SUMMARY:
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CONFIRMATION, THE SECOND SACRAMENT OF CHRISTIAN INITIATION
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POPE FRANCIS: USURY, AN AFFRONT TO DIGNITY
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POPE'S MESSAGE TO THE PONTIFICAL ACADEMIES: FAITH KNOWS BECAUSE IT IS
TIED TO LOVE
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AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE HOLY SEE AND MALTA ON CANONICAL MARRIAGE
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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS
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CONFIRMATION,
THE SECOND SACRAMENT OF CHRISTIAN INITIATION
Vatican
City, 29 January 2014 (VIS) – During this Wednesday's general
audience Pope Francis, continuing his catechesis on the sacraments,
focused on Confirmation, a sacrament which must be understood as
“continuing from Baptism, to which it is indissolubly linked”.
“These
two sacraments, along with the Eucharist, constitute a single saving
event – Christian initiation – in which we are brought into
Christ who died and rose again, and become new creatures and members
of the Church. This is because originally these three Sacraments were
celebrated together, at the end of the catechumenal path, normally on
Holy Saturday. This concluded the process of formation and gradual
insertion into the Christian community, that could even take several
years. It is a step by step process, first reaching Baptism, then
Confirmation, and finally the Eucharist”.
“In
confirmation, we are anointed with oil. And indeed, through the oil
known as the 'holy Chrism' we are conformed, by the power of the Holy
Spirit, to Christ, who is the only true 'anointed one' the Messiah,
the Saint of God. The term 'confirmation' reminds us that this
Sacrament involves growth from baptismal grace; it unites us more
firmly with Christ; it completes our bond with the Church; it accords
to us the special strength of the Holy Spirit in order to spread and
to defend the faith, to confess the name of Christ and never to be
ashamed of His Cross”.
“For
this reason it is important that all our children receive this
Sacrament”, he added. “We are all concerned about baptising them,
but perhaps less so with regard to confirmation, and therefore they
remain at a halfway point, and do not receive the Holy Spirit that
gives us the strength to go forward in Christian life”. Therefore,
“it is important to provide a good preparation for Confirmation,
aiming to lead them towards personal adhesion to faith in Christ and
to reawaken in them a sense of belonging to the Church”.
“Confirmation,
like every Sacrament, is not the work of men, but rather the work of
God, Who takes care of our lives in order to mould us in the image of
His Son, to make us able to love like Him. He infuses us with the
Holy Spirit, whose action pervades the whole person and all of life,
as is shown by the Seven Gifts that Tradition, in the light of the
Sacred Scriptures, has always made clear: Wisdom, Understanding,
Counsel, Knowledge, Fortitude, Piety and Fear of the Lord”, said
the Bishop of Rome, announcing that these gifts will be the subject
of his next catechesis, after the Sacraments. “When we welcome the
Holy Spirit into our hearts and allow it to act, Christ Himself is
made present in us and takes form in our lives; through us, it will
be He Who prays, forgives, brings hope and consolation, serves our
brothers, is close to the needy and the abandoned, Who creates
communion and sows peace”.
The
Pope brought his catechesis to and end by urging those present to
remember that they have received Confirmation, firstly “to thank
the Lord for this gift, and then to ask Him for His help in living as
true Christians, to always journey with joy according to the Holy
Spirit that has been granted to us”. As he was concluding, it began
to rain heavily and Pope Francis exclaimed, “It seems that on these
last few Wednesdays, during the audience, we have been blessed from
heaven! However, since you are brave, let us go ahead and
continue...”.
POPE
FRANCIS: USURY, AN AFFRONT TO DIGNITY
Vatican
City, 29 January 2014 (VIS) – Following today's general audience,
the Pope greeted the faithful present, offering some special words to
the “Carta di Roma” and “Casa Alessia” associations, which
both work to help the needy and refugees, and encouraged them to
continue in their challenging work. He also greeted the families of
workers from Castelfiorentino, Italy, recently made redundant
following the closure of Shelbox due to the current economic crisis.
“While I express my closeness to you, I hope also that the
competent authorities will make every effort to ensure that work,
which is the source of dignity, is a central concern for all”.
Finally,
he greeted the National Council of Anti-Usury Foundations. “I hope
that these institutions may intensify their commitment alongside the
victims of usury, a dramatic social ill. When a family has nothing to
eat, because it has to make payments to usurers, this is not
Christian, it is not human! This dramatic scourge in our society
harms the inviolable dignity of the human person”.
POPE'S
MESSAGE TO THE PONTIFICAL ACADEMIES: FAITH KNOWS BECAUSE IT IS TIED
TO LOVE
Vatican
City, 29 January 2014 (VIS) – Yesterday afternoon in the Great Hall
of the St. Pius X Palace the Pontifical Academies celebrated their
18th Public Session, the theme of which was “Occulata Fides.
Reading Truth with the eyes of Christ”. The work of the Session was
introduced by Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, president of the Pontifical
Council for Culture and the Council for Co-ordination between the
Pontifical Academies.
During
the session, Archbishop Pietro Parolin, secretary of State, read a
message from Pope Francis to the participants, recalling that this
year's theme is drawn from a phrase of St. Thomas Aquinas, cited in
the encyclical Lumen Fidei and which the Pontifical Academies debate
in this document and the recent Apostolic Exhortation “Evangelii
Gaudium”.
“In
both documents, I invite reflection on the 'enlightening' dimension
of faith and on the connection between faith and truth, to be
investigated not only with the mind's eye, but also that of the
heart, that is, from the perspective of love”, writes the Pope.
Faith knows because it is tied to love, because love itself brings
light. The comprehension of faith is that which is born when we
receive God's great love which transforms us within and gives us new
eyes through which we see reality. … This has important
consequences both in terms of how believers act, and for the way
theologians work. 'Truth nowadays is often reduced to the subjective
authenticity of the individual. A common truth intimidates us, for we
identify it with the intransigent demands of totalitarian systems.
But if truth is a truth of love, if it is a truth disclosed in
personal encounter with the Other and with others, then it can be set
free from its enclosure in individuals and become part of the common
good. … Far from making us inflexible, the security of faith sets
us on a journey; it enables witness and dialogue with all”.
“This
vision – of a journeying missionary Church – is that which is
developed in the Apostolic Exhortation on the proclamation of the
Gospel in today's world. The 'dream of a … missionary impulse
capable of transforming everything' relates to the entire Church and
every part of her. The Pontifical Academies are also called to this
transformation, so that the contribution of this ecclesiastical Body
is not lacking. This is not a matter of external operations, of a
'facade', however. It is, rather, also for you, a question of
concentrating increasingly on the the essentials, on what is most
beautiful, most grand, most appealing and at the same time most
necessary'”.
The
Holy Father concluded his message by announcing that this year's
Pontifical Academies Prize, dedicated this year to theological
research, will be awarded to two young scholars for their
contribution to the promotion of a new Christian humanism: Rev.
Professor Alessandro Clemenzia, for his work “In the Trinity as
Church. In dialogue with Heribert Muhlen”, and Professor Maria
Silvia Vaccarezza for the work “The reasons of the contingent.
Practical wisdom from Aristotle to St. Thomas Aquinas”.
AGREEMENT
BETWEEN THE HOLY SEE AND MALTA ON CANONICAL MARRIAGE
Vatican
City, 29 January 2014 (VIS) – On 27 January, at the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs in Malta, the third additional protocol to the
agreement between the Holy See and the Republic of Malta of 3
February 1993 on the recognition of civil effects to canonical
marriages and the decisions of the Authorities and ecclesiastical
tribunals on the same marriages.
The
agreement was signed on behalf of the Holy See by Archbishop Aldo
Cavalli, apostolic nuncio to Malta, as Plenipotentiary, and for the
Republic of Malta by George W. Vella, Minister of Foreign Affairs of
Malta.
The
Third Additional Protocol, which consists of four articles, amends
the aforementioned Agreement of 1993.
OTHER
PONTIFICAL ACTS
Vatican
City, 29 January 2014 (VIS) – The Holy Father has:
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appointed Bishop Edmilson Amador Caetano, O. Cist. of Barretos,
Brazil, as bishop of Guarulhos (area 341, population 1,357,000,
Catholics 879,000, priests 50, religious 105), Brazil.
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appointed Msgr. Estevam Santos Silva Filho as auxiliary of the
archdiocese of Sao Salvador da Bahia (area 3,859, population
3,862,000, Catholics 2,730,000, priests 289, religious 756), Brazil.
The bishop-elect was born in Vitoria da Conquista, Brazil in 1968,
and was ordained a priest in 1995. He studied philosophy at the
Instituto Filosofico Nossa Senhora das Vitorias and theology at the
Instituto Coracao Eucaristico de Jesus in Belo Horizonte, and
specialised in communications at the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana
in Bogota, Colombia. He has served in a number of pastoral roles,
including priest in various parishes in the archdiocese of Vitoria da
Conquista, and was spiritual director of the preparatory seminary at
Itapetinga, the major seminary of philosophy in Vitoria da Conquista,
and the major seminary of theology in Ilheus. He also serves as a
member of the Council of Formators, the College of Consultors, and
the Presbyteral Council, and as ecclesiastical assessor for
archdiocesan pastoral of communication and in the youth sector. He is
currently priest of the parish “Nossa Senhora das Candeias”,
archdiocesan bursar and formator in the seminary of philosophy in
Vitoria da Conquista.
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