SUMMARY:
-
THE POPE CELEBRATES MASS WITH JESUITS ON THE FEAST OF ST. IGNATIUS OF
LOYOLA
-
POPE FRANCIS ANNOUNCES THE THEME FOR THE 47th WORLD DAY OF PEACE
-
OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS
-
PAPAL AND HOLY SEE HIGHLIGHTS FOR MAY-JULY 2013
-
NOTICE
______________________________________
THE
POPE CELEBRATES MASS WITH JESUITS ON THE FEAST OF ST. IGNATIUS OF
LOYOLA
Vatican
City, 31 July 2013 (VIS) – The Pope celebrated Mass at 8.00 a.m.
today, the feast of St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Society of
Jesus, the order to which he belongs, with Jesuits in the Roman
Church of Jesus, where the saint's reliquaries are preserved.
It
was a private, like the Mass celebrated each day at the Santa Marta
guesthouse, attended only by priests of the Society of Jesus,
friends, and collaborators. However, the Pope was received by
hundreds of people who wished to greet him and who waited until the
end of the celebration to do so.
Archbishop
Luis Francisco Ladaria Ferrer, S.J., Secretary of the Congregation
for the Doctrine of the Faith, and the Superior General of the
Jesuits, Fr. Adolfo Nicolas, concelebrated with the Pope, as well as
members of the Council and more than two hundred Jesuits.
In
this homily, the Pope proposed a reflection based on three concepts:
putting Christ at the centre of the Church, allowing oneself to be
conquered by Him to serve; and feeling the shame of our limits and
sins in order to be humble before Him and before our brothers.
“The
symbol of the Jesuits is a monogram, the acronym of 'Iesus Hominum
Salvator'”, said Francis. “It reminds us constantly of a fact we
must never forget: the centrality of Christ for each one of us, and
for the entire Society, that St. Ignatius chose to call 'the Society
ofJesus' to indicate its point of reference. … And this leads us,
Jesuits, to be 'decentred', to have 'Deus semper maior' before us …
Christ is our life! The centrality of Christ also corresponds to the
centrality of the Church: they are two flames that cannot be
separated. I cannot follow Christ other than in the Church and with
the Church. And also in this case, we Jesuits and the entire Society
are not in the centre; we are, so to say, removed; we are in the
service of Christ and of the Church. … To be men rooted and
grounded in the Church: this is what Jesus wants. We cannot walk in
parallel or in isolation. Yes, there are paths of research, creative
paths, yes: this is important; to go out to the peripheries … but
always in community, in the Church, with this belonging that gives us
the courage to go ahead”.
The
path to live this dual centrality is found in “letting oneself be
conquered by Christ. I seek Jesus, I serve Jesus because he sought me
first. … In Spanish there is a very descriptive phrase, which
explains this well: 'El nos primerea', He is always first before us.
… To be conquered by Christ to offer to this King our entire
person, all our effort … to imitate Him also in withstanding
injustice, contempt, poverty”. The Pope recalled the Jesuit Fr.
Paolo dall'Oglio, missing in Syria for days, and added “being
conquered by Christ means forever striving to reach what is before
you, to reach Christ”.
Francis
also recalled Jesus' words in the Gospel: “those who want to save
their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake
will save it. Those who are ashamed of me … will be ashamed when He
comes in His glory” and compares this with the shame of the
Jesuits. “Jesus invites us not to be ashamed of Him, but to follow
Him for ever with total dedication, trusting in and entrusting
ourselves to Him”.
“Looking
to Jesus, as St. Ignatius teaches us in the First Week, and
especially looking at Christ crucified, we feel that sentiment, so
human and so noble, that is the shame of not being able to measure
up; … and this leads us always, as individuals and as a Society, to
humility, to living this great virtue. Humility makes us aware every
day that it is not we who build the Kingdom of God, but rather it is
always the grace of the Lord that acts in us; humility that urges us
to give ourselves not in service to ourselves or our ideas, but in
the service of Christ and the Church, like clay vases – fragile,
inadequate, insufficient, but inside which there is an immense
treasure we carry and communicate.
The
Pope confessed that when he thinks of the twilight of a Jesuit's
life, “when a Jesuit finishes his life”, two icons always come to
mind: that of St. Francis Xavier looking to China, and that of Father
Arrupe in his final conversation at the refugee camp. “It benefits
us to look at these two icons, to return to them, and to ask that our
twilight be like theirs”.
Finally,
Francis encouraged those present to ask the Virgin “to let us feel
the shame of our inadequacy before the treasure that has been
entrusted to us, to live in humility before the Lord. May the
paternal intercession of St. Ignatius accompany our path and that of
all holy Jesuits, who continue to teach us to do everything with
humility, ad maiorem Dei gloriam”.
POPE
FRANCIS ANNOUNCES THE THEME FOR THE 47th WORLD DAY OF PEACE
Vatican
City, 31 July 2013 (VIS) - “Fraternity, the foundation and pathway
to peace”: this is the theme of the 47th World Day of Peace, the
first during the pontificate of Pope Francis.
"Fraternity,
the foundation and pathway to peace". This is the theme of the
47th World Day of Peace, the first during the pontificate of Pope
Francis.
The
World Day of Peace was an initiative of Pope Paul VI and it is
celebrated on the first day of each year. The Message for the World
Day of Peace is sent to particular churches and chancelleries all
around the world, drawing attention to the essential value of peace
and the need to work tirelessly in order to attain it.
As
the theme of his first Message for the World Day of Peace, Pope
Francis has chosen Fraternity. Since the beginning of his Petrine
Ministry, the Pope has stressed the need to combat the “throwaway
culture” and to promote instead a "culture of encounter",
in order to build a more just and peaceful world.
Fraternity
is a dowry that every man and every woman brings with himself or
herself as a human being, as a child of the one Father. In the face
of the many tragedies that afflict the family of nations - poverty,
hunger, underdevelopment, conflicts, migrations, pollution,
inequalities, injustice, organized crime, fundamentalisms -
fraternity is the foundation and the pathway to peace.
The
culture of personal well-being leads to a loss of the sense of
responsibility and fraternal relationship. Others, rather than being
“like us”, appear more as antagonists or enemies and are often
treated as objects. Not uncommonly, the poor and needy are regarded
as a "burden", a hindrance to development. At most, they
are considered as recipients of aid or compassionate assistance. They
are not seen as brothers and sisters, called to share the gifts of
creation, the goods of progress and culture, to be partakers at the
same table of the fullness of life, to be protagonists of integral
and inclusive development.
Fraternity,
a gift and task that comes from God the Father, urges us to be in
solidarity against inequality and poverty that undermine the social
fabric, to take care of every person, especially the weakest and most
defenceless, to love him or her as oneself, with the very heart of
Jesus Christ.
In
a world that is constantly growing more interdependent, the good of
fraternity is one that we cannot do without. It serves to defeat the
spread of the globalization of indifference to which Pope Francis has
frequently referred. The globalization of indifference must give way
to a globalization of fraternity.
Fraternity
should leave its mark on every aspect of life, including the economy,
finance, civil society, politics, research, development, public and
cultural institutions.
At
the start of his ministry, Pope Francis issues a message in
continuity with that of his predecessors, which proposes to everyone
the pathway of fraternity, in order to give the world a more human
face.
OTHER
PONTIFICAL ACTS
Vatican
City, 31 July 2013 (VIS) – Today, the Holy Father:
-
accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the archdiocese of
Ljubljana, Slovenia, presented by Archbishop Anton Stres, C.M., in
accordance with canon 401 para. 2 of the Code of Canon Law.
-
accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the archdiocese of
Maribor, Slovenia, presented by Archbishop Marjan Turnsek, in
accordance with canon 401 para. 2 of the Code of Canon Law.
-
appointed Bishop Frank Joseph Caggiano as bishop of Bridgeport (area
1,621, population 955,000, Catholics 479,000, priests 272, permanent
deacons 103, religious 362), U.S.A. Bishop Caggiano, previously
auxiliary of Brooklyn, U.S.A., was born in Brooklyn, U.S.A. in 1959,
was ordained to the priesthood in 1987, and received episcopal
ordination in 2006.
PAPAL
AND HOLY SEE HIGHLIGHTS FOR MAY-JULY 2013
Vatican
City, 31 July 2013 (VIS) - Following are highlights of the activities
of Pope Benedict XVI and of the Holy See for the months of May to
July 2013.
MAY
2:
Pope emeritus Benedict XVI returns to the Vatican after a two month
stay in the Apostolic Palace in Castel Gandolfo, and takes up
permanent residence in the recently restored “Mater Ecclesiae”
convent.
2:
The Holy Father receives in audience Aleksander Avdeev, the new
ambassador of the Russian Federation to the Holy See, presenting his
credential letters.
3:
The Holy Father receives in audience Michel Sleiman, president of the
Republic of Lebanon.
3-5:
Pilgrimage of Confraternities to Rome, for the “Days of the
Confraternities and Popular Piety”, an initiative promoted as part
of the Year of Faith.
6:
The Holy Father receives in audience Ueli Maurer. president of the
Swiss Confederation.
8:
Pope Francis receives the participants in the Plenary Assembly of the
International Union of Superior Generals.
10:
Meeting between Pope Francis and Pope Tawadros II, head of the Coptic
Orthodox Church of Egypt.
12:
Seventh Sunday of Easter. Canonisation of the Blesseds Antonio
Primaldo and companions; Laura di Santa Caterina da Siena Montoya y
Upegui and Maria Guadalupe García Zavala.
13:
The Holy Father receives in audience the president of the Republic of
Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos Calderon.
14:
This year, for the first time, the Holy See will participate in the
Venice Bienniale (1 June – 24 November) with a pavilion inspired by
the Biblical story of Genesis, entitled “In the Beginning”.
15:
The Institute for the Works of Religion (IOR) declares its intention
to open, before the end of the year, a website where it will make
public, among other information, the “Yearly Report” of its
activities.
16:
The Holy Father receives the credential letters of four new
ambassadors to the Holy See: Bolot Iskovich Otunbaev from Kyrgyzstan,
David Shoul from Antigua and Barbuda, Jean-Paul Senninger from
Luxembourg and Lameck Nthekela from Botswana.
18:
The Holy Father receives in audience Angela Merkel, chancellor of the
Federal Republic of Germany, and entourage.
18-19:
"Day of Ecclesial Movements, New Communities and Lay
Associations” on the Solemnity of Pentecost and the fiftieth
anniversary of the beginning of the Ecumenical Council.
19:
Cardinal Baselios Cleemis Thottunkal, major archbishop of Trivandrum
of the Syro-Malankars, India, takes possession of the title of St.
Gregory VII al Gelsomino on Via del Cottolegno, 4.
22:
Pope Francis visits the “Gift of Mary” House of Hospitality
located within Vatican City, just outside St. Peter's Square, near
the Palazzo del Sant'Uffizio.
22:
The Holy Father receives in audience Thomas Boni Yayi, president of
the Republic of Benin.
23:
The Holy Father receives in audience Carlos Mauricio Funes Cartagena,
president of the Republic of El Salvador.
23:
The Pontifical Lateran University dedicates a chair in “Political
Socialization in Africa” to Cardinal Bernardin Gantin.
26:
Feast of the Most Holy Trinity, pastoral visit to the Roman parish of
“Sts. Elizabeth and Zechariah” in Valle Muricana, Prima Porta.
26:
Cardinal James Michael Harvey, archpriest of the Basilica of St. Paul
Outside-the-Walls, takes possession of the diaconate of St. Pius V at
Villa Carpegna in Largo San Pio V, 3.
31:
The Holy Father receives in audience the president for the 67th
session of the United Nations General Assembly, Mr. Vuk Jeremic.
JUNE
1:
The Holy Father receives in audience Jose Mujica Cordano, president
of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay.
2:
On the Solemnity of Corpus Domini and as part of the Year of Faith,
the Holy Father presides as a solemn Worldwide Eucharistic Adoration
in St. Peter's Basilica, in communion with cathedrals and parishes
all over the world.
3:
The Holy Father receives in audience Jorge Carlos de Almeida Fonseca,
president of the Republic of Cape Verde, and entourage.
5:
Death of Cardinal Stanislaw Nagy, S.C.I., cardinal-deacon of Santa
Maria della Scala, at the age of 91.
6:
The Holy Father receives in audience Mohamed Taher Rabbani,
ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran, presenting his credential
letters.
7:
The Holy Father receives in audience Mikayel Minasyan, ambassador of
Armenia, presenting his credential letters.
8:
The Holy Father receives in an official visit the president of the
Republic of Italy, Giorgio Napolitano.
10:
The Holy Father receives in audience Mariano Palacios Alcocer, new
ambassador of Mexico, presenting his credential letters
13:
The Holy Father receives in audience Alenka Bratusek, prime minister
of the Republic of Slovenia.
14:
Visit of the archbishop of Canterbury, His Grace Justin Welby.
15:
Cardinal Luis Antonio G. Tagle, archbishop of Manila, Philippines,
takes possession of the title of San Felice da Cantalice a Centocelle
in Piazza San Felice da Cantalice, 20, Rome.
15:
The Holy Father receives in audience José Manuel Durão Barroso,
president of the European Commission.
17:
The Holy Father receives in audience Nicolas Maduro Moro, president
of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.
24:
The Holy Father receives in audience Joseph Muscat, prime minister of
the Republic of Malta.
24:
The Holy Father establishes a Pontifical Commission for Reference on
the Institute for the Works of Religion (IOR) by chirograph dated 24
June 2013.
JULY
4:
The Holy Father receives in a private visit Enrico Letta, prime
minister of the Republic of Italy.
4:
The Financial Intelligence Authority of the Holy See and Vatican City
State (AIF) is admitted to the Egmont Group, a global network of
Financial Intelligence Units.
4-7:
“Day for seminarians, novices, and all those who have taken the
path of vocation”, with the theme “I trust in you”, as part of
the Year of Faith.
5:
Publication of Pope Francis' first encyclical, entitled "Lumen
fidei".
6:
The Holy Father receives in audience Anthony Thomas Aquinas Carmona,
president of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, with his wife and
entourage.
8:
The Holy Father visits the island of Lampedusa.
22-29:
Apostolic trip to Brazil for the 28th World Youth Day.
26:
The Financial Intelligence Authority (AIF) of the Holy See and
Vatican City State signs a Memorandum of Understanding with its
Italian counterpart, the Unità di Informazione Finanziaria (UIF) of
the Bank of Italy.
28:
Death of Cardinal Ersilio Tonini, archbishop emeritus of
Ravenna-Cervia, Italy, at the age of 99.
NOTICE
Vatican
City, 31 July 2013 (VIS) - We remind our readers that the Vatican
Information Service will remain closed during the entire month of
August. Service will resume on Monday, 2 September.
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