Benedict, as well as the unusually heavy snow covering Rome.
“Let me tell you, I lived here in Rome for five years and never saw snow fall once. So this is the first time I’ve seen snow in my life here in Rome and it is coming down pretty heavy.”
Detroit Catholics, of course, got an update about it at http://aodonline.wordpress.com/.
“I have already taken pictures and sent them to my blog,” Bishop Cepeda said, clutching his smartphone. “I told them: ‘Guess what! Right after our meeting with the Holy Father it began to snow – so it seems that Detroit is following me all the way to Rome!’”
“My blog is for all of my people in the Archdiocese of Detroit who can actually follow every single movement that I do,” Bishop Arturo Cepeda told CNA Feb. 3. “I call it a ‘virtual pilgrimage.’”
“So I’m blogging every single day, every meeting I go to. I take pictures and send them to my blog. I’m able to text and tell them what my feelings are and what’s going on.”
Ordained in May 2011 as an auxiliary bishop for Detroit, 42-year-old Bishop Cepeda is making the pilgrimage required of all dioceses every five years to meet with the Pope.
The current visit allows the bishops of Detroit and Cincinnati to update the Pope and the Vatican on the health of the Church in their regions of the U.S.
For Bishop Cepeda, the “updating” goes two ways.
“For example, when I go to meetings with the different Vatican congregations, I give those reading the blog some idea of the issues we’ve just discussed,” he explained.
The auxiliary bishop's relative youth places him in a generation more at ease with the world of new media like Facebook, Twitter, and blogs.
“I’m a product of the 70s, and that was when that particular technological revolution began,” he said, “so I’ve always been on top of all the technological gadgets that are out there and I feel very comfortable with it all – and I believe that our future generations of Catholics feel very comfortable with it too.”
As the Church approaches Pope Benedict XVI’s “Yearof Faith” which begins in October 2012, Bishop Cepeda also believes that such technologies can aid in the “New Evangelization” of the traditionally Christian West.
“I do believe in the new media and I do believe in communication. It’s a gift not only for society but it’s also a gift for our Church.”
“We want to communicate our feelings, we want to communicate our thoughts. We want to communicate faith, and truth, and how the truth can change our culture.”
Recent blog entries by the bishop have covered his Feb. 3 audience with Pope Benedict, as well as the unusually heavy snow covering Rome.
“Let me tell you, I lived here in Rome for five years and never saw snow fall once. So this is the first time I’ve seen snow in my life here in Rome and it is coming down pretty heavy.”
Detroit Catholics, of course, got an update about it at http://aodonline.wordpress.com/.
“I have already taken pictures and sent them to my blog,” Bishop Cepeda said, clutching his smartphone. “I told them: ‘Guess what! Right after our meeting with the Holy Father it began to snow – so it seems that Detroit is following me all the way to Rome!’”
Vatican astronomer says Big Bang theory in tune with creation history
Vatican City, Feb 4, 2012 / 06:09 pm (CNA).- The director of the Vatican Observatory said that the Church is open to the scientific theory that the world began from a cosmic explosion billions of years ago.
“The Big Bang is not in contradiction with the faith, ” Father Jose Gabriel Funes said during a Feb. 2 announcement of a Vatican exhibit that will feature photos, research tools and minerals from the Moon and Mars.
The exhibit titled “Stories from another world: The Universe within us and outside us,” will be on display March 10 - July 1 in Pisa, the birthplace of Galileo, the father of modern astronomy.
Fr. Funes told CNA at the event that the Big Bang explanation “is the best theory we have right now about the creation of the universe.”
The theory holds that creation began some 14 billion years ago with a colossal explosion in which space, time, energy and matter were created, and galaxies, stars and planets – which are in continual expansion – came to be.
“We know that God is the creator,” he added, “that He is a good Father who has a providential plan for us, that we are his children, and that we everything we can learn by reason about the origin of the universe is not in contradiction with the religious message of the Bible.”
Fr. Funes said that as an astronomer and a Catholic, he is open to this explanation of the creation of the universe, despite “some yet unanswered questions.”
He noted, for example, that while there is no proof of other intelligent life in the universe, “we cannot rule it out,” since studies show that there are nearly 700 planets orbiting other stars.
“If in the future it was established that life, and intelligent life, exists, which I think would be very difficult, I don’t think this contradicts the religious message of creation because they would also be creatures of God,” he said.
Ultimately, Catholics “should see the cosmos as a gift of God” and should “admire the beauty that exists in the universe.”
“This beauty we see in some way leads us to the beauty of the creator,” he said.
“And also, because God has granted us intelligence and reason, we can find the logos, that rational explanation that exists in the universe that allows us to engage in science as well.”
The Church’s official interest in astronomy dates back to the 16th century. In 1891, Pope Leo XIII decided to officially create the Vatican Observatory to show that the Church is not against scientific development, but rather promotes it.
Since then, the Vatican Observatory has operated out of Castel Gandolfo and uses a telescope located in Tuscon, Arizona, for research.
“The Big Bang is not in contradiction with the faith, ” Father Jose Gabriel Funes said during a Feb. 2 announcement of a Vatican exhibit that will feature photos, research tools and minerals from the Moon and Mars.
The exhibit titled “Stories from another world: The Universe within us and outside us,” will be on display March 10 - July 1 in Pisa, the birthplace of Galileo, the father of modern astronomy.
Fr. Funes told CNA at the event that the Big Bang explanation “is the best theory we have right now about the creation of the universe.”
The theory holds that creation began some 14 billion years ago with a colossal explosion in which space, time, energy and matter were created, and galaxies, stars and planets – which are in continual expansion – came to be.
“We know that God is the creator,” he added, “that He is a good Father who has a providential plan for us, that we are his children, and that we everything we can learn by reason about the origin of the universe is not in contradiction with the religious message of the Bible.”
Fr. Funes said that as an astronomer and a Catholic, he is open to this explanation of the creation of the universe, despite “some yet unanswered questions.”
He noted, for example, that while there is no proof of other intelligent life in the universe, “we cannot rule it out,” since studies show that there are nearly 700 planets orbiting other stars.
“If in the future it was established that life, and intelligent life, exists, which I think would be very difficult, I don’t think this contradicts the religious message of creation because they would also be creatures of God,” he said.
Ultimately, Catholics “should see the cosmos as a gift of God” and should “admire the beauty that exists in the universe.”
“This beauty we see in some way leads us to the beauty of the creator,” he said.
“And also, because God has granted us intelligence and reason, we can find the logos, that rational explanation that exists in the universe that allows us to engage in science as well.”
The Church’s official interest in astronomy dates back to the 16th century. In 1891, Pope Leo XIII decided to officially create the Vatican Observatory to show that the Church is not against scientific development, but rather promotes it.
Since then, the Vatican Observatory has operated out of Castel Gandolfo and uses a telescope located in Tuscon, Arizona, for research.
Being Catholic means 'paying a price,' says Detroit archbishop
Vatican City, Feb 3, 2012 / 08:03 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Being Catholic in 2012 involves “paying a price” for loving Jesus Christ and his Church, says Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron of Detroit.
“If we are not willing to pay a price for the grace of the revelation then it is a sign that we don’t really treasure it,” the archbishop told CNA Feb. 3.
“And maybe that is what God is asking us to do – to re-appropriate our own conviction about how precious the knowledge of Jesus is to us.”
Archbishop Vigneron is currently in Rome with 16 other bishops from the Provinces of Detroit and Cincinnati to update the Vatican and Pope Benedict on the health of their dioceses. As part of their “ad limina” visit, the group has also made pilgrimages to the tombs of St. Peter and St. Paul.
“When I see those tombs,” said Archbishop Vigneron, “I immediately think of Our Lord’s big recruitment speech to the apostles when he said ‘I am sending you out like lambs in the midst of wolves’ and I imagine them looking around at one another and saying ‘Is he talking to us?’”
And yet, Christ's prediction that “if they rejected me they’ll reject you,” is present for Catholics “in every age” even if “it differs in how it takes its shape,” he said.
He believes that one clear manifestation of this is the Obama administration’s decision to force all health insurance to cover sterilization and contraception services, including abortifacient drugs. The “price to be paid,” he said, could be in terms of religious freedom and also financially.
“If I think about these fines that it seems the government will impose upon us, well that is money I could use in my Catholics schools, it’s money I could use for feeding the hungry, providing services to people with addiction. I expect we’ll have to pay a price like that.”
The one price that Archbishop Vigneron said he will refuse to pay is any violation of Catholic moral teaching. As Cardinal-designate Timothy M. Dolan of New York recently said, “they’ve given us a year to figure out how we can violate our principles – it’s not going to happen.”
On Friday morning, Archbishop Vigneron led the bishops of the Detroit Province as they met with Pope Benedict XVI in a private audience. During the seminar-style discussion, the Pope was asked about how to authentically interpret the Church’s mind as regards the liturgy.
“The Pope’s way of talking about it was to say that the liturgy is the experience of the Church and what should happen is that people experience at the Mass the existence of the Church as it is true through all time. I thought that was a very good way to talk about it,” said Archbishop Vegneron
He added that he has “heard the Pope make this point before. The liturgy isn’t something we do. It’s something we inherit and enter into.”
Archbishop Vigneron said the meeting with the Pope also “confirmed” the bishop’s own intuition “that we really have to focus ourselves on the new evangelization,” which involves giving “intentionally focused energy on bringing the Gospel to people who think they’ve already heard.”
That doesn’t involve “some sort of miracle program,” he contended, but does involve “helping people who are strong in their faith to share their faith.”
The archbishop said he took inspiration from the 19th century English cleric, Cardinal John Henry Newman, who saw faith as growing “from being passed from one heart to another heart.”
In modern society, there is immense opportunity to evangelize those “parts of our culture that look upon the Gospel and Gospel way of life as a burden which they seem to think they are fortunate to have escaped,” he noted.
“What we bring is not an onerous burden – we bring a liberation,” he said, “and people may not know they do want this good news from Jesus but it really is what they’re looking for.”
Archbishop Vigneron and the other bishops conclude their “ad limina” visit on Monday Feb 6. He said they return home full of “new encouragement” after a week that has helped them to “take stock of our lives and to find some new breath to go back to reapply ourselves to our task.”
“If we are not willing to pay a price for the grace of the revelation then it is a sign that we don’t really treasure it,” the archbishop told CNA Feb. 3.
“And maybe that is what God is asking us to do – to re-appropriate our own conviction about how precious the knowledge of Jesus is to us.”
Archbishop Vigneron is currently in Rome with 16 other bishops from the Provinces of Detroit and Cincinnati to update the Vatican and Pope Benedict on the health of their dioceses. As part of their “ad limina” visit, the group has also made pilgrimages to the tombs of St. Peter and St. Paul.
“When I see those tombs,” said Archbishop Vigneron, “I immediately think of Our Lord’s big recruitment speech to the apostles when he said ‘I am sending you out like lambs in the midst of wolves’ and I imagine them looking around at one another and saying ‘Is he talking to us?’”
And yet, Christ's prediction that “if they rejected me they’ll reject you,” is present for Catholics “in every age” even if “it differs in how it takes its shape,” he said.
He believes that one clear manifestation of this is the Obama administration’s decision to force all health insurance to cover sterilization and contraception services, including abortifacient drugs. The “price to be paid,” he said, could be in terms of religious freedom and also financially.
“If I think about these fines that it seems the government will impose upon us, well that is money I could use in my Catholics schools, it’s money I could use for feeding the hungry, providing services to people with addiction. I expect we’ll have to pay a price like that.”
The one price that Archbishop Vigneron said he will refuse to pay is any violation of Catholic moral teaching. As Cardinal-designate Timothy M. Dolan of New York recently said, “they’ve given us a year to figure out how we can violate our principles – it’s not going to happen.”
On Friday morning, Archbishop Vigneron led the bishops of the Detroit Province as they met with Pope Benedict XVI in a private audience. During the seminar-style discussion, the Pope was asked about how to authentically interpret the Church’s mind as regards the liturgy.
“The Pope’s way of talking about it was to say that the liturgy is the experience of the Church and what should happen is that people experience at the Mass the existence of the Church as it is true through all time. I thought that was a very good way to talk about it,” said Archbishop Vegneron
He added that he has “heard the Pope make this point before. The liturgy isn’t something we do. It’s something we inherit and enter into.”
Archbishop Vigneron said the meeting with the Pope also “confirmed” the bishop’s own intuition “that we really have to focus ourselves on the new evangelization,” which involves giving “intentionally focused energy on bringing the Gospel to people who think they’ve already heard.”
That doesn’t involve “some sort of miracle program,” he contended, but does involve “helping people who are strong in their faith to share their faith.”
The archbishop said he took inspiration from the 19th century English cleric, Cardinal John Henry Newman, who saw faith as growing “from being passed from one heart to another heart.”
In modern society, there is immense opportunity to evangelize those “parts of our culture that look upon the Gospel and Gospel way of life as a burden which they seem to think they are fortunate to have escaped,” he noted.
“What we bring is not an onerous burden – we bring a liberation,” he said, “and people may not know they do want this good news from Jesus but it really is what they’re looking for.”
Archbishop Vigneron and the other bishops conclude their “ad limina” visit on Monday Feb 6. He said they return home full of “new encouragement” after a week that has helped them to “take stock of our lives and to find some new breath to go back to reapply ourselves to our task.”
