HOW POPE FRANCIS' SYNOD 2024 ADDRESS; APOSTOLIC JOURNEY TO ASIA & OCEANIA; PAPAL FOODS & CARE GOODS ARRIVE.. (348 hits)
For Immediate Release From Vatican News!
(A Ten-minute Read)
Synod 2024 Address
You represent different institutes and religious orders of various foundation, whose origins range from the sixteenth to the twentieth century: Minims, Clerics Regular Minor, Augustinian Sisters of Divine Love, Clerics of Saint Viator, Reparatrix Sisters of the Sacred Heart and Missionary Sisters of Saint Anthony Mary Claret. In this diversity, you are a living image of the mystery of the Church, in which “to each is given the manifestation of the Holy Spirit for the common good” (1 Cor 12:7), so that the beauty of Christ may shine in all its splendour throughout the world. It was not by chance that the Fathers of the Church defined the spiritual life of consecrated men and women as “philokalía, or love of the divine beauty, which is the reflection of the divine goodness” (SAINT JOHN PAUL II, Apostolic Exhortation Vita Consecrata, 19). Yet, how often our steps along the journey of the spiritual life are far removed from our internal struggles, far removed from the love that should motivate us. I would like to take a moment and reflect with you on two aspects of your life that have much to do with precisely this: beauty and simplicity.
First: beauty. Truly, your histories, in the variety of their circumstances, times and places, are stories of beauty, for in them the grace and beauty of God’s face shines forth. In the Gospels, we see these made visible in Jesus: in his hands raised in prayer at times of intimacy with the Father (cf. Mt 14:23); in his heart full of compassion for his brothers and sisters (cf. Mk 6:34-44); in his eyes burning with zeal as he denounced injustices and abuse (cf. Mt 23:13-33); and in his feet, wearied by his long journeys to reach even the most poor and marginalized outposts of his land (cf. Mt 9:35).
Your Founders and Foundresses, prompted and guided by the Holy Spirit, were able to perceive this beauty and to transmit it in different ways according to the needs of their times. In doing so, they wrote marvellous pages of practical charity, courage, creativity and prophetic witness, spending themselves in caring for the weak, the sick, the elderly and children; in educating the young, in missionary preaching and in social commitment. These pages are now entrusted to you, so that you may carry on the work that they began.
The work of your Chapters is thus a summons for all of you to take up their witness – it is your task to take it and move forwards – and to continue, as they did, to seek out and spread the beauty of Christ in the concrete circumstances of today’s world. First, by listening attentively to the love that inspired them, and then letting yourselves be challenged by how they responded to that love: by the decisions and sacrifices that they made, at times with suffering, in order to be mirrors of the face of God for their contemporaries.
This brings us to the second aspect, which is simplicity. Each of your Founders and Foundresses, in different situations, chose what is truly essential and renounced what is superfluous. In this way, they allowed themselves to be shaped daily by the simplicity of God’s love shining forth in the Gospel. Because God’s love is simple, its beauty is simple, not a sophisticated beauty, no, but a simple, accessible beauty. As you prepare for your meetings, then, pray that the Lord will grant you the gift of simplicity, both as individuals and as part of the synodal processes in which you will play a role. Strip yourselves of everything that is unnecessary or might hold you back from listening attentively and preserving harmony in your discernment. Strip yourselves of: calculations, ambition – for ambition is a plague in the consecrated life, please be beware that it is a plague – envy, which is ugly in community life – I like to describe envy as the “yellow disease”, something ugly – making undue demands, rigidity and any other baneful temptation to self-interest. In this way, you will be able to interpret together, and wisely, the present moment, to discern within it the “signs of the times” (Gaudium et Spes, 4) and to make the best decisions for the future.
As men and women religious, you embraced poverty precisely in order to strip yourselves of all that is not love of Christ, to allow yourselves to be filled with his beauty, and make that beauty overflow into the world (cf. Laudato Si’, A Prayer for Our Earth). And to do so wherever the Lord sends you and for the benefit of all those whom he places on your path, especially through the exercise of obedience.
Cardinal Bo: Pope's visit will reach Asians transmitting faith in new homelands In a wide-ranging interview ahead of the Pope's upcoming Apostolic Journey to Asia, Cardinal Charles Maung Bo, the President of the Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences, offers Vatican Media an inside look at the upcoming Visit's significance. By Deborah Castellano Lubov
"It is enough to see that many of our churches are full during Sunday Masses. You will notice that many of the Asians who migrate to other countries, they keep their faith alive."
In a wide-ranging interview with Vatican Media, Cardinal Charles Maung Bo, Archbishop of Yangon, Myanmar, and the President of the Federation of the Asian Bishops' Conferences (FABC), described the Asia and Oceania that Pope Francis will be visiting during his Apostolic Journey to Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste, and Singapore, 2 - 13 September, marking his 45th Apostolic Journey abroad, and one of his several to Asia.
In the interview, Cardinal Bo details the vibrant and diverse Church that despite political, economic, social, environmental, and cultural challenges, and the fact that "it is not always easy to live out the Christian faith in some parts of Asia," "continues to not just be alive but dynamic in different ways."
Q: Pope Francis is making his 45th Apostolic Journey to Asia and Oceania after his last visits abroad, which was in September 2023. How do you evaluate the importance of this visit?
For many of the peoples of Asia, they only hear about the Pope and today more than before, they get to see him with the help of digital media. However, for the general population, the Pope is somewhat “distant.”
The coming of the Pope to Asia creates not only excitement but also a renewed zeal for the faith and gives the Asian people a renewed sense of the faith, because it demonstrates that the Asian peoples are not far from the mind and heart of the Pope.
What is more encouraging is that Pope Francis has chosen to visit smaller countries, less known to the world, like Papua New Guinea and Timor Leste, in this Visit to Asia, which thereby creates an opportunity for the world to get to know the Churches in these countries. There is excitement among the people not only because they get to see the Pope in person, but I am sure there will be a renewal in the life and faith of the local Churches.
Cardinal Zuppi and Chinese Government Representative Discuss War in Ukraine
The Holy See Press Office confirms a phone call between Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, who Pope Francis sent on a 2023 peace mission to Kyiv, Moscow, Washington and Beijing, and Li Hui, Beijing's delegate for Eurasian Affairs. By Vatican News
The Holy See Press Office confirmed on Thursday that yesterday morning, Wednesday, 14 August, "a cordial conversation" took place between Li Hui, Special Representative of the Chinese Government for Eurasian Affairs, and Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, the President of the Italian Bishops' Conference, whom the Pope entrusted with a peace mission last year, ‘within the framework of the mission entrusted to the Cardinal by Pope Francis for peace in Ukraine, and following the meeting in Beijing last September’.
"During the phone call", the statement read, "great concern was expressed about the situation and the need to foster dialogue between the Parties, with adequate international guarantees for a just and lasting peace".
Mission to pursue peaceful solutions Cardinal Zuppi had been sent in 2023 by Pope Francis with the aim of contributing to "easing the tensions in the conflict in Ukraine, in the hope, which the Holy Father has never given up, that this could start paths of peace".
Between June and July, the President of the Italian Bishops' Conference travelled to Kyiv, Moscow, and Washington, where he met with political and Church representatives.
In September 2023, Cardinal Zuppi travelled to Beijing, where he had talks with Li Hui and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China on the war in Ukraine and the need to unite efforts to foster dialogue and find paths to peace.
Blessed Mother accompanies the suffering In an editorial published in the daily newspaper Avvenire on 15 August, the Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary, the Cardinal dwelt on today's wounds in the world, a suffering, he suggested, that the Virgin Mary knows.
"The Mother knows pain and her pain makes us understand that of those who are suffering", he stressed, observing that today, on the Solemnity of the Blessed Mother, "there is always Mater Dolorosa [Mary, Mother of Sorrows] with the ‘seven swords’ that pierce her heart".
As the Cardinal appealed for overcoming divisions and pursuing peace, he observed how many images there are of Our Lady Mater Dolorosa in our countries.
"In particular", Cardinal Zuppi noted, "she is in Europe, in Russia and Ukraine, in the Holy Land, in the Middle East, in Africa and wherever in the world guilty wars are ignited and innocent victims fall".
********
Tanzania hosts 109th edition of the World Esperanto Congress The 109th World Esperanto Congress in Tanzania attracted 850 participants from 66 countries, focusing on scientific and cultural events, translations, and environmental issues. The International Union of Catholic Esperantists addressed environmental concerns, and included ecumenical services and a Holy Mass. By Marija Belošević*
From August 3-10, 2024, the Tanzanian city of Arusha hosted the 109th World Esperanto Congress. It's one of the most important conventions of Esperanto speakers, and saw 850 people participating from 66 countries and five continents. During the week, different programs took place including special, scientific and cultural programs. The International Union of Catholic Esperantists (IKUE – Internacia Katolika Unuiĝo Esperantista) played a key role in the event.
The convention's theme was “Language, man and environment for a better world,” and the International Union of Catholic Esperantists had edited two important translations in Esperanto: the encyclical “Laudato Si” while the second concerns the apostolic plea “Laudate Deum”. The translated texts are a result of the collaboration between ten or so expert Esperanto translators.
During the congress, a presentation was held of both editions, which sparked an interesting discussion regarding the protection of the environment and one’s awareness of the preservation of “our common home”.
President of the IKUE, Marija Belošević gave a speech on the theme of “Laudato Si” to contribute to the general theme of the congress.
During the congress week, the IKUE organised an ecumenical service and Mass, celebrated in the Cathedral of Saint Theresa of the Child Jesus, by Esperanto-speaking priest Gabriel Anda, from the Edea diocese in Cameroon.
This congress, which was held for the first time in Africa, gave many local Esperantists, many of whom are great speakers of the international language, he opportunity to meet and converse. Many were also interested in the Catholic Esperantists movement.
The Catholic Esperantists founded their organization at the beginning of the 20th Century. Right after the publication of two manuals and dictionaries by Lazzaro Ludovico Zamenhof in 1887, Catholics developed a strong interest in the language.
The pioneer of the Esperantists Catholic Movement was Fr. Emile Peltier, who dedicated himself to the publication of the international magazine “Espero Katolika” (Catholic Hope) in 1903, an official organ of the IKUE, which is currently one of the oldest Esperanto magazines of the world.
IMBISA strengthens its mission to look beyond 50 years of existence As the Inter-regional Meeting of Bishops of Southern Africa (IMBISA) prepares to celebrate its golden jubilee in 2025, the director and several members highlight efforts towards improving the efficiency of the Church's ministry in Southern Africa through IMBISA’s vision and shared mission. By Sr. Katleho Khang, SNJM
To mark the occasion of the existence of IMBISA, which is the result of the emerging needs of the Church in the Southern Africa region and the prophetic vision of the Second Vatican Council, the director of IMBISA Secretariat, Father Raphael Sopato, expressed his views on IMBISA's mission in the coming decades.
“IMBISA should be a true synodal journey experience worthy of being continued and deepened,” he told Vatican News. “This should be reached through the purpose of its foundation, which was to be a platform for communion and exchange of pastoral practices and union of efforts in the face of challenges and problems in the region.”
He indicated that IMBISA recognizes the growth of the faith particularly among the youth in the region. “The liveliness of the youth in our dioceses is significant,” he added, “since 2022 we have put more emphasis on young people, in line with Pope Francis as evidenced in Christus vivit.”
Fr. Sopato said that one of the major highlights is the number of vocations to the priesthood and religious life, which, he said, “all point to the fact that the faith that we received has grown tremendously.”
The journey migrants and refugees undertake across the Sahara Desert is more lethal than crossing the Mediterranean, Vincent Cochetel of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) explains to Vatican News. By Delphine Allaire
If the Mediterranean is a cemetery, the desert is a Calvary. In the latest report “On this journey, no one cares if you live or die,” published by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and the Mixed Migration Centre (MMC), the UNHCR interviewed 32,000 migrants and refugees, who described seeing bodies scattered in the Sahara sands. They confided their fear of dying during the crossing while fleeing their countries, a fatal journey for many. Over 60% of those who reach Libya say they have arrived at their final destination.
Vincent Cochetel, special envoy for the UN agency for the Western and Central Mediterranean, presented the document in Geneva at the beginning of July, and was interviewed by Vatican News.
Why is crossing the Sahara more dangerous than crossing the Mediterranean?
The first danger migrants and refugees speak of is attacks by criminal gangs that rob them of all their possessions. Women face a higher risk of s*xual violence on these routes. There is also violence from smugglers or threats from traffickers: extortion, forced labor, and sometimes s*xual exploitation. The dangers also come from border authorities, who abuse their position to extort money from these unfortunate individuals, not just on routes to North Africa or Europe by sea, but also on routes within and to the south of the African continent. They have seen people die in the desert, people who fell from trucks and were not picked up by the smugglers, and sick people abandoned in the middle of nowhere. Most have seen bodies along these roads in southern Algeria, northern Niger, and southern Libya, but also in other parts of the Sahara. When asked, "Do you know anyone who died at sea?" the responses are much fewer. Based on these testimonies, we believe many more people die on land than at sea.
Is the Sahara a "black hole" for NGOs and international institutions?
Absolutely. There are many black holes like this, where very few people have access. For international organizations, it is very difficult to go there due to extreme geographical conditions and because some governments do not want humanitarian organizations to witness this secret and unspoken violence. The phenomenon of deaths in the desert gets much less media coverage because it is less visible than a boat in distress in the Mediterranean. Humanitarian organizations need to find other channels of information: working more with traditional leaders and local authorities, who are witnesses and sometimes victims of these gangs. They need to work on a system for searching, identifying, and referring these people who control small towns and oases along these routes.
What is the profile of migrants attempting to cross the desert? Are their countries of origin changing?
Generally, the profile does not change much. We rely heavily on data provided by States. When migrants and refugees cross the Mediterranean to reach Europe, about one in two people receive asylum or humanitarian protection in Europe. One in two is thus considered in need of international protection. The other generally leaves their country for economic reasons or to study in Europe or elsewhere. In Africa, the situation is more or less the same. Most migrants and refugees remain within Africa. Seventy percent stay in the country next to their own with the intention of returning home when things get better. Recent changes impacting this mobility to North Africa include the Sudan crisis, with more than 10 million displaced, and the war in Mali and Burkina Faso, which has exiled many citizens. Not all head towards North Africa. Many Burkinabé head to Gulf of Guinea countries in West Africa.
After surviving the Sahara's dangers, do they still want to cross the Mediterranean to reach Europe?
In their home country, 21% of the interviewees had a destination in mind, and, regardless of the dangers, were determined to do their best. Seventy-nine percent
Cardinal Krajewski: Pope's Care for Ukraine Continues as Papal aid Arrives in Kharkiv
Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, the Papal Almoner, announces the arrival of several truckloads of food, clothing, hygiene products, and medicines, which Pope Francis had sent to Ukraine's Kharkiv region. By Salvatore Cernuzio
The Pope's charity reaches the heart of the conflict in Ukraine, arriving in Kharkiv, one of the regions most affected by Russian bombardments.
The trucks arrived on August 12, carrying food (especially non-perishables), baby food, personal hygiene products, clothing, medicines, and other essential goods, after having departed from Rome last Thursday, August 8.
The entire operation was managed by the Dicastery for Charity, led by the Dicastery's Prefect, Cardinal Konrad Krajewski.
The Swiss Guards' help
This latest act of solidarity by the Pope—who has continuously sent gifts and even ambulances to the population suffering from the conflict since the war began, with Cardinal Krajewski personally delivering aid during a dozen trips to Ukraine—was supported by a group of Pontifical Swiss Guards.
The young soldiers spent several hours loading the trucks by hand at the Roman Basilica of Santa Sofia, filling them with boxes up to the roof.
Exarch of Kharkiv's gratitude
The humanitarian aid sent from Rome has now arrived in the Kharkiv region and has been shared with the local Greek-Catholic Church.
In a video sent to Vatican News, Greek-Catholic Bishop Vasyl Tuchapets of the Kharkiv Exarchate expressed his gratitude to the Pope and the Holy See for this gesture of closeness.
Behind him in the video is the Cathedral of St. Nicholas, where a collection center for the aid has been set up.
“Praised be Jesus Christ," he said. "Humanitarian aid from Rome has arrived at our cathedral. I especially want to thank Father Marco Semehen, who organized the collection for the people of Kharkiv suffering because of the war. I also thank the Association of Santa Sofia, the volunteers, and the members of the Roman community who prepared and sent this aid. We have received items that people are always asking for, as well as other things they need.”
Bishop Tuchapets particularly expressed his gratitude to Cardinal Krajewski for this aid and to the Holy See for its support.
“Recently,” he said, “many people have been evacuated from areas near the Russian border, especially from Vovchansk and Lyptsi, where fighting is ongoing."
Many of these people, he explained, "have arrived in Kharkiv and come to us daily asking for food and other essential items, such as bed linens and dishes, because they often had to flee with only their documents in hand to save their lives."
"Therefore," he said, "this humanitarian aid is truly important, and I thank all the benefactors who have responded to our appeal and decided to help the people of Kharkiv suffering from the war. We pray for all the benefactors. May God bless you.”
Gifts from the Pope for Ukraine
Cardinal Krajewski also expressed his satisfaction when contacted by Vatican News. “It is truly a joy to receive the news that the trucks with the Holy Father's gifts and those of many Romans have arrived safely in Ukraine," he said.
"Earlier, we couldn't reveal the location for security reasons," said Cardinal Krajewski. "These are the most heavily bombed areas, where people are suffering greatly.”
The Cardinal also thanked the Swiss Guards, who spent “many, many hours” loading the trucks, and also “many, many, many Romans, who were very generous. Really, thank you, thank you, thank you.”
"Naturally, thanks also go to the Pope," he added, "who once again showed his concrete closeness to the martyred Ukraine, which he mentions in every public appeal, urging the faithful not to forget it."
********
Catholic youth group in Nepal releases short film on Indigenous culture and faith A Catholic youth group in Nepal has released a short documentary film highlighting the cultural traditions of the Tamang community in Tipling, marking the 30th International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples. By LiCAS News
Produced by members of the FA MULAN SIGNIS group in the International Movement of Catholic Students (IMCS), the film, titled "The Convergence of Indigenous Tamang Tradition and Catholic Faith in Tipling," offers a rare glimpse into how the Tamang people integrate their Indigenous customs with Catholic beliefs.
The documentary captures various Indigenous practices unique to the Tamang community, such as traditional hair-cutting rituals and salt inaugurations. These practices serve as a testament to their strong cultural identity, which has been preserved despite the community’s embrace of Catholicism.
The film explores how these ancient customs are harmoniously woven into the community’s Catholic faith.
“As Indigenous people, we are very much connected with nature and the ethos, cosmology, and philosophy. I think this is one of the reasons that the Tipling people are interested in Christianity and accept it,” Bishop Paul Simick, Apostolic Vicar of Nepal and the Titular Bishop of Maturba, said in the film.
The documentary also features interviews with Indigenous community members, from youth to elders, and faith leaders.
Their perspectives provide a deeper understanding of how the Catholic Tamang community in Tipling merges their Indigenous practices with their faith, offering a unique narrative of cultural and religious convergence.
