Wednesday, April 13, 2011

SAINTLINESS IS THE MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIFE

VATICAN CITY, 13 APR 2011 (VIS) - During this Wednesday's general audiences, Benedict XVI concluded the cycle of catechesis he has dedicated over the course of two years to the many saints who "with their faith, with their charity and with their lives, have been beacons for many generations, and are thus also for us".

  "Often we are led to believe that sainthood is reserved to a few chosen ones", the Pope said. Nonetheless, "saintliness, the fullness of Christian life, does not consist in the achievement of extraordinary feats, but in uniting oneself with Christ... in making His disposition ... His behaviour ... our own. ... The II Vatican Council, in the Constitution of the Church, speaks clearly of the universal call to sainthood, affirming that no-one is excluded".

  However, a holy life, the Pope continued, "is not principally the result of our efforts, as it is God ... who renders us holy, and it is the action of his Spirit which animates us from within, the same life of Christ resurrected which is communicated to us and which transforms us ... Saintliness is therefore ultimately rooted in baptismal grace, in being introduced to the paschal mystery of Christ, by which His Spirit, His resurrected life, is communicated to us. ... But God always respects our freedom and asks us to accept this gift and to live with the demands it brings, asks that we may allow ourselves to be transformed by the action of the Holy Spirit, conforming our will to the will of God".

  "How can it be that our way of thinking and our actions become the thought and action of Christ?" asked the Pope. "Once again, the II Vatican Council offers us clear guidance; it tells us that Christian holiness is none other than charity, fully experienced". However, in order that charity might, "like a good seed, grow in the soul and there bear fruit, the faithful must listen gladly to the Word of God and, by its grace, carry out His will through their works, participate frequently in the sacraments, above all the Eucharist and the Holy Liturgy; they must constantly apply themselves in prayer, in the abnegation of their selves, in the active service of their brothers and in the exercise of every virtue. ... For this reason the true disciple of Christ is characterised by his charity both toward God and toward his neighbour".

  "The Church, during the Liturgical Year, invites us to commemorate an array of saints who have fully lived in charity, and have loved and followed Christ in their everyday lives. They show us that it is possible to follow this path. ... We are all called to saintliness: it is the very measure of Christian life".

  Benedict XVI concluded by inviting us all to open ourselves "to the action of the Holy Spirit, which transforms our life, so that we too may become tesserae in the great mosaic of sainthood that God creates throughout history".
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VIDEO MESSAGE TO FAMILIES REUNITED IN MELBOURNE

VATICAN CITY, 13 APR 2011 (VIS) - Following today's catechesis and during his greeting to the pilgrims in several languages, the Holy Father addressed an English-language video message to the participants in the Third National Family Gathering in Melbourne, Australia:

  "This important event is an occasion for you not only to witness to the bonds of affection within your individual families, but also to deepen them with the wider family of God, which is the Church, so that you become protagonists of a new humanity, a renewed culture of love and unity, of life and stability, giving glory to God our Father at all times".
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HOLY SEE PRESS OFFICE DECLARATION ON EX-BISHOP OF BRUGES

VATICAN CITY, 13 APR 2011 (VIS) - The following declaration was made to the press in the late afternoon yesterday by the director of the Holy See Press Office, Fr. Federico Lombardi S.J., regarding the situation of the ex-bishop of Bruges, Belgium, Msgr. Roger Vangheluwe:

  "In view of the proceedings against Msgr. Roger Vangheluwe, ex-bishop of Bruges, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith - as already communicated to the Nunciature in Belgium - has requested that he leave Belgium and undergo a period of spiritual and psychological counselling. Throughout this period he will obviously be forbidden from publicly exercising his priestly or episcopal functions. The psychological treatment has been decided upon by the Congregation to enable further diagnostic and prognostic information to be gathered in order to continue and conclude the proceedings with a definitive decision, which shall remain the competence of the Congregation, to be approved by the Holy Father. This decision shall naturally require consideration of the various aspects of the question, above all the suffering of the victims and the need for justice. The proceedings are therefore still in progress and the decision made by the Congregation is of an interlocutory nature and not definitive".
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PRESENTATION OF "YOUCAT", CATECHISM FOR YOUTH

VATICAN CITY, 13 APR 2011 (VIS) - A press conference was held in the Holy See Press Office at 12.30 today to present "Youcat", the Catechism of the Catholic Church aimed at the young, prepared by participants in the XXVI World Youth Day to be held in Madrid from 16 to 21 August 2011.

  The speakers at the conference were cardinal Stanislaw Rylko, president of the Pontifical Council for the Laity; Christoph Schonborn, O.P., archbishop of Vienna, Austria; archbishop Rino Fisichella, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelisation; Bernhard Meuser, promoter and editor of Youcat, and two young participants.

  Cardinal Rylko commented that this catechism for young people has been translated into six languages, and 700,000 copies have been distributed. "It is a gift from the Holy Father to the young participants in World Youth Day".

  Referring to the planned World Youth Day, the cardinal continued "It is not enough to make young people 'dream'; it is necessary also to help them grow well-rooted in the rich earth of Christian tradition. ... A real education in the faith of the young, therefore, must begin by freely proposing Christ to them. He is the solid rock upon which they may build their lives!"

  He explained that "'Youcat' translates the content of the 'Catechism of the Catholic Church' rigorously and faithfully, and using language adapted to the young. It does not replace the Catechism, but rather, leads toward it, paving the way to the 'Catechism' and its 'Compendium'. It aims to guide the young toward a deeper knowledge of their faith".

  Archbishop Fisichella emphasised that "'Youcat' answers a current need to present the content of the faith, professed by throughout time by Christians everywhere, in language that is simple, complete and above all accessible to the young".

  One of the young people present explained that the name "Youcat" is a translation of the word "Ju-Kat", which corresponds to the abbreviation of the German "Jugend" (youth) and catechism.
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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, 13 APR 2011 (VIS) - The Holy Father:

- Erected the new ecclesiastical province of Pelotas (area 20,594, population 588,000, Catholics 341,000, priests 54, permanent deacons 15, religious 176), Brazil, raising it to the rank of Metropolitan Church. The new ecclesiastical province will have as suffragans the dioceses of Bage and Rio Grande, previously belonging to the ecclesiastical province of Porto Alegre. He appointed bishop Jacinto Bergmann of Pelotas as metropolitan archbishop of the new circumscription.

- Erected the new ecclesiastical province of Santa Maria (area 21,316, population 532,000, Catholics 400,000, priests 106, permanent deacons 14, religious 588), Brazil, raising it to the rank of Metropolitan Church. The new ecclesiastical province will have as suffragans the dioceses of Uruguaiana, Cruz Alta, Santo Angelo, Santa Cruz do Sul and Cachoeira do Sul, previously belonging to the ecclesiastical province of Porto Alegre. He appointed bishop Helio Adelar Rubert of Santa Maria as metropolitan archbishop of the new circumscription.

- Erected the new ecclesiastical province of Passo Fundo (area 12,000, population 525,000, Catholics 416,000, priests 157, religious 419), Brazil, raising it to the rank of Metropolitan Church. The new ecclesiastical province will have as suffragans the dioceses of Vacaria, Frederico Westphalen and Erexim, previously belonging to the ecclesiastical province of Porto Alegre. He appointed bishop Pedro Ercilio Simon of Passo Fundo as metropolitan archbishop of the new circumscription.

The ecclesiastical province of Porto Alegre, Brazil, shall retain as suffragans the dioceses of Caxias do Sul, Novo Hamburgo, Osorio and Montenegro.
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