Vatican plays key role in new relations with Cuba

By Patricia Zapor
WASHINGTON (CNS) – A not-insignificant part of the diplomatic coup pulled off by the White House and Cuban leaders Dec. 17 was that hardly anyone knew they had been working toward a reset in relations between the two neighbors and longtime antagonists.
That the two nations had been negotiating in secret for 18 months and that the Vatican had played a key role in keeping the discussions moving were among the factors that no doubt made the dramatic shift in policies possible. By keeping negotiations among a small number of diplomats and out of the public eye, outside pressures were kept to a minimum.
In simultaneous news conferences that day, U.S. President Barack Obama in Washington and Cuban President Raul Castro in Havana announced that their countries were re-establishing official diplomatic relations. Obama detailed a lengthy list of things that will become easier – sales of materials to Cuba’s small-business owners, for Internet technology and for housing construction; visits to Cuba by more Americans; banking and use of credit cards by Americans visiting Cuba; remittances of greater amounts of cash – to name some of the major changes.
That’s not to say the 54-year U.S. embargo has gone away altogether. Congress still holds the reins to portions of the laws prohibiting trade with Cuba, intended as a sanction for repression and human rights abuses after the Marxist revolution that put Fidel Castro in power in 1959. He or his brother, Raul, who took over from the ailing Fidel in 2006, have ruled the country ever since.
U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower first imposed an embargo on Cuba in October 1960. President John F. Kennedy expanded the embargo, and every president since has maintained it until Obama. He is the first to significantly loosen the controls, in 2009 easing restrictions on travel for family and cultural visits and allowing Americans to send more money to their relatives there.
Critics of the shift in policy, most conspicuously a handful of Cuban-American members of Congress, say they will attempt to block the changes. Among the steps they suggested are opposing the nomination of an ambassador and restricting funds needed to reopen an embassy in Havana.
But Congress also holds the power to retain or end the key parts of the embargo, which were put in place by federal law. The law established the main prohibitions on commerce with Cuba and the ban on travel except as permitted for family, cultural, educational, religious and humanitarian purposes.
The most recent national polling on the embargo done by the Pew Research Center in 2009 found a bare majority, 52 percent, of respondents said the U.S. should renew ties with Cuba. But only 33 percent opposed renewing ties. That poll came not long before the Cuban government began a series of changes, including allowing individuals to buy and sell property and to open businesses. More recently, Cuba began allowing its citizens to travel freely, without government authorization.
Annual polling of Cuban-Americans in Miami-Dade County by Florida International University has found steadily increasing support for ending the embargo, reinstating diplomatic ties and permitting U.S. citizens to freely travel to Cuba. This year, 68 percent favored reinstating diplomatic relations, with younger Cuban-Americans and recent arrivals backing the changes by even greater numbers, as much as 90 percent and 80 percent, respectively.
Tom Quigley, former foreign policy adviser on Latin America and the Caribbean to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, told Catholic News Service that it’s true what one of the chief critics, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, says about the need for more progress in changing the political systems in Cuba that prompted the call for an embargo in the first place.
“But it’s not going to get any better by leaving the status quo in place,” he added.
The Catholic Church in both countries has long worked to end the embargo. Yet Stephen Colecchi, director of the USCCB’s Office of International Justice and Peace, said he was unaware of the talks between Cuban and U.S. diplomats until the day of the announcement.
Boston daily and Catholic newspapers reported that Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley, one of Pope Francis’ key advisers, played a behind-the-scenes role, helping relay messages between a Boston nonprofit group, Beyond Conflict, that encouraged Pope Francis to intervene with Obama to press for an end to the embargo. When Obama and Pope Francis met in March, Cuba was reportedly one of their main topics of conversation.
For years, the Cuban bishops have worked steadfastly to diminish the emotional distance between Cubans and their Cuban-American relatives. Archbishop Dionisio Garcia Ibanez of Santiago de Cuba, president of the Cuban bishops’ conference, used the 2012 observance of the 400th anniversary of Our Lady of Charity of El Cobre, to encourage Cubans worldwide to unite across borders.
He became a regular visitor to the U.S., especially to Cuban emigre communities in Florida and New York.
By the time Pope Benedict visited Havana, Santiago and the shrine of El Cobre in 2012, thousands of Americans went to join him. From Miami alone, nearly 1,000 people went on flights chartered by the archdiocese.
Under Obama’s 2009 orders allowing more “people to people” travel to Cuba, the idea was for interactions between everyday citizens of both countries to help pressure Cuba’s leaders to bring about more improvements.
Archbishop Garcia’s goal was framed in more theological terms, but he was clear about what he hoped would happen if people would come together in a spirit of pilgrimage.
“La Caridad nos une,” (the Virgin of Charity unites us), Archbishop Garcia said repeatedly on visits to the U.S. preceding the anniversary. “Whether inside Cuba or outside Cuba, there is a sense that we are all one church.”
(Copyright © 2014 Catholic News Service/United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. The CNS news services may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed, including but not limited to, such means as framing or any other digital copying or distribution method in whole or in part, without prior written authority of Catholic News Service.)

Christmas Market visit: highlight of Vienna


 

VIENNA (CNS) – Tucked behind the Austrian capital’s well known Museumsquartier – a complex of art, natural history and cultural museums – is a little side street Christmas market called Spittelberg.
No more than a medieval alleyway, gray cobblestones and slightly wobbly Tudor-like white and dark timber buildings, Spittelberg is a place where old Vienna comes to life.
In the mellow splendor of muted Christmas glitter, with candlelight lamps in tones of red and wooden market stalls, the Spittelberg Christmas market is about vegetarian cheeses, wild boar sausages, sweet nuts and holiday biscuits. Add a variety of mulled wines and “Weihnachtspunsch” (Christmas punch), there’s enough to tempt any palate.
Here the spirit of Christmas comes to life. Less commercial than other markets across the city, Spittelberg’s quirkiness shines through in the homemade exquisite tree ornaments and in the friendly sense of community brought by three generations of vendors.
“My grandmother started selling waffles here and I used to come and help her,” says Anna Pichler, spooning a generous portion of plum jam onto a waffle made of organically grown spelt flour. “Then my mother came and now I’m here. We just like to keep this tradition going. Advent is a special time for us in Austria.”
Farther down the narrow street, the resident St. Nicholas wanders among the stalls, wooden staff in hand, bringing good cheer.
Invited to a decorated cup of mulled wine to keep away the chill, St. Nicholas hesitates.
“It’s too early in the evening,” he says.
Wandering from Spittelberg toward the old central market, Naschmarkt, shoppers emerge onto Maria Hilfe Strasse (Our Lady of Mercy Street) – and more Christmas market food, drink and craft stalls. One offers sheep slippers from Transylvania for sale, reminding visitors of Old Testament accounts of winter in Bethlehem.
“The most beautiful thing about the Vienna markets is that they are sort of nestled in between these elegant buildings,” says Susie Kelpie, who is from the United Kingdom.
Kelpie is one of 3 million annual visitors who attend Vienna’s at least two dozen Christmas markets, which traditionally open the Saturday before Advent.
Despite the number of visitors – albeit commercially important to the mainly rural Austrian economy of craftspeople – there is a certain magical quality about Christmas in this largely Catholic European capital.
Walking through the elegant sunken streets of the town’s center, known as the Graben, women in fur coats and men in old-fashioned hats and green loden capes mingle under pure white Christmas lights that represent the brightest stars on a winter’s night.
Appropriately, the most elaborate Christmas decorations are hung near St. Stephen’s Cathedral. They appear to align with the power of that emanates from the 12th-century church, the heart of the Archdiocese of Vienna.
Nearby, at yet another market, Am Hof, a group of young men warm the night with their baritone voices after a couple of glasses of hot wine or punch.
“My grandfather used to sing here during Advent,” said Constantin Spallart, one of the singers.
Moving outside the center city, Vienna’s Christkindlmarkt (Christ Child Market) on Parliament Square attracts busloads of tourists from Eastern Europe. But even there Vienna declines to take part in a commercialized idea of Christmas. A life-size Christmas manger, complete with Christ child and blonde-haired Mary, occupy a prominent part of the market.
(Copyright © 2014 Catholic News Service/United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. The CNS news services may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed, including but not limited to, such means as framing or any other digital copying or distribution method in whole or in part, without prior written authority of Catholic News Service.)

Pope teaches children joy of Christmas

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – No saint was ever known for having a “funeral face,” Pope Francis said; the joy of knowing one is loved by God and saved by Christ must be seen at least in a sense of peace, if not a smile.
Celebrating the third Sunday of Advent, Gaudete Sunday, Dec. 14, Pope Francis paid an evening visit to Rome’s St. Joseph Parish, meeting with the sick, with a group of Gypsies, with a first Communion class and with dozens of couples whose newborn babies were baptized in the past year.

A Nativity scene and Christmas tree decorate the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican Dec. 15. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

A Nativity scene and Christmas tree decorate the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican Dec. 15. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

“Be joyful as you prepare for Christmas,” he told them at Mass, urging as a first step that people thank God each day for the blessings they have been given.
A Christian’s Christmas joy has nothing to do with “the consumerism that leads to everyone being anxious Dec. 24 because, ‘Oh, I don’t have this, I need that’ — no, that is not God’s joy.”
With Christmas “less than 15 days away, no 13 days, let us pray. Don’t forget, we pray for Christmas joy. We give thanks to God for the many things he has given us and for faith, first of all.”
Earlier in the day, reciting the Angelus with visitors in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Francis blessed the statues of the Baby Jesus that will take center place in Nativity scenes in Rome schools, churches and homes.
Addressing the children who brought their figurines to the square, the pope said, “When you pray in front of your creche at home, remember to pray for me, like I will remember you.”
At the end of the Angelus, volunteers distributed a little booklet, marked “gift of Pope Francis,” containing the texts of the Our Father and Hail Mary and other “traditional prayers,” as well as prayers drawn from the Psalms and the “five-finger prayer.”
Using the fingers on one hand, the prayer guides people in praying for those closest to them, for those who teach, for those who govern, for those who are weak and – on the pinkie or smallest finger – for one’s own humility.
“The human heart desires joy,” the pope said in his Angelus address. “We all want joy; every family, all peoples aspire to joy. But what kind of joy are Christians called to witness? It is that joy that comes from closeness to God and from his presence in our lives.”
“A Christian is one who has a heart full of peace because he or she knows how to find joy in the Lord even when going through difficult moments in life,” he said. “Having faith does not mean not having difficulties, but having the strength to face them knowing that we are not alone.”

Pope Francis greets a boy as he arrives to celebrate Mass at St. Joseph Parish in Rome Dec. 14. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

Pope Francis greets a boy as he arrives to celebrate Mass at St. Joseph Parish in Rome Dec. 14. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

When joy or at least peace shines through a person’s face, he said, others will wonder why, opening the possibility of sharing with them the Gospel.
With Christmas approaching, the pope said, “the church invites us to give witness that Jesus is not just a historical figure; he is the word of God who continues to illuminate people’s paths today; his gestures – the sacraments — show the tenderness, consolation of love of the Father for every human being.”
Dressed in rose vestments for the evening Mass at the parish on Rome’s western edge, Pope Francis explained that usually Advent vestments are a dark color, “but today they are rose because the joy of Christmas is blossoming.”
“The joy of Christmas is a special joy, a joy that is not only for Christmas Day, but for the entire life of a Christian,” he said.
Speaking without a prepared text, the pope said someone could say, “’Oh, father, we make a big meal (at Christmas) and everyone is happy.’ This is beautiful. A big meal is good, but it is not the Christian joy we’re talking about.”
Christian joy, he said, “comes from prayer and from giving thanks to God.” It grows as one reviews all the blessings God has given.
“But there are people who do not know how to thank God; they always look for things to complain about,” the pope said. Speaking confidentially, he told parishioners that he used to know a nun who worked hard, “but her life was all about complaining,” so much so that “in the convent they called her ‘Sister Whiner.’ But a Christian can’t live that way, always looking for something to complain about!”
(Copyright © 2014 Catholic News Service/United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. The CNS news services may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed, including but not limited to, such means as framing or any other digital copying or distribution method in whole or in part, without prior written authority of Catholic News Service.)

Colorful, joyful celebrations honor Our Lady of Guadalupe


By Cindy Wooden
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Preceded by a procession of flags from the nations of the Americas and the recitation of the rosary in Spanish, Pope Francis and thousands of Catholics from across the Atlantic celebrated the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe in the Vatican.
The Argentina-born pope celebrated the Dec. 12 Mass to the sounds and rhythms of many of South America’s indigenous peoples; the principal sung parts of the Mass were from the “Misa Criolla,” composed 50 years ago by the late Ariel Ramirez. His son, Facundo Ramirez, conducted the choir that featured Patricia Sosa, a famous Argentine singer, as well as guitars and traditional instruments from the continent.
With St. Juan Diego’s vision of Our Lady of Guadalupe in 1531, the pope said, Mary “became the great missionary who brought the Gospel to our America.”
In his homily, Pope Francis prayed that Mary would “continue to accompany, assist and protect our peoples” and that she would “lead all the children who are pilgrims on this earth by the hand to an encounter with her son Jesus Christ.”
“Imploring God’s forgiveness and trusting in his mercy,” the pope prayed that God would help the people of Latin America forge a future of hope, development and opportunity for the poor and suffering, “for the humble, for those who hunger and thirst for justice, for the compassionate, the pure of heart, peacemakers and those persecuted for the sake of Christ’s name.”
Mary’s “Magnificat,” her hymn of praise to God, he said, proclaims that God “overturns ideologies and worldly hierarchies. He raises up the humble, comes to the aid of the poor and the small, and fills with good things, blessings and hope those who trust in his mercy.”
Pope Francis said the day’s reading from Psalm 66, with its “plea for forgiveness and the blessing of the peoples and nations and, at the same time, its joyful praise, expresses the spiritual sense of this Eucharistic celebration” in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe, “for whom devotion extends from Alaska to Patagonia.”
The dark-skinned image of Our Lady of Guadalupe traditionally believed to have been miraculously impressed on Juan Diego’s cloak, the pope said, proclaimed to the indigenous peoples of the Americas “the good news that all its inhabitants shared the dignity of children of God. No more would anyone be a servant, but we are all children of the same Father and brothers and sisters to each other.”
Mary did not just want to visit the Americas, the pope said, the image on the cloak or “tilma” is a sign that “she wanted to remain with them.”
“Through her intercession, the Christian faith began to become the greatest treasure” of the American peoples, Pope Francis said, a treasure “transmitted and demonstrated even today in the baptism of multitudes of people, in the faith, hope and charity of many, in their precious popular piety and in that ethos of the people who show that they know the dignity of the human person, in their passion for justice, in solidarity with the poor and suffering.”
(Copyright © 2014 Catholic News Service/United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. The CNS news services may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed, including but not limited to, such means as framing or any other digital copying or distribution method in whole or in part, without prior written authority of Catholic News Service.)

Ofrecerán restablecimiento de refugiados para niños de tres países

WASHINGTON – A partir de diciembre de 2014, ciertos padres o una madres que están legalmente presente en Estados Unidos podrán presentar el formulario DS-7699 del Departamento de Estado solicitando una entrevista de restablecimiento de refugiados para los niños solteros menores de 21 años en El Salvador, Guatemala y Honduras.
Bajo ciertas circunstancias, si el segundo padre/madre vive con el niño en el país de origen y se encuentra actualmente casado o casada con el padre legalmente presente en Estados Unidos, el segundo de los padres puede ser añadido a la petición del niño y ser considerado para estado de refugiado, y si se le niega el estado como refugiado, para la admisión condicional.

NEW MEXICO – Jocelyn Lara, en el lado de New Mexico en la frontera de los Estados Unidos, besa a su madre, Trinidad Acahua, el 22 de noviembre antes de la Misa celebrada por obispos de los Estados Unidos y México en el Parque Sunland, N.M. Joselyn y su hermana, Yoryet, fueron separadas de su madre cuando ésta fue deportada hace siete años por falta de pruebas de que estaba trabajando en los Estados Unidos legalmente. (CNS foto de Bob Roller)

NEW MEXICO – Jocelyn Lara, en el lado de New Mexico en la frontera de los Estados Unidos, besa a su madre, Trinidad Acahua, el 22 de noviembre antes de la Misa celebrada por obispos de los Estados Unidos y México en el Parque Sunland, N.M. Joselyn y su hermana, Yoryet, fueron separadas de su madre cuando ésta fue deportada hace siete años por falta de pruebas de que estaba trabajando en los Estados Unidos legalmente. (CNS foto de Bob Roller)

El formulario DS-7699 debe presentarse con la asistencia de una agencia de restablecimiento designada que trabaja con la Oficina de Población, Refugiados y Migración del Departamento de Estado de Estados Unidos para ayudar a restablecer a los refugiados en Estados Unidos. El formulario no estará disponible en el sitio web del Departamento de Estado para el público general y no se puede completar sin la ayuda de una agencia de restablecimiento financiada por el Departamento de Estado.
Estas agencias de restablecimiento se encuentran en más de 180 comunidades en todo Estados Unidos. Cuando inicie el programa, el Departamento de Estado proporcionará información sobre cómo comunicarse con una de estas agencias para iniciar una aplicación.
Una vez que se haya presentado el formulario DS-7699, el niño en su país de origen contará con asistencia a través del programa de la Organización Internacional para las Migraciones (OIM), que administra el Centro de Asistencia de Restablecimiento de EE.UU. (RSC por sus siglas en inglés) en Latinoamérica.
El personal de la OIM se comunicará con cada niño directamente e invitará a los niños a asistir a entrevistas de pre-selección en sus países de origen con el fin de prepararlos para una entrevista de refugiados con el Departamento de Seguridad Nacional (DHS). Se requerirá prueba de relación de ADN para confirmar la relación biológica entre el padre en Estados Unidos y el niño en el país. Después de la entrevista de pre-selección de la OIM, pero antes de la entrevista del DHS, el padre presente legalmente en Estados Unidos será notificado por la OIM a través de la agencia de restablecimiento sobre la forma de presentar las pruebas de ADN de la relación con su niño declarado en El Salvador, Guatemala u Honduras. Si las pruebas de relación de ADN confirman las relaciones reclamadas, la OIM programará la entrevista de refugiados con el DHS.
El DHS llevará a cabo entrevistas con cada niño para determinar si él o ella son elegibles para el estado de refugiado y admisibles a Estados Unidos. Todos los solicitantes deben completar todas las revisiones de seguridad requeridas y obtener una autorización médica antes de su aprobación para viajar como refugiado a Estados Unidos.
La OIM se encargará de organizar los viajes para los refugiados a Estados Unidos. El padre del niño firmará un pagaré acordando pagar el costo del viaje a Estados Unidos.
(Derechos de autor © 2014 Servicio de Noticias Católicas (CNS)/ Conferencia de Obispos Católicos de los Estados Unidos. Los servicio de noticias de CNS no pueden ser publicados, transmitidos, reescritos o de ninguna otra forma distribuidos, incluyendo pero no limitado a, medios tales como formación o  copia digital o método de distribución en su totalidad o en parte, sin autorización previa y por escrito del Servicio de Noticias Católicas)

Pope’s historic visit to Turkey takes on ecumenical theme

By Francis X. Rocca
ISTANBUL (CNS) – A day after hearing Turkish leaders demand the West show more respect for Islam, Pope Francis prayed alongside a Muslim cleric inside Istanbul’s most famous mosque.
At the Blue Mosque, Istanbul’s grand mufti Rahmi Yaran led Pope Francis to the mosque’s “mihrab,” a niche indicating the direction to the holy city Mecca. He explained that the name is related to that of Jesus’s mother, Mary, who is revered by Muslims.
Then, as the grand mufti continued speaking, the pope fell silent and remained so for several minutes, with head bowed, eyes closed and hands clasped in front of him. A Vatican statement later described this as a “moment of silent adoration.”
The Sultan Ahmed Mosque, an early 17th-century structure, is known as the Blue Mosque for the predominant color of the 21,000 tiles decorating its interior.
The pope’s Nov. 29 visit had been scheduled for later in the morning but was moved up, out of concern that it would interfere with noon prayers.
The event recalled the last papal visit to Turkey, in 2006, when Pope Benedict XVI’s prayer in the same mosque went far to ease an international furor over his speech in Regensburg, Germany, which had quoted a medieval description of the teachings of Islam’s prophet Muhammad as “evil and inhuman.”
For Pope Francis, the prayer was only the latest dramatic sign of a desire for closer relations with Islam, including his washing the feet of two Muslims during a Holy Thursday liturgy in 2013, and his invitation to Muslim and Jewish leaders to pray for peace in the Vatican Gardens the following year.
After his arrival in Turkey Nov. 28, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan raised the issue of prejudice and intolerance against Muslims in other countries, saying that “Islamophobia is a serious and rapidly rising problem in the West” and lamenting that “attempts to identify Islam with terrorism hurt millions.”
Later, during a visit to the Presidency of Religious Affairs, its president, Mehmet Gormez, decried what he called the “dissemination of terror scenarios by the global media through anti-Muslim expressions, which is a form of racism and which has now turned into a crime of hatred.”
After visiting the Blue Mosque, Pope Francis walked to the nearby Hagia Sofia, a sixth-century basilica converted into a mosque after the Ottoman conquest in 1453, then turned into a museum in the 20th century. The interior decoration today includes gigantic calligraphy of Quranic verses as well as medieval mosaics of Jesus and Mary. As the pope toured the museum, it was filled with the sound of the noon call to prayer from the minaret of a nearby mosque.
In the afternoon, Pope Francis celebrated Mass at Istanbul’s 19th-century Catholic cathedral. It was the first event during his visit to Turkey – a country whose population is less than 0.2 percent Christian – that recalled the enthusiastic crowds who ordinarily greet him on his travels.
The congregation included Catholics of the Armenian, Syriac, Chaldean and Latin rites and prayers in several languages, including Turkish, Aramaic and English. The varied music included African drumming.
Pope Francis’ homily, which acknowledged the presence of several Orthodox and Protestant leaders, focused on the challenge of Christian unity, which he distinguished from mere uniformity.
“When we try to create unity through our own human designs, we end up with uniformity and homogenization. If we let ourselves be led by the Spirit, however, richness, variety and diversity will never create conflict, because the Spirit spurs us to experience variety in the communion of the church,” he said.
The pope’s last public event of the day was an evening prayer service with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew at the patriarchal Church of St. George.
Like his predecessors Blessed Paul VI, St. John Paul II and retired Pope Benedict XVI, Pope Francis timed his visit to Turkey to include Nov. 30, the feast of St. Andrew, patron saint of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, in what is today Istanbul. As it was for the earlier popes, his primary reason for visiting was to strengthen ties with the ecumenical patriarch, considered first among equals by Orthodox bishops.
A 1964 meeting between Blessed Paul and Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras opened the modern period of ecumenical dialogue by lifting mutual excommunications that started the East-West schism in 1054.
Pope Francis already has a strong relationship with Patriarch Bartholomew, having met with him both at the Vatican and in Jerusalem. At the prayer service, the pope and the patriarch prayed the Our Father together in Latin, then each offered a separate blessing, respectively in Latin and Greek.
In a brief address, Patriarch Bartholomew noted that the church contains relics of St. Gregory the Theologian and St. John Chrysostom, taken by crusaders during the 1204 sack of Constantinople and returned eight centuries later by St. John Paul II.
“May these holy fathers, on whose teaching our common faith of the first millennium was founded, intercede for us to the Lord so that we rediscover the full union of our churches, thereby fulfilling his divine will in crucial times for humanity and the world,” the patriarch said.
At the end of the service, in a typically spontaneous gesture, the pope asked the patriarch to bless him and the church of Rome.
(Copyright © 2014 Catholic News Service/United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. The CNS news services may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed, including but not limited to, such means as framing or any other digital copying or distribution method in whole or in part, without prior written authority of Catholic News Service.)

The Pope’s Corner: Pope composes prayer for Immaculate Conception

ROME (CNS) – In the heart of Rome’s high-end shopping district, sparkling with Christmas lights and shiny baubles in the windows of famous designers, Pope Francis prayed that people would spend time in silence and in service as they prepare to celebrate Jesus’ birth.
Celebrating the feast of the Immaculate Conception Dec. 8, Pope Francis prayed for Mary’s intercession so that, “in us, your children, grace also will prevail over pride, and we can become merciful like our heavenly Father is merciful.”
Before laying a basket of cream-colored roses at the foot of a statue of the Immaculate Conception near Rome’s Spanish Steps, Pope Francis recited a special prayer he composed for the occasion.
Pope Francis said Mary being conceived without sin should give all Christians hope and strength “in the daily battle that we must conduct against the threats of evil,” because her immaculate conception is proof that evil does not have power over love.
“In this struggle we are not alone, we are not orphans,” he said, because Jesus gave his mother to be our mother.
“Today we invoke her maternal protection on us, our families, this city and the world,” the pope said, praying that God would “free humanity from every spiritual and material slavery.”
“In this time that leads up to the feast of Jesus’ birth, teach us how to go against the current,” Pope Francis prayed to Mary. Teach people how to be unencumbered, “to give ourselves, to listen, to be silent, to not focus on ourselves, but to leave space for the beauty of God, the source of true joy.”
Commenting on the feast day’s Gospel reading – Luke’s story of the annunciation to Mary that she would be Jesus’ mother – the pope said it was important that Mary did not respond, “I will do what you say,” but “May it be done unto me.”
“The attitude of Mary of Nazareth,” he said, “shows us that being comes before doing, and that we must let God do in order to be truly as he wants us to be. He will accomplish marvels in us.”
“We, too, are asked to listen to God, who speaks to us and accept his will,” the pope said. “According to Gospel logic, nothing is more effective and fruitful than listening and accepting the word of the Lord.”
And while Mary was conceived without sin – a special and unique privilege – “we, too, always have been ‘blessed,’ that is loved, and therefore ‘chosen before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without blemish before him,’” as the day’s reading from Ephesians said.
Recognizing how blessed they are, the pope said, Christians must be filled with gratitude and ready to share their blessings with others.

Pope beatifies Blessed Paul VI, ‘great helmsman’ of Vatican II


 

By Francis X. Rocca
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Beatifying Blessed Paul VI at the concluding Mass of the Synod of Bishops on the family, Pope Francis praised the late pope as the “great helmsman” of the Second Vatican Council and founder of the synod, as well as a “humble and prophetic witness of love for Christ and his church.”
The pope spoke during a homily in St. Peter’s Square at a Mass for more than 30,000 people, under a sunny sky on an unseasonably warm Oct. 19.
“When we look to this great pope, this courageous Christian, this tireless apostle, we cannot but say in the sight of God a word as simple as it is heartfelt and important: thanks,” the pope said, drawing applause from the congregation, which included retired Pope Benedict, whom Blessed Paul made a cardinal in 1977.
“Facing the advent of a secularized and hostile society, (Blessed Paul) could hold fast, with farsightedness and wisdom — and at times alone — to the helm of the barque of Peter,” Pope Francis said, in a possible allusion to “Humanae Vitae,” the late pope’s 1968 encyclical, which affirmed Catholic teaching against contraception amid widespread dissent.
The pope pronounced the rite of beatification at the start of the Mass. Then Sister Giacomina Pedrini, a member of the Sisters of Holy Child Mary, carried up a relic: a bloodstained vest Blessed Paul was wearing during a 1970 assassination attempt in the Philippines. Sister Pedrini is the last surviving nun who attended to Blessed Paul.
In his homily, Pope Francis did not explicitly mention “Humanae Vitae,” the single achievement for which Blessed Paul is best known today. Instead, the pope highlighted his predecessor’s work presiding over most of Vatican II and establishing the synod.
The pope quoted Blessed Paul’s statement that he intended the synod to survey the “signs of the times” in order to adapt to the “growing needs of our time and the changing conditions of society.”
Looking back on the two-week family synod, Pope Francis called it a “great experience,” whose members had “felt the power of the Holy Spirit who constantly guides and renews the church.”
The pope said the family synod demonstrated that “Christians look to the future, God’s future … and respond courageously to whatever new challenges come our way.”
The synod, dedicated to “pastoral challenges of the family,” touched on sensitive questions of sexual and medical ethics and how to reach out to people with ways of life contrary to Catholic teaching, including divorced and civilly remarried Catholics, cohabitating couples and those in same-sex unions.
“God is not afraid of new things,” Pope Francis said. “That is why he is continually surprising us, opening our hearts and guiding us in unexpected ways. He renews us; he constantly makes us new.”
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Obispo Kopacz se reune con el papa y otros obispos en Roma

El Obispo Joseph Kopacz saluda al Papa Francisco el 18 de septiembre en la Ciudad del Vaticano. El obispo pasó 10 dias en Roma aprendiendo sobre su oficina. La visita culminó con la oportunidad de asistir a una misa con el papa y luego saludarlo, el cual le dijo, “Ama a Dios, ama a tu pueblo, y regresa a tu trabajo”. (CNS foto/El Observatorio Romano)

El Obispo Joseph Kopacz saluda al Papa Francisco el 18 de septiembre en la Ciudad del Vaticano. El obispo pasó 10 dias en Roma aprendiendo sobre su oficina. La visita culminó con la oportunidad de asistir a una misa con el papa y luego saludarlo, el cual le dijo, “Ama a Dios, ama a tu pueblo, y regresa a tu trabajo”. (CNS foto/El Observatorio Romano)

Por Carol Glatz
CIUDAD DEL VATICANO (CNS) – Los obispos de hoy deben ser tan vigilantes y valientes como centinelas que velan por la fe, y tan clementes y pacientes como Moisés, quien llevó a pecadores a Dios por arduos desiertos, dijo el Papa Francis.
Su vocación no es la de ser los guardianes de un estado de fracaso  “sino custodios del “evangelii gaudium” (la alegría del Evangelio); por tanto, no puede estar sin el único tesoro que realmente tenemos que dar y que el mundo no puede dar: la alegría del amor de Dios”, le dijo a nuevos obispos.
El papa hizo sus comentarios el 18 de septiembre en un saludo escrito a 138 obispos de todo el mundo nombrados recientemente, incluyendo al Obispo Joseph Kopacz, a otros 13 obispos de los Estados Unidos. El papa dijo que estaba contento de poder poner una cara a sus nombres y a sus resumes.
En un largo discurso, el papa Francisco esbozó una serie de recomendaciones de lo que deben y no deben hacer en su nuevo papel como obispos, recordándoles su verdadera misión y exhortándolos a volver a casa “con un mensaje de aliento” incluso con los problemas que les esperan.
Al igual que la llama siempre se mantiene encendida en frente de cada sagrario para decirle al fiel que Cristo está presente en el interior, los sacerdote también necesita tener la luz de Cristo resplandeciendo en su mirada para que la gente pueda “encontrar la llama de la presencia de Cristo resucitado”. “Permanezcan en su palabra, en su Eucaristía, en las cosas de su padre y, sobre todo, en su cruz”, les dijo.
(Derechos de autor © 2014 Servicio de Noticias Católicas (CNS)/ Conferencia de Obispos Católicos de los Estados Unidos. Los servicio de noticias de CNS no pueden ser publicados, transmitidos, reescritos o de ninguna otra forma distribuidos, incluyendo pero no limitado a, medios tales como formación o  copia digital o método de distribución en su totalidad o en parte, sin autorización previa y por escrito del Servicio de Noticias Católicas)

Sínodo afirma tradición, deja abiertas cuestiones controversiales

El papa Francisco asistió a la sesión matutina del último día del Sínodo de Obispos Sobre la Familia en el Vaticano el 18 de octubre. A su izquierda está el Cardenal Lorenzo Baldisseri, secretario general del Sínodo de Obispos, y a su derecha el Cardenal Peter Erdo de Esztergom-Budapest, Hungría, (Foto de CNS/Paul Haring)

El papa Francisco asistió a la sesión matutina del último día del Sínodo de Obispos Sobre la Familia en el Vaticano el 18 de octubre. A su izquierda está el Cardenal Lorenzo Baldisseri, secretario general del Sínodo de Obispos, y a su derecha el Cardenal Peter Erdo de Esztergom-Budapest, Hungría, (Foto de CNS/Paul Haring)

Por Francis X. Rocca,
CIUDAD DEL VATICANO (CNS) – Después de varios días de animado debate sobre un informe de mediados del término, el Sínodo de Obispos Sobre la Familia acordó sobre un documento final cimentado más claramente en la doctrina católica tradicional. La asamblea no logró el consenso de dos tercios en cuestiones de la Comunión para los divorciados y recasados civilmente ni de en la atención pastoral a los homosexuales.
La última sesión de trabajo del sínodo, el 18 de octubre, también presentó un discurso del papa Francisco en el cual él celebró los francos intercambios entre los miembros, mientras advertía contra el extremismo en la defensa de la tradición o la búsqueda del progreso.
Las discusiones en la sala sinodal se habían tornado candentes después de la presentación de un informe del 13 de octubre que usó un lenguaje conciliador hacia las personas que llevan estilos de vida contrarios a la enseñanza eclesiástica.
Los resúmenes de las discusiones del grupo de trabajo, publicados el 16 de octubre, mostraron que una mayoría quería que el documento final fuera más claro acerca de la doctrina eclesiástica relevante y prestara más atención a las familias cuyas vidas ejemplifican esa enseñanza.
El papa Francisco dijo que agradecía las expresiones de desacuerdo de la asamblea. “Personalmente, me hubiese preocupado y entristecido mucho si no hubiese habido estas tentaciones y estas discusiones animadas y si todos hubiesen estado de acuerdo o permanecido en silencio en una paz falsa y quietista”, les dijo.
“Tantos comentaristas o personas que hablan, imaginaron que vieron a la iglesia peleando, una parte contra la otra, o hasta dudando del Espíritu Santo, el verdadero promotor y garante de la unidad y la armonía en la iglesia”, dijo.
El papa Francisco advirtió contra las tentaciones de la “rigidez hostil” y el ‘hacerbienismo’ destructivo”, de los cuales dijo que habían estado presentes durante el sínodo de dos semanas.
El primero busca refugio en la letra de la ley, “en la certeza de lo que sabemos y no de lo que todavía tenemos que aprender y lograr”. Esta tentación, dijo, es característica de los “celosos, los escrupulosos, los atentos y, hoy día, de los supuestos tradicionalistas y también de los intelectuales”.
“El ‘hacerbienismo’ destructivo, el cual en nombre de una equivocada piedad venda las heridas sin tratarlas ni medicarlas primero, trata los síntomas y no las causas ni las raíces. Es la tentación de los supuestos bienhechores, de los timoratos y también de los supuestos progresistas y liberales”.
Los participantes votaron sobre cada uno de los 62 párrafos del documento. Todos recibieron una simple mayoría, pero tres no pudieron obtener los dos tercios requeridos normalmente para los documentos sinodales.
Dos de estos trataban sobre una propuesta presentada por el cardenal alemán Walter Kasper que haría más fácil que los católicos divorciados y vueltos a casar  civilmente recibieran la Comunión. El documento señaló desacuerdos sobre el tema y recomendó un estudio adicional.
La sección del documento sobre la homosexualidad, que también se quedó corta de la aprobación por la mayoría, fue cambiada significativamente desde el informe de mediados del sínodo.
El título original de la sección, “acogiendo a homosexuales”, fue cambiado a “atención pastoral a personas de orientación homosexual”. Una declaración de que las uniones homosexuales podrían ser un “valioso apoyo a la vida de los compañeros” fue removida.
El informe final citó un documento del 2003 de la Congregación Para la Doctrina de la Fe: “Absolutamente no hay fundamento para considerar que las uniones homosexuales sean de alguna manera similares, ni siquiera remotamente análogas al plan de Dios para el matrimonio y la familia”.
El informe final del sínodo servirá como agenda para el sínodo mundial sobre la familia de octubre del 2015, el cual le hará recomendaciones al papa.
(Derechos de autor © 2014 Servicio de Noticias Católicas (CNS)/ Conferencia de Obispos Católicos de los Estados Unidos. Los servicio de noticias de CNS no pueden ser publicados, transmitidos, reescritos o de ninguna otra forma distribuidos, incluyendo pero no limitado a, medios tales como formación o  copia digital o método de distribución en su totalidad o en parte, sin autorización previa y por escrito del Servicio de Noticias Católicas)