SUMMARY:
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MASS FOR DECEASED CARDINALS AND BISHOPS
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POPE FRANCIS: LET THE LORD MAKE YOUR LIFE INTO A GIFT OF LOVE
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PRAYER BEFORE THE TOMBS OF THE SUPREME PONTIFFS
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MASS IN THE CEMETERY OF VERANO: ANCHOR THE HEART IN HEAVEN
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SAINTLINESS IS A VOCATION FOR ALL
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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS
______________________________________
MASS
FOR DECEASED CARDINALS AND BISHOPS
Vatican
City, 4 November 2013 (VIS) – As is traditional, this morning in
St. Peter's Basilica the Pope celebrated Mass for the cardinals and
bishops who passed away during the preceding year. “Only man's sin
may interrupt his bond with God, but even when this happens, God
always seeks him out, He pursues him to re-establish that union that
endures even beyond death, a union that culminates in the final
encounter with the Father”.
With
these words, Pope Francis explained to those present that the
departed prelates are now in the hands of God. “This reality, full
of hope, is a view of the final resurrection, of eternal life, the
destiny of the 'just', of those who welcome the Word of God and are
docile in spirit”. The Holy Father concluded by entrusting to the
mercy of the Lord “our dear departed brother cardinals and bishops:
men dedicated to their vocation and to their service to the Church,
whom they loved as a spouse”.
POPE
FRANCIS: LET THE LORD MAKE YOUR LIFE INTO A GIFT OF LOVE
Vatican
City, 4 November 2013 (VIS) At midday on Sunday the Holy Father
appeared at the window of his study in the Vatican Apostolic Palace
to pray the Angelus with the faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square.
Francis dedicated his Sunday meditation to the Gospel of St. Luke,
who narrates the conversion of Zacchaeus. “There is no profession
or social condition, no sin or crime of any type that may cancel from
the memory or the heart of God even one of His children. 'God
remembers', always, he does not forget anyone He has created; He is
the Father, always vigilantly and lovingly awaiting the rebirth of
the desire to return home in the heart of His son. And when He
recognises this desire, even if it is simply hinted at, and often
almost subconsciously, He immediately rushes to His son's side, and
with his forgiveness he lightens the task of the conversion and
return to the fold”.
“If
you have a burden on your conscience”, he continued, “if you are
ashamed of many things you have done, stop a moment; do not be
afraid. Think that someone is waiting for you, because He has never
forgotten you; and that someone is your Father, God who awaits you!
Climb, like Zacchaeus did; climb the tree of the wish to be forgiven,
and I assure you, you will not be disappointed. Jesus is merciful and
never tires of forgiving. Remember this well; thus is Jesus. … In
the depths of our hearts, let us listen to His voice that says to us:
'Today I must call at your house', that is, your heart, your life.
And let us welcome Him with joy: He is able to change us, he is able
to transform our hearts of stone into hearts of flesh, he is able to
free us from selfishness and make our lives into a gift of love”.
PRAYER
BEFORE THE TOMBS OF THE SUPREME PONTIFFS
Vatican
City, 2 November 2013 (VIS) – Today, on the Solemnity of All Souls,
the Holy Father descended into the Vatican Grottoes to pray privately
before the tombs of the supreme Pontiffs.
“In
these Vatican Grottoes, we entrust to the mercy of the Father those
who are buried here, and hope in the resurrection of the flesh”,
said Pope Francis. In particular, he added, “we entrust the Supreme
Pontiffs who have carried out their service as pastors of the
Universal Church, so that they may participate in the eternal liturgy
of heaven”.
MASS
IN THE CEMETERY OF VERANO: ANCHOR THE HEART IN HEAVEN
Vatican
City, 1 November 2013 (VIS) – This afternoon, at 4 p.m., the Holy
Father celebrated Mass at the entrance to the monumental cemetery of
Verano in Rome. The concelebrants were Cardinal Agostino Vallini,
Archbishop Filippo Iannone, vice-regent of the diocese of Rome, the
auxiliary bishops and Fr. Armando Ambrosi, priest of San Lorenzo
fuori le Mura (St Lawrence outside the Walls) parish church, where
the cemetery is located.
“At
this time, before sunset”, said the Pope in his homily, “we are
gathered in this cemetery to think about our future and about all
those who are no more, those who have gone before us in life and are
now in the Lord … in the Lord God, beauty, goodness, truth,
tenderness, full love. All this awaits us. Those who have preceded us
and are departed to the Lord are there. They proclaim that they have
been saved not only for their works – they have also done good
works – but that they have been saved by the Lord. … It is He Who
saves us, it is He Who at the end of our life leads us by the hand
like a father, to the Heaven where our ancestors await us”.
“We
can enter heaven only thanks to the blood of the lamb, the blood of
Christ … that has justified us, that has opened the doors to Heaven
to us. And if today we recall these brothers and sisters of ours who
have preceded us in life and are now in Heaven, it is because they
have been washed by the blood of Christ. This is our hope: the hope
of the blood of Christ! A hope that does not disappoint. If we walk
the path of life with the Lord, He never disappoints us”.
Francis
went on to cite the passage in the Gospel of St. John: “'See what
great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called
children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does
not know us is that it did not know him'. Dear friends, now we are
children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But
we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall
see him as he is”. To see God is “to be similar to God: this is
our hope. And today, precisely on the day of All Saints and before
the day of All Souls, it is necessary to think a little about hope:
this hope that accompanies us in life. The first Christians depicted
hope as an anchor, as if life was the anchor thrown to the shores of
Heaven and all of us set forth towards that shore, grasping the rope
of the anchor. It is a beautiful image of hope: to anchor our hearts
where our dearly departed await us, where the saints, Jesus and God
are. It is the hope that does not disappoint us. Today and tomorrow
are days of hope”.
Hope,
he continued, “is like leaven, that enlarges the soul; there are
difficult moments in life, but with hope the soul forges ahead and
looks to what awaits us. … Hope also purifies us, and lightens us:
this purification in hope in Jesus Christ allows us to go on swiftly.
As the sun starts to set today, each one of us can think of the
sunset of our own lives”. And if we look forward with joy to being
welcomed by the Lord, “this is a Christian thought, that brings
peace to us. Today is a day of joy, but it is a serene and tranquil
joy, the joy of peace. Let us think of the sunsets of the many
brothers and sisters who have preceded us, and let us think of our
own sunset, when it arrives. And let us think of our hearts, and ask
ourselves, 'Where is my heart anchored?' If it is not anchored well,
let us anchor it there, on that shore, in the knowledge that hope
never disappoints, because the Lord Jesus never disappoints”.
At
the end of the Mass, the Pope blessed the tombs and concluded, “I
would like to pray especially for our brothers and sisters who have
died seeking freedom, a more worthwhile life. We have seen the
photographs depicting the cruelty of the desert; we have seen the sea
where many have drowned. Let us pray for them. And let us also pray
for the survivors, who now languish in shelters, in the hope that the
necessary legal procedures will be completed swiftly so that they
might move on to other more comfortable places, in other centres”.
SAINTLINESS
IS A VOCATION FOR ALL
Vatican
City, 1 November 2013 (VIS) - “The Solemnity of All Saints, which
we celebrate today, reminds us that the end of our earthly existence
is not death, but instead paradise!” said the Holy Father, who
appeared at the window of his study at midday today to pray the
Angelus with the faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square.
The
saints “are not supermen, nor were they born perfect. They are like
us, like each of us, they are people who before reaching the glory of
heaven lived a normal life, with joy and pain, weariness and hope”,
but “when they knew God's love, they followed him with all their
heart, without conditions or hypocrisy; they spent their life in the
service of others, they endured suffering and adversity without hate
and responding to evil with good, spreading joy and peace. … The
saints never hated. Understand this: love comes from God, but where
does hate come from? Hate does not come from God, but from the devil!
And the Saints distanced themselves from the devil; the Saints are
men and women who have joy in their hearts and transmit it to others.
Never hate, but serve others, those most in need; pray and live in
joy; this is the route to sanctity”.
Being
saints is not a privilege of the few, “as if one had a great
inheritance. All of us, in baptism, receive the inheritance of being
able to become saints. Saintliness is a vocation for all. For all of
us, and this is why we are called to walk the path of holiness, and
this path has a name and a face: the face of Jesus Christ. He teaches
us how to become saints. In the Gospel, He shows us the path: that of
the Beatitudes. The Kingdom of Heaven, indeed, is for those who do
not base their security in material things, but rather in the love of
God; for those with a simple and humble heart, who do not presume to
be right and do not judge others; for those who know how to suffer
alongside those who suffer, and to rejoice with those who rejoice;
who are not violent, but instead merciful and who seek to be
architects of reconciliation and peace”.
In
this feast, the Pope concluded, “the Saints say to us: trust in the
Lord, because the Lord never disappoints”, and “they show to us
through their lives that those who remain faithful to God and to His
Word already experience on earth the comfort of His love, which is
multiplied one hundred-fold in eternity. This is what we hope and ask
of the Lord for our deceased brothers and sisters. The Church has, in
her wisdom, placed in succession the feast of All Saints and the
commemoration of all the faithful departed. To our prayer in praise
of God and veneration of the blessed spirits we unite our prayer for
the souls of those who precede us in passing from this world to
eternal life”.
Following
the Angelus prayer, the Pope mentioned that in the afternoon he would
celebrate Mass at the Roman cemetery of Verano, and that he would
pray in particular “for the victims of violence, especially for the
Christians who have lost their life due to persecution” and also
“for our brothers and sisters, men, women and children who have
died from thirst, hunger and fatigue, journeying in search of a
better life. In these days we have seen in the newspapers that cruel
image of the desert; let us all pray in silence for these brothers
and sisters of ours”.
OTHER
PONTIFICAL ACTS
Vatican
City, 4 November 2013 (VIS) - Today, the Holy Father:
-
accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the archdiocese of
Salzburg, Austria, presented by Archbishop Alois Kothgasser S.D.B.,
upon having reached the age limit.
-
appointed Msgr. Carlo Bresciani of the clergy of Brescia as bishop of
San Benedetto del Tronto-Ripatransone-Montalto (area 456, population
138,267, Catholics 131,059, priests 113, permanent deacons 14,
religious 190), Italy. The bishop-elect was born in Nave, Italy in
1949 and was ordained a priest in 1975. He holds a licentiate in
psychology and a doctorate in theology from the Pontifical Gregorian
University. He has served in a number of pastoral and academic roles,
including lecturer at the Catholic University of Milan,
ecclesiastical assistant of the Associazione dei Medici Cattolici
Italiani, director of the Higher Institute of Religious Sciences at
the Catholic University, Brescia, director of the Higher Institute of
Formators in Brescia, linked to the Institute of Psychology of the
Pontifical Gregorian University, consultor of the Congregation for
Catholic Education, and rector of the diocesan seminary of Brescia.
He succeeds Bishop Gervasio Gestori, whose resignation from the
pastoral care of the same diocese the Holy Father accepted, upon
having reached the age limit.
-appointed
Msgr. Valerio Lazzeri as bishop of Lugano (area 2,811, population
317,000, Catholics 241,000, priests 257, permanent deacons 6,
religious 470), Switzerland. The bishop-elect was born in Dongio,
Switzerland in 1963 and was ordained a priest in 1989. He holds a
doctorate in theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University and
has served in a number of roles, including vice-rector and lecturer
at the Collegio Papio in Ascona, parish vicar in Locarno, lecturer in
spiritual theology and patristics at the faculty of Lugano, and
episcopal vicar for the Religious. In Rome he served in the
Congregation for Catholic Education. He succeeds Bishop Pier Giacomo
Grampa, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese
the Holy Father accepted, upon having reached the age limit.
-
appointed Msgr. Jozef Gorzynski and Msgr. Rafal Markowski as
auxiliary bishops of Warszawa (area 3,350, population 1,543,700,
Catholics 1,429,000, priests 1,220, permanent deacons 1, religious
2,604), Poland.
Bishop-elect
Gorzynski, of the clergy of Warszawa, was born in Zelechow, Poland in
1959 and ordained to the priesthood in 1985. He holds a licentiate in
liturgy from the St. Anselm Pontifical Athenaeum, and a doctorate
from the Academy of Catholic Theology in Warszawa, now the Cardinal
Stefan Wyszynski University, and has served in a number of roles,
such as vicar in the parish of Grojec, prefect of discipline in the
major seminary of Warszawa, president of the theological commission
at the national college of co-ordinators of Renewal in the Spirit,
vice-president of the liturgical commission of the archdiocese of
Warszawa, and priest in the parish of “Immaculate Conception of the
Blessed Virgin Mary” in Warszawa. He is currently moderator of the
metropolitan Curia.
Bishop-elect
Markowski was born in Jozefow, Poland in 1958, and was ordained to
the priesthood in 1982. He holds a doctorate in theology from the
Academy of Catholic Theology in Warszawa, now the Cardinal Stefan
Wyszynski University, and has served in a number of roles, including
parish vicar in Warka, prefect of discipline in the major seminary of
Warszawa, and director of the “Plus” radio station, subsequently
“Radio Jozef”. He is currently spokesman and administrator for
the archbishop of Warszawa, rector of the church of “Blessed Virgin
Mary Mother of God”, adjunct professor at the Cardinal Stefan
Wyszynski University and member of the Commission of the Polish
Episcopal Conference for dialogue with non-Christian religions.
Bishops-elect
Gorzynski and Markowski succeed Bishop Marian Dus, whose resignation
from the office of auxiliary of the same archdiocese upon reaching
the age limit was accepted by the Holy Father.
-
appointed Msgr. Eugeniusz Miroslaw Popowicz as auxiliary bishop of
the archieparchy of Przemysl-Warszawa of the Byzantines.(catholics
30,000, priests 48, permanent deacons 4, religious 90), Poland.
Bishop-elect Popowicz was born in Czluchow, Poland in 1961 and was
ordained a priest in 1986. He holds a doctorate in eastern canon law
from the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome, and has held a number
of roles including parish vicar at Elblag and Paslek; judicial vicar
and lecturer at the major seminary of Leopoli; episcopal vicar and
parish priest at Gorowo Ilaweckie and Lelkowo; and member of the
presbyteral Council and of the College of consultors and the economic
Council. He is currently priest of the Byzantine cathedral of
Przemysl and protosyncellus of the archieparchy.
-
appointed Fr. Georges Abou Khazen, O.F.M., as apostolic vicar of Alep
of the Latins, Syria, at the same time elevating him to the dignity
of bishop. Bishop-elect Abou Khazen was born in Ain Zebdeh, Lebanon
in 1972 and was ordained to the priesthood in 1973. He has served as
parish priest in Bethlehem and in Jerusalem, and is guardian and
parish priest of St. Francis in Aleppo and vicar general for the
north of Syria. He is currently apostolic administrator “sede
vacante et ad nutum Sanctae Sedis” of the vicariate of Alep of the
Latins.
-
accepted the resignation from the office of esarch and superior
general of the Congregation of Italy of the Basilian Monks, presented
by the Archimandrite Father Emiliano Fabbricatore, O.S.B.I., in
conformity with Canon 210, para 2 of the Code of Canons of the
Oriental Churches
-
appointed Bishop Marcello Semeraro of Albano, Italy, as apostolic
administrator “ad nutum Sanctae Sedis” of the Esarchic Monastery
of St. Mary of Grottaferrata.
-
appointed Abbot Michel Van Parys, O.S.B., as superior of the
territorial abbey of St. Mary of Grottaferrata.
On
Friday, 1 November the Holy Father:
-
accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the archdiocese of
Mombasa, Kenya presented by Bishop Boniface Lele, in accordance with
canon 401 para. 2 of the Code of Canon Law, and appointed Bishop
Emmanuel Barbera, O.F.M. Cap. of Malindi as apostolic administrator
“sede vacante et ad nutum Sanctae Sedis” of the archdiocese of
Mombasa.
-
accepted the resignation from the office of auxiliary of the diocese
of Cleveland, U.S.A., presented by Bishop Roger W. Gries, O.S.B.,
upon having reached the age limit.
-
appointed Bishop Max Leroy Mesidor of Fort-Liberté, Haiti, as
coadjutor archbishop of Cap-Haitien.
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