Vatican City, May 19, 2020 / 11:00 am (CNA).- The Vatican will on May 24 launch a year-long celebration of Pope Francis’ environmental encyclical Laudato si’ to mark its fifth anniversary.
The “special Laudato si’ anniversary year” is an initiative of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development and will include a wide range of events, starting with a global day of prayer and ending in the launch of multi-year sustainability action plans.
Five years from Pope Francis’ signing of the document, the “encyclical appears ever more relevant,” according to a statement from the dicastery.
It noted that the environmental encyclical’s anniversary also falls in the midst of the global coronavirus outbreak, saying “Laudato si’s message is just as prophetic today as it was in 2015.”
“The encyclical can indeed provide the moral and spiritual compass for the journey to create a more caring, fraternal, peaceful and sustainable world,” the Vatican department said.
The year will begin May 24, the day Laudato si’ was signed by Pope Francis, with a day of prayer for the earth and for humanity. A prayer was written for the occasion which people are being encouraged to say at noon anywhere in the world.
The integral development dicastery has also organized events in the week leading up to the anniversary, including several talks with the Global Catholic Climate Movement over the videoconferencing software Zoom, for “Laudato si’ Week.”
“We hope that the anniversary year and the ensuing decade will indeed be a time of grace, a true Kairos experience and ‘Jubilee’ time for the Earth, and for humanity, and for all God’s creatures,” the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development said.
The initiatives, undertaken in partnership with other groups, have “a clear emphasis on ‘ecological conversion’ in ‘action,’” it continued.
In June, according to a schedule released by the dicastery, a document on “operation guidelines” for Laudato si’ will be released.
Just a few of the other special projects to be launched throughout the year are the new annual Laudato si’ Awards, a documentary film on Laudato si’, a tree initiative, and a social media “Read the Bible Contest.”
In 2021 the dicastery will start institutions such as families, dioceses, schools, and universities on a seven-year program to work toward integral ecology through the lens of Laudato si’.
The goal of this program, as set out by the dicastery, is to respond in concrete ways to the cry of the earth and the poor, to promote ecological economics and awareness, and to adopt simpler lifestyles.
Other planned events are a June 18 webinar, marking the encyclical’s release anniversary, as well as participation in the ecumenical “Season of Creation” month Sept. 4-Oct. 1.
The Vatican events, “Reinventing the Global Educational Alliance” and the “Economy of Francesco,” which were due to have taken place this spring and have been postponed to the fall, are now also classified under the anniversary year celebrations, according to the schedule.
In January 2021, the Vatican will host a roundtable on the World Economic Forum in Davos. There is also a proposal for a gathering of religious leaders in early spring 2021.
The year will conclude with a conference, the performance of a musical work, and the conferring of the first Laudato si’ awards.
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Vatican City, Jun 7, 2019 / 02:36 pm (CNA).- The Apostolic See has confirmed the translation of the third edition of the Roman Missal prepared by the Italian bishops’ conference. The translation has garnered attention for its changes to the Our Father, as well as the Gloria.
The newly-approved Messale Romano will translate the penultimate line of the Our Father (ne nos indúcas in tentatiónem) (lead us not into temptation) as “non abbandonarci alla tentazione” (do not abandon us to temptation). The existing version had translated it as “non ci indurre in tentazione” (lead us not into temptation).
In the Gloria, the line “in térra pax homínibus bónae voluntátis” (on earth peace to people of good will) will be translated “pace in terra agli uomini, amati dal Signore” (peace on earth to men, loved by the Lord). It was translated “pace in terra agli uomini di buona volontà” (peace on earth to men of good will).
The Italian bishops’ conference had approved the new edition of the Messale Romano during their November 2018 general assembly. The Apostolic See’s confirmation of the text was communicated during the conference’s meeting last month.
News reports in English may have given the impression that Pope Francis had changed the Our Father for the whole of the Church, rather than his see having confirmed a change made by the bishops of Italy.
The new Italian text is a translation of the third edition of the Missale Romanum, the Latin typical edition which was issued in 2002. The existing Messale Romano was a translation of the second edition of the Missale Romanum, which had been promulgated in 1975.
The English translation of the third edition of the Missale Romanum was issued in 2011.
A spokesman for the English and Welsh bishops has said that the International Commission on English in the Liturgy “is not currently considering the Lord’s Prayer,” and that “there are no plans at present for [the Our Father] to change in English,” but that “I am sure there will be some consultation with the English-speaking nations.”
A spokesperson for the Scottish bishops said there were “no plans” to adopt the changes, while Bishop Francis Duffy of Ardagh and Clonmacnois, liturgy chair for the Irish bishops, said that “In consultation with bishops from other English-speaking countries, the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference will give close attention to the reported change to the Lord’s Prayer. The bishops will look at the implications for both the Irish and English translations of this much loved and universal prayer.”
The change in the Italian translation was many years in the making. The revised version of the Our Father had been published in a version of the Bible approved by the Italian bishops’ conference in 2002, and published in 2008.
The French bishops’ conference made a similar change to its translation of the Our Father. In 2017 it adopted a translation reading “ne nous laisse pas entrer en tentation” (do not let us fall into temptation), whereas the former translation had read “ne nous soumets pas à la tentation” (lead us not into temptation).
In January 2018, the German bishops’ conference chose against changing their translation of the Our Father to accord with the new trend. They noted “philosophical, exegetical, liturgical and, not least, ecumenical” reasons to leave the translation untouched, and added that the petition speaks of “the trust to be carried and redeemed by almighty God.”
Though the new Italian translation of the Our Father was not Pope Francis’ “change,” he has several times been publicly critical of the way the petition “ne nos indúcas in tentatiónem” is translated in some languages.
In an interview with Italian Catholic television network TV2000, Pope Francis lauded the French bishops’ decision, and he expressed concern that certain translations could give the impression it is God “who pushes me toward temptation to see how I fall.”
More recently, Francis commented that “the original Greek expression contained in the Gospels is difficult to render exactly, and all modern translations are somewhat limping.”
The Greek verb found in the Gospels, eisenenkēis, means to bring in, to lead in, to carry in, or to introduce.
In his collation on the Our Father, St. Thomas Aquinas wrote that “Christ teaches us to pray, not that we may not be tempted, but that we may not be led into temptation. For it is when one overcomes temptation that one deserves the reward … Our Lord, therefore, teaches us to pray that we be not led into temptation, by giving our consent to it,” because “it is human to be tempted, but to give consent is devilish.”
“But does God lead one to evil, that he should pray: ‘Lead us not into temptation’? I reply that God is said to lead a person into evil by permitting him to the extent that, because of his many sins, He withdraws His grace from man, and as a result of this withdrawal man does fall into sin,” the Angelic Doctor wrote.
“God, however, directs man by the fervor of charity that he be not led into temptation. For charity even in its smallest degree is able to resist any kind of sin: ‘Many waters cannot quench charity.’ He also guides man by the light of his intellect in which he teaches him what he should do. For as the Philosopher says: ‘Every one who sins is ignorant.’ ‘I will give thee understanding and I will instruct thee.’ It was for this last that David prayed, saying: ‘Enlighten my eyes that I never sleep in death; lest at any time my enemy say: I have prevailed against him.’ We have this through the gift of understanding. Therefore, when we refuse to consent to temptation, we keep our hearts pure … And it follows from this petition that we are led up to the sight of God, and to it may God lead us all.”
Hong Kong, China, Oct 26, 2018 / 12:00 am (CNA).- The recent agreement between the Vatican and China is a step towards the “annihilation” of the Catholic Church in China, Cardinal Joseph Zen, former bishop of Hong Kong, wrote in a New York … […]
Bishops process into St. Peter’s Basilica for the closing Mass of the first assembly of the Synod on Synodality on Oct. 29, 2023. / Vatican Media
Rome Newsroom, Jul 9, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).
The guiding document for the final part of the Synod on Synodality, published Tuesday, focuses on how to implement certain of the synod’s aims, while laying aside some of the more controversial topics from last year’s gathering, like women’s admission to the diaconate.
“Without tangible changes, the vision of a synodal Church will not be credible,” the Instrumentum Laboris, or “working tool,” says.
The six sections of the roughly 30-page document will be the subject of prayer, conversation, and discernment by participants in the second session of the 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, to be held throughout the month of October in Rome.
Instead of focusing on questions and “convergences,” as in last year’s Instrumentum Laboris, “it is now necessary that … a consensus can be reached,” said a FAQ page from synod organizers, also released July 9, answering a question about why the structure was different from last year’s Instrumentum Laboris.
The guiding document for the first session of the Synod on Synodality in 2023 covered such hot-button topics as women deacons, priestly celibacy, and LGBTQ outreach.
By contrast, this year’s text mostly avoids these subjects, while offering concrete proposals for instituting a listening and accompaniment ministry, greater lay involvement in parish economics and finances, and more powerful parish councils.
“It is difficult to imagine a more effective way to promote a synodal Church than the participation of all in decision-making and taking processes,” it states.
The working tool also refers to the 10 study groups formed late last year to tackle different themes deemed “matters of great relevance” by the Synod’s first session in October 2023. These groups will continue to meet through June 2025 but will provide an update on their progress at the second session in October.
The possibility of the admission of women to the diaconate will not be a topic during the upcoming assembly, the Instrumentum Laboris said.
The new document was presented at a July 9 press conference by Cardinals Mario Grech and Jean-Claude Hollerich, together with the special secretaries of the synodal assembly: Jesuit Father Giacomo Costa and Father Riccardo Battocchio.
“The Synod is already changing our way of being and living the Church regardless of the October assembly,” Hollerich said, pointing to testimonies shared in the most recent reports sent by bishops’ conferences.
The Oct. 2-27 gathering of the Synod on Synodality will mark the end of the discernment phase of the Church’s synodal process, which Pope Francis opened in 2021.
Participants in the fall meeting, including Catholic bishops, priests, religious, and laypeople from around the world, will use the Instrumentum Laboris as a guide for their “conversations in the Spirit,” the method of discussion introduced at the 2023 assembly. They will also prepare and vote on the Synod on Synodality’s advisory final document, which will then be given to the pope, who decides the Church’s next steps and if he wishes to adopt the text as a papal document or to write his own.
The third phase of the synod — after “the consultation of the people of God” and “the discernment of the pastors” — will be “implementation,” according to organizers.
Prominent topics
The 2024 Instrumentum Laboris also addresses the need for transparency to restore the Church’s credibility in the face of sexual abuse of adults and minors and financial scandals.
“If the synodal Church wants to be welcoming,” the document reads, “then accountability and transparency must be at the core of its action at all levels, not only at the level of authority.”
It recommends effective lay involvement in pastoral and economic planning, the publication of annual financial statements certified by external auditors, annual summaries of safeguarding initiatives, the promotion of women to positions of authority, and periodic performance evaluations on those exercising a ministry or holding a position in the Church.
“These are points of great importance and urgency for the credibility of the synodal process and its implementation,” the document says.
The greater participation of women in all levels of the Church, a reform of the education of priests, and greater formation for all Catholics are also included in the text.
Bishops’ conferences, it says, noticed an untapped potential for women’s participation in many areas of Church life. “They also call for further exploration of ministerial and pastoral modalities that better express the charisms and gifts the Spirit pours out on women in response to the pastoral needs of our time,” the document states.
Formation in listening is identified as “an essential initial requirement” for Catholics, as well as how to engage in the practice of “conversation in the Spirit,” which was employed in the first session of the Synod on Synodality.
Pope Francis and delegates at the Synod on Synodality at the conclusion of the assembly on Oct. 28, 2023. Credit: Vatican Media
The document says the need for formation has been one of the most universal and strong themes throughout the synodal process. Interreligious dialogue also is identified as an important aspect of the synodal journey.
On the topic of the liturgy, the Instrumentum Laboris says there was “a call for adequately trained lay men and women to contribute to preaching the Word of God, including during the celebration of the Eucharist.”
“It is necessary that the pastoral proposals and liturgical practices preserve and make ever more evident the link between the journey of Christian initiation and the synodal and missionary life of the Church,” the document says. “The appropriate pastoral and liturgical arrangements must be developed in the plurality of situations and cultures in which the local Churches are immersed …”
How it was drafted
Dubbed the “Instrumentum Laboris 2,” the document released Tuesday has been in preparation since early June when approximately 20 experts in theology, ecclesiology, and canon law held a closed-door meeting to analyze around 200 synod reports from bishops’ conferences and religious communities responding to what the Instrumentum Laboris called “the guiding question” of the next stage of the Synod on Synodality: “How to be a synodal Church in mission?”
After the 10-day gathering, “an initial version” of the text was drafted based on those reports and sent to around 70 people — priests, religious, and laypeople — “from all over the world, of various ecclesial sensitivities and from different theological ‘schools,’” for consultation, according to the synod website.
The XVI Ordinary Council of the General Secretariat of the Synod, together with consultants of the synod secretariat, finalized the document.
According to the working tool, soliciting new reports and feedback after the consultation phase ended is “consistent with the circularity characterizing the whole synodal process.”
“In preparation for the Second Session, and during its work, we continue to address this question: how can the identity of the synodal People of God in mission take concrete form in the relationships, paths and places where the everyday life of the Church takes place?” it says.
The document says “other questions that emerged during the journey are the subject of work that continues in other ways, at the level of the local Churches as well as in the ten Study Groups.”
Expectations for final session
According to the guiding document, the second session of the Synod on Synodality can “expect a further deepening of the shared understanding of synodality, a better focus on the practices of a synodal Church, and the proposal of some changes in canon law (there may be yet more significant and profound developments as the basic proposal is further assimilated and lived.)”
“Nonetheless,” it continues, “we cannot expect the answer to every question. In addition, other proposals will emerge along the way, on the path of conversion and reform that the Second Session will invite the whole Church to undertake.”
The Instrumentum Laboris says, “Synodality is not an end in itself … If the Second Session is to focus on certain aspects of synodal life, it does so with a view to greater effectiveness in mission.”
In its brief conclusion, the text states: “The questions that the Instrumentum Laboris asks are: how to be a synodal Church in mission; how to engage in deep listening and dialogue; how to be co-responsible in the light of the dynamism of our personal and communal baptismal vocation; how to transform structures and processes so that all may participate and share the charisms that the Spirit pours out on each for the common good; how to exercise power and authority as service. Each of these questions is a service to the Church and, through its action, to the possibility of healing the deepest wounds of our time.”
Are Catholics still permitted to wonder? To wonder whether the new neologism of an “integral ecology”—coupling the “natural ecology” with the related but formerly distinct “human ecology” (Centesimus Annus)—and combined with ambiguities on moral absolutes (Veritatis Splendor) will further divide the Church and squander the historic moment?
Needed is full and explicit openness of the “integral ecology” to not only the (unanimous?) natural sciences, but also in continuity with the magisterium. Systemic sins of (global) omission, yes—but not by discounting other personal and collective sins of commission. The educational initiative beginning in 2021: will our clericalist (?) tutors rise to the occasion, clearly allowing the Church to be fully what it is? Or, just another “new paradigm” in the dustbin of history?
The CATECHISM (nn. 2033-5) identifies intrinsically evil acts immoral under all circumstances and non-negotiable. These include: intentional killing of the innocent (n. 2273), infanticide (n. 2268), abortion (n. 2273), euthanasia (n. 2277); and sexual immorality (nn. 2352, 2353, 2356, 2357, 2370, 2380, 2381).
The SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL explains further:
“Furthermore, whatever is opposed to life itself, such as any type of murder, genocide, abortion, euthanasia, or willful self-destruction, whatever violates the integrity of the human person, such as mutilation, torments inflicted on body or mind, attempts to coerce the will itself; whatever insults human dignity, such as subhuman living conditions, arbitrary imprisonment, deportation, slavery, prostitution, the selling of women and children; as well as disgraced working conditions, where men are treated as mere tools for profit, rather than as free and responsible persons; all these things and others of their like are infamies indeed. They poison human society, but they do more harm to those who practice them than those who suffer from the injury. Moreover, they are a supreme dishonor to the Creator” (Gaudium et Spes, n. 27).
The CATHOLIC SOCIAL TEACHING (Compendium 2004) frames ALL of this without a too-selective focus by elimination: economic, social, cultural and political. An integrated starting block to better frame an “integral ecology”—fully accountable on each flip chart and Power point! (Not “later” nor evasively as, say, under an invasive-specie/contagious spectrum mentality).
I doubt it. Peter’s Pence donations are at a record low, partly because of anger over the sex abuse crisis and corruption, and partly because Catholics refuse to finance the current Pope’s leftist agenda.
My sense from other postings is that Peter’s Pence is insulated.
But now we have a 12-point initiative to test the perennial Church. Wondering how inclusive the script writers or outside consultants might be. The red-face test and some questions:
(1) Catholic Climate Movement (also anointing an infallible “Catholic” science?), (2) “partnership” with other groups (the entire Brundtland Commission sustainability ideology?), (3) operational “guidelines” (?), (4) Laudato si Awards (corporate or private initiatives need not apply?), (5) documentary film, (6) tree initiative (Pachamama-II in the Vatican Gardens?), (7) Read the Bible Contest (reorienting toward our sola scriptura Protestant brethren?), (8) 2021 seven-year program (alongside the Catechism? And committing a future pope?), (9) ecumenical Season of Creation (humble silence toward any scheduling of Earth Day on Easter Sunday?), (10) Reinventing the Global Educational Alliance (vertical, horizontal and environmental: hope so!), and Economy of Francisco, (11) Jan 2021 World Economic Forum in Davos, and (12) gathering of religious leaders (eco-Assisi, but not many gestures left, now that we’ve suffered kissing of the Koran and then the feet [only] of Syrian leaders).
No intention here to blunt the actionable intent of SOLIDARITY, but just wondering what’s falling under the bus in terms of both focus and funding? Financial “climate change” has the entire Church on the brink of an Ice Age. And, not to defend here all modern-day captains of industry. . . but international Socialism would be as fatal institutionally as COVID-19 is pandemically.
How, truly, to get it right, or at least, not wrong?
Are Catholics still permitted to wonder? To wonder whether the new neologism of an “integral ecology”—coupling the “natural ecology” with the related but formerly distinct “human ecology” (Centesimus Annus)—and combined with ambiguities on moral absolutes (Veritatis Splendor) will further divide the Church and squander the historic moment?
Needed is full and explicit openness of the “integral ecology” to not only the (unanimous?) natural sciences, but also in continuity with the magisterium. Systemic sins of (global) omission, yes—but not by discounting other personal and collective sins of commission. The educational initiative beginning in 2021: will our clericalist (?) tutors rise to the occasion, clearly allowing the Church to be fully what it is? Or, just another “new paradigm” in the dustbin of history?
The CATECHISM (nn. 2033-5) identifies intrinsically evil acts immoral under all circumstances and non-negotiable. These include: intentional killing of the innocent (n. 2273), infanticide (n. 2268), abortion (n. 2273), euthanasia (n. 2277); and sexual immorality (nn. 2352, 2353, 2356, 2357, 2370, 2380, 2381).
The SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL explains further:
“Furthermore, whatever is opposed to life itself, such as any type of murder, genocide, abortion, euthanasia, or willful self-destruction, whatever violates the integrity of the human person, such as mutilation, torments inflicted on body or mind, attempts to coerce the will itself; whatever insults human dignity, such as subhuman living conditions, arbitrary imprisonment, deportation, slavery, prostitution, the selling of women and children; as well as disgraced working conditions, where men are treated as mere tools for profit, rather than as free and responsible persons; all these things and others of their like are infamies indeed. They poison human society, but they do more harm to those who practice them than those who suffer from the injury. Moreover, they are a supreme dishonor to the Creator” (Gaudium et Spes, n. 27).
The CATHOLIC SOCIAL TEACHING (Compendium 2004) frames ALL of this without a too-selective focus by elimination: economic, social, cultural and political. An integrated starting block to better frame an “integral ecology”—fully accountable on each flip chart and Power point! (Not “later” nor evasively as, say, under an invasive-specie/contagious spectrum mentality).
Is Peter’s Pence going to finance this too?
I doubt it. Peter’s Pence donations are at a record low, partly because of anger over the sex abuse crisis and corruption, and partly because Catholics refuse to finance the current Pope’s leftist agenda.
My sense from other postings is that Peter’s Pence is insulated.
But now we have a 12-point initiative to test the perennial Church. Wondering how inclusive the script writers or outside consultants might be. The red-face test and some questions:
(1) Catholic Climate Movement (also anointing an infallible “Catholic” science?), (2) “partnership” with other groups (the entire Brundtland Commission sustainability ideology?), (3) operational “guidelines” (?), (4) Laudato si Awards (corporate or private initiatives need not apply?), (5) documentary film, (6) tree initiative (Pachamama-II in the Vatican Gardens?), (7) Read the Bible Contest (reorienting toward our sola scriptura Protestant brethren?), (8) 2021 seven-year program (alongside the Catechism? And committing a future pope?), (9) ecumenical Season of Creation (humble silence toward any scheduling of Earth Day on Easter Sunday?), (10) Reinventing the Global Educational Alliance (vertical, horizontal and environmental: hope so!), and Economy of Francisco, (11) Jan 2021 World Economic Forum in Davos, and (12) gathering of religious leaders (eco-Assisi, but not many gestures left, now that we’ve suffered kissing of the Koran and then the feet [only] of Syrian leaders).
No intention here to blunt the actionable intent of SOLIDARITY, but just wondering what’s falling under the bus in terms of both focus and funding? Financial “climate change” has the entire Church on the brink of an Ice Age. And, not to defend here all modern-day captains of industry. . . but international Socialism would be as fatal institutionally as COVID-19 is pandemically.
How, truly, to get it right, or at least, not wrong?
Laudato si’ is an effective weapon that can add life to the lifespan of our Planet.
How?