News

Details

Last Updated: 19 February 2013

"Every Person Carries Within Himself a Project of God"

VATICAN CITY, APRIL 27, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Here is a Vatican translation of Benedict XVI's March 25 homily at the Roman parish of St. Felicity and Her Children, Martyrs.

* * *

PASTORAL VISIT TO THE PARISH OF ST. FELICITY AND HER CHILDREN, MARTYRS

GREETING OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI
TO THE MEMBERS OF THE PASTORAL COUNCIL

Fifth Sunday of Lent, 25 March 2007

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

I am simply happy to be here with you, to see a community rich in faith, a young community, and so to see how the Church lives today. While the centre of Rome is somewhat depopulated, here we see that there is a lively Rome. It is the community to which St Paul wrote, where St Peter taught the Gospel. Here St Mark's Gospel came into being, according to tradition, as a reflection of St Peter's preaching.

Therefore, we are in a place where the seed of the Word of God grew from the outset and the "agape", love, also developed, so that 100 years later -- more or less in the year 100 -- St Ignatius could say that Rome presides in charity. And so it should be. It is not enough for the Pope to be in Rome. An active, committed Church must thrive in Rome, a Church which presides in charity. Therefore, it is a very happy experience for me to see in the parish that this Church of Rome exists, that she is still alive even after 2,000 years. I would like to greet you all. The parish priest has already introduced to me the various members of the community who are present here. We begin of course with the Cardinal Vicar, with the Auxiliary Bishop, with the parish priest, with the priests. And then there are so many groups. It is not necessary here to repeat what your parish priest has already said. I am grateful to all those who collaborate.

And I am grateful for the beautiful poem that was presented to me; one feels that it wells up from the very heart of this community. I see that the gift of poetry is still alive in Rome, even in these rather, as it were, unpoetic times. I do not wish at this point to enter into demanding considerations and reflections. I would only like to thank the adult lay people who are building a living parish.

Here you have the Vocationist Fathers. The word "Vocationist" is reminiscent of "vocation". We can examine two dimensions of this word. First of all, we think immediately of the vocation to the priesthood. But the word has a far broader, more general dimension.

Every person carries within himself a project of God, a personal vocation, a personal idea of God on what he is required to do in history to build his Church, a living Temple of his presence. And the priest's role is above all to reawaken this awareness, to help the individual discover his personal vocation, God's task for each one of us. I see that many here have discovered the project that concerns them, both with regard to professional life in the formation of today's society -- where the presence of Christian consciences is fundamental -- and also with regard to the call to contribute to the Church's growth and life. Both these things are equally important.

A society where Christian conscience is no longer alive loses its bearings; it no longer knows where to go, what it can do, what it cannot do, and ends up in emptiness, it fails. Only if a living awareness of the faith illumines our hearts can we also build a just society. It is not the Magisterium that imposes doctrine. It is the Magisterium that helps enable the conscience itself to hear God's voice, to know what is good, what is the Lord's will. It is only an aid so that personal responsibility, nourished by a lively conscience, may function well and thus contribute to ensuring that justice is truly present in our society: justice within ourselves and universal justice for all our brothers and sisters in the world today. Today, globalization is not only economic: there is also a globalization of responsibilities, this universality, which is why we are all responsible for everyone.

The Church offers us the encounter with Christ, with the living God, with the "Logos" who is Truth and Light, who does not coerce consciences, does not impose a partial doctrine but helps us ourselves to be men and women who are completely fulfilled and thus to live in personal responsibility and in deeper communion with one another, a communion born from communion with God, with the Lord. I see here this living community. I am grateful to the priests, I am grateful to all of you, their collaborators. And I hope that the Lord will help you and enlighten you always.

Already today, Passion Sunday, I wish you a Happy Easter and I wish your parish, your community, this suburb of Fidene, great good also in the future.

© Copyright 2007 -- Libreria Editrice Vaticana

Code: ZE07042725

Date: 2007-04-27

Details

Last Updated: 19 February 2013

Work: "A Means and Path of Holiness"

VATICAN CITY, APRIL 27, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Here is the Vatican translation of the address Benedict XVI gave March 31 to the directors and members of an Italian association of artisans.

* * *

ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI TO THE DIRECTORS AND MEMBERS OF "CONFARTIGIANATO" AN ASSOCIATION OF ITALIAN ARTISANS

Paul VI Audience Hall
Saturday, 31 March 2007

Dear Friends,

I am particularly pleased with your visit and I address my cordial greeting to each one of you. I greet in particular your President, Mr Giorgio Natalino Guerrini, and thank him for his courteous and profound words to me on behalf of all. I extend my respectful thoughts to the other directors and members of your Confederation, which is now more than 60 years old, years rich with intense activity.

Confartigianato was founded in 1946 on the principle of free enrolment open to every geographical, sectorial and cultural member of entrepreneurial activity and small artisan businesses. There is no doubt that it has helped to build the modern Italian Nation. It has characterized certain important aspects of the Nation's development in society and economics, art and culture, and has impressed its own stylistic code upon Italian progress.

Indeed, if until a few decades ago, craftwork evoked something "old-fashioned" and "picturesque", to be associated with the image of the locksmith or the cobbler's workshop, today instead it stands for autonomy, creativity and personalization in the production of goods and services.

Dear friends, your presence offers me the opportunity to reflect on an important aspect of human experience. I am referring to the reality of work, which in this age is in the midst of tremendous economic and social changes that are increasingly rapid and complex.

In the Bible, the authentic meaning of human work is highlighted in various passages. To start with Genesis, we read that the Creator made man in his image and likeness and invited him to cultivate the earth (cf. Genesis 2:5-6).

Work is consequently inherent in man's original condition. Unfortunately, because of our first parents' sin it became an effort and a penalty (cf. Genesis 3:6-8), but in the divine plan its value has remained unchanged.

And the Church, faithful to God's Word, does not cease to recall the principle: "Work is "for man' and not man "for work'" ("Laborem Exercens," No. 6). Thus, she ceaselessly proclaims the primacy of man over the work of his hands and recalls that it must all be oriented to the true progress of the human person and the common good: capital, science, technology, public resources and even private ownership.

This has been felicitously achieved in the craftwork businesses you represent, which are inspired by the Gospel teachings and the principles of the Church's social doctrine.

I would like here to recall what the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church says in this regard: "Work in small and medium-sized businesses, the work of artisans and independent work can represent an occasion to make the actual work experience more human, both in terms of the possibility of establishing positive personal relationships in smaller-sized communities and in terms of the opportunities for greater initiative and industriousness" (No. 315).

Dear artisans, on the occasion of the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000, my Predecessor John Paul II addressed some significant words to you which have retained the same timeliness and urgency. Today, I would like to present them once again to the whole of Confartigianato: "You can give new strength and practical expression to those values which have always marked your activity: quality, a spirit of initiative, the promotion of artistic skills, freedom and cooperation, the correct relationship between technology and the environment, devotion to family, good neighbourly relations.

"In the past", he added, "the culture of crafts has created great occasions for bringing people together and has bequeathed wonderful syntheses of culture and faith to later generations" (Teachings of John Paul II, 2000, vol. 1, p. 372).

Dear friends, continue with tenacity and perseverance to preserve and put to good use the productive craft culture that can give life to important opportunities for balanced financial progress and encounters between men and peoples.

Furthermore, may you as Christians be committed to living and testifying to the "Gospel of work", in the awareness that the Lord calls all the baptized to holiness through their daily occupations.
Josemaría Escrivá, a Saint of our times, notes in this regard that since Christ who worked as a craftsman took it into his hands, "work has become for us a redeemed and redemptive reality. Not only is it the background of man's life, it is a means and path of holiness. It is something to be sanctified and something which sanctifies" (Christ Is Passing By, Homily, n. 47).

May the Virgin Mary, who lived in hardworking concealment, and St Joseph, Patron of the Church and your special Protector, help you in this task which becomes a precious service to evangelization. At the school of the Family of Nazareth you can learn how to join more easily a coherent life of faith with the efforts and difficulties of work, personal profit and the commitment to solidarity for the needy.

As I renew to you the expression of my gratitude for your visit, I assure you of a special remembrance in prayer for each one of you and for your various activities, and I cordially bless you together with your loved ones.

© Copyright 2007 -- Libreria Editrice Vaticana

Code: ZE07042704

Date: 2007-04-27

Details

Last Updated: 19 February 2013

Pontifical Household Preacher Comments on Sunday's Readings

ROME, APRIL 27, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Here is a translation of a commentary by the Pontifical Household preacher, Capuchin Father Raniero Cantalamessa, on the readings from this Sunday's liturgy.

* * *

I am the Good Shepherd
Fourth Sunday of Easter
Acts 13:14, 43-52; Revelations 7:9, 14b-17; John 10:27-30

In all three liturgical cycles the Fourth Sunday of Easter presents a passage from John's Gospel about the good shepherd. After having led us among the fishermen last Sunday, this Sunday the Gospel takes us among the shepherds. These are two categories of equal importance in the Gospels. From the one comes the designation "fishers of men," from the other "shepherd of souls." Both are applied to the apostles.

The larger part of Judea was a plateau with inhospitable and rocky soil, more adapted to livestock than to agriculture. Grass was scarce and the flock had to continually travel from one spot to another; there were no walls for protection and because of this the shepherd always had to be with the flock. A traveler of the last century has left us a portrait of the shepherd of Palestine: "When you see him in a high pasture, sleepless, a gaze that searches in the distance, weather-beaten, leaning on his staff, ever attentive to the movements of the flock, you understand why the shepherd acquired such importance in the history of Israel that they gave this title to their kings and Christ assumed it as an emblem of self-sacrifice."

In the Old Testament, God himself is represented as the shepherd of his people. "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want" (Psalm (23:1). "He is our God and we are his people whom he shepherds" (Psalm 95:7). The future Messiah is also described with the image of the shepherd: "Like a shepherd he feeds his flock; in his arms he gathers the lambs, carrying them in his bosom, and leading the ewes with care" (Isaiah 40:11). This ideal image of the shepherd finds its complete realization in Christ. He is the good shepherd who goes in search of the lost sheep; he feels compassion for the people because he sees them "as sheep without a shepherd" (Matthew 9:36); he calls his disciples "the little flock" (Luke 12:32). Peter calls Jesus "the shepherd of our souls" (1 Peter 2:25) and the Letter to the Hebrews speaks of him as "the great shepherd of the sheep" (Hebrews 13:20).

This Sunday's Gospel passage highlights some of the characteristics of Jesus the good shepherd. The first has to do with the reciprocal knowledge that the sheep and shepherd have: "My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me." In certain countries of Europe sheep are raised principally for their meat; in Israel they were raised above all for wool and milk. For this reason they remained for many years in the company of the shepherd who knew the character of each one and gave them affectionate names.

What Jesus wants to say with these images is clear. He knows his disciples (and, as God, all men), he knows them "by name," which for the Bible means their innermost essence. He loves them with a personal love that treats each as if they were the only one who existed for him. Christ only knows how to count to one, and that one is each of us.

The Gospel passage tells us something else about the good shepherd. He gives his life to his sheep and for his sheep, and no one can take them out of his hand. Wild animals -- wolves and hyenas -- and bandits were a nightmare for the shepherds of Israel. In such isolated places they were a constant threat. This was the moment in which is revealed the difference between the true shepherd -- the one who shepherds the family's flock, who does this for his life's work -- and the hired hand, who works only for the pay he receives, who does not love, and indeed often hates, the sheep.

Confronted with danger, the mercenary flees and leaves the sheep at the mercy of the wolf or bandits; the true shepherd courageously faces the danger to save the flock. This explains why the liturgy proposes the passage about the good shepherd to us during the time of Easter -- the moment in which Christ showed that he is the good shepherd who gives his life for his sheep.

Code: ZE07042729

Date: 2007-04-27

Details

Last Updated: 19 February 2013

A Review of New Edition of "The Children of Húrin"

ATLANTA, Georgia, APRIL 27, 2007 (Zenit.org).- With the release of a new edition of J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Children of Húrin," fans of this deeply Catholic author may be surprised by its biblical tone, says a Tolkien expert.

Jef Murray, artist-in-residence at the St. Austin Review, speaking with ZENIT, said, "'The Children of Húrin' has a more biblical tone than 'The Lord of the Rings.' It is a story of human fallibility and sin and may be prophetic for our times."

Painstakingly reconstructed by Christopher Tolkien from his father's manuscripts, the new publication released by HarperCollins last week is close to two versions previously published. The elder Tolkien died in 1973.

Christopher Tolkien corrected some contradictory elements, updated the chronology, and made the writing tone more accessible.

The book is illustrated by Alan Lee, one of the two conceptual artists for "The Lord of the Rings" movies.

Hollywood studios are already interested in the film rights.

The tale

"The tale itself has much to say of the nature of evil; how it manifests itself in the actions of angelic/demonic beings and, more importantly, in the foibles and sin of fallen man," said Murray.

The Narn i Chîn Húrin, as it is known in Tolkien's "Unfinished Tales," is an almost Job-like story of one family's struggles in Beleriand long before the tales of "The Hobbit" or "The Lord of the Rings."

Tolkien's satanic figure, Morgoth, curses the family of Húrin. And, just as with the story of Job, Húrin's wife, son and daughter all bear the brunt of that curse.

But unlike Job, the protagonist of the tale, Túrin, does not humble himself and seek God's grace and redemption.

Rather, Túrin attempts to flee his doom, but pride coupled with an attitude of self-righteousness drives him to commit greater and greater acts of sin and folly.

Murray explained, "The tale ends badly, but, as with all great tragedies, there are lessons here for our own times."

"We, too, often trust in ourselves rather than in God," says Murray, "and like Túrin, the world believes itself invincible and capable of meeting all challenges."

Murray concluded, "But sin taints all things, and without humility and trust in the grace of God, we are all in grave danger of following Túrin's path."

Code: ZE07042727

Date: 2007-04-27

Details

Last Updated: 19 February 2013

Italian Priest Was Killed in Congo

PALERMO, Sicily, APRIL 27, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Blessed Francesco Spoto knew the value of life, and how to give it up for others, according to the current superior general of his congregation.

Palermo native Father Spoto, the superior general of the Congregation of Missionary Servants of the Poor, was 40 years old when he was murdered by a group of Simba rebels in Congo in 1964.

He was beatified last Saturday in his hometown. Cardinal Salvatore De Giorgi, retired archbishop of Palermo, was delegated by Benedict XVI to preside at the Mass.

Archbishop Paolo Romeo of Palermo and all the prelates of Sicily were present, in what was the first beatification Mass celebrated in the archdiocese, reported Vatican Radio.

Bishop Marcel Utembi Tapa of Mahagi-Nioka, the Congolese diocese in which Father Spoto was killed, also attended.

Last June Benedict XVI authorized the promulgation of the decree in which the young priest was declared a martyr, thus opening the door to his beatification.

Forgiveness

Cardinal De Giorgi said in his homily that Father Spoto was "savagely hit on his chest on Dec. 11" by the Congolese rebels. "He grasped on to life for 16 days of extreme agony, forgiving his killers," the prelate added.

According to the cardinal, Father Spoto "abandoned himself to the will of the Lord, without reservations."

Cardinal De Giorgi added that the martyr "invites us to holiness, not necessarily accomplishing extraordinary acts, but doing the everyday things."

Father Giuseppe Civiletto, current superior general of the Missionary Servants of the Poor, told Vatican Radio that Father Spoto was 35 when he was elected superior general of the congregation in 1959.

He "gave a boost to the congregation, dedicating himself to vocations, to opening new homes and sending the first brothers in mission to Biringi, in Congo," said Father Civiletto.

He continued: "To visit and encourage them, during the summer of 1964, he left for Congo, where a bloody civil war was taking place.

"For them, he accepted the sacrifice of his life that the Lord asked of him.

"Taken and savagely beaten by the Simba, after a few days he died in the bush on Dec. 27, 1964, offering his life for the salvation of his brothers."

Man of character

Father Civiletto added that the Father Spoto was a "man of character and attached to his duties, a seminarian and serious student, obedient and tenacious religious person, zealous and serving priest, a superior general interested in the happenings of the Church and the congregation."

"During the last four months he was an aware and generous missionary to Biringi," added Father Civiletto.

The superior general said that Father Spoto is "an example of how to give meaning to life; giving it worth and giving it up for others."

He added that "this translates into living -- even in the midst of difficulties and contrasts -- with joy, the joy that for us Christians comes from the knowledge of being in communion with Christ, of being a sacrifice in the hands of God. This is worthy.

"This is what the Lord needs," said Father Civiletto. "This is what the world needs."

Code: ZE07042728

Date: 2007-04-27

Details

Last Updated: 19 February 2013

VATICAN CITY, APRIL 27, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI has accepted an invitation to visit the United Nations in New York, although no date has been set.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon extended the invitation to the Pope during an audience in the Vatican April 18.

Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi confirmed the Pope's acceptance of the invitation Thursday.

"The Pope accepted the invitation in general terms, saying he was available to visit U.N. headquarters. But no date has been set and there are no definite plans, as yet, for the visit," the director of the Vatican press office said.

Pope John Paul II visited the U.N. headquarters twice, in 1979 and 1995.

Code: ZE07042703

Date: 2007-04-27