Pope: What Do All the Saints Have in Common? Genuine Happiness... from ZENIT in Roswell, Georgia, United States for Tuesday, 1 November 2016

Pope: What Do All the Saints Have in Common? Genuine Happiness... from ZENIT in Roswell, Georgia, United States for Tuesday, 1 November 2016
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--------Pope: What Do All the Saints Have in Common? Genuine Happiness by Kathleen Naab

Wrapping up his quick trip to Sweden, the Pope celebrated Mass today for the small Catholic community of the nation, noting that today’s celebration of All Saints reminds us that sanctity is the secret to authentic happiness.
Today’s Mass was a “celebration of holiness,” the Pope said, “a “holiness that is seen not so much in great deeds and extraordinary events, but rather in daily fidelity to the demands of our baptism.”
The Holy Father spoke of not only the canonized saints but the many “brothers and sisters who, in a quiet and unassuming way, lived their Christian life in the fullness of faith and love,” saying that among them surely are “many of our relatives, friends and acquaintances.”
The Pope said that all these diverse people have one thing in common: “if there is one thing typical of the saints,” he said, “it is that they are genuinely happy.”
“They found the secret of authentic happiness, which lies deep within the soul and has its source in the love of God. That is why we call the saints blessed.”
The Catholic community of Sweden is only 1.15% of the population of the country, with some 113,000 faithful, served by two bishops, 141 priests and some 250 religious.
Identity card
Speaking of the Beatitudes, the Holy Father said that these are for the saints “their path, their goal, their native land.”
“The Beatitudes are the image of Christ and consequently of each Christian,” he added, calling them later in the homily the “Christian’s identity card” marking us as “followers of Jesus.”
Pope Francis focused on one Beatitude: “Blessed are the meek,” saying that meekness is Jesus’ “spiritual portrait.”
“Jesus says of himself: ‘Learn from me for I am meek and lowly in heart.’
“Meekness is a way of living and acting that draws us close to Jesus and to one another. It enables us to set aside everything that divides and estranges us, and to find ever new ways to advance along the path of unity.”
The Pope pointed to saints of the land he’s visiting, Saint Mary Elizabeth Hesselblad, recently canonized, and Saint Bridget, Birgitta of Vadstena, co-patron of Europe.
“They prayed and worked to create bonds of unity and fellowship between Christians,” he said. “One very eloquent sign of this is that here in your country, marked as it is by the coexistence of quite different peoples, we are jointly commemorating the fifth centenary of the Reformation. The saints bring about change through meekness of heart. With that meekness, we come to understand the grandeur of God and worship him with sincere hearts. For meekness is the attitude of those who have nothing to lose, because their only wealth is God.”
Fresh energy
The Holy Father said that in following Jesus, “we ought to be able to recognize and respond to new situations with fresh spiritual energy” and he proposed some beatitudes for our day:
— Blessed are those who remain faithful while enduring evils inflicted on them by others, and forgive them from their heart.
— Blessed are those who look into the eyes of the abandoned and marginalized, and show them their closeness.
— Blessed are those who see God in every person, and strive to make others also discover him.
— Blessed are those who protect and care for our common home.
— Blessed are those who renounce their own comfort in order to help others.
— Blessed are those who pray and work for full communion between Christians.
The Pope concluded, reminding that “the call to holiness is directed to everyone and must be received from the Lord in a spirit of faith.”
“The saints spur us on by their lives and their intercession before God, and we ourselves need one another if we are to become saints,” he said. “Together let us implore the grace to accept this call with joy and to join in bringing it to fulfilment.”
The Holy Father also prayed the midday Angelus after the Mass, saying:
I thank God that I was able to visit this land and to meet with you, many of whom have come from all over the world. As Catholics, we are part of a great family and are sustained in the same communion. I encourage you to express your faith in prayer, in the sacraments, and in generous service to those who are suffering and in need. I urge you to be salt and light, wherever you find yourselves, through the way you live and act as followers of Jesus, and to show great respect and solidarity with our brothers and sisters of other churches and Christian communities, and with all people of good will.
In our life, we are not alone; we have the constant help and companionship of the Virgin Mary. Today she stands before us as first among the saints, the first disciple of the Lord. We flee to her protection and to her we present our sorrows and our joys, our fears and our aspirations. We put everything under her protection, in the sure knowledge that she watches over us and cares for us with a mother’s love.
—
On ZENIT’s Web page:
Full text homily: https://zenit.org/articles/popes-homily-at-mass-in-malmo/
Full text Angelus: https://zenit.org/articles/popes-angelus-in-malmo/
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FEATURE: Who Are the Catholics of Sweden? by Deborah Castellano Lubov

Would you like to know more about Sweden’s Catholics….Well, ZENIT has spent time in Malmö and Lund, trying to take a closer look.
Angelo Tajani, a senior from the southern Italian city of Amalfi, is a retired journalist, a correspondent from Scandinavia, for several newspapers. He now lives in Landskrona, a small town not far from Malmö, Sweden. His wife is Italian too, being the daughter of a family transplanted here to southern Sweden for several generations.
“My mother-in-law used to tell me that when her husband, my father-in-law, as a young man attended university, he was called a ‘papist,'” he noted, stressing how he was often mocked for being Catholic.
“Times change, thank God. Today, several decades later, also in Sweden,” says Angelo, “Francesco enjoys great popularity, equal to those of John XXIII and John Paul II.”
Ivan, 21, born in Sweden, is a son of war refugees, Croatian Catholics who fled in 1995 from Bosnia and Herzegovina. In Landskrona, unlike the former Yugoslavia of 20 years ago, it’s not a problem to belong to a religious minority: “not really,” he says.
“Among my peers friends we do not think of someone’s religion, we think rather who he is as person. I have many friends Lutherans, even Muslims.”
In the Croatian community of Sweden, many are refugees of war, as are the parents of Ivan. He has just come out from the small parish church of the village. Among Catholic immigrants countrymen in a distant country, and different for language, mentality and even religion, SundayMass is a welcome opportunity to meet. The Mass of 9 a.m., the first of the day, is celebrated right in the Croatian language. But Sunday, Oct. 30 is a day of celebration in particular for four boys, two boys and two girls, Croatian and Polish. From Stockholm, Bishop Anders Arborelius arrived, to give them in the 11am Mass, the sacrament of confirmation.
His diocese covers the whole territory of Sweden, 450,000 square kilometers in which are scattered about 113,000 Catholics: small numbers and large distances, so the bishop and the priests must travel continuously while not leaving anyone, neither the smallest parish or community, without the Gospel and the sacraments. “Of course, for many Catholic immigrants who arrive here it’s hard to live the faith,” says Bishop Arborelius.
“They feel isolated, in many places there is not a Catholic church, and also the influence of the materialistic mentality and secularized mentality, widespread in Sweden, can be a difficult burden to bear. But all this can become an inspirational tool, to deepen personal faith. Therefore there are are two situations that we see occurring in general: some disappear from the church, others become more involved in the Catholic Church’s life.”
At 2:30 yet another Mass is scheduled, celebrated in Arabic for the Catholics of the Middle East: Lebanon, Iraq, Syria, Palestine, Egypt … They are Catholics of different rites, so the chaplain Antoine Arab, Syrian from Aleppo, missionary in Sweden for the past 13 years, always celebrates according to the Latin rite. “There are families who live here a long time,” he says, “and have developed an even stronger faith than before, which makes them feel missionaries in a society in need to being evangelized again”.
The Arabic-speaking Swedes Catholics have fled from their countries as a result of wars and above all anti-Christian persecution: Lebanon in the 80s, Iraq in 2003, now Syria. Syrian children have just prepared a book of drawings with the hope of being able to present to the Pope. Michel, 8 years old, has just lost in the war his mother and sister. In his design, there is him, his father and grandfather, plus the cross above a tomb.
The list of nationalities represented in the Swedish Catholic Church is not finished. There are several Chileans (arrived as exiles at the time of the Pinochet dictatorship), Poles, Ukrainians, Vietnamese, Filipinos … This goes for the whole of Sweden. The parish of Lund counts 3.200 registered faithful from at least 88 countries, maybe even more, according to the parish priest Father Johan Linden, a Dominican, who confesses candidly that he has lost count.
“When you belong to a religious minority, like the small Catholic community in Sweden, then in such a situation all that is your faith, your culture becomes important. But I warn my parishioners to not reduce faith to their cultural background,” Father Johan affirms.
Eduardo and Francesca, Italian, live in the surroundings of Malmö. They are the parents of 8 boys and girls, a Neocatechumenal family in mission for 21 years in Sweden. The days of the papal visit are an exception, Francesca explains: “news about what the Pope does or says are very few, but also in the church, in homilies, they speak very little about the Pope. We watch Italian TV, otherwise we would know nothing”.
Among the classmates of Francesco, the eldest son, “some know what’s his name, and that he lives in the Vatican,” he reports, but at least in these days they make him many questions, out of curiosity aroused by space now exceptionally dedicated to the Pope in newspapers and TV.
“The comments, however, have been rather mixed during the vigil,” says Eduardo; “Many have appreciated Pope Francis for his openness, his attention to the poor, the marginalized, others are more controversial, especially some Lutheran priests have expressed themselves in a somewhat ‘polemical saying that you have to see the facts, and in fact the Catholic Church is not changing, they see it as a closed structure which for example should give more power to women … I hope that Lutherans however can appreciate the gesture of the Pope and also know to go a bit ‘more to the bottom of issues, without stopping to the externality , to the surface, the gossip, the mundane…”.
For Swedish Catholics these are still exceptional days. Francis arrived in Sweden with the primary intention to encourage ecumenical dialogue with Lutherans, then decided later to stop one more day here to celebrate the Mass of All Saints, for this small and so varied suburban flock. It is not always easy to keep it united, says the pastor Msgr. Arborelius, “but it is the Holy Spirit who unites us. Sometimes there are crises, conflicts, but you can tell that there is an atmosphere of fraternity, of solidarity between different groups. And the Mass of Pope Francis in Malmö is an important event to strengthen the unity of our Church”.
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Rules on Communion Services by Fr. Edward McNamara
Answered by Legionary of Christ Father Edward McNamara, professor of liturgy and dean of theology at the Regina Apostolorum university.
Q: I read your article on Communion services. I understand the regulations for Sundays, but I understood the article to say we should not have a Liturgy of the Word and Communion on weekdays. In 2013, our ordinary proscribed the practice of having a Communion service on weekdays when Mass is celebrated at another time of the day. This seems new to me. Has the Ritual Romanum (De Sacra Communion … extra Missam) of 1978 been abrogated? It makes no mention of a prohibition of using it even if we have Mass celebrated at another time that day in the church. I do not want to multiply services without necessity, but I think it still should be correct to have Communion services, using the correct ritual, on weekdays. I determined to obey the ordinary, but I think he overstepped the law. — D.V., Ohio
A: There is a maxim sometimes used in canon law that says, Distinguish the circumstances and the laws will come into agreement (Distingue tempora et concordabis iura).
I think it is safe to say that the Roman Ritual has not been abolished and that the bishop has not overstepped his authority.
The introduction to the Rite for Holy Communion and Worship of the Eucharist Outside of Mass says:
“14. The faithful are to be led to the practice of receiving communion during the actual eucharistic celebration. Priests, however, are not to refuse to give communion to the faithful who for a legitimate reason ask for it even outside Mass.”
“16. Communion may be given outside Mass on any day and at any hour. It is proper, however, to determine the hours for giving communion, with a view to the convenience of the faithful, so that the celebration may take place in a fuller form and with greater spiritual benefit.”
The 1983 Code of Canon Law also notes:
“Canon 918. It is most strongly recommended that the faithful receive holy communion in the course of a eucharistic celebration. If, however, for good reason they ask for it apart from the Mass, it is to be administered to them, observing the liturgical rites.”
The website of the U.S. bishops’ conference touches on this topic for when there is no priest available. In its section on frequently asked questions it says:
“In recent years the topic of Weekday Celebrations in the Absence of a Priest has been raised by diocesan Directors of Worship and during the 1998 National Meeting of the Federation of Diocesan Liturgical Commissions. The then-Secretariat for the Liturgy conducted consultations with diocesan directors of Worship, pastors and bishops which culminated in an extended discussion by the members and consultants of the Committee on the Liturgy at its March 13, 2000, meeting in Washington D.C. The following reflections are offered to bishops and their advisors and may serve or assist bishops in the formulation of guidelines for this important area of pastoral life.
“Daily Mass
“Any discussion of weekday liturgical worship must begin by recalling the importance and normative character of daily Mass in the life of every Catholic community. Pope Paul VI recommended that priests ‘worthily and devoutly offer Mass each day in order that both they and the rest of the faithful may enjoy the benefits that flow so richly from the sacrifice of the cross.’ Pope John Paul II echoes these words in recalling that the celebration of the Eucharist be the ‘most important moment of the priest’s day, the center of his life,’ and urging that ‘priests should be encouraged to celebrate Mass every day, even in the absence of a congregation, since it is an act of Christ and the Church (cf. ibid., 13; Code of Canon Law, c. 904).’
“Elsewhere, the Holy Father encourages seminarians to ‘take part every day in the eucharistic celebration, in such a way that afterwards they will take up as a rule of their priestly life this daily celebration.’ Quoting the Cure of Ars the Holy Father also exhorts, ‘How well a priest does, therefore, to offer himself to God in sacrifice every morning!’
“Shifting Patterns
“In recent years, the Church in the United States of America has experienced a reduction in the number of priests available to celebrate Mass on a daily basis in our parish communities. Indeed, in some places, one priest is assigned as pastor of several parishes and is barely able to provide Sunday Mass in each of these communities. In other instances, even the Sunday Mass is not possible each week. Thus, the ritual book Sunday Celebrations in the Absence of Priest was developed.
“Pastoral Response
“In recent discussions, the Committee on the Liturgy considered several principles which it recommends to bishops in their development of diocesan norms on the question of how to address related issues. These principles are presented as a starting point for such considerations:
“1. Whenever possible, daily Mass should be celebrated in each parish.
“2. Whenever the Rite for Distributing Holy Communion Outside Mass with a Celebration of the Word is scheduled on a weekday, every effort must be undertaken to avoid any confusion between this celebration and the Mass. Indeed, such celebrations should encourage the faithful to be present at and to participate in the celebration of the Eucharist.
“3. Whenever possible, the Mass schedule of nearby parishes should be available to parishioners. If a nearby parish is celebrating Mass on a given weekday, serious consideration should be given to encouraging people to participate in that Mass rather than the parish scheduling a Liturgy of the Word with Distribution of Holy Communion.
“4. When daily Mass is scheduled in a parish, it is usually not appropriate to schedule a Liturgy of the Word with Distribution of Holy Communion. This rite is designed for ‘those who are prevented from being present at the community’s celebration.’ When necessary, the scheduling of these celebrations should never detract from ‘the celebration of the Eucharist [as] the center of the entire Christian life.’ Such celebrations should never be seen as an equal choice with participation at Mass.
“5. The proper ritual for the Liturgy of the Word with Distribution of Holy Communion is found in Holy Communion and Worship of the Eucharist Outside Mass. The specialized provisions of Sunday Celebrations in the Absence of a Priest are not appropriate to weekday celebrations.
“6. A Liturgy of the Word with Distribution of Holy Communion should never be scheduled for the purpose of ‘providing a role’ for deacons or lay ministers. Likewise, choosing the option of the Funeral Liturgy outside Mass solely to provide a role for the deacon is inappropriate. It is also inappropriate to have the deacon preside at the Funeral Liturgy outside Mass when a priest is available to celebrate a Funeral Mass.”
Therefore the norm issued by the bishop is in line with Point 4 above.
It must be remembered, however, that the reference is to scheduled distribution of Communion in a church where a weekday Mass is celebrated. This is a legitimate pastoral decision that is within the bishop’s authority to determine. That is, do not schedule Communion services if daily Mass is celebrated so as to avoid the possible creation of an equivalence in the minds of the faithful or in virtue of other pastoral considerations.
Admittedly, another bishop could come to the opposite conclusion in other pastoral circumstances. In such cases he would not need to do anything, for the universal law as such would not forbid having both Mass and a scheduled Communion service, even though I do not think that the spirit of the documents would encourage such a practice.
The bishop’s prohibition would not cover a priest’s normal use of the Roman Ritual to administer Communion to the faithful who, as the ritual says: “for a legitimate reason ask for it even outside Mass,” and who are prevented in some way from attending daily Mass. These spontaneous requests can and should be granted. If such requests are habitual and the impediment to attend Mass is continuous, I think that there is nothing that would prevent the priest from coming to a private agreement with an individual or a group to give them Communion at a fixed time.
In such cases we would probably be dealing with well-formed Catholics who would desire nothing more than to be able to attend holy Mass. The bishop would, in all probability, fully agree to attending to their spiritual needs. What he does not desire is that Mass and a Communion service appear together on the same day on the parish notice board or webpage as if they were of equal spiritual value.
* * *
Follow-up: Postures at Communion
Following our October 18 comment on communion postures, several readers pointed out a defect in my presentation.
Referring to the General Instruction of the Roman Missal one priest wrote: “I would, though, like to point out that you had used text from an older version of the U.S. GIRM in your column. The text of GIRM 160 which you had quoted in your column was from the 2002 translation of the GIRM. When the Roman Missal was released in 2011, there were a few slight modifications made to the GIRM, including GIRM 160. The current text of GIRM 160 actually reads: ‘The norm established for the Dioceses of the United States of America is that Holy Communion is to be received standing, unless an individual member of the faithful wishes to receive Communion while kneeling.’”
Our reader is correct. I seemed to have taken a bad case of deadline-induced laziness.
It must be commented, however, that this new version of the norm greatly improves the earlier version, which seemed to imply that kneeling is something of a problem that required pastoral intervention.
The new formulation is in line with the thinking of the Holy See and leaves freedom to the individual faithful to kneel, while making no judgment whatsoever as to his or her intentions in choosing to do so.
* * *
Readers may send questions to zenit.liturgy@gmail.com. Please put the word “Liturgy” in the subject field. The text should include your initials, your city and your state, province or country. Father McNamara can only answer a small selection of the great number of questions that arrive.
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Caritas, Lutheran Federation Sign Common Declaration by ZENIT Staff

During the Pope’s trip to Sweden, a declaration of intent was jointly signed by the leader of Caritas Internationalis and the Lutheran World Federation.
Here is the document:
—
“Together in Hope” Declaration of Intent
between
Caritas Internationalis
and The Lutheran World Federation – World Service
1. Preamble
Caritas Internationalis, created in 1951, is the social and justice arm of the Catholic Church. It is at the same time a confederation of 165 national organisations present in 200 countries and territories and a central entity of the Holy See. Serve, accompany and defend the poor: its mission is to promote a civilization of love, based on the social and other teachings of the Church and is developed around five central strategic orientations that are: Caritas at the heart of the Church; save lives and rebuild communities; promote sustainable integral human development; build global solidarity; make the Caritas Confederation more effective.
In its first orientation, an objective is to contribute to and promote a culture of partnership and ecumenical and interreligious cooperation. The LWF has engaged with diakonia and service since its founding in 1947. World Service, the diaconal arm of the LWF, focuses especially on the needs of refugees and internally displaced people in humanitarian assistance, development aid and advocacy. The LWF is committed to working with other Christian World communions and faith-based organisations (FBOs) for broader reach and wider impact, aiming to empower and enable local populations through rights-based approaches.
Caritas Internationalis and the LWF World Service have worked together on several occasions during the past decades in many countries and regions addressing the root causes of poverty and humanitarian crises. Caritas member organisations have also cooperated with the LWF World Service.
On the occasion of the commemoration of the 500 years of the Reformation, the Lutheran World Federation and the Catholic Church have taken further steps towards reconciliation and moved forward in the field of joint service to express and strengthen their commitment to the quest for unity. This is expressed in the Lutheran-Catholic study document “From Conflict to Communion”, in which the 5th ecumenical imperative calls for joint diaconal action. It says:
“Catholics and Lutherans should witness together to the mercy of God in proclamation and service to the world”. § 243 reads: “Ecumenical engagement for the unity of the Church does not serve only the Church but also the world so that the world may believe”.
The international community is also calling especially upon FBOs to engage actively in realizing the Sustainable Development Goals agenda, working towards the eradication of extreme poverty in a generation. In the Catholic world, there are various spaces of collective engagement (among which the Forum of Catholic Organisations) and in the broader Christian world, there is ACT Alliance, of which the LWF is a member and with which Caritas Internationalis has been linked for many years.
We believe that faith communities and the organisations with which they engage are uniquely placed to fight extreme poverty in all its dimensions. Not only because these communities are present around the world, but also because when trained, organised and accompanied, they are the best responders to disasters, the best promoters of integral sustainable human development, and the best advocates for their lives. What animates us is our faith and, in a secularized world, this makes a huge difference: courage, commitment, perseverance, taking risks, the belief that God is with us to confront evil and rebuild lives.
As two global Christian organisations working for human dignity and social justice, we decide to join hands. To bring hope. To witness and act together, without being exclusive. And to invite our members to engage with their counterparts and friends locally.
2. Purpose
The overall purpose of this Declaration of Intent is to consolidate and develop a mutually inspiring relationship beneficial to the people we serve, accompany and defend, based on shared values and vision regarding how our organisations can work together in the world today.
Caritas Internationalis and the LWF World Service will seek to expand and deepen their relationships and joint work at all levels. We will:
look for opportunities
commit to cooperate where appropriate
engage in regular strategic discussions
share learnings, challenges and opportunities
ensure that members, staff and volunteers understand the Declaration of Intent and look to work together in harmony and collaboration
3. Areas for cooperation
The LWF World Service and Caritas Internationalis will work together in the following fields at global level:
– Refugees, internally displaced people and migrants
– Peace building and reconciliation
– Humanitarian preparedness and response
– Implementation of Sustainable Development Goals
– Interfaith action and programming
4. Concrete application mechanisms
Caritas Internationalis and the LWF World Service will:
Engage in regular strategic discussions on issues agreed upon, with specific experts on board
Engage in common programs whenever possible
Invite our membership to cooperate and engage in joint programming at national/diocesan/local levels, in consultation with respective member organizations in donor countries when applicable, in those fields referred to above and more as identified locally, including capacity building, interfaith action, reinforcing local civil society.
Meet annually to appreciate the work done and plan ahead.
Communicate what we have achieved
Signed on the occasion of the Joint Ecumenical Commemoration of the Reformation,
In Lund, Sweden,
On 31 October 2016
For Caritas Internationalis For LWF World Service
Michel ROY Maria IMMONEN
Secretary General Director
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Pope’s Angelus in Malmö by ZENIT Staff

Pope Francis gave an Angelus address this morning, after having celebrated Mass in Sweden’s Swedbank Stadium. Here is a Vatican translation of his prepared address:
***
As we conclude this celebration, I would like to express my gratitude to Bishop Anders Arborelius of Stockholm for his kind words, and to the civil authorities and all who helped in the planning and execution of this visit.
I offer a cordial greeting to the President and the Secretary General of the Lutheran World Federation, and to the Archbishop of the Church of Sweden. I also greet the members of the ecumenical delegations and the diplomatic corps present on this occasion, and all those who have joined us in this celebration of the Eucharist.
I thank God that I was able to visit this land and to meet with you, many of whom have come from all over the world. As Catholics, we are part of a great family and are sustained in the same communion. I encourage you to express your faith in prayer, in the sacraments, and in generous service to those who are suffering and in need. I urge you to be salt and light, wherever you find yourselves, through the way you live and act as followers of Jesus, and to show great respect and solidarity with our brothers and sisters of other churches and Christian communities, and with all people of good will.
In our life, we are not alone; we have the constant help and companionship of the Virgin Mary. Today she stands before us as first among the saints, the first disciple of the Lord. We flee to her protection and to her we present our sorrows and our joys, our fears and our aspirations. We put everything under her protection, in the sure knowledge that she watches over us and cares for us with a mother’s love.
Dear brothers and sisters, I ask you to keep me in your prayers. I keep you all very present in my own.
Now, together, let us turn to Our Lady and pray the Angelus.[Original text: Spanish] [Vatican provided translation]
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Pope’s Homily at Mass in Malmö by ZENIT Staff

Pope Francis this morning celebrated Mass in Sweden’s Swedbank Stadium, on the feast of All Saints Day. Here is a Vatican translation of his prepared homily:
__
Today, with the entire Church, we celebrate the Solemnity of All Saints. In doing so, we remember not only those who have been proclaimed saints through the ages, but also our many brothers and sisters who, in a quiet and unassuming way, lived their Christian life in the fullness of faith and love. Surely among them are many of our relatives, friends and acquaintances.
Ours, then, is a celebration of holiness. A holiness that is seen not so much in great deeds and extraordinary events, but rather in daily fidelity to the demands of our baptism. A holiness that consists in the love of God and the love of our brothers and sisters. A love that remains faithful to the point of self-renunciation and complete devotion to others. We think of the lives of all those mothers and fathers who sacrifice for their families and are prepared to forego – though it is not always easy – so many things, so many personal plans and projects.
Yet if there is one thing typical of the saints, it is that they are genuinely happy. They found the secret of authentic happiness, which lies deep within the soul and has its source in the love of God. That is why we call the saints blessed. The Beatitudes are their path, their goal, their native land. The Beatitudes are the way of life that the Lord teaches us, so that we can follow in his footsteps. In the Gospel of today’s Mass, we heard how Jesus proclaimed the Beatitudes before a great crowd on the hill by the Sea of Galilee.
The Beatitudes are the image of Christ and consequently of each Christian. Here I would like to mention only one: “Blessed are the meek”. Jesus says of himself: “Learn from me for I am meek and lowly in heart” (Mt 11:29). This is his spiritual portrait and it reveals the abundance of his love. Meekness is a way of living and acting that draws us close to Jesus and to one another. It enables us to set aside everything that divides and estranges us, and to find ever new ways to advance along the path of unity. So it was with sons and daughters of this land, including Saint Mary Elizabeth Hesselblad, recently canonized, and Saint Bridget, Birgitta of Vadstena, co-patron of Europe. They prayed and worked to create bonds of unity and fellowship between Christians. One very eloquent sign of this is that here in your country, marked as it is by the coexistence of quite different peoples, we are jointly commemorating the fifth centenary of the Reformation. The saints bring about change through meekness of heart. With that meekness, we come to understand the grandeur of God and worship him with sincere hearts. For meekness is the attitude of those who have nothing to lose, because their only wealth is God.
The Beatitudes are in some sense the Christian’s identity card. They identify us as followers of Jesus. We are called to be blessed, to be followers of Jesus, to confront the troubles and anxieties of our age with the spirit and love of Jesus. Thus we ought to be able to recognize and respond to new situations with fresh spiritual energy. Blessed are those who remain faithful while enduring evils inflicted on them by others, and forgive them from their heart. Blessed are those who look into the eyes of the abandoned and marginalized, and show them their closeness. Blessed are those who see God in every person, and strive to make others also discover him. Blessed are those who protect and care for our common home. Blessed are those who renounce their own comfort in order to help others. Blessed are those who pray and work for full communion between Christians. All these are messengers of God’s mercy and tenderness, and surely they will receive from him their merited reward.
Dear brothers and sisters, the call to holiness is directed to everyone and must be received from the Lord in a spirit of faith. The saints spur us on by their lives and their intercession before God, and we ourselves need one another if we are to become saints. Together let us implore the grace to accept this call with joy and to join in bringing it to fulfilment. To our heavenly Mother, Queen of All Saints, we entrust our intentions and the dialogue aimed at the full communion of all Christians, so that we may be blessed in our efforts and may attain holiness in unity[Original text: Spanish] [Vatican provided text]
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Boko Haram Terror in Cameroon: ‘We Are Still Alive Because We Were in Church’ by Eva-Maria Kolmann

The faithful of the Diocese of Maroua-Mokolo in Cameroon are very afraid of suicide bomber attacks by Boko Haram. The terrorist group may have suffered significant setbacks in neighboring Nigeria, but the jihadists continue to wreak havoc in Cameroon.
When local Bishop Bruno Ateba celebrates Mass outdoors, it’s now customary that the worshipers hold hands, forming a circle, to prevent suicide bombers from mingling unnoticed among members of the community. Plus, large handbags are barred and volunteers screen Mass-goers for weapons and explosives.
“Many of the suicide attacks are carried out by very young people,” the bishop told international Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need. He added that just last month two teenage girls blew themselves up in a local marketplace.
Nonetheless, the local Catholic community is undeterred from gathering: “Prayer is our strength and our hope. We need prayer! We want to pray! Prayer in community is a sign of hope,” said Bishop Ateba. And sometimes, the very act of prayer can save lives. Last February, during Lent, suicide bombers killed 20 people in the village of Mémé—the death toll would have been worse if many locals had not been inside a church praying the Stations of the Cross.
The bishop expressed dismay that the suffering of his flock fails to generate coverage by international media. “When something happens in Europe, the news immediately spreads around the entire world. It is like an earthquake. But if people die here in Cameroon or in other African countries, it is not a big issue,” he said.
The Diocese of Maroua-Mokolo also faces a huge humanitarian crisis as it is helping to care for close to 80,000 Nigerian refugees living in a camp; there are 5,000 Catholics among them. “Many of the people would like to return to their homeland, but they need safety and prospects! Many have already been there for four or five years and cannot go home,” Bishop Ateba said.
In addition to refugees, the diocese is also hosting 50,000 internally displaced Cameroonians, who fled villages right at the border with Nigeria. The local Church is a vital source of support for these IDPs.
Nonetheless, there are bright spots. Vocations are plentiful: there are 30 seminarians preparing for the priesthood. The bishop is also very happy with what he called the “wonderful dialogue” that has opened up with Muslims, despite the problems with Boko Haram. Many Muslim children—even the sons and daughters of religious leaders—are attending Catholic schools. “The average Muslim is also opposed to Boko Haram,” the prelate said.
Meanwhile, local Catholics continue to pray ardently for peace; “the hope of the people is primarily rooted in their belief in God. We trust in prayer. Prayer is our strength. And, despite the attacks, we will not stop gathering and asking God for this peace,” the bishop said.
Aid to the Church in Need spends some $1.8M on aid for Cameroon each year.
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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)
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Candidates for US Bishops’ President, Vice President by ZENIT Staff

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) will elect their next president and vice-president at the upcoming Plenary Assembly in Baltimore, Nov. 14-16. The elections are due to take place during the general assembly. Each office is elected from a slate of 10 candidates who have been nominated by their fellow bishops.
The slate of candidates for President and Vice President are as follows:

• Archbishop Gregory M. Aymond of New Orleans
• Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, OFM Cap., of Philadelphia
• Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of Oklahoma City
• Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston
• Bishop Daniel E. Flores of Brownsville
• Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles
• Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore
• Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron of Detroit
• Archbishop Thomas G. Wenski of Miami
• Archbishop John C. Wester of Santa Fe

The president and vice president are elected to three-year terms, which begin at the conclusion of the meeting. At that time, Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville, Kentucky and Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, will complete their terms as president and vice president, respectively.
USCCB by-laws provide that the first election is that of the president by simple majority vote of members present and voting. Following the election of the president, the vice-president is elected from the remaining nine candidates. In either election, if a candidate does not receive more than half of the votes cast on the first ballot, a second vote is taken. If a third round of voting is necessary, that ballot is a run-off between the two bishops who received the most votes on the second ballot.
During the meeting, the bishops will also vote for new chairmen of the following five USCCB committees: Committee on Canonical Affairs and Church Governance, Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis, Committee on International Justice and Peace, and the Committee on the Protection of Children and Young People.
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Auxiliary of Detroit Named Coadjutor of Guam’s Archdiocese by ZENIT Staff

Pope Francis has named Most Reverend Michael J. Byrnes, up until now Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Detroit, as Coadjutor Archbishop of the Diocese of Agana. The territory of the archdiocese of Agana comprises the island of Guam.
The appointment was made public in Washington, October 31, by Archbishop Christophe Pierre, Apostolic Nuncio to the United States.
Michael J. Byrnes was born in Detroit, Michigan, on Aug. 23, 1958. He pursued seminary studies at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit and was ordained a priest on May 25, 1996.
Assignments after ordination included serving as associate pastor at St. Joan of Arc Parish in St. Clair Shores and as an adjunct faculty member at Sacred Heart Major Seminary. He pursued post-graduate studies in 1999, at the Pontifical Gregorian University where he earned a Doctorate in Sacred Theology in 2003. Returning to Detroit, he joined the faculty of Sacred Heart Major Seminary and served as a weekend assistant at three Detroit parishes: Presentation/ Our Lady of Victory, St. Gregory the Great, and the Church of the Madonna. In 2004, he was named vice rector of Sacred Heart Major Seminary and served as pastor of Presentation/Our Lady of Victory.
Archbishop Byrnes was appointed auxiliary bishop of Detroit and titular bishop of Eguga, Tunisia, on March 22, 2011. He was ordained auxiliary bishop of Detroit, May, 5, 2011 and serves as episcopal vicar and regional moderator for the Northeast Region of the archdiocese. The appointment as coadjutor archbishop confers on Archbishop Byrnes the full power of a diocesan archbishop.
The diocese of Agana was established on October 14, 1965, as a suffragan of the Archdiocese of San Francisco, California. The diocese was elevated to a Metropolitan Archdiocese, May 20, 1984, with suffragan Sees of the Diocese of the Caroline Marshalls and Diocese of Chalan Kanoa (subsequently added January 13, 1985). A member of the Episcopal Conference of the Pacific (CEPAC) and of the Federation of Catholic Bishops Conference of Oceania (FCBCO), the archdiocese is also an observer to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Guam is an unincorporated Territory of the U.S.A. by an Act of U.S. Congress, July 21, 1949.
The Archdiocese of Agana comprises 215 square miles and has a population of 155,687 people, of whom 132,494 or 85%, are Catholic. The island, the largest and southernmost of the Marianas Islands, is located in the western Pacific.
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