ZENIT from Roswell, Georgia, United States "INTERVIEW: WYD Is Event Full of Novelty..." for Thursday, 21 July 2016Like
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"INTERVIEW: WYD Is Event Full of Novelty" by Rocío Lancho García
Youth all over the world are preparing for the great meeting awaiting them in Poland. World Youth Day (WYD) will be held in Krakow from July 25-31, and will enjoy the presence of Pope Francis beginning on the 28th.
To learn more about this youth festival, ZENIT interviewed Monsignor Miguel Delgado Galindo, Under-Secretary of the Pontifical Council for the Laity, who described the WYD as being much more than an event with a beginning and an end. The WYD “is not a castle of fireworks, as those used in some popular celebrations, which end at night with a final farewell string of fireworks and leave no trace whatsoever.”
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ZENIT: The World Youth Day is an event that is repeated every three years, but is always new. What expectations exist for the celebration of this great event in Krakow?
Monsignor Delgado: Indeed, the WYD, which was instituted by Saint John Paul II in 1985, the year proclaimed by the UN “International Year of Youth,” is always an event full of novelty. No WYD is the same as previous ones; each one has something unique, which makes it special and unrepeatable. The years go by, but the WYD continues to awaken interest in the new generations of young people, because there are always those who are ready to take part in the WYD. And this is a reason for hope for the Church and for society.
The expectations are frankly good in all aspects. Work was intense over these three years, in preparation of Krakow’s WYD. Up to today, almost one million individuals of all the Continents have expressed their intention to take part in it. It is a record number in the WYD’s history. To this figure must be added all those young people who will go to Krakow unaware of the <event’s> arrival, and they are always many.
ZENIT: What are regarded as the great challenges?
Monsignor Delgado: Much work has been done on the organization of the events with the Pope, on the catecheses that will be imparted to young people by Bishops, and on the different issues that have to do with logistics during the days of the WYD: lodging, transport, food distribution, etc. However, the main challenge of the WYD is that it must be a genuine event of grace, so that the young people that attend it have in the Church, together with Pope Francis, an intimate and personal encounter with Jesus that transforms their lives, enabling them to set high goals for their Christian life: conversion, vocations (to the priesthood, to lay life, to consecrated life), etc.
ZENIT: The theme is “Blessed are the merciful, for they will obtain mercy.” We are in the Year of Mercy. Krakow is known in the world as the capital of Divine Mercy. How will the World Youth Day mark all this?
Monsignor Delgado: Krakow’s 2016 WYD is the WYD of the Jubilee of Mercy that the Church is living. The theme of mercy is very much in Pope Francis’ heart and in that of his Pontificate. The Pope will help young people to reflect further on mercy; to have it understood better that we Catholics believe in a close God, who loves us as the Father He is and who has a mother’s <heart>. To discover this is to transform a person’s life. It is worthwhile to reread the Message that Pope Francis sent to young people worldwide in preparation of this year’s WYD. Pope Francis talks about an encounter he had with Divine Mercy: one day, when he was 17, he entered Saint Joseph’s Basilica in the district of Flores, in Buenos Aires, where he lived with his family. He met a priest in the confessional who inspired a special confidence in him and young Jorge Mario approached him and opened his heart to him in the Sacrament of Penance. The Pontiff recalls that that encounter with God’s mercy changed his life. He had the certainty that the Lord was waiting for him.
ZENIT: Saint Faustina and Saint John Paul II are the Patrons of these Days. How are they an example for young people?
Monsignor Delgado: The Saints are our faithful friends in Heaven. They offer us their friendship and their intercession before God. Saint Faustina Kowalska and Saint John Paul II, who lived in Krakow, are apostles of Divine Mercy, of which the men of our time – as of all times of history — are in such great need. These Saints help us to understand what Pope Francis has said: that mercy is God’s first attribute: that mercy is God’s name.
In Saint Faustina’s Diary, written in the 30s of the last century, this Polish mystic recalls a great truth of faith: the merciful love of God for men. The worship of Divine Mercy consists, in fact, in confidence in the infinite love of God and in the practice of works of mercy.
Saint John Paul II, a great friend of young people, had great devotion to Divine Mercy. He beatified Sister Faustina in 1993 and canonized her in the year 2000. Following the revelations this Saint had, Pope Wojtyla instituted the feast of Divine Mercy, which is held on the first Sundayafter Easter.
Saint Faustina lived the drama of World War I and Saint John Paul II the tragedy of the Second World War. Both were aware of the presence of the evil ideologies that marked European history of the 20th century. However, at the end of his life, Saint John Paul II wrote that evil has its limits: divine and human goodness that is always stronger than any evil. In a word, evil finds its limit in Divine Mercy.
ZENIT: In what way is the WYD concretized in a message of hope for youth?
Monsignor Delgado: The WYD is in itself a sign of hope for the Church and for the world – of a hope that comes to us through faith and the joy of young people of all the Continents. The WYD teaches us that it is possible to believe in God and to be witnesses of His mercy, bringing faith to those who are estranged from Christ or who perhaps never knew Him; hope to those who are demoralized, love to those humanly and spiritually needy, and joy because we are very dear children of God.
ZENIT: How can the Church extend the fruits that these meetings leave in young people and in committed laymen?
Monsignor Delgado: By giving the WYD continuity in time, which is much more than an event with a beginning and an end. The WYD isn’t a castle of fireworks, as those used in some popular celebrations, which end at night with a final farewell string of fireworks and leave no trace whatsoever. Then the moment begins to accompany each one of those that took part in the WYD, to help them to concretize in their lives the fruit they received during those days, keeping present that the best apostle of a youth is another youth. This task concerns the Pastors of the Church, the Religious and the lay faithful.
"Pope Gives Thanks to God for Witness of Co-Initiator of Neocatechumenal Way" by Kathleen Naab
Pope Francis sent a message to Kiko Argüello to assure his affection and spiritual closeness upon the death of Carmen Hernández, who with Argüello, founded the Neocatechumenal Way.
Hernández died Tuesday at the age of 85 at her home in Madrid.
Her funeral Mass was held today in Madrid, celebrated by Archbishop Carlos Osoro Sierra of Madrid and concelebrated by several cardinals and bishops.
Here is the Pope’s message:
To Mr. Francisco (Kiko) Argüello
Neocatechumenal Way
Madrid
I have received with emotion the news of the death of Ms. Carmen Hernández, after a long life marked by her love of Jesus and by a great missionary enthusiasm. In this hour of painful separation, I am spiritually close with my affection to all the family and to the whole Neocatechumenal Way, of which she was a co-initiator, as well as with all those who have appreciated her apostolic zeal, made concrete above all, in showing an itinerary of baptismal rediscovery and of permanent education in the faith. I give thanks to the Lord for the witness of this woman, animated by a sincere love for the Church, who has spent her life in the announcement of the Good News in every place, as well as those far away, never forgetting the most marginalized people.
I entrust her soul to the Divine Goodness so that she may be welcomed in the joy of the eternal Passover and encourage those who have known her and those who are part of the Neocatechumenal Way to keep her evangelizing eagerness alive, in an active communion with the bishops and priests, while exercising patience and mercy with all.
With this desire, I invoke the maternal intercession of the Virgin Mary and impart my Apostolic Blessing to those present at the funeral rite.
Franciscus PP.
Given at the Vatican, July 20, 2016
"INTERVIEW: Sport Must Put Human Person at Center" by Rocío Lancho García
Especially since the 20th century, the Church has held that sports activities, whether professional or recreational, constitute a unique opportunity to strengthen not only the body but also the spirit. And this is the work of the “Church and Sport” Section of the Pontifical Council for the Laity, a department created by the express wish of Saint John Paul II in 2004. The work carried out is twofold. On one hand, the international representation of the Church in the world of sport and, on the other, the promotion and organization of projects that promote faith and values in sport and in society through sports, explained Santiago Perez de Camino, responsible for this section. ZENIT interviewed him to learn more about his work and mission.
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ZENIT: What motivated the organization of this congress?
Perez de Camino: It’s the first world congress organized in the Vatican on the topic of sport, although four international study seminars have already been organized by the “Church and Sport” Section of the Pontifical Council for the Laity. This congress is organized by the Pontifical Council for Culture, in collaboration with the Pontifical Council for the Laity, because sport is a unique instrument of evangelization, which brings together individuals of different races, ideologies and beliefs. Undoubtedly, it was one of the reasons behind Saint John Paul II’s request for the creation of the section. It is a way of improving society through a very useful means and it reaches the whole world, not just young people.
This is a contribution the Holy See can make to bring about a more just, more human society, because the values sport has can help to create a better society.
ZENIT: To whom is the congress addressed?
Perez de Camino: There will be, approximately, 150 delegates, including personalities of the world of sport, international federations, NGO’s, Catholic institutions and those of other Christian confessions and of other religions. Among others who will attend are the President of the International Olympic Committee and the United Nations’ Secretary General, which shows the importance that different institutions give to sport as instrument of formation in values. Although organized by the Holy See and with a marked supernatural character, it is not a religious congress. We could say that it is multi-cultural, because it seeks to set the basis to create instruments and methods to improve society and not neglect the peripheries. In other words, to see in what way people can be helped through sport to live better.
ZENIT: Moreover, Pope Francis very much appreciates the values of sport …
Perez de Camino: If we look back over these three and a half years of pontificate, he has met with more individuals of the world of sport than any other social or cultural class. He has met, not only with representatives of international sports organizations and athletes, but also with Catholic organizations dedicated to education in values through sport. In this regard, the Pope is a great example and shows the importance that he gives to well-understood sport, when it is practiced as a means and not as an end in itself. Because, as he alerted, there are risks when sport is regarded as an end and not as a means of human and spiritual perfection.
ZENIT: How can the positive values of sport be communicated?
Perez de Camino: The key, and we have been working on this, is that sport must put the human person at the center; it is the reason we have organized these seminars. For instance, last year the principal theme was the trainer as formator and educator, because we realized that sport is increasingly professionalized, it demands more dedication and financial investment, but investment has not been made in the human and ethical formation of the athletes. The Pope is very concerned that sport be an instrument of formation for the new generations. Therefore, it is important that all elements that take part in sport see the importance of this factor: to form athletes while they are still young not to think that they must be the best or to win at all costs. When sport is instrumentalized for this sole objective, it becomes something negative for a person.
ZENIT: What fruits have these international seminars borne?
Perez de Camino: Over the 12 years of the existence of the “Church and Sport” Section these four seminars have borne great fruit, especially in some English-speaking countries, where formation in values in sport is more developed. I had the opportunity to go to the United States for work in the spring of this year and I saw that the people knew the minutes of the seminars we organized. With this material, those who were unable to attend can reflect and put into practice what was discussed in the seminars. I was surprised to see that, not only did they know the minutes but many things have been put into practice.
An example is the case of an institute with no sports chaplain, which asked the parish priest to attend the training of the American soccer team. The trainer told the players that the priest was available for them. At the end of the season, the priest had become one more <player> and is now part of the team, with a sincere relation of friendship between the now chaplain and the players. In this example we can see the root of the new ideas being born in different countries. Another example might be the “John Paul II Sports Association,” which exists in India — an Association stemming from the “Church and Sport” Section of the Pontifical Council for the Laity and of the seminars that were organized.
ZENIT: And what advantage is taken from great sports events, such as the Olympics or the Europe Cup, to communicate these positive values of sport?
Perez de Camino: It is important to foster awareness of this in the institutions that organize this type of events. We have a close relation with the International Olympic Committee. In fact, one of the members of the dicastery is a member of the International Olympic Committee. And this contact has enabled us to open, little by little, a field of evangelization and formation. For instance, for the Rio Olympic Games we have worked closely with the diocese so that the chaplains of the Olympic national teams have easy and complete access to the events, and thus can attend to the athletes.
"Charity Sends 3,500 Youth From Difficult Situations to WYD16" by Maria Lozano
Some 3,500 young people from 29 different countries will be able to attend World Youth Day in Krakow, Poland July 25-31, 2016, thanks to the support of international Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN).
Many of the youth hail from countries close to Poland: “The young people of Ukraine, Bosnia, Belarus, Bulgaria, Russia and Macedonia are delighted at this opportunity to come together personally with Pope Francis in Poland. Because of the costs involved, most of them have never had the opportunity to participate. For this reason we wanted this year in particular to enable as many young people as possible to personally experience this closeness with the Pope and with other young people from all over the world.” Such is the assessment of Magda Kaczmarek, one of ACN’s project coordinators for Eastern Europe.
Meeting with the Pope and living out the experience of the Universal Church can likewise be a life-changing experience for young people from many of the tiny Catholic communities of Central Asia, such as Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan, which is believed to have only few more than 100 active Catholics.
The organization has also made it possible for youth from the Middle East to attend World Youth Day 2016. They will represent Churches that are coping with great suffering in countries like Iraq, Syria, Jordan and Palestine. Their presence will personify both the hope of the early centuries of Christianity and the courageous faith of the present-day descendants of the early Christians. ACN is also sending youth from Sudan and Bangladesh to Krakow, to represents two more countries where Christians daily face discrimination and violent attacks.
Relying on the generosity of its donors, ACN will be able to make a huge difference in the lives of so many young people. Their experience of World Youth Day, however, does not just depend on financial support—ACN is also calling on its donors around the world for fervent prayer to make the event a success and to make it possible for youth from countries and regions embroiled in violent conflict to be able to make the journey to Krakow and back home again in safety.
In all, ACN is funding 40 different World Youth Day 2016-related projects, the bulk of them to send youth to Poland Total funding involved tops $600,000, which also makes possible events in particular countries that will take place simultaneously with World Youth Day, such as a national event in Cuba and other Latin American nations. Close to one million young people are expected to attend World Youth Day 2016. For more information on ACN’s involvement in World Youth Day 2016, please click here.
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Aid to the Church in Need is an international Catholic charity under the guidance of the Holy See, providing assistance to the suffering and persecuted Church in more than 140 countries. www.churchinneed.org (USA); www.acnuk.org (UK); www.aidtochurch.org (AUS); www.acnireland.org (IRL); www.acn-aed-ca.org (CAN)www.acnmalta.org (Malta)
"World Youth Day Youth Festival Aims to Unite With Entertainment, Cultural Development and Spiritual Formation" by ZENIT Staff
The Youth Festival for World Youth Day Krakow 2016 aims to unite youth from around the world through entertainment, cultural development and spiritual formation. It will last four days, from July 26 to 29, consisting of various events spread throughout the city.
The Youth Festival is a program of 250 varying events, including art expositions, concerts, sporting events, competitions of different types, and more.
Copa Catolica, the Youth Festival’s largest event, is a soccer tournament in which teams from all over Europe, North America, Central America, South America and Africa will be playing against each other in friendly matches. It will be held from July 26 to 27 at the Com-Com Zone Development Center. On the second day of the Youth Festival, there will be street ball and breakdancing competitions, finishing the day off with the Copa Catolica finals at 20:00 (CEST).
In order to help the youth discover their calling, and with spiritual formation in general, a Vocational Center, “Quo Vadis?”, will be located at Kraków Stadium during the entirety of the Youth Festival. There will be a series of presentations hosted there, such as, “How to live life fully even after a rough beginning,” “Daring to spiritually explore and freely choose,” and “Youth taking action to build a just and peaceful world,” featuring living testimonials in various languages.
The Youth Festival has also prepared a series of lectures, an initiative calledCafé FM, which will be held at the universities throughout Kraków from July 26 to 27. Lectures will address a range of topics, such as, meditation, social issues, testing one’s faith, etc.
There will also be smaller events – concerts, art expositions featuring local artists and artists from around the globe, etc. – held in various locations. For example, artist Eugeniusz Mucha, will exhibit his post-war artwork portraying strong religious values; French artist Julian Faux’s heart-shaped mosaic will be on display, a compilation of pilgrim handprints he collected. Last, the Global Catholic Movement will host a Night of Ecology in Krowoderski Park.
The Youth Festival events will be held all throughout the city, but its primary locations are: Błonie Park, Kraków Stadium, the Com Com Zone Development Center and Kraków’s main Universities – AGH, Jagiellonian University and Academia Ignatianum.
"FEATURE: Mercy in Art: Jubilee Itinerary Among Masterpieces of Great Italian Artists" by Maria Grazia Colombo
From May 31 to November 27, 2016, Rome’s Capitoline Museums are housing an exhibition titled “Mercy in Art: Jubilee Itinerary among the Masterpieces of Great Italian Artists,” organized by the European Center for Tourism and Culture, on the occasion of the Jubilee proclaimed by the Holy Father, with the sponsorship of the Ministry of Goods and of Cultural Activities and Tourism.
The subject of mercy, which in fact is at the heart of Christian thought, has been the object of many works of art, from paintings to sculptures, from miniatures to incisions, which, on one hand, represent Our Lady of Mercy, namely the Virgin who gathers the Christian people under her mantle, as a mother that protects, defends and helps her children and, on the other, the Works of Corporal Mercy, which Christ enunciated (Saint Matthew’s Gospel 25:35-36) and which a good Christian must carry out.
Therefore, the exhibit displays several artistic testimonies dedicated to the subject of Mercy, subdividing the display in two sections:
Our Lady of Mercy
The name Mater Misericordiae is very ancient; it goes back, probably, to the 5th and 6th centuries, when she was so addressed in a sermon of writer Giacomo di Sarug. The iconography — in which the Virgin appears standing with a large mantle, under which she gathers the People of God — originated in Tuscany and in Lazio in the High Middle Ages and spread widely between the 14th and 15th centuries. The most famous work on this subject is the Polyptych of Mercy of Piero della Francesca, which is in the Borgo San Sepolcro, but many have been the artists that have portrayed her, from Simone Martini to Lippo Memmi, from Bartolomeo Caporali to Pietro Perugino. Also today, in a recent homily, Pope Francis invited to reflection on a medieval icon of the Virgin, Our Lady of Mercy, and to prayer “in these times of spiritual turbulence, hatred and persecution,” in which she defends and helps us.
In this section, a small nucleus of paintings testifies to the great diffusion the subject had, and pointed out among them is a painting of Nioccolo Alunno, from the Pinacoteca Comunale of Assisi, a table from the end of the 15th century of the Diocesan Museum of Orte, a canvass of Jacopo Zanguidi said Il Bertoja of the National Gallery of Parma.
The Seven Works of Corporal Mercy
The Works of Mercy are described for the first time by Christ Himself in Saint Matthew’s Gospel; they were soon codified in a list. Developed in the Christian conscience, in fact, was the sense of the importance of the practical translation of the love of God, which is externalized in love for the other. However, it was probably only in the 12th century that the list of the seven works of mercy was established, the six mentioned by Saint Matthew (clothe the naked, feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, lodge pilgrims, visit the sick, visit the imprisoned) and bury the dead.
The most famous and exemplifying work on the subject of mercy is the painting that Caravaggio created for the Pio Monte della Misericordia at Naples in 1606-1607, known as the Seven Works of Mercy. In reality, the exact title of the work, as shown by documents, is Our Lady of Mercy. Thus, in one of his stroke of genius, Caravaggio joins the iconography of Our Lady of Mercy with that of the Seven Works of Mercy, in a symbolic dialogue between the Virgin and the merciful people.
Presented here are paintings and sculptures that illustrate the different works of mercy, among which is pointed out a bas-relief of Pietro Bernini of the National Museum of San Martino, Guido Reni’s Charity and a painting of Pierre Subleyras of the Museum of Rome.
Given the delicacy and the importance of the works, the two great masterpieces of Piero della Francesca and of Caravaggio are documented through didactical panels.
The curators of the Exhibition are Maria Grazia Bernardini and Mario Lolli Ghetti, with the Scientific Committee constituted by Claudio Parisi Presicce, Daniela Porro, Claudia Cieri Via, Anna Maria Guiducci, Rita Silvestrelli, Marco Bussagli and presided over by Archbishop Jean-Louis Brugues, Librarian and Archivist of the Holy Roman Church.
"Pope Also Accompanying Those Going to WYD ‘Virtually’" by ZENIT Staff
A program for those who cannot attend World Youth Day next week invites young people to join the Pope virtually.
Francis’ avatar is at the Virtual Campus Misericordiae at https://we4charity.com/en/vcm
“It is a wonderful feeling to see the Pope in the Virtual Fields of Mercy shortly before the moment when we will have him stay in Brzegi near Wieliczka. I believe Pope Francis wants to be also among those who cannot come to Cracow and decided to join ‘Misericordes’ project. Among pilgrims from all continents,” said Father Bogdan Kordula, the director of Cracow Caritas, responsible for the preparation of the place for the World Youth Day central liturgy.
To appear at the Virtual Campus Misericordiae you only need to join the ‘Misericordes’ campaign on We4Charity.com platform – you can choose then one of the 32 avatars representing pilgrims. The campaign is organized by Caritas of Cracow Archdiocese.
The ‘Misericordes’ project will last until 15 August and its effects are to be the equipment of the ‘Campus Misericordiae’ house in Brzegi and the Caritas Centre ‘Bread of Mercy’ being built there and also the purchase of so called mobile clinics which will serve people in difficult places of the world. They will appear, among others, in camps for refugees and places of natural disasters. It has been already known today that mobile clinics, being the sign of mercy of participants in the We4Charity.com campaign, will land in Lebanon, Syria and Jordan.
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