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L’OSSERVATORE ROMANO
WEEKLY EDITION
IN ENGLISH
Unicuique suum
Forty-seventh year, number 43 (2368)
Non praevalebunt
Vatican City
Friday, 24 October 2014
At the close of the Synod the Pope declares Giovanni Battista Montini Blessed
Thank you, dear and beloved Paul
VI
And at the Consistory he calls us not to give in to a Middle East without Christians
The dominion
of God
GIOVANNI MARIA VIAN
It is certain that Pope Francis meditated and prayed at length to prepare his homily for the grand concelebration which concluded the
Third Extraordinary Assembly of the
Synod of Bishops. The Mass
opened with the Beatification of his
Predecessor,
Giovanni
Battista
Montini, the “courageous Christian”
who, from 1963 to 1978, was the
Bishop of Rome with the name of
Paul VI. Present at Mass were —
along with representatives of other
Christian confessions and a delegation of Muslim faithful — countless
faithful, the presidents of all the
world’s episcopates, half the College
of Cardinals and Benedict XVI, his
beloved Predecessor, whom the
Pontiff embraced with visible affection at the beginning and at the end
of Mass.
Half a century ago, at the start of
the final stage of the Council,
Montini instituted the Synod, and
in this way, also accompanied the
Church on a path which was both
new and traditional at the same
time. Paths to be taken with trust
and on which his Successor, Francis,
reflected, speaking of the dominion
of God: “This is the perennial new-
Montini and artists
The custodians
of beauty
THE HOLY FATHER’S HOMILY
ness to be discovered each day, and
it requires mastering the fear which
we often feel at God’s surprises”, the
Pope exclaimed.
From this urgent and profound
perspective, Francis sees the Synod,
before whom — immediately after
the overwhelming approval of the
Relatio, the foundational document
which, within a year, will lead to the
next Assembly — he delivered a significant and powerful intervention.
Collegiality and synodality are the
method which comes from the most
ancient Christian experience, resumed by Vatican II and slowly matured since until the vital experience
cum Petro e sub Petro of recent days,
which were marked by uncommon
freedom and transparency. This
method was assured by the Pope,
who is “the guarantor of the obedience and the conformity of the
Church to the will of God”, as the
Pontiff affirmed distinctly.
Francis is not afraid of temptations, often contradictory: unnecessary harshness or superficial laxity.
On the contrary, “I would have been
AT THE
very worried and saddened were it
not for these temptations and these
animated discussions”, he said explicitly, reiterating that no one at the
Synod had called into question “the
fundamental truths” of the sacra-
BEATIFICATION
OF
POPE PAUL
VI ON PAGE
8/9
Consistory on the Middle East
An appropriate response
to this unjust situation
PAGE 4
CONTINUED ON PAGE 7
The Pope’s words at the close of the Synod
A movement of spirits
St Teresa of Ávila
The saintly traveller
PAGE 7
PAGE 13
Message for the feast of Deepavali
For a culture of inclusion
ANTONIO PAOLUCCI
ON PAGE
16
PAGE 15
To Italian Catholic universities
Message for World Food Day
Study
research and the frontier
Hunger
is a threat to peace
PAGE 10
PAGE 12
L’OSSERVATORE ROMANO
page 2
Friday, 24 October 2014, number 43
VATICAN BULLETIN
AUDIENCES
Friday, 17 October
Cardinal Marc Ouellet, PSS, Prefect
of the Congregation for Bishops
Cardinal José Saraiva Martins, CMF,
Prefect emeritus of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints
H.B. Patriarch Louis Raphaël I
Sako, of Babylon for Chaldeans,
Iraq
Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, President of the Department for External Church Relations
of the Patriarchate of Moscow
Ms Park Geun-hye, President of
the Republic of Korea, with her entourage
Saturday, 18 October
H.E. Mr Nguyên Tân Dũng, Prime
Minister of the Socialist Republic
of Vietnam, with his entourage
CHANGES
IN
EPISCOPATE
The Holy Father accepted the
resignation of Archbishop Paul
Cremona, OP, of Malta. It was
presented in accord with can. 401 §
2 of the Code of Canon Law (18
O ct.).
The Holy Father appointed Bishop
Norbert José Henri Turini as Bishop of Perpignan-Elne, France. Until now he has been Bishop of
Cahors (18 Oct.).
Bishop Turini, 60, was born in
Cannes, France. He was ordained a
priest on 27 June 1982. He was ordained a bishop on 10 October
2004, subsequent to his appointment as Bishop of Cahors.
The Holy Father accepted the
resignation of Bishop Patricio H.
Alo of Mati, the Philippines. It was
presented in accord with can. 401 §
2 of the Code of Canon Law (19
O ct.).
The Holy Father appointed Fr György Snell as titular Bishop of
Pudentiana and as Auxiliary of Esztergom-Budapest, Hungary. Until
now he has been parish priest of St
Stephen’s Basilica in Budapest and
Canon of the Chapter (20 Oct.).
Bishop-elect Snell, 65, was born
in Kiskirályság. He holds a degree
in philosophy and theology. He was
ordained a priest on 3 April 1972.
He has worked in parish ministry
and served as Director of the Superintendence of Catholic Schools
of the Diocese.
PONTIFICAL BIBLICAL
COMMISSION
On 18 October, the Holy Father
appointed the following as members of the Pontifical Biblical Commission and has reconfirmed the
mandate of former members for a
another five-year term (2014-2019).
The said Commission is now composed of:
— Fr Knut Backhaus, Germany
— Fr Pietro Bovati, SJ, Italy
On Friday afternoon, 17 October, Pope Francis
received in the study of the Paul VI Hall,
H.E. Ms Park Geun-hye, President of the Republic of
Korea, with her entourage.
WEEKLY EDITION
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PONTIFICAL ACADEMY
OF SCIENCES
The Holy Father appointed the following as ordinary members of the
CONTINUED ON PAGE 11
Pope Francis will visit Turkey from
28 to 30 November. This was announced on Tuesday morning, 21
October, by Fr Federico Lombardi,
Director of the Holy See Press Office, explaining that the Pope “accepted the invitation by the President of the Republic, by His Holiness
Bartholomew I and the President of
the Episcopal Conference”. The
Holy Father will also visit Ankara
and Istanbul. During the press conference the schedule of the Pope’s
apostolic journey was also announced. In Ankara on the first day,
the Holy Father will visit the mausoleum of Atatürk, “Father of the Nation”, and meet with the highest
State authorities. On Saturday, 29
November, the Bishop of Rome will
travel to Istanbul for the religious
part of the visit. At the Hagia
Sophia Museum and the Sultan Ahmet Mosque the Pope will meet
with the Muslim community; then
he will celebrate Mass in the Catholic Cathedral of the Holy Spirit,
where he will also take part in the
ecumenical prayer service in the Patriarchal Church of St George. The
Pope and Bartholomew I will meet
privately in the Patriarchal Palace.
On the last day, Sunday 30, Feast of
St Andrew the Apostle, the Divine
Liturgy will be celebrated in the Patriarchal Church with the ecumenical
blessing and the signing of a Joint
Declaration. Finally the Pope will
have lunch with the Ecumenical Patriarch.
The Holy Father receives the Prime Minister of
the Socialist Republic of Vietnam
Audience with the
President of the
Republic of Korea
L’OSSERVATORE ROMANO
— Sr Nuria Calduch Benages,
Spain
— Fr Eduardo Córdova González,
Mexico
— Prof. Bruna Costacurta, Italy
— Msgr Pierre Debergé, France
— Fr Juan Miguel Díaz Rodelas,
Spain
— Fr Luís Henrique Eloy e Silva,
Brazil
— Fr Francolino Gonçalves, OP,
Portugal
— Fr Adrian Graffy, Great Britain
— Prof. Mary E. Healy, USA
— Fr John Chijioke Iwe, Nigeria
— Fr Thomas Manjaly, India
— Fr Hugo Orlando Martínez
Aldana, Colombia
— Fr Levente Balázs Martos,
Hungary
— Fr Jean-Bosco Matand Bulembat, Democratic Republic of the
Congo
— Fr Fearghus Ó Fearghail, Irland
— Fr Johan Yeong-Sik Pahk,
Korea
— Fr Eleuterio Ramón Ruiz, Argentina
— Fr Henryk Jozef Witczyk, Poland.
MN,
Pope in Turkey
from 28 to 30
November
On Saturday, 18 October, His Holiness Pope Francis received in audience the Prime Minister of the
Socialist Republic of Vietnam, H.E. Mr Nguyên
Tân Dũng. Subsequently, the Prime Minister met
with the Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin,
who was accompanied by Archbishop Dominique
Mamberti, Secretary for Relations with States.
In the course of the cordial conversations, the
Parties expressed their satisfaction at the day’s meeting, which marked an important step in the process
of strengthening bilateral relations between the
Holy See and Vietnam, this being the second visit
of Prime Minister Dũng to the Vatican, following
that of 2007. Highlighted was the Church’s commitment to contributing to the development of the
country, thanks to its presence in various areas
which benefit society as a whole. In this context,
sincere appreciation was expressed for the support
given by the Authorities to the Catholic community
in keeping with the developments sanctioned by the
Constitution of 2013 with regard to religious policy,
as well as for the assistance given to the non-resident Papal Representative of the Holy See to Vietnam in the discharge of his mission, which is aimed
at promoting relations between Church and State
with a view also to the common objective of diplo-
GIOVANNI MARIA VIAN
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and resolved through the existing channels of dialogue.
Finally, there was an exchange of views on some
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L’OSSERVATORE ROMANO
number 43, Friday, 24 October 2014
page 3
At the General Audience Pope Francis speaks about the most profound distinguishing feature of the Church
One single body
Followers of Christ must avoid division, envy and exclusion
“The Church is the Body of Christ! And this is not
simply a catchphrase: we truly are! “It is the great
gift that we receive on the day of our Baptism!”.
During the General Audience on Wednesday, 22
October, in St Peter’s Square, Pope Francis paused
on the Pauline image acknowledged as the “most
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Good morning,
The image of the body is often used
when one wishes to highlight how
the elements that comprise a reality
are strictly joined to one another together, forming one single thing.
Starting with the Apostle Paul, this
expression has been applied to the
Church and has been acknowledged
as her most profound and most
beautiful
distinguishing
feature.
Today, then, we would like to ask
ourselves: in what sense does the
Church form a body? And why is
she defined as the “Body of Christ”?
In the Book of Ezekiel a vision is
described, a bit particular, impressive, but capable of instilling trust
and hope in our hearts. God shows
the prophet an expanse of bones,
separated from each other and dry.
A desolate scene.... Imagine an entire valley full of bones. God asks
him, then, to invoke the Spirit upon
them. At that point, the bones
move, they begin to come together,
to join themselves. First nerves and
then flesh grew on them and in this
way they form a complete body, full
profound and most beautiful distinguishing feature”
of the Church. It is a true and profound reality
which requires a commitment to reciprocal charity in
communities. The following is a translation of his
address, which was given in Italian, and of some of
the greetings to special groups.
of life (cf. Ez 37:1-14). See, this is the
Church! Today, please take up the
Bible at home. Open it at Chapter
37 of the Prophet Ezekiel, do not
forget, and read this, it is beautiful.
This is the Church, she is a masterpiece, the masterpiece of the Spirit
who instills in each one the new life
of the Risen One and places us, beside one another, each at the service
and support of the other, thereby
making of all of us one single body,
edified in communion and in love.
The Church, however, is not only
a body built in the Spirit: the
Church is the Body of Christ! And
this is not simply a catchphrase: indeed, we truly are! It is the great
gift that we receive on the day of
our Baptism! In the sacrament of
Baptism, indeed, Christ makes us
his, welcoming us into the heart of
the mystery of the Cross, the supreme mystery of his love for us, in
order to cause us to then be raised
with him, as new beings. See: in this
way the Church is born, and in this
way the Church is recognized as the
Body of Christ! Baptism constitutes
a true rebirth, which regenerates us
22 October
The feast of St John Paul II
On Wednesday, 22 October, the
Church celebrated, for the first
time, the liturgical memorial of St
John Paul II. The decree of the
Congregation for Divine Worship
and the Discipline of the Sacraments, which inserted into the
liturgical calendar the date of
Pope Wojtyła’s inauguration, was
issued on 2 April 2011 in view of
his beatification on 1 May of the
same year. The date has arrived
for the first time since Pope Francis proclaimed the Polish Pontiff
a saint, along with John XXIII.
Especially on the occasion of
this event, Poland’s Embassy to
the Holy See has arranged a photographic and documentary exhibit at the Pontifical Urbaniana
University. The exhibition, entitled “From the Council to Canonization: 11 October 1962 - 27
April 2014”, was previously
presented on the occasion of the
canonization. Polish Ambassador
Piotr Nowina-Konopka has explained that the display demonstrates “the way that the important challenge of opening the
church to the problems of the
modern world has been taken up
in Poland over the course of recent decades”.
in Christ, renders us
a part of Him, and
unites us intimately
among ourselves, as
limbs of the same
body, of which He is
the Head (cf. Rm
12:5; 1 Cor 12:12-13).
What springs from
it then, is a profound
communion of love.
In this sense, it is enlightening the way
Luca Signorelli’s fresco, “Resurrection of the Flesh”, based on
that Paul, exhorting
Ezechiel 37:1-14 (Orvieto Cathedral, Chapel of San Brizio)
the husbands to “love
their wives as their
own bodies”, states: “As Christ does much envy, how they criticize, how
the Church, because we are mem- much misunderstanding and exclubers of his body” (Eph 5:28-30). sion there is in our neighbourhoods.
How beautiful it would be were we And what does this lead to? It disto remember more often what we members us among ourselves. It is
are, what the Lord Jesus made of us: the beginning of war. War does not
we are his body: that body which begin on the battlefield: war, wars
nothing and no one can ever tear begin in the heart, with misunderfrom Him and which He cloaks with standing, division, envy, with this
all his passion and with all his love, struggle with others. The comjust as a bridegroom does his bride. munity of Corinth was like this, they
This thought, however, should cause excelled in this!
to spring within us the desire to corThe Apostle Paul gave some pracrespond to the Lord Jesus’ love and tical advice to the Corinthians,
share it among us, as living mem- which also applies to us: do not be
bers of his own body. In the time of envious, but appreciate the talents
Paul, the community of Corinth and qualities of our brothers in our
found great difficulty in this sense, communities. Envy: “That one
living, as we, too, often do, the ex- bought a car”, and I feel so envious;
perience of division, of envy, of mis- “This one won the lottery”, more
understanding and of exclusion. All envy; “And this other one is doing
of these things are not good be- really well at this”, and more jealcause, instead of building up the ousy. All this dismembers, harms, do
Church and causing her to grow as not do it! Because, in this way, envy
the Body of Christ, they shatter it grows and fills the heart. And a jealinto many pieces, they dismember it. ous heart is a sour heart, a heart
And this happens in our time as which seems to have vinegar instead
well. Let us consider, in Christian of blood; it is a heart that is never
communities, in some parishes, let
CONTINUED ON PAGE 5
us think of how much division, how
A meeting with Bayern Monaco
Before the General
Audience the Holy
Father greeted the German
football
team
Bayern Monaco, the
day after the Champions League match in
Rome. During their
meeting in the smaller
room outside of the
Paul VI Hall, the president Karl Hopfner
and manager KarlHeinz
Rummenigge
presented the Pope with a ball signed by all the players. The captain Philipp Lahm and goalkeeper Manuel Neuer gave him a jersey with the number
one and the name “Franziskus”. The Bavarian club will also donate the
Pontiff one million euros which will be collected at a friendly match to be
played within the year. “Pope Francis will decide how to use the money and
how it will help the poor”, explained Rummenigge.
page 4
L’OSSERVATORE ROMANO
Friday, 24 October 2014, number 43
Monday 20 October
The plight of Christians in the Middle East
The Pope holds
an Ordinary
Public Consistory
An appropriate response
to this unjust situation
On Monday morning, 20 October, Pope Francis held an Ordinary Public Consistory for the canonization of Blessed Joseph Vaz
and Blessed Maria Cristina of the
Immaculate Conception, and to
inform the members of the College of Cardinals about the current situation of Christians in the
Middle East and the Church’s
commitment to peace in that region.
The Pontiff arrived before 9:00
in the New Synod Hall, where 86
Cardinals and Patriarchs were
present, among them Cardinal
Angelo Sodano, Deacon of the
College of Cardinals, Cardinal
Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State,
and Cardinal Angelo Amato, Prefect of the Congregation for the
Causes of Saints. Also present
were Archbishop Angelo Becciu,
Substitute of the Secretariat of
State, Archbishop Dominique
Mamberti, Secretary for Relationships with States, Archbishop
Ilson de Jesus Montanari, Secretary of the Congregation for Bishops and of the College of Cardinals,
Archbishop
Marcello
Bartolucci, Secretary of the Congregation for the Causes of
Saints, Bishop Fabio Fabene,
Substitute of the College of Cardinals, and Fr Turek Boguslaw,
Undersecretary of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.
The celebration of the Third
Hour followed, with Psalms 18
and 7 recited in alternate form
and the proclamation of the lectio
brevis taken from the Letter of St
Paul the Apostle to the Romans
(13:8-10). Then came a reading in
Italian of the biography of
Blessed Joseph Vaz (1651-1711), a
priest of the Oratory of St Philip
Neri and founder of the Oratory
of the Holy Miraculous Cross of
Goa, India, known as the Apostle
of Ceylon, Sri Lanka and of Canara, India; and the biography of
Blessed Maria Cristina of the Immaculate Conception (in the
world Adelaide Brando, 18561906), foundress of the Oblation
Sisters of the Holy Sacrament.
Cardinal Prefect Amato then
presented the two causes.
The Bishop of Rome, after receiving the opinions of the Cardinals, decided to inscribe the
two Blesseds in the Roll of
Saints. The date established for
the canonization of Joseph Vaz is
14 January 2015, while the date
for that of Sr Maria Cristina has
yet to be announced.
Immediately afterwards, Msgr
Guido Marini, Master of Pontifical
Liturgical
Celebrations,
called on Msgr Leonardo Sapienza, Apostolic Prothonotary, to
draft the public instrument ad
perpetuam rei memoriam.
Finally, at about 9:50, Pope
Francis remained alone with the
Cardinals present to continue the
discussion.
On Monday morning, 20 October, on the occasion of the Ordinary Public
Consistory held in the New Synod Hall, Pope Francis expressed the hope that the
persecution suffered by Christians in the Middle East would also be met by “an
appropriate response on the part of the International Community”. The following
is a translation from the Italian of the Holy Father’s address.
Your Eminences, Dear Patriarchs
and Confreres in the Episcopate,
After the closing of the Third Extraordinary General Assembly of the
Synod of Bishops on the Family, I
wished to dedicate this Consistory,
in addition to several causes for can-
onization, to a different discussion
that is very close to my heart, in
other words the Middle East, and in
particular the situation of Christians
in the region. I am grateful for your
presence.
We share the desire for peace and
stability in the Middle East and the
will to foster the resolution of conflicts through dialogue, reconciliation and political commitment. At
the same time, we would like to
provide as much help as possible to
the Christian communities in order
to support their continued presence
in the region.
As I have had the occasion to reiterate several times, we cannot
resign ourselves to thinking of the
Middle East without Christians, who
have professed the name of Jesus for
2,000 years. Recent events, mostly in
Iraq and Syria, are dire. We are witnessing a phenomenon of terrorism
of previously unimaginable dimensions. So many of our brothers and
sisters are being persecuted and
have had to leave their homes, even
in a brutal manner. It seems that
awareness of the value of human life
has been lost. It seems that the person does not count and can be sacrificed for other interests. And all this,
unfortunately, with the indifference
of so many.
This unjust situation also requires,
in addition to our constant prayer,
an appropriate response on the part
of the International Community. I
am certain that, with the Lord’s
help, today’s encounter will result in
valid reflections and suggestions in
order to help our brothers and sisters who are suffering and in order
to face even the tragedy of reduced
Christian presence in the land where
Christianity was born and from
which it spread.
To redefine the future
In the presence of 86 Cardinals and
Patriarchs, and the Superiors of the
Secretariat of State, the Ordinary
Consistory began with greetings
from the Holy Father and the report
from the Secretary of State, Cardinal
Pietro Parolin, on the meeting of
apostolic nuncios and diplomatic
representatives in the Middle East,
which took place in the Vatican
from 2 to 4 October.
Immediately after, the Cardinals and
Patriarchs present in the Synod Hall
intervened. The Patriarchs of the
Middle Eastern Churches described
the situations and principal
problems faced by the Churches in
the countries concerned (Iraq, Syria,
Egypt, the Holy Land, Jordan,
Lebanon). There were approximately
30 interventions, focusing mainly on
the need for peace and
reconciliation in the Middle East,
the defence of religious freedom,
support for local communities, the
great importance of education for
creating new generations able to
engage in dialogue, and the role of
the international community.
With regard to the first point, it was
underlined that the Middle East
urgently needs to redefine its future;
the importance of Jerusalem was
highlighted, in its role as “capital of
faith” for the three great
monotheistic religions, and the need
was emphasised for a solution to the
Israeli-Palestine and Syrian conflicts.
In relation to the violence
perpetrated by ISIS, it was reiterated
that no-one may kill in the name of
God.
In relation to religious freedom, it
was remarked that, along with
freedom of worship and conscience,
it is a fundamental human right,
innate and universal, and a value for
all humanity. Alongside this right,
the need was underlined for
Christians to recognise the civil
rights of other citizens, especially in
countries where religion is not
currently separate from the State.
Furthermore, with regard to the
support for local communities in the
region, it was repeated that a
Middle East without Christians
would be a grave loss for all, as they
have a fundamental role in
maintaining equilibrium in the
region, and have important
commitments in the education
sector. It is therefore essential to
encourage Christians to stay in the
Middle East and to persevere in
their mission, as they have always
contributed to the wellbeing of the
countries where they live. From this
perspective, there was a reflection on
the problem of the migration of
Christians: they must be welcomed
in the Churches and in the States to
which they emigrate, where it is
hoped there will be adequate
pastoral structures for the various
rites. Moreover, it was requested
that humanitarian aid to the Middle
East be continued, to encourage
Christians to remain in the area, and
that the various manifestations of
solidarity possible on the part of the
Churches of other countries be
cultivated, also by means of journeys
and pilgrimages.
In relation to education, it was
noted that in many Middle Eastern
countries, school text books do not
refer positively to beliefs other than
the State religion, and that this
requires reflection on the part of
local institutions. From this point of
view, it was hoped that greater
interreligious dialogue with
Muslims, starting from the common
foundation of reason, would be of
use, along with lively ecumenical
cooperation, so that all the
Churches of the Middle East might
make their voices heard as one.
A request was made for the
International community to
guarantee to Christian refugees the
possibility of returning to their
homes as soon as possible, creating
“safety zones”, for instance on the
Nineveh Plain. Finally, an appeal
was made for all those who have
been kidnapped in the Middle East,
in order that the world not forget
about them.
number 43, Friday, 24 October 2014
L’OSSERVATORE ROMANO
page 5
At the heart of Monday’s Consistory
was an address by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State. Picking up on
topics discussed by the Papal Representatives in the Middle East during
their meeting with the Secretary of
State on 2-4 October in the Vatican.
Cardinal Parolin gave a brief outline
of the political situation and subsequent
persecution of Christians in the region.
The following is a translated excerpt of
the Cardinal’s address, which was delivered in Italian.
What can the Church do to face
these challenges? In the current situation the Church cannot be silent in
the face of the persecution suffered
by her children and by so many innocent people. She cannot be indifferent to this tragedy, and she invites
closeness in prayer and in practical
human actions, as well as encouragement to dialogue and reconciliation
so as to allow for the peace and stability yearned for in the region.
In the meantime there is an ever
greater urgency in confronting the
dreadful humanitarian plight in the
Middle East. In Syria, for example,
half of the population is in need of
humanitarian aid, not to speak of
the hardship of the refugees, who
number in the millions. So many
people need help. The Church is encouraging the International Community to meet this tragedy with
generosity, and on her part is seeking to provide her contribution particularly through local Caritas associations, aided by various Catholic
charitable organizations who are assisting not only Christians but all
those who are suffering.
In an effort to curb the exodus of
Christians and to support their presence in the region, the Church must
cast light upon the special vocation
of Christians in the Middle East. In
this respect, one highly valid instrument is the Post-Synodal Apostolic
Cardinal Secretary of State at the Ordinary Consistory
The moral obligation to say ‘enough’
Exhortation Ecclesia in Medio Oriente
[EMO] that resulted from the Synod
of Bishops’ Special Assembly for the
Middle East on the theme of “The
Catholic Church in the Middle East:
Communion and Witness”.
Catholics, like a little flock, have
the vocation of being leaven in the
herd. United among themselves and
with the faithful of other Churches
and Christian confessions, and collaborating with members of other religions, especially with Muslims,
Catholics are called to be makers of
peace and reconciliation. They must
also, without giving in to the
temptation of seeking the defence or
protection of the current political or
military authorities in order to
“guarantee” their own survival, offer
an irreplaceable contribution to the
respective societies that are undergoing a process of transformation towards modernity, democracy, the
rule of law and pluralism. Reiterated
in this regard was the importance of
the work of lay faithful in social and
political life and thus the need for
their appropriate formation also with
regard to the social doctrine of the
Church. For all of this, the importance was recognized of the pastors
remaining steadfastly beside their
flock.
To the patriarchs, bishops, priests,
men and women religious who
watch over their communities, closeness and gratitude were expressed
for all they are doing in support of
Middle Eastern Christians and of
members of other religious and ethnic groups who are suffering on account of violence.
It was noted with interest that,
along with the reduction in the
faithful of the Churches of ancient
tradition present in the Middle East
for many centuries, the number of
Christian job seekers from other
countries, especially from Asia, is
also on the rise. This reveals the
need for more attention to be paid
to this new Christian presence and
to meet it with pastoral sensitivity
and welcome. Another reality, then,
is that of native people who become
members of Pentecostal and Evangelist groups.
One single body
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3
happy, it is a heart which dismembers the community. So what must
I do then? Appreciate the talents
and the qualities of our brothers
and sisters in our communities.
And when I feel envious — because
envy comes to everyone, we are all
sinners —, I must say to the Lord:
“Thank you, Lord, because you
have given this to that person”. Appreciate the qualities, be neighbours and share in the suffering of
the least and the most needy; express your gratitude to everyone.
The heart that knows how to say
‘thank you’ is a good heart, it is a
noble heart, it is a heart that is content. Let me ask you: Do we all
know how to say ‘thank you’, always? Not always, because envy,
jealousy prevent us a little.
And lastly, the advice which the
Apostle Paul gives the Corinthians
and which we, too, must give one
another: no one consider him/her-
self superior to the others. How
many people feel superior to others! We, too, often say as did that
Pharisee in the parable: “I thank
you, Lord, that I am not like that
one, I am superior”. But this is
bad, it should never be done! And
when you are about to do it, remember your sins, those that no
one knows, feel shame before God
and say: “You, Lord, you know
who is superior, I’ll keep my mouth
shut”. And this is good. And always in charity consider ourselves
each others’ limbs, that are alive,
giving ourselves for the benefit of
all (cf. 1 Cor 12:14).
Dear brothers and sisters, like the
Prophet Ezekiel and like Paul the
Apostle, let us, too, invoke the
Holy Spirit, that his grace and the
abundance of his gifts help us to
truly live as the Body of Christ,
united, as a family, but one family
that is the Body of Christ, and as
the visible sign of Christ’s love.
SPECIAL
GREETINGS
I greet the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors taking part in
today’s Audience, including the
various groups from England, Ireland, Denmark, Lithuania, Nigeria,
Vietnam, China, Japan, Qatar and
the United States of America. In a
particular way, my greeting goes to
the Irish pilgrims from the Diocese
of Limerick, accompanied by their
Bishop. Upon all of you, and your
families, I invoke joy and peace in
the Lord Jesus. God bless you all!
Lastly, my thoughts go to the
young people, the sick and newlyweds.
The month of October invites us to
renew our cooperative action with
the mission of the Church. With
the fresh energy of youth, with the
power of prayer and of sacrifice,
and with the potential of conjugal
life, may you know how to be missionaries of the Gospel, offering
your concrete support to those who
work hard to convey it to those
who do not yet know it.
One important task of the Church
in the Middle East is that of supporting
interreligious
dialogue,
which also serves as an antidote to
the fundamentalism that “afflicts all
religious communities, and denies
their longstanding tradition of coexistence. It wants to gain power, at
times violently, over individual consciences, and over religion itself, for
political reasons” [EMO, n. 30].
Jewish, Christian and Muslim religious leaders can and must play a
fundamental role in fostering interreligious and intercultural dialogue as
well as mutual understanding.
Moreover, they must openly denounce the instrumentalization of
religion as the justification for violence.
In the actual case of the so-called
Islamic State, particular responsibility falls upon the Muslim leaders
not only to disavow the pretense of
calling itself the “Islamic State” and
of forming a caliphate, but also to
more generally condemn the killing
of others for religious motives and
every type of discrimination. As the
Pope stated in Albania: “To kill in
the name of God is a grave sacrilege. To discriminate in the name of
God is inhuman”.
Dialoguing with Islam, beginning
from an awareness of each one’s specific identity and characterized by
mutual respect and mutual understanding, is beneficial to fostering
the peaceful coexistence among the
members of different religions, preventing the risk of dispute.
However, in appreciating the different initiatives undertaken thus far
with several Muslim “elites”, there is
hope for broader collaboration on
multiple levels regarding various
themes of common interest, such as
attention to the poor and the needy.
As far as the general situation in
Muslim-majority countries, meeting
participants observed that there is an
underlying problem, namely the relationship and the inseparable nexus
between religion and politics, that is,
the lack of separation between religion and state, between religious
and civic spheres, a tie which makes
life difficult for non-Muslim and,
particularly, Christian minorities. For
this reason, it should be important
to cultivate the idea of distinguishing between these two spheres in the
Muslim world.
L’OSSERVATORE ROMANO
page 6
Friday, 24 October 2014, number 43
Message from the Synod Fathers to Christian families
A house
with doors wide open
The following is the English text of the
message of the Third Extraordinary
General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, approved during the 14th General
Congregation on Saturday, 18 October.
We, Synod Fathers, gathered in
Rome together with Pope Francis in
the Extraordinary General Assembly
of the Synod of Bishops, greet all
families of the different continents
and in particular all who follow
Christ, the Way, the Truth, and the
Life. We admire and are grateful for
the daily witness which you offer us
and the world with your fidelity,
faith, hope, and love.
We, Pastors of the Church, also
grew up in a family with a great
variety of backgrounds and experiences. As priests and bishops we
have lived alongside families who
have spoken to us and shown us the
saga of their joys and their difficulties.
The preparation for this Synod
Assembly, beginning with the questionnaire
sent
to
the
Churches around the world,
has given us the opportunity
to listen to the experiences
of many families. Our dialogue during the Synod has
been mutually enriching,
helping us to look at the
complex situations which
families face today.
We offer you the words of
Christ: “Behold, I stand at
the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and
opens the door, I will come
in to him and eat with him,
and he with me” (Rev 3:20).
On his journeys along the
roads of the Holy Land, Jesus would enter village
houses. He continues to pass
even today along the streets
of our cities. In your homes
there are light and shadow.
Challenges often present
themselves and at times even
great trials. The darkness can grow
deep, to the point of becoming a
dense shadow when evil and sin
work their way into the heart of the
family.
First there is the great challenge
to remain faithful in conjugal love.
Enfeebled faith and indifference to
true values, individualism, impoverishment of relationships, and stress
that excludes reflection leave their
mark on family life. In marriage
there are often crises, often dealt
with in haste and without the courage to have patience and to confront
and to forgive one another and even
to make sacrifices. Failures give rise
to new relationships, new couples,
new civil unions, and new marriages,
creating family situations which are
complex and problematic, where the
Christian choice is not obvious.
Among these challenges, we also
think of the burden imposed by life
itself in the suffering that can arise
with a child with special needs, with
serious illness, in the deterioration of
old age, or in the death of a loved
one. We admire the fidelity of so
many families who endure these tri-
als with courage, faith, and love.
They see them not as a burden inflicted on them, but as something
that is donated to them in which
they themselves give, seeing the suffering Christ in the weakened flesh.
Let us think of the difficulties
caused by economic systems, by the
“the idolatry of money and the dictatorship of an impersonal economy
lacking a truly human purpose”
(Evangelii Gaudium, n. 55), which
weakens the dignity of people. We
remember unemployed parents who
are powerless to provide for the basic needs of their families, and youth
who see before them days of empty
expectation, who are prey to drugs
and crime.
We think of so many poor families, of those who cling to boats in
order to reach a shore of survival, of
refugee families wandering without
hope in the desert, of those persecuted because of their faith and the
human and spiritual values which
they hold, of those stricken by the
This light — the light of a wedding
story — shines from the encounter
between spouses: it is a gift, a grace
expressed, as the Book of Genesis
says (2:18), when the two are “face
to face” as equal and mutual helpers. The love of man and woman
teaches us that each needs the other
in order to be one’s self. Yet, each
remains different from the other in
identity, which opens the self and is
revealed in the reciprocal gift. It is
this that the bride of the Song of Solomon sings in her canticle: “My beloved is mine and I am his.... I am
my beloved’s and my beloved is
mine” (2:16; 6:3).
For this encounter to be authentic, it begins with courtship, a time
of waiting and preparation. It is
realized in the sacrament where God
sets his seal, his presence, and grace.
This path also includes the sexual
relationship, tenderness, intimacy,
and beauty capable of lasting longer
than the vigour and freshness of
youth. Love, in its nature, strives to
Fay Ocampo, “Prayer in the family” (Filipino art)
brutality of war and oppression. Let
us recall the women who suffer violence and exploitation, victims of human trafficking, child victims of abuse by those who ought to have protected them and fostered their development, and the members of so
many families who have been degraded and burdened with difficulties. “The culture of prosperity
deadens us... all those lives stunted
for lack of opportunity seem a mere
spectacle; they fail to move us”
(Evangelii Gaudium, n. 54). We call
on governments and international
organizations to promote the rights
of the family for the common good.
Christ wanted his Church to be a
house with doors always open to
welcome everyone without excluding
anyone. We warmly thank our pastors, lay faithful, and communities
who accompany couples and families
and care for their wounds.
There is also the evening light behind the windowpanes in the houses
of the cities, in modest residences of
suburbs and villages, and even in
mere shacks, which shines out
brightly, warming bodies and souls.
be for ever, to the point of laying
down one’s life for one’s beloved
(cf. Jn 15:13). In this light, conjugal
love, which is unique and indissoluble, endures despite many difficulties. It is one of the most beautiful of all miracles and the most common.
This love spreads through fertility
and generativity, which involves not
only the procreation of children but
also the gift of divine life in their
baptism, their catechesis, and their
education. It includes the capacity
to offer life, affection, and values —
an experience possible even for
those who have not been able to
bear children. Families who live this
light-filled adventure become a sign
for all, especially for young people.
This journey is sometimes a
mountainous trek with hardships
and falls. God is always there to accompany us. The family experiences
his presence in affection and dialogue between husband and wife,
parents and children, sisters and
brothers. They embrace Him in family prayer and by listening to the
Word of God — a small, daily oasis
of the spirit. Therefore, there is the
daily commitment to educate in the
faith and in the beauty of a life lived
according to the Gospel, a life of
holiness. Grandparents also share in
this task with great affection and
dedication. The family is thus an authentic domestic Church that expands to become the family of families which is the ecclesial community. Christian spouses are called
to become teachers of faith and of
love for young couples as well.
Another expression of fraternal
communion is charity, giving, nearness to those who are least, marginalized, poor, lonely, sick, strangers,
and families in crisis, aware of the
Lord’s word: “It is more blessed to
give than to receive” (Acts 20:35). It
is a gift of goods, of fellowship, of
love and mercy, and also a witness
to the truth, to light, and to the
meaning of life.
The high point which sums up all
the threads of communion with God
and neighbour is the Sunday
Eucharist when the family and the
whole Church sits at table with the
Lord. He gives Himself to all of us,
pilgrims through history towards the
goal of the final encounter when
“Christ is all, and in all” (Col 3:11).
In the first stage of our Synod journey, therefore, we have reflected on
how to accompany those who have
been divorced and remarried and on
their participation in the sacraments.
We Synod Fathers ask you to
walk with us towards the next Synod. The presence of the family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph in their modest home hovers over you. We too,
united with the Family of Nazareth,
raise our petition for the families of
the world to the Father of all:
Father, grant to all families the presence of strong and wise spouses who
may be the source of a free and united
family.
Father, grant that parents may have
a home in which to live in peace with
their families.
Father, grant that children may be a
sign of trust and hope and that young
people may have the courage to forge
life-long, faithful commitments.
Father, grant to all that they may be
able to earn bread with their hands,
that they may enjoy serenity of spirit
and that they may keep aflame the
torch of faith even in periods of darkness.
Father, grant that we may all see
flourish a Church that is ever more
faithful and credible, a just and humane city, a world that loves truth,
justice and mercy.
L’OSSERVATORE ROMANO
number 43, Friday, 24 October 2014
page 7
Pope Francis’s words at the close of the Extraordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops dedicated to the Family
A movement of spirits
Another year to mature ideas and find solutions with true spiritual discernment
The Church “does not view humanity
from a glass tower”: and “is not afraid
to roll up her sleeves to pour oil and
wine on people’s wounds”. At the
conclusion of the 15th General
Congregation of the Synod on the
Family, Pope Francis recalled this in
his address to the Synod Fathers and
the many participants, thanking them
for their efforts and encouragement. The
following is a translation of Pope
Francis’ address which was delivered in
Italian.
Your Eminences,
Beatitudes, Excellencies,
Brothers and Sisters,
With a heart full of appreciation and
gratitude I want to thank, together
with you, the Lord who has accompanied and guided us in the past
days, with the light of the Holy
Spirit!
My heartfelt thanks go to Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri, Secretary
General of the Synod, Bishop Fabio
Fabene, undersecretary, and with
them I thank the Relators, Cardinal
Péter Erdő, who has worked so
hard, even in these days of family
mourning, and the Special Secretary
Bishop Bruno Forte, the three President Delegates, the transcribers, the
consultors, the translators and the unnamed
“When the Church, in the variety of her
workers, all those who
have worked with true
charisms, expresses herself in communion,
fidelity and total dedicshe cannot err: it is the beauty and the
ation
behind
the
strength of the sensus fidei”
scenes and without
rest. Thank you so very
much!
And it has been “a journey” —
Likewise, I thank all of you, dear
Synod Fathers, Fraternal Delegates, and like every journey there were
Auditors, and Assessors, for your moments of acceleration, as if wantactive and fruitful participation. I ing to beat time and reach the goal
will keep you in prayer asking the as soon as possible; other moments
Lord to reward you with the abund- of fatigue, as if wanting to say
“enough”; other moments of enthuance of His gifts of grace!
siasm and ardour. There were moI can happily say that — with a ments of profound consolation
spirit of collegiality and of synodality listening to the testimony of true
— we have truly lived the experience pastors (cf. Jn 10; cann. 375, 386,
of “Synod”, a path of solidarity, a 387), who wisely carry in their hearts
the joy and the tears of their faithful
“journey together”.
people. Moments of consolation and
grace and comfort on hearing the
testimonies of the families who have
participated in the Synod and have
shared with us the beauty and the
joy of their married life. A journey
on which the stronger felt compelled
to help those who aren’t as strong,
when the more experienced sought
to serve others, even through confrontation. And since it is a journey
of human beings, along with consolations there were also moments of
desolation, of tension and temptation, of which a few examples could
be mentioned:
— One: a temptation to hostile inflexibility, that is, wanting to close
oneself within the written word, (the
letter) and not allowing oneself to be
The fifteenth congregation and the ‘Relatio synodi’
In the last congregation of the
Synod, 18 October, after voting on
the Relatio synodi, or working
summary document, of the Third
Extraordinary General Assembly of
the Synod of Bishops on the family,
Pope Francis, who had been present
and silent throughout the two weeks
of discussion, gave what was
described as an astounding address.
It was reported that applause lasted
five minutes.
Before the Pope’s stirring address, it
took the Synod Fathers an hour to
vote on the 62 paragraphs of the
revised Relatio synodi, the final
document of the Extraordinary
General Assembly of the Synod of
Bishops on the family. All but three
paragraphs were passed by a twothirds majority vote, all were passed
by a simple majority.
It was the Holy Father’s wish to
publish the document in its entirety,
which L’Osservatore Romano did (cf.
n. 240, pages 6-8) along with the
vote tallies for each paragraph. The
Director of the Holy See Press
Office reported the Holy Father’s
directives in a press conference that
night: “the Pope said: ‘I would like
this Report to be published, and for
the sake of transparency and clarity,
that it also report how many voted
for or against, paragraph by
paragraph, so that there can be no
confusion or equivocation on the
subject”. The number of Synod
Fathers who voted were 183.
The document summarises, in
substance, the structure and main
contents of the Relatio post
disceptationem, which was presented
on 13 October in the Synod Hall by
the Relator General Cardinal Péter
Erdő. The Relatio now contains
many of the 470 amendments which
were suggested during the small
groups.
The majority of the amendments are
additions with the scope of being as
inclusive as possible in treating the
subject. An English translation of
the amended Relatio synodi will be
available in the coming days on the
Vatican website.
surprised by God, by the God of
surprises, (the spirit); within the law,
within the certitude of what we
know and not of what we still need
to learn and to achieve. From the
time of Christ, it is the temptation
of the zealous, of the scrupulous, of
the solicitous and of the so-called —
today — “traditionalists” and also of
the intellectuals.
— The temptation to a destructive
tendency to goodness, that in the name
of a deceptive mercy binds the
wounds without first tending them
and treating them; that treats the
symptoms and not the causes nor
the root. It is the temptation of the
“do-gooders”, of the fearful, and
also of the so-called “progressives and
liberals”.
— The temptation to transform
stones into bread to break a long,
heavy, and painful fast (cf. Lk 4:1-4);
and also to transform the bread into
a stone and cast it against the sinner,
the weak, and the sick (cf. Jn 8:7),
that is, to transform it into unbearable burdens (cf. Lk 11:46).
— The temptation to come down off
the Cross, to please the people, instead of remaining there to fulfil the
will of the Father; to bow down to a
worldly spirit instead of purifying it
and bending it to the Spirit of God.
— The temptation to neglect the
“depositum fidei”, not thinking of
oneself as guardian but as an owner
or master [of it]; or, on the other
hand, the temptation to overlook realCONTINUED ON PAGE 11
The dominion
of God
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
ment of marriage. And he clearly
dismissed those readings — journalistic and otherwise, by “commentators, or people who talk”,
who, he pointed out, are more interested in taking sides and much
less in giving an account of the
facts — who “have imagined that
they see a disputatious Church”.
The Pope has at heart his task,
which is, he stated, to remind the
Pastors of the Church of their
duty: to tend the flock and “seek
to welcome” the lost sheep,
adding that it was a mistake to
say “welcome”, instead of “going
out to find them”. And this is the
constant concern of Pope Bergoglio, who asks all Christians
not to remain closed within themselves but to go out to the world
to proclaim and give witness to
the Gospel, following the example of Christ, the model for
pastors “given to all, attentive to
those close to us and solicitous
for those who are distant”.
G.M.V.
L’OSSERVATORE ROMANO
number 43, Friday, 24 October 2014
page 8/9
Homily for the Beatification of Giovanni Battista Montini
Thank you
In Synod we have sown and we continued to sow with patience and perseverance
Pope Francis, on Sunday 19 October,
celebrated the Closing Mass for the
Extraordinary Synod on the Family.
During the Mass in St Peter’s Square,
the Holy Father beatified the Servant of
God Paul VI, whom he described as a
“great Pope”, a “courageous Christian”
and a “tireless apostle”. The following is
the English text of the Pope’s homily,
which was given in Italian.
Under the Roman sun
Paul VI is now blessed. Pope Francis
beatified him on Sunday, 19 October
and this proclamation to the world
was accompanied by a loud hymn of
joy which rose up from St Peter’s
Square. That hymn echoed the hymn
sung long ago by a more modest
choir in the parish of a city in the
Roman hills on the evening of 6 August 1978, announcing Paul VI’s
death. It is truly unique that the harmony of that choir, improvising in
the Church of San Tommaso da Villanova in Castel Gandolfo, should return to recall the history of that night
when Paul VI left the headlines and
entered history.
His “return” to the square on Saturday, 12 August 1978 also made history, when the funeral of a Pontiff
was celebrated for the first time: Paul
VI’s funeral, that is. Pope Francis
wished that the Beatification of his
Predecessor should coincide with the
concluding celebration of the Third
Extraordinary General Assembly of
the Synod of Bishops, an institution
which was created by Pope Montini
himself on 15 September 1965.
Pope Francis presided at the ceremony outside of the Vatican Basilica
in the presence of Benedict XVI. In
fact in 1977 Joseph Ratzinger was the
last cardinal to be created by Paul VI.
At the Mass, there was an impressive
number of concelebrants including
Synod Fathers and many other cardinals and prelates from around the
world.
In another sign of tribute, Pope
Francis wore the chasuble that Paul VI
received for his 80th birthday and
also used the staff of his Predecessor,
celebrating the Mass with one of his
two chalices. At the moment of the
proclamation, after Bishop Monari
presented his request to Francis, the
tapestry on the Basilica’s facade with
Pope Montini’s image was revealed.
The image, taken by Pepi Merisio,
shows the Pope walking with his arms
outstretched and a large smile on his
face. His liturgical feast will be celebrated on 26 September: the day on
which he was born in Concesio.
(Mario Ponzi)
will, devoting our lives to him and
working for his kingdom of mercy, love
and peace.
Here is where our true strength is
found; here is the leaven which makes
it grow and the salt which gives flavour
to all our efforts to combat the prevalent pessimism which the world proposes to us. Here too is where our
hope is found, for when we put our
hope in God we are neither fleeing
from reality nor seeking an alibi: instead, we are striving to render to God
what is God’s. That is why we Christians look to the future, God’s future. It
We have just heard one of the most
famous phrases in the entire Gospel:
“Render to Caesar the things that are
Caesar’s, and to God the things that
are God’s” (Mt 22:21).
Goaded
by
the
Pharisees who wanted,
“For the gift of this Synod and for the
as it were, to give him
an exam in religion
constructive spirit which everyone has shown, in
and catch him in erunion with the Apostle Paul ‘we give thanks to
ror, Jesus gives this
ironic and brilliant
God always for you all, constantly mentioning
reply. It is a striking
you in our prayers’”
phrase which the Lord
has bequeathed to all
those who experience qualms of con- is so that we can live this life to the
science, particularly when their com- fullest — with our feet firmly planted
fort, their wealth, their prestige, their on the ground — and respond courpower and their reputation are in ques- ageously to whatever new challenges
tion. This happens all the time; it al- come our way.
ways has.
In these days, during the extraordinCertainly Jesus puts the stress on the ary Synod of Bishops, we have seen
second part of the phrase: “and how true this is. “Synod” means “jour[render] to God the things that are neying together”. And indeed pastors
God’s”. This calls for acknowledging and lay people from every part of the
and professing — in the face of any sort world have come to Rome, bringing
of power — that God alone is the Lord the voice of their particular Churches
of mankind, that there is no other. This in order to help today’s families walk
is the perennial newness to be dis- the path of the Gospel with their gaze
covered each day, and it requires mas- fixed on Jesus. It has been a great extering the fear which we often feel at perience, in which we have lived synGod’s surprises.
odality and collegiality, and felt the
God is not afraid of new things! power of the Holy Spirit who conThat is why he is continually surprising stantly guides and renews the Church.
us, opening our hearts and guiding us For the Church is called to waste no
in unexpected ways. He renews us: he time in seeking to bind up open
constantly makes us “new”. A Christian wounds and to rekindle hope in so
who lives the Gospel is “God’s new- many people who have lost hope.
ness” in the Church and in the world.
For the gift of this Synod and for
How much God loves this “newness”!
the constructive spirit which everyone
“Rendering to God the things that has shown, in union with the Apostle
are God’s” means being docile to his Paul “we give thanks to God always for
you all, constantly mentioning you in
our prayers” (1 Thess 1:2). May the
Holy Spirit, who during these busy
days has enabled us to work generously, in true freedom and humble creativity, continue to guide the journey
which, in the Churches throughout the
world, is bringing us to the Ordinary
Synod of Bishops in October 2015. We
have sown and we continued to sow,
patiently and perseveringly, in the certainty that it is the Lord who gives
growth to what we have sown (cf. 1
Cor 3:6).
On this day of the Beatification of
Pope Paul VI, I think of the words with
which he established the Synod of
Bishops: “by carefully surveying the
signs of the times, we are making every
effort to adapt ways and methods... to
the growing needs of our time and the
changing
conditions
of
society”
(Apostolic Letter Motu Proprio Apostolica Sollicitudo).
When we look to this great Pope,
this courageous Christian, this tireless
apostle, we cannot but say in the sight
of God a word as simple as it is heartfelt and important: thanks! Thank you,
our dear and beloved Pope Paul VI!
Thank you for your humble and
prophetic witness of love for Christ and
his Church!
In his personal journal, the great
helmsman of the Council wrote, at the
conclusion of its final session: “Perhaps
the Lord has called me and preserved
me for this service not because I am
particularly fit for it, or so that I can
govern and rescue the Church from her
present difficulties, but so that I can
suffer something for the Church, and
in that way it will be clear that he, and
no other, is her guide and saviour” (P.
Macchi, Paolo VI nella sua parola, Brescia, 2001, pp. 120-121). In this humility
the grandeur of Blessed Paul VI shines
forth: before the advent of a secularized and hostile society, he could hold
fast, with farsightedness and wisdom —
and at times alone — to the helm of the
barque of Peter, while never losing his
joy and his trust in the Lord.
Paul VI truly “rendered to God what
is God’s” by devoting his whole life to
the “sacred, solemn and grave task of
continuing in history and extending on
earth the mission of Christ” (Homily
for the Rite of Coronation: Insegnamenti I, (1963), 26), loving the Church
and leading her so that she might be “a
loving mother of the whole human
family and at the same time the minister of its salvation” (Encyclical Letter
Ecclesiam Suam, Prologue).
Paul
VI
The second child of Giorgio and
Giuditta Alghisi, Giovanni Battista
Montini was born in Concesio,
Brescia, on 26 September 1897. He
was ordained to the priesthood on
19 May 1920. He studied
philosophy, civil law and canon law.
In 1923 he was appointed attaché at
the Apostolic Nunciature in Warsaw
and a year later returned and began
serving in the Secretariat of State in
the Vatican. During his service to
the Holy See — under the
Pontificates of Pius XI and Pius XII
— he also taught the history of papal
diplomacy at the Lateran University,
until 13 December 1937 when Pius XI
appointed him Substitute of the
Secretariat of State. During World
War II, he engaged in aiding
refugees and Jews, also overseeing
the Vatican Information Office. In
November 1952 he was appointed
Pro-Secretary of State for General
Affairs and two years later he was
appointed Archbishop of Milan.
There, he employed new methods of
evangelization in order to address
the issues of immigration,
materialism and Marxist ideology.
On 21 June 1963 he was elected
pope and took the name of Paul VI.
Amid numerous challenges, he
brought three periods of the Second
Vatican Council to a successful
conclusion, always encouraging the
Church to be open in the modern
world while respecting her tradition,
always seeking communion among
the Council Fathers. Paul VI began
the practice of Apostolic Journeys
beginning with the Holy Land,
where his historic meeting with
Athenagoras took place. His first
encyclical, Ecclesiam Suam (1964),
gave rise to the method of “the
dialogue of salvation”. His other
writings, include Populorum
Progressio on the development of
peoples. He also provided masterful
teaching on the question of peace,
also instituting the World Day of
Peace. From the very beginning of
his ministry, he had particular
concern for the young, sharing with
them the joy of faith. After a brief
illness, he died on 6 August 1978 in
Castel Gandolfo.
Trento Longaretti, “Paul VI
lights the Paschal candle”
(Brescia, Collection of
Modern and Spiritual Art)
Trento Longaretti, “Paul
VI
and the Virgin”
At the Angelus
With Mary’s help
At the Angelus on Sunday, 19 October, at the end of the Beatification Mass, Pope
Francis underlined that, on the World Mission Sunday, Paul VI “was a strenuous
supporter of the ‘missione ad gentes’” and recalled the Pontiff’s deep devotion to
Mary, whom he proclaimed as the “Mother of the Church”. The following is a
translation of the Holy Father’s words which were given in Italian.
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
At the end of this solemn celebration,
I would like to greet the pilgrims who
have come from Italy and from various countries, with a deferential
thought for the official Delegations.
In particular, I greet the faithful from
the Dioceses of Brescia, Milan and
Rome, linked in a meaningful way to
the life and to the ministry of Pope
Montini. I thank everyone for your
presence and I beseech you to faithfully follow the teachings and the example of the new Blessed.
He was a strenuous supporter of
the missione ad gentes; testimony of
which is above all the Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Nuntiandi, with
which he intended to reawaken the
passion for and commitment to the
Church’s mission. This Exhortation is
still current, it retains all of its relevance! It is important to consider this
aspect of the Pontificate of Paul VI
today, as World Mission Sunday is
celebrated.
Before we, everyone together, invoke Our Lady with the Angelus prayer, I would like to underline Blessed
Paul VI’s profound Marian devotion.
The Christian people will always be
grateful to this Pontiff for the
Apostolic Exhortation Marialis Cultus
and for his having proclaimed Mary
“Mother of the Church”, on the occasion of the closing of the Second Vatican Council.
May Mary, Queen of Saints and
Mother of the Church, help us to
faithfully realize the will of the Lord
in our life, as the new Blessed did.
L’OSSERVATORE ROMANO
page 10
Friday, 24 October 2014, number 43
The Holy Father to Italian Catholic universities
Study, research
and the frontier
“You can overcome conflict between peoples, only if you manage to nurture a
culture of encounter and of fraternity”. Pope Francis entrusted this task to the
young people of the Italian Catholic University Federation (FUCI).
“I exhort you to continue to bring the Gospel into the University and culture into
the Church!”, the Holy Father continued. The young people were meeting in
Arezzo, Italy, to celebrate an Extraordinary National Congress in view of the
Beatification of Paul VI, from 16 to 19 October. The following is a translation
of the Italian text.
Dear Young People of the FUCI!
I was pleased to learn that your Federation is preparing to celebrate an
Extraordinary National Congress in
Arezzo in order to rediscover the
prophetic figure of my venerated
Predecessor, Pope Paul VI, who was
your Central Ecclesiastical Assistant
from 1925 to 1933, and whom I will
have the joy of proclaiming Blessed
on 19 October 2014. In addressing
my affectionate greeting to the parti-
Montini as a young boy
cipants and to all members, I would
like to assure you of my spiritual
closeness. I shall accompany the
work that you will be doing with
three words that can help you in
your commitment.
1. The first word that I give you is
studium. The essential of university
life lies in studying, in the effort and
patience of thinking which reveals
man’s tension toward truth, good,
beauty. Be aware that by studying
you receive a fertile opportunity to
recognize and give voice to the loftiest aspirations harboured in your
heart, the opportunity to develop
them.
To study serves to support a specific vocation. For this reason, university life is dynamism directed and
characterized by research and by
fraternal sharing. Make the most of
this opportune time and study hard
and consistently, always open to others. Do not be content with partial
truths or reassuring illusions, but
through study embrace an ever fuller
understanding of reality. In order to
do this it is necessary to listen with
humility and to gaze with foresight.
Studying is not taking possession of
reality in order to manipulate it, but
allowing it to speak to us and to reveal something to us, very often
Several participants in a FUCI seminar in Cagliari with
even about ourselves; and reality
Giovanni Battista Montini (4 September 1932)
does not allow itself to be understood without the willingness to refine one’s perspective, to look at it search it is possible to reach an am3. The third word is frontier. The
with new eyes. Thus, study with bitious goal: to heal the rift between university is a frontier which awaits
courage and with hope. Only in this the Gospel and modernity through you, a periphery in which to welway can the university become a the approach of cultural mediation, come and attend to man’s existential
place of careful and attentive dis- an
itinerant
mediation
which, poverty. Poverty in relationships, in
cernment, an observatory on the without denying cultural differences, human growth, tend to fill heads
world and on the issues that most indeed by valuing them, becomes without creating a shared comprofoundly question man. Persever- the horizon of positive planning. munity plan, a common goal, an
ance in work and faithfulness to May research teach you to be cap- honest brotherhood. Take care to althings may bring much fruit. Study able of planning and investment, ways go to meet others, to catch the
and keeping watch, form the
“scent” of today’s man, until pertrue quantum leap that hapmeation with their joys and hopes,
Remember the words of Montini:
pens at university, which
their sorrows and anguish. Never set
causes us to develop a uni“It is the idea that guides man,
up barriers which, in seeking to defied character and causes us
fend the border, prevent the enthat generates man’s strength.
to become adults in intelleccounter with the Lord. In studying
tual life as in spiritual life.
A man without an idea is a man
and in the forms of digital commuStudying
becomes
exnication your friends sometimes exwithout character”
traordinary interior labour
perience loneliness, a lack of hope
and most of all an experience
and faith in their own abilities:
of grace: “pray as if everything de- even if it requires effort and pa- bring hope and always show your
pended on God, act as if everything tience. It is in the long run that one work to others, always be open to
depended on us”, St Ignatius of reaps the harvest of the seeds sown sharing, to dialogue. Especially in
Loyola said. We must do our best with research!
today’s culture we need to place
and make ourselves welcoming, reThis task is entrusted today in ourselves at everyone’s side. You can
ceptive to a truth which is not ours,
overcome conflict between peoples,
which is always given to us in free particular to young university stu- only if you manage to nurture a culdents because they are called to take
measure.
up a cultural challenge: the culture ture of encounter and of fraternity. I
2. The second word that I give
exhort you to continue to bring the
you is research. Let your method of of our time hungers for the proclam- Gospel into the University and culation
of
the
Gospel,
it
needs
to
be
study be research, dialogue and
ture into the Church!
comparison. May the FUCI always reanimated by strong and steadfast
This task is entrusted especially to
testimony.
In
facing
the
risks
of
suexperience the humility of research,
you, young people: may you always
that attitude of silent welcoming of perficiality, of briskness, of relativkeep your eyes fixed on the future.
the unknown, of the stranger, of the ism, one might forget the commitMay you be fertile ground on the
other and demonstrate one’s open- ment to thought and formation, of a
ness and willingness to walk with all critical mind and of presence that journey with humanity, may you be
those who are driven by a restless has been entrusted to man, to man renewal in culture, in society and in
tension toward the Truth, believers alone, and which is inscribed in his the Church. This takes courage, huand non believers, foreigners and dignity as a person. Remember the mility and listening in order to exthe marginalized. Research con- words of Montini: “It is the idea press renewal. I entrust you to
stantly interrogates itself, it becomes that guides man, that generates Blessed Paul VI, that he, in commuan encounter with mystery and is man’s strength. A man without an nion with the Saints, may encourage
you on your journey and, while I
open to faith: research makes posidea is a man without character”. ask you to pray for me, from my
sible the encounter of faith, reason
May
you
know
how
to
approach
the
heart I bless you together with your
and science, it allows a harmonious
dialogue among them, a fruitful ex- primacy of the realty with the power Assistants, families and friends.
of
the
ideas
that
you
will
investigate.
change that, in awareness and acFrom the Vatican, 14 October 2014
ceptance of the limits of human un- To take up this challenge with the
derstanding allows scientific research creativity of the free and liberal
to be conducted in freedom of con- youth devotion to academic study,
science. Through this method of re- this is your task!
number 43, Friday, 24 October 2014
L’OSSERVATORE ROMANO
page 11
Pope Francis’ words at the close of the Synod
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7
ity, making use of meticulous,
smooth speech to say so many
things and to say nothing! They
called them “byzantinisms”, I think,
these things…
Dear brothers and sisters, temptations must not frighten or disconcert
us, or even discourage us, because
no disciple is greater than his master; so if Jesus Himself was tempted
– and even called Beelzebul (cf. Mt
12:24) — his disciples should not expect better treatment.
Personally I would have been very
worried and saddened were it not
for these temptations and these animated discussions; this movement
of the spirits, as St Ignatius called it
(EE, 6), had everyone been in a state
of agreement, or silent in a false and
quietist peace. Instead, I have seen
and I have heard — with joy and appreciation — speeches and interventions full of faith, of pastoral and
doctrinal zeal, of wisdom, of frankness and of courage: and of parrhesia. And I have felt that what was
set before our eyes was the good of
the Church, of families, and the “suprema lex”, the “salus animarum” (cf.
can. 1752). And this always — we
have said it here, in the Hall —
without ever calling into question
the fundamental truths of the Sacrament of marriage: the indissolubility,
the unity, the faithfulness, the fruitfulness, that is openness to life (cf.
cann. 1055, 1056; and Gaudium et
Spes, 48).
And this is the Church, the vineyard of the Lord, the fertile Mother
and the caring Teacher, who is not
afraid to roll up her sleeves to pour
oil and wine on people’s wounds (cf.
Lk 10:25-37); who does not view humanity from a glass tower to judge
or categorize people. This is the
Church, One, Holy, Catholic,
Apostolic and composed of sinners,
needful of God’s mercy. This is the
Church, the true bride of Christ,
who seeks to be faithful to her
Spouse and to her doctrine. It is the
Church that is not afraid to eat and
VATICAN BULLETIN
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2
Pontifical Academy of Sciences:
Prof. Yves Coppens, professor of paleoanthropology and prehistory at
the Collège de France in Paris,
France; and Prof. Ada E. Yonath,
professor of Biochemistry and the
director of the Helen and Milton A.
Kimmelman Center for Biomolecular Structure and Assembly at the
Weizmann Institute of Science in
Rehovot, Israel (18 Oct.).
NECROLO GY
Bishop
emeritus
Patrick
Paul
D’Souza of Varanasi, India, at age
86 (16 Oct.)
Bishop Paul Henry Walsh, Auxiliary
Bishop
emeritus
of
Rochville
Centre, NY, USA, titular Bishop of
Abthugni, at age 77 (18 Oct.).
drink with prostitutes and publicans
(cf. Lk 15). The Church that keeps
the doors wide open to receive the
needy, the penitent, and not only
the just or those who believe they
are perfect! The Church that is not
ashamed of the fallen brother and
pretends not to see him, but on the
contrary feels involved and almost
obliged to lift him up and to encourage him to take up the journey
again and accompany him toward a
definitive
encounter
with
her
Spouse, in the heavenly Jerusalem.
This is the Church, our Mother!
And when the Church, in the variety
of her charisms, expresses herself in
communion, she cannot err: it is the
beauty and the strength of the sensus
fidei, of that supernatural sense of
faith which is bestowed by the Holy
Spirit so that, together, we can all
enter into the heart of the Gospel
and learn to follow Jesus in our life.
And this should never be seen as a
source of confusion and discomfort.
Many commentators, or people
who talk, have imagined that they
see a disputatious Church where one
part is against the other, doubting
even the Holy Spirit, the true promoter and guarantor of the unity
and harmony of the Church — the
Holy Spirit who throughout history
has always guided the barque,
through her Ministers, even when
the sea was rough and choppy, and
the ministers unfaithful and sinners.
And, as I have dared to tell you
from the beginning, it was necessary
to live through all this with tranquillity, and with interior peace, so that
the Synod would take place cum
Petro and sub Petro, and the presence
of the Pope is the guarantor of it for
all.
We will speak a little about the
Pope, now, in relation to the Bishops... [laughing]. So, the duty of the
Pope is that of guaranteeing the
unity of the Church; it is that of reminding the pastors that their first
duty is to tend the flock — to tend
the flock — that the Lord has entrusted to them, and to seek to welcome
— with fatherly care and mercy, and
without false fears — the lost sheep.
I made a mistake here. I said welcome: [rather] to go out and find
them.
His duty is to remind everyone
that authority in the Church is a service (cf. Mk 9:33-35), as Pope Benedict XVI clearly explained, with
words I cite verbatim: “The Church
is called and commits herself to exercise this kind of authority which is
service and exercises it not in her
Events organized in Rome
and around the globe
for the Year of Consecrated Life
A Prayer Vigil in the Basilica of St Mary Major on Saturday evening,
29 November, and a Mass in St Peter’s Square the following morning,
the first Sunday of Advent, will open the Year of Consecrated Life.
Many events will be held throughout the year, which will close in 2016
with two celebrations in the Vatican Basilica: on 30 January a Vigil of
Thanksgiving is schedule and 2 February will be the celebration of the
World Day for Consecrated Life. In between a long series of international meetings both in Rome and around the world will be held, beginning on 8 December of this year when a chain of prayer will begin
in monasteries around the world. There will be an ecumenical conference in Rome of men and women religious on 22-25 January 2015, a
seminary for formators of consecrated life on 8-11 April and a workshop for young consecrated persons on 23-25 September. Then on 26
September the memorial of saints and martyrs of consecrated life will
be celebrated, with stations in different parts of the world. At the same
time various research workshops, art exhibitions and paths of testimony will be organized. Also significant will be the final days of January 2016 when events will be organized dedicated to various realities of
consecration, including secular institutes, new forms and the ordo virginum.
own name, but in the name of Jesus
Christ… through the Pastors of the
Church, in fact, Christ tends his
flock, it is he who guides, protects
and corrects it, because he loves it
deeply. But the Lord Jesus, the supreme Shepherd of our souls, has
willed that the Apostolic College,
today the Bishops, in communion
with the Successor of Peter… participate in his mission of taking care
of God's People, of educating them
in the faith and of guiding, inspiring
and sustaining the Christian community, or, as the Council put it, “to
see to it... that each member of the
faithful shall be led in the Holy Spirit
to the full development of his own vocation in accordance with Gospel
preaching, and to sincere and active
charity’ and to exercise that liberty with
which Christ has set us free” (cf. Presbyterorum Ordinis, n. 6) … and it is
through us”, Pope Benedict continues, “that the Lord reaches souls, instructs, guards and guides them. St
Augustine, in his Commentary on the
Gospel of St John, says: “let it therefore be a commitment of love to feed the
flock of the Lord” (cf. 123:5); this is
the supreme rule of conduct for the
ministers of God, an unconditional
love, like that of the Good Shepherd, full of joy, given to all, attentive to those close to us and solicitous for those who are distant (cf. St
Augustine, Discourse 340, 1; Discourse
46, 15), gentle towards the weakest,
the little ones, the simple, the sinners, to manifest the infinite mercy
of God with the reassuring words of
hope (cf. ibid., Epistle, 95, 1)” (Benedict XVI, General Audience, 26 May
2010).
So, the Church is Christ’s — she is
His bride — and all the bishops, in
communion with the Successor of
Peter, have the task and the duty of
guarding her and serving her, not as
masters but as servants. The Pope, in
this context, is not the supreme lord
but rather the supreme servant — the
“servus servorum Dei”; the guarantor
of the obedience and the conformity
of the Church to the will of God, to
the Gospel of Christ, and to the
Tradition of the Church, putting
aside every personal whim, despite
being — by the will of Christ Himself — the “supreme Pastor and Teacher of all the faithful” (can. 749) and
despite enjoying “supreme, full, immediate, and universal ordinary power in
the Church” (cf. cann. 331-334).
Dear brothers and sisters, now we
still have one year to mature, with
true spiritual discernment, the proposed ideas and to find concrete
solutions to the many difficulties
and innumerable challenges that
families must confront; to give answers to the many discouragements
that surround and suffocate families.
One year to work on the “Relatio
Synodi” which is the faithful and
clear summary of everything that has
been said and discussed in this Hall
and in the small groups. It is
presented to the Episcopal Conferences as “Lineamenta”.
May the Lord accompany us, and
guide us on this journey for the
glory of His Name, with the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary
and of St Joseph. And please, do
not forget to pray for me!
L’OSSERVATORE ROMANO
page 12
Friday, 24 October 2014, number 43
Pope Francis’ Message for World Food Day
Hunger is a threat to peace
Those who suffer from hunger and
malnutrition “are people, not numbers,
and precisely because of their dignity as
people, they come before any calculation
or economic plan”. Pope Francis
underlined this in his Message in
Spanish to the Director General of the
Food and Agricultural Organization of
the United Nations which, on 16
October, celebrated World Food Day
with the theme “Family Farming:
Feeding the World, Caring for the
Earth”. The following is a translation
of the Pope’s Message, which was
written in Spanish.
Food being distributed in Islamabad (LaPresse/AP)
To Prof. JOSÉ GRAZIANO DA SILVA
Director General of the FAO
Again this year, World Food Day
echoes the cries of our many brothers and sisters who, in many parts of
the world, do not have enough to eat
every day. This causes us to reflect on
the enormous quantity of food
wasted, on the produce destroyed
and on price speculation in the
name of the god of profit. This is one
of the most dramatic paradoxes of
our time which we are witnessing
helplessly and often with indifference, incapable of feeling compassion at the outcry of other people’s
pain, “as though all this were
someone else’s responsibility and not
our own” (Evangelii Gaudium, n.
54).
Despite the progress that is being
made in many countries, recent data
continue to indicate a troubling situation, compounded by the general
reduction of public development
aid. But looking beyond those statistics, one notes an aspect of the
problem that has not yet received all
due consideration when formulating
policies and plans of action: those
who suffer due to food insecurity
and malnutrition are people, not
numbers, and precisely because of
their dignity as people, they come
before any calculation or economic
plan.
The theme proposed by the FAO
for this year’s World Food Day —
Family Farming: Feeding the World,
Caring for the Earth — highlights the
need to begin with people, as individuals or as groups, to propose new
forms and methods of managing the
different aspects of nutrition. Specifically, it is necessary to further acknowledge the role of the rural family, and to develop its full potential.
This year dedicated to family agriculture, which is now coming to a
close, serves to ascertain once again
that the rural family is able to satisfy
the demand for food without destroying the resources of Creation.
However, to this end, we must take
into account not only their technical
necessities, but also their human,
spiritual, social needs, and we must
learn from their experience, from
their capacity to work, and most of
all, from that bond of love, of solidarity and of generosity which exists
between its members and which is
called to become a model for life in
society.
Indeed, the family promotes dialogue among the different generations and provides the foundation
for true social integration, apart
from representing that hoped-for
synergy between agricultural work
and sustainability. Who more than
the rural family is concerned with
preserving nature for the generations
to come? And who more than the
rural family has at heart cohesion
between people and social groups?
Certainly the norms and initiatives
in favour of the family on a local,
national and international level are
still very far from their true needs
and this is a gap to fill. It is important that the rural family is spoken
about and that international years
are celebrated to recall its relevance,
but this is not enough: these reflections must be followed up by concrete initiatives.
Defending
rural
communities
from the serious threats posed by
human action or natural disasters
must not merely be a strategy but
rather a form of permanent action
aimed at promoting their participation in decision-making, at making
appropriate technologies available,
and extending their use, always with
respect for the natural environment.
Acting in this way can alter the
methods of international cooperation and aid for the hungry and
malnourished.
Never more than at this moment
has the world been in need of unity
among people and among nations in
order to overcome the divisions that
exist and the current conflicts, and
above all to seek concrete ways out
of a crisis that is global, but whose
burden falls mostly on the poor.
This is demonstrated precisely by
food insecurity: although it is true
that it interests all countries to a
varying degree, it nevertheless affects, first and foremost, the weakest
part of the world’s population. Let
us consider the men and women, of
every age and condition, who are
victims of bloody conflicts and of
their consequent devastation and
misery, including the lack of housing, medical care and education,
who lose every hope of a dignified
life. We have an obligation towards
these people, of solidarity and sharing. These obligations cannot be
limited to food distribution which
can only be a “technical” remedy,
more or less effective, but that terminates when what is set aside for
this purpose runs out.
Instead, sharing means to be a
neighbour to all human beings, to
recognize a common dignity, to understand needs and to sustain them
in finding a remedy, with the same
spirit of love which is lived in the
family. This same love leads us to
preserve Creation as the most precious common good on which depends not the abstract future of the
planet but the life of the human
family to which it has been entrusted. This consideration calls for an
education and formation capable of
integrating various cultural approaches, customs, local ways of
working without substituting them
in the name of an alleged cultural or
technical superiority.
To defeat hunger, it is not enough
to meet the needs of those who are
less fortunate or to help through aid
and donations those who live in
situations of emergency. It is instead
necessary to change the paradigm of
aid and of development policies, to
modify international laws regarding
the production and trade of agricultural products, guaranteeing, to
countries in which agriculture represents the foundation of the economy and of survival, the self-determination of their own agricultural
market.
How long will we continue to defend systems of production and consumption which exclude most of the
world’s population even from the
crumbs which fall from the tables of
the rich? The time has come to
think and decide, beginning with
each person and community rather
than from market trends. Therefore
there must also be a change in the
concept of work, goals and economic activity, food production and environmental protection. This is perhaps the only possibility for building an authentic future of peace,
which today is also threatened by
food insecurity.
This approach, which allows us to
glimpse a new kind of cooperation,
must involve and be of interest to
States, international institutions and
organizations of civil society, as well
as communities of believers that,
with their many works, live together
with the least and share the same
situations and needs, frustrations
and hopes.
The Catholic Church, for her
part, while pursuing her charitable
works on the different continents,
remains available to offer, enlighten
and accompany both the elaboration
of policies and their practical implementation, aware that faith becomes
visible by putting into practice
God’s plan for the human family
and for the world through that profound and real fraternity that is not
exclusive to Christians, but that includes all peoples.
May the Almighty bless the FAO,
its Member States and those who
give the best of themselves to feed
the world and care for the earth for
the benefit of all.
From the Vatican, 16 October 2014
FRANCIS
number 43, Friday, 24 October 2014
L’OSSERVATORE ROMANO
Pope Francis’ message for the fifth centenary of the birth of Teresa of Ávila
A saintly traveller
“The image of a path can very well
summarize the lesson” of Teresa of
Ávila. This was written by Pope
Francis in the Message he sent to the
Bishop of the Spanish city in view of
the fifth centenary of the Saint’s birth
on 28 March 1515. The following is a
translation of the Spanish text.
From the Vatican, 15 October 2014
To Bishop
JESÚS GARCÍA BURILLO
of Ávila
Dear Brother,
On 28 March 1515 in Ávila, a baby
was born who in time would become known as St Teresa of Jesus.
As the fifth centenary of her birth
approaches, I turn my gaze to that
city to give thanks to God for the
gift of this great woman and to encourage the faithful of the beloved
Diocese of Ávila and all the people
of Spain to learn the history of this
distinguished Foundress, as well as
to read her books which, along with
her daughters in the numerous Carmelite convents scattered throughout
the world, continue to tell us who
and how Mother Teresa was and
what she can teach us men and women of today.
At the school of the saintly traveller, we learn how to be pilgrims.
The image of a path can very well
summarize the lesson of her life and
her work. Teresa understood life as a
way of perfection, along which God
leads man, from task to task, up to
Him and, at the same time, puts
him on a journey toward mankind.
Along which paths does the Lord
wish to lead us, following in the
footsteps of St Teresa who takes us
by the hand? I would like to recall
four that do me much good: those
of joy, of prayer, of fraternity and of
time itself.
Teresa of Jesus asks her Sisters to
“go cheerfully about whatever services you are ordered to do” (The
Way of Perfection 18, 5). True holiness
is a joy, for “an unhappy saint is a
pitiful saint”. Saints, before being
courageous heroes, are the fruit of
God’s grace to mankind. Every saint
shows us a feature of the multifaceted face of God. In St Teresa we
contemplate God, who, being the
“sovereign Lord, of majesty supreme” (Poems 2), reveals himself
close and a companion and feels joy
conversing with men: God becomes
joyful with us. And feeling his love,
a contagious and unconcealable joy
was born in the Saint that she radiated around her. This joy is a journey
that
must
be
followed
throughout life. It is not instantaneous, superficial, tumultuous. It
must already be sought by “at the
beginning” (Life 13, 1). Express the
inner joy of the soul, it is humble
and “modest” (cf. The Book of
Foundations 12, 1). It is not reached
by an easy shortcut that bypasses
sacrifice, suffering or the cross, but
is found by enduring labour and
pain (cf. Life 6, 2; 30, 8), looking to
the Crucifix and seeking the Risen
One (cf. The Way of Perfection 26, 4).
For this reason St Teresa’s joy is
neither selfish nor self-referential.
Like that of heaven, it consists in
the “joy in the rejoicings of all” (The
Way of Perfection 30, 5), placing oneself at the service of others with unselfish love. As she told one of her
monasteries in difficulty, the Saint
would also tell us today, especially
the young: “Do not stop going
cheerfully about!” (Letter 284, 4).
The Gospel is not a bag of lead
which one drags arduously, but a
font of joy which fills the heart with
God and impels it to serve one’s
brothers!
The Saint also travelled the path
of prayer, which she beautifully
defined as “being on terms of
friendship with God, frequently conversing in secret with Him who, we
know, loves us” (Life 8, 5). When
times are “difficult”, “the friends of
God should be strong” in order
to support the weak (Life 15, 5).
To pray is not a means of escape, nor even to place oneself
in a bubble or to isolate oneself, but to go forward in a
friendship; and the more this
friendship grows, the more one
comes into contact with the
Lord, the “true Friend” and
faithful “companion” on the
journey,
with
whom
“everything can be borne”,
because, always, “He helps,
He strengthens, He never
fails” (Life 22, 9). In order
to pray, “it is not so essential to think much as to
love much” (Interior Castle
IV, 1, 7), in turning one’s
eyes in order to look at
those who do not fail to
look lovingly at us and to patiently
support us (cf. The Way of Perfection
26, 3-4). God is able to lead souls to
himself through many roads, but
prayer is “a safe way” (Life 13, 19).
Leaving it means getting lost (cf.
Life 19, 6). This counsel of the Saint
is of perennial relevance. Thus, go
forth along the path of prayer, with
determination, without stopping, until the end! This applies particularly
to all religious who are committed
to consecrated life. In a culture of
the provisional, you live the faith of
“for ever, ever, ever” (Life 1, 4); in a
world without hope, you demonstrate the fruitfulness of a “heart
with love fast bound” (Poems 5); and
in a society with so many idols, you
witness that “God alone suffices”
(Poems 9).
We cannot undertake this journey
alone, but together. For the reformer
Saint, the path of prayer passes by
the way of fraternity in the bosom of
the Mother Church. Her providential response to this, born of divine
inspiration and of her feminine intuition, to the problems of the Church
and of the society of her time was
to: to establish small communities of
women who, by imitating the
“Apostolic College”, followed Christ,
living the Gospel in a simple way
and supporting all the Church with
a life made prayer. For this reason
“sisters”, were “brought here” (The
Way of Perfection 8, 1) and this was
the promise: “that Christ would be
in the midst of us; (Life 32, 14).
What a beautiful definition of fraternity in the Church: to journey together with Christ as brothers! To
this end, Teresa of Jesus does not recommend many things to us, only
page 13
three: love for each other, detachment from everything, and to have
true humility, “which, although I
put it last, is the most important of
the three and embraces all the rest”
(The Way of Perfection 4, 4). In these
times, how I should like there to be
more fraternal Christian communities where one makes this journey:
going forth in the truth of the humility that frees us from ourselves in
order to love others more and better,
above all the poor! There is nothing
more beautiful than to live and die
as children of this Mother Church!
Precisely because she is mother
with open doors, the Church is always on the way toward men to lead
them to the “living water” (cf. Jn
4:10) that irrigates the garden of
their thirsty heart. The holy writer
and master of prayer was, at the
same time, Foundress and missionary on the streets of Spain. Her
mystic experience did not separate
her from the world nor from the
concerns of the people. On the contrary, it gave her new impetus and
courage for daily work and duties,
because “the Lord goes along with
you” even “amidst the pots and
pans” (The Book of the Foundations 5,
8). She experienced the difficulties
of her time — which was so complicated — without giving in to the
temptation to bitter complaining,
but rather, accepting it in faith as an
opportunity to take a step forward
on the journey. For “at all times
God is ever ready to bestow good
favours upon those who serve him
in earnest” (The Book of the Foundations 4, 5). Today Teresa tells us:
pray more in order to truly understand what is happening around you
and thus to act better. Prayer conquers pessimism and generates good
initiatives (cf. Interior Castle VII 4,
6). This is Teresian realism, which
requires work instead of emotions,
and love instead of dreams; the realism of humble love in the face of
anxious asceticism! At times the
Saint shortens her pleasant letters
saying: “We are on the path” (Letter
469, 7.9), to express the urgency of
continuing the task begun until the
end. When the world is aflame, one
cannot waste time on affairs of little
importance. If only everyone were
infected by this holy haste to go out
to journey along the paths of our
time, with the Gospel in hand and
the Spirit in the heart!
“It is time to walk!” (Anna de san
Bartolomeo, Últimas acciones de la
vida de santa Teresa). These were the
words St Teresa of Ávila said shortly
before her death, which summarize
her life and become for us, especially for the Carmelite Family, for
her fellow citizens and for all the
people of Spain, a precious legacy to
be treasured and enriched.
Dear Brother, with my cordial
greeting, I say to all: “It is time to
walk”, to set out on the paths of joy,
of prayer, of fraternity, of time lived
as grace! Let us be taken by the
hand of St Teresa as we go through
the journey of life. May her footsteps always lead us to Jesus.
I ask you, please, to pray for me,
for I need it. May Jesus bless you
and may the Virgin Mary protect
you!
Fraternally,
L’OSSERVATORE ROMANO
page 14
Friday, 24 October 2014, number 43
Morning Mass at the Domus Sanctae Marthae
Thursday, 16 October
Like burning incense
Knowing we were personally chosen
even before the creation of the
world, every man must rediscover
the importance of the free and joyous prayer of praise to God. At
Thursday morning’s Mass at Santa
Marta, Pope Francis chose to reflect
on the day’s First Reading, recalling
St Paul’s well-known hymn in the
Letter to the Ephesians (1:1-10). In
this veritable explosion of praise, “it
seems that Paul”, Francis noted, is
overcome with “joy, great joy”.
It is an “unrestrained” hymn in
which the Apostle uses the word
“bless” three times: ‘Blessed be God
and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who has blessed us in Christ with
every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places”. But, the Pontiff pointed out, “we all know that God is
the Blessed One”: in the Old Testament, in fact, “it was one of the
names that the people of Israel gave
Him: the Blessed One”. It is curious
to think of “blessing God” because
“He is the Blessed One”.
In truth, it is an important gesture, because “when I bless God, I
praise Him”, and this praise rises
“like burning incense”. Prayers of
praise aren’t done habitually, yet,
Francis highlighted, it was Jesus
himself who taught us, “in the Our
Father, to pray this way: Our Father
who art in heaven, hallowed be thy
name...”. It shouldn’t seem unusual
to turn with these words to He who
“is the Holy One”. It is about expressing the “joy of the prayer of
praise”, which is “purely free”, the
Bishop of Rome explained. In fact,
generally, “we know how to pray extremely well when we ask for things”
and also “when we thank the Lord”;
it is less customary for all of us “to
praise the Lord”.
We might feel a stronger incentive
toward this type of prayer, the Pope
advised, if “we remember the things
that the Lord has done in our life”,
as did St Paul, who recalled in his
hymn: “He chose us in him” — in
Christ — “before the foundation of
the world”. Here is the source of our
prayer: “Blessed are you, Lord, because you have chosen me!”. Man
must, so to speak, feel the “joy of
paternal and gentle closeness”.
The same thing happened to the
people of Israel when they were
freed from Babylon, the Pontiff recalled, citing several verses of Psalm
126[125]: “‘When the Lord restored
the fortunes of Zion, we were like
those who dream’ — We couldn’t believe it! — ‘Then our mouth was
filled with laughter, and our tongue
with shouts of joy’”. And the Pope
observed: “Let’s think of a broad
smile: this is a prayer of praise”, it is
the immediate expression of immense joy”, of “being joyful before
the Lord”. It is the disposition of
the heart not to forget: “Let’s make
an effort to find it again” he urged,
calling on us to use the very words
of Psalm 98[97]: “Sing praises to the
Lord with the lyre, with the lyre
and the sound of melody! With
trumpets and the sound of the
horn, make a joyful noise before
the King, the Lord!”.
It is very important to remember how much the Lord has
done for each one of us, “how
He accompanied me with tenderness, how He lowered Himself,
He bent down” in the same way
as a father who “bends down to
help his child walk”. And, the
Pope underscored, He has done
so “with each one of us”.
“All is celebration, all is joy” if
each one — as St Paul himself attests to the Ephesians — can say:
“the Lord chose me before the
foundation of the world”. This is
“the starting point”. Even if,
Francis emphasized, “one can’t
understand” and “one can’t imagine: that the Lord knew me before the creation of the world,
that my name was in the Lord’s
heart”. But “this is truth, this is revelation”. And, the Pontiff added, “if
we don’t believe this, then we aren’t
Christians”. Perhaps, he explained,
“we could be permeated by a theistic religiosity”, but we wouldn’t be
Christians, because precisely this being “chosen” is characteristic of
Christians.
The thought of having always
lived in the heart of God “fills us
with joy” and “gives us security”.
This security is confirmed by the
Lord’s words to the Prophet Isaiah,
who asked himself whether this affection could ever fail: “Can a mother forget her children? And even
should a mother forget them I will
not forget you”. God holds each of
us in his “bosom”, the way “a baby
is inside his mother”.
This truth, Francis pointed out, is
so great and beautiful that it can be
tempting not to think about it, to
avoid it as it looms over us. In fact,
“it cannot be understood with the
mind”, and “not even with the
heart”. To make it our own and to
experience it, he explained, “we
must enter into the mystery of Jesus
Christ”, of He who “so freely shed
his blood for us”, and who “has
made known to us in all wisdom
and insight the mystery of his will”.
Hence the third fundamental approach of the Christian, after those
of the prayer of praise and of knowing how to remember. The Christian
is called “to enter into the mystery”
above all when “we celebrate the
Eucharist”, as we are unable to fully
comprehend “that the Lord is alive,
He is with us, here, in his glory, his
fullness, and He gives his life for us
once again”.
It is an approach, the Pontiff concluded, that we must make an effort
to “learn every day” because “the
mystery can’t be controlled: it’s a
mystery! We must enter it”.
Friday, 17 October
Where Heaven begins
A Christian cannot allow himself “to
be lukewarm”: he has a specific
identity which was given by the seal
of the Holy Spirit. During Mass at
Santa Marta on Friday, Pope Francis
turned his reflection to the beginning of the Letter of Paul to the
Ephesians
and
on
Christians
“chosen by the Lord before the creation of the world”. Among those
present in the chapel was Shoah survivor Enzo Camerino, who had previously met the Pontiff on 16 October 2013, on the 70th anniversary of
the raid on the ghetto of Rome.
The Lord, the Pontiff said, recalling the words of St Paul, “not only
chose us” but also “gave us an identity”. And, Francis explained, we did
not inherit merely a name, “but an
identity, a way of life, which is not
only a list of customs, it’s more: it’s
an actual identity”. And how have
we been “marked” so deeply? The
Everyday life is sprinkled with
temptations, first of all, with that of
“not realizing this beauty that we’ve
received”. When this happens, the
Spirit, to use an expression of
Paul’s, “grieves”: this happens, the
Holy Father underlined, not when
we want “to erase the identity, but to
render it opaque”. This is the case of
the “lukewarm Christian”, the one
who “goes to Mass on Sunday, yes,
but the identity isn’t seen in his
life”; the one who, despite being a
Christian, “lives like a pagan”. Then
there is another risk, the other sin
“which Jesus speaks to the disciples
about” when he tells them: “Beware
of the leaven of the Pharisees, which
is hypocrisy”. It happens, the Pope
recalled, that some “pretend to be
Christians”, those who lack “transparency” in their actions, who profess one thing in words but act differently in fact. “And this”, he added, “is what the doctors of the law
did”; it is the leaven of “hypocrisy”
which risks growing inside us.
Rendering our identity opaque
and betraying it in our actions are
“two sins against this seal” which “is
a beautiful gift of God, the Spirit”
and is the “guarantee of what awaits
us”, of what “we have been promised”. This is why we are able to say
that “we have Heaven in our grasp”.
What, then, the Pontiff asked, is
“the true conduct of a Christian?”.
We learn it from Paul himself: “The
fruit of the Spirit, which comes from
our identity, is love, joy, peace, magnanimity, good will, goodness, faith-
Sadao Watanabe, “Pentecost”
Apostle writes: you have been
“sealed with the Holy Spirit”. Our
identity, the Bishop of Rome stated,
“is this very seal, this power of the
Holy Spirit, which we have all received in Baptism”.
And since the Holy Spirit had
been promised to us by Jesus, “He
sealed our heart” and, what’s more,
He “walks with us”. He not only
gives us an identity, but it is also the
“guarantee of our inheritance. Heaven begins there”. A Christian thus
acts in earthly life but is already living from the perspective of eternity”.
Pope Francis further emphasized:
“With this seal we have Heaven in
our grasp”.
fulness, meekness, self-control”. And
this, Pope Francis concluded, is “our
road toward Heaven”.
Tuesday, 21 October
Waiting with hope
Christians are called to be men and
women of hope, united by the certainty of a God who does not give
up. This was part of the message of
Pope Francis’ homily during Mass
at Santa Marta on Tuesday morning.
Looking at the day’s Reading
from the Gospel of Luke (12:35-38),
CONTINUED ON PAGE 15
number 43, Friday, 24 October 2014
L’OSSERVATORE ROMANO
page 15
Message of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue to Hindus for the feast of Deepavali
For a culture of inclusion
“Christians and Hindus: Together to
Foster a Culture of ‘Inclusion’” is the
theme of the message by the Pontifical
Council for Interreligious Dialogue to
Hindus for the feast of Deepavali,
which will be celebrated on 23 October.
The President and the Secretary signed
the message of which is the following.
Dear Hindu Friends,
1. The Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue joyfully greets all
of you on the festive occasion of
Deepavali, celebrated on 23 October
this year. May the Transcendent
Light illumine your hearts, homes
and communities, and may all your
celebrations deepen the sense of belonging to one another in your families and neighbourhoods, and bring
even more harmony and happiness,
peace and prosperity.
2. We wish to reflect with you this
year on the theme “Fostering together a culture of ‘inclusion’”. In the
face of increasing discrimination, violence and exclusion throughout the
world, “nurturing a culture of inclusion” can be rightly seen as one of
the most genuine aspirations of
people everywhere.
3. It is true that globalization has
opened many new frontiers and
provided fresh opportunities to develop, among other things, better
educational and healthcare facilities.
It has ushered in a greater awareness
of democracy and social justice in
the world, and our planet has truly
become a “global village” due in
large part to modern means of communication and transportation. It
can also be said, however, that globalization has not achieved its
primary objective of integrating local
peoples into the global community.
Rather, globalization has contributed significantly to many peoples
losing their sociocultural, economic
and political identities.
4. The negative effects of globalization have also had an impact on religious communities throughout the
world since they are intimately related to surrounding cultures. In
fact, globalization has contributed to
the fragmentation of society and to
an increase in relativism and syncretism in religious matters, as well as
bringing about a privatization of religion. Religious fundamentalism
and ethnic, tribal and sectarian violence in different parts of the world
today are largely manifestations of
the discontent, uncertainty and insecurity among peoples, particularly
the poor and marginalized who have
been excluded from the benefits of
globalization.
5. The negative consequences of
globalization, such as widespread
materialism
and
consumerism,
A man prays during Deepavali celebrations at a temple in Kuala Lumpur (Reuters)
moreover, have made people more
self-absorbed, power-hungry and indifferent to the rights, needs and
sufferings of others. This, in the
words of Pope Francis, has led to a
“‘globalization of indifference’ which
makes us slowly inured to the suffering of others and closed in on
ourselves” (Message for the World
Day of Peace, 2014). Such indifference gives rise to a “culture of exclusion” (cf. Pope Francis, Address to
the Apostolic Movement of the Blind
and the Little Mission for the Deaf
and Mute, 29 March 2014) in which
Mass at Santa Marta
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 14
in which Jesus calls on his disciples
to be as servants, vigilant and
awaiting the master’s return from a
wedding, the Pontiff asked: “Who
is this lord, this master, who is
coming home from a marriage
feast, who is coming late at night?”.
The answer comes from Jesus himself: “It is I who have come to
serve you, to gird my loins, to seat
you at the table, to serve you”.
St Paul, too, in the Letter to the
Ephesians (2:12-22), reiterates that
it is Jesus who has “come to serve,
not to be served”. And the first gift
that we received from him is that of
an identity. Jesus has given us “citizenship, membership in a commonwealth, a first and last name”.
Taking up the words of the
Apostle, who reminds the pagans
that when they were separated from
Christ they were “alienated from
the commonwealth”, Francis highlighted: “Without Christ we have
no identity”.
Thanks to Him, indeed, from being separated we have become one
“people”. We were “enemies,
without peace”, isolated, but Jesus,
“united us with his blood”. This
theme also comes from St Paul,
who writes in the Letter to the
Ephesians: “For he is our peace,
who has made us both one, and
has broken down the dividing
wall”. We all know, the Bishop of
Rome recalled, that “when we are
not at peace with people, there is a
wall that divides us”. But Jesus “offers us his service to knock down
this wall”. Thanks to Him “we are
able to meet each other”.
From a people broken apart,
comprised of men isolated from
one another, Jesus, with his service,
“has brought everyone near, has
made us one body”. And He has
reconciled everyone in God”. Thus,
“from enemies” we have become
“friends”, and from “strangers” we
can now feel we are “children”.
“But what is the condition”
through which from “strangers”,
from “sojourners” we are able to
become “fellow citizens with the
saints”? To have confidence, the
Pope answered, in the master’s return from the wedding feast, in Jesus. It is necessary to “await Him”
and to be ever ready: “Those who
do not await Jesus, close the door
to Jesus, don’t allow Him to do
this work of peace, of community,
of citizenship; moreover: of name”.
That name that reminds us who we
truly are: “children of God”.
This is why “a Christian is a man
or a woman of hope”, because he
or she “knows that the Lord will
come”. And when this happens, although “we don’t know when”, no
longer will “we find ourselves isolated, enemies”, but rather as He,
through his service, has made us:
“friends, neighbours, at peace”.
For this reason, Pope Francis
concluded, it is important to ask
ourselves: “How do I await Jesus?”.
But above all: “Do I or do I not
await” Jesus? Many times, in fact,
even we Christians “behave like pagans” and “live as if nothing could
happen”. We must be careful not to
be like a “selfish pagan”, who acts
as though he himself “were a king”
and thinks: “I can manage on my
own”. Those who behave in this
manner come to no good, end up
nameless, with no one close,
without citizenship. Each one of us
must instead ask ourselves: “Do I
believe in this hope, that He will
come?”. And: “Do I have an open
heart to hear the sound, when He
knocks at the door, when He opens
the door?”.
the poor, marginalized and vulnerable are denied their rights, as well
as the opportunities and resources
that are available to other members
of society. They are treated as insignificant, dispensable, burdensome,
unnecessary, to be used and even
discarded like objects. In various
ways, the exploitation of children
and women, the neglect of the elderly, sick, differently-abled, migrants
and refugees, and the persecution of
minorities are sure indicators of this
culture of exclusion.
6. Nurturing a culture of inclusion
thus becomes a common call and a
shared responsibility, which must be
urgently undertaken. It is a project
involving those who care for the
health and survival of the human
family here on earth and which
needs to be carried out amidst, and
in spite of, the forces that perpetuate
the culture of exclusion.
7. As people grounded in our own
respective religious traditions and
with shared convictions, may we,
Hindus and Christians, join together
with followers of other religions and
with people of good will to foster a
culture of inclusion for a just and
peaceful society.
We wish you all a Happy
Deepavali!
CARDINAL JEAN-LOUIS TAURAN
President
FR MIGUEL ÁNGEL AYUSO
GUIXOT, MCCJ
Secretary
World Meeting of Popular Movements
announced
From 27-29 October the World Meeting of Popular Movements, organized
by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace in collaboration with the
Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, will take place. The activities of the
first and third day will be held at the Salesianum in Rome, while on Tuesday the meeting will be held in the Old Synod Hall in the Vatican.
The encounter is principally for organizations and movements of excluded and marginalized persons. Over 100 delegates are expected from
groups which bring together workers who are at risk or lack job security, in
the informal sector or self-employed, migrants and all those unprotected by
labour laws or trade unions; landless farmers, indigenous people and those
at risk of being driven out of the countryside by agro-speculation and violence; the marginalized and forgotten, including squatters and inhabitants of
peripheral neighbourhoods or informal settlements, without adequate urban
infrastructure. At the end of the meeting a global network will be created to
coordinate these organizations with the Church’s support.
L’OSSERVATORE ROMANO
page 16
Paul
VI
Friday, 24 October 2014, number 43
and the artists
You are the custodians of beauty in the world
ANTONIO PAOLUCCI
iovanni Battista Montini was a
G man of acknowledged intellectu-
al and cultural depth, extended and
refined during his time in Paris. He
was and admirer of the philosopher
Jacques Maritain, a friend of Jean
Guitton, who wrote his spiritual biography, attentive to the avant-garde,
and sensitive to the movements and
ideas which were sweeping through
Europe in the early 1900s. He was
able to know and spend time with
Cocteau, Severini, Chagall and Rouault, among others, and to reflect on
the writings of Paul Sérusier and of
Maurice Denis.
An exhibition in
the Vatican
Above: Ernst Günter Hansing,
“Paul VI prays” (1969); right: the
Hall of Popes in the Vatican
Museums
The exhibition “Paul VI and the
Artists: ‘You are the custodians of
beauty in the world’” was
inaugurated on Thursday
afternoon, 16 October, in the
Charlemagne Wing in St Peter’s
Square. It is a tribute to Pope
Montini on his Beatification and
contains works of art from the
Collection of Contemporary Art
of the Vatican Museums, which
was opened at the wish of the
Pontiff. An initiative of the
Governorate of Vatican City State
— Vatican Museums, it will
remain open until 15 November.
The catalogue, of which we are
publishing extracts here, was
published by the Vatican
Museums Editions, was presented
by the Director Antonio Paolucci
and contains texts by the curator,
Francesca Boschetti, as well as
other texts by Paul VI.
Of reflective temperament and inclined to pessimism, Giovanni Battista Montini knew that to heal the
rift between art and the Church
would be a difficult and extremely
risky undertaking, however, as an intellectual and as a pastor, he believed
that the risk must be taken, that
Catholicism could not escape confrontation with the artistic reality of
the times.
In his speech to artists held in the
Sistine Chapel on 7 May 1964, a year
after his succession to the Throne of
St Peter with the name of Paul VI,
Giovanni Battista Montini elaborated
and proposed an aesthetic doctrine
destined to become one of the most
important pages in the history of
20th century Catholicism. Paul VI regarded the artist as a person called to
render visible that which is transcendent, inexpressible, “ineffable”,
in the fullness of his expressive freedom and therefore in the exercise of
his “creative” spontaneity.
The Collection of Contemporary
Art, an autonomous department of
the Vatican Museums inaugurated by
Paul VI on 23 June 1973, after he had
personally and lovingly taken part in
its construction, together with his
secretary Msgr Paquale Macchi, was
destined to witness to the “religiosity” present in modern and contemporary art; now entrusted to traditional iconographies, now underlying
“secular” subjects, such as landscapes, still life, portraits, and informal compositions. Starting with
the recognition of the innate “religiosity” in the figurative forms of modernity it would be possible — this was
the Pope’s ultimate thinking — to set
about healing the rift between the
Church and artists and prefigure the
“sacred art” of the future.
For all these reasons and more the
Vatican Museums’ Gallery of Contemporary Art, with its 450 works on
display and thousands more in store,
with its masterpieces by Matisse and
Van Gogh, Chagall and Otto Dix,
Bacon and Fontana, Rouault and
Severini, Arturo Martini and Manzù,
appears today as one of the greatest
bequests to the universal culture of
the 20th century Church. We of the
Museums cannot let the beatification
of this great Pontiff pass without expressing our gratitude and our admiration for what he did for the
world of the arts.
The earthly garden of religious art
FRANCESCA BOSCHETTI
Less than a year after his election, on 7 May 1964,
the Feast of the Ascension, Paul VI called the art
world to the Sistine Chapel and addressed those
present with an intense discourse, which was to
be fundamental for the birth of the ‘Collection of
Modern Religious Art’.
During his discourse he decisively expressed his
ideas on the freedom of the artist, whose expressive autonomy must be respected, and asked pardon for the distance that had been created
between the Church and contemporary artistic
culture, with respect to the fertile relationship in
the past, and manifested the hope that this bond
so long broken might finally be mended. It was a
bold challenge, made at the highest level, which
took its inspiration from the great tradition of
Renaissance Pontiffs and was aimed at the realisation of an ambitious and entirely practical project:
to set up, without using any funds of the Holy
See, a collection which would document one of
the most fertile periods in the history of western
art, with special attention being paid to the religiosity of art.
Thus the preliminary phases of the birth of the
Collection took place, conducted by Paul VI’s personal Secretary, Msgr Pasquale Macchi, with the
collaboration of Msgr Giovanni Fallani, from 1956
President of the Pontifical Central Committee for
Sacred Art in Italy and from 1963 of the Permanent Committee for the Care of Historic and
Artistic Monuments of the Holy See, and Msgr
Ennio Francia. The latter had already, in 1956,
taken part in the project to collect a small nucleus
of 20th-century works in the Vatican, something
desired by Pius XII; this project had led to the
opening, in 1960, of the Vatican Picture Gallery
with two rooms devoted to artists of the 1900s. A
limited but significant precedent for the much
more far-reaching project begun by Paul VI in
1964. In the nine years following the meeting in
the Sistine Chapel, Msgr Macchi involved public
and private institutions, personally met with
artists, collectors, and beneficiaries, and created a
network of relationships which allowed him to
put together a nucleus of around 900 works
which, notwithstanding the limited time it had
taken, embraced a wide geographical area and included names of the highest quality. Among the
richest geographical nuclei were those relating to
Germany and France, testimony to the great interest that Paul VI had taken in the art and culture of these two areas since his youth. In the exhibition a selection of works dedicated to ‘Paul VI
and France’ documents the birth of this privileged relationship, by means of the presence of
names and faces of many of the protagonists who,
in the early 1920s gravitated to the house of
Jacques and Raïssa Maritain in Meudon.
Here the young Montini came into contact
with a group of intellectuals and artists who
reasoned together on the ties between the categories of art and spirituality, and it was here that
he established the roots of his aesthetic thinking,
which was to give such vitality to the birth of the
Collection.
In November 1973 all the works which made up
the personal collection of Paul VI were formally
acquired by the Vatican Museums, passing into a
public dimension and becoming part of the historic, artistic and cultural fabric of the “earthly
garden of Religious Art”, as Paul VI defined the
Vatican Museums.