VATICAN CITY, 30 JUN 2010 (VIS) - In the light of the recently-concluded Year for Priests, Benedict XVI dedicated his catechesis during this morning's general audience to the Italian St. Joseph Cafasso (1811-1860), the hundred and fiftieth anniversary of whose death fell last week.
Joseph Cafasso first studied philosophy and theology then, four months after his priestly ordination in 1833, entered the "St. Francis of Assisi" institute in Turin, Italy, to perfect his skill in pastoral care.
The kind of ministry that Joseph Cafasso helped to establish, said the Pope, was "that of the true pastor with a rich interior life and a profound zeal for pastoral care: faithful in prayer, committed to preaching and catechesis, dedicated to the Sacraments of the Eucharist and Confession, in keeping with the model incarnated by St. Charles Borromeo and St . Francis of Sales, and promoted by the Council of Trent".
"St. Joseph Cafasso sought to establish this model in the formation of young priests so that, in their turn, they too could become formators to other priests, religious and lay people, thus creating a unique and effective chain".
The saint, who passed many hours in the confessional, "loved the Lord totally, he was animated by a well-rooted faith and supported by profound and prolonged prayer, he showed sincere charity to everyone. He knew moral theology but was equally well aware of the condition of people's hearts for which, like the good shepherd, he took responsibility".
Recalling then that St. Joseph Cafasso was St. John Bosco's spiritual director from 1835 to 1860, Benedict XVI explained that at no time did the former seek to make the latter "a disciple in his image and likeness", while St. John Bosco never copied his master. "He imitated him in the human and priestly virtues - defining him as a 'model of priestly life' - but maintained his own attitudes and his own specific vocation. ... This is a precious lesson for those involved in the formation and education of the young generations", said the Pope.
Another element that characterised the ministry of St. Joseph Cafasso was his "concern for the lowest, especially for prisoners ... who lived in inhuman and dehumanising conditions". If at first, in his preaching to prisoners, the saint "often delivered great sermons that came to involve almost the entire prison population, with the passage of time he came to favour individual catechesis, made up of conversations and personal meetings. While respecting the individual situation of each individual, he tackled the great themes of Christian life, speaking of trust in God, adherence to His will, the utility of prayer and the Sacraments, the culmination of which is Confession, the meeting with God Who, for us, becomes infinite mercy".
He died in the year 1860. In 1948 Pope Pius XII proclaimed him as patron of Italian prisons and, in 1950, propsed him "as a model for priests involved in Confession and spiritual direction".
In his greetings at the end of his audience, the Pope addressed special greetings to the metropolitan archbishops who yesterday received the pallium, and to the pilgrims accompanying them.
AG/ VIS 20100630 (530)
Joseph Cafasso first studied philosophy and theology then, four months after his priestly ordination in 1833, entered the "St. Francis of Assisi" institute in Turin, Italy, to perfect his skill in pastoral care.
The kind of ministry that Joseph Cafasso helped to establish, said the Pope, was "that of the true pastor with a rich interior life and a profound zeal for pastoral care: faithful in prayer, committed to preaching and catechesis, dedicated to the Sacraments of the Eucharist and Confession, in keeping with the model incarnated by St. Charles Borromeo and St . Francis of Sales, and promoted by the Council of Trent".
"St. Joseph Cafasso sought to establish this model in the formation of young priests so that, in their turn, they too could become formators to other priests, religious and lay people, thus creating a unique and effective chain".
The saint, who passed many hours in the confessional, "loved the Lord totally, he was animated by a well-rooted faith and supported by profound and prolonged prayer, he showed sincere charity to everyone. He knew moral theology but was equally well aware of the condition of people's hearts for which, like the good shepherd, he took responsibility".
Recalling then that St. Joseph Cafasso was St. John Bosco's spiritual director from 1835 to 1860, Benedict XVI explained that at no time did the former seek to make the latter "a disciple in his image and likeness", while St. John Bosco never copied his master. "He imitated him in the human and priestly virtues - defining him as a 'model of priestly life' - but maintained his own attitudes and his own specific vocation. ... This is a precious lesson for those involved in the formation and education of the young generations", said the Pope.
Another element that characterised the ministry of St. Joseph Cafasso was his "concern for the lowest, especially for prisoners ... who lived in inhuman and dehumanising conditions". If at first, in his preaching to prisoners, the saint "often delivered great sermons that came to involve almost the entire prison population, with the passage of time he came to favour individual catechesis, made up of conversations and personal meetings. While respecting the individual situation of each individual, he tackled the great themes of Christian life, speaking of trust in God, adherence to His will, the utility of prayer and the Sacraments, the culmination of which is Confession, the meeting with God Who, for us, becomes infinite mercy".
He died in the year 1860. In 1948 Pope Pius XII proclaimed him as patron of Italian prisons and, in 1950, propsed him "as a model for priests involved in Confession and spiritual direction".
In his greetings at the end of his audience, the Pope addressed special greetings to the metropolitan archbishops who yesterday received the pallium, and to the pilgrims accompanying them.
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