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Pope’s Q & A at Meeting With International Union of Superiors General by ZENIT Staff
Below is the Vatican-provided translation of Pope Francis’ Q & A during his meeting with the International Union of Superiors General yesterday afternoon in the Vatican:
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MEETING WITH THE INTERNATIONAL UNION OF SUPERIORS GENERAL
12 May 2016
First question
For a better integration of women in the life of the Church
Pope Francis, you have said that “the feminine genius is necessary in all expressions of the life of the Church and of society”, and yet women are excluded from decision-making processes in the Church, especially at the highest levels, and from preaching in the Eucharist. An important obstacle to Church’s full embrace of the “feminine genius” is the bond that both decision-making processes and preaching have with priestly ordination. Do you see a way of separating from ordination both leadership roles and preaching in the Eucharist, so that our Church can be more open to receiving the genius of women in the very near future?
Pope Francis
We must distinguish between various things here. The question is linked to functionality, it is closely linked to functionality, while the role of women goes beyond this. But I will answer the question now, then we will speak … I have seen that there are other questions that go beyond this.
It is true that women are excluded from decision-making processes in the Church: excluded no, but the integration of women is very weak there, in decision-making processes. We must move forward. For example – truly I see no difficulties – I believe that in the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace the secretariat is managed by a woman religious. Another was proposed and I appointed her but she preferred not to accept as she would have had to go elsewhere and do other work in her Congregation. We must move forward, because in many aspects of decision-making processes ordination is not necessary. It is not necessary. In the reform of the Apostolic Constitution Pastor Bonus, on the dicasteries, when there is no competence deriving from ordination – that is, pastoral competence – I have not seen it in writing that it can be a woman, I don’t know about a head of a dicastery, but … For example, for migrants: at the dicastery for migrants there could be a woman. And when it is necessary – now that migrants enter into a dicastery, into its competence, it will be for the Prefect to give this permission. But ordinarily, in the execution of decision-making processes, it can be done. For me the influence on decisions is very important: not only the execution, but also the development, and therefore that women, both consecrated and laywomen, enter into reflection on the process, and in discussion. Because women look at life through their own eyes and we men cannot look at it in this way. The way of viewing a problem, of seeing things, is different in a woman compared to a man. They must be complementary, and in consultations it is important that there are women.
I experienced a problem in Buenos Aires: viewing it with the priests’ council – therefore all men – it was treated well, but then seeing it with a group of religious and lay women it was greatly enriched, and this helped the decision by offering a complementary vision. This is necessary! And I think that we must move forward on this, then in the decision-making process we will see.
Then there is the problem of preaching at the Eucharistic Celebration. There is no problem for a woman – religious or lay – to preach in the Liturgy of the Word. There is no problem. But at the Eucharistic Celebration there is a liturgical-dogmatic problem, because it is one celebration – the Liturgy of the Word and the Eucharistic Liturgy, there is unity between them – and He Who presides is Jesus Christ. The priest or bishop who presides does so in the person of Jesus Christ. It is a theological-liturgical reality. In that situation, since women are not ordained, they cannot preside. But it is possible to study and explain further what I have very quickly and rather simply said just now.
In leadership, instead, there is no problem: in that respect we must go forward, with prudence, but seeking solutions. …
There are two temptations here, against which we must be on guard.
The first is feminism: the role of the woman in the Church is not feminism, it is a right! It is a right through baptism, with the charisms and the gifts that the Spirit has given. We must not fall into the trap of feminism, because this would reduce the importance of a woman. I do not see, at this moment, a great danger of this among women religious. I do not see it. Perhaps previously, but in general it is not present.
The other danger, a very strong temptation I have spoken about several times, is clericalism. And this is very strong. Let us consider that today more than 60 per cent of parishes – of dioceses I don’t know, but marginally fewer – do not have a council for economic affairs or a pastoral council. What does this mean? It means that the parish or diocese is led with a clerical spirit, by the priest alone, and that it does not implement the synodality in the parish, in the diocese, which is not a novelty under this Pope. No! It is a matter of canon law: the parish priest is obliged to have a council of, for and with laymen, laywomen and women religious for pastoral ministry and for economic affairs. And they do not do this. This is the danger of clericalism in the Church today. We must go ahead and remove this danger, because the priest is a servant of the community, the bishop is a servant of the community, but he is not the head of a firm. No! This is important. In Latin America, for example, clericalism is very strong and pronounced. Laypeople do not know what to do, if they do not ask the priest. It is very strong. And for this reason an awareness of the role of the laity has been very delayed. It is saved in part only through popular piety, as the protagonist of this is the people, and the people have done things as they come to them, and priests in this regard have not been very interested; some have not seen this phenomenon of popular piety in a positive light. But clericalism is a negative attitude. And it takes complicity: it is something that is done by two parties, just as it takes two to dance the tango. … That is: the priest seeks to clericalise the layman, the laywoman, the man or woman religious, and the layperson asks to be clericalised, because it is easier that way. And this is curious. In Buenos Aires, I had this experience three or four times: a good priest came to me and said, “I have a very good layperson in my parish: he does this and that, he knows how to organise things, he gets things done. … Shall we make him a deacon?” Or rather: shall we “clericalise” him? “No! Let him remain a layperson. Don’t make him a deacon”. This is important. It often happens to you that clericalism obstructs the correct development of something.
I will ask – and perhaps the President will communicate this – for the Congregation for Divine Worship to explain well and in depth what I said rather briefly on preaching in the Eucharistic Celebration, as I do not have sufficient theology or clarity to explain it now. But it is necessary to differentiate clearly: one thing is the preaching in a Liturgy of the Word, and this can be done, but another thing is the Eucharistic Celebration; here there is another mystery. It is the mystery of Christ’s presence and the priest or the bishop who celebrate in persona Christi.
For leadership it is clear. … Yes, I think that in this there can be my general answer to the first question. We will see for the second.
Second question
The role of consecrated women in the Church
Consecrated women already do much work with the poor and the marginalised, they teach catechism, they accompany the sick and dying, they distribute the communion, in many countries they lead common prayers in the absence of priests and in those circumstances they pronounce the homily. In the Church there is the office of the permanent diaconate, but it is open only to men, married or not. What prevents the Church from including women among permanent deacons, as was the case in the primitive Church? Why not constitute an official commission to study the matter? Can you give an example of where you see the possibility of better integration of women and consecrated women in the life of the Church?
Pope Francis
This question goes in the direction of “doing”: consecrated women already do much work with the poor, they do many things … “doing”. And it touches on the problem of the permanent diaconate. Some might say that the “permanent deaconesses” in the life of the Church are mothers-in-law [laughter]. In effect this exists in antiquity: there was a beginning. …I remember that it was a theme I was quite interested in when I came to Rome for meetings, and I stayed at the Domus Paolo VI; there was a good Syrian theologian there, who had produced a critical edition and translation of the Hymns of Ephrem the Syrian. One day I asked him about this, and he explained to me that in the early times of the Church there were some “deaconesses”. But what were these deaconesses? Were they ordained or not? The Council of Chalcedon (451) speaks about this but it is somewhat obscure. What was the role of deaconesses in those times? It seems – I was told by this man, who is now dead but who was a good professor, wise and erudite – it seems that the role of the deaconesses was to help in the baptism of women, their immersion; they baptised them for the sake of decorum, and also to anoint the body of women, in baptism. And another curious thing: when there was a judgement on a marriage because a husband hit his wife and she went to the bishop to complain, deaconesses were responsible for inspecting the bruises left on the woman’s body from her husband’s blows, and for informing the bishop. This, I remember. There are various publications on the diaconate in the Church, but it is not clear how it was. I think I will ask the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to refer me to some studies on this theme, because I have answered you only on the basis of what I heard from this priest, who was an erudite and able researcher, on the permanent diaconate. In addition, I would like to constitute an official commission to study the question: I think it will be good for the Church to clarify this point, I agree, and I will speak so as to do something of this type.
Then you say: “We agree with you, Holy Father, that you have on several occasions raised the issue of the need for a more incisive role for women in decision-making roles in the Church”. This is clear. “Can you give me an example of where you see the possibility of better integration of women and consecrated women in the life of the Church?”. I will say something that comes after, because I have seen that there is a general question. In the consultations of the Congregation for men and women religious, in the assemblies, women religious must be present: this is certain. Another thing: better integration. At the moment concrete examples do not come to mind, but there is always what I said earlier: seeking the judgement of the consecrated women, because women see things with an originality that is different to that of men, and this enriches, both in consultation and decision-making, and in practice.
These works that you carry out with the poor, the marginalised, teaching catechesis, accompanying the sick and the dying, are very “maternal” tasks, where the maternity of the Church is expressed the most. But there are men who do the same, and well: consecrated men, hospital orders … and this is important.
So, with regard to the diaconate, yes, I agree and it seems to me it would be useful to have a commission to clarify this well, especially with regard to the early times of the Church.
With regard to better integration, I repeat what I said earlier.
If there is something to be made clear, please ask me now: are there any further questions on what I have said, that may help me to think? Go ahead.
Third Question
The role of the International Union of Superiors General
What role could the International Union of Superiors General play, in order to have a word in the thinking of the Church, a word that is listened to, from the moment that it carries with it the voice of 2,000 institutes of women religious? How is it possible that quite often we are forgotten and not included as participants, for example in the General Assembly of the Congregation for the Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life [CICLAVA], where consecrated life is discussed? Can the Church afford to continue speaking about us, instead of speaking with us?
Pope Francis
Sr Teresina have a little patience because it just came to mind what had escaped regarding the other question, on “the role of consecrated women in the Church” It is a point that you must review, which the Church must also review. Your work, my work and that of all of us, is that of service. Very often I find women consecrated who perform a labour of servitude and not of service. It is somewhat difficult to explain, because I would not to suggest a concrete case, which might be a bad thought, because no one really knows the circumstances. Let us consider a parish priest, a priest who to be sure we might imagine: “No, no, my rectory is in the hands of two nuns” — “Are they the ones who run it?” — “Yes, yes!” — “What do they do as far as pastoral care, catechesis?” — “No, no, only that!”. No! This is servitude! Tell me, Mr Parish Priest, are there no good women in the city, who need work? Take on one or two who could perform that service. Let these two sisters go to the schools, the neighbourhoods, with the sick, with the poor. This is the criterion: a labour of service and not of servitude! When you Superiors are asked something that is more servitude than service, have the courage to say ‘no’. This is a rather helpful point, because when a consecrated woman is asked to perform work of servitude, it demeans the life and dignity of that woman. But no servitude!
Now then, [I’ll respond to] Teresina: “What, in your opinion, is the place of woman’s apostolic religious life within the Church? What would the Church be lacking if there were no longer women religious?”. [It would be as if] Mary were missing on the day of Pentecost! There is no Church without Mary! There is not Pentecost without Mary! But Mary was there, she may not have spoken…. I have said this, but I like to repeat it. The consecrated woman is an icon of the Church, an icon of Mary. The priest is not an icon of the Church; he is not the icon of Mary; he is an icon of the Apostles, of the disciples who were sent to preach. But not of the Church or of Mary. When I say this I want to make you reflect on the fact that “she” the Church is feminine; the Church is woman: it is not “he” the Church, it is “she” the Church. But she is a woman married to Jesus Christ, she has her Bridegroom, who id Jesus Christ. When a bishop is chosen for a diocese, the bishop — on behalf of Christ — marries that particular Church. The Church is woman! And a woman’s consecration makes her the very icon of the Church and icon of Our Lady. We men cannot do this. This will help you to deepen, from this theological root, a great role in the Church. I hope this does not elude you.
I completely agree [with the conclusion of the third question]. The Church: you are the Church, we all are. The hierarchy — as we say — of the Church must speak of you, but first and in the moment it must speak with you. This is certain. You must be present in the ciclava. Yes, yes! I shall tell this to the Prefect: you must be present in the Assembly! It is clear, because to speak about one who is absent is not even evangelical: one must be able to hear, to listen to what is thought, and then let us do so together. I agree. I did not imagine such separation, truly. Thank you for have said it so courageously and with that smile.
Allow me to joke. You did so with a smile, which in Piedmont is described as the smile of the miller’s facade [with a sincere expression]. Well done! Yes, you are right about this, I shall speak about it with the Prefect. “But this General Assembly will not speak about nuns, it will speak about something else…” — “It is important to hear the nuns because they have another way of looking at things”. That is what I was saying before: it is important that you always be included…. I thank you for the question.
Shall I clarify this further? Is something further needed? Is it clear?
Remember this well: what would the Church be lacking if women religious did not exist? Mary would be missing on the day of Pentecost. Women religious are the icon of the Church and of Mary.
The Church is woman, married to Jesus Christ.
Fourth Question
The obstacles we encounter within the Church as consecrated women
Beloved Holy Father, many institutes are facing the challenge of revising their Constitutions in order to innovate their way of life and their structures. This is proving to be difficult due to obstacles in canon law. Do you foresee any changes to canon law in order facilitate this process?
Moreover, young people today have difficulty thinking about a life commitment, be it matrimony or religious life. Can we be open somehow to trial commitments?
And another aspect: In carrying out our ministry of solidarity with the poor and marginalised, we are often mistaken for being social or political activists. Some ecclesial authorities would prefer that become more mystical and less apostolic. What value ought certain sectors Church hierarchy give to the consecrated life as apostolic and women in particular?
Pope Francis:
Firstly, the changes that need to happen to take on new challenges: You spoke about innovation, innovation in the positive sense if I understood correctly, new things on the way. In this the Church is an expert, for she has had to change so very much throughout history. Yet in every change discernment is needed, and discernment cannot be accomplished without prayer. How does one undertake discernment? Prayer, dialogue, then shared discernment. One must ask for the gift of discernment, to know how to discern. For example, an entrepreneur has to make changes in his business: he makes concrete assessments and that which his conscience tells him to do, he does. In our lives another character plays a role: the Holy Spirit. In order to make a change we must evaluate all concrete circumstances, this is all true, but in order to advance in discernment with the Holy Spirit what is needed is prayer, dialogue and shared discernment. I believe that on this point we––and by this I mean priests as well––are not well formed in the discernment of situations and we must try to experience those things and those people who can explain well what discernment means: a good spiritual father who knows these things well and explains them to us, that is not a simple “for and against” or summation and so forth. No, it is something more than this. And this will give you greater freedom, greater freedom! Regarding canon law: there is no issue here. Canon law in the last century was changed––if I am not mistaken––twice: in 1917 and then under John Paul II. Small changes that can be done, are done. But these two changes were instead of the entire Code. The Code is a disciplinary help, a help for the salvation of souls, for everything: it is the juridical help of the Church for all processes, so many things, but last century twice it was totally changed, remade. And just so, parts of it can be changed. Two months past a request arrived asking for a canon to be changed, I don’t remember exactly [the details]. I studied it and the Secretary of State made the proper consultations and everyone was in agreement that yes, this must be changed for the greater good, and it was changed. The Code is an instrument, this is very important. But I insist: never make a change without a process of discernment, both personal and communal. And this will give you freedom, for you place the Holy Spirit there in the change. St. Paul did the same, as did St. Peter, when he felt the Lord urging him baptize the pagans. When we read the book of the Acts of the Apostles we wonder at such a change, such a change…it is the Holy Spirit! This is very interesting: in the book of the Acts of the Apostles the protagonists are not just the Apostles, but also the Spirit. “The Spirit moved him to do that”; “the Spirit said to Phillip to go here and there, find the minister of economic affairs and baptize him”; “the Spirit does”, “the Spirit says no, do not come here”––it is the Spirit. It is the Spirit who has given the Apostles courage to make this revolutionary change to baptize the pagans without taking the approach of Jewish catechism or Jewish praxis. It is also interesting: in the first chapters there is the Letter that the Apostles sent to the pagan converts after the Council of Jerusalem. It tells of all that has been accomplished: “The Holy Spirit and we have decided this.” This is an example of discernment, prayer and even the concrete evaluation of situations. And for the Code this is not an issue, for it is an instrument.
Regarding young people and life commitments. We live in a “culture of the provisional”. A bishop told me, some time ago a young university student came to him – he had just finished university, 23/24 years, and he said to him: “I would like to become a priest, but only for 10 years”. That is the culture of the provisional. In marriage it is the same thing. “ I will be married to you as long as love lasts and then it’s ‘goodbye’”. But that is love taken in the hedonistic sense, in the sense of today’s culture. Obviously, these marriages mean nothing; they are not valid. They have no awareness of the permanence of a commitment. Marriage is not like that. In the Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia you read about the problem in the first chapters and you read about marriage preparation. A person said to me: “I don’t understand this: to become priests you have to study, prepare for eight years, more or less. And yet, if it doesn’t go well, or if you fall in love with a beautiful girl, the Church gives you a pass: go, get married, begin a new life. To get married – which is for life, which is “for” life – preparation in many dioceses are three or four meetings…. But this isn’t enough! How can a parish priest attest that these two are prepared for marriage, in this culture of the provisional, with just four conversations? This is a very serious problem. In consecrated life, was has always struck me – in a positive way – is the intuition of St Vincent de Paul: he saw that the Sisters of Charity had a job that was so demanding, so “dangerous”, on the front lines, that every year they should renew their vows. Just for one year. But he did this as a charism, not in the culture of the provisional: in order to give freedom. I believe that in consecrated life temporary vows facilitate this. And, I don’t know, you will see, but I would rather prolong temporary vows a little, because of this culture of the provisional that has young people in its grasp these days: it is like, prolonging the engagement before marriage! This is important.
[Now the Pope answers a part of the question that was written but not read] Requests for money in our local Churches. The problem of money is a very important problem, both in consecrated life and in the diocesan Church. We must never forget that the devil enters through our pockets: the pockets of the bishop and the pockets of the Congregation. This touches on the problem of poverty, which we will speak about later. But greed for money is the first step towards corruption in a parish, in a diocese, in a Congregation of consecrated life: it is the first step. I think that in this respect there has been payment for sacraments. Look, if someone asks you for this, then report the incident. Salvation is free. God sent us freely. There is no salvation by payment, there are no sacraments by payment. Is this clear? I know, I have seen corruption in this during my life. I remember one case, when I had just been appointed as bishop. I had the poorest area of Buenos Aires, divided into four vicariates. There were many migrants from American countries there, and often when they came to get married the priests would say, “These people have no certificate of baptism”. And when they requested them from their countries they were told: “Yes, but first send a hundred dollars – I remember a case – and then I will send it to you”.
I spoke with the cardinal, and the cardinal spoke with the bishop of the place. … But in the meantime people were able to marry without their certificate of baptism, with guarantees from their parents or godparents. And this is payment, not only for the sacrament but also for certificates. I remember once in Buenos Aires that a young man came to ask for a nulla osta to marry in another parish, a simple matter. The secretary told him: “Yes, if you come by tomorrow it will be here, and it will cost a certain price”, a large sum. But it is a service: it is a question of ascertaining and compiling data. And he – he was a lawyer, young, good and a very devout and good Catholic – he came to me and said, “Now what shall I do?”. “Come tomorrow and say that you have sent the cheque to the archbishop, and that the archbishop will give her the cheque”. The trade in money.
But here we touch upon a serious problem, which is the problem of poverty. I will say something to you: when a religious institute – and this is also valid for other situations – but when a religious institute feels that it is dying, it feels that it no longer has the capacity to attract new elements, it feels that perhaps the time has passed for which the Lord had chosen that Congregation, there is the temptation of greed. Why? Because they think, “At least we have money for our old age”. This is serious. And what is the solution that the Church can give? To unite the various institutes with similar charisms, and to go ahead. But money is never, ever a solution for spiritual problems. It is a necessary aid, but just that. St. Ignatius used to say about poverty that it is the “mother” and “wall” of religious life. It enables us to grow in religious life like a mother, and protects. And when poverty is missing, then decadence takes hold. I remember, in the other diocese, when a very important college of nuns had to renovate their house because it was old, and they did a good job. But in those times – I am talking about the years 1993, 1994 more or less – they said, “Let’s have all the comforts, the room with a private bathroom, and everything, and a television too…”. In that college, which was so important, from 2 to 4 in the afternoon you could never find a nun: they were all in their rooms watching a soap opera! Because there was a lack of poverty, and this leads to the comfortable life, to fantasies. … It is an example, maybe the only one in the world, but helps us understand the danger of too much comfort, of the lack of poverty or a certain austerity.
[Other part of the question, not read but written] “Women religious do not receive a stipend for their services, as priests do. How can we show an attractive face of our subsistence? How can we find the financial resources necessary to fulfil our mission?”
Pope Francis
I will say to things to you. First: see how your charism is, the content of your charism –everyone has their own – and what the role of poverty is, because there are congregations that call for a very, very strict life of poverty, and others less so, and both types are approved by the Church. Live poverty according to the charism. Then: savings. It is prudent to have savings; it is prudent to have good administration, perhaps with some investment, that is prudent; for the houses of formation, to run works for the poor, to manage schools for the poor, for apostolic works. … A foundation for one’s own congregation: this is what should be done. And just as wealth can do harm to and corrupt a vocation, so can destitution. If poverty becomes destitution, this too causes harm. There you see the spiritual prudence of the community in common discernment: the bursar informs, everyone speaks about whether it is too much or not. That is motherly prudence. But please, do not let yourselves be fooled by friends of the congregation, who then fleece you and take everything from you. I have seen so many cases, or others have told me about cases in which nuns have lost everything because they trusted someone or other, a “great friend of the congregation”! There are many cunning people, so many. Prudence means never consulting only one person: when you need something, consult various different people. The administration of assets is a very serious responsibility, very serious, in consecrated life. If you do not have the means to live, tell the bishop. Tell God, “Give us this day our daily bread”, the true one. But speak with the bishop, with the Superior general, with the Congregation for Religious. For the necessary means, because religious life is a path of poverty, but it is not suicide! And this is healthy prudence. Is that clear?
And then, where there are conflicts for what the local Churches ask of you, you need to pray, to discern and to have the courage, when necessary, to say “no”; and to have the generosity, when you need to, to say “yes”. But you see how discernment is necessary in every case!
Question (resumed)
“While we carry out our ministry, we are in solidarity with the poor and the marginalised, and are often mistakenly considered as social activists, as if we were assuming political stances. Some Church authorities look on our ministry negatively, underlining that we should concentrate more on a kind of mystical life. In these circumstances, how can we live our prophetic vocation?”
Answer (resumed)
Yes. All religious women, all consecrated women should live mystically, because yours is a marriage: your is a vocation of maternity, it’s a vocation of being in the role of Mother Church and of Mother Mary. But those who tell you this, they think that being a mystic is being a mummy, always praying like that… No, no. You have to pray and to work according to your own charism, and when the charism brings you to work with refugees, to work with the poor, you should do it, and they will call you “communist,” that’s the least they will say about you. But you should do it. Because the charism brings you to this. In Argentina, I remember a nun, she was provincial of her congregation. A good woman, and she’s still working… she’s about half my age. And she works against those who traffic youngsters, who traffic people. I remember, with the military government in Argentina, they wanted to put her in jail, putting pressure on the archbishop, putting pressure on the provincial superior, before she became provincial, “because this woman is a communist.” And this woman saved so many girls, so many girls! And yes, it’s the cross. What did they say about Jesus? That he was Beelzebub, that he had the power of Beelzebub. Calumny, be prepared for it. If you do good, with prayer, before God, taking on all the consequences of your charism and you go ahead, prepare yourselves for defamation and calumny, because the Lord has chosen this way for himself! And we bishops, ought to watch over these women who are an icon of the Church, when they do difficult things, and are slandered and persecuted. To be persecuted is the last of the Beatitudes. The Lord said: “Blessed are you when you are persecuted, insulted” and all these things. But here the danger can be: “I do my thing” – no, no: hear this: they persecute you – speak. With your community, with your superior, speak with everyone, ask for advice, discern: once again this word. And this nun of whom I was speaking now, one day I found her crying, and she said, “Look at the letter that I received from Rome – I don’t know from where – what should I do?” – “Are you a daughter of the Church?” – “Yes!” – “Do you want to obey the Church?” – “Yes!” – “Answer that you will be obedient to the Church, then go to your superior, go to your community, go to your bishop – that was me – and the Church will tell you what to do. But not a letter that comes from 12,000 kilometres away.” Because there a friend of the enemies of the nun had written, and she was slandered. Be courageous, but with humility, discernment, prayer, dialogue.
Conclusion
“A word of encouragement for us leaders, who carry the weight of the day”.
Pope Francis
But take a breather! Rest, because so many sicknesses come from a lack of healthy rest, rest in the family… This is important to carry the weight of the day.
You also talk here about old and sick nuns. But these nuns are the memory of the institute, these nuns are those who have sowed, who have worked, and now are paralysed, or very sick, or left off to the side. These nuns pray for the institute. This is very important, that they feel involved in the prayer for the Institute. These nuns also have a very extensive experience: some more, some less. Listen to them! Go to them: “Tell me, sister, what do you think about this, about this?” That they feel consulted, and from their wisdom will come good advice. Be sure of it.
This is what I would like to tell you. I know that I always repeat myself and say the same things, but life is like that. … I like hearing questions, because they make me think and I feel like a goalkeeper who stands there, waiting for the ball from wherever it comes. … This is good, and you also do this in dialogue.
The things I have promised to do, I will do. And pray for me, I will pray for you. Let us go ahead. Our life is for the Lord, for the Church and for the people, who suffer greatly and need the caress of the Father, through you! Thank you.
I would like to suggest something: let us finish with the Mother. Each one of you, in your own language, pray the Hail Mary. I will pray in Spanish.
Hail Mary…[Blessing] And pray for me, so that I might serve the Church well. [Original text: Italian – working translation] [Vatican-provided text]
INTERVIEW: Biographer Remembers the Attack on the Pope by Antonio Gaspari
Wodzimierz Redzioch is the author of “Stories about John Paul II. Told by his close friends and co-workers” (Ignatius Press).
ZENIT asked Redzioch to tell us about his own recollections and impressions of the attempted assassination of John Paul II, which happened 35 years ago today.
ZENIT: What were you doing on May 13, 1981?
Redzioch: May 13, 1981 was a normal day of work for me in the offices of L’Osservatore Romano. Being with the Vatican newspaper, I was also following the Pope’s activity. For him, instead, it was an intense day: that day John Paul II instituted the Pontifical Institute for Studies on Marriage and the Family and he received in audience the very famous French geneticist Jerome Lejeune with his wife, whom he entertained in a friendly lunch.
ZENIT: Where were you when the attack on the Pope happened?
Redzioch: In the afternoon of May 13 I accompanied my Polish friends to Saint Peter’s Square for the Wednesday General Audience, but I didn’t stay with them: I stay in the shade, under the left colonnade, to enjoy the spectacle of the Square crowded with jubilant people awaiting John Paul II. At 5:00 pm from the Arch of Bells, under the facade of Saint Peter’s Basilica, the Pope’s white jeep came out and began to tour the Square. The Pontiff moved slowly between the forest of raised arms of faithful armed with flags, handkerchiefs and cameras. At a certain point John Paul II took a baby in his arms with a balloon: he kissed her and gave her back to her parents. At that moment, something strange happened: all the pigeons that were in the Square took flight; immediately after, I saw chaos around the Pope’s car, which turned and began to reverse towards the Arch of Bells.
ZENIT: What did you think?
Redzioch: I, as all the faithful gathered in the Square, didn’t know exactly what had happened in Saint Peter’s Square. But from mouth to mouth the tremendous voice ran: “Attack! Attack!” People wept, despaired or fell silent. People were kneeling in prayer, because many believed the Pope was dead.
During the audience of that fatal May 13, 1981, John Paul II should have pronounced a catechesis in which, speaking of Mary, he affirmed: “She knew the most intimate and profound joy joined to the sadness of the most terrible trial. So it happens to all of us; and joy alternates with sorrow, mixing roses and thorns in our life.” I was thinking that day that in my life also the dramatic moment had arrived of terrible trial: I had left my country, my family, my professional career to come to the Rome of John Paul II to make my very small contribution to this “Polish pontificate,” but at that moment, everything seemed to me to have ended.
ZENIT: What was happening in the Square after the attack?
Redzioch: The people weren’t receiving any news because all the organizers of the Audience and the Vatican police disappeared. Fortunately, in those tragic moments, Father Casimir Przydatek, director of the Center for Polish Pilgrims was in the Square; he went to the microphone and began to pray the Rosary: the people prayed and sang. One of those present had brought from Poland, as a present for John Paul II, a copy of the icon of Our Lady of Czestochowa. Father Casimir took it and put it on the Pope’s empty armchair. Afterwards I went to the House for Polish Pilgrims, which is two steps from Saint Peter’s, on the via Pfeiffer. As I walked I jumped into the Vatican Press Office, already crowded with journalists. All were very worried, also because initially Father Panciroli, official of the Press Office, had spoken of the possibility of the perforation of the Holy Father’s pancreas. At the Polish House, I sat in front of the television, which was broadcasting live from the Gemelli Polyclinic. From the TV I learnt that the ambulance arrived at the hospital in record time, hence the operation began at 5:55 pm. The Pontiff’s conditions were desperate; so Dom Stanislaw imparted absolution and the anointing of the sick to the Pope. I stayed in front of the television until 11:30 pm, when the press release arrived of the doctor, Professor Castiglioni, who informed the journalists that the operation had a positive outcome, adding: “We did all that could be done. Now we must wait.” However, the prognosis remained reserved. It was a long night of waiting marked by prayer and reflections.
ZENIT: In your opinion, who organized the attack and who armed Ali Agca’s hand?
Redzioch: Obviously, I followed Ali Agca’s trial and, like everyone, I wondered who were his instigators. I spoke about this issue with so many people. One day I met Cardinal Andrzej Maria Deskur and I asked him what he thought of the various “clues” regarding those who ordered the attack. The Cardinal, a fraternal friend of John Paul II, answered me: “You know that on May 12 in the evening, the Pope, as all priests, was reading during the evening prayer, the passage of the Letter of Saint Paul: “Be temperate, vigilant. Your enemy, the devil, is going around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” So it’s obvious that it was the devil that wanted to “devour” John Paul II, but for me it is altogether indifferent which “hand” he used.
ZENIT: In that period you were very close to JP II’s collaborators. What did they think? What did they say?
Redzioch: Cardinal Deskur’s words made one understand that the Pope and his collaborators looked at the attack from the eschatological point of view. During his second stay in the Gemelli Polyclinic, in the month of July, John Paul II had the envelope brought to him with the original text of the “third secret” of Fatima written by Sister Lucia, because he realized that the day they tried to kill him was the anniversary of the Virgin’s first apparition. Speaking of the attack, from that day on the Pope always said: “A hand shot and another guided the bullet.” One day Cardinal Dziwisz said: “The attack is the mystery, which despite the drama we lived, we try to see in the perspective of the salvific designs of Divine Providence.” Therefore, we cannot separate the event of the attack from the apparitions of Our Lady at Fatima, which began in fact on May 13. For this reason, John Paul II wanted the bullet of Agca’s pistol, which would have changed the history of the Church and of the world, to be set in the crown of the statue of Our Lady of Fatima.
ZENIT: What do you think of Ali Agca’s trial?
Redzioch: The investigations were done badly; everyone admits it. For instance, there is talk officially of two shots, instead Arturo Mari, the Pope’s photographer, is convinced he heard four shots. The trial also clarified little about the instigators of the attacker. For this reason, Judge Ferdinand Imposimato said that the trial was ruined appositely. Instead, not all know that in Poland the Institute of National Memory carried out its own investigations. Procurator Micha Skwara and historian Andrzej Grajewski published a book with the results of their investigations and research. From latter it results that the Secret Services of Communist Bulgaria were the direct instigators of Ali Agca. They furnished the attacker with the pistol and money. The Polish inquirers heard from a former offical of the Ministry of Public Security of Communist Germany, Gunter Bohnsack, who told them that in March 1983 colonel Jordan Ormankov of the Bulgarian Services visited his German companions to organize a disinformation action to cover “the Bulgarian clue” of the attack. The German Services mobilized their men in Federal Germany and Austria: they, passing themselves off as Turkish nationalists, began to inundate the press agencies and the Italian Consulates with threats asking for the release of Ali Agca. Everything was being done to link the person of the attacker to the realms of Turkish extremism in Federal Germany and Turkey. But the Polish inquirers had no doubts that the Bulgarian Secret Services could not act on their own, without the agreement of the powerful Russian KGB.
I would like to recall a document of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union of 1979, where it orders the KGB to compare the politics of the “Polish Pope” with all means, in addition to the actions of disinformation and discredit.
ZENIT: Will we discover one day who the instigators were of Ali Agca?
Redzioch: Perhaps, in 10, 20 or 50 years when access can be had to certain archives that today are inaccessible.
INTERVIEW: Humans Become God? Yes, It’s Catholic Theology by Kathleen Naab
The first generations of Christians saw in their new lives in Jesus Christ a way to transcend all the limitations of sin and death and become new creatures. St. Peter expressed this as “participating in the divine nature” (2 Pet 1:4), while St. Athanasius stated it succinctly 300 years later: “God became a human, so humans could become God.”
This is the heart of the Christian faith and the pledge of the Christian promise: that those baptized in Christ become “divine” through their partaking in God’s own life and love. This is why Christians can live forever, this is the source of their charity and their holiness, this is why we do not need to live in a world ruled by fallen instinct and sinful desires. We have been made for more, for infinitely more.
A new book, Called to Be the Children of God: The Catholic Theology of Human Deification, offers essays from more than a dozen Catholic scholars and theologians to examine what this process of “deification” means in their respective areas of study.
ZENIT asked editor Fr. David Meconi, S.J., to tell us about this doctrine, which might sound anything but Catholic, and about the book.
ZENIT: Deification of humans? Sounds pretty New Age … Could you give us a brief overview of what this concept means in Catholic theology?
Fr. Meconi: Far from being new age, deification is one of the most ancient ways of explaining salvation in Jesus Christ. Christianity is a two act play: in the first act, God becomes human, but that is just the beginning. In the second act of the play we humans are to become like God–more loving, more joyful, incorruptible and immortal. Think of a piece of iron: alone it is hard and cold, but in a fire it takes on a new glow, a new warmth and malleability but it never ceases to be iron. Look at section 460 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church–this is a very central component of Catholicism. The difference between the Church’s understanding of deification and the Mormon doctrine is that Catholics believe we become “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Pet 1:4) in Christ but never the “possessors” of the Godhead, which (as far as I understand it) is more in line with the Mormon view.
ZENIT: We’re in the midst of two feasts that help us understand this theology: the Ascension and Pentecost. How does an understanding of God’s plan for human deification shed light on these two celebrations?
Fr. Meconi: This season of Ascension and Pentecost is the perfect time to think about this beautiful teaching. Christ descends in order to unite us to himself; he ascends in order to send us the Spirit in whose unity, then, we literally become the Body of Christ now on earth. Think of the way we pray at Mass: to the Father, through the Son, in the unity of the Holy Spirit. Just as the human soul gathers many disparate parts of the body to make it one and purposeful, the Holy Spirit gathers all in Christ’s name to make them his body. But even more, for in this we are also adopted as the Father’s own children. In his Son we become his sons and daughters: he is Son by nature, we are children by grace, but we have the same God the Father and the same Mary our Mother. It really is quite beautiful.
There is an ancient phrase: the Son’s kenosis is humanity’s theosis–a Greek saying which means that in the Son’s emptying is humanity’s godliness. It is at Pentecost that this great exchange of the Son’s humanity for our divinity is finally realized, making us “spiritual” people, meaning that we no longer have to live as merely fallen human beings but can now live empowered with the very life of God within us.
ZENIT: If people had an understanding of this theology, what kinds of practical things would change in our culture today?
Fr. Meconi: We need such a theology now more than ever. For too long our modern world thinks of being a Christian simply as being nice or undergoing some ethical improvement. Christianity is not a moral but a mystical religion: we are no longer saved by what we do or do not do, we are saved by who we become. It is allowing ourselves to be adopted into God’s own life that redeems us. Today people thirst for community and belonging and in Christ they can finally find an eternal dwelling place with all the saints.
ZENIT: What are some of the nuances or themes treated by the various essays in this book?
Fr. Meconi: This book aims to recover this traditional way of explaining Christian salvation as scholars turn to their chosen field or person of academic expertise. That is what makes the essays herein so intriguing: we asked a dozen experts to think of how this or that saint or this or that time period explained becoming godly to a world dismissive of the Good News. We need those voices now more than ever.
Pope: ‘We Need Long-term Responses From International Community’ by Deborah Castellano Lubov
The international community is challenged to devise long-term political, social and economic responses to issues “that transcend national and continental boundaries, and affect the entire human family.”
Pope Francis’ told this to members of the “Centesimus Annus – Pro Pontifice” Foundation this morning in the Vatican, which was concluding its annual international conference. The foundation was established in 1993 years ago by Saint John Paul II along with lay Catholic business, academic and professional leaders to promote Catholic Social Doctrine, especially Centesimus Annus.
“The fight against poverty,” the Pope stressed, “is not merely a technical economic problem, but above all a moral one, calling for global solidarity and the development of more equitable approaches to the concrete needs and aspirations of individuals and peoples worldwide.”
The Pontiff recalled Saint John Paul II’s insistence that economic activity ‘cannot be conducted in an institutional or political vacuum (cf. Centesimus Annus, 48)’, but has ‘an essential ethical component; it must always stand at the service of the human person and the universal common good.’
“An economic vision geared to profit and material well-being alone,” Francis said, “is – as experience is daily showing us – incapable of contributing in a positive way to a globalization that favors the integral development of the world’s peoples, a just distribution of the earth’s resources, the guarantee of dignified labour and the encouragement of private initiative and local enterprise.”
“An economy of exclusion and inequality,” the Pope continued, “has led to greater numbers of the disenfranchised and those discarded as unproductive and useless.”
These detrimental effects, the Holy Father pointed out, are felt even in our more developed societies, where the growth of relative poverty and social decay represent a serious threat to families, the middle class and young people.
Young people’s rates of unemployment, the Pope decried, are “not only ‘a scandal’ needing to be addressed first and foremost in economic terms, but also, and no less urgently, as ‘a social ill,’ for our youth are being robbed of hope and their great resources of energy, creativity and vision are being squandered.”
The Holy Father went on to express his hope that their conference will contribute to generating new models of economic progress more clearly directed to the universal common good, inclusion and integral development, the creation of labour and investment in human resources.
Pope Francis concluded, blessing the participants and invoking the Lord’s blessings of wisdom, joy and strength upon them.
***
On ZENIT’s Web page:
Full Text: https://zenit.org/articles/popes-address-to-centesimus-annus-pro-pontefice-foundation/
Holy See to UN: Religious Authorities Have to Be the Leaders in Stopping Terrorism by ZENIT Staff
Here is the statement of H.E. Archbishop Bernardito Auza, Apostolic Nuncio and Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations, at the Security Council Open Debate on Countering the Narratives and Ideologies of Terrorism, delivered at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, 11 May 2016.
11 May 2016
Mr. President,
The Holy See sincerely thanks the Presidency of Egypt for bringing the topic of countering the narratives and ideologies of terrorism to the attention of the Security Council and of the International Community.
The theme of this Open Debate is extremely important, because it calls us to strike terrorism at its very roots and where it must primarily be fought: namely, in the hearts and minds of men and women, in particular of those who are most at risk of radicalization and recruitment by terrorist groups.
The narratives and ideologies of present-day terrorist groups are well known. They do not attempt to conceal their purportedly religiously inspired beliefs, values and principles. Terrorist groups identify multiple “enemies”, so that those who respond to their propaganda can “legitimately” attack these “enemies” wherever they may be, whether in Paris or in Brussels, in Istanbul, in Aleppo, or elsewhere.
Countering the narratives and ideologies of terrorist groups is a grave responsibility of all. It should be recalled, however, that by building their ideological narratives, which justify their horrendous acts of violence, upon tendentious interpretations and an abusive use of sacred texts, terrorists groups are throwing down the gauntlet principally to religious leaders and to the authoritative interpreters of these same texts. Religious authorities, therefore, have a particular responsibility to refute the falsehoods and condemn the blasphemy of terrorist narratives and ideologies. Religious leaders and people of faith must be at the forefront in delegitimizing the manipulation of faith and the distortion of sacred texts as a justification for violence. Anyone who considers himself or herself a believer while planning and carrying out actions against the fundamental rights and dignity of every man and woman, must be condemned.
The fight to unmask the lies behind the narratives and ideologies of present-day terrorist groups summons all religions to unite in confronting not only the unacceptable misuse of religion by these groups, but also all forms of religious bigotry, stereotyping and disrespect for what people hold sacred. Religious leaders must be the first to demonstrate what the Fourth Meeting of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue and the Royal Institute for Inter-Faith Studies of Amman, in the Vatican last May 7th, called “the humanizing and civilizing role of our religions.”
This brings us to the fundamental importance of education in countering narratives and ideologies of terrorism. Much of the recruiting success of terror groups is based on misinformation and the distortion of both history and the meaning of sacred texts. Objective education would counter these false narratives. The Marrakesh Declaration is to be commended for urging “Muslim educational institutions and authorities to conduct a courageous review of educational curricula that addresses honestly and effectively any material that instigates aggression and extremism, leads to war and chaos, and results in the destruction of our shared societies.”
My Delegation believes that the more religion is manipulated to justify acts of terror and violence, the more religious leaders must be engaged in the overall effort to defeat the terrorism that hijacks it. Spurious religious fervor must be countered by authentic religious instruction and by the example of authentic communities of faith. There is a strong nexus between religion and diplomacy, between faith-based “informal diplomacy” and the formal diplomacy of States. Strengthening this nexus would be wise diplomacy, given its enormous potential in confronting terrorism at its very roots.
Measures to counter the narratives and ideologies of terrorism must address the root causes upon which terrorism feeds, which make even the most outrageous claims of the terrorist groups sound credible. Young people who join the ranks of terrorist organizations often come from poor immigrant families, disillusioned by the lack of integration and values in certain societies. Those who feel excluded from, or live at the fringes of, society are immediately attracted to terrorists proclaiming themselves as “freedom fighters.” Governments should engage with civil society to address the problems of communities most at risk of radicalization and recruitment and to achieve the satisfactory social integration of those communities. Certain terrorist groups have excelled in the art of cyber recruitment, giving them transnational and borderless reach. Their access to cyber space must be denied to prevent their narratives and ideologies from poisoning the hearts and minds of millions of people everywhere, to cut off their financing activities and to disrupt the coordination of terrorist attacks.
Mr. President, The Holy See is convinced that if we are to win the minds and hearts of our children and young people and prevent their joining terrorist groups, we must build inclusive societies and prevent illicit arms trafficking, build bridges rather than walls, and engage in dialogue rather than in mutual isolation. Thank you, Mr. President.
Pope’s Summer Calendar Includes Mother Teresa’s Canonization by ZENIT Staff
Two canonization ceremonies, including that of Mother Teresa of Kolkata, and two foreign visits are among the highlights of the schedule of Pope Francis in the coming months. The Office for the Liturgical Celebration of the Surpreme Pointiff on Friday released the Pope’s June- 4 September schedule.
On June 5, the Pope will declare as saints, Polish priest Fr. Stanislaus of Jesus-Mary and Swedish nun Sr. Maria Elizabeth Hesselblad, and on Sept. 4 he will canonize Mother Teresa. Both ceremonies will be held in Rome’s St. Peter’s Square.
The Pope has two foreign trips. He will visit Armenia, June 24-26, and Poland, July 27-31, for the 31 World Youth Day, in Krakow. In June he has two Year of Mercy Jubilee celebrations – that of priests on the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, June 3, and that of the sick and persons with disabilities on June 12.
On June 29, the feast of Sts Peter and Paul, he will confer the pallium on new metropolitan archbishops. On Mother Teresa’s canonization day, Sept. 4, the Pope will mark the Jubilee of workers and volunteers of mercy.
(from Vatican Radio)
Pentecost: the Gift of the Consoler by Archbishop Francesco Follo
Roman Rite – Year C – May 15, 2016
Acts 2, 1-11; Ps 104; Rm 8.8 to 17; Jn 14, 15-16.23-26
Ambrosian Rite
Acts 2, 1-11; Ps 104; 1 Cor 12.1 to 11; Jn 14.15 to 20
Availability and gift of self to receive the Gift.
The liturgy today, Solemnity of Pentecost, proposes the reading of the verses 15-16.23-26 of the 14th chapter of St John’s Gospel, taken from the farewell discourses of Jesus. (Jn 13, 31 to 17)
The dominant theme of these great speeches is the exodus of Christ, that is the “going ” of Jesus: “Yet a little while I am with you, where I am going, you cannot come” (Jn 13, 33); “I came from the Father and have come into the world; now I leave the world and go to the Father “(Jn 16, 28); “But now I come to thee, O Father” (Jn 17, 13). The exodus, the going to the Father, of Jesus carries also the meaning of our going, our exodus, which is our journey of life and faith in this world. Following and listening to Christ along this journey, we learn to live with Him, for Him, in Him and like Him.
The four verses that are proposed in today’s Gospel are included in this context. In them Jesus speaks of the consoling Spirit. To comfort the disciples of then and now who are on this path of light through the Cross, Christ promises the Holy Spirit that is the “Consoler” or, said with the Greek word, the “Paraclete” that means “the “defense attorney” because he defends us from Satan, the accuser. If we translate literally the word “Paraclete” we should write “called by” which means that the Spirit is called to stand by each disciple so that he or she can faithfully guard the Master’s memory and have a deep comprehension of His word and the tenacious courage to be its witness.
In the four verses of today’s Gospel, Jesus indicates the conditions to receive the Spirit: love for Him, listening to His word and obedience to the commandments. If these three conditions are missing there is no openness to the Spirit and to his action in us.
These three conditions can be summarized in one: the complete gift of self. Mother Teresa of Calcutta would say: total abandonment. Following the example of this saint and, above all, of the Virgin Mary, who became Mother putting herself to the action of the Spirit when she said: “Behold the handmaid of the Lord,” let’s say:” May happen to me according to your word.” Like Our Lady let us offer ourselves completely to God. To give oneself to Him is to give oneself to the Love that makes our life fruitful and happy.
The logic of the gift.
In response of the gift of ourselves to Him, the Father gives us the Consoler.
This gift is preceded by the act of love of the Father, who knows that we are in need of consolation: He, “the Lord, has probed me, knows me; he knows when I sit and stand; he understands my thoughts from afar. He sifts through my travels and my rest; with all my ways he is familiar... “(See Psalm 139: 1-4). He has seen our misery in foreign land and he heard my cry, He indeed knows my suffering and sees the oppressions that torment me (see Ex 3: 7-9); nothing escapes his infinite love for me. For all this, He gives us the Consoler. The Father is the Giver: everything comes from Him and from no one else.
Therefore, if we take as a starting point the second reading of the Mass which offers us a passage from the letter of Paul to the Romans (8: 8-17), we learn that the gift of God is the Spirit of freedom, because he frees us from the bondage of the flesh that is selfishness. The Spirit transforms the desires of man: no longer desires of selfishness, but of charity and of the gift of self. When we remain locked in our egoism (the flesh) we perceive the law of love (God’s law) as a burden and a bondage. The Spirit makes holy the “desire of the human being” so that then the law of charity becomes what he wants and what toward which he tends: life, truth and love. The Spirit frees us transforming us from the inside to the point that He even renews our relationship with God: no longer slaves, but children. This is great freedom. The fact that St. Paul speaks of “adopted” children, is not to belittle our being his children, reducing it to something external and legal, but to mention its gratuity. God is “an abyss of paternity” (Origen), which is expressed in an intense, infinite love full of solicitude and kindness, of tenderness and mercy. When the son rebels against this fatherhood, trying to deny it and to suppress this paternity, going away from home and wasting the wealth received as an advance of inheritance, the reaction of the heavenly Father is not of anger, but bears witness to a heart that is moved. God is a loving Father who welcomes and embraces his lost and repentant son (see Lk 15, 11), freely gives to those who ask (see Mt 18:19; Mk 11:24; Jn 16:23) and offers the bread of heaven and the living water that gives life forever (see Jn 6, 32.51.58). The fatherhood of God is infinite love.
The gift of the Consoling Spirit.
With the Ascension, Christ left us neither alone nor orphans. With Pentecost, today we celebrate the fact that he keeps his promise to send his Spirit that enables us to love like him. If before He was with us and by us, from now on He will be in us. Those who are loved are home for the One who loves them: he carries them in his heart as his life. We have been forever in God, who loves us with an everlasting and paternal love. If we love Him, He lives in us as we are in Him. In fact, Jesus says: “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him and we will come to him and make our abode with him. Who does not love me does not keep my words. And the word you hear is not mine but of the Father who sent me. Of these things I told you about abiding with you, but the Consoler, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of all the things I have said to you “(Jn 14, 23 – 26).
The translation of the Greek word “Paraclete” with the word “Consoler” (from the Latin cum-solo = with the only one) is beautiful and right because it indicates the Spirit as the One who “will be with us forever” (see Jn 14: 16). That is, the Holy Spirit is consoling because he does not leave us alone. Who loves and is loved is never alone, he is with the other who loves him.
After having said that this Consoler is with us always and forever, he tells us his name: Spirit of Truth. Spirit of Truth means true Spirit, true Life. What is true life? The life of God. What is the Life of God? The love between the Father and the Son.
This Consoler whom is given to us, is the very life of God. And the life of God is the love between the Father and the Son that is always with us.
In this regard, Pope Francis in a deep and existential way summarizes it: “The Holy Spirit is the inexhaustible source of God’s life in us. Men of all times and all places desire a life full and beautiful, just and good, a life that is not threatened by death, but that can mature and grow to its fullness. Men are like a traveler who, through the deserts of life, thirsts for a water living, welling and fresh, and able to quench his deep desire for light, love, beauty and peace. We all feel this desire! Jesus gives us this living water: it is the Holy Spirit, who proceeds from the Father and whom Jesus pours into our hearts. “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly” (Jn 10:10) “.
In harmony with this teaching I propose the prayer of Mother Teresa of Calcutta: “Lord, you are the life I want to live, the light I want to reflect, the path that leads to the Father, the love that I want to love, the joy that I want share, the joy that I want to sow around me. Jesus, you are everything to me, without You I can do nothing. You are the Bread of Life that the Church gives me. It is for you, in you, with you I can live. “
The gift of the Spirit and consecrated virgins in the world.
The virginal consecration of the consecrated Virgins is a gift of the Holy Spirit. They, in the power of love, have managed to preserve their undivided heart to Christ. It is true that from Pentecost onwards, the way of life of Christ continued to be present in the way of life of the Apostles, as the book of Acts shows us. This form of life did not disappear even with the death of the last of the apostles: “Throughout the ages, there have always been people who, obedient to the call of the Father and to the prompting of the Spirit, have chosen this special way of following Christ, to dedicate themselves with an undivided heart “(see 1 Cor 7:34). They too have left everything behind, like the apostles, to be with him and, like him, in the service of God and the neighbor “(Vita Consecrata (VC) 1; see 14; 22).
The consecrated women, in fact, are called to live as virgins who, following the example of Mary, Virgin and Mother, bring Christ to the streets of the world: they become similar to Christ (VC 19), that is that they become the holy and pure icon. This is possible only by virtue of a particular gift of the Spirit (VC 14). For this reason the person called to consecrated life “must open up the space of their lives to the Holy Spirit” (VC 65). Thanks to the power of the Spirit of Pentecost, the consecrated person becomes profoundly missionary preaching the Gospel with a life that-thanks to the power of the Holy Spirit – gradually becomes configured to Christ (see. VC 19). They are missionaries of love because consecration makes them capable of loving with the heart of Christ. (VC 75) and, like him, in the service of mankind. As it stated in the Introduction to the Rite of Consecration of the Virgin Mary: “The virgins in the Church are those women who, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, make a vow of chastity in order to love more ardently Christ and serve with more free dedication their brothers and sisters”(n. 2). With their consecrated virginity they are witnesses of the “concreteness” of the invisible, spiritual world, and remind us all of the reality of the Kingdom of heaven.
Patristic Reading
Saint Augustine of Hippo (354 – 430)
Tractate LXXIV.
On Jn 14, 15-17.
We have heard, brethren, while the Gospel was read, the Lord saying: “If ye love me, keep my commandments: and I will ask the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter [Paraclete], that He may abide with you forever; [even] the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him: but ye shall know Him; for He shall dwell with you, and shall be in you.”1 There are many points which might form the subject of inquiry in these few words of the Lord; but it were too much for us either to search into all that is here for the searching, or to find out all that we here search for. Nevertheless, as far as the Lord is pleased to grant us the power, and in proportion to our capacity and yours, attend to what we ought to say and you to hear, and receive, beloved, what we on our part are able to give, and apply to Him for that wherein we fail. It is the Spirit, the Comforter, that Christ has promised to His apostles; but let us notice the way in which He gave the promise. “If ye love me,” He says, “keep my commandments: and I will ask the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you for ever: [even] the Spirit of truth.” We have here, at all events, the Holy Spirit in the Trinity, whom the catholic faith acknowledges to be consubstantial and co-eternal with Father and Son: He it is of whom the apostle says, “The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, who is given unto us.”2 How, then, doth the Lord say, “If ye love me, keep my commandments: and I will ask the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter;” when He saith so of the Holy Spirit, without [having] whom we can neither love God nor keep His commandments? How can we love so as to receive Him, without whom we cannot love at all? or how shall we keep the commandments so as to receive Him, without whom we have no power to keep them? Or can it be that the love wherewith we love Christ has a prior place within us, so that, by thus loving Christ and keeping His commandments, we become worthy of receiving the Holy Spirit, in order that the love, not of Christ, which had already preceded, but of God the Father, may be shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, who is given unto us? Such a thought is altogether wrong. For he who believes that he loveth the Son, and loveth not the Father, certainly loveth not the Son, but some figment of his own imagination. And besides, this is the apostolic declaration, “No one saith, Lord Jesus,3 but in the Holy Spirit:4 and who is it that calleth Him Lord Jesus but he that loveth Him, if he so call Him in the way the apostle intended to be understood? For many call Him so with their lips, but deny Him in their hearts and works; just as He saith of such, “For they profess that they know God, but works they deny Him.”5 If it is by works He is denied, it is doubtless also by works that His name is truly invoked. “No one,” therefore, “saith, Lord Jesus,” in mind, in word, in deed, with the heart, the lips, the labor of the bands,-no one saith, Lord Jesus, but in the Holy Spirit; and no one calls Him so but he that loveth, And accordingly the apostles were already calling Him Lord Jesus: and if they called Him so, in no way that implied a feigned utterance, with the mouth confessing, in heart and works denying Him; if they called Him so in all. truthfulness of soul, there can be no doubt they loved. And how, then, did they love, but in the Holy Spirit? And yet they are i commanded to love Him and keep His commandments, previous and in order to their receiving the Holy Spirit: and yet, without having that Spirit, they certainly could not love Him and keep His commandments.
2. We are therefore to understand that he who loves has already the Holy Spirit, and by what he has becomes worthy of a fuller possession, that by having the more he may love the more. Already, therefore, had the disciples that Holy Spirit whom the Lord promised, for without Him they could not call Him Lord; but they had Him not as yet in the way promised by the Lord. Accordingly they both had, and had Him not, inasmuch as they had Him not as yet to the same extent as He was afterwards to be possessed. They had Him, therefore, in a more limited sense: He was yet to be given them in an ampler measure. They had Him in a hidden way, they were yet to receive Him in a way that was manifest; for this present possession had also a bearing on that fuller gift of the Holy Spirit, that they might come to a conscious knowledge of what they had. It is in speaking of this gift that the apostle says: “Now we have received, not the spirit of this world, but the spirit which is of God, that we may know the things that are freely given to us of God.”6 For that same manifest bestowal of the Holy Spirit the Lord made, not once, but on two separate occasions. For close on the back of His resurrection from the dead He breathed on them and said, “Receive ye the Holy Spirit.”7 And because He then gave [the Spirit], did He on that account fail in afterwards sending Him according to His promise? Or was it not the very same Spirit who was both then breathed upon them by Himself, and afterwards sent by Him from heaven?8 And so, why that same giving on His part which took place publicly, also took place twice, is another question: for it may be that this twofold bestowal of His in a public way took place because of the two Commandments of love, that is, to our neighbor and to God, in order that love might be impressively intimated as pertaining to the Holy Spirit, And if any other reason is to be sought for, we cannot at present allow our discourse to be improperly prolonged by such an inquiry: provided, however, it be admitted that, without the Holy Spirit, we can neither love Christ nor keep His commandments; while the less experience we have of His presence, the less also can we do so; and the fuller our experience, so much the greater our ability. Accordingly, the promise is no vain one, either to him who has not [the Holy Spirit], or to him who has. For it is made to him who has not, in order that he may have; and to him who has, that he may have moreabundantly. For were it not that He was possessed by some in smaller measure than byothers, St. Elisha would not have said to St. Elijah, “Let the spirit that is in thee be in a twofold measure in me.9
Pope’s Program for Armenia Released by ZENIT Staff
Below is the Vatican released program, detailing Pope Francis’ apostolic visit to Armenia, June 24-26:
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Pope’s Program: June 24-26
Friday, June 24, 2016
09:00: Departure by plane from Rome’s Fiumicino Airport to Yerevan
15:00: Arrival at the”Zvartnots” International Airport in Yerevan
WELCOME CEREMONY at Airport
15:35: VISIT OF PRAYER AT THE APOSTOLIC CATHEDRAL in Etchmiadzin
(Greetings of the Catholicos and Holy Father)
18:00: COURTESY VISIT TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC at the Presidential Palace
18:30: MEETING with CIVIL AUTHORITIES and the Diplomatic Corps in the Presidential Palace
(Discourse of the Holy Father)
19:30: PERSONAL MEETING WITH THE CATHOLICOS in the Apostolic Palace
Saturday, June 25, 2016:
08:45: VISIT TO THE TZITZERNAKABERD MEMORIAL COMPLEX
10:00: Transfer by plane to Gyumri
11:00: Holy Mass in Vartanants Square in Gyumri
(Homily of the Holy Father)
(Greeting of the Catholicos)
16:45: VISIT TO THE ARMENIAN APOSTOLIC CATHEDRAL OF THE SEVEN PLAGUES in Gyumri
17:15: VISIT TO THE ARMENIAN CATHOLIC CATHEDRAL OF THE MARTYR SAINTS in Gyumri
18:00: Transfer by plane to Yerevan
19:00: ECUMENICAL MEETING AND PRAYER FOR PEACE in the Republic Square in Yerevan
(Speeches of the Catholicos and the Holy Father)
Sunday, June 26, 2016:
09:15: MEETING with ARMENIAN CATHOLIC BISHOPS at the Apostolic Palace in Etchmiadzin
10:00: Participation in the Divine Liturgy in the Armenian Apostolic Cathedral
(Homily of the Catholicos) (Holy Father’s Greeting)
ECUMENICAL LUNCH with the Catholicos, archbishops and bishops of the Armenian Apostolic Church, the Armenian Catholic Bishops, and the Cardinals and Bishops of the Papal Entourage in the Apostolic Palace
15:50: MEETING WITH REPRESENTATIVES OF ARMENIAN APOSTOLIC CHURCH AND Benefactors in the Apostolic Palace
16:05: SIGNATURE OF JOINT DECLARATION in the Apostolic Palace
17:00: PRAYER in Khor Virap Monastery
18:15: FAREWELL CEREMONY at Airport
18:30: Departure by plane for Rome
20:40: Arrival at Rome / Ciampino
Time zone
Rome: UTC + 2 hours
Yerevan: UTC + 4 hours
Gyumri: UTC + 4 hours[Program Published by the Holy See Press Office]
Pope Francis Meets Japanese Royalty by ZENIT Staff
Yesterday, Pope Francis on Thursday met with Prince and Princess Akishino of Japan for a 20-minute private meeting, reported Vatican Radio.
No statement was issued by the Holy See Press Office.
While Pope Francis gave the couple a copy of his encyclical on the environment ‘Laudato Si’ and a peace medal, the prince and princess gave the Pontiff a porcelain vase and a framed emblem of the Imperial family.
The younger son of Emperor Akihito, the prince is second in line to the throne.
Pope Francis Receives Prime Minister of Poland by Deborah Castellano Lubov
This morning, Pope Francis met with Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland, Beata Szydło.
According to a statement released by the Holy See Press Office, the discussions were cordial discussions and the positive contribution of the Catholic Church to Polish society was emphasized.
“Particular reference,” it added, “was made to the Holy Father’s upcoming visit to the country during the month of July on the occasion of World Youth Day, and the recent celebrations in Gniezno and in Poznań for the 1050th anniversary of the Baptism of Poland, attended by His Eminence Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin as Papal Legate.”
“Attention,” it continued, “then turned to various themes of common interest, such as the promotion of the family in the current socio-cultural context, and the reception of refugees. Finally, several themes affecting the international community were discussed, such as peace and security, the conflict in Syria and the humanitarian situation in Ukraine and in the Middle East.”
After meeting with the Pope, the prime minister met with Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, secretary for Relations with States.
INTERVIEW: ‘We, Armenians Of Syria, Are Living Again The Tragedy Of Genocide,’ Says Archbishop Marayati by Federico Cenci
At this time, the Syrian city of Aleppo has become the theater of a raging battle. The fragile truce, which gave some oxygen to the martyred population, even if officially it has not been interrupted, is now, in fact, a memory. The umpteenth missile attack of Jihadist rebels in the areas controlled by the regular army, struck a hospital, causing several victims among civilians. And the future scenarios do not seem comforting. According to the Russian press agency Interfax, the Jihadists of the al-Nusra Front are amassing ammunitions charged with chlorine in their positions at the doors of Aleppo. The desperation of the population was made known by the words of Archbishop of the Armenian Catholics of the Syrian city, Boutros Marayati. A guest of the East Sector of the diocese of Rome, the prelate met today with the clergy in the presence of Auxiliary Bishop, Monsignor Giuseppe Marciante. At the end of the meeting, he gave the following interview to ZENIT.
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ZENIT: Excellency, what is the present situation at Aleppo?
Archbishop Marayati: It is very dramatic. The cease-fire has now ended and for about a week the bombardments have started again. A rainfall of missiles has arrived in the city, which is striking the Christian quarters. Nevertheless, as churches, we are doing our utmost to help the people to remain; a new exodus is happening in Aleppo. Moreover, everything is lacking: water, electricity, and medicines. Food is diminishing and its price is very high. Our hope is that there are margins so that the parties in conflict will agree to a new period of truce. The people of Aleppo dream about the end of this atrocity, they are truly tired of suffering.
ZENIT: Who launches these missiles?
Archbishop Marayati: Aleppo is divided into two parts. One of the two is under the control of the Jihadist rebels. It is the latter that launch the missiles, bombs and mortar strikes in the other part of the city, which is controlled by the regular Army and is the place where the Christian and moderate Muslim communities live. The point is that the rebels have in hand the power plant and the aqueduct; therefore, they control the supplies and do not let them reach us. We, civilians, especially the children, are the ones who pay the highest price of this opposition between the two blocks. In this last week, the littlest ones lived hell.
ZENIT: The conflict in Syria is one that also involves foreign interests …
Archbishop Marayati: Unfortunately, it is so. There is never fighting for nothing. International interests and designs exist. The solution of this conflict is in the hands of the great powers, the United States and Russia. Both these powers want to maintain their influence in Syria. I am thinking of the presence of military bases, control of oil wells and gas plants, the outlet to the Mediterranean Sea … Intertwined with all these elements, then, is the religious aspect, which is instrumentalized. It is a war that has to do with international geopolitics, but which is consummated on the skin of the Syrians. I repeat: Washington and Moscow possess the key to access peace. We can only hope that they will come to an understanding between them to open a future of hope for Syria.
ZENIT: As long as no solution is found in Syria, the crisis of refugees in Europe will continue …
Archbishop Marayati: If Europe is truly interested in resolving the drama of the refugees, it must employ all its energies to have the war cease in Syria. Of what use is it to speak of barriers to be pulled down at the borders, when there is no commitment to help these people not to flee from their land? I always remember that, before this war began, we Syrians had never been refugees. On the contrary, it was Syria that always received people fleeing from wars: from Lebanon, from Jordan, from Iraq … And now our turn has come. Something that truly seemed unthinkable, because Syria is, historically, a country of coexistence, peace and culture.
ZENIT: What are the Christian Churches doing to stem the exodus of Christians from those lands?
Archbishop Marayati: The Christian Churches, together with the various World Friends Onlus committed in Syria, are making a great contribution, sending aid. However, the people are tired of suffering and, because of this, of having to receive help. Syrians no longer want to weep for their dead; they no longer want to see rivers of blood flowing. What we ask is that the profuse commitment to send us aid be employed to exert pressure on the international powers so that the bombardments cease.
ZENIT: Excellency, is the destiny of Middle Eastern Christians far from their land?
Archbishop Marayati: Syria needs Christians. Although a minority, they have always represented a richness. One cannot think of a Middle East without Christians, however, it is inevitable that they flee if they are under the <mortar shots> of the Jihadist rebels. And by escaping, they will continue not to find peace. A refugee always has difficulties, because he finds himself living in a different context from that which is proper to him, he is someone uprooted.
ZENIT: Is this reality evoking in you, Armenians, the specter of the Genocide of a century ago?
Archbishop Marayati: We, Armenians, are living a twofold trauma. The wound of the 1915 Genocide is not yet healed, and today we find ourselves again as refugees, fleeing from those who wish to kill us. A century ago it was Syria in fact that received us, that agreed to integrate us in Arab culture, building our independence. And today we find ourselves again having to abandon everything we built and face a new exodus. We feel nostalgia for the Syria prior to the outbreak of the war. The Armenian writer Antranik Zaruguian spoke of an “Aleppo of dreams.” Today, unfortunately, those dreams have become nightmares.
Pope’s Address to “Centesimus Annus – Pro Pontifice” Foundation by ZENIT Staff
Below is Pope Francis’ address to members of the “Centesimus Annus – Pro Pontifice” Foundation, which was established in 1993 by Blessed John Paul II and lay Catholic business, academic and professional leaders, who were received this afternoon in the Vatican during their annual international conference.
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Dear Friends,
I offer a warm welcome to all of you and I thank your President for his kind words. In these days of reflection and dialogue, you have considered the contribution of the business community to the fight against poverty, with particular attention to the current refugee crisis. I am grateful for your readiness to bring your expertise and experience to the discussion of these critical humanitarian issues and the moral obligations that they entail.
The refugee crisis, whose proportions are growing daily, is one especially close to my heart. In my recent visit to Lesbos, I witnessed heartrending scenes of human suffering, especially on the part of families and children. It was my intention, together with my Orthodox brothers, Patriarch Bartholomew and Archbishop Ieronymos, to make the world more aware of these “scenes of tragic and indeed desperate need”, and to “respond in a way worthy of our common humanity” (Visit to Moria Refugee Camp, 16 April 2016). Apart from the immediate and practical aspect of providing material relief to these brothers and sisters of ours, the international community is challenged to devise long-term political, social and economic responses to issues that transcend national and continental boundaries, and affect the entire human family.
The fight against poverty is not merely a technical economic problem, but above all a moral one, calling for global solidarity and the development of more equitable approaches to the concrete needs and aspirations of individuals and peoples worldwide. In the light of this demanding task, this initiative of your Foundation is most timely. Drawing inspiration from the rich patrimony of the Church’s social doctrine, the present Conference is exploring from various standpoints the practical and ethical implications of the present world economy, while at the same time laying the foundations for a business and economic culture that is more inclusive and respectful of human dignity. As Saint John Paul II frequently insisted, economic activity cannot be conducted in an institutional or political vacuum (cf. Centesimus Annus, 48), but has an essential ethical component; it must always stand at the service of the human person and the universal common good.
An economic vision geared to profit and material well-being alone is – as experience is daily showing us – incapable of contributing in a positive way to a globalization that favours the integral development of the world’s peoples, a just distribution of the earth’s resources, the guarantee of dignified labour and the encouragement of private initiative and local enterprise. An economy of exclusion and inequality (cf. Evangelii Gaudium, 53) has led to greater numbers of the disenfranchised and those discarded as unproductive and useless. The effects are felt even in our more developed societies, in which the growth of relative poverty and social decay represent a serious threat to families, the shrinking middle class and in a particular way our young people. The rates of unemployment for the young are not only a scandal needing to be addressed first and foremost in economic terms, but also, and no less urgently, as a social ill, for our youth are being robbed of hope and their great resources of energy, creativity and vision are being squandered.
It is my hope that your Conference will contribute to generating new models of economic progress more clearly directed to the universal common good, inclusion and integral development, the creation of labour and investment in human resources. The Second Vatican Council rightly pointed out that, for Christians, economic, financial and business activity cannot be separated from the duty to strive for the perfecting of the temporal order in accordance with the values of God’s Kingdom (cf.Gaudium et Spes, 72). Yours is in fact a vocation at the service of human dignity and the building of a world of authentic solidarity. Enlightened and inspired by the Gospel, and in fruitful cooperation with the local Churches and their pastors, as well as other believers and people of good will, may your work always contribute to the growth of that civilization of love which embraces the entire human family in justice and peace.
Upon all of you, and your families, I invoke the Lord’s blessings of wisdom, joy and strength.[Original text: Italian] [Vatican-provided text]
Full Text of Pope’s Q-and-A With Women Religious by ZENIT Staff
The Director of the Holy See’s Press office, Father Federico Lombardi, underlined that Pope Francis did not say Thursday in his remarks to directors of female religious orders that he intends to introduce the ordination of women and even less the ordination of women as priests.
Father Lombardi’s statement followed the Pope’s widely-reported remarks that he wants to set up a Commission to study the question of female deacons. Pope Francis’ remarks on deaconesses came during a question and answer session on Thursday with some 900 heads of female religious orders and congregations who form part of the International Union of Superiors General.
During the hour and a half long conversation about the mission and ministry of women in religious life, the Pope responded to several delicate questions, including one where he was asked what prevents the Church from including women among the permanent deacons, just like during the early Church. In his reply, the Pope said understanding about the role of female deacons in the early Church remained unclear and agreed with the sisters that it would be useful to set up a commission to study the question.
Father Lombardi described the encounter between the Pope and the female religious as a “beautiful conversation” that was very “encouraging” about women and in particular about consecrated women in the life of the Church, including their role in important positions within the dicasteries where ordination is not implied.
Referring to the Pope’s much reported remark about setting up a Commission to study the question of female deacons, Father Lombardi said this was an issue that has been talked about within the Church in the past and arises from the fact that in the early Church there were women described as deaconesses who carried out certain tasks within the Christian community.
Father Lombardi said “we need to be honest” when looking at the Pope’s remarks about being willing to set up a Commission to look again at this issue with greater clarity.
“The Pope did not say he intends to introduce the ordination of female deacons and even less did he talk about the ordination of women as priests.” In actual fact, the Pope made clear in his preaching during the course of the Eucharistic celebration that he was not considering this (question) at all.
Father Lombardi also said it was wrong to reduce all the many important things said by the Pope during his meeting with the religious sisters to this one question.[From Vatican Radio: http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2016/05/13/fr_lombardi_on_pope%E2%80%99s_remarks_about_female_deacons/1229620]
Here is a ZENIT translation of the full transcription of the Pope’s q-and-a:
First Question
For a better insertion of women in the life of the Church
Pope Francis, you have said that the feminine genius is necessary in all the expressions of the life of the Church and of society, and yet women are excluded from decisional processes in the Church, especially at the highest levels, and from preaching in the Eucharist. An important impediment to the Church’s full embrace of the “feminine genius” is the connection that decisional processes and preaching have with priestly Ordination. Do you see a way to separate Ordination from leadership roles and preaching in the Eucharist, so that our Church can be more open to receive women’s genius in the very near future?
Pope Francis
There are several things we must distinguish. The question is linked to functionality; it is very much linked to functionality, whereas woman’s role goes beyond. But now I will answer the question, then we’ll speak. I’ve seen that there are other questions that go beyond. Is it true that women are excluded from the decisional processes in the Church: <they are> not excluded but the insertion of women is very weak in the decisional processes. We must go forward. For instance – truly I don’t see a difficulty – I believe that in the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, it is a woman, a Religious, who runs the secretariat. Another was proposed and I appointed her, but she preferred not to accept, because she had to go elsewhere to do other works of her Congregation. We must go beyond, because for many aspects of the decisional processes Ordination isn’t necessary. In the reform of the Apostolic Constitution Pastor Bonus, in connection with the dicasteries, when there is no jurisdiction that comes from Ordination — that is, pastoral jurisdiction – one doesn’t see written that it cannot be a woman, I don’t know of a dicastery head, but … For instance, for migrants: a woman could <be appointed> to the dicastery for migrants. And when there is need – now that migrants enter in a dicastery – of jurisdiction, it is up to the Prefect to give this permission. But ordinarily one can go, in the execution of the decisional process. The elaboration of decisions is very important for me: not only the execution but also the elaboration and, that is, that women, whether consecrated or lay, enter in the reflection of the process and in the discussion. Because women look at life with their eyes and we men can’t look at it like that. It’s the way of seeing a problem, of seeing anything – it’s different in a woman than it is for a man. They must be complementary, and it is important that women be in consultations.
In Buenos Aires I experienced a problem: addressing it with the Presbyterial Council – hence all men – it was well addressed; then, addressing it with a group of Religious and lay women it was greatly enriched and favoured the decision with a complementary view. It’s necessary; this is necessary! And I think we must go forward on this, then the decisional process will see to it thereafter.
Then there is the problem of preaching in the Eucharistic Celebration. There’s no problem that a woman – lay or Religious – deliver the homily in a Liturgy of the Word. There is no problem. However, in the Eucharistic Celebration there is a liturgical-dogmatic problem, because the celebration is one – the Liturgy of the Word and the Eucharistic Liturgy, is a unity – and the one who presides over it is Jesus Christ. The priest or the Bishop that presides does so in the person of Jesus Christ. It is a theological-liturgical reality. In that situation, where women are not Ordained, they cannot preside. However, this can be studied more and explained more than I have said now, very quickly and somewhat simply.
In leadership, instead, there is no problem: in this we can go forward, with prudence, but seeking solutions …
There are two temptations here, of which we must be on guard. The first is feminism: woman’s role in the Church isn’t feminism; it’s a right! It is the right of the baptized with the charisms and gifts that the Spirit has given. There is no need to fall into feminism, because this would reduce the importance of a woman. At this time, I don’t see a great danger in regard to this among women religious. I don’t see it. Perhaps once, but in general it doesn’t exist.
The other danger, which is a very strong temptation and I’ve spoken about it many times, is clericalism. And this is very strong. Let us think that today more than 60% of parishes – I don’t know about the dioceses, but only a bit less – do not have advice for economic affairs and pastoral advice. What does this mean? That such a parish and such a diocese is led with a clerical spirit, solely that of the priest, who does not act with that parrochial synodality, that diocesan synodality, which isn’t a novelty of this Pope. No! It’s in Canon Law, it is an obligation that the parish priest has to have the advice of the laity, for and with the laity, lay women and women religious for pastoral care and for economic affairs. And they don’t do this. And this is the danger of clericalism today in the Church. We must go forward and remove this danger, because the priest is a servant of the community, the Bishop is a servant of the community, but he is not the head of a firm. No! This is important.
In Latin America, for instance, clericalism is very strong, very marked. The laity does not know what to do, if they don’t ask the priest … It’s very strong. And, therefore, awareness of the role of the laity in Latin America is very hampered. Some of this was saved only in popular piety: because the protagonists were the people and the people did things as they came: and that aspect did not interest the priest so much, and some did not see with a good eye this phenomenon of popular piety. But clericalism is a negative attitude. And it is an accomplice because it is done in twos, as the tango that is danced by two … that is, the priest who wishes to clericalize the layman, laywoman, the man or woman religious, and the layman who asks as a favour to be clericalized, because it’s more comfortable. This is curious. I had this experience in Buenos Aires three or four times: a good parish priest who came and said to me “You know, I have a very good layman in the parish: he does this, he does that, he knows how to organize, attend to work, he is truly a valuable man … Shall we make him a Deacon?” That is, shall we “clericalize him?” “No! Let him remain a layman. Don’t make him a Deacon. This is important. This happens to you, so often clericalism stops you in the licit development of something.
I will ask – and perhaps I will have it reach the President [of the women religious] – the Congregation for Worship to explain well, in a profound way, what I said somewhat lightly on preaching in the Eucharistic Celebration, because I don’t have the theology and sufficient clarity to explain it now. But we must distinguish well: preaching in a Liturgy of the Word is one thing, and this can be done; something else is the Eucharistic Celebration; there is another mystery here. It’s the mystery of Christ presence and the priest or the Bishop that celebrates in persona Christi.
It’s clear for leadership … Yes I believe this can be my answer in general to the first question. Let us look at the second.
Second question
The role of consecrated women in the Church
Consecrated women already work so much with the poor and the marginalized, teaching catechesis, accompanying the sick and the dying; they distribute Communion, in many countries, they lead the common prayer in the absence of priests and in those circumstances they pronounce the homily. There is in the Church the office of the Permanent Deacon, but it is only open to men, whether married or not. What impedes the Church from including women among the Permanent Deacons, precisely as happened in the early Church? Why not constitute an official commission that can study the question? Can you give us an example of where you see the possibility of a better insertion of women and of consecrated women in the life of the Church?
Pope Francis
This question is understood in the sense of “doing”: consecrated women already work so much with the poor, they do so many things … in “doing.” And it touches the problem of the Permanent Diaconate. Someone could say that the “Permanent Deaconesses” in the life of the Church are the mothers-in-law [he laughs, they laugh].
In fact, this existed in antiquity: there was a beginning … I remember that it was a topic that interested me quite a lot when I came to Rome for meetings, and I lodged at the Domus Paolo VI; there was a good Syrian theologian there who did the critical edition and translation of the Hymns of Ephrem the Syrian. And one day I asked him about this, and he explained to me that in the early times of the Church there were some “Deaconesses.” But what are these Deaconesses? Were they ordained or not? The Council of Chalcedon speaks of it (451), but it’s a bit obscure. What was the role of the Deaconesses in those times? It seems – that man said to me, who is dead, who was a good professor, wise, erudite – it seems that the role of the Deaconesses was to help in the Baptism of women, in the immersion, they baptized them, for decorum, also to do the anointing of women’s body in Baptism. And also something curious: when there was a marital judgment because the husband hit the wife and the latter went to the Bishop to lament <her situation>, the Deaconesses were in charge of seeing the bruises left on the woman’s body by the husband’s blows and inform the Bishop. This, I remember.
There are some publications on the Diaconate in the Church, but it’s not clear how it was. I think I will ask the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to refer studies to me on this topic, because I have answered you only on the basis of what I’ve heard from that priest, who was a an erudite and valid researcher, on the Permanent Diaconate. And, in addition, I would like to constitute an official commission to study the question: I think it will do the Church good to clarify this point: I agree and I will speak about doing something of this nature.
Then you said: “We agree with you, Holy Father, who have reported many times the need for a more incisive role of women in the decisional positions in the Church.” This is clear. “Can you give us an example from whence you see the possibility of a better insertion of women and of consecrated women in the life of the Church?” I’ll say something that comes after, because I’ve seen that there is a general question. In the consultations of the Congregation for Religious, in the assemblies, consecrated women should be there. Something else: a better insertion. At the moment, concrete things don’t come to mind, but always what I said earlier: to seek the judgment of a consecrated woman, because a woman sees things with a different originality than that of men, and this enriches: be it in consultation, be it in decision-making, be it in the concreteness <of a reality>.
These works you do with the poor, the marginalized, teaching catechesis, accompanying the sick and the dying, are very “maternal” works, where the Church’s maternity can be expressed more. But there are men who do the same, and well: consecrated men, Hospital Orders … And this is important.
Therefore, on the Diaconate, yes, I accept and it seems useful to me that a commission should clarify this well, especially in regard to the early times of the Church.
In regard to a better insertion, I repeat what I said earlier. If there is something to concretize, ask it now: on what I’ve said, is there another question that will help me to think? Forward …
Third question
The Role of the International Union of Superiors General
What role could the International Union of Superiors General have, so that it can have a word in the thought of the Church, a word that is heard, given that it bears in itself the voice of 2,000 Institutes of women religious? How is it possible that very often we are forgotten and not made participants, for instance, in the general assembly of the Congregation of Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, where there is talk of consecrated life? Can the Church allow herself to continue speaking of us, instead of speaking with us?
Pope Francis
Sister Teresina have patience, because there has come to mind what had left of the other question, on “what can feminine consecrated life do?” It is a criterion that you must look at again, which the Church must also look at again. Your work, mine and that of us all, is service. It’s a bit difficult to explain, because I don’t want you to think of concrete cases, which perhaps would be a bad thought, because no one knows the circumstances well. But let us think of a parish priest, a parish priest that for safety we image: “No, my Rectory is in the hands of two Sisters” – “And are they the ones who manage things?” – “Yes, yes!” “And what do they do of apostolate, of catechesis?” – “No, no, only that!” No! This is servitude! Tell me, mister parish priest, if in your city there aren’t good women, who are in need of work. Hire one or two to do that service. Let these two Sisters go to the schools, to the neighbourhoods, to the sick, to the poor. This is the criterion that helps many, because when one wishes a consecrated woman to do a work of servitude, the life and dignity of that woman are devalued. Her vocation is service: service to the Church, wherever she is, but not servitude!
See, now {I answer} Teresina: According to you, what is the place of feminine apostolic religious life inside the Church? What would the Church be lacking if there were no longer women religious? Mary would be lacking the day of Pentecost! There is no Church without Mary! There is no Pentecost without Mary! But Mary was there, perhaps she didn’t speak … I’ve said this, but — I like to repeat it. The consecrated woman is an icon of the Church; she is an icon of Mary. The priest is not an icon of the Church; he is not an icon of Mary: he is an icon of the Apostles, of the disciples who are sent to preach, but not of the Church and of Mary. When I say this I want to make you reflect on the fact that the Church is feminine; the Church is woman, she is a she, not a he. But she is a woman married to Jesus Christ; she has her Spouse, who is Jesus Christ. And when a Bishop is chosen for a diocese, the Bishop marries, in the name of Christ, that particular Church. The Church is woman! And a woman’s consecration makes her in fact icon of the Church and icon of Our Lady. And this, we men cannot do. This will help you to deepen, from this theological root, a great role in the Church. And I would like this not to be eluded.
I am totally in agreement [on the conclusion of the third question]. The Church: you are the Church, all of us are. The hierarchy – we say – of the Church must speak of you, but first and at the moment it must speak with you! This is certain. You must be present in the Assembly of the CIVCSVA. Yes, yes! I will say this to the Prefect: you must be present in the Assembly! It’s clear, because to speak of someone who is absent is not even evangelical: we must hear, listen to what is thought, and then we must carry it out together. I’m in agreement. Truly, I never imagined so much detachment. And thank you for having said it so courageously and with that smile. I permit myself a beating. You did it with a smile, which in Piedmont is said the smile of the mugna quacia[with a naive face]. Good! Yes, you are right in this. I think it’s easy to reform; I’ll speak about it with the Prefect. “But this General Assembly won’t speak of the Sisters; it will speak of something else …”It’s necessary to hear the Sisters because they have another view of the thing. It’s what I said earlier: it’s important that you are always inserted … I thank you for your question.
Do we need a clarification in regard to this? Something more? Is it clear?
Remember this well: what would the Church lack if women religious didn’t exist?
Mary would be lacking on the day of Pentecost. The woman religious is icon of the Church and of Mary; and the Church is feminine, married to Jesus Christ.
Fourth question
The obstacle we meet as consecrated women inside the Church.
Dearest Holy Father, many Institutes are facing the challenge of bringing novelties in the way of life and in the structures reviewing the Constitutions. This is revealing itself difficult, because we find ourselves blocked by Canon Law. Do you foresee changes in Canon Law, so as to facilitate these novelties?
Moreover, young people today have difficulty in thinking of a permanent commitment, be it in marriage or in religious life. Can we be open to temporary commitments? And another aspect: in carrying out our ministry in solidarity with the poor and the marginalized, we are often erroneously regarded as social activists or as if we took political positions. Some ecclesial authorities would like us to be more mystical and less apostolic. What value is given to apostolic consecrated life and, in particular, to women, by some parts of the hierarchic Church?
Pope Francis
First. The changes that must be made to assume the new challenges: You have spoken of novelties, novelties in the positive sense, if I understood well, new things that come … And the Church is a teacher in this, because she has had to change so much, so much in history. However, in every change there must be discernment, and there cannot be discernment without prayer. How is discernment done? By prayer, dialogue and then discernment in common. There is need to ask for the gift of discernment, to be able to discern.
For instance, a businessman must make changes in his firm: he evaluates with concreteness, and does what his conscience tells him. In our life, there is another personage: the Holy Spirit. And to make a change, we must evaluate all the concrete circumstances, this is true, but to enter into a process of discernment with the Holy Spirit there must be prayer, dialogue and common discernment. I think that on this point we are not well formed – when I say “we” I am speaking also of priests – in the discernment of situations, and we must try to have experiences and also seek a person that can explain well how discernment is done: a good spiritual father who knows these things well and can explain them to us, which is not a simple “pro and against,” do the sum and onwards. No, it’s something more. Every change that must be made requires entering in this process of discernment. And this will give you more freedom, more freedom! Canon Law: but there is no problem. In the last century, Canon Law was changed – if I’m not mistaken – twice: in 1917 and then under Saint John Paul II. Small changes can be made, are made. These, instead, were two changes of the whole Code. The Code is a disciplinary aid, an aid for the salvation of souls, for all this: it is the juridical aid of the Church for trials, for so many things, but which in the last century was totally changed twice, remade. And in this way, parts can be changed. Two months ago a request arrived to change a canon, I don’t remember well …. I had a study made and the Secretary of State made consultations and all were in agreement that yes, this had to be changed for the greater good, and it was changed. The Code is an instrument, this is very important.
But I insist: never make a change without carrying out a process of discernment, personal and communal. And this will give you freedom, because you put there, in the change, the Holy Spirit. It is what Saint Paul did, Saint Peter himself, when he felt that the Lord was pushing him to baptize the pagans. When we read the Book of the Acts of the Apostles, we marvel at so much change, so much change … It’s the Spirit! This is interesting: in the Book of the Acts of the Apostles, the Apostles aren’t the protagonists; it’s the Spirit who is. “The Spirit constrains one to do that”; “the Spirit says to Philip: go here and there, find the Minister of the Economy and baptize him”; “the Spirit does,” “the Spirit says: no, do not come here” … It’s the Spirit. It’s the Spirit who gave the Apostles the courage to make this revolutionary change of baptizing the pagans without following the way of the Jewish catechesis or the Jewish practices. It’s interesting: in the first chapters, is the Letter that, after the Council of Jerusalem, the Apostles sent to the converted pagans. Recounting all that they had done: The Holy Spirit and we decided this.” This is an example of discernment that they made. Do every change this way, with the Holy Spirit. That is: discernment, prayer and also concrete evaluation of the situations.
And there’s no problem with the Code; it is an instrument.
In regard to the permanent commitment of young people – we live in a “culture of the provisional.” Some time ago, a Bishop told me that a young University student had come to him, who had finished University, <he was> 23/24 years old, and said to him: “I would like to become a priest, but only for ten years.” It’s the culture of the provisional. It’s like this in marriage cases. “I marry you while love lasts and then goodbye — but love understood in a hedonistic sense, in the sense of today’s culture — these marriages are obviously void, they aren’t valid. They have no awareness of the perpetuity of the commitment. It’s like this in marriages. In the Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia, read the problem, it’s in the first chapters, and read how to prepare for marriage. A person said to me: “I don’t understand this: to become a priest one must study, prepare oneself for eight years, more or less. And then, if it’s not right, or if one falls in love with a beautiful girl, the Church allows one to go, get married, begin another life. To get married – which is for the whole of life, which is “for” life – in many dioceses there are three or four conferences in preparation <for marriage> … But this isn’t right! How can a parish priest sign that they are prepared for marriage, with this culture of the provisional, with only four explanations? It’s a very serious problem. The intuition of Saint Vincent of Paula on consecrated life has always struck me – positively: he saw that the Sisters of Charity must renew their vows, only for a year. But he did so as a charism, not as the culture of the provisional: to give freedom. I believe that in consecrated life temporary vows facilitate this. And, I don’t know, you look into it, but I would rather be favourable to prolonging a bit the temporary vows, because of the culture of the provisional that young people have today: that is … to prolong the engagement before entering marriage. This is important.
[Now the Pope answers a part of a question that was not read but written]
The requests for money in our local Churches. The problem of money is a very important problem, be it in consecrated life, be it in the diocesan Church. We must never forget that the devil enters “through the pockets”: be it through the pockets of the Bishop, be it through the pockets of the Congregation. This touches the problem of poverty, of which I will speak later. But the avidity for money is the first step for the corruption of a parish, of a diocese, of a Congregation of consecrated life; it’s the first step. I believe it was for this purpose: the payment for Sacraments. Look, if someone asks for this, denounce the fact. Salvation is free. God has saved you freely; salvation is as a “squandering of gratuitousness.” There is no salvation for payment; there are not Sacraments for payment. Is this clear? I know, I have seen in my life corruption in this. I remember a case, just after being appointed Bishop, I had the poorest area of Buenos Aires: it is divided into four Vicariates. There were so many immigrants there of American countries, and it happened that when they came to get married the parish priests would say: “These people don’t have the certificate of Baptism.” And when they requested it in their country they were told: “Yes, but first send US$100 – I remember a case – and then I will send it to you.” I talked to the Cardinal, and the Cardinal spoke with the Bishop of the place … But, in the meantime, the people could get married without the certificate of Baptism, with the oath of the parents or the godparents. And this payment, not only of the Sacrament but of the certificates… I remember once in Buenos Aires that a young man came to the parish, who was to be married, to ask for the nulla osta to get married in another <parish>: it’s a simple means. The secretary said to him: “Yes, come back tomorrow, come tomorrow and it will be here, it costs this much”: a good sum. But it is a service: it’s about verifying the data and filling in <the form>. And he – he was a good, very fervent young lawyer, a very good Catholic – came to me, <asking>: “Now what should I do?” “Go tomorrow and say that you have sent the check to the Archbishop, and that the Archbishop will give him the check” — the commerce of money.
However, here we touch on a serious problem, which is the problem of poverty. I’ll tell you something: when a religious Institute – and this is true also for other situations – when a religious Institute feels it is dying, that it does not have the capacity to attract new elements, it feels that perhaps the time has passed for which the Lord had chosen that Congregation, the temptation is avidity. Why? Because they think: “At least we have money for our old age.” This is grave. And what is the solution given by the Church? The <solution is the> union of several Institutes with similar charisms, and then go forward, but money is never, never the solution for spiritual problems. It’s a necessary aid, but so much so. Saint Ignatius used to say about poverty, that it is ‘Mother” and “wall” of religious life. It makes us grow in religious life as mother, and protects us. And decadence begins when poverty is lacking. I remember, in the other diocese, when a very important school of Sisters had to redo the house of the Sisters; it was old, it had to be remade; and they did a good job. They did a good job. But in those times, I’m speaking of the years ’93, ’94 more or less – they said: Let’s make all the comforts, the room with a private bathroom, and everything, and even television. In that school, which was so important, between 2 and 4 in the afternoon you wouldn’t find one Sister in the school::; they were all in their room watching a soap opera! Because there is a lack of poverty, and this leads one to a comfortable life, to fantasies … It’s an example, perhaps the only one in the world, but <given> to understand the danger of too much comfort, of the lack of poverty and of a certain austerity.
[Another part of the question not read but written]
“Women Religious do not receive a stipend for the services they carry out, as priests receive. How can we demonstrate the attractive face of our subsistence? How can we find the necessary financial resources to fulfil our mission?”
Pope Francis
I will say two things to you. First: see how the charism is, the inside of your charism – each one has her own – and what is the place of poverty, because there are Congregations that exact a very poor life, very strong; others, not so much, and both are approved by the Church. Seek poverty according to the charism. Then, savings. It’s prudent to have savings; it’s prudent to have good administration, perhaps with some investment, that’s prudent: for the Houses of Formation, to carry forward the poor works, to carry forward schools for the poor, to carry out apostolic works … A Foundation of the Congregation itself: this should be done, as wealth can do one ill and corrupt the vocation, misery can too. If poverty becomes misery, this also does one ill. Seen is the spiritual prudence of the Community in common discernment: the economy informs, all talk together, if it’s too much, if it’s not too much … that maternal prudence. But, please, don’t let yourselves be deceived by friends of the Congregation, who then will “fleece” you and take everything away for you. I’ve seen so many cases, and I have told about others, of Sisters who lost everything because they trusted so in so … “a good friend of the Congregation”! There are so many crafty <fellows>, so many crafty <fellows>. Prudence is never to consult only one person: when you are in need, consult several different persons. The administration of goods is a very great responsibility in consecrated life. If you don’t have what is necessary to live, tell the Bishop. Say to God: “Give us today our bread,” the true bread. But speak with the Bishop, with the Superior General, with the Congregation for Religious about what is necessary, because religious life is a path of poverty but it’s not suicide! And this is healthy prudence. Is this clear?
And then, where there are conflicts for what the local Churches ask you, it’s necessary to pray, to discern and to have courage, when you must say “no”; and to have generosity, when you should, to say “yes.” But you will see what is necessary: discernment in every case!
Question (taken up again)
“While we carry out our ministry, we remain in solidarity with the poor and the marginalized, we are often regarded as social activists or as if were taking political positions. Some ecclesial authorities see our ministry negatively, stressing that we should be more concentrated on a form of mystical life. In these circumstances, how can we live our prophetic vocation …”
Answer (continuous)
Yes. All women Religious, all consecrated women must live mystically, because yours is an espousal; yours is a vocation of maternity; it is a vocation to be in the place of Mother Church and of Mother Mary. But those who say this to you, think that to be mystical is always a mummy, always praying so … No, no. You must pray and work according to your charism; and when the charisms leads you to go forward with the refugees, with the poor you must do so, and they will call you: Communist: it’s the least they’ll say to you. But you must do it, because your charism leads you to this.
I remember a Sister in Argentina who was Provincial of her Congregation. A very good woman, and she is still working … she is almost my age, yes. And she works against the traffickers of youth, of young persons. I remember, that in the military government of Argentina, they wanted to send her to prison, they pressured the Bishop; they pressured the Provincial Superior, before she herself became Provincial, “because this woman is Communist.” And this woman saved so many, so many girls! And yes, it’s the cross. What did they say about Jesus? That He was Beelzebub, that He had Beelzebub’s power. Calumny – be prepared for it. If you do good, with prayer before God, assuming all the consequences of your charism and go forward, prepare yourselves for defamation and calumny, because the Lord chose this way for Himself! And we, Bishops, must protect these women who are icons of the Church, when they do difficult things or are calumniated, and are persecuted. To be persecuted is the last of the Beatitudes. The Lord said to us: Blessed are you when you are persecuted, insulted” and all these things.
However, here the danger could be: “I do my thing” – no, no: you hear this, they persecute you: speak. Speak with your community, with your Superior, with everyone; seek advice, discern: once again the word. And this woman religious of whom I spoke now, I found weeping one day, and she said: “Look at the letter I’ve received from Rome – I won’t say from whom –; what must I do?” “Are you a daughter of the Church?” – “Yes!” – “Do you want to obey the Church?” – “Yes!” “Answer that you will obey the Church and then go to your Superior, go to the Community, go to your Bishop –which I was – and the Church will say what you must do. But not a letter that comes from 12,000 km,” because there a friend of the Sister’s enemies had written, that she was calumniated. Be courageous but with discernment, prayer and dialogue.
Conclusion
“A word of encouragement to us leaders, that we endure the burden of the day.”
Pope Francis
But give yourselves a breather! Rest, because many ills come from the lack of healthy rest, rest in the family … This is important to endure the burden of the day.” You also mentioned here the elderly and sick Sisters. But these Sisters are the memory of the Institute; these Sisters are those who have sown, who laboured, and now are paralytics or very sick or left aside. These Sisters pray for the Institute. This is very important, that they feel involved in the Institute’s prayer. These Sisters also have a very great experience: some more, some less. Listen to them! Go to them: “Tell me, Sister, what do you think of this, or that?” They must feel consulted and from their wisdom good advice will flow. Be sure of it.
This is what came to me to say to you. I know that I always repeat myself and say the same things, but life is like this .. I like to hear the questions, because they make me think and I feel like the goal keeper, who is there, waiting for the ball wherever it comes from …This is good and you do this also in the dialogue.
The things I promised to do I will do. And pray for me; I pray for you. And let’s go forward. Our life is for the Lord, for the Church and for the people, who suffer so much and are in need of the Father’s caress through you! Thank you!
I propose something to you: let us end with our Mother. Each one of you, in her own language, pray the Hail Mary. I will pray it in Spanish.
Hail Mary …
[Blessing]
And pray for me, so that I can serve the Church well.
[Original text: Italian]
[Translation by ZENIT]
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