Eucharistic yuca off the table at Amazon synod, Vatican says

Vatican City, May 30, 2018 / 03:43 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis said Wednesday that confirmation is the sacrament in which Catholics are marked with a seal that solidifies their belonging to Christ through the Holy Spirit, who he said is God’s invisible gift to each person who receives the sacrament.

Referring to how candidates for confirmation are told to “receive the seal of the Holy Spirit given to you as a gift,” Pope Francis said May 30 that the Holy Spirit “is the invisible gift bestowed” on candidates, and the holy oil they are anointed with, called “chrism,” is the “visible seal” of this gift.  

“In the image of Christ who bears on himself the seal of the Father, Christians are also marked with a seal that says to whom they belong,” he said, adding that “it is God himself who confirms us in Christ and who has given us the anointing, he has impressed us with a seal and has given us the deposit of the Spirit in our hearts.”

Pope Francis spoke to pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square for his weekly general audience, which this week focused on the sacrament of confirmation as a part of the process of Christian initiation in the Catholic Church.

Confirmation, he said, “shines in the light of baptism” and is fulfilled in the reception of the Eucharist.

He noted how candidates, at one point during the confirmation Mass, are asked to renew the promises made by their parents and godparents at their baptism. With confirmation, “now it is they themselves who profess faith in the Church, ready to respond ‘I believe’ to the questions asked by the bishop.”

The coming of the Holy Spirit requires that hearts be gathered in prayer, he said, noting that this is why after a moment of silence among the congregation, the bishop extends his hands toward the candidates and “asks God to infuse in them the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete.”

While the Holy Spirit is the biggest gift given during the sacrament, he brings a variety of others with him, Francis said, and listed the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit spoken of by the prophet Isaiah and the fruits of the Holy Spirit referred to by St. Paul.

The seven gifts mentioned by Isaiah – wisdom, understanding, knowledge, counsel, fortitude, fear of the Lord and piety – are bestowed in a special way on candidates during the sacrament of confirmation and are the virtues “poured out onto the Messiah in order to fulfill his mission,” Francis said.

Likewise, he noted that in St. Paul’s letter to the Galatians the apostle referred to the fruits of the Holy Spirit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control – which represent both the uniqueness and unity of the Holy Spirit.

“The one Spirit distributes the many gifts which enrich the one Church: he is the author of diversity, but at the same time the creator of unity,” the pope said, adding that while different people receive different gifts, “at the same time there is harmony and unity” among them all.

Francis then turned to the moment when the bishop lays his hands on the heads of the candidates, saying this gesture is biblical, having been spoken about in the Acts of the Apostles, and is how the Holy Spirit is communicated to the person receiving the sacrament.

This gesture is done “to better express the outpouring of the Spirit who pervades those who receive it,” he said, noting that soon after the laying on of hands, the candidates are anointed with holy oil, called “chrism.”

Used in both Eastern and Latin rites during the sacrament, the oil is “a therapeutic and cosmetic substance, which enters the wounds of the medical body in the tissue and perfumes the limbs,” he said.

This, he said, is the reason why oil was adopted as a liturgical and biblical symbol to express the action of the Holy Spirit, “who consecrates and permeates the baptized, embellishing them with gifts.”

After receiving the anointing with oil in the sign of the cross, the candidates receive an “indelible spiritual sign,” which is “the character that more perfectly configures them to Christ and gives them the grace of spreading its ‘good smell’ among men.”

Pope Francis concluded his address saying the Holy Spirit is “an undeserved gift to be welcomed with gratitude, making room for his inexhaustible creativity.”

The Spirit, he said, is a gift “to be preserved with care, to be indulged with docility, allowing oneself to be molded like wax by its fiery charity in order to reflect Jesus Christ in today’s world.”

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Denver, Colo., Mar 26, 2018 / 04:10 pm (CNA).- As Catholics around the world are buying Easter candy and dyeing boiled eggs, two priests have offered suggestions for getting the most out of Holy Week.

 “The most important, I believe, is to take advantage of the opportunities of prayer, especially attending each of the Triduum liturgies,” said Fr. Gary Benz of the Diocese of Bismarck, N.D.

“I’m not sure if a lot of Catholics have ever attended all three liturgies – Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday Vigil – and experienced the whole paschal mystery in the passion, death and resurrection,” Fr. Benz told CNA.

While it may not be easy to attend all three liturgies, Benz encouraged Catholics, including families, to at least attempt attending these opportunities for prayer. He additionally noted that most churches offer an “extension of prayer” after the Triduum liturgies, which is another way to experience a fruitful Holy Week.

“On Holy Thursday, the church has set up an altar of reposition for adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, usually until midnight,” Benz remarked.

“If individuals or families could take to heart the plea of Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane, ‘Could you not spend one hour with me?’ and to just really sacrifice and spend that hour with the Lord,” he continued, particularly encouraging families to participate together in this time of adoration.

“What a powerful witness to your kids – that you’re giving one hour to Christ, which is again by way of great sacrifice, considering the busyness of family life.”

Fr. Daniel Ciucci of the Archdiocese of Denver also recommended additional prayer on Holy Saturday, specifically found in the Church’s Office of Readings.

“I would encourage people to read the Office of Readings for Holy Saturday, beginning with ‘Something Strange is Happening,’” Fr. Ciucci told CNA.

‘Something Strange is Happening’ is an ancient homily traditionally read on Holy Saturday.

On Good Friday, Benz also noted a tradition on Good Friday, in which some Churches set up a chapel with an image of the crucified body of Christ. He prompted both individuals and families to “spend some time before it, gazing upon the body of Christ and his wounds.”

If that would not be possible, Benz suggested that individuals and families set up a display of the crucifix in their own homes to venerate and “maybe pray the sorrowful mysteries of the rosary.”

Benz also highlighted “an old European tradition” for the Triduum. According to this custom, from the time of the end of the Good Friday liturgy until the Easter Vigil, homes “try to produce an aura of mourning, because Christ is in the tomb,” Benz said.

“It would be great if homes could silence the radios, televisions, technology, phones, iPads – to the best they can. Even limited talked and conversation, just to meditate that Christ is in the tomb,” he continued.

“It’s really powerful to just maintain that prayerful silence and anticipation in waiting for the resurrection.”

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Vatican City, Oct 5, 2017 / 11:01 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Vatican officials have summoned to Rome the board of directors overseeing a group of Belgian Catholic hospitals.

The group administers hospitals sponsored by the Brothers of Charity, a religious order, although the board is mostly composed of laity. The board recently decided to allow euthanasia in the Catholic hospitals it oversees.

After appeals from the religious order, board members have been asked to explain their decision to Church authorities in Rome, apparently at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

News of the summons broke after a Sept. 29 meeting between Br. René Stockman, Superior General of the Brothers of Charity, and the competent authorities at the Vatican.

Last spring, the board of directors decided to permit euthanasia, under certain conditions, in their facilities. The religious order asked the board to reverse the decision, but the board refused. Because the Brothers of Charity had no legal options in Belgium, they appealed to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. The response, backed by Pope Francis, directed that the board reverse the euthanasia policy, in conformity to Catholic doctrine.

The decision to allow euthanasia in Brothers of Charity hospitals came after the Belgian bishops’ conference publicly declared that no euthanasia could be allowed in Catholic institutions.

Cardinal Jozef de Kesel of Malines-Brussels, stressed to CNA that “the bishops spoke out clearly: euthanasia cannot become a right.”

In a statement released on their web site, the Brothers of Charity explained that the board reaffirmed their to allow euthanasia, under certain conditions, during a Sept. 11 meeting, despite the directives of the Belgian bishops and the Vatican. After the religious order was unable to persuade the board to reverse the decision, they appealed again to Vatican officials. The board will now be asked to explain their decision, as Church officials determine how to proceed.

The Brothers of Charity underscored that “the Vatican communicates that it will not change its initial request to have an absolute respect for life in all circumstances in accordance with the Catholic doctrine.”

The meeting, which has not yet been scheduled, “will be the last chance” for the hospital board “to set themselves in line with the doctrine of the Catholic Church,” said Br. Stockman.

The Brothers of Charity sponsor 15 hospitals in Belgium, taking care of about 5,000 patients. The board of directors administers the hospitals’ civil corporation. The board has 15 members, but only three of them are Brothers of Charity.

The Brothers of Charity who serve as board members have signed a joint letter declaring their full support of the Magisterium of the Catholic Church. However, to emphasize their decision, the board has published positiont reiterating their support for euthanasia.

Fernand Keuleneer, an attorney in Brussels who served as a member of the Belgian euthanasia commission from 2002 through 2012 and who is advising the Brothers of Charity on the issue, told CNA that the board’s position paper has “repeatedly stated that euthanasia is part of the ‘therapeutic liberty’ of medical doctors.”

According to Keuleneer, “such a position implies that the board of trustees consider euthanasia to be a medical act.”

Keuleneer explained that the position paper is problematic because it “denies the legal autonomy and liberty of institutions to refuse the execution of euthanasia, but moreover it does so by declaring euthanasia a medical act, which will have implication far beyond its own institution.”

The attorney explained that if euthanasia is a medical act, a claim unique to the position paper, “even if all medical doctors in a psychiatric care institution would adhere to the conditions and procedures of the position paper, nothing would prevent a patient from bringing in an outside physician. Such are the far-reaching consequences of this position paper.”

Keleuneer also noted that “the fact that an association calling itself Brothers of Charity, which is in addition explicitly confirming its Christian identity, adopts this position will receive worldwide attention and will be used on a global level.”

Kesel, who serves as president of the Belgian bishops’ conference, summarized the position of the Belgian bishops on the matter.

“Euthanasia is never possible. This is, in fact, a taboo, and our society barely understands taboos,” the cardinal said. “Freedom cannot be an absolute, it has limits. But these limits do not limit freedom, they give sense to freedom.”

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