Catholic News 2

(Vatican Radio) A life of service to the Gospel should be at the heart of a seminarian’s formative journey. That was the message of Cardinal Fernando Filoni, in a homily given to students for the priesthood during a November 7th to 10th visit to Zambia.

The Cardinal, who is Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples, was preaching at Mass in St Dominic’s Seminary in Lusaka. He reminded the seminarians that a life at the service of the Gospel and the church’s mission of evangelisation is the mark of the life of authentic disciples of Jesus.

“The life of Jesus’ closest disciples, which is what we are called to be, is shaped by concrete love, a love, in other words, marked by service and availability. It is a life that has no closed spaces or private property for our own use, or at least there shouldn’t be. Those who choose to model their entire life on Jesus no longer choose their own places; they go where they are sent in ready response to the one who calls.”

The Cardinal went on to call on the seminarians to reject a safe and comfortable life. Rather, he said “have courage to fully offer yourselves, the best years of your life, in full availability to your Bishop and to the poor and marginalized.”

Touching on the subject of temptation, the cardinal warned that “We can be tempted to follow Jesus for ambition: ambition for money or power…In our life as disciples of Jesus, there must be no room for personal ambition, for money, for worldly importance. We follow Jesus to the very last step of his earthly life: the cross.”

Cardinal Filoni also highlighted the importance of celibacy as a tool to free priests and seminarians to be completely at the service of the Gospel.

The full text of the Cardinal's homily may be found below.

Homily at St. Dominic’s Major Seminary, Lusaka, Tuesday, 8 November 2016

Dear Brothers in Christ,

It is a joy to be with you here at St. Dominic’s Major Seminary. Having been sent to Malawi as the Holy Father’s Special Envoy on the occasion of the Consecration of the Cathedral in Karonga, afforded me the opportunity to also draw close to the Church in Zambia. At this time, I would like to convey to all of you the greeting and Apostolic Blessing of His Holiness Pope Francis. As Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, I would like to greet and thank the Very Reverend Father Kennedy Seketa, Rector of this seminary, for the cordial welcome, and all Rectors and formators here present for your service to the Church’s mission of evangelization, carried out so effectively through the education and formation of the next generation of priests. To His Excellency, the Most Rev. Julio Murat, Apostolic Nuncio to Zambia, I thank you for all the hard work in organizing this visit. On behalf of the Missionary Dicastery in Rome, I would like to extend a word of gratitude to the Episcopal Conference and the Most Rev. Benjamin Phiri, Auxiliary Bishop of Chipata and Bishop-Director for Seminaries, for the dedicated leadership of the programs of priestly formation in Zambia.

I would like to direct this brief reflection to you seminarians, whom I now greet and to whom I convey the support and affection of our Holy Father Pope Francis. The liturgy of the Word for today presents us with a passage from the Gospel of Luke, in which we hear Jesus exhorting his Apostles, “When you have done all you have been commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged to do’” (v. 10). Jesus is reminding his followers of the principle duty of Christian discipleship: service. This obligation and willingness ‘to serve and not to be served’ arises as a response to the generous gift of Mercy and salvation we have first received from God. As we heard in the first Reading, “The grace of God has appeared, saving all and training us to reject godless ways.” God has come to us in the Person of Jesus Christ, “who gave himself for us to deliver us from all lawlessness and to cleanse for himself a people as his own.” We are the recipients of the greatest gift imaginable: life in Christ here on this earth and eternal life with the Blessed Trinity in Heaven. The heart that is aware of the gift of Salvation, which we receive, will be drawn to a proper response of loving service to God and others.

The aspect of service, dear seminarians, should be at the heart of your formative journey.[1] A life of service to the Gospel and the Church’s mission of evangelization is the mark of the life of authentic disciples of Jesus. Our Holy Father Pope “The life of Jesus’ closest disciples, which is what we are called to be, is shaped by concrete love, a love, in other words, marked by service and availability. It is a life that has no closed spaces or private property for our own use, or at least there shouldn’t be. Those who choose to model their entire life on Jesus no longer choose their own places; they go where they are sent in ready response to the one who calls.”[2] Francis, in addressing the seminarians at World Youth Day in Poland, put it this way, The vastness of missionary work urges me to invite you to not limit yourselves to little projects or desire a comfortable and safe life, rather have courage to fully offer yourselves, the best years of your life, in full availability to your Bishop and to the poor and marginalized. Nevertheless, as even happened with some of the Apostles, “We can be tempted to follow Jesus for ambition: ambition for money or power…In our life as disciples of Jesus, there must be no room for personal ambition, for money, for worldly importance. We follow Jesus to the very last step of his earthly life: the cross.”[3]

In order to live out the vocation of generous service to God and His People as priests of Jesus Christ, we must be grounded in prayer and our commitment to celibacy. We are called to a daily dialogue with Christ, meeting Him in the tabernacle and developing a personal friendship with the Lord. As Pope Francis has reminded us, “The way to seek God is through prayer that is transparent and unafraid to hand over to him our troubles, our struggles and our resistance…He is happy when we tell him everything: He is not bored with our lives, which he already knows; he waits for us to tell him even about the events of our day.”[4] We are called to follow the Word of God in prayer and not the voices of the world that we hear on the streets or through the computer. The Word of God and a personal relationship with Jesus through prayer will never fail us.

Finally, dear seminarians, God may be calling you to a life of committed service to his Church to be lived out in the free choice of a life of celibacy. When fully embraced it frees us to follow Jesus more closely. Celibacy draws us into close conformity to Jesus and enables a life of generous service to others. Remember that the Holy Spirit, the font of holiness, is ever-present with the strength necessary to follow Christ by entering into his spousal love for his Bride, the Church, through a life of chaste celibacy.

I am happy to hear that you have spent time reflecting on the theme of Mercy throughout this past year. As this Year of Mercy draws to a close, we are reminded that “each of us holds in his or her heart a very personal page of the book of God’s mercy. It is the story of our own calling, the voice of the love that attracted us and transformed our life, leading us to leave everything at his word and to follow him.”[5] Never forget how much God has done for you. Trust that He will always provide for your needs and do not be afraid to follow Jesus wherever he leads you. Thank you for your openness to God’s will and your willingness to boldly follow Christ’s invitation to “Come, follow me.” God bless you!

[1] John Paul II, Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Pastores Dabo Vobis, nn. 21-23.

[2] Pope Francis, Homily during Mass with Priests, Religious and Seminarians at World Youth Day 2016.

[3] Pope Francis, Address to Clergy, Men and Women Religious and Seminarians, Nairobi (Kenya), 26 November 2015.

[4] Pope Francis, Homily during Mass with Priests, Religious and Seminarians at World Youth Day 2016.

[5] Ibid.

Full Article

(Vatican Radio) The Holy See’s permanent observer to the United Nations organisations in Geneva, Archbishop Ivan Jurkovic, urged countries to work together to win the war against the proliferation of biological weapons.

His words came on Monday as part of an address to the 8th review conference of the Biological Weapons Convention.

Please find below the full statement by Archbishop Ivan Jurkovic, Permanent Representative of the Holy See to the United Nations and Other International Organizations in Geneva

Mr. President,

At the outset, Ambassador Molnár, allow me to congratulate you on your election as President of this 8th Review Conference of the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC). The Holy See Delegation offers you its full support for a successful and effective outcome.

The BWC was the first multilateral treaty to ban a whole category of weapons of mass destruction. By stigmatizing biological weapons the BWC managed to create a clear international norm which must be continually strengthened.

We are confronted today with unprecedented complexity in the international security system: breakthroughs in life sciences are posing increasingly difficult challenges to the implementation of the BWC; traditional and non-traditional security threats are more and more intertwined; the threat of the illegal acquisition, production and use of biological agents by terrorists is increasing; the frequent spread of pandemics threatens global health and security.

Mr. President,

The Holy See Delegation would like to add its voice to address the most important issues on the agenda, especially those relevant to the effectiveness of the Convention.

The BWC is an essential pillar of international disarmament and security and its Preamble affirms that the use of biological weapons “would be repugnant to the conscience of mankind and that no effort should be spared to minimize this risk”. Using life to indiscriminately destroy life, using science to spread death instead of curing diseases and alleviating suffering, is contrary to human dignity.

The very nature and purpose of the BWC framework offers a chance to underline and understand the direct link between disarmament and development, and their mutually reinforcing relationship. The right to participate in the fullest possible exchange of equipment, materials and scientific and technological information about the use of bacteriological agents and toxins for peaceful purposes is set out in Article X of the BWC, with the understanding that safety, security and non-proliferation are an essential part of the equation. In this regard, an effective implementation of Art. X could also serve as a good incentive for the universalization of the membership of the BWC.

The recent naturally occurring outbreaks of diseases are an example of the relationship between disarmament and development: they highlight the limitations of the national and international response. We know how quickly these outbreaks can spread across borders and how vulnerable public health systems are, especially in the poorest countries; a response that would likely be even more difficult and strained in the case of an intentional use of biological weapons, especially if it occurred during an armed conflict.

For these reasons, it is important that State Parties continue and strengthen support for capacity-building in States Parties in need of assistance through international cooperation, while coordinating and creating synergies with international and regional organizations and stakeholders. Given their very nature, diseases do not respect borders, so it is in everyone’s interest that our neighbors can rely on robust national health systems. In this regard, development is truly another name for peace and justice.

Additionally, the lack of an institutional mechanism for assistance under the BWC must be re-assessed: there is a need for clear procedures when submitting requests for assistance or when responding to a case of alleged use of biological or toxin weapons. This is of the utmost importance, considering that there are no specific direct provisions for the victims of such attacks.

Advances in science and technology and international cooperation and assistance are strictly interconnected and lie at the very heart of the BWC. As we witness more remarkable breakthroughs in life sciences through more sophisticated genetic engineering and synthetic biology, the BWC finds itself operating within a rapidly changing scientific and technological context. These advances bring positive opportunities for peaceful uses, for new treatments and cures for diseases or for improvements to the environment; but the same knowledge and equipment can be too easily diverted for hostile purposes. Because of this dual-use nature, a systematic and periodic review of science and technology in relation with the BWC is needed if we want to avoid seeing our Convention become irrelevant.

In this regard, education plays a crucial role in addressing the issue of misuse at its roots. National codes of conduct and ethical training should be developed and respected. All stakeholders should join forces: scientists, universities, industries, government, and international agencies should all together feel responsible for the use of biotechnology to promote life and an integral human development. As Pope Francis reminds us: “...we need constantly to rethink the goals, effects, overall context and ethical limits of this human activity, which is a form of power involving considerable risks.” (Laudato Si’, 131)

Capabilities to produce biological weapons are accessible to a wider range of actors, as is witnessed in the growth of “do-it-yourself biology” and “garage labs”. No State alone can win the war against the proliferation of biological weapons. The efforts to prevent non-State actors from acquiring, producing or using chemical and biological weapons require a collective will and joint action in the fields of safety and biosecurity, as well as increased international cooperation and assistance and strengthened capacity-building.

Finally, the Holy See Delegation wishes to express its appreciation for the dedication and good work of the ISU. The ISU should be strengthened, in particular through the addition of technical expertise concerning crucial aspects of the BWC: namely, international assistance and cooperation and the Science and Technology review process.

Mr. President,

Disarmament and non-proliferation instruments are only as successful as State Parties’ commitment to implement them. Today’s complacency is tomorrow’s catastrophe. The Holy See wishes success to this 8th Review Conference, through our common commitment to protecting our people from the real risks we are facing in the field of biology.

Thank you, Mr. President!

Full Article

Philadelphia, Pa., Nov 8, 2016 / 06:53 am (CNA/EWTN News).- While reading the Bible may be associated with Protestantism in the minds of some, love of Scripture is at the core of the Catholic Church, said the apostolic nuncio to the United States.

“The love and veneration of the Word of God is an expression of the heart of the Catholic Church which is increasingly promoting a ‘new hearing’ of God’s Word through the new evangelization of our cultures,” Archbishop Christophe Pierre said Oct. 26. “This new hearing is a recovering of the centrality of the divine Word in our Christian life and in our dialogue with those who do not share our Catholic faith.”

The archbishop addressed a gathering of the American Bible Society in Philadelphia, where the 200-year-old organization is now based. The non-denominational organization is dedicated to translating, publishing and distributing editions of the Bible.

Among those present for the nuncio’s remarks were Archbishop of Philadelphia Charles J. Chaput and Dr. Roy Peterson, the president and CEO of the American Bible Society.

Archbishop Pierre said Sacred Scripture is “at the very heart of the Christian life.” He noted the ancient Catholic tradition to teach and pray Sacred Scripture. The Church Fathers venerated God’s word and prayed it through the practice of Lectio Divina.

“The nature of the Sacred Scriptures calls for an audience of faith who opens the sacred texts to discover the presence of the living God speaking to the soul of the believer,” he said.

This has helped drive the Church’s concerns for proper renditions and translations of the sacred texts, the nuncio recounted.

Different Latin variants of Sacred Scripture in the early Church put at risk the shared story of the Church. In the year 382, responding to concerns about the variant texts of the Bible, Pope Damasus I commissioned St. Jerome to revise the texts for a new version “that would embrace more faithfully the truth of the revelation,” the archbishop noted.

“His dedication to Scripture motivated Jerome to further study the Hebrew and the Semitic tradition involved in the sacred texts. Thus Jerome grew in a deeper and more profound union with the mystery of God though the knowledge of Scriptures,” Archbishop Pierre said.

Over time, the Latin language itself became an obstacle to spreading the Biblical message, as Latin’s use became restricted to a small group of educated people. The Latin Vulgate maintained its dominance as the official version of Scripture in the Roman Catholic Church, while other translations were regarded with suspicion for misleading the faithful.

“The love and devotion of the Catholic Church was, and continues to be, the true motivation behind the faithful custody and zealous preservation of the truth that God wanted put into sacred writings for the sake of salvation,” the archbishop said.

He reflected on Martin Luther’s “painful separation” from the Catholic Church. Though he praised the Protestant leader’s dedication to accessible Scripture, he noted that Luther modified the biblical canon from 46 books to 39 and modified the Letter of the Romans’ text to add his concept of “through faith alone.”

The response to the Protestant movement by the Council of Trent established that all Sacred Scripture “must be read according to the spirit in which they were written.”

“This implies that Scripture must go hand-in-hand with the holy Tradition preserved in the ecclesiastic experience of the faith of the apostles,” Archbishop Pierre said.

The development of different languages continued to separate people from a close reading of the Latin Scriptures and, the archbishop said, separated them from “having a personal encounter with the risen Lord manifested in the Bible.”

“The separation produced by the Protestant Reform left a painful wound in the mystical body of Christ and as a consequence of this, the belief that a personal reading of the Bible is a typical Protestant practice grew in the common Catholic mindset,” he said. “The reality manifested in our Roman Catholic Tradition, however, indicates that this common assumption is far from the truth.”

Archbishop Pierre recounted developments since the pontificate of Pope Leo XIII. In the mid-20th century, Pope Pius XII opened the way for translation of Scripture to help Christians return to the sources of faith, while the Second Vatican Council opened the way to dialogue with Protestant Christians in its main document on Scripture, “Dei Verbum.”

“During the decades after ‘Dei Verbum,’ the magisterium of the Roman Catholic Church has insisted on the continued study, research, and education of Holy Scripture by the faithful people of God, establishing stronger bonds of ecumenical dialogue and relationships of unity with our brothers and sisters of different denominations,” he said.

The archbishop cited the work of the Pontifical Biblical Commission, the Biblical studies in Rome’s pontifical universities, and the biblical institutes throughout the Catholic world that train pastors and the laity to bring biblical truth “to those who are hungry for the nourishment of God’s Word.”

The nuncio praised the American Bible Society as “a providential instrument that exemplifies the ecumenical bonds built upon the treasure of the Scriptures.” He welcomed its collaboration with Catholic ministries, saying its propagation of the Word of God is “a vivid expression of the love of God that unifies us with the purpose of inspiring hunger and thirst for the Scriptures.”

The Bible society supported the October 2008 Synod of Bishops and has created a polyglot Bible. It has distributed Bibles to Spanish-language Catholic communities and has supported Catholic pastoral activities like the World Youth Day events in Poland and Brazil. The society also collaborated with the 2015 World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia.

It is presently working with the U.S. bishops’ conference to present the Bible as the Book of Mercy for National Bible Week Nov. 13-19.

 

Full Article

IMAGE: Karen Callaway/Catholic New World

By Joyce Duriga

CHICAGO (CNS) -- Both Fathers Michael Novick and John Clemens are lifelong fans of the Chicago Cubs, and with the rest of Chicago, they are celebrating the Cubs winning the World Series and breaking the famous and dreaded 108-year curse.

"I think that they're a bunch of kids who are not in love with themselves. They're a team that plays as a team and they have a spirit that they aren't going to quit no matter what," said Father Clemens, pastor of Our Lady of Hope in Rosemont. "They're a real joy to watch."

Father Burke Masters, the Cubs' Catholic chaplain, agreed.

"It's just amazing how talented these young guys are, how much fun they have and how well they play together," he told the Catholic New World, newspaper of the Chicago Archdiocese. "I can't say enough about (manager) Joe Maddon and his leadership, his ability to motivate and know what each guy needs to be the best he can be. He was born and raised Catholic, went to Catholic school.

"You can see how the faith informs the way he relates with everybody, not just the players. He treats everybody with respect," he added.

The whole city is celebrating and it's not just the living. At All Saints Cemetery in Des Plaines, the Cubs white flag with the blue "W" for "win" can be seen on various grave markers along with championship pennants.

Even though the Cubs are the North Side team and the White Sox are the South Side team, geography doesn't always prove allegiance to a team. Father Novick, who is pastor of St. Laurence O'Toole in Matteson, grew up in Midlothian, a Southwest suburb of the city. While he went to White Sox games because they gave out tickets to schools for good grades or attendance, TV made him a Cubs fan.

Until last year, WGN, a local Chicago station, broadcast all of the Cubs games.

Like many young men, Father Novick grew up wanting to play for the Cubs. "I had three passions in life -- baseball, my faith and music, and not necessarily in that order. When it came to baseball, these guys (the Cubs) were much more where I wanted to be rather than at Comiskey (the White Sox's park)."

Father Clemens attended his first game at age 5.

"My mother used to go to most Ladies' Day games and she just dragged me along," recalled the priest, who grew up on the city's North Side.

Like many passionate sports fans, there's a simple reason for Father Clemens' affection for the team.

"I always feel like once it's in your blood, you can't get rid of it. It's a disease that can't be cured," he said.

Rather than priests' traditional black clerics and white collar, Father Clemens' frequent uniform is a Cubs jersey. He often even wears it to archdiocesan events.

His favorite team is from 1969, which had Ernie Banks, Billy Williams and Don Kessinger. "They were the heroes when I was a kid," Father Clemens said. "Most of the time they've just been lovable losers. I just love going to the games. I love Wrigley Field. It's a place where I really relax and just have a good time."

His devotion to the Cubs is on display in his office at the parish where a jersey signed by Banks hangs on the wall alongside a bat and ball also signed by Banks. And he has a photo signed by Ryne Sandberg. A jersey signed by current Cub Anthony Rizzo hangs in plastic nearby. Most of his memorabilia was either won at charity auctions or given to him as gifts. Some other items in his collection include a Cubs-themed nutcracker and a stuffed Cubs bear.

But Father Clemens shows that faith takes priority over sports -- over the ball and bat signed by Banks is a shelf with religious items.

It's much the same in Father Novick's office. Cubs shirts, pennants and other memorabilia are on display alongside photos of popes and statues of saints.

In a city with two major league teams -- one in the National League and one the American League -- a common question people are asked is: "Are you a Cubs or a Sox fan?" Fathers Novick and Clemens agree that allegiance doesn't count in the World Series. If a Chicago team makes it there, they are all in for support.

The late Chicago Cardinal Francis E. George also was a lifelong follower of the Cubs and grew up on the city's North Side attending games like many children of his generation when tickets were much cheaper than today.

Father Clemens shared the backstory on a photo of Cardinal George attending a Cubs game at Wrigley Field in 1998 where he wore a baseball hat backwards on his head. After seeing the photo in the news, Father Clemens asked the cardinal if he was being "cool" by wearing his hat that way. Not at all, the cardinal told him.

"He said, 'That was self-defense. The Cubs gave me a red hat because I'm a cardinal.'" That day the Cubs were playing their archrivals, the St. Louis Cardinals, whose colors are red and white. "All of the people thought that he was a Cardinals' fan and they were throwing peanuts at him and everything else. So he turned his hat around so they could see the big Cubs 'C' on that hat," Father Clemens said. The cardinal's tactics worked.

"They were cheering for him after they found out he was a Cub fan," the priest said, laughing.

It has not always been easy being a Cub fans, Father Clemens explained.

"If suffering is a sign of being close to Christ, Cubs fans certainly understand suffering," he said. "Also, when you look at faith, hope and love -- a Cub fan has to first of all have faith that this is going to end one day. Hope that this is the year. And finally love, you have to love the team. You have to love it with the idea that even though they're bad and they break your heart they're still part of your life."

But this year the Cubs are no longer "lovable losers." They are world champions.

- - -

Duriga is editor of Catholic New World, newspaper of the Archdiocese of Chicago.

- - -

Copyright © 2016 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. www.catholicnews.com. All rights reserved. Republishing or redistributing of CNS content, including by framing or similar means without prior permission, is prohibited. You may link to stories on our public site. This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. To request permission for republishing or redistributing of CNS content, please contact permissions at cns@catholicnews.com.

Full Article

Full Article

Full Article

Full Article

Full Article

Full Article

Full Article