SUMMARY:
-
WE NEED MOTIVATED CHRISTIANS WHO SHARE HOPE
-
MARY HELPS US TO BE SURPRISED BY GOD
-
POPE'S VIDEO MESSAGE FOR BEATIFICATION OF 522 TWENTIETH-CENTURY
SPANISH MARTYRS
-
MARIAN DAY: MARY'S FAITH GIVES FLESH TO JESUS
-
VIGIL AND ROSARY AT THE SANCTUARY OF OUR LADY OF DIVINE LOVE
-
THE CHURCH MUST ADDRESS THE ROLE OF WOMEN
-
FREEDOM WITH OR WITHOUT GOD, 24 YEARS AFTER THE FALL OF THE BERLIN
WALL
-
ENTRY TO AUDIENCES OR CELEBRATIONS PRESIDED BY THE HOLY FATHER IS
ALWAYS FREE
-
AUDIENCES
-
OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS
______________________________________
WE
NEED MOTIVATED CHRISTIANS WHO SHARE HOPE
Vatican
City, 14 October 2013 (VIS) – This morning in the Vatican Apostolic
Palace the Holy Father received in audience the participants in the
Plenary of the Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelisation.
“In our time we often encounter an attitude of indifference towards
faith, which is no longer considered relevant to human life”, he
said. “It is important that we Christians demonstrate that we live
faith in a concrete way, through love, harmony, joy, suffering,
because this gives rise to questions, as at the beginning of the
Church's path: why live like this? What is the impetus for our
actions? These are questions which lead us to the heart of
evangelisation, which is the witness of faith and charity”.
Pope
Francis remarked that many people have drifted away from the Church,
and in this situation “there is a need for Christians who help show
God's mercy and tenderness towards every creature”. He went on to
emphasise the importance of encounter, of seeking out and going
towards “those who have lost their faith and the deeper meaning of
life. … The Church”, he emphasised, “is sent to reawaken
everywhere this hope, especially where it is suffocated by difficult
and at times inhuman existential conditions, where hope cannot
breathe. … We need the oxygen of the Gospel, the breath of the
Spirit of the Risen Christ, to reignite [hope] in our hearts. The
Church is the house where the doors are always open not only to
welcome everyone in to breathe love and hope, but also so we can take
this love and hope outside”.
The
Pope, in this way, explained that “in the Church, this is not left
to chance or improvisation”. Commitment is necessary in the diocese
and in the parish to catechesis as a moment of evangelisation. He
recalled that many times, for instance, he has encountered children
who do not know how to make the sign of the Cross, and remarked that
the work of catechists is a valuable service to new evangelisation,
while emphasising that parents should be “the first catechists, the
first educators in faith in their own families, by their witness and
by their words”.
MARY
HELPS US TO BE SURPRISED BY GOD
Vatican
City, 13 October 2013 (VIS) – More than one hundred thousand people
attended the Holy Mass in St. Peter's Square this morning, celebrated
by the Holy Father Francis before the statue of the Virgin of Fatima,
on the occasion of the Marian Day. The Pope's homily focused on three
points: God surprises us, He asks our fidelity, and He is our
strength. It is Mary who helps us to say “yes” to God every day.
We
offer here below a broad synthesis of the homily.
“In
the Psalm we recite, 'Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done
marvellous things'. Today we consider one of the marvellous things
which the Lord has done: Mary! A lowly and weak creature like
ourselves, she was chosen to be the Mother of God, the Mother of her
Creator. Considering Mary in the light of the readings we have just
heard, I would like to reflect with you on three things: God
surprises us, God asks us to be faithful, and God is our strength.
“First:
God surprises us. The story of Naaman, the commander of the army of
the king of Aram, is striking. In order to be healed of leprosy, he
turns to the prophet of God, Elisha, who does not … demand anything
unusual of him, but asks him simply to trust in God and to wash in
the water of the river … in the little stream of the Jordan. Naaman
is left surprised and perplexed. What kind of God is this who asks
for something so simple? He wants to turn back, but then he goes
ahead, he immerses himself in the Jordan and is immediately healed.
... God surprises us. It is precisely in poverty, in weakness and in
humility that he reveals himself and grants us his love, which saves
us, heals us and gives us strength. He asks us only to obey his word
and to trust in him.
“This
was also the experience of the Virgin Mary. At the message of the
angel, she does not hide her surprise. It is the astonishment of
realising that God, to become man, had chosen her, a simple maid of
Nazareth: not someone who lived in a palace amid power and riches, or
who had done extraordinary things, but simply someone who was open to
God and put her trust in him, even without understanding everything:
… God always surprises us, he overturns our categories, he wreaks
havoc with our plans. And he tells us: Trust me, do not be afraid,
let yourself be surprised, leave yourself behind and follow me!
“Today
let us all ask ourselves: Do I fear what God might ask of me, or what
he does ask of me? Do I let myself be surprised by God, as Mary was,
or do I remain caught up in my own security, in my plans? Do I truly
let God into my life? How do I respond to him?
“In
the passage from Saint Paul which we have heard, the Apostle tells
his disciple Timothy: Remember Jesus Christ: if we persevere with
him, we will also reign with him. This is the second thing: to
remember Christ always and to persevere in faith. God surprises us
with his love, but he asks us to be faithful in following him. Think
of all the times we were excited about something or other, some
initiative, some task, but then, at the first sign of difficulty, we
threw in the towel. Sadly, this also happens in the case of
fundamental decisions, such as marriage. It is the difficulty of
remaining steadfast, faithful to decisions we have made and to
commitments we have taken on. Often it is easy enough to say 'yes',
but then we fail to repeat this 'yes' each and every day.
“Mary
said her 'yes' to God: a 'yes' which upset her simple life in
Nazareth, and not only once. Any number of times she had to utter a
heartfelt 'yes' at moments of both joy and sorrow, culminating in the
'yes' she spoke at the foot of the Cross. Here today there are many
mothers present; think of the full extent of Mary’s faithfulness to
God: seeing her only Son on the cross.
“Am
I a Christian by fits and starts, or am I a Christian full-time? The
culture of the ephemeral, the relative, also takes it toll on the way
we live our faith. God asks us to be faithful to him, daily, in our
everyday actions. He goes on to say that, even if we are sometimes
unfaithful to him, he remains faithful. In his mercy, he never tires
of stretching out his hand to lift us up, to encourage us to continue
our journey, to come back and tell him of our weakness, so that he
can grant us his strength.
“The
last thing: God is our strength. I think of the ten lepers in the
Gospel who were healed by Jesus. … They are sick, they need love
and strength, and they are looking for someone to heal them. Jesus
responds by freeing them from their disease. Strikingly, however,
only one of them comes back, praising God and thanking him in a loud
voice. Jesus notes this: ten asked to be healed and only one returned
to praise God in a loud voice and to acknowledge that he is our
strength. To know how to give thanks, to give praise for everything
that the Lord has done for us.
“Let
us look to Mary. After the Annunciation, her first act is one of
charity towards her elderly kinswoman Elizabeth. Her first words are:
'My soul magnifies the Lord' – the Magnificat, a canticle of praise
and thanksgiving to God not only for what he did for her, but for
what he has done throughout the history of salvation. Everything is
his gift; if we were able to understand that everything is a gift
from God, how much happiness there would be in our hearts! He is our
strength. Saying 'thank you' is so easy, and yet so hard! How often
do we say 'thank you' to one another in our families? It is one of
the key words of co-existence. How often do we say 'please', 'I'm
sorry', 'thank you', to those who help us, those close to us, those
at our side throughout life? Often we take everything for granted!
This happens with God too. It is easy to go to the Lord to ask for
help, but to give thanks to Him … 'Ah, it didn't occur to me...'.
“As
we continue our celebration of the Eucharist, let us invoke Mary’s
intercession. May she help us to be open to God’s surprises, to be
faithful to him each and every day, and to praise and thank him, for
he is our strength”.
At
the culmination of the ceremony the Pope consecrated the world to the
Virgin of Fatima. “Teach us your love, especially for the minor and
the poor, the marginalised and the suffering, for sinners and for
those who have gone astray”.
POPE'S
VIDEO MESSAGE FOR BEATIFICATION OF 522 TWENTIETH-CENTURY SPANISH
MARTYRS
Vatican
City, 13 October 2013 (VIS) - We publish below the full text of Pope
Francis' video message, broadcast at the beginning of the
beatification ceremony for 522 twentieth-century Spanish martyrs,
which took place in Tarragona, Spain.
“I
would like to express my heartfelt participation in the celebration
taking place in Tarragona in which a great number of pastors,
consecrated persons and lay faithful are being proclaimed Blessed
martyrs.
“Who
are the martyrs? They are Christians won over by Christ, disciples
who have understood fully the path to that “love to the extreme
limit” that led Jesus to the Cross. There is no such thing as love
in consignments or in portions. Total love: and when one loves truly,
one loves to the very end. On the Cross, Jesus felt the weight of
death, the weight of sin, but He entrusted Himself entirely to the
Father, and He forgave. He barely uttered a word, but He gave His
life. Christ precedes and awaits us in love; the martyrs imitated Him
in loving to the very end.
“The
Holy Fathers say, 'Imitate the martyrs!' It is always necessary to
die a little in order to come out of ourselves, to leave behind our
selfishness, our comfort, our laziness, our sadness, and to open
ourselves to God, and to others, especially those most in need.
“We
implore the intercession of the martyrs in order to be true
Christians, Christians not only in words but in deeds; so as not to
be mediocre Christians, Christians painted with a superficial gloss
of Christianity but without substance; the martyrs were not glossed
and painted Christians, they were were Christians to the very end.
Let us ask their help to stay firm in faith, in spite of
difficulties, and let us too nurture hope and be architects of
brotherhood and solidarity.
“And
I ask you to pray for me. May Jesus bless them and the Holy Virgin
protect them”.
MARIAN
DAY: MARY'S FAITH GIVES FLESH TO JESUS
Vatican
City, 12 October 2013 (VIS) – At 5 p.m. this afternoon, in St.
Peter's Square, the Marian Day was celebrated as part of the Year of
Faith. The event began an hour before, with the procession around the
square of the original statue of the Virgin of Fatima, which had been
transported by air from Portugal and which Pope Francis had welcomed
at the entrance of the Basilica. More than one hundred thousand
people attended the event.
Following
the address by the president of the Pontifical Council for New
Evangelisation, Archbishop Rino Fisichella, the statue of the Virgin
was enthroned and, after the Marian prayer, in the form of the Via
Matris, the Holy Father gave his catechesis in which he explained
that Mary is the path that leads us to Jesus. “Mary is a woman of
faith, a true believer”; he said. “But we can ask: What was
Mary’s faith like?”
“Mary’s
faith unties the knot of sin”, he continued. “What does that
mean? The Fathers of the Second Vatican Council used a phrase of
Saint Irenaeus, who states that 'the knot of Eve’s disobedience was
untied by the obedience of Mary; what the virgin Eve bound by her
unbelief, the Virgin Mary loosened by her faith'”.
When
we do not listen to God and do not follow his will, “we do concrete
things that demonstrate our lack of trust in him – for that is what
sin is – and a kind of knot is created deep within us. These knots
take away our peace and serenity. … But we know one thing: nothing
is impossible for God’s mercy! Even the most tangled knots are
loosened by his grace. And Mary, whose 'yes' opened the door for God
to undo the knot of the ancient disobedience, is the Mother who
patiently and lovingly brings us to God, so that he can untangle the
knots of our soul by his fatherly mercy. … All the knots of our
heart, every knot of our conscience, can be undone”.
Mary’s
faith “gave human flesh to Jesus. As the Council says: 'Through her
faith and obedience, she gave birth on earth to the very Son of the
Father, without knowing man but by the overshadowing of the Holy
Spirit'. ... Mary first conceived Jesus in faith and then in the
flesh, when she said 'yes' to the message God gave her through the
angel. What does this mean? It means that God did not want to become
man by bypassing our freedom; he wanted to pass through Mary’s free
assent, through her 'yes'.
“But
what took place most singularly in the Virgin Mary also takes place
within us, spiritually, when we receive the word of God with a good
and sincere heart and put it into practice. It is as if God takes
flesh within us; he comes to dwell in us, for he dwells in all who
love him and keep his Word. … Believing in Jesus means giving him
our flesh with the humility and courage of Mary, so that he can
continue to dwell in our midst. It means giving him our hands, to
caress the little ones and the poor; our feet, to go forth and meet
our brothers and sisters; our arms, to hold up the weak and to work
in the Lord’s vineyard, our minds, to think and act in the light of
the Gospel; and especially to offer our hearts to love and to make
choices in accordance with God’s will”.
The
third element is “Mary’s faith as a journey. The Council says
that Mary 'advanced in her pilgrimage of faith'. In this way she
precedes us on this pilgrimage, she accompanies and sustains us. …
Her entire life was to follow her Son: He – Jesus – is the way,
He is the path! To press forward in faith, to advance in the
spiritual pilgrimage which is faith, is nothing other than to follow
Jesus; to listen to Him and be guided by His words; to see how He
acts and to follow in His footsteps; to have His same sentiments. And
what are these sentiments of Jesus? Humility, mercy, closeness to
others, but also a firm rejection of hypocrisy, duplicity and
idolatry. The way of Jesus is the way of a love which is faithful to
the end, even unto sacrificing one’s life; it is the way of the
cross”.
For
Him, the journey of faith “passes through the cross. Mary
understood this from the beginning. … Mary was always with Jesus,
she followed Jesus in the midst of the crowds and she heard all the
gossip and the hatefulness of those who opposed the Lord. And she
carried this cross! Mary’s faith encountered misunderstanding and
contempt. When Jesus’ 'hour' came, the hour of his passion, Mary’s
faith was a little flame burning in the night, a little light
flickering in the darkness. Through the night of Holy Saturday, Mary
kept watch. Her flame, small but bright, remained burning until the
dawn of the resurrection. And when she received word that the tomb
was empty, her heart was filled with the joy of faith: Christian
faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Faith always
brings us to joy, and Mary is the Mother of joy! May she teach us to
take the path of joy, to experience this joy!”
The
Holy Father concluded, “This evening, Mother, we thank you for our
faith, the faith of a strong and humble woman; we renew our
entrustment to you, Mother of our faith”.
VIGIL
AND ROSARY AT THE SANCTUARY OF OUR LADY OF DIVINE LOVE
Vatican
City, 12 October 2013 (VIS) – Following the Marian ceremony in St.
Peter's Square, the effigy of the Virgin of Fatima was transported by
helicopter to the Roman Sanctuary of Our Lady of Divine Love.
At
7.30 p.m., various Marian sanctuaries throughout the world connected
with the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Divine Love to pray the Rosary and
to participate in the prayer vigil “With Mary beyond the Night”,
which concluded at dawn with the traditional pilgrimage to the
shrine.
Pope
Francis sent a video message, broadcast before the prayer of the
Rosary, the full text of which is given below.
“Dear
Brothers and Sisters,
“I
greet all the pilgrims present in this Shrine of Divine Love, and all
those who join us from the Marian shrines of Lourdes, Nazareth,
Lujan, Vailankanni, Guadalupe, Akita, Nairobi, Benneux, Cz?stochowa
and Marian Valley.
“This
evening I am united to all of you in praying the Holy Rosary and in
Eucharistic adoration under the gaze of the Virgin Mary.
“Mary’s
gaze! How important this is! How many things can we say with a look!
Affection, encouragement, compassion, love, but also disapproval,
envy, pride and even hatred. Often a look says more than words; it
says what words do not or dare not say.
“At
whom is the Virgin Mary looking? She is looking at each and every one
of us. And how does she look at us? She looks at us as a Mother, with
tenderness, mercy and love. That was how she gazed at her Son Jesus
at all the moments of his life – joyful, luminous, sorrowful,
glorious – as we contemplate in the mysteries of the Holy Rosary,
simply and lovingly.
“When
we are weary, downcast, beset with cares, let us look to Mary, let us
feel her gaze, which speaks to our heart and says: 'Courage, my
child, I am here to help you!'. Our Lady knows us well, she is a
Mother, she is familiar with our joys and difficulties, our hopes and
disappointments. When we feel the burden of our failings and our
sins, let us look to Mary, who speaks to our hearts, saying: 'Arise,
go to my Son Jesus; in him you will find acceptance, mercy and new
strength for the journey'.
“Mary’s
gaze is not directed towards us alone. At the foot of the Cross, when
Jesus entrusted to her the Apostle John, and with him all of us, in
the words: 'Woman, here is your son', the gaze of Mary was fixed on
Jesus. Mary says to us what she said at the wedding feast of Cana:
'Do whatever he tells you'. Mary points to Jesus, she asks us to bear
witness to Jesus, she constantly guides us to her Son Jesus, because
in Him alone do we find salvation. He alone can change the water of
our loneliness, difficulties and sin into the wine of encounter, joy
and forgiveness. He alone.
“'Blessed
is she who believed!' Mary is blessed for her faith in God, for her
faith, because her heart’s gaze was always fixed on God, the Son of
God Whom she bore in her womb and Whom she contemplated upon the
Cross. In the adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, Mary says to us:
'Look at my Son Jesus, keep your gaze fixed on Him, listen to Him,
speak with Him. He is gazing at you with love. Do not be afraid! He
will teach you to follow Him and to bear witness to Him in all that
you do, whether great and small, in your family life, at work, at
times of celebration. He will teach you to go out of yourself and to
look upon others with love, as He did. He loved you and loves you,
not with words but with deeds'.
“O
Mary, let us feel your maternal gaze. Guide us to your Son. May we
not be Christians 'on display', but Christians ready to 'get our
hands dirty' in building, with your Son Jesus, his Kingdom of love,
joy and peace”.
THE
CHURCH MUST ADDRESS THE ROLE OF WOMEN
Vatican
City, 12 October 2013 (VIS) – This morning Pope Francis received in
audience the participants in the study seminar “God entrusts
humanity to women”, promoted by the Pontifical Council for the
Laity, on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the publication of
Blessed John Paul II's apostolic letter, “Mulieris dignitatem”,
dated 15 August 1988. The seminar was attended by experts and
representatives of ecclesial movements, from twenty-five countries
and from diverse professional fields.
The
Holy Father remarked that “'Mulieris dignitatem' is an historical
document, the first of the pontifical Magisterium entirely dedicated
to the theme of women”, and with reference to the title of the
seminar, he observed that in his opinion the key to understanding
John Paul II's phrase is maternity.
“Many
things can change and have changed in cultural and social evolution,
but there remains the fact that it is the woman who conceives,
carries and gives birth to the sons and daughters of men. And this is
not simply a biological fact, but also gives rise to a wealth of
implications both for the woman herself, for her way of being, and
for her relationships, for the way in which she positions herself
with regard to human life and life in general. In calling the woman
to the role of maternity, God has in an entirely special way
entrusted the human being to her.
“However,
two dangers are always present, two extreme opposites which mortify
the woman and her vocation. The first is to reduce maternity to a
social role, to a task which, while noble, in practice marginalises
women, along with all their potential, and does recognise their full
value in building communities. This occurs in both the civil and
ecclesial contexts. And as a reaction to this there is another, of a
nature opposed to the first: that of the promotion of a type of
emancipation that, in order to occupy the spaces subtracted from the
male, abandons the female, along with her valuable characteristics.
And here I would like to emphasise that women have a particular
sensibility for 'matters of God', especially in helping us to
understand mercy, tenderness and the love that God has for us.
“'Mulieris
dignitatem', concluded Pope Francis, “is located in this context,
and offers profound, organic reflection, with a solid anthropological
basis illuminated by the Revelation. From here we must undertake anew
the task of deepening and promotion that I have already expressed on
a number of occasions. Also in the Church, it is important to ask:
what type of presence do women have? Could it be accorded greater
worth? It is an issue of great importance to me, and for this reason
I wished to meet with you and bless you and your work. Thank you, and
let us continue in this work together! May Mary Most Holy, great
woman, Mother of Jesus and of all the children of God, accompany us”.
FREEDOM
WITH OR WITHOUT GOD, 24 YEARS AFTER THE FALL OF THE BERLIN WALL
Vatican
City, 14 October 2013 (VIS) – This morning a press conference was
held in the Holy See Press Office to present the “Courtyard of the
Gentiles”, which will be celebrated this year in Berlin, from 26 to
28 November. The initiative, promoted by the Pontifical Council for
Culture in collaboration with the archdiocese of Berlin and the
German Bishops' Conference, aims to relaunch dialogue between
believers and non-believers in relation to the most important issues
of the contemporary world.
The
speakers in the conference were: Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi,
president of the Pontifical Council for Culture; Archbishop Robert
Zollitsch, president of the German Bishops' Conference; Fr. Hans
Langendorfer, S.J., secretary general of the German Bishops'
Conference; Joachim Hake, director of the Catholic Academy of the
Archdiocese of Berlin, and Fr. Laurent Mazas, executive director of
the “Courtyard of the Gentiles”.
The
encounter will address issues such as the depth of ethical humanism,
the greatness of faith in God, the freedom of art and beauty, respect
and creation, aspects and models of man, the grace and dignity of
human nature and worship.
With
the title “If there is no God, everything is permitted”, the
“Courtyard of the Gentiles” will be inaugurated in the Red City
Hall of Berlin, and will be followed by a discussion on the theme
“Look at man: God's creation endowed with creativity, or his own
creator?” at the Charite University of Medicine; finally, the theme
of respect, blasphemy and artistic liberty will be considered at the
Berlin Deutsches Theater.
“There
exist many experiences of freedom with and without God in Berlin, and
they are as varied as the inhabitants of this city”, said
Archbishop Zollitsch. “The paths of their lives and their freedom
intertwine continually, like the processions in the Bode Museum. The
Courtyard of the Gentiles wishes to show the richness and the depth
of Catholic faith, and to express esteem for the positions held by
non-believers, but also to see in faith the traces of unbelief”.
ENTRY
TO AUDIENCES OR CELEBRATIONS PRESIDED BY THE HOLY FATHER IS ALWAYS
FREE
Vatican
City, 12 October 2013 (VIS) – The Prefecture of the Papal Household
communicates that for the canonisation of Blesseds John XVIII and
John Paul II on Sunday 27 April 2014, participation is open to all
those able to find space in St. Peter's Square, Piazza Pio XII and
Via della Conciliazione, without any need for tickets.
As
on other occasions, the faithful are warned against ticket touts or
requests for money by agencies or tour operators in order to obtain
tickets.
Attendees
are also reminded that the tickets to participate in audiences or
celebrations presided by the Holy Father are entirely free.
AUDIENCES
Vatican
City, 14 October 2013 (VIS) - Today, the Holy Father received in
audience:
-
William Lacy Swing, director general of the International
Organisation for Immigration (IOM), with his wife and entourage.
-
Cardinal Raffaele Farina, archivist and librarian emeritus of the
Holy Roman Church.
-
Archbishop Leo Boccardi, apostolic nuncio to Iran.
-
Archbishop Vincenzo Pelvi, military ordinary emeritus for Italy.
-
Bishop Fernando Panico of Crato, Brazil.
On
Saturday, 12 October the Holy Father received in audience:
-
Carlos Avila Molina, ambassador of Honduras to the Holy See,
presenting his letters of credence.
-
Cardinal Marc Ouellet, P.S.S., prefect of the Congregation for
Bishops.
OTHER
PONTIFICAL ACTS
Vatican
City, 14 October 2013 (VIS) - Today, the Holy Father appointed
Cardinal Peter Erdo, archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest, Hungary, and
Archbishop Bruno Forte of Chieti-Vatso, Italy, respectively as
relator general and special secretary of the 3rd Extraordinary
General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, scheduled to take place
from 5 to 19 November 2014.
On
Saturday 12 October, the Holy Father:
-
appointed Msgr. Angel Jose Macin as bishop of Reconquista (area
35,000, population 276,000, Catholics 243,000, priests 46, permanent
deacons 1, religious 65), Argentina. The bishop-elect was born in
Malabrigo, Argentina in 1967 and was ordained a priest in 1992. He
holds a licentiate in theology from the Catholic University of
Argentina and a doctorate from the Pontifical University of St.
Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum), Rome. He is a member of the Argentine
Society of Theology. He has served in a number of academic and
pastoral roles, including professor of science of religion at the San
Benito Institute of Victoria, ordinary professor and director of
studies at the interdiocesan seminary “La Encarnacion” in
Resistencia, parish vicar of “Santa Ana”, Florencia, professor of
New Testament at the diocesan seminary San Nicolas, Buenos Aires,
parish priest of “Nuestra Senora del Huerto”, Malabrigo, assessor
of social pastoral care and professor of sacred scripture at the
Institute “Juan Pablo II” in Reconquista, and diocesan
administrator of Reconquista.
-
appointed Msgr. Ilson de Jesus Montanari, official of the
Congregation for Bishops, as secretary of the same dicastery, at the
same time elevating him to the dignity of archbishop.
Archbishop-elect Montanari was born in Sertaozinho, Brazil in 1959
and ordained a priest in 1989. He holds a licentiate in dogmatic
theology from the Gregorian Pontifical University, and has served in
a number of pastoral, academic and administrative roles, including
parish priest of the parish “Sao Joao Batista” in Sertaozinho,
professor of theology at the Study Centre of the archdiocese of
Ribeirao Preto and the archdiocesan seminary of Uberaba, chancellor
and co-ordinator of pastoral activity for Ribeirao Preto, member of
the presbyteral college and the College of Consultors of Ribeirao
Preto, and official of the Congregation of Bishops. In 2011 he was
named chaplain of His Holiness.
-
appointed Msgr. Diego Giovanni Ravelli, official of the Apostolic
Almoner, as Office Chief of the Apostolic Almoner.
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