Month: January 2018

Vatican City, Jan 29, 2018 / 06:40 am (CNA/EWTN News).- On Monday Pope Francis released a new apostolic constitution calling for a “radical” reform to the nature and curriculum of ecclesiastical universities and institutions.

“The primary need today is for the whole People of God to be ready to embark upon a new stage of Spirit-filled evangelization,” the Pope said in the document, “Vertatis Gaudium.”

This new stage of evangelization, he said, “calls for a resolute process of discernment, purification and reform. In this process, a fitting renewal of the system of ecclesiastical studies plays a strategic role.”

Signed Dec. 8, 2017, and published Jan. 29, 2018, the 87-page document is Francis’ is titled “Veritatis Gaudium,” meaning “the joy of truth.”

The document deals specifically with ecclesiastical universities and faculties, which, differing from regular Catholic universities, offer Vatican-approved degrees required to teach in seminaries or at pontifical universities.

It consists of two parts dedicated to general norms and specific norms, and also contains an appendix and norms of application. The document is meant to “update” previous norms, and abrogates any prior rules which contradict the new ones laid out by Pope Francis in Veritatis Gaudium.

The document abrogates any contrary norms established by John Paul II’s 1979 Apostolic Constitution “Sapientia Christiana,” issued after a careful study of the Second Vatican Council’s decree “Optatam Totius” on ecclesiastical studies. However, John Paul II’s 1990 Apostolic Constitution “Ex corde Ecclesiae” is not impacted , as it deals specifically with Catholic colleges and universities, rather than ecclesiastical academic entities.

Criteria

In the foreword for his new constitution, Pope Francis, who has often spoken of the importance of education, said that while offering a great contribution to the Church’s life and mission, Sapientia Christiana “urgently needs to be brought up to date.”

“While remaining fully valid in its prophetic vision and its clarity of expression, the constitution ought to include the norms and dispositions issued since its promulgation, and to take into account developments in the area of academic studies in these past decades,” he said.

“There is also a need to acknowledge the changed social-cultural context worldwide and to implement initiatives on the international level to which the Holy See has adhered.”

Francis noted that the world is currently living not only a time of change, but it is also experiencing “a true epochal shift, marked by a wide-ranging anthropological and environmental crisis,” such as natural, social and financial disasters which are swiftly reaching “a breaking point.”

This reality, he said, requires “changing the models of global development and redefining our notion of progress.” However, a great problem in doing this is the fact that “we still lack the culture necessary to confront this crisis. We lack leadership capable of striking out on new paths.”

Because of this, he said that on the cultural level as well as that of academic training and scientific study, “a radical paradigm shift” and “a bold cultural revolution” are needed which involve a worldwide network of ecclesiastical universities and faculties which are capable of promoting the Gospel and Church Tradition, but which are also “ever open to new situations and ideas.”

“Philosophy and theology permit one to acquire the convictions that structure and strengthen the intelligence and illuminate the will,” he said, but cautioned that this “is fruitful only if it is done with an open mind and on one’s knees.”

“The theologian who is satisfied with his complete and conclusive thought is mediocre,” Francis said. However, “the good theologian and philosopher has an open, that is, an incomplete, thought, always open to the maius of God and of the truth, always in development.”

Pope Francis then listed four criteria for ecclesiastical studies which he said are rooted in the Second Vatican Council’s teaching and and inspired by the changes that have taken place in the decades since.

The first of the criteria, he said, is the “contemplation and the presentation of a spiritual, intellectual and existential introduction to the heart of the kerygma, namely the ever fresh and attractive good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”

Secondly, he said there is need for a “wide-ranging dialogue” which is not merely a “tactical approach,” but which is “an intrinsic requirement for experiencing in community the joy of the truth and appreciating more fully its meaning and practical implications.”

He then pointed to the need for an “inter-disciplinary and cross-disciplinary” approach which is carried out “with wisdom and creativity in the light of revelation.”

“What distinguishes the academic, formative and research approach of the system of ecclesiastical studies, on the level of both content and method,” he said, “is the vital intellectual principle of the unity in difference of knowledge and respect for its multiple, correlated and convergent expressions.”

The fourth and final criteria the Pope gave was “the urgent need for networking” between worldwide institutions that “cultivate and promote ecclesiastical studies, in order to set up suitable channels of cooperation also with academic institutions in the different countries and with those inspired by different cultural and religious traditions.”

In this regard, he said there is a need to establish more specialized centers of research dedicated to studying “the epochal issues affecting humanity today and to offer appropriate and realistic paths for their resolution.”

He urged the competent authorities to give a “new impulse” to scientific research conducted in ecclesiastical universities and faculties, saying the need for new and qualified research centers is “indispensable.”

These centers, the Pope said, ought to include scholars from different religious universities and from different scientific fields who can interact with “responsible freedom and mutual transparency.”

He said plans are already under way for the establishment of “outstanding interdisciplinary centers and initiatives aimed at accompanying the development of advanced technologies, the best use of human resources and programs of integration.”

Norms

In the new norms, Francis outlined the role, nature and purpose of ecclesiastical universities and faculties, saying they are to evangelize and, through scientific research, better enunciate the truths of the faith and present them in “a manner adapted to various cultures.”

Bishops’ conferences will be charged with overseeing the life and progress of the universities, and are to be headed by a chancellor who will serve as the entity’s go-between with the Holy See. All ecclesial universities and institutions will be overseen by the Congregation for Catholic Education, headed by Cardinal Giuseppe Versaldi.

Regarding the role of teachers, the Pope said there must be several teachers of various ranks in each faculty, including permanent ones.

Criteria necessary to be considered for appointment to such faculties include the need to be “distinguished by wealth of knowledge, witness of Christian and ecclesial life, and a sense of responsibility.”

Teachers, Francis said, must also have a doctorate or similar equivalent title or scientific accomplishment; they must show “documentary proof” of their suitability for doing scientific research, preferably a published dissertation, and they must demonstrate adequate teaching ability.

He also stressed that all teachers, no matter their rank, “must be marked by an upright life, integrity of doctrine, and devotion to duty, so that they can effectively contribute to the proper goals of an ecclesiastical academic institution.”

This goes for both Catholics and non-Catholics, as the document allows for non-Catholic professors to teach specialized courses at ecclesiastical universities and institutions in their areas of expertise.

Francis said that should any of the required criteria cease, “the teachers must be removed from their post, observing the established procedures.”

Teachers who instruct on faith and morals, he said, “are to be conscious of their duty to carry out their work in full communion with the authentic Magisterium of the Church, above all, with that of the Roman Pontiff.”

On the role of students who attend the ecclesiastical universities and institutions, the Pope said these entities must be open “to all who can legally give testimony to leading a moral life and to having completed the previous studies appropriate to enrolling in the faculty.”

As far as the study plan for ecclesiastical entities, the Pope said they must place a focus on ecclesial texts, with special emphasis on those from the Second Vatican Council, while also taking into account scientific advances that contribute to answering questions on modern concerns.

“Up-to-date didactic and teaching methods should be applied in an appropriate way, in order to bring about the personal involvement of the students and their active participation in their studies,” he said.

The Pope also said there must be freedom and flexibility in terms of research, but stressed that it must be “based upon firm adherence to God’s Word and deference to the Church’s Magisterium, whose duty it is to interpret authentically the Word of God.”

“Therefore, in such a weighty matter one must proceed with trust, and without suspicion, but the same time with prudence and without rashness, especially in teaching; moreover, one must carefully harmonize the necessities of science with the pastoral needs of the People of God.”

He said faculties of theology have the specific task of “profoundly studying and systematically explaining, according to the scientific method proper to it, Catholic doctrine, derived with the greatest care from divine revelation” and of carefully seeking solutions to human problems in light of this revelation.

Revealed truth, the Pope said, must be considered alongside valid scientific accomplishments, in order to see “how faith and reason give harmonious witness to the unity of all truth.”

“Also, its exposition is to be such that, without any change of the truth, there is adaptation to the nature and character of every culture, taking special account of the philosophy and the wisdom of various peoples,” Pope Francis said, but stressed that “all syncretism and every kind of false particularism are to be excluded.”

While the positive aspects of the various cultures and philosophies studied are to be sought and taken up after careful examination, he said “systems and methods incompatible with Christian faith must not be accepted.”

Ecumenical questions must be “carefully treated,” as well as questions regarding relationships with non-Christian religions. In addition, Francis said problems that arise from atheism and other currents of contemporary culture must also be “scrupulously studied.”

“In studying and teaching the Catholic doctrine, fidelity to the Magisterium of the Church is always to be emphasized. In the carrying out of teaching duties, especially in the basic cycle, those things are, above all, to be imparted which belong to the received patrimony of the Church,” he said. “Hypothetical or personal opinions which come from new research are to be modestly presented as such.”

Faculties of canon law, whether in the Latin rite or in Eastern rites, must cultivate and promote the judicial disciplines in light of the Gospel, he said.

These faculties, Francis said, should include a first, two-year cycle for those who have no prior education in philosophy and theology, as well as those who have a degree in civil law. During this first cycle, students ought to study the basic concepts of canon law, philosophy and theology in order to advance.

In the second cycle, which he said should last three years, students must become familiar with canon law “in all its expressions,” including the normative, jurisprudential, doctrinal, praxis, and the codes for both the Latin and Eastern Churches should be studied “in depth” with magisterial and disciplinary sources.

As with theology, the third cycle ought to consist of a suitable time-frame in which students finish their training with scholarly research aimed at preparing a doctoral dissertation.

Faculties of philosophy, he said, have the aim of “investigating philosophical problems according to scientific methodology, basing itself on a heritage of perennially valid philosophy.”

Philosophical study, Francis said, must look for solutions in the light of “natural reason” and must also demonstrate “consistency with the Christian view of the world, of man, and of God, placing in a proper light the relationship between philosophy and theology.”

The first cycle of study, he said, should last for three years and consist of an “organic exposition” of the various aspects of philosophy – including the world, man and God – as well as a look at the history of philosophy and an introduction to the method of scientific research.

In the second cycle, which should last for two years, Francis said specializations ought to begin through special disciplines and seminars. The third cycle, which he said should last for three years, must promote “philosophical maturity” through writing a dissertation.

The document also included new norms on other types of faculties, degrees, financial management, strategic planning and cooperation, and leadership ad government for ecclesiastical universities and institutions.

These new norms will go into effect on the first day of the 2018-2019 academic year or of the 2019 academic year, depending on the calendar year of the various academic entities. Each faculty or university must present their revised statutes and plan of studies before Dec. 8, 2019.

After being presented, the new statutes and plans of study will be approved “ad experimentum” for a three-year period. However, faculties with a juridical connection with civil authorities can be given a longer period of time with permission from the Congregation for Catholic Education.

[…]

Vatican City, Jan 28, 2018 / 05:12 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Sunday, after leading the Angelus, Pope Francis prayed for victims of two recent attacks in Afghanistan, holding a moment of silent prayer for the more than 100 people who lost their lives, the more than 200 injured, and their families.

“Yesterday from Afghanistan arrived the painful news of the terrible terrorist massacre carried out in the capital Kabul, with almost a hundred dead and numerous wounded,” the Pope said Jan. 28.

“A few days ago another serious attack, still in Kabul, had sowed terror and death in a large hotel.”

“How long will the Afghan people have to endure this inhumane violence? We pray in silence for all the victims and their families; and we pray for those in that country who continue to work to build peace.”

More than 100 people were killed, and over 200 wounded, by an explosion Jan. 27 in Kabul, the capital city of Afghanistan. Attackers drove an ambulance rigged with a bomb into a crowded street, in an area of the city full of government buildings and embassies.

It was the deadliest attack the country has experienced in recent months, and follows just one week after an attack by gunmen on a hotel, also in Kabul.

Jan. 20 a group of gunmen entered the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul, shooting at guests and detonating grenades, the BBC reports. The battle between gunmen and special forces lasted 12 hours. At least 18 people were killed, including the four gunmen.

The fundamentalist Islamist group known as the Taliban has claimed responsibility for both attacks this week.

Pope Francis’ appeal for peace in Afghanistan was made after leading the usual Sunday Angelus from a window in Casa Santa Marta. In his message before the prayer, he reflected on the day’s reading from the Gospel of Mark.

In the passage, Jesus preaches in the temple, “with authority,” and performs an exorcism, driving an unclean spirit from a man with the words: “Quiet! Come out of him!”

Here we see Jesus manifest “God’s plan with words and with the power of works,” Francis said.

“In fact, in the Gospel, we see that Jesus, in his earthly mission, reveals the love of God both through preaching and with countless gestures of attention and assistance to the sick, the needy, children and sinners.”

From it we also learn how to overcome our own struggles and temptations with the grace of God. “Think of what great grace it is for us to have known this God so powerful and so good! A teacher and a friend, who shows us the way and takes care of us, especially when we are in need,” he said.

At the end of the Angelus, the Pope also referenced the day’s commemoration of the World Day for Leprosy Patients.

“Unfortunately, this disease still affects the most disadvantaged and poorest people. To these brothers and sisters, we assure our closeness and solidarity; and we also pray for those who assist them and work for their reintegration into society,” he said.

Cardinal Peter Turkson, head of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, also released a message for the day. In it he wrote that it is worrying that despite intense efforts, humanity has not been able to definitively eradicate the “ancient” disease of leprosy.

Leprosy, also called Hansen’s Disease, continues to be a significant health problem, he stated, primarily affecting people in precarious socio-economic conditions.

In 2017, the World Health Organization found a high concentration of the disease in just 14 countries, which alone account for 95 percent of new cases. India, Brazil and Indonesia have some of the highest rates.

The social stigma surrounding the disease remains one of the difficulties, Turkson wrote, quoting Pope Francis’ words at an Angelus in January 2017, to “fight against this disease, but also against the discrimination that it generates.”

“I thank all those who, for various reasons, are committed to the sick with Hansen’s disease. May you assist and protect the Good Lord through the intercession of the numerous saints who have made the service of these sick people the reason for their life,” the message concluded.

[…]

Vatican City, Jan 28, 2018 / 04:09 am (CNA/EWTN News).- At Mass in the Basilica of St. Mary Major Sunday, Pope Francis said that when we go through difficult times or have problems or worries, Mary is our shield, guarding our faith and protecting us from evil.

“Where the Madonna is at home the devil does not enter; where there is the Mother disturbance does not prevail, fear does not win,” the Pope said Jan. 28.

“Who of us does not need this, who of us is not sometimes upset or restless? How often the heart is a stormy sea, where the waves of problems overlap, and the winds of worry do not cease to blow! Mary is the sure ark in the midst of the flood.”

Pope Francis celebrated a special Mass at the Basilica of St. Mary Major for the Feast of the transfer of the icon of Salus Populi Romani.

Salus Populi Romani (Protectress of the Roman People) is the title of an ancient Byzantine icon of Mary and the Child Jesus, traditionally held to be painted by St. Luke the Evangelist and to have arrived in Rome in the 6th century.

It was first canonically crowned in 1838 by Pope Gregory XVI and a second time in 1954 by Pope Pius XII. It has a long history of devotion by the Roman people, as well as by popes. It resides in the Pauline, also called Borghese, Chapel in St. Mary Major.

Francis has a special devotion to the image. His first visit as pontiff was to the Basilica of St. Mary Major to pray before the image following his election.

The image has been undergoing extensive restoration in the Vatican Museums, and the Mass also served as the image’s official unveiling following the work.

In his homily, Pope Francis said that it is “a great danger to faith, to live without a mother, without protection, letting ourselves be carried away by life like leaves by the wind.”

Just like persecuted people once took refuge under the cloak of the noble, high-ranking women of their village, in “turbulent moments” we must take shelter under the mantle of Mary, “the highest woman of mankind,” for our own protection.

“Her coat is always open to welcome us and gather us,” he said. “The Mother guards faith, protects relationships, saves in bad weather and preserves from evil.”

As Christians, we cannot be neutral or detached from our Mother, he continued. “Because without a Mother we cannot be children. And we are, first of all, children, beloved children, who have God for a Father and the Madonna for a Mother.”

To illustrate his point, Francis recalled a story of a woman who sat beside the bed of her son in the hospital. He was in pain after an accident, and the mother remained by his bed day and night.

Once she complained to a visiting priest that God never allowed one thing to a mother, which is to suffer in place of her child.

“Here is the mother’s heart,” the Pope said. “She is not ashamed of the wounds, of the weaknesses of her children, but she wants (to take) them on herself.”

And this is how it happens every time, he said. Whether we lack hope, or joy, or our strength is exhausted; whatever our problem, our Mother intervenes.

“And she never, never despises our prayers; she does not let even one fall. She is a Mother, she is never ashamed of us, she only waits to be able to help her children.”

“Let’s make the Mother the guest of our daily life, the constant presence in our home, our safe haven,” he concluded. “Let’s entrust (ourselves) to her every day. Let’s invoke her in every turbulence. And let’s not forget to come back to her to thank her.”

[…]

Vatican City, Jan 28, 2018 / 03:55 am (CNA).- “I’ve been expecting you.”

These were reportedly the foreboding last words of Blessed Giuseppe “Pino” Puglisi, an Italian priest who was shot and killed by the Italian mafia in 1993.

Declared a martyr by Pope Benedict XVI in 2012 and beatified in 2013, the priest is being honored once again by the Vatican, which has just released a commemorative stamp in his honor on the 25th anniversary of his martyrdom.

 

#Vatican issues stamp commemorating 25th anniversary of the assassination of anti-mafia priest Don Pino Puglisi pic.twitter.com/06bLMCtBHE

— Edward Pentin (@EdwardPentin) January 23, 2018

 

Blessed Puglisi was born on Sept. 15, 1937 to a modest working-class family in Palermo, Italy. He entered the seminary at the age of 16, and was ordained a priest in 1960 at the age of 22.

Throughout his priesthood, he was known for being outspoken against injustices – including Communism, the Mafia, and problems within the Church.

He was also passionately involved in youth ministry and in promoting vocations.

Archbishop Salvatore Di Cristina, a fellow priest and friend of Puglisi, recalled to the National Catholic Register in 2013 the transformative effect that Puglisi had on the whole town of Godrano.

Once an entangled mob town with an unspoken curfew and neighbors that were afraid of each other, Puglisi’s pastoral approach “won over the kids of the town, and after the kids, he won over the families. After his departure, Godrano was completely transformed,” he said.

While there are some who “would define him as a social-action priest or some kind of ‘anti-Mafia’ professional,” Archbishop Di Cristina said that was not really the case.

“He just deeply lived his vocation,” he said.

In 1990, Puglisi was transferred to San Gaetano’s parish in Brancaccio, another mob-ridden town in Palermo. His approach was the same – to win over the youth and be a pastor to his flock.

“Father Puglisi was not a typical anti-Mafia priest. He did not organize rallies or make public condemnation of Mafia,” Archbishop Michele Pennisi told the National Catholic Register in 2013. “[The] Mafia does not see that kind of priest as dangerous.”

Puglisi was actually considered more dangerous “because he educated young people,” Archbishop Pennisi said. He would convince youth not to steal or quit school and encouraged them away from the Mafia, who would often use children to help them traffic drugs and other illicit materials.

Puglisi preached against the Mafia, ignored their threats, banned them from leading religious processions and even stealthily gave clues to the authorities about their latest activities in his homilies. Consequently, his life was threatened by the mob numerous times, unbeknownst to even those closest to him until after his death.

Just months prior to his murder, while the Italian state was in peak conflict against the mob, Pope John Paul II blasted the Mafia in an impromptu speech during a visit to Sicily in May 1993.

“You must understand that you cannot kill the innocent. God once said, ‘Thou shalt not kill.’ No man, no human organization, no mafia can kill or stamp out this most holy right of God!” John Paul II declared. In later comments to EWTN, Archbishop Giancarlo Maria Bregantini said the powerful speech was one of the rare times he saw the Holy Father truly angry. The fiery speech, coupled with government crackdowns, prompted the Mafia to plant several car bombs throughout Italy that spring, leaving at least 10 people dead.

On September 15, 1993, having received numerous warnings and death threats, Fr. Puglisi was shot in the neck at point-blank range by Mafia hitmen under the direction of local Mafia bosses, the brothers Filippo and Giuseppe Graviano. It was the priest’s 56th birthday.

Although he was taken to the hospital, Puglisi was unable to be revived and died of his injuries.

“This is a Mafia crime,” Lorenzo Matassa, an investigating magistrate with broad anti-Mafia experience, told the New York Times in 1993. “Cosa Nostra could not stand that priest’s teaching the kids in the neighborhood about an anti-Mafia culture.”

The uproar in Italy was strong – it was the first time the Mafia had dared to kill a man of the cloth since 1979. His martyrdom also further galvanized the Church to act and speak out against the mob in Italy.

“After [Father Puglisi’s] murder, bishops made a public condemnation of the Mafia, and they maintained that whoever is part of this criminal organization cannot consider himself a Christian,” Bishop Salvatore Cuttitta, who had been an altar boy serving under Fr. Puglisi, told the National Catholic Register in 2013.

Father Puglisi was beatified on May 25, 2013. The following Sunday, Pope Francis called Puglisi “an exemplary priest, especially dedicated to the pastoral care of youth.”

He also condemned the continuation of Mafia activities and prayed for the conversion of those involved.

“Let us pray the Lord to convert the heart of these people. They cannot do this! They cannot make slaves of us, brothers and sisters! We must pray (to) the Lord! Let us pray that these members of the Mafia be converted to God and let us praise God for the luminous witness borne by Fr. Giuseppe Puglisi, and let us set store by his example!”

[…]

Vatican City, Jan 27, 2018 / 05:05 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Saturday Pope Francis moved two 20th-century martyrs a step closer to sainthood, including Veronica Antal, a young Romanian woman killed during an attempted rape in 1958, and Pierre Claverie, a bi… […]