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WASHINGTON (AP) -- A fractured Republican party showed few signs of mending itself Friday, after Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus declared his support for Donald Trump and Trump bashed House Speaker Paul Ryan for not falling in line....

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(Vatican Radio) The Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue has sent a message to the Buddhists of the world to mark the Feast of Vesakh, which commemorates the his birth, enlightenment and death of Gautama Buddha.

This year’s Message was inspired by Pope Francis’ Encyclical Laudato si’.

“As the crisis of climate change is contributed to by human activity, we, Christians and Buddhists, must work together to confront it with an ecological spirituality,” writes  Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, the President of the Pontifical Council. “The acceleration of global environmental problems has added to the urgency of interreligious cooperation.”

Cardinal Tauran concludes by calling on Catholics and Buddhists to “cooperate together in liberating humanity from the suffering brought about by climate change, and contribute to the care of our common home.”

 

The full text of the Message is below

 

PONTIFICAL COUNCIL FOR

INTERRELIGIOUS DIALOGUE

Buddhists and Christians:

Together to Foster Ecological Education

MESSAGE FOR THE FEAST OF VESAKH

2016

Vatican City

 

Dear Buddhist Friends,

 

1.            In the name of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, we are pleased to extend once again our best wishes on the occasion Vesakh, as you commemorate three significant events in the life of Gautama Buddha – his birth, enlightenment and death. We wish you peace, tranquillity and joy in your hearts, within your families and in your country.

2.            This year we write to you inspired by His Holiness Pope Francis’s Encyclical Letter, Laudato Sì, On the Care for Our Common Home. His Holiness notes that “the external deserts in the world are growing, because the internal deserts have become so vast. For this reason, the ecological crisis is also a summons to profound interior conversion” (n. 217). Moreover, he states that “our efforts at education will be inadequate and ineffectual unless we strive to promote a new way of thinking about human beings, life, society and our relationship with nature” (n. 215). “Only by cultivating sound virtues will people be able to make a selfless ecological commitment” (n. 211). In response, Pope Francis proposes that “ecological education can take place in a variety of settings: at school, in families, in the media, in catechesis and elsewhere” (n. 213).

3.            Dear Buddhist friends, you have also expressed concern about the degradation of the environment, which is attested to by the documents The Time to Act is Now: A Buddhist Declaration on Climate Change and Buddhist Climate Change Statement to World Leaders. These evidence a shared understanding that at the centre of the eco-crisis is, in fact, an ego-crisis, expressed by human greed, anxiety, arrogance and ignorance. Our lifestyles and expectations, therefore, must change in order overcome the deterioration of our surroundings. “Cultivating the insight of inter-being and compassion, we will be able to act out of love, not fear, to protect our planet” (Buddhist Climate Change Statement to World Leaders). Otherwise, “When the Earth becomes sick, we become sick, because we are part of her” (The Time to Act is Now).

4.            As the crisis of climate change is contributed to by human activity, we, Christians and Buddhists, must work together to confront it with an ecological spirituality. The acceleration of global environmental problems has added to the urgency of interreligious cooperation. Education in environmental responsibility and the creation of an “ecological citizenship” require virtue-oriented ecological ethics such as respect and care for nature. There is a pressing need for the followers of all religions to transcend their boundaries and join together in building an ecologically responsible social order based on shared values. In countries where Buddhists and Christians live and work side by side, we can support the health and sustainability of the planet through joint educational programmes aimed at raising ecological awareness and promoting joint initiatives.

5.            Dear Buddhist friends, may we cooperate together in liberating humanity from the suffering brought about by climate change, and contribute to the care of our common home. In this spirit, we wish you once again a peaceful and joyful feast of Vesakh.

Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran

 President

Bishop Miguel Ángel Ayuso Guixot, MCCJ

Secretary

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(Vatican Radio) Vatican Weekend for May 8, 2016  features our selection of readings and reflections focusing on the Sunday gospel in a programme by the title of 'There's More in the Sunday Gospel than Meets the Eye' presented by Jill Bevilacqua. This is followed by a look ahead to the Feast Day of Our Lady of Fatima which falls each year on the 13th of May.

A programme presented and produced by Veronica Scarisbrick:

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(Vatican Radio) Vatican Weekend for May 7, 2016 features a report on the words of Pope Francis during his weekly general audience in Saint Peter's Square. This is followed by a couple of programmes relating to the pontificate of Pius XII with clips of archive sound of the voice of this twentieth century Pope.The first relates to some of the orphans of World War II who were received by Pius XII in the Vatican's Apostolic Palace. In the second programme you can hear echoes of the Jubilee Year of 1950 as well as of the more personal side to Pius XII. The final segment focuses on Michelangelo's art work in the Sistine Chapel explained by renowned art historian Monsignor Timothy Verdon.

A programme presented and produced by Veronica Scarisbrick:

 

 

 

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(Vatican Radio) The Pontifical Swiss Guard on Friday began the day of their annual swearing in ceremony by attending a Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica.

New Guards are sworn in on May 6, since on that date in 1527 the Swiss Guard protected Pope Clement VII during the Sack of Rome. During the battle, 147 members of the Guard lost their lives.

During his homily, the Vatican’s Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, said “such a heroic death…would not have been possible without faith in the Lord of Life.”

“Sustained by this faith in the Risen Jesus and strengthened by the experience of joy that the Lord gives life in fullness, I invite you, dear Guards, to have the courage to be witnesses in the world today, despite the difficulties,” Cardinal Parolin said.

“Be witnesses of Christ - even in your own homeland, Switzerland - and in a world that desires light and life but often does not have the courage to accept it, in the midst of your young peers, who hunger for meaning and fulfillment, so that you may tell them that it is worth proposing great and beautiful things, although this involves commitment, dedication and will require some toil,” he said.

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(Vatican Radio) The President of the Pontifical Council for the Family, Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, on Thursday gave a presentation on the Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia to the Nigerian Bishops’ Conference and Nigerian families.

The full text of his remarks are below

 

PRESENTATION OF THE APOSTOLIC EXHORTATION
AMORIS LAETITIA
TO THE NIGERIAN BISHOPS’ CONFERENCE AND NIGERIAN FAMILIES
MAY 5, 2016

Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia

President of the Pontifical Council for the Family
 

The “Synodal” Nature of the Document

I am particularly happy to be with all of you today at this meeting of the Bishops of Nigeria, and I thank your President Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama for his invitation. Coming here, I must tell you first how struck I was by the fervor and passion with which the African Bishops participated in the preparations for the 2014 and 2015 Synods in Rome and in the formulation of their messages. I remember in particular the volume prepared by SECAM/SCEAM, The Future of the Family, Our Mission, and the two regional meetings of African Bishops that I participated in: the first in Brazzaville with the bishops of ACERAC in early July 2014 and the second in Lilongwe at the end of the same month with the participation of the bishops of AMECEA. For myself as well as for the other bishops present, both gatherings were an opportunity to reflect more deeply on the themes of the Synods. In a special way I thank Pope Francis for having decided, with enthusiasm and passion, to have the world’s Bishops celebrate with him two Synods dedicated to the family. Together, they and he they produced the valuable, innovative and compelling document that we have in front of us.

In his Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia, Pope Francis has collected the fruits of a long ecclesial journey and has presented them authoritatively to the whole Catholic Church. During a period of two years, the Pope asked the Church, in all its manifestations, and taking a “synodal” approach, to devote full attention to the family. He began by asking his Cardinals, in the February 2014 Consistory, in which Cardinal Onaiekan participated, to undertake a consideration of the subject. This was followed by the two Synods in 2014 and 2015, and he himself led the way during that time by devoting almost all his weekly audience talks in 2015 to the various aspects of family life. In addition, he introduced a new procedure into the preparations for Synods by having the Synod staff ask for, collect and evaluate detailed recommendations from dioceses around the world. I don’t believe that any other papal document has ever had the benefit of such extensive preparation and input, and it is a model of the “synodal” methodology that the Pope hopes will characterize the Church’s ministry to the world in the future. Archbishop Kaigama, who was present at the 2014 Synod, can confirm this, as can Archbishop Ndagoso, Bishop Umoh, and Bishop Arogundade, each of whom I greet warmly. Together with Mrs. Erogunaye, they represented Nigeria in the 2015 Synod.

In the Exhortation, the Pope emphasizes that this “synodal” methodology reflected in the document was “impressive and illuminating,” (§4) and he continues: “The various interventions of the Synod Fathers, to which I paid close heed, made up, as it were, a multifaceted gem reflecting many legitimate concerns and honest questions. For this reason, I thought it appropriate to prepare a post-synodal Apostolic Exhortation to gather the contributions of the two recent Synods on the family, while adding other considerations as an aid to reflection, dialogue and pastoral practice, and as a help and encouragement to families in their daily
commitments and challenges.” (§4) I think it important in my presentation to discuss how this new process affected both the content and the methodology of the two Synods.

Immediately evident is the new relationship that must exist between the Church and today’s families. The Church is called to feel their “enjoyment and struggles, tensions and repose, pain and relief, satisfactions and longings, annoyances and pleasures.” (§126) Reading these words, it is impossible not to hear the echo of opening sentence of Gaudium et Spes, perhaps the best known of the documents of the Second Vatican Council: “The joys and the hopes, the griefs and the anxieties of the [families] of this age, especially [hurting families] and those who are poor or in any way afflicted, these are the joys and hopes, the griefs and anxieties of the followers of Christ. Indeed, nothing genuinely human fails to raise an echo in their hearts.” (cf. §1 of Gaudium et Spes) There is a common thread of “joy” (gaudium in Latin) that links 3
Amoris Laetitia directly to the Council, from St. John XXIII’s speech that opened the Council (Gaudet Mater Ecclesia) to Gaudium et Spes to the Pope’s 2013 Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium. It is the common thread of “that immense sympathy” that Blessed Paul VI spoke of when referring to the sensitivity that characterized the work of Vatican II.

Throughout the Document, Warmth and Closeness for Families

Every page of the document reflects great warmth and sympathy for families. Knowing the importance of their mission, the Pope states clearly that “in no way must the Church desist from proposing the full ideal of marriage, God’s plan in all its grandeur.” (§307) The Church therefore cannot be hesitant as it proclaims that ideal, following the Lord’s own strong preaching about the beauty and the seriousness of the marriage bond as a full actualization of the faith of the husband and wife. Marriage is indispensable in the life of the Church, and for the life of the world. Here we touch upon a dimension that is not simply a renewal of pastoral strategy, it is much more. We are talking about a new way of “being Church” in the world. This new way is reflected in both Amoris Laetitia and Evangelii Gaudium, which are interwoven and complement each other.

It is the greatness of the ideal of marriage that led the Pope to ask the Church to renew its commitment to accompanying families in the concrete realities of their lives. The Church is a mother and doesn’t look at families from the outside like some kind of court clerk who tracks changes and looks for faults to find. But neither is it blind, nor does it ever give up. Amoris Laetitia reveals clearly the ills that afflict families today; but, unlike prophets of doom or children of surrender, the Church knows that those ills are “not sicknesses unto death,” (Jn 11:4) as Jesus said of his friend Lazarus. The Church is a friend to families, and it is close to all of them on their path to the fullness of their commitment to Jesus.

The Exhortation, clearly reflecting Jesus’ passionate friendship with families, is a long meditation on all the aspects of family life, those that enrich it as well, as those that are threatening. It is, however, a meditation that is part of a strategic vision. Its meditation on the family is not simply a meditation on individual stories of struggles and of love, important though they are. It is a meditation on the history of the world itself. The family is the mother of all relationships, and it appears as such in the first two chapters of the Book of Genesis; the family and society are inseparable, so much so that if things aren’t going well in families, neither are they going well in all of society.

Toward a “Family” Church

Within his strategic vision, the Pope is asking for a change of pace and style that goes to the very shape of the Church. The Church cannot fulfill its family mission from the Lord without calling families themselves to share in that mission, and without acting as the Trinitarian Lord Himself acts, that is, in the communion of a family relationship. This basic ecclesiology of the family is the very air that the Exhortation breathes; it is the horizon toward which the Church wants to lead believers in this new era. If the transformation called for in the Exhortation is welcomed with faith, it is destined to renew decisively the way in which the community of believers perceives itself in this time of great change.

The key to this transformation is not found where some thought it to be, that is, in the dispute that marked the beginning of the recent synodal process, namely, the presumed conflict (or necessary choice) between doctrinal rigor and pastoral flexibility. Rather, urged on by the Pope’s teaching commitment, the Church is confirmed in its task of overcoming any artificial separation or opposition between truth and practice, between doctrine and pastoral care, in order to rediscover the depth of moral responsibility involved in the way it interprets doctrine. There is a pastoral dimension to doctrine, but at the same time pastoral practice itself is doctrinal. The two must be lived out as a renewed perspective on the Church’s very being. This responsibility, of which the Lord Himself gave us many clear examples during his earthly ministry, requires the Church (the Christian community) to discern rules in a way that takes into account the lives that the Church’s members are living, so that no one ever loses sight of being loved by God.

The Gospel image that I would use to describe the “model of church” to be lived out today comes from the parable of the lost sheep (See Luke 15:4-7). But it is not just the shepherd  who is to go out to find the lost sheep, all the ninety-nine are called to go out with that shepherd to find, accompany, discern with and integrate whoever needs help. Our lives must be a constant “heading out.” The ninety-nine, if they are left alone, are excluded from the essential missionary dimension of the shepherd; and the sheepfold risks becoming no more than a self-referential bureaucracy. The Exhortation calls for a new “model of Church” that is fully missionary, always “heading out”—and producing results. That’s why—in the context of family—it’s not enough just to reorganize family pastoral activities. Much more is needed. All pastoral activity must have a family orientation, or, to put it more clearly, the whole Church must be a family.

The Pope knows that it is not easy to welcome and adopt the approach he calls for, but he doesn’t want any misunderstanding. He knows that there are those, even among committed believers, who would like the Church to be a sort of courtroom of life and human history, to be a Church that accuses, a clerk who records transgressions and compliance without taking into account the painful circumstances of life or the difficult choices we have to make. That view is one-sided and it forgets that the Church has been commissioned by the Lord to be courageous and strong in its protection of the weak, in forgiving wrongs, in healing the wounds of fathers, mothers, children, brothers and sisters—starting with those who realize that they are prisoners of their own failings, and who are in despair for having ruined their lives. The Lord wants all to be accompanied as they work toward full integration into the Body of Christ, His Church.

There are at least two major signs of this change of direction:

(a) Clearly, Holy Matrimony is indissoluble, but the bond between the Church and its sons and daughters is even more so, because it is like the bond that Christ has established with the Church, which is full of sinners who were loved by God even while they were still sinners. They are never abandoned, not even when they sin again. As St. Paul says, this is a great mystery, and it goes beyond any romantic metaphor of a love that is based on an idyllic but unrealistic “blue heaven.”

(b) The second sign is that the Bishop has full authority and responsibility for maintaining and protecting the bond between the Church and its members, with the knowledge 6 that the salvation of souls is what is most important (a solemn affirmation that is repeated at the end of the Code of Canon Law but that is often overlooked). The Bishop is a judge because he is also a shepherd, and a shepherd knows his sheep even (or especially) when they go astray. His most important task is always to lead them home, where he can care for them and heal them; and he cannot do that if he leaves them where they are, abandoning them to their fate because “they brought it on themselves.”

It is clear that a new ecclesial style is being called for, and this new style requires an understanding of the variety of situations that must be dealt with. The Pope is not calling for new abstract doctrine or new legal rules. In the Exhortation he recalls that while during the Synods there was a variety of contributions from the participants, that variety has produced a “many-faceted gem.” (§4) In this new perspective, theologians have an incentive to undertake a renewed consideration of the family, and individual dioceses are tasked with taking responsibility for finding answers to the countless challenges that families are called on to face in the societies of which they are part. The Pope writes that, “Each country or region, moreover, can seek
solutions better suited to its culture and sensitive to its traditions and local needs. For ‘cultures
are in fact quite diverse and every general principle…needs to be inculturated, if it is to be
respected and applied. ’” (§3) He notes as well that, “… not all discussions of doctrinal, moral or
pastoral issues need to be settled by interventions of the magisterium.” (§3)

The conclusions of Section 3 just quoted lay down a challenge to every diocese, calling on them, within the common path that is Catholicism, to find concrete ways to deal with the challenges that families face. You have a delicate task in front of you. The Benin intellectual Albert Tévoédjrè writes that, “The traditional African family has a deep sense of the culture of life. Life is sacred because every life is a gift from God.” But, “the threats that weigh on today’s families in Africa are legion: degradation of behavior, attacks on the unity of marriage, the weakening of ties among family members, the increase in de facto unions, poverty, and the growing unemployment that makes it difficult for parents to fulfill their responsibilities.” Is there a Nigerian, an African, answer to these crucial questions? For example, how can Section 42 of 7
Africae Munus, a Section that deals with the family, be “translated” in specific and necessary ways?

The Family in the Word of God and in Contemporary Society, and its Vocation Today.

In the first three Chapters after the Introduction, the Exhortation examines the family from three points of view. The first presents the families whom we know from the Bible, and we learn of their stories, which are characterized by “love and crises.” (cf. §8)

The second describes the challenges that families today are called on to face: from migration to the ideological denial of differences between the sexes (“gender ideology,” with all the questions connected with the recognition of so-called “same-sex marriages” that are affecting your countries as well); from a culture of planned obsolescence to campaigns in favor of zero population growth and reproduction-related biotechnologies; from housing shortages and unemployment to pornography and abuse of minors; from care for persons with disabilities to respect for the elderly; from judicial deconstruction of the family to violence against women. These are challenges that clearly characterize western society, but that are increasingly found here as well, particularly in cities. The document, moreover, presents all-consuming individualism as a poison that destroys families at their roots and leads families to a paradoxical situation: “The fear of loneliness and the desire for stability and fidelity exist side by side with a growing fear of entrapment in a relationship that could hamper the achievement of one’s personal goals. ” (§34) That is the paradox between the radical need for family that all experience and the growing fragility of family bonds that disappear, that break, that reconstitute themselves and multiply.

In the third Chapter, the Pope presents the vocation of the family as described by Jesus and embraced by the Church. He discusses the indissolubility of marriage and its sacramentality. He discusses its fruitfulness and the rearing of children. Among other things the Pope—in a conscious self-criticism—asks the Church whether at times we have made the mistake of presenting “a far too abstract and almost artificial theological ideal of marriage, far removed from the concrete situations and practical possibilities of real families.” (§36) He reveals all his 8 doubts about the effectiveness of a pastoral approach that insists on “doctrinal, bioethical and moral issues, without encouraging openness to grace.” (§37) Clearly—but this is a personal thought of mine—a crucial question remains unanswered: Why do young people today prefer just “living together” to marriage? Faced with this situation, shouldn’t we ask ourselves whether the way we present the “Gospel of the Family” is just not attractive? Shouldn’t we reexamine what we are saying and the way we are saying it?

Fruitful Love and the Generations in Holy Matrimony and the Family

Chapters Four and Five are the heart of the Exhortation. They examine the substance of Holy Matrimony and the family, namely, the bond of love between a man and a woman and the generative fruitfulness that follows from it. Here the document presents a unique new approach. The Pope does not (as is commonly done in marriage catechesis) limit himself to commenting only on The Song of Songs and its fundamental lesson—which of course is a jewel of Bible revelation about the love between man and woman. He goes further. In Chapter Four, he comments in a completely original way, and word by word, on the subtle phenomenology of God-inspired love in the beautiful Pauline hymn in First Corinthians, Chapter 13. The Pope speaks of love in terms that are in no way simply mystical and romantic. It is noteworthy that the word that appears most frequently in the Exhortation is “love,” followed by “family,” marriage,” and “Church,”—a series that is not just accidental. It is evident that the love of which the text speaks is marked by concreteness, by interaction, by beauty, by sacrifice, by vulnerability and by tenacity (“love bears all, hopes all, believes all, forgives all, endures to the last”). And God’s own love is like that!

For that reason, the Pope is completely comfortable in considering and appreciating that sexual intimacy between spouses is a great gift from God for men and women. We can say that here too the papal document brings to fullness the suggestions contained in Gaudium et Spes, which he cites: “Marriage is firstly an ‘intimate partnership of life and love’ which is a good for the spouses themselves,” while sexuality is “ordered to the conjugal love of man and woman.” (§80 of Gaudium et Spes). The lexicon of family love, as presented by the Pope is indeed rich in passion and strong in fruitfulness.

If this fourth Chapter represents the real heart of the Exhortation, the Pope’s intent is evident: to offer an education about love that is inspired by the Pauline hymn, the summit of that perfect charity that can and must inspire every family bond. This task is presented first of all to our Christian communities and their leaders, pastors and lay pastoral workers. How can we help our “loves” to be reflections and images of the one Love that is at their origin and that nurtures them? It is necessary to take a careful look with real and objective understanding at the daily life of family bonds as we find them at the beginning of the Third Millennium: the challenges, the difficulties, the obstacles that hinder the full realization of the love described by the Apostle. Let me mention one or two themes. Even if, especially in today’s large cities, the role and the social, familial and political standing of women has undergone profound change with the adoption of an equal rights legal structure, the basic themes of women in African society, of violence against them and of oppression in general are still unresolved. All the African Bishops pointed this out in their comments on Section 30 of the Synods’ Instrumentum Laboris that were contained in The Future of the Family, Our Mission. Likewise, we need to examine the role of men in patriarchal society. From a pastoral point of view, we have to question how we can help our men to be good husbands, better fathers, how can we help men to assume fully the responsibilities that come from being a father.

Another very timely question is education (dealt with in Chapter 7), and with it, love for one’s children. The Cameroun philosopher Achille Mbembe, in an interview that appeared in the daily Le Mesager has said. “For me, the family and the educational system constitute the two most important questions we must consider. The situations in many families are no help in preparing children to improve themselves, to take on the challenges of citizenship that life presents to them. They are prisoners of their own way of life, shaped by local stories, by family jealousies, inheritance disputes, senseless rivalries based on ignorance and credulity…we all know people who attribute every difficulty in their life to an evil uncle’s sorcery or an evil spell cast on them by a neighbor.“ How can we help parents find a way to educate and mature their children in a context of modernity and globalization where the challenges are so new and different compared with the closed world of only twenty years ago? Raising a child in a small Nigerian village is certainly a challenge quite different from the challenges found in the center of Lagos, a great metropolis. How do we respond to the formational demands that parents face when their children enter adolescence and beyond, attracted by our society which is ever more competitive, given over to personal success and open, through the Net, to stimuli and provocations unthinkable not long ago? In Africa, the Internet is at the same time both a great opportunity for development, education and growth, but at the same time it is a risk and a significant challenge.

A third area to be considered is the status of the elderly and how they are welcomed, cared for and considered in our families. Pope Francis once said, “The treatment of the elderly, like the treatment of children, is an indicator of the quality of a society. (Audience, June 16, 2014) It cannot be denied that, along with a still solid tradition of attention for the elderly, we are witnessing in Africa increased violence directed at elderly persons and a concomitant increased incidence of abandonment reflecting that “throw-away” culture that Pope Francis never tires of condemning.

And we cannot forget the path of preparation for matrimony, and faithful, constant accompaniment of young couples. The document insists that young couples must be helped to rediscover the life of the ecclesial community. Several questions that characterize your current situation can only be addressed in a communitary context that is able to produce a synthesis between traditional culture and evangelical innovation, such as: the complex relationship among traditional marriage, civil marriage and religious marriage: respect for the freedom of women in making marriage choices—a freedom that is still disregarded today and is linked to the objectively offensive practice of requiring a dowry: a real and complete education about responsible fatherhood and motherhood. African society is going through a period of profound and rapid transformation. It is not at all a closed society. Certainly we are not looking with fruitless nostalgia at the past as a time that was better than the present, a time when roles and responsibilities were perhaps more certain and better defined, but were also oppressive and 11 frustrating because of their presumed traditional roots. African men and women, like people everywhere, are changing. And with them affective education is changing and a new equilibrium is developing between men and women. In a couple, each partner is seeking something that is surely new and different from what a person living in a Nigerian village of forty years ago considered unique and essential.

Chapters 5 and 6 deal specifically with questions related to generation and rearing of children. They are pages that I invite you to re-read carefully because they are rich in elements that can provide answers the questions just raised. The Pope’s approach emphasizes the social aspect of the family experience, (§186) recognizing the individualist drift that is afflicting western society today.

Pastoral Aspects

In Chapter Six, the Exhortation stresses that families are evangelizers themselves, not simply recipients of evangelization. It is they above all who are called to communicate to the world the “Gospel of the Family” as an answer to the deep need for family that is written in the heart of the human person and in society itself. Clearly, families have a great need for help in this mission, and in this context the Pope speaks about the responsibility of ordained ministers. He freely admits, however, that they often “lack the training needed to deal with the complex problems currently facing families.” (§202) He also asks for renewed attention to the formation of seminarians. If on the one hand we must improve their psycho-affective formation and involve families more in their formation for ministry, (cf. §203) on the other he maintains that “The experience of the broad oriental tradition of a married clergy could also be drawn upon.” (§202)

Next, he begins a reflection on the threefold relationship among (1) families, (2) the Church as mother in community, and (3) the spiritual fatherhood of the ordained ministry. Today, it is clear that there is a wall separating families from the Christian community. We can say that families are more or less unchurched because they are often closed in on themselves, and that the Christian communities are not very family-oriented because they are often exasperatingly bureaucratic.

The Pope also calls for accompaniment of persons who are abandoned, separated or divorced. Among other things, he emphasizes the importance of the recent reform of the procedures for handling marriage cases and the importance of the new responsibilities entrusted to Bishops. The document speaks too of how much children suffer in situations of marital conflict and he says clearly, “Divorce is an evil and the increasing number of divorces is very troubling. Hence, our most important pastoral task with regard to families is to strengthen their love, helping to heal wounds and working to prevent the spread of this drama of our times.” (§246) You are also experiencing this situation here in Nigeria, where the divorce rate has increased significantly in recent years, thanks in part to new laws (based on a “No Fault” approach) that makes the process all too easy. The Pope mentions marriages with non-Catholic Christians and with non-Christians (for you in Nigeria, this point, I believe, ties in with your experience of Islamic family law), and he speaks of families where there are persons with same-sex tendencies, emphasizing that respect is due them as persons, and that every unjust discrimination in their regard and every form of aggression or violence is wrong.

The final part of the Chapter “When death makes us feel its sting” has great pastoral value. I’m thinking today of so many families destroyed by the incurable evil of AIDS. This aspect of life needs new pastoral attention, given society’s decreased appreciation of mortality and the disappearance from society of words and actions that honor the dead and comfort those who are left behind.

Care for Wounded Families—Accompany, Discern, Integrate Weakness

Chapter Eight—one of the most highly anticipated—is an invitation to mercy and to pastoral discernment in the face of situations that are not fully in conformity with what the Lord preaches. Just as he did at the beginning of the document, the Pope repeats that the Church must in no way cease to illuminate the truth of the faith, and the heavy demands that discipleship makes of believers. On the other hand, the Pope asks us to look on others as Jesus does and to be aware of how God has clearly spoken, and acted, and encountered humanity. The Pope recognizes that: “Some forms of union radically contradict [the ideal of marriage], while others realize the ideal in at least a partial and analogous way.” (§292) In this group he includes believers who are “living together” or who are only civilly married. Still, the Church “does not disregard the constructive elements in those situations which do not yet or no longer correspond to her teaching on marriage.” (§292) We see here the Gospel’s concern not to “quench the smoking flax.” (Mt. 12:20) Every “seed of a family” wherever it is found, is to be accompanied and encouraged to grow.

What is asked for is compassion, not condemnation. This is the meaning of discernment that tries to find in diverse situations those “signs of love that in some way reflect God’s own love.” (§294) For this reason we are to avoid “judgements that do not take into account the complexity of various situations” and we are called on “to be attentive, by necessity, to how people experience distress because of their condition.” (§296) In any event, every person must find a place in the Church and “No one can be condemned for ever, because that is not the logic of the Gospel!” (§297) There are many different situations and they “should not be pigeonholed or fit into overly rigid classifications leaving no room for a suitable personal and pastoral discernment.” (§298) For this reason, the Pope continues, “...it is understandable that neither the Synod nor this Exhortation could be expected to provide a new set of general rules, canonical in nature and applicable to all cases.” (§300) It is necessary to encourage “a responsible personal and pastoral discernment of particular cases” (§300)

The message that the document gives to Bishops is simple and direct. Three words that taken together make up one mission: accompany, discern, integrate into the Christian community. It is clear that such a mission is possible on only one condition, namely that the Christian community clearly share in it. It can be said that it is the community with its pastor that is called to accompany, discern with and integrate. God does not save us one by one but rather by gathering us into a people, as the Second Vatican Council emphasizes. In that context, we all know that our shared faith and love for our brothers and sisters can work miracles, even in the most difficult circumstances.

The Catholic doctrine of moral judgment, somewhat neglected perhaps, is restored to a place of honor by the Exhortation when the Pope writes, “it can no longer simply be said that all those in any ‘irregular’ situation are living in a state of mortal sin and are deprived of sanctifying grace.” (§301)

The special, but not the only, role of the parish priest or chaplain in this new approach is to accompany persons along this ecclesial path of conversion, for which the Bishop has the first responsibility. But discernment and integration is not a do-it-yourself job, not for the clergy, nor for the faithful. There is no legal formula that gets applied automatically, but neither is discernment an unprincipled individual choice, nor is it a question of exceptions to be made or privileges to be granted. It is a process traced out on a pathway of conscience tied to the “internal forum” (spiritual direction and the Sacrament of Reconciliation). The solution that is called for is a tight weave of Church doctrine, examination of consciences, respect for moral principle and the protection of communion among believers.

The Pope asks for a reflection on “mitigating factors and situations” (§301) with respect to imputability and responsibility for actions; and, relying on St. Thomas Aquinas, he considers the relationship among the “norms of discernment”: “It is true that general rules set forth a good which can never be disregarded or neglected, but in their formulation they cannot provide absolutely for all particular situations. At the same time, it must be said that, precisely for that reason, what is part of a practical discernment in particular circumstances cannot be elevated to the level of a rule.” (§304) Seen in the normative light of moral theology, this eighth Chapter is doubtless the most demanding. The Pope, relying on traditional moral doctrine, connects with the classic theme of mitigating circumstances (§§300-303, 308) and proposes a serious reflection on the relation between norms and judgments in particular situations (discernment), without avoiding or diminishing norms, nor falling into a reductionist interpretation of moral conscience that would consider conscience a simple deductive “application” of a bloodless set of rules.

The Pope, adopting the request of the Bishops in Synod, calls for “discernment of the ways by which the various forms of exclusion currently practiced in the liturgical, pastoral, educational and institutional framework of the Church can be surmounted.” (§299) There are seven areas from which divorced and remarried Catholics are excluded at present: being a godparent, a lector, an extraordinary minister of the Eucharist, a religion teacher, a catechist for First Communion or Confirmation; a member of the diocesan or parish pastoral council, and a best man or maid/matron of honor at a wedding (this last is discouraged but not forbidden). The Pope’s commitment to change in this area is explicit: Divorced and civilly remarried “persons need to feel not as excommunicated members of the Church, but instead as living members, able
to live and grow in the Church and experience her as a mother who welcomes them always, who takes care of them with affection and encourages them along the path of life and the Gospel. This integration is also needed in the care and Christian upbringing of their children, who ought to be considered most important.” (§299) Individual dioceses are called on to reflect upon and decide about this question.

Marital and Family Spirituality

Chapter Nine is given over to marital and familial spirituality that is, “made up of thousands of small but real gestures.” (§311) He states clearly that: “those who have deep spiritual aspirations should not feel that the family detracts from their growth in the life of the Spirit, but rather see it as a path which the Lord is using to lead them to the heights of mystical union.” (§316) Everything, “moments of joy, relaxation, celebration, and even sexuality can be experienced as a sharing in the full life of the resurrection.” (§317) He speaks of prayer as a reflection of Easter joy, and of the spirituality of free and exclusive love where “spouses accept the challenge and aspiration of supporting one another, growing old together, and in this way reflecting God’s own faithfulness;” (cf. §319) and finally of marital and family spirituality as a spirituality of “care, consolation and encouragement.” (cf. §321) In the closing paragraph of the Exhortation, the Holy Father states: “no family drops down from heaven perfectly formed; families need constantly to grow and mature in the ability to love....All of us are called to keep striving towards something greater than ourselves and our families, and every family must feel this constant impulse. Let us make this journey as families, let us keep walking together. What we have been promised is greater than we can imagine. May we never lose heart because of our limitations, or ever stop seeking that fullness of love and communion which God holds out before us.” (§325)

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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis said on Friday that a Christian does not anesthetize or numb pain but lives through it in the hope that God will give us a joy that nobody can take away. That was the key message of the Pope’s homily at his morning Mass celebrated in the Santa Marta residence.

Joy and pain of a woman giving birth

Taking his inspiration from the day’s reading where Jesus warns his disciples of a coming sadness but says it will be transformed later into a cry of joy, Pope Francis reflected in his homily on how Christians should always maintain their joy and hope, even in the midst of pain. He used  the example of a woman in labour, saying: “She’s in pain because her time has come but when she gives birth to her baby she no longer remembers the suffering.”  She carries on hoping throughout the pain and then she rejoices.

“This is (the impact of) what joy and hope together can have on our lives, when we are facing tribulations, when we have problems, when we are suffering.  It is not an anesthesia.  Pain is pain but if lived through with joy and hope it will open the door for you to the joy of a new being. This image of the Lord should give us great hope amidst our difficulties: difficulties that often are awful, horrible difficulties that can even make us doubt our faith… But with joy and hope we journey forward because after this tempest  a new man arrives, just like with a woman giving birth. And Jesus tells us that this is a lasting joy and hope that will not go away.”

Joy and hope, not simply happiness or optimism

The Pope went on to explain that the joy and hope of a Christian are always tied together and they should not be confused with simple happiness or optimism.

“A joy without hope is just enjoyment, a temporary happiness.  A hope without joy is not hope and doesn’t extend beyond a healthy optimism. Joy and hope always journey together and both of them create this explosion that the Church in her liturgy almost cries out -- allow me to say the word -- without shame: ‘Rejoice for your Church!, Rejoice – without  formality.  Because when there is a strong joy, there’s no formality, just joy.”

Pope Francis went on to explain how joy and hope depend upon each other to flourish and urged Christians to open out towards others with these two virtues. 

“Joy strengthens hope and hope blooms amidst joy. And we go forward like this. But both of these Christian virtues, along with the attitude that the Church seeks to give them, show us the way to open out (towards others). Joyful people do not stay closed in on themselves: hope makes you open outwards, it is just like an anchor on the shore of heaven that pulls us up and out. Open out from ourselves, with joy and hope.”

A lasting joy

The Pope noted that human joy can be taken away at any time whereas Jesus gives us a lasting joy that nobody can take away from us. It remains “even during our darkest moments” just like the Apostles who after being reassured by the Angels following Jesus’ Ascension into heaven retrace their steps “full of joy.” He said the Apostles have that joy of "knowing that our humanity entered heaven for the first time," that hope of life and of rejoining our Lord.  This, he concluded, becomes "a joy that pervades the whole Church."  

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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Friday received the International Charlemagne Prize from a delegation made up of the German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the President of the European Council Donald Tusk, Martin Schultz and the President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker.

In his address, Pope Francis said “if we want a dignified future, a future of peace for our societies, we will only be able to achieve it by working for genuine inclusion.”

“To the rebirth of a Europe weary, yet still rich in energies and possibilities, the Church can and must play her part,” Pope Francis said. “Her task is one with her mission: the proclamation of the Gospel, which today more than ever finds expression in going forth to bind the wounds of humanity with the powerful yet simple presence of Jesus, and his mercy that consoles and encourages.”

 

The full text of Pope Francis’ address is below

 

Address of His Holiness Pope Francis

Conferral of the Charlemagne Prize

6 May 2016

 

Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,

                I offer you a cordial welcome and I thank you for your presence.  I am particularly grateful to Messrs Marcel Philipp, Jürgen Linden, Martin Schulz, Jean-Claude Juncker and Donald Tusk for their kind words.  I would like to reiterate my intention to offer this prestigious award for Europe.  For ours is not so much a celebration as a moment to express our shared hope for a new and courageous step forward for this beloved continent.

                Creativity, genius and a capacity for rebirth and renewal are part of the soul of Europe.  In the last century, Europe bore witness to humanity that a new beginning was indeed possible.  After years of tragic conflicts, culminating in the most horrific war ever known, there emerged, by God’s grace, something completely new in human history.  The ashes of the ruins could not extinguish the ardent hope and the quest of solidarity that inspired the founders of the European project.  They laid the foundations for a bastion of peace, an edifice made up of states united not by force but by free commitment to the common good and a definitive end to confrontation.  Europe, so long divided, finally found its true self and began to build its house.

                This “family of peoples”,  which has commendably expanded in the meantime, seems of late to feel less at home within the walls of the common home.  At times, those walls themselves have been built in a way varying from the insightful plans left by the original builders.  Their new and exciting desire to create unity seems to be fading; we, the heirs of their dream, are tempted to yield to our own selfish interests and to consider putting up fences here and there.  Nonetheless, I am convinced that resignation and weariness do not belong to the soul of Europe, and that even “our problems can become powerful forces for unity”.

                In addressing the European Parliament, I used the image of Europe as a grandmother.  I noted that there is a growing impression that Europe is weary, aging, no longer fertile and vital, that the great ideals that inspired Europe seem to have lost their appeal.  There is an impression that Europe is declining, that it has lost its ability to be innovative and creative, and that it is more concerned with preserving and dominating spaces than with generating processes of inclusion and change.  There is an impression that Europe is tending to become increasingly “entrenched”, rather than open to initiating new social processes capable of engaging all individuals and groups in the search for new and productive solutions to current problems.  Europe, rather than protecting spaces, is called to be a mother who generates processes (cf. Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, 223).

                What has happened to you, the Europe of humanism, the champion of human rights, democracy and freedom?  What has happened to you, Europe, the home of poets, philosophers, artists, musicians, and men and women of letters?  What has happened to you, Europe, the mother of peoples and nations, the mother of great men and women who upheld, and even sacrificed their lives for, the dignity of their brothers and sisters?

                The writer Elie Wiesel, a survivor of the Nazi death camps, has said that what we need today is a “memory transfusion”.  We need to “remember”, to take a step back from the present to listen to the voice of our forebears.  Remembering will help us not to repeat our past mistakes (cf. Evangelii Gaudium, 108), but also to re-appropriate those experiences that enabled our peoples to surmount the crises of the past.  A memory transfusion can free us from today’s temptation to build hastily on the shifting sands of immediate results, which may produce “quick and easy short-term political gains, but do not enhance human fulfilment” (ibid., 224).

                To this end, we would do well to turn to the founding fathers of Europe.  They were prepared to pursue alternative and innovative paths in a world scarred by war.  Not only did they boldly conceive the idea of Europe, but they dared to change radically the models that had led only to violence and destruction. They dared to seek multilateral solutions to increasingly shared problems.

                Robert Schuman, at the very birth of the first European community, stated that “Europe will not be made all at once, or according to a single plan.  It will be built through concrete achievements which first create a de facto solidarity”.   Today, in our own world, marked by so much conflict and suffering, there is a need to return to the same de facto solidarity and concrete generosity that followed the Second World War, because, as Schuman noted, “world peace cannot be safeguarded without making creative efforts proportionate to the dangers threatening it”.   The founding fathers were heralds of peace and prophets of the future.  Today more than ever, their vision inspires us to build bridges and tear down walls.  That vision urges us not to be content with cosmetic retouches or convoluted compromises aimed at correcting this or that treaty, but courageously to lay new and solid foundations.  As Alcide De Gasperi stated, “equally inspired by concern for the common good of our European homeland”, all are called to embark fearlessly on a “construction project that demands our full quota of patience and our ongoing cooperation”. 

                Such a “memory transfusion” can enable us to draw inspiration from the past in order to confront with courage the complex multipolar framework of our own day and to take up with determination the challenge of “updating” the idea of Europe.  A Europe capable of giving birth to a new humanism based on three capacities: the capacity to integrate, the capacity for dialogue and the capacity to generate.

The capacity to integrate

                Erich Przywara, in his splendid work Idee Europa [The Idea of Europe], challenges us to think of the city as a place where various instances and levels coexist.  He was familiar with the reductionist tendency inherent in every attempt to rethink the social fabric.  Many of our cities are remarkably beautiful precisely because they have managed to preserve over time traces of different ages, nations, styles and visions.  We need but look at the inestimable cultural patrimony of Rome to realize that the richness and worth of a people is grounded in its ability to combine all these levels in a healthy coexistence.  Forms of reductionism and attempts at uniformity, far from generating value, condemn our peoples to a cruel poverty: the poverty of exclusion.  Far from bestowing grandeur, riches and beauty, exclusion leads to vulgarity, narrowness, and cruelty.  Far from bestowing nobility of spirit, it brings meanness.

                The roots of our peoples, the roots of Europe, were consolidated down the centuries by the constant need to integrate in new syntheses the most varied and discrete cultures.  The identity of Europe is, and always has been, a dynamic and multicultural identity.

                Political activity cannot fail to see the urgency of this fundamental task. We know that “the whole is greater than the part, but it is also greater than the sum of the parts”, and this requires that we work to “broaden our horizons and see the greater good which will benefit us all” (Evangelii Gaudium, 235).  We are asked to promote an integration that finds in solidarity a way of acting, a means of making history.  Solidarity should never be confused with charitable assistance, but understood as a means of creating opportunities for all the inhabitants of our cities – and of so many other cities – to live with dignity.  Time is teaching us that it is not enough simply to settle individuals geographically: the challenge is that of a profound cultural integration.

The community of European peoples will thus be able to overcome the temptation of falling back on unilateral paradigms and opting for forms of “ideological colonization”.  Instead, it will rediscover the breadth of the European soul, born of the encounter of civilizations and peoples.  The soul of Europe is in fact greater than the present borders of the Union and is called to become a model of new syntheses and of dialogue.  The true face of Europe is seen not in confrontation, but in the richness of its various cultures and the beauty of its commitment to openness.   Without this capacity for integration, the words once spoken by Konrad Adenauer will prove prophetic: “the future of the West is not threatened as much by political tensions as by the danger of conformism, uniformity of thoughts and feelings: in a word, by the whole system of life, by flight from responsibility, with concern only for oneself.”

The capacity for dialogue

                If there is one word that we should never tire of repeating, it is this: dialogue.  We are called to promote a culture of dialogue by every possible means and thus to rebuild the fabric of society.  The culture of dialogue entails a true apprenticeship and a discipline that enables us to view others as valid dialogue partners, to respect the foreigner, the immigrant and people from different cultures as worthy of being listened to.  Today we urgently need to engage all the members of society in building “a culture which privileges dialogue as a form of encounter” and in creating “a means for building consensus and agreement while seeking the goal of a just, responsive and inclusive society” (Evangelii Gaudium, 239).  Peace will be lasting in the measure that we arm our children with the weapons of dialogue, that we teach them to fight the good fight of encounter and negotiation.  In this way, we will bequeath to them a culture capable of devising strategies of life, not death, and of inclusion, not exclusion.

                This culture of dialogue should be an integral part of the education imparted in our schools, cutting across disciplinary lines and helping to give young people the tools needed to settle conflicts differently than we are accustomed to do.  Today we urgently need to build “coalitions” that are not only military and economic, but cultural, educational, philosophical and religious.  Coalitions that can make clear that, behind many conflicts, there is often in play the power of economic groups.  Coalitions capable of defending people from being exploited for improper ends.  Let us arm our people with the culture of dialogue and encounter.

The capacity to generate

                Dialogue, with all that it entails, reminds us that no one can remain a mere onlooker or bystander.  Everyone, from the smallest to the greatest, has an active role to play in the creation of an integrated and reconciled society.  This culture of dialogue can come about only if all of us take part in planning and building it.   The present situation does not permit anyone to stand by and watch other people’s struggles.  On the contrary, it is a forceful summons to personal and social responsibility.

                In this sense, our young people have a critical role.  They are not the future of our peoples; they are the present.  Even now, with their dreams and their lives they are forging the spirit of Europe.  We cannot look to the future without offering them the real possibility to be catalysts of change and transformation. We cannot envision Europe without letting them be participants and protagonists in this dream.

                Lately I have given much thought to this.  I ask myself:  How we can involve our young people in this building project if we fail to offer them employment, dignified labour that lets them grow and develop through their handiwork, their intelligence and their abilities?  How can we tell them that they are protagonists, when the levels of employment and underemployment of millions of young Europeans are continually rising?  How can we avoid losing our young people, who end up going elsewhere in search of their dreams and a sense of belonging, because here, in their own countries, we don’t know how to offer them opportunities and values?

                The just distribution of the fruits of the earth and human labour is not mere philanthropy.  It is a moral obligation.   If we want to rethink our society, we need to create dignified and well-paying jobs, especially for our young people.

                To do so requires coming up with new, more inclusive and equitable economic models, aimed not at serving the few, but at benefiting ordinary people and society as a whole.  This calls for moving from a liquid economy to a social economy; I think for example of the social market economy encouraged by my predecessors (cf. JOHN PAUL II, Address to the Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany, 8 November 1990).  It would involve passing from an economy directed at revenue, profiting from speculation and lending at interest, to a social economy that invests in persons by creating jobs and providing training.

                We need to move from a liquid economy prepared to use corruption as a means of obtaining profits to a social economy that guarantees access to land and lodging through labour.  Labour is in fact the setting in which individuals and communities bring into play “many aspects of life: creativity, planning for the future, developing talents, living out values, relating to others, giving glory to God.  It follows that, in the reality of today’s global society, it is essential that we ‘continue to prioritize the role of access to steady employment for everyone, no matter the limited interests of business and dubious economic reasoning’ ” (Encyclical Laudato Si’, 127).

                If we want a dignified future, a future of peace for our societies, we will only be able to achieve it by working for genuine inclusion, “an inclusion which provides worthy, free, creative, participatory and solidary work”.   This passage (from a liquid economy to a social economy) will not only offer new prospects and concrete opportunities for integration and inclusion, but will makes us once more capable of envisaging that humanism of which Europe has been the cradle and wellspring.

                To the rebirth of a Europe weary, yet still rich in energies and possibilities, the Church can and must play her part.  Her task is one with her mission: the proclamation of the Gospel, which today more than ever finds expression in going forth to bind the wounds of humanity with the powerful yet simple presence of Jesus, and his mercy that consoles and encourages.  God desires to dwell in our midst, but he can only do so through men and women who, like the great evangelizers of this continent, have been touched by him and live for the Gospel, seeking nothing else.  Only a Church rich in witnesses will be able to bring back the pure water of the Gospel to the roots of Europe.  In this enterprise, the path of Christians towards full unity is a great sign of the times and a response to the Lord’s prayer “that they may all be one” (Jn 17:21).

                With mind and heart, with hope and without vain nostalgia, like a son who rediscovers in Mother Europe his roots of life and faith, I dream of a new European humanism, one that involves “a constant work of humanization” and calls for “memory, courage, [and] a sound and humane utopian vision”.    I dream of a Europe that is young, still capable of being a mother: a mother who has life because she respects life and offers hope for life.  I dream of a Europe that cares for children, that offers fraternal help to the poor and those newcomers seeking acceptance because they have lost everything and need shelter.  I dream of a Europe that is attentive to and concerned for the infirm and the elderly, lest they be simply set aside as useless.  I dream of a Europe where being a migrant is not a crime but a summons to greater commitment on behalf of the dignity of every human being.  I dream of a Europe where young people breathe the pure air of honesty, where they love the beauty of a culture and a simple life undefiled by the insatiable needs of consumerism, where getting married and having children is a responsibility and a great joy, not a problem due to the lack of stable employment.  I dream of a Europe of families, with truly effective policies concentrated on faces rather than numbers, on birth rates more than rates of consumption.  I dream of a Europe that promotes and protects the rights of everyone, without neglecting its duties towards all.  I dream of a Europe of which it will not be said that its commitment to human rights was its last utopia.

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On Monday, Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama, the Archbishop of Jos and President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Nigeria led other Bishops to met Republican President, Muhammadu Buhari at Aso Villa in Abuja. Among other issues addressed to President Buhari was the matter of the worsening security situation perpetrated by suspected Fulani herdsmen. 

On 28 April, an attempt was made on the life of the Archbishop of Abuja, Cardinal John Onaiyekan as he travelled on the Benin-Uromi road. The Cardinal’s vehicle was shot at by gunmen suspected to be Fulani herdsmen.

As the Bishops were meeting President Buhari, the Bishop of Nsukka Diocese in Nigeria, Godfrey Igwebuike Onah issued a scathing press statement where he accused local police and security officials of abandoning the people of Nimbo when suspected Fulani herdsmen invaded Nimbo Uzo-Uwani local Government Area, Enugu State. As many as 48 persons were believed to have been killed in the attack by the militants.

An earlier attack in Agatu, Benue State during the month of March left more than 100 people dead.

Find below  the full address of the Nigerian Bishops to President Muhammadu Buhari:

MEETING OF CATHOLIC BISHOPS WITH HIS EXCELLENCY PRESIDENT MUHAMMADU BUHARI, AT THE ASO VILLA, ABUJA, 2 MAY, 2016. AN ADDRESS BY MOST REV. IGNATIUS A. KAIGAMA, ARCHBISHOP OF JOS AND PRESIDENT, CATHOLIC BISHOPS' CONFERENCE OF NIGERIA.

Your Excellency,

On behalf of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Nigeria (CBCN), we the Archbishops and members of the Administrative Board, the highest decision making body of our Conference are here in person to congratulate you our President on your election as the leader of our great country and to express our solidarity and willingness to collaborate with you and with your administration in which we see hope for a greater Nigeria.

We recall with great delight your speech in February 2015 as a presidential candidate to us, the Catholic Bishops, which had the theme:  "One Nation Bound in Freedom, Peace, Unity and Love”, in which you re-affirmed your commitment towards ensuring that Nigeria remains a multi-religious state where every individual is free to practise his or her religion of choice.

Church-State collaboration in the Reconstruction of Post Boko Haram Nigeria

We commend your efforts in the fight against Boko Haram and against corruption. We encourage that justice be done according to the rule of law, with no sacred cows to be spared. These two monsters which you are tackling pretty well have threatened to destabilize Nigeria and to cripple our national growth and development. Although many people have been killed, many others rendered homeless and are without adequate means of livelihood, we commend you for being quite successful so far in repelling the insurgence from decimating Nigeria by halting its further advance.

Our Conference, using our Catholic Caritas Foundation of Nigeria , CCFN, and our Justice, Peace and Development Commission (JDPC) have been doing what is within our limits to bring relief to the displaced persons. Notably, the Catholic Bishops of Maiduguri and Yola as well as Bishops in other parts of the country have hosted large numbers of Internally Displaced Persons. The CBCN sent a delegation to Cameroun with substantial relief materials to give succor to thousands of Nigerians taking refuge there. Some of our priests are currently residing there with the refugees to give them hope and spiritual/pastoral support. We hope your government and our Conference will continue to collaborate in respect of caring for the displaced persons. So we ask that whatever measures are being put in place by the government for rehabilitation and reconstruction we who have been involved from the beginning will be brought on board to share the concrete experience  we have of what these our brothers and sisters have been going through. We believe that picking up the pieces of the havoc by Boko Haram will require that all hands be on deck. We would like a wider discussion on the issue of our partnership with State Governments in matters of the rehabilitation of the displaced persons and the reconstruction of their communities.

 Farmers/Herdsmen conflicts and killings in almost all zones of our country.

The Agatu killings, the Nimbo killings and many other killings in Benue, Taraba, Nassarawa, Ondo, Edo, Delta and elsewhere should be seriously investigated, with the perpetrators unmasked and decisively dealt with. Our people cannot continue to live in perpetual fear of attacks by fellow Nigerians with criminal intent. Happily, we understand that you have ordered some investigations into the Agatu and Nimbo killings. For a more permanent peace between herdsmen and farmers in our country, some streamlining is necessary for the good of the cattle rearers in the North and for the welfare of farmers in the South and elsewhere in Nigeria.

 Cattle ranches should be created in states known for cattle breeding, with adequate water and fodder provided and nurtured. Farmland for root crops and other plants should be protected for their specific products in states known for such. This will reduce or eliminate clashes stemming from trespassing. We certainly need these two sectors to supplement our near-total dependence on oil. But the fact that armed attacks and wanton killings have become a national threat, it should be declared an insurgency and treated as such, with the aim of dislodging the insurgents from occupied communities by the security/military operatives.

Church/State partnership in Education.

We believe that the national and State Governments have a duty, and in some cases have actually committed themselves by law, to fund the education of all children, from Primary 1 to JSS 3. In fact this is in the Federal New Policy on Education, under the 6-3-3-4 scheme. We wish to humbly remind your administration what you owe to all children, not only those in public schools. We are also demanding that children under our care who are citizens of our great country, in our faith- based institutions should enjoy similar privileges and not suffer any form of deprivation or discrimination because they happen to be in institutions run by faith-based organizations. There was a time when a healthy relationship existed between government and faith-based organizations in running schools and health institutions. Today, all sorts of levies are slammed on our institutions and the children. Instead of supporting faith-based institutions as is done in other countries, we experience what seems to suggest that mission schools are some sort of unhealthy competitors and the students are less Nigerian than those in public schools.  As a way of improving holistic education we plead with the government to generously co-fund education/ health care of faith-based organizations while insisting that high standards be maintained. The government support for non-state actors should be increased against the background that the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) require broad partnerships and the government alone cannot achieve the vision of the SDGs.

 Our Catholic schools are more than private schools in the conventional sense; they are ‘Mission Schools’. The schools were not founded as profit-oriented establishments even if beneficiaries have to pay for services for the provision of quality education and the development of the institutions. Moreover, Catholic Mission Schools are not discriminatory. In addition, some children and wards of parents and guardians who cannot afford such quality education that the Mission schools render are also enrolled at the expense of the Church. 

Freedom of religion and the difficulty of getting land approval for Christian relgious purposes in some parts of the North

Your Excellency, we still recall in your speech, your firm commitment towards ensuring the right of Nigerians to their religious beliefs, which includes and not limited to, the right to erect places of worship. We bring to your notice that sad enough, Christians are still unable to erect places of worship in Federal Universities in the northern states. After forty years, Usman Dan Fodio and Bayero Universities, for example, have out-rightly denied Christians access to lands already allocated in the plans for the erection of Churches, in spite of there being so many mosques built by the university authorities. Similarly, it is such a herculean task for Christians to obtain certificates of occupancy to build Churches in some northern States. We urge you to kindly encourage State governments to kindly enforce the freedom of religion enshrined in our Constitution.

The Economic situation: Our people are groaning.

The harsh economic situation in which our people are living presently is being felt everywhere. In many States, workers are worrying about their monthly salaries, many pensioners are crying for many months for unpaid pensions, while so many self-employed and non-employed persons and family dependents are groaning for their daily meal. As we thank you for the bail-out funds to cushion this hardship in various States, we urge you to ensure that these monies are used mainly to take care of salaries, pensions and their basic human needs.

Conclusion: Our Patriotic aspirations and commitment

 Your Excellency, we are genuinely concerned about turning our country around and committed to helping this government make this happen. The issues mentioned above are nagging areas of concern for us as leaders of the Catholic Church. What we say applies to the Christian community in general. National stability and cohesion remain sore points against the backdrop of the indiscriminate loss of human lives in Nigeria. Life which is sacred is being taken at the whims and caprices of criminals or religiously confused or misguided individuals and groups. It is no good news for us and for our national image that people are kidnapped or killed without the slightest compunction.

Your Excellency, please be assured of our fervent prayers as you and your team struggle to overcome the multi-dimensional challenges facing us in the country. With God all things are possible. We remain optimistic that things can only get better. We are aware that to eat an omelet the egg must first be broken. We pray that the current economic hardships being faced by Nigerians due to the decline in oil prices and based on the desire to reposition things is temporary and hopefully, Nigerians will soon smile, based on the repeated assurances from you. We wish you a happy, peaceful and fruitful tenure and once again, please always count on our support for the common good of our country.

 I. A Kaigama

Catholic Archbishop of Jos

President, Catholic Bishop’s Conference of Nigeria

 May 2, 2016

 

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Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, the President of the Pontifical Council for the Family, is in Nigeria to present the Apostolic Exhortation, ‘Amoris Laetitia’ to the Bishops and the Church of Nigeria. The Archbishop left Rome for Nigeria Thursday and is expected back in Italy next week. Just before leaving, Archbishop Paglia told Vatican Radio’s Africa Service that he was looking forward to the visit which was being made at the invitation of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Nigeria, CBCN.

The President of the Pontifical Council for the Family also spoke of the universal Church’s closeness with Cardinal John Onaiyekan, the Archbishop of Abuja, who recently escaped an attempt on his life by suspected ‘Fulani herdsmen.’ Fortunately, neither the Cardinal nor those with him were hurt. 

Speaking about the incident to Vatican Radio, Archbishop Paglia expressed solidarity with Cardinal Onaiyekan and with all other persecuted Christians in the world.

“I want to express my friendship and solidarity with Cardinal Onaiyekan. We are praying for him and also for all Christians persecuted in Nigeria and elsewhere in the world. We are aware of the great testimony and witness to their faith that many Nigerian Christians have made in the recent past,” Archbishop Paglia said.

Archbishop Paglia said he was going to Nigeria to share the latest papal text devoted to the family. The idea is to present ‘Amoris Laetitia’ in a thoughtful and personal manner.

“I was invited by the Bishops’ of Conference of Nigeria to present the new Apostolic Exhortation ‘Amoris Laetitia.’ It is also an excellent opportunity for us to dialogue with the Bishops of the Church about this new document. ‘Amoris Laetitia’ is one of those papal documents that has been carefully written after a long preparation.”

While in Nigeria, Archbishop Paglia will also visit Owerri, Lagos, and Abuja.

“In each city, I will meet families and groups engaged in the pastoral care of the family. I will celebrate the Holy Eucharist with them and discuss the document, ‘Amoris Laetitia.’ We want to share the document not only with Bishops but with priests, sisters and of course, with families,” the Pontifical Council for the Family President emphasised.

(Fr. Paul Samasumo, Vatican Radio)

Email: engafrica@vatiradio.va

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