VERONICA GIULIANI: RESPONDING TO THE LOVE OF CHRIST

VATICAN CITY, 15 DEC 2010 (VIS) - In today's general audience, celebrated in the Vatican's Paul VI Hall, the Pope spoke about St. Veronica Giuliani, a Capuchin Poor Clare the three hundred and fiftieth anniversary of whose birth falls on 27 December.

  Born in the Italian town of Mercatello in 1660, "she was the last of seven sisters of whom three others also embraced the monastic life", the Pope explained. She was christened with the name of Ursula and at the age of seventeen entered the convent of Capuchin Poor Clares in Citta Castello where she spent the rest of her life. There she was given the name of Veronica, "and a year later pronounced her solemn religious profession. Thus began her configuration to Christ through a journey of great penance and suffering, and a number of mystical experiences associated with Jesus' Passion. ... In 1716, at the age of fifty-six, she became abbess of her convent, remaining in that position until 1727 when she died following a painful agony of thirty-three days". She was proclaimed a saint by Pope Gregory XVI on 26 May 1839.

  The main source for St. Veronica's life is her diary of some 22,000 handwritten pages, the Pope said. "Hers was a markedly Christological-spousal spirituality. This is the experience of being loved by Christ, the faithful and sincere Bridegroom, and of wishing to respond with an increasingly committed and impassioned love".

  Veronica "offered her prayers and sacrifices for the Pope, bishops, priests and all people in need including souls in Purgatory". She also "participated profoundly in the tormented love of Jesus, ... even asking to be crucified with Him", said Benedict XVI.

  He then highlighted how the saint "was convinced that she was already participating in the Kingdom of God, but at the same time she invoked all the saints of heaven to help her on the earthly journey of her oblation, as she awaited eternal beatitude. This was the constant aspiration of her life", the Pope remarked.

  "The high points of Veronica's mystical experience were never removed from the events of salvation as celebrated in the liturgy, where pride of place is given to proclaiming and listening to the Word of God. Sacred Scripture, then, illuminated, purified and confirmed Veronica's experience, making it ecclesial. ... Indeed, she not only expressed herself with the words of Sacred Scripture, but also lived by them".

  "Veronica", the Holy Father went on, "was in particular a courageous witness of the beauty and power of divine Love. ... She also experienced a profoundly intimate relationship with the Virgin Mary".

  "St. Veronica Giuliani invites us, in our lives as Christians, to fortify our union with the Lord, abandoning ourselves to His will with complete and total trust, and our union with the Church, the Bride of Christ. She invites us to participate in the tormented love of the crucified Jesus, for the salvation of all sinners. She invites us to fix our gaze on heaven, the goal of our earthly journey where we will live ... the joy of full communion with God. She invites us to draw daily nourishment from the Word of God so as to warm our hearts and guide our lives. The last words of the saint", Benedict XVI concluded, "may be considered as the summary of her impassioned mystical experience: 'I have found Love! Love has let itself be seen'".
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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, 15 DEC 2010 (VIS) - The Holy Father:

 - Appointed Archbishop Ricardo Ezzati Andrello S.D.B. of Concepcion, Chile, as metropolitan archbishop of Santiago de Chile (area 9,132, population 5,791,000, Catholics 4,019,000, priests 854, permanent deacons 295, religious 3,100), Chile. He succeeds Cardinal Francisco Javier Errazuriz Ossa, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same archdiocese the Holy Father accepted, upon having reached the age limit.

 - Appointed Bishop Josafa Menezes da Silva, auxiliary of Sao Salvador da Bahia, Brazil, as bishop of Barreiras (area 72,675, population 345,000, Catholics 292,000, priests 15, permanent deacons 10, religious 33), Brazil.

 - Erected the new diocese of Camacari (area 2,382, population 708,122, Catholics 481,523, priests 20, religious 55) Brazil, with territory taken from the archdiocese of Sao Salvador da Bahia, making it a suffragan of the same metropolitan church. He appointed Bishop Joao Carlos Petrini, auxiliary of Sao Salvador da Bahia as first bishop of the new diocese.

 - Appointed Fr. John B. Brungardt of the clergy of the diocese of Wichita, U.S.A., chancellor and pastor of St. Mark parish, as bishop of Dodge City (area 59,547, population 229,000, Catholics 62,300, priests 44, permanent deacons 9, religious 81), U.S.A. The bishop-elect was born in Salina, U.S.A. in 1958 and ordained a priest in 1998. He succeeds Bishop Ronald M. Gilmore, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese the Holy Father accepted, in accordance with canon 401 para. 2 of the Code of Canon Law.

 - Appointed Msgr. Carlo Ciattini of the clergy of San Miniato, Italy, rector of the seminary and judicial vicar, as bishop of Massa Marittima - Piombino (area 1,200, population 126,931, Catholics 125,000, priests 60, permanent deacons 4, religious 82), Italy. The bishop-elect was born in Cerreto Guidi, Italy in 1951 and ordained a priest in 1989.

 - Appointed Fr. Juan Espinosa Jimenez of the clergy of the archdiocese of Morelia, Mexico, professor at the major seminary, as auxiliary of the same archdiocese (area 18,000, population 2,675,000, Catholics 2,542,000, priests 550, permanent deacons 1, religious 1,422). The bishop-elect was born in Piedad, Mexico in 1965 and ordained a priest in 1993.
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INITIATIVES OF THE HOLY FATHER OVER THE CHRISTMAS PERIOD

VATICAN CITY, 14 DEC 2010 (VIS) - The Holy See Press Office today announced two initiatives of the Holy Father over the Christmas period.

  In the atrium of the Vatican's Paul VI Hall at 1 p.m. on Sunday 26 December, the Pope will offer luncheon to people assisted by the various Roman communities of the Missionaries of Charity, to mark the hundredth anniversary of the birth of Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta.

  At 5 p.m. on Wednesday 5 January, eve of the Epiphany, the Holy Father will visit children in Rome's Gemelli hospital. He will bless a new centre for the care of children with spina bifida and participate in the distribution of presents to the young patients.
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MEDIA WORKERS: A NEW AWARENESS OF BEING CHRIST'S DISCIPLES

VATICAN CITY, 14 DEC 2010 (VIS) - On 12 December Archbishop Claudio Maria Celli, president of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, sent a message for the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe to media workers in Latin America.

  "The continental mission which is taking place in Latin America", Archbishop Celli writes, "is leading many people to a new awareness of what it means of be disciples of Jesus. The local churches enthusiastically encourage this undertaking, reminding people that being Christ's disciples means having experienced an authentic encounter with Him. ... This experience permanently marks and transforms life, and for this reason we wish to communicate it to others, thus becoming missionaries ourselves".

  The meeting with the Lord, the prelate continues his message, "has many aspects. It is a personal but also a community experience; it comes about in solitude and silence, but also and especially in liturgical celebrations and family life. It draws nourishment from dialogue and community prayer, ... and culminates in activity and service".

  The archbishop then goes on to invite people "to enjoy moments of silence during these days of Advent, so as to listen to the voice of Jesus which speaks to our hearts. ... Let us stem the flood of daily cares and noises which so often overwhelms us. Silence is like a white screen upon which we can project the film of our daily life so as to see it more clearly. If we projected it on a wall full of pictures, books and other objects, and with a background noise, we would perceive little. Only in silence can we make our choices with greater awareness. In silence we hear the voice of God, and thus become genuine bearers of His Word".

  "This is, perhaps, difficult advice to follow at a time in which we are constantly bombarded with information, a time of pastoral needs and of hard work in our families, communications media and parishes. Yet, ... should we not also prepare the contents of what we are to communicate via radio, newspapers, television programmes and websites? What satisfying message can we give if our lives are full only of repeated words, with little substance and scarce content. Let us dedicate time to the Lord Whom we await in this period of Advent".

  Archbishop Celli concludes his message by asking Our Lady of Guadalupe, who is also patron of RIIAL (The Information Network of the Church in Latin America) that "to obtain for us the gift of inner silence from God, ... that He may make our words, texts, images and music fruitful vehicles of the Good News".
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AUDIENCES

VATICAN CITY, 14 DEC 2010 (VIS) - Yesterday evening the Holy Father received in audience a group of Japanese bishops.
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