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NEW YORK (AP) -- Donald Trump embraced new Cabinet officers Wednesday whose backgrounds suggest he's primed to put tough actions behind his campaign rhetoric on immigration and the environment, even as he seemed to soften his yearlong stance on immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as children....
(Vatican Radio) US Secretary of State John Kerry and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov are meeting in Germany to discuss efforts to halt fighting in the devastated Syrian city of Aleppo. The two are meeting in the northern city of Hamburg on the sidelines of a gathering of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe that opens Thursday.Listen to the report by Stefan Bos: Secretary of State Kerry, who is on a farewell tour in Europe, and Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov meet at a time of mounting East-West tensions over how to end Syria's five-year civil war that has killed some 400,000 people.The focus of their talks will be on Aleppo as it has become a symbol of suffering.American officials have condemned what they view as the indiscriminate bombing of eastern Aleppo by Russian-backed Syrian government forces and reiterated their calls for a humanitarian pause in the fighting, a step that Russian and Chinese diplomats previously vetoed at the Un...
(Vatican Radio) US Secretary of State John Kerry and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov are meeting in Germany to discuss efforts to halt fighting in the devastated Syrian city of Aleppo. The two are meeting in the northern city of Hamburg on the sidelines of a gathering of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe that opens Thursday.
Listen to the report by Stefan Bos:
Secretary of State Kerry, who is on a farewell tour in Europe, and Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov meet at a time of mounting East-West tensions over how to end Syria's five-year civil war that has killed some 400,000 people.
The focus of their talks will be on Aleppo as it has become a symbol of suffering.
American officials have condemned what they view as the indiscriminate bombing of eastern Aleppo by Russian-backed Syrian government forces and reiterated their calls for a humanitarian pause in the fighting, a step that Russian and Chinese diplomats previously vetoed at the United Nations.
However ahead of Wednesday's talks, Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov said Russia wanted to start talks with the United States this week on a deal for rebels to leave eastern Aleppo. Any who refused, would be regarded as terrorists,
subject to deadly assault.
CLOSE TO DEAL
Lavrov also said that Russia and the United States were close to an agreement. He added that Kerry submitted a proposal for the routes and timing of the fighters’ departure after meeting with Lavrov in Rome over the weekend.
And Lavrov told an international conference that Russia had begun delivering humanitarian aid to the area. The United Nations for one reason or another I don't know is not yet moving on this issue," he said.
"And we decided you know not to wait and we are sending Russian humanitarian assistance to east Aleppo. We deployed two mobile hospitals, we send doctors, medicines, medical equipment and this hospitals already function to help the Syrian civilians in east Aleppo," Lavrov added.
Yet, the United States, Britain and France have led a joint call for an immediate ceasefire to allow more international aid to reach Aleppo, in an appeal backed by Canada, Germany and Italy.
After his talks with Lavrov in Hamburg, Kerry was expected to continue on to Paris to take part in a separate meeting on Syria, organized by his French, German and Qatari counterparts.
Vatican City, Dec 7, 2016 / 12:37 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The updated version of the Vatican's document on priestly formation, released Wednesday, deals with issues of clericalism, homosexuality, and the protection of minors, among other things.“To be a good priest, in addition to having passed all the exams, a demonstrated human, spiritual and pastoral maturation is necessary,” Cardinal Beniamino Stella, prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy, told L'Osservatore Romano Dec. 7. He was commenting on The Gift of the Priestly Vocation, his department's new edition of its “fundamentals of priestly formation.”“I think it is superfluous to add that other minor innovations could be gathered from the text, from the standpoint of approaches to the question, vocabulary used, the formative methodology proposed, and the impulse given by the current Pontifical Magisterium,” Cardinal Stella added.Media coverage of the document has emphasized that i...
Vatican City, Dec 7, 2016 / 12:37 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The updated version of the Vatican's document on priestly formation, released Wednesday, deals with issues of clericalism, homosexuality, and the protection of minors, among other things.
“To be a good priest, in addition to having passed all the exams, a demonstrated human, spiritual and pastoral maturation is necessary,” Cardinal Beniamino Stella, prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy, told L'Osservatore Romano Dec. 7. He was commenting on The Gift of the Priestly Vocation, his department's new edition of its “fundamentals of priestly formation.”
“I think it is superfluous to add that other minor innovations could be gathered from the text, from the standpoint of approaches to the question, vocabulary used, the formative methodology proposed, and the impulse given by the current Pontifical Magisterium,” Cardinal Stella added.
Media coverage of the document has emphasized that it reaffirms the existing Vatican instruction that homosexuals may not be admitted to seminaries.
The Gift of the Priestly Vocation quotes from the Congregation for Catholic Education's 2005 instruction on the matter in saying that “the Church … cannot admit to the seminary or to holy orders those who practise homosexuality, present deep-seated homosexual tendencies or support the so-called 'gay culture'.”
It distinguishes such cases from those in which homosexual tendencies “were only the expression of a transitory problem,” and itself states that “it must be remembered that, in a relationship of sincere dialogue and mutual trust, the seminarian is obliged to reveal to his formators … doubts or difficulties he should have in this regard.”
The document then goes on to discuss protection of minors and the accompaniment of victims, saying this must be given “the greatest attention” and that the Church must be vigilant that seminarians “have not been involved in any way with any crime or problematic behaviour in this area” and that “formators must ensure that those who have had painful experience in this area receive special and suitable accompaniment.”
It adds that lessons on the protection of minors are to be included in formation, including how to deal with exploitation and violence such as trafficking of minors, child labor, and sexual abuse of minors or vulnerable adults.
The document also recommends that bishops responsible for seminaries be in dialogue with the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, established by Pope Francis in 2013.
Clericalism is discussed within the context of priestly identity as the basis and purpose of formation. The Gift of the Priestly Vocation says that seminarians “should be educated so that they do not become prey to 'clericalism', nor yield to the temptation of modelling their lives on the search for popular consensus. This would inevitably lead them to fall short in exercising their ministry as leaders of the community, leading them to think about the Church as a merely human institution.”
It reiterates that priestly ordination, while making its recipient “a leader of the people”, “should not lead him to 'lord it over' the flock.”
Cardinal Stella noted to L'Osservatore Romano that the new version of “the fundamentals” was necessary because “the historical, socio-cultural and ecclesiastical contexts have changed” since the document was last updated in 1985.
Significant changes have happened regarding “the image or vision of the priest, the spiritual needs of the People of God, the challenges of the new evangelization, the language of communication, and many more,” he said. “It seemed that the formation of Priests needed to be revamped, renewed, and restored to the centre.”
He added that the congregation had “been encouraged and illuminated by the Teaching of Pope Francis.”
The cardinal recalled the four pillars of priestly formation: human, spiritual, intellectual, and pastoral.
Regarding the human pillar, he said there is a particular stress on the fact that “one cannot be a priest without balance of mind and heart and without affective maturity, and every unresolved lacuna or problem in this area risks becoming gravely harmful, both for the person as well as for the People of God.”
To this end, The Gift of the Priestly Vocation emphasizes the necessity of a “propaedeutic period” in seminaries, known in some places as a “spirituality year” prior to full-time academic work.
Cardinal Stella also said that vocational discernment is insisted upon, in an effort “to overcome a conveyor belt mentality which developed in the past.” He said bishops and formators “are called to exercise a shrewd vigilance regarding the suitability of each candidate, without haste or superficiality.”
An effort at “integral formation” is central to the document, and so, the cardinal said, beside the traditional division of formation into the stages of philosophical and theological studies, there has been added a threefold division of discipleship, configuration, and pastoral stages.
To each of these new stages there “corresponds an itinerary and a formative content, orientated toward an assimilation with the image of the Good Shepherd,” he said.
Cardinal Stella sees humanity, spirituality, and discernment as the “keywords” which form the foundation of the document's vision.
“I cannot sufficiently insist upon the need that seminarians be accompanied through a growth process which will … help them become persons who are humanly balanced, serene and stable,” he said. “Only in this way will it be possible to have Priests with friendly traits, who are authentic, loyal, interiorly free, affectively stable, capable of weaving together peaceful interpersonal relationships and living the evangelical counsels without rigidity, hypocrisy or loopholes.”
Regarding spirituality, Cardinal Stella said that priestly identity is founded on the priest as “a disciple passionately in love with the Lord.”
“Only in this way – cultivating his spiritual life with discipline and expressly dedicated time – can old sacral and bureaucratic views of ministry be surpassed, so that we may have Priests passionately motivated by the Gospel, capable of 'feeling with the Church' and being, like Jesus, compassionate and merciful 'Samaritans.'”
On discernment, the prefect said that “who follows the Gospel way and who immerses himself in life in the Spirit, overcomes both an ideological as well as a rigorist approach, discovering that the processes and situations of life cannot be classified through inflexible schemata or abstract norms, but instead need listening, dialogue, and interpretations of the heart’s movements.”
He emphasized the importance of spiritual direction in enabling seminarians to grow in discernment.
Concluding, Cardinal Stella encouraged priests, saying: “The Lord never offers less than his promises, and if you have called upon him, he will make his light shine upon you, whether you live in darkness, aridity, fatigue or a moment of pastoral failure.”
“I would like to recommend to priests that they not let the healthy disquiet, which maintains their progress on the right path, be extinguished! Do not neglect prayer, take great care with your spiritual life, remain disposed daily to form yourselves and let yourselves be sustained and taught by pastoral life and by the People of God. We must remain vigilant, as this time of Advent suggests, not to let habit or mediocrity deaden the gift which the Lord has given to us.”
By Cindy WoodenVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Catholic Church needs holy,healthy and humble priests and that requires prayers for vocations and thecareful selection and training of candidates, said the Congregation for Clergy.Updating 1985 guidelines for preparing men for theLatin-rite priesthood and ensuring their continuing education, training andsupport, the Congregation for Clergy Dec. 7 released "The Gift of thePriestly Vocation," a detailed set of guidelines and norms for priestlyformation.The updated document draws heavily on St. John Paul II's 1992apostolic exhortation on priestly formation, as well as on the teaching of andnorms issued by now-retired Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis and by Vaticanoffices over the past three decades.It reaffirms an instruction approved by Pope Benedict in2005, which said, "the church, while profoundly respecting the persons inquestion, cannot admit to the seminary or to holy orders those who practice homosexuality,present deep-seated homosexua...
By Cindy Wooden
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Catholic Church needs holy, healthy and humble priests and that requires prayers for vocations and the careful selection and training of candidates, said the Congregation for Clergy.
Updating 1985 guidelines for preparing men for the Latin-rite priesthood and ensuring their continuing education, training and support, the Congregation for Clergy Dec. 7 released "The Gift of the Priestly Vocation," a detailed set of guidelines and norms for priestly formation.
The updated document draws heavily on St. John Paul II's 1992 apostolic exhortation on priestly formation, as well as on the teaching of and norms issued by now-retired Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis and by Vatican offices over the past three decades.
It reaffirms an instruction approved by Pope Benedict in 2005, which said, "the church, while profoundly respecting the persons in question, cannot admit to the seminary or to holy orders those who practice homosexuality, present deep-seated homosexual tendencies or support the so-called 'gay culture.'"
The document insists that through courses in pastoral theology, the example of priests and practical experience, candidates for the priesthood learn that priestly ministry involves -- as Pope Francis says -- being "shepherds 'with the smell of the sheep,' who live in their midst to bring the mercy of God to them."
Highlighting lessons learned over the past 30 years from the clerical sexual abuse scandal, the new guidelines state, "The greatest attention must be given to the theme of the protection of minors and vulnerable adults, being vigilant lest those who seek admission to a seminary or to a house of formation, or who are already petitioning to receive holy orders have not been involved in any way with any crime or problematic behavior in this area."
Seminars and courses on the protection of children and vulnerable adults must be part of both seminary education and the continuing education of priests, it says. And bishops must be very cautious about accepting candidates for the priesthood who have been dismissed from other seminaries.
In the end, each bishop is responsible for determining which candidate for priesthood he will ordain, but the guidelines strongly encourage bishops to accept the judgment of seminary rectors and staff who determine a certain candidate is unsuitable.
"Experience has shown that when ordinaries (bishops) have not accepted the negative judgment of the community of formators, it has been the cause of great suffering in many cases, both for the candidates themselves and for the local churches," the document says.
Reaffirming the requirement that seminarians study Catholic social teaching, the document says the education must include a study of climate change and other environmental threats.
"Protecting the environment and caring for our common home -- the Earth -- belong fully to the Christian outlook on man and reality," the document says. Catholic priests must be "promoters of an appropriate care for everything connected to the protection of creation."
Seminarians should be encouraged to use social media to build relationships and for evangelization, the guidelines say, but seminary personnel will need to help the students use the media wisely and in a way that is healthy.
Psychologists, whether or not on the staff of the seminary, can provide valuable help to the seminary rector and diocesan bishop "in the assessment of personality, expressing an opinion as to the psychological health of the candidate and in therapeutic accompaniment, in order to shed light on any problems that may emerge and to assist in growth in human maturity," the document says.
The Congregation for Clergy recommends that women be on the staff of seminaries or teach at the universities where the candidates study and that seminarians' ability to relate to and work with women be considered in the candidate's evaluation, since the majority of parishioners with whom the future priest will work are women.
The guidelines, which are to be adapted by national bishops' conferences, include an outline of the stages, prayer life and specific subjects to be studied during the six or more years of preparation for priestly ordination.
But the guidelines also acknowledge that many of the skills needed to be a good priest cannot be learned in a classroom. They are the result of prayer, self-discipline and seeking to model one's behavior on that of Christ, the document says.
"The call to be pastors of the people of God requires a formation that makes future priests experts in the art of pastoral discernment, that is to say, able to listen deeply to real situations and capable of good judgment in making choices and decisions," it says. "To make pastoral discernment effective, the evangelical style of listening must take central place. This frees the pastor from the temptation of abstraction, to self-promotion, to excessive self-assurances and to that aloofness that would make him a 'spiritual accountant' instead of a good Samaritan."
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Editors: The text of the document in English can be found at:
http://www.clerus.va/content/dam/clerus/Ratio%20Fundamentalis/The%20Gift%20of%20the%20Priestly%20Vocation.pdf
The text in Spanish is available at: http://www.clerus.va/content/dam/clerus/Ratio%20Fundamentalis/El%20Don%20de%20la%20vocaci%c3%b3n%20presbiteral.pdf
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