Pope’s Morning Homily: Don’t Be Too Rigid... from ZENIT of Roswell, Georgia, United States for Monday, 24 October 2016

Pope’s Morning Homily: Don’t Be Too Rigid... from ZENIT of Roswell, Georgia, United States for Monday, 24 October 2016
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Pope’s Morning Homily: Don’t Be Too Rigid by Deborah Castellano Lubov

Don’t be too rigid.
According to Vatican Radio, Pope Francis warned against this natural tendency, and reminded how God wishes for us to be good and merciful, during his homily today during his daily morning Mass at his residence Casa Santa Marta.
The Holy Father drew inspiration from today’s Gospel reading according to St. Matthew, which tells of when Jesus, who was teaching in the synagogue, healed a crippled woman and in doing so, ignited the anger of the righteous.
“It is not easy to keep to the path indicated by God’s Law,” Francis noted.
Jesus’ action, the Jesuit Pontiff pointed out, provoked the fury of the leader of the synagogue who was “indignant that he had cured the woman on the Sabbath” because Jesus violated God’s Law by doing so on the Sabbath day which is set aside for rest and worship. Francis also recalled how Jesus called the synagogue leaders ‘hypocrites,’ and how Jesus often referred to those who followed the Law too rigidly by this name.
To Make Us God’s Children
“The Law,” the Pope said, “was not drawn up to enslave us but to set us free, to make us God’s children.”
“Behind an attitude of rigidity, there is always something else in the life of a person,” the Holy Father said. “Rigidity is not a gift of God. Meekness is; goodness is; benevolence is; forgiveness is. But rigidity isn’t!”
Often, Francis added, rigidity conceals the leading of a double life, or it can have to do with something pathological.
Francis also commented on how those who are both rigid and sincere often are afflicted with difficulties and suffering, which is because they lack the freedom of God’s children.
“They do not know how to walk in the path indicated by God’s Law,” the Pope said, adding, “They appear good because they follow the Law; but they are concealing something else: either they are hypocritical or they are sick. And they suffer!”
Prodigal Son
Recalling the parable of the Prodigal Son in which the eldest son, who always behaved well, was indignant with his father because he rejoiced when the youngest son, after having led a life of debauchery, returns home repentant.
This attitude, the Pope explained, shows what is behind a certain type of goodness: “the pride of believing in one’s righteousness.”
“The elder son,” the Pontiff said, “was rigid and conducted his life following the Law, but saw his father only as a master. The other put rules aside, returned to his father in a time of darkness, and asked for forgiveness.”
Difficult Balance
“It is not easy to walk within the Law of the Lord without falling into rigidity,” he underscored.
Pope Francis concluded, praying for all those who think that by becoming rigid they are following the path of the Lord.
“May the Lord make them feel that He is our Father and that He loves mercy, tenderness, goodness, meekness, humility. And may He teach us all to walk in the path of the Lord with these attitudes.”
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INTERVIEW: Bishop of Stockholm: “In Sweden, the Catholic Community Is Growing Every Year” by Federico Cenci

In Sweden, where Pope Francis will go on Oct. 31, on the occasion of the commemoration for the 500th anniversary of the Lutheran Reformation, the Catholic minority suffered harsh oppression until a few decades ago. The Protestant split divided Sweden from Rome and the King Gustav Vasa took drastic measures against Catholics. Professing Catholicism, in some historical periods, led to losing civil rights.
In recent years, however, before a progressive secularization of Swedish society and obtaining full citizenship for all confessions, the faithful of the Roman Catholic Church are increasing exponentially. This is confirmed by Catholic bishop of Stockholm Anders Arborelius, the first bishop of Swedish ethnicity, since the Lutheran Reformation. Also he is one of the many converted Catholics in Sweden. In the following interview with ZENIT, he speaks of the Pope’s visit and the situation of the Catholic community in his country, which grows despite prejudices which remain.
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Your Excellency, Bishop Arborelius, there are great expectations in Sweden for the visit of Pope Francis?
Many people in Sweden, whether they are Catholic or not, are looking forward to this visit. Of course, it is something very important for the Catholics living here, many of whom come from different parts of the world. The Pope is the symbol for our unity in faith, hope and charity. But many other people who are not Catholic look to him as a moral and spiritual authority who works for peace and solidarity on the world level.
In the past, Catholics in Sweden have been discriminated against. This hostility is completely over?
During the centuries of persecution, the situation for Catholics was very difficult. Nowadays, we have equal rights. There is much less hostility now, but it must be noted that there are still some anti-Catholic prejudices among certain people.
What’s the situation of the Swedish Catholic Church today? Is it growing?
Due to immigration, the Catholic Church is growing with a few thousand members every year. Sweden has received many refugees, and many of those coming from Eritrea and Syria are Catholic. There is also a constant immigration from Poland, etc. Still, there are many Catholics who are not registered as such, so it is impossible to know the exact number of the faithful. Some 115,000 are registered in our parishes.
In your community, there are also many converts. In your opinion, what reasons drive many Swedish people to convert from the Church of Sweden to Catholicism?
There are always a few converts from the Church of Sweden every year, and some of them are ministers, male or female. Lately, though, a good number of converts come from the Free Churches. The converts have different reasons for converting. Some are attracted by Catholic spirituality, by the faithfulness to the original tradition, by the social doctrine, by the universal character of the Church. There are only one hundred, more or less, conversions every year.
What’s the “kyrkoavgift”? It’s an obligatory tax for Swedish Catholics?
Up to the year 2000, Catholics paid the so-called Dissenter Tax to the Church of Sweden as did all those who were not members of the Church of Sweden. In the year 2000, equal rights and possibilities were offered to all religious bodies in Sweden. That implied the possibility for the members of the Catholic Church to pay the fee (“kyrkoavgift”) to their own Church, thus 1% of their income through the official tax system. Catholics can apply for dispensation from this fee, if they write an application to the Bishop without giving any reasons. It was meant for those in need, but sometimes we have the feeling that the wealthy are more eager to ask for dispensation, than those in need.
In his documentary “The Swedish Theory of Love”, the Italian-Swedish filmmaker Erik Gandini describes a Swedish society as very individualistic. Do you know this movie? Also the secularization makes Sweden to be this way?
I have read about this movie and it was discussed in the media. It is true that individualism is very evident in Sweden. At the same time, there is a deep longing for community and deeper human relationships. Unfortunately, many people do not seem to have the psychological stability for life-long and faithful relationships. Many marriages break down, many old people feel abandoned and lonely, On the other hand, there is also a strong desire for justice and solidarity with those in need, at home or on the worldwide level.
Originally, it was not planned that the Pope would celebrate a Mass during his visit in Sweden. But now we know he will. Is there much joy for this liturgical event?
It is true that the main reason for the visit of the Holy Father was the participation in the commemoration of the Reformation. But quite soon, the Pope told us that he wanted to celebrate Mass with the faithful. This fact, of course, was received with gratitude and joy. As a small minority in a post-Protestant and secularized country, for us Catholics, this Papal Mass is a prophetic sign and a symbol of the unity of all the faithful who have their origin in different parts of the world.
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Pope Francis Recalls Saint John Paul II on Polish Pope’s Feast Day by ZENIT Staff

“Exactly 38 years ago, at about this time, in this square, there resounded these words to men and women throughout the world: ‘Do not be afraid. Open wide the doors for Christ.’”
During his Jubilee Audience this Saturday, as Pope Francis gave a special greeting to Polish pilgrims present on the Polish Pope’s feast day, he recalled these famous words said by his predecessor Saint Pope John Paul II. JPII made this unforgettable declaration on Oct. 22, 1978, during his first Mass as Pope, reported Vatican Radio.
Pope Benedict XVI beatified John Paul II in 2011 and Pope Francis canonized him three years later, on the feast of Divine Mercy.
Addressing the Poles present, many of whom are also in Rome on a national pilgrimage to commemorate the 1050th anniversary of the Baptism of Poland, Pope Francis reflected on how Poland’s rich history and cultural inheritance filled John Paul II with courage, hope, and strength to “open wide the doors of Christ.”
“This invitation,” the Holy Father stressed, “was transformed by an unceasing proclamation of the Gospel of mercy for the world and for mankind, of which this Jubilee Year is a continuation”
The feast of St John Paul II, Francis also underscored, is especially relevant for young people, the suffering, and newlyweds.
He prayed that St. John Paul II’s consistent witness of faith can be a lesson for young people “in confronting the challenges of life,” be an invitation for the sick to “embrace with hope the cross of illness,” and for newly married couples to seek his intercession, so their new families may never be lacking in love.
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ZENIT’s Web page:
Full Text: https://zenit.org/articles/jubilee-audience-on-mercy-dialogue/
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FORUM: Bishop Robert Barron: ‘St. John Paul II: The Heroic Pope’ by Bishop Robert Barron

As the Church recalls St. John Paul II, whose feast day fell Saturday, Oct. 22, Bishop Robert Barron has written the following reflection on the Polish-born Pontiff….
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As all of his biographers remind us, Karol Wojtyla came of age at one of the darkest moments of the twentieth century. When he was 19 years old and just commencing his university career, the Nazis rolled through his native Poland and instigated a reign of terror over the country. Almost immediately, the conquerors decapitated Polish society, killing the intelligentsia outright or sending them to concentration camps. All distinctive forms of Polish culture were cruelly suppressed, and the church was actively persecuted. Young Wojtyla displayed heroic courage by joining the underground seminary run by the Cardinal of Krakow and by forming a small company of players who kept Polish literature and drama alive. Many of his colleagues in both of these endeavors were killed or arrested in the course of those terrible years of occupation. Sadly, the Nazi tyranny was replaced immediately by the Communist tyranny, and Fr. Wojtyla was compelled to manifest his courage again. In the face of harassment, unfair criticism, the threat of severe punishment, etc., he did his priestly work, forming young people in the great Catholic spiritual and theological tradition.
Even as a bishop, Wojtyla was subject to practically constant surveillance (every phone tapped; every room bugged; his every movement tracked), and he was continually, in small ways and large, obstructed by Communist officialdom. And yet he soldiered on. Of course, as Pope, he ventured into the belly of the beast, standing athwart the Communist establishment and speaking for God, freedom, and human rights. In doing so, he proved himself one of the most courageous figures of the twentieth century.
That Karol Wojtyla was a man who exhibited the virtue of justice to a heroic degree is impossible to contest. Throughout his papal years, John Paul II was the single most eloquent and persistent voice for human rights on the world stage. In the face of a postmodern relativism and indifferentism, John Paul took the best of the Enlightenment political tradition and wedded it to classical Christian anthropology. The result was a sturdy defense of the rights to life, liberty, education, free speech, and above all, the free exercise of religion. More persuasively than any other political figure, east or west, John Paul advocated for justice.
Next, it’s worth noting that George Weigel titled his magisterial biography of John Paul II, Witness to Hope, by identifying Karol Wojtyla with a theological virtue. In October of 1978, the newly elected Pope John Paul II gave his inaugural speech to a packed St. Peter’s Square. This man, who had witnessed at first hand the very worst of the twentieth century, who had intimate experience of how twisted and wicked human beings can be, spoke over and over again this exhortation: “Be not afraid.” There was, of course, absolutely no political or cultural warrant for that exhortation, no purely natural justification for it. It could come only from a man whose heart was filled with the supernatural sense that the Holy Spirit is the Lord of history.
Finally, was Karol Wojtyla in possession of love, the greatest of the theological virtues? The best evidence I can bring forward is the still breathtaking encounter that took place in a grimy Roman jail cell in December of 1983. John Paul II sat down with Mehmet Ali Agca, the man who had, only a year and a half before, fired several bullets into the Pope. John Paul spoke to him, embraced him, listened to him, and finally forgave him. Love is not a feeling or a sentiment. It is, Thomas Aquinas reminds us, an act of the will, more precisely, willing the good of the other. This is why the love of one’s enemies—those who are not disposed to wish us well—is the great test of love. Did John Paul II express love in a heroic way? He forgave the man who tried to kill him; no further argument need be made.
Saints exist, not for themselves, but for the Church. They are models and intercessors for the rest of us here below. We can only give thanks to God who has provided the world with this heavenly friend. Saint John Paul II, pray for us!
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Bishop Robert Barron is an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and the founder of Word on Fire Catholic Ministries.
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Summary of Jubilee Audience: On Mercy & Dialogue by ZENIT Staff

Saturday morning, Pope Francis held one of his “Jubilee Audiences” — a general audience that during this Year of Mercy generally is held one Saturday a month.
Here is the English-language summary of his address:
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Speaker: Dear Brothers and Sisters: Throughout this Jubilee Year, we have reflected on God’s mercy and our own responsibility, as followers of Jesus, to be “merciful like the Father”. In this light, we now turn to the dialogue of Jesus and the Samaritan woman (cf. Jn 4:6-15). Through dialogue, in fact, we come to know and respect others; we come to see each individual as a gift of God. How much we need to encourage dialogue in our families, our schools and our workplaces! For only through dialogue can we truly understand others and their needs, and work together for the good of society and the care of our common home. Dialogue between the religions can make a real contribution to the building of a world of peace and solidarity. God has placed a seed of goodness in each of us and he asks us to use it in the service of his creation. Through dialogue, mutual acceptance and fraternal cooperation, may we make God’s merciful love ever more evident in our world.
Speaker: I greet the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors taking part in today’s Audience, particularly those from England, Scotland, Indonesia, Malaysia and the United States of America. With prayerful good wishes that the Jubilee of Mercy will be a moment of grace and spiritual renewal for you and your families, I invoke upon all of you joy and peace in our Lord Jesus Christ.[Original text: English]
[Vatican-provided text]
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Pope Francis’ Address to Members of Jesuits 36th General Congregation by ZENIT Staff

Here is a Vatican translation of the address Pope Francis gave to the members of the 36th General Congregation of the Society of Jesus gathered in Rome:
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Dear Brothers and Friends in the Lord,
While praying over what I would like to say, I remembered with particular affection the words of Paul VI to us as we came to the end of the 32nd General Congregation: “This is the way, this is the way, Brothers and Sons. Forward, in nomine Domini. Let us walk together, free, obedient, united to each other in the love of Christ, for the greater glory of God.”1
Also, St. John Paul II and Benedict XVI have encouraged us to “lead a life worthy of the vocation to which we have been called”2[Eph 4:1] “and following the path of mission” in full fidelity to your original charism in the ecclesial and social context that characterises this beginning of the millennium. As my predecessors have often told, the Church needs you, counts on you and continues to turn to you with confidence, particularly to reach the geographical and spiritual places where others do not reach, or find it difficult to reach.”3 Walking together – free and obedient – going to the peripheries where others do not reach, “under Jesus’ gaze and looking to the horizon which is the ever greater glory of God, who ceaselessly surprises us.”4 The Jesuit is called as Ignatius says “our vocation is to travel through the world and to live in any part of it where there is hope of greater service to God and of help of souls” [Con, 304]. That is, as Nadal used to say “for the Society the whole world is our home.”5
Ignatius wrote to Borgia regarding a criticism of the Jesuits who were called “angels” (Oviedo and Onfroy). Some critics used to say that the Society was not well instituted, that it had to be instituted more in spirit. “The Spirit which is guiding these critics” – Ignatius used to say – “does not know the state of things of the Society which are in the making, other than what is necessary (and substantial).”6 I very much appreciate Ignatius’s way of seeing things which are coming into being, removing oneself from the constraints of the concrete. It takes the Society from all that paralyses it, freeing it from frivolities.
What is “necessary and substantial” is the Formula of the Institute, which we should keep before our eyes every day, keeping our eyes on God our Lord. “The nature of this Institute which is his pathway to God.” This is how it was for the first companions and they foresaw that this is how it would be “for those who would follow us in this pathway.” So both poverty and obedience or the fact of not being obliged to sing the office in choir, are neither demands nor privileges, but aids to mobility and thus being available in the Society: “to run in the path of Christ our Lord” [Con 582]. In virtue of the vow of obedience to the Pope we have a “surer direction from the Holy Spirit” [Formula of the Institute 3]. In the Formula, we have this Ignatian intuition. Its centrality is what makes the Constitutions stress that we always keep in mind “places, times and persons” so that all rules are aids –tantum quantum – for concrete things.
For Ignatius, being on the road is not only coming and going, but it translates into something qualitative: It is drawing profit, and progress, is going forward, to do something for others. This is how the two Formulas of the Institute, approved by Paul III [1540] and Julius III [1550] express it, when they focus the work of the Society on the faith – and its defence and propagation – and on the life and teaching of persons. So Ignatius and the first companions used the expression “to draw greater fruit” (aprovechamiento) [ad profectum,7 cf. Phil. 1:12 and 25] which is the practical criterion of discernment proper to our spirituality.
Drawing profit is not individualistic, but it is for the common good: “The end of this Society is to devote itself with Gods grace not only to the salvation and perfection of the members own souls, but also with that same grace to labour strenuously in giving aid toward the salvation and perfection of the souls of their neighbours” [General Examen, I, 2]. If at all the balance of Ignatius’ heart was inclined towards something, that was towards helping our neighbours, so much so that he used to get angry if somebody was to tell him that the reason that someone remained in the Society was “in order to save his own soul. Ignatius did not want men, who although being good, were not zealous for the service of their neighbour” (Aicardo I punto 10 p. 41).
We are to draw profit from everything. The Formula of Ignatius expresses a tension: “not only… but also…” and this conceptual framework combining tensions – the salvation and perfection of one’s own soul, and the salvation and perfection of one’s neighbour’s – from the higher realm of Grace – is proper to the Society of Jesus. The harmonization of this and of all the other tensions (contemplation and action, faith and justice, charism and institution, community and mission…) is not expressed in abstract formulations but is achieved in the course of time through what Faber called “our way of proceeding”8. Journeying and progressing in the following of the Lord, the Society moves towards harmonizing the tensions brought about by the diversity of the men whom it brings together and of the missions it receives.
Drawing profit is not elitist. In the Formula, Ignatius proceeds to describe the means for seeking the greater and more universal good which are truly sacerdotal. However, we observe that the works of mercy are taken for granted. The Formula says “without these being an obstacle” to mercy!!! Works of mercy – caring for the sick in hospitals, begging for alms, sharing, teaching catechism to children, the patient suffering of insults… are the daily bread of Ignatius and his first companions. They took care that none of these became obstacles!
Drawing profit in the final analysis is “that which they sought the most.” This is the magis, this more, which moves Ignatius to start accompanying people and helping them reflect on the various experiences of their lives with regard to faith, justice, mercy and charity. The magis is the fire, the fervour in action, awakening those who have become dormant. Our saints have always incarnated this fervour. It used to be said of St. Alberto Hurtado that he was a thorn in the flesh of the dormant Church. This militates against that temptation which Paul VI called spiritus vertiginis and de Lubac called “spiritual worldliness.” This temptation is not primarily moral, but spiritual, and distracts us from the essential: that we be fruitful persons, to let our footsteps leave marks in history, especially in the lives of the very least in our society. “The Society is zealous”9 as Nadal used to say. To revive the zeal for mission for the greater good of persons in their life and doctrine, I would like to make more concrete these reflections in three points: given that the Society’s way of proceeding for the greater good is accomplished through joy, the cross and through the Church our Mother. We need to look at how we move forward by overcoming the impediments which the enemy of our human nature tries to put in our way when we are in the service of God and seeking the greater good.
1.- To ask insistently for consolation
We can always take a step forward asking insistently for consolation. In the two Apostolic Exhortations and in Laudato Si, I consistently underlined the importance of joy. In the Spiritual Exercises, Ignatius invites us to contemplate “the office of consolation,” which is the work of the Risen Christ Himself [Sp. Ex. 224]. This is the true work of the Society: to console the faithful people of God and to help them through discernment so that the enemy of human nature does not rob us of our joy: the joy of evangelising, the joy of the family, the joy of the Church, the joy of creation…. Let the enemy of our human nature not rob us of our joy, neither by despair before the magnitude of the evils of the world, and the misunderstandings between those who want to do good, nor let him replace it with foolish joys that are always at hand in all human enterprises.
This “service of joy and spiritual consolation” roots us in prayer. This consists in animating ourselves and animating others “to ask insistently for God’s consolation.” Ignatius formulated this in a negative way in the sixth rule of the first week when he said “It is very profitable to make rigorous changes in ourselves against desolation” by insisting more on prayer [Sp. Ex. 319] It is beneficial because one is “worth little in time of desolation.” [Sp. Ex. 324] To practice and teach this prayer of petition and supplication for consolation is the principal service we render to joy. If somebody does not consider himself worthy (something which is very common in practice), he should at least remain persistent in prayer for consolation for love of the message, because joy is constitutive of the Gospel message; he should therefore also ask for it for love of others, for his family and for the world. One cannot give a good piece of news with a sad face. Joy is not only decorative, it is also a clear indicator of grace, it shows that love is active, working and present. For this reason, in an age of instant gratification and unabated consumption, the search for joy should not be confused with the search for “a spiritual effect,” when our existential identity is more concerned with long lasting effects: Ignatius opens the eyes and wakes us up to the discernment of Spirits to discover the difference between long- lasting joys and transient joys. (Autobiography 8) Time is the key to recognising the action of the Spirit.
In the Exercises, “progress” in the spiritual life is brought about in consolation. It is to go from “good to better,” it is also “every increase in hope, faith and charity and every interior joy.” (Sp. Ex. 316) This service to joy was what led the first companions to decide not to disperse, but to institute the Society and celebrate spontaneously their companionship, which was characterised by joy and which made them pray together, go on missions together and then to reunite again, in imitation of the life of the Lord and his apostles. This joy of the explicit announcing of the Gospel – through preaching, faith and the practice of justice and mercy – is that which leads the Society to go to the peripheries. The Jesuit is a servant of the joy of the Gospel, both when he is working as an artisan, conversing and giving the spiritual exercises to a single person, helping him or her to encounter “this interior forum whence comes the power of the Spirit, which guide, free and renew him” 10 and when he is working with structures, organising works of formation, of mercy, or of reflection which are institutional expansions of those turning points where the individual will is broken down and the Spirit enters to act. As M. de Certeau rightly said: The Spiritual Exercises are the apostolic method par excellence” which made possible the “a return to the heart, the beginning of docility to the Spirit which awakens and propels the exercitant to personal fidelity to God”11.
2.- Letting ourselves be moved by our Lord placed on the cross
We can always take a step forward in letting ourselves be moved by the Lord crucified, by him in person, by him present in so many of our brothers and sisters who are suffering – the great majority of humankind! Father Arrupe used to say that wherever there is pain, the Society is there.
The Jubilee of Mercy is an appropriate time to reflect about the works of mercy. I have deliberately used the plural, because mercy is not an abstract word, but a lifestyle that places concrete gestures before the word. These gestures touch the flesh of the neighbour and become institutionalised in works of mercy. For those who do the Exercises this grace by which Jesus commands us to resemble the Father (cf. Lk 6:36), begins with this colloquy of mercy which is the expansion of the colloquy with the Lord placed on the cross for my sins. The entire second exercise is a colloquy full of sentiments of shame, confusion, pain and grateful tears, seeing who I am – making myself less – and who God is – making Him more – “who has given me life till now” – who Jesus is, hanging on the cross for me (Exx. 61 and preceding). The way Ignatius lives and formulates his experience of mercy is of great personal and apostolic benefit, and requires an acute and sustained experience of discernment. Our father said to Borgia: “I am personally convinced regarding myself that both before and after I am totally an obstacle. Because of this I feel increased spiritual happiness and joy in the Lord in as much as I cannot attribute to myself even a semblance of good.”12 So Ignatius lives from the pure mercy of God even in the smallest details of his life and of his person. And he used to feel that, the greater an obstacle he might pose, the more Lord treated him with goodness: “Such was the mercy of the Lord, and such was the abundance of his tenderness and the sweetness of his grace with him, that the more he wished to be punished in this way, so much more benign was the Lord, and the more generously he lavished his treasures from his infinite freedom. With that, he said that he believed that there is no person in the world in whom these two things coincided as much as in him: how much he failed God, and received all and many continuous graces from his hand.” 13
Ignatius, describing his experience of mercy in these comparative terms – the more he failed the Lord, the more the Lord reached out in giving him his grace – released the life-giving power of mercy which we, many times, dilute with our abstract formulations and legalistic conditions. The Lord who looks at us with mercy and chooses us, sends us out to bring with all its effectiveness, that same mercy to the poorest, to sinners, to those discarded people, and those crucified in the present world, who suffer injustice and violence. Only if we experience this healing power first-hand in our own wounds, as people and as a body, will we lose the fear of allowing ourselves be moved by the immense suffering of our brothers and sisters, and will we hasten to walk patiently with our people, learning from them the best way of helping and serving them. (cf. GC 32, d.4 n.50)
3.- Doing good led by the good spirit, thinking with the Church
We can always take a step forward in doing good in the Good Spirit, sentire cum ecclesia, as Ignatius says. The way we do things in using discernment is also proper to the Society. Faber used to formulate it asking for the grace that “everything good would be realised, thought or organised, be done through the good spirit and not through the bad.”14This grace of discernment, it’s not enough to think, do or organise the good, but do it of the good spirit, is what roots us in the Church, in which the Spirit works and distributes the diverse charisms for the common good. Faber used to say that, in many things, those who wanted to reform the Church were right, but that God did not want to correct it through their means.
It is proper of the Society to do things thinking with the Church. Doing this without losing peace and with joy, in the context of the sins we see, in us as well as in others, and in the structures that we have created, involves carrying the cross, experiencing poverty and humiliations, where Ignatius encourages us to choose between bearing them patiently or desiring them.15 Where the contradiction was very clear, Ignatius used to advise to recollect oneself, before talking or acting, in order to work in the Good Spirit. We do not read the rules for thinking with the Church as precise instructions about controversial points (some rules could be out of date), but examples where Ignatius was inviting in his times to “act against” the anti-ecclesial spirit, inclining ourselves totally and decisively towards our Mother, the Church, not in order to justify a debatable position, but to open space so that the spirit could act in its own time.
Service of the good spirit and of discernment makes us men of the Church – not clericalists, but ecclesiastics – men “for others,” with nothing of our own which cuts us off from others, but rather everything that is ours placed in common and for service.
We neither walk alone nor comfortably, but we walk with “a heart that does not rest, that does not close in on itself but beats to the rhythm of a journey undertaken together with all the people faithful to God.”16 We walk becoming all things to all people, with the goal of helping others.
This self-emptying makes the Society have and always able to have more the face, the accent and the lifestyle of all peoples, of every culture, inserting ourselves in all of them, in the very heart of every people, to become the church, there with every people, inculturating the gospel and evangelising every culture.
In a filial colloquy, or as a servant to his Mistress, we beg Our Lady of la Strada to intercede for us before the “Father of mercies and God of all consolation” (2 Cor 1:3), to constantly place us with her Son, with Jesus who carries, and invites us to carry the cross of the world with Him. We entrust to Her “our way of proceeding” that it should be ecclesial, inculturated, poor, attentive, free from all worldly ambition. We beg Our Mother to direct and accompany every Jesuit along with that part of the people faithful to God whom he has been sent, along these paths of consolation, of compassion and discernment.
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1 PAUL VI, Discorso in occasione della 32ª Congregazione Generale della Compagnia di Gesù. 3 December 1974. [“Così, così, fratelli e figli. Avanti, in Nomine Domini. Camminiamo insieme, liberi, obbedienti, uniti nell’amore di Cristo, per la maggior gloria di Dio”. (Quoted in Italian at the original Spanish version. N. of the T.)]
2 JOHN PAUL II, Discourse to the participants at the 33rd General Congregation of the Society of Jesus. 2
September 1983.
3 BENEDICT XVI, Discourse to the participants at the 35th General Congregation of the Society of Jesus. 21 February 2008.
4 FRANCIS, Homily at the Church of the Gesù. 3 January 2014.
5 MNadal V 364-365
6 IGNACIO DE LOYOLA, Carta 51, A Francisco de Borja, julio de 1549, 17 N. 9. Cfr. M. A. FIORITO y A. SWINNEN, “La Fórmula del Instituto de la Compañía de Jesús (introducción y versión castellana)”, Stromata, July-December 1977-nº 3/4, 259-260.
7 “Ad profectum animarum in vita et doctrina Christiana” in Monumenta Ignatiana, Constitutiones T. I (MHSI), Roma, 1934, 26 y 376; cfr. Constituzioni della Compagnia di Gesù annotate dalla CG 34 e Norme complementari, Roma, ADP, 1995, 32-33.
8 Cf. MF. 50, 69, 111, 114, etc.
9 Cf. MNadal V, 310.
10 PIERRE FAVRE, Mémorial, Paris, Desclée, 1959 ; cf. Introduction de M. de CERTAU, p. 74.
11 Ibid., p. 76.
12 IGNACIO DE LOYOLA, Carta 26 a Francisco de Borja, fines de 1545.
13 P. RIBADENEIRA, Vida di S. Ignazio di Loiola, Roma, La Civiltà Cattolica, 1863, 336. [Tanta era la misericordia del Signore, e tanta la copia della soavità e dolcezza della grazia sua con esso lui, che quanto egli più desiderava d’essere in questo modo gastigato, tanto più benigno era Iddio e con abbondanza maggiore spargeva sopra di lui i tesori della sua infinita liberalità. Laonde diceva, che egli credeva no vi essere nel mondo uomo, in cui queste due cose insieme, tanto come in lui, concorressero; la prima mancare tanto a Dio e l’altra il ricevere tante e così continue grazie dalla sua mano (Quoted in Italian at the original Spanish version N. of the T.)]
14 PIERRE FAVRE, Mémorial quoted. Nº 51.
15 Cfr. IGNACIO DE LOYOLA, Directorio Autógrafo 23.
16 FRANCIS, Homily at the Church of the Gesù, 3 January 2014.[Original text: Spanish – working translation] [Translation distributed by the Holy See]
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Conclusion of National Pilgrimage to Rome in Year of 1050th Anniversary of Poland’s Baptism by ZENIT Staff

“Do not be afraid (…) Open wide the doors to Christ!” Pope Francis recalled these words of St. John Paul II to the Poles in Rome for their National Pilgrimage, Oct. 20-23.
Following the pilgrim tradition, those who came to Rome prayed in the four Patriarchal Basilicas, entering through the Door of Mercy there. The highlight of the pilgrimage was meeting pope Francis in audience, on Saturday, Oct. 22, liturgical feast day of St. Pope John Paul II. The Holy Father, thanking them for his visit to Poland, said: “Once again I wish to express my gratitude to all of you—to the faithful, the priests, the bishops and the civil authorities—for the warm welcome in your country, the beautiful artistic and spiritual preparation of the events and celebrations that we lived with the enthusiasm inspired by faith.”
Furthermore, Pope Francis expressed this wish: “May the Lord give you the grace to persevere in the faith, hope and charity that you have received from your ancestors and to cultivate them with care. May your great compatriot’s call to rouse the imagination of mercy continue to resound in your minds and hearts, so that you manifest God’s love to all those who need it.”
After the audience, the Polish Bishops and representatives of the state authorities met with the Holy Father and personally expressed their gratitude for the visit to Poland and the cordial reception in the Vatican.
The last National Pilgrimage, in 2003, was intended to give thanks for the 25 years of St. John Paul II’s pontificate. This year’s pilgrimage was made to thank God for the most important events of 2016: the 1050th anniversary of Poland’s Baptism and the World Youth Day with Pope Francis’ visit to our country in the context of the Year of Mercy. Nearly 50 Bishops from Poland and from the Vatican, more than 250 priests and several thousands of Poles took part in this pilgrimage.
Picures available at:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/episkopatnews/
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Article done in collaboration with Fr. Paweł Rytel-Andrianik
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JUBILEE AUDIENCE: On Mercy & Dialogue by ZENIT Staff

Below is a ZENIT working translation of Pope Francis’ address during his Jubilee Audience that was held Saturday morning in Saint Peter’s Square, a meeting that Francis decided to hold for pilgrims and faithful coming to Rome for the Jubilee of Mercy.
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Dear Brothers and Sisters, good morning!
The passage of John’s Gospel that we heard, narrates Jesus’ meeting with a Samaritan woman. What is striking of this meeting is the very logical dialogue between the woman and Jesus. This enables us to stress today a very important aspect of mercy, which in fact is dialogue.
Dialogue enables individuals to know each other and to understand the needs of one another. This is, first of all, a sign of great respect, because it puts individuals in an attitude of listening and in the condition of receiving the best aspects of the interlocutor. In the second place, dialogue is an expression of charity because, although not ignoring the differences, it can help to seek and to share the common good. Moreover, dialogue invites us to place ourselves before the other, seeing him as a gift of God, who challenges us and who asks to be recognized.
Often we do not meet brothers, even though we live beside them, especially when we make our position prevail over the others. We do not dialogue when we do not listen sufficiently or tend to interrupt the other to prove that we are right. True dialogue, instead, needs moments of silence, in which to receive the extraordinary gift of God’s presence in a brother.
Dear brothers and sisters, dialogue helps individuals to humanize relations and to surmount misunderstandings. There is so much need of dialogue in our families, and how issues would be resolved more easily if we learned to listen to one another! It is thus in the relationship between husband and wife, and between parents and children. How much help can come as well from dialogue between teachers and their students, or between directors and workers, to discover the best needs of work.
The Church also lives of dialogue with the men and women of all times, to understand the needs that are at the heart of every person, and to contribute to the realization of the common good. We think of the great gift of Creation and of the responsibility we all have to safeguard our common home: dialogue on such a key topic is an inescapable exigency. We think of dialogue between religions, to discover the profound truth of their mission in the midst of men, and to contribute to the making of peace and to a network of respect and fraternity (cf. Encyclical Laudato Si’, 201).
To conclude, all forms of dialogue are expressions of the great need of the love of God, who goes to encounter all and puts a seed of His goodness in each one, so that one can collaborate in His creative work. Dialogue pulls down the walls of divisions and misunderstandings; it creates bridges of communication, and does not allow for any one to be isolated, shut-in in his own small world.
Jesus knew well what was in the heart of the Samaritan woman; despite this, He did not impede her from to expressing herself and, in turn, entering a bit in the mystery of His life. This teaching is also valid for us. Through dialogue we can make the signs of God’s mercy grow and render them instruments of hospitality and respect.[Original text: Italian] [Translation by ZENIT]
In Italian
A warm welcome goes to the Italian-speaking faithful. I am happy to receive the faithful of numerous Italian dioceses, with their respective Pastors, especially those of Umbria.
Dear brothers and sisters, may your Jubilee pilgrimage be lived in the faith as experience of God’s forgiveness and mercy and accompany you on your return to the communities to which you belong to witness His love for brothers, particularly the excluded and the estranged.
I greet the Association of Catholic Doctors, with Cardinal Edoardo Menichelli; the NCO’s Association of Italy; the participants in the Jubilee of <Choirs> and the liturgical animators; the numerous flag bearers and the large group of campers, whom I thank for the gift of a camper to a Roman family with disabilities. On the eve of World Missionary Day, I exhort all to accompany with prayer and concrete help the evangelizing action of the Church in mission territories.
A special thought goes to young people, the sick and newlyweds. Observed today is the liturgical memorial of Saint John Paul II. May his coherent witness of faith be a teaching for you, dear young people, to face the challenges of life; in the light of his teaching, dear sick, embrace the cross of sickness with hope; invoke his heavenly intercession, dear newlyweds, so that love is never lacking in your new family.[Original text: Italian] [Translation by ZENIT]
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Catholic Church Statistics 2016 by ZENIT Staff

This Feature is Published Courtesy of Agenzia Fides:
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As every year, in view of World Mission Day, which this year celebrates it 90th anniversary on Sunday, October 23, Fides News Service offers some statistics chosen to give a panorama of the missionary Church all over the world. The tables are taken from the latest edition of the “Church’s Book of Statistics” published (updated to 31 December 2014) regarding members of the Church, church structures, healthcare, welfare and education. Please note that variations, increase or decrease, emerging from our own comparison with last year’s figures, are marked increase + or decrease – in brackets
World population
To 31 December 2014 the world population was 7.160.739.000 with an increase of 66.941.000 units compared with the previous year. Population growth was registered on every continent above, except Europe: increases were registered above all in Asia (+ 37.349.000) and Africa (+ 23.000.000) followed by America (+ 8.657.000) and Oceania (+ 649.000). Decrease in Europe (- 2.714.000).
Catholics
On the same date Catholics in the world numbered 1,272,281,000 units with an overall increase of 18.355.000 more than the previous year. The increase affects all continents, except Europe. Increases were registered above all in Africa (+8.535.000) and in America (+ 6.642.000) followed by Asia (+ 3.027.000), and Oceania (+ 208.000). Decrease in Europe (- 57.000).
The world percentage of Catholics increased by 0.09 %, settling at 17.77%. By continent: increases were registered in Africa (+ 0.38), America (+ 0.12), Asia (+ 0.05), Europe (+ 0.14). and Oceania (+ 0.09).
Persons and Catholics per priest
This year the number of persons per priest in the world increased by 130 units, average 13,882. The distribution by continent: increase in America (+ 79); Europe (+ 41) and Oceania (+ 289); decrease in Africa (- 125); Asia (- 1.100).
The number of Catholics per priest in the world increased by 41 units, average 3.060. There are increases in Africa (+ 73), America (+ 59); Europe (+ 22) and Oceania (+ 83); decrease in Asia (-27).
Ecclesiastical circumscriptions and mission stations
The number of ecclesiastical circumscriptions are 9 more than the previous year to 2,998 with new circumscriptions created in: Africa (+1), America (+3), Asia (+3), Europe (+2). Oceania unvaried.
Mission stations with a resident priest number 1,864 (7 less than in the previous year) and increases registered in Africa (+39) and Europe (+ 2). Decreases in America (- 35), Asia (- 8) and Oceania (- 5).
Mission Stations without a resident priest increased in number by 2.703 units, to 136.572. Compared to the previous year, increase is registered in Africa (+1.151), America (+ 2.891), and Oceania (+ 115). The number dropped in Asia (- 1.452) and Europe (- 2).
Bishops
The total number of Bishops in the world increased by 64 units, to 5,237. Contrary to previous years where Diocesan Bishops increased in numbers, while Religious Bishops decreased, this year they both increased. Diocesan Bishops number 3,992 (47 more), while Religious Bishops number 1,245 (17 more). The increase in diocesan Bishops is registered in all continents except Oceania (-1): in America (+ 20); Asia (+ 9), Africa (+1) and Europe (+ 18). The number of religious Bishops increased on every continent: Africa (+5), America (+2), Asia (+3), Europe (+6), Oceania (+1).
Priests
The total number of priests in the world increased by 444 units, to 415.792. The only continents which registered a decrease was again Europe (- 2.564) and a slight decrease in America (-123) and Oceania (- 86), whereas figures grew in Africa (+ 1.089) and Asia (+2.128). Diocesan priests increased by 765 units, reaching a total of 281.297 with increases in Africa (+ 1.023); America (+ 810) and Asia (+ 848). A drop in Europe (- 1.914) and Oceania (- 2). The number of Religious priests decreased by 321 units to a total 134.495. Increases were registered as in recent years in Africa (+ 66) and Asia (+ 1.280), whereas numbers dropped in America (- 933), Europe (- 650) and Oceania (- 84).
Permanent Deacons
Permanent deacons in the world increased by 1,371 units to 44.566. The highest increase was registered again in America (+ 965) and in Europe (+ 311) and an increase in Africa (+ 25), Asia (+65) and Oceania (+5).
Permanent Diocesan deacons in the world are 43.954, with an overall increase of 1.304 units. They increased on every continent: Africa (+8), America (+ 971), Asia (+36), Europe (+ 285) and Oceania (+ 4).
Religious permanent deacons number 612, increased by 67 units compared to the previous year, with increases in Africa (+17), Asia (+ 29), Europe (+ 26) and Oceania (+1). The only decrease was registered in America (- 6).
Men and women religious
The number of non-religious priests decreased by 694 units to 54.559. Situation: increase in Africa (+ 331) and Asia (+ 66), while a decrease was registered in America (- 362), Europe (- 653) and Oceania (- 76).
Even this year there is an overall decrease in the number of women religious by 10.846 units to 682.729. An increase was registered in Africa (+ 725) and Asia (+ 604), decrease in America (– 4.242), Europe (- 7.733) and Oceania (- 200).
Members of secular institutes, male and female
Members of male secular institutes number 654 with an overall decrease of 58 units. At a continental level there is an increase only in Africa (+ 2) while a decrease was registered in America (- 13), Asia (- 16), Europe (-31), Oceania unvaried.
The members of female secular institutes increased this year, by 243 units to a total of 24.198 members. Increase in Asia (+ 44) and Europe (+ 515) while a decrease was registered in Africa (- 7), America (- 306) and Oceania (- 3).
Lay missionaries and catechists
The number of lay missionaries in the world is 368.520 units, with an overall increase of 841 units. Numbers increase in Africa (+9), Europe (+ 6.806) and Oceania (+ 41). Decrease was registered in America (- 5.596) and Asia (- 419)
Catechists in the world increased by 107.200 units to a total of 3.264.768. A significant increase was registered in Africa (+ 103.084), Asia (+ 6.862) and a slight increase in Oceania (+ 271). Decrease in America (- 2.814) and Europe (- 203).
Major seminarians
The number of major seminarians, diocesan and religious decreased this year, they are globally 1.312 units, reaching a total of 116.939. Increases occured only in Africa (+ 636), while even this year a decrease in America (- 676), Asia (- 635), Europe (-629) and Oceania (-8).
Major diocesan seminarians number 70.301 (- 1.236 less than the previous year) and Religious major seminarians 46.638 (- 76). Diocesan seminarians increased only in Africa (+ 222), while decreases are in America (- 595), Asia (- 373), Europe (-471) and Oceania (- 20).
Religious Seminarians decreased in three continents: America (- 82), Asia (- 262) and Europe (- 158). Increases in Africa (+ 414) and Oceania (+ 12).
Minor seminarians
The number of minor seminarians, diocesan and religious increased by 1.014 units to 102.942. Overall increase on all continents, except Oceania (- 42): Africa (+ 487), America (+ 1), Asia (+ 174) and Europe (+ 394).
Minor diocesan seminarians number 78.489 (- 67), whereas religious seminarians number 24.453 (+ 1.081). The number of diocesan minor seminarians decreased in America (- 47), Asia (- 668) and Oceania (- 37). Increases in Africa (+ 291) and Europe (+ 394).
Religious minor seminarians increased in number in Africa (+ 196), America (+ 48) and Asia (+ 842) and decreased in Oceania (- 5) and unvaried in Europe.
Catholic schools and Education
In the field of education, the Catholic Church runs 73.580 kindergartens with 7.043.634 pupils; 96.283 primary schools with 33.516.860 pupils; 46.339 secondary schools with 19.760.924 pupils. The Church also cares for 2.477.636 high school pupils, and 2.719.643 university students.
Catholic charity and healthcare centres
Charity and healthcare centres run in the world by the Church include: 5.158 hospitals, most of them in America (1.501) and Africa (1.221); 16.523 dispensaries, mainly in Africa (5.230); America (4.667) and Asia (3.584); 612 Care Homes for people with Leprosy, mainly in Asia (313) and Africa (174); 15.679 Homes for the elderly, or the chronically ill or people with a disability, mainly in Europe (8.304) and America (3.726); 9.492 orphanages, mainly in Asia (3.859); 12.637 creches, mainly in Asia (3.422) and America (3.477); 14.576 marriage counselling centres, mainly in America (5.634) and Europe (5.670); 3.782 social rehabilitation centres and 37.601 other kinds of institutions.
Ecclesiastical Circumscriptions dependent on the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples
The ecclesiastical Circumscriptions dependent on the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples (Cep) to 4 October 2016 are 1.108 with an decrease of 3 circumscriptions compared to last year. Most of the ecclesiastical circumscriptions are mainly in Africa (508) and in Asia (480). Followed by America (74) and Oceania (46).
Special feature prepared by S.L. Agenzia Fides 10/23/2016
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