Benedict XVI: PROCLAMATION OF THE GOSPEL and Charity

Faithful to the mandate of Christ, the Church unites preaching of the Gospel and charity through a presence in the field of microfinance to help the poor, with schools, and with health care. The Pope noted with satisfaction in a speech to a group of Indian bishops, at the end of their Ad Limina visit. Benedict XVI underlined that the Church must engage itself more and more to help families, which are themselves domestic churches. And he urged efforts to guard and encourage the values of respect, dialogue, and the indissolubility of marriage.

Benedict XVI: Christians Are TRUE and Consistent

The Church is called to a new evangelization to intensify missionary activity and to correspond fully to the mandate of the Lord. This was underlined by the Pope in the first address to the Pontifical Council for the New Evangelization, meeting for the first time in the Vatican since the constitution of this Dicastery.

In dictating some guidelines, Benedict XVI observed that today we witness the tragedy of fragmentation which does not permit us a unifying reference point any longer; in addition, there is often the phenomenon of people who to belong to the Church, but are strongly shaped by a vision of life at odds with faith.

Even for those who remain tied to Christian roots, but who experience the difficult relationship with MODERNITY. It is important to understand that being CHRISTIAN is not the kind of clothing to wear in private or on special occasions but is something living and fulfilling able to take up everything that is good in modernity. 

His Holiness JOHN PAUL II Short Biography

The 18th of May.  Today is the Feast of SAINT JOHN I, Pope and Martyr and  the  Birthday of  Blessed JOHN PAUL II!    Please pray for us!    ‎"Totus tuus ego sum, et omnia mea tua sunt" (I am all yours, and all that I have is yours).

Karol Józef Wojtyła, known as John Paul II since his October 1978  election to the papacy, was born in the Polish town of Wadowice,  a small city 50 kilometers from Krakow, on May 18, 1920. He was t he youngest of three children born to Karol Wojtyła and  Emilia Kaczorowska. His mother died in 1929. His eldest brother Edmund, a doctor, died in  1932 and his father, a non-commissioned army officer died in 1941.  A sister, Olga, had died before he was born. He was baptized on June 20, 1920 in the parish church of Wadowice  by Fr. Franciszek Zak, made his First Holy Communion at age 9 and  was confirmed at 18. Upon graduation from Marcin Wadowita high s chool in Wadowice, he enrolled in Krakow's Jagiellonian University  in 1938 and in a school for drama. The Nazi occupation forces closed the university in 1939 and young Karol  had to work in a quarry (1940-1944) and then in the Solvay  chemical factory to earn his living and to avoid being deported to Germany. In 1942, aware of his call to the priesthood, he began courses in the  clandestine seminary of Krakow, run by Cardinal Adam Stefan  Sapieha, archbishop of Krakow. At the same time, Karol Wojtyła was one of the  pioneers of the "Rhapsodic Theatre," also clandestine. After the Second World War, he continued his studies in the major  seminary of Krakow, once it had re-opened, and in the faculty  of theology of the Jagiellonian University. He was ordained to  the priesthood by Archbishop Sapieha in Krakow on November 1, 1946. Shortly afterwards, Cardinal Sapieha sent him to Rome where he worked  under the guidance of the French Dominican, Garrigou-Lagrange.  He finished his doctorate in theology in 1948 with a thesis on the subject  of faith in the works of St. John of the Cross (Doctrina de fide apud  Sanctum Ioannem a Cruce). At that time, during his vacations, he exercised his pastoral ministry among the Polish immigrants of France, Belgium and Holland. In 1948 he returned to Poland and was vicar of various parishes in  Krakow as well as chaplain to university students. This period lasted  until 1951 when he again took up his studies in philosophy and  theology. In 1953 he defended a thesis on "evaluation of the possibility  of founding a Catholic ethic on the ethical system of Max Scheler"  at Lublin Catholic University. Later he became professor of moral  theology and social ethics in the major seminary of Krakow and in the  Faculty of Theology of Lublin. On July 4, 1958, he was appointed titular bishop of Ombi and auxiliary  of Krakow by Pope Pius XII, and was consecrated September 28, 1958,  in Wawel Cathedral, Krakow, by Archbishop Eugeniusz Baziak. On January 13, 1964, he was appointed archbishop of Krakow by  Pope Paul VI, who made him a cardinal June 26, 1967 with the title  of S. Cesareo in Palatio of the order of deacons, later elevated pro illa vice  to the order of priests. Besides taking part in Vatican Council II (1962-1965) where he  made an important contribution to drafting the Constitution Gaudium  et spes,  Cardinal Wojtyła participated in all the assemblies of the Synod of Bishops. The Cardinals elected him Pope at the Conclave of 16 October 1978, and  he took the name of John Paul II. On 22 October, the Lord's Day,  he solemnly  inaugurated his Petrine ministry as the 263rd successor to the Apostle.  His pontificate, one of the longest in the history of the Church, lasted nearly 27 years. Driven by his pastoral solicitude for all Churches and by a sense of  openness and charity to the entire human race, John Paul II exercised  the Petrine ministry with a tireless missionary spirit, dedicating it all his  energy. He made 104 pastoral visits outside Italy and 146 within Italy.  As bishop of Rome he visited 317 of the city's 333 parishes. He had more meetings than any of his predecessors with the  People of God and the leaders of Nations. More than 17,600,000  pilgrims participated in the General Audiences held on Wednesdays  (more than 1160), not counting other special audiences and religious  ceremonies [more than 8 million pilgrims during the Great Jubilee of the  Year 2000 alone], and the millions of faithful he met during pastoral  visits in Italy and throughout the world. We must also remember the  numerous government personalities he encountered during 38  official visits, 738 audiences and meetings held with Heads of State,  and 246 audiences and meetings with Prime Ministers. His love for young people brought him to establish the World Youth Days.  The 19 WYDs celebrated during his pontificate brought together millions  of young people from all over the world. At the same time his care for  the family was expressed in the World Meetings of Families, which he  initiated in 1994. John Paul II successfully encouraged dialogue with the Jews and with the  representatives of other religions, whom he several times invited to prayer  meetings for peace, especially in Assisi. Under his guidance the Church prepared herself for the third millennium  and celebrated the Great Jubilee of the year 2000 in accordance with  the instructions given in the Apostolic Letter Tertio Millennio adveniente.  The Church then faced the new epoch, receiving his instructions in the  Apostolic Letter Novo Millennio ineunte, in which he indicated to the  faithful their future path. With the Year of the Redemption, the Marian Year and the Year  of the Eucharist, he promoted the spiritual renewal of the Church. He gave an extraordinary impetus to Canonizations and Beatifications,  focusing on countless examples of holiness as an incentive for the people  of our time. He celebrated 147 beatification ceremonies during which  he proclaimed 1,338 Blesseds; and 51 canonizations for a total of 482  saints. He made Thérèse of the Child Jesus a Doctor of the Church. He considerably expanded the College of Cardinals, creating 231 Cardinals  (plus one in pectore) in 9 consistories. He also called six full meetings  of the College of Cardinals. He organized 15 Assemblies of the Synod of Bishops - six Ordinary  General Assemblies (1980, 1983, 1987, 1990, 1994 and 2001),  one Extraordinary General Assembly (1985) and eight Special  Assemblies (1980,1991, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998 (2) and 1999). His most important Documents include 14 Encyclicals, 15  Apostolic Exhortations, 11 Apostolic Constitutions, 45 Apostolic Letters. He promulgated the Catechism of the Catholic Church in the  light of Tradition as authoritatively interpreted by the Second Vatican  Council. He also reformed the Eastern and Western Codes of Canon Law,  created new Institutions and reorganized the Roman Curia. As a private Doctor he also published five books of his own:  "Crossing the Threshold of Hope" (October 1994), "Gift and Mystery,  on the fiftieth anniversary of my ordination as priest" (November 1996),  "Roman Triptych" poetic meditations (March 2003),  "Arise, Let us Be Going"  (May 2004) and "Memory and Identity" (February 2005). In the light of Christ risen from the dead, on 2 April a.D. 2005, at 9.37 p.m.,  while Saturday was drawing to a close and the Lord's Day was already  beginning, the Octave of Easter and Divine Mercy Sunday, the Church's  beloved Pastor, John Paul II, departed this world for the Father. From that evening until April 8, date of the funeral of the late Pontiff,  more than three million pilgrims came to Rome to pay homage to the  mortal remains of the Pope. Some of them queued up to 24 hours to  enter St. Peter's Basilica. On April 28, the Holy Father Benedict XVI announced that the  normal five-year waiting period before beginning the cause  of beatification and canonization would be waived for John Paul II.  The cause was officially opened by Cardinal Camillo Ruini, vicar  general for the diocese of Rome, on June 28 2005.

http://www.vatican.va/news_services/press/documentazione/documents/santopadre_biografie/giovanni_paolo_ii_biografia_breve_en.html

DOCTRINE of FAITH:LIGHT of the WORLD, Banalization of Sexuality

CONGREGATION FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH

Note on the banalization of sexuality
Regarding certain interpretations of "Light of the World"

Following the publication of the interview-book Light of the World by Benedict XVI, a number of erroneous interpretations have emerged which have caused confusion concerning the position of the Catholic Church regarding certain questions of sexual morality. The thought of the Pope has been repeatedly manipulated for ends and interests which are entirely foreign to the meaning of his words – a meaning which is evident to anyone who reads the entire chapters in which human sexuality is treated. The intention of the Holy Father is clear: to rediscover the beauty of the divine gift of human sexuality and, in this way, to avoid the cheapening of sexuality which is common today.

Some interpretations have presented the words of the Pope as a contradiction of the traditional moral teaching of the Church. This hypothesis has been welcomed by some as a positive change and lamented by others as a cause of concern – as if his statements represented a break with the doctrine concerning contraception and with the Church’s stance in the fight against AIDS. In reality, the words of the Pope – which specifically concern a gravely disordered type of human behaviour, namely prostitution (cf. Light of the World, pp. 117-119) – do not signify a change in Catholic moral teaching or in the pastoral practice of the Church.

As is clear from an attentive reading of the pages in question, the Holy Father was talking neither about conjugal morality nor about the moral norm concerning contraception. This norm belongs to the tradition of the Church and was summarized succinctly by Pope Paul VI in paragraph 14 of his Encyclical Letter Humanae vitae, when he wrote that "also to be excluded is any action which either before, at the moment of, or after sexual intercourse, is specifically intended to prevent procreation—whether as an end or as a means." The idea that anyone could deduce from the words of Benedict XVI that it is somehow legitimate, in certain situations, to use condoms to avoid an unwanted pregnancy is completely arbitrary and is in no way justified either by his words or in his thought. On this issue the Pope proposes instead – and also calls the pastors of the Church to propose more often and more effectively (cf. Light of the World, p. 147) – humanly and ethically acceptable ways of behaving which respect the inseparable connection between the unitive and procreative meaning of every conjugal act, through the possible use of natural family planning in view of responsible procreation.

On the pages in question, the Holy Father refers to the completely different case of prostitution, a type of behaviour which Christian morality has always considered gravely immoral (cf. Vatican II, Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et spes, n. 27; Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 2355). The response of the entire Christian tradition – and indeed not only of the Christian tradition – to the practice of prostitution can be summed up in the words of St. Paul: "Flee from fornication" (1 Cor 6:18). The practice of prostitution should be shunned, and it is the duty of the agencies of the Church, of civil society and of the State to do all they can to liberate those involved from this practice.

In this regard, it must be noted that the situation created by the spread of AIDS in many areas of the world has made the problem of prostitution even more serious. Those who know themselves to be infected with HIV and who therefore run the risk of infecting others, apart from committing a sin against the sixth commandment are also committing a sin against the fifth commandment – because they are consciously putting the lives of others at risk through behaviour which has repercussions on public health. In this situation, the Holy Father clearly affirms that the provision of condoms does not constitute "the real or moral solution" to the problem of AIDS and also that "the sheer fixation on the condom implies a banalization of sexuality" in that it refuses to address the mistaken human behaviour which is the root cause of the spread of the virus. In this context, however, it cannot be denied that anyone who uses a condom in order to diminish the risk posed to another person is intending to reduce the evil connected with his or her immoral activity. In this sense the Holy Father points out that the use of a condom "with the intention of reducing the risk of infection, can be a first step in a movement towards a different way, a more human way, of living sexuality." This affirmation is clearly compatible with the Holy Father’s previous statement that this is "not really the way to deal with the evil of HIV infection."

Some commentators have interpreted the words of Benedict XVI according to the so-called theory of the "lesser evil". This theory is, however, susceptible to proportionalistic misinterpretation (cf. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Veritatis splendor, n. 75-77). An action which is objectively evil, even if a lesser evil, can never be licitly willed. The Holy Father did not say – as some people have claimed – that prostitution with the use of a condom can be chosen as a lesser evil. The Church teaches that prostitution is immoral and should be shunned. However, those involved in prostitution who are HIV positive and who seek to diminish the risk of contagion by the use of a condom may be taking the first step in respecting the life of another – even if the evil of prostitution remains in all its gravity. This understanding is in full conformity with the moral theological tradition of the Church.

In conclusion, in the battle against AIDS, the Catholic faithful and the agencies of the Catholic Church should be close to those affected, should care for the sick and should encourage all people to live abstinence before and fidelity within marriage. In this regard it is also important to condemn any behaviour which cheapens sexuality because, as the Pope says, such behaviour is the reason why so many people no longer see in sexuality an expression of their love: "This is why the fight against the banalization of sexuality is also part of the struggle to ensure that sexuality is treated as a positive value and to enable it to have a positive effect on the whole of man’s being" (Light of the World, p. 119).  

http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20101221_luce-del-mondo_en.html

POPE JOHN PAUL II Beatification Homily by Pope Benedict XVI, Rome 1 May 2011

The Blessed Pope John Paul II (Karol Wojtyla)

Homily, Pope Benedict XVI, Rome 1 May 2011

 

During the Mass in which Pope Benedict XVI beatified his predecessor, Pope John Paul II, he gave the following homily. 

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Six years ago we gathered in this Square to celebrate the funeral of Pope John Paul II. Our grief at his loss was deep, but even greater was our sense of an immense grace which embraced Rome and the whole world: a grace which was in some way the fruit of my beloved predecessor’s entire life, and especially of his witness in suffering. Even then we perceived the fragrance of his sanctity, and in any number of ways God’s People showed their veneration for him. For this reason, with all due respect for the Church’s canonical norms, I wanted his cause of beatification to move forward with reasonable haste. And now the longed-for day has come; it came quickly because this is what was pleasing to the Lord: John Paul II is blessed!

I would like to offer a cordial greeting to all of you who on this happy occasion have come in such great numbers to Rome from all over the world – cardinals, patriarchs of the Eastern Catholic Churches, brother bishops and priests, official delegations, ambassadors and civil authorities, consecrated men and women and lay faithful, and I extend that greeting to all those who join us by radio and television.

Today is the Second Sunday of Easter, which Blessed John Paul II entitled Divine Mercy Sunday. The date was chosen for today’s celebration because, in God’s providence, my predecessor died on the vigil of this feast. Today is also the first day of May, Mary’s month, and the liturgical memorial of Saint Joseph the Worker. All these elements serve to enrich our prayer, they help us in our pilgrimage through time and space; but in heaven a very different celebration is taking place among the angels and saints! Even so, God is but one, and one too is Christ the Lord, who like a bridge joins earth to heaven. At this moment we feel closer than ever, sharing as it were in the liturgy of heaven.

"Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe" (Jn 20:29). In today’s Gospel Jesus proclaims this beatitude: the beatitude of faith. For us, it is particularly striking because we are gathered to celebrate a beatification, but even more so because today the one proclaimed blessed is a Pope, a Successor of Peter, one who was called to confirm his brethren in the faith. John Paul II is blessed because of his faith, a strong, generous and apostolic faith. We think at once of another beatitude: "Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven" (Mt 16:17). What did our heavenly Father reveal to Simon? That Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. Because of this faith, Simon becomes Peter, the rock on which Jesus can build his Church. The eternal beatitude of John Paul II, which today the Church rejoices to proclaim, is wholly contained in these sayings of Jesus: "Blessed are you, Simon" and "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe!" It is the beatitude of faith, which John Paul II also received as a gift from God the Father for the building up of Christ’s Church.

Our thoughts turn to yet another beatitude, one which appears in the Gospel before all others. It is the beatitude of the Virgin Mary, the Mother of the Redeemer. Mary, who had just conceived Jesus, was told by Saint Elizabeth: "Blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her by the Lord" (Lk 1:45). The beatitude of faith has its model in Mary, and all of us rejoice that the beatification of John Paul II takes place on this first day of the month of Mary, beneath the maternal gaze of the one who by her faith sustained the faith of the Apostles and constantly sustains the faith of their successors, especially those called to occupy the Chair of Peter. Mary does not appear in the accounts of Christ’s resurrection, yet hers is, as it were, a continual, hidden presence: she is the Mother to whom Jesus entrusted each of his disciples and the entire community. In particular we can see how Saint John and Saint Luke record the powerful, maternal presence of Mary in the passages preceding those read in today’s Gospel and first reading. In the account of Jesus’ death, Mary appears at the foot of the cross (Jn 19:25), and at the beginning of the Acts of the Apostles she is seen in the midst of the disciples gathered in prayer in the Upper Room (Acts 1:14).

Today’s second reading also speaks to us of faith. Saint Peter himself, filled with spiritual enthusiasm, points out to the newly-baptized the reason for their hope and their joy. I like to think how in this passage, at the beginning of his First Letter, Peter does not use language of exhortation; instead, he states a fact. He writes: "you rejoice", and he adds: "you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, for you are receiving the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls" (1 Pet 1:6, 8-9). All these verbs are in the indicative, because a new reality has come about in Christ’s resurrection, a reality to which faith opens the door. "This is the Lord’s doing", says the Psalm (118:23), and "it is marvelous in our eyes", the eyes of faith.

Dear brothers and sisters, today our eyes behold, in the full spiritual light of the risen Christ, the beloved and revered figure of John Paul II. Today his name is added to the host of those whom he proclaimed saints and blesseds during the almost twenty-seven years of his pontificate, thereby forcefully emphasizing the universal vocation to the heights of the Christian life, to holiness, taught by the conciliar Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium. All of us, as members of the people of God – bishops, priests, deacons, laity, men and women religious – are making our pilgrim way to the heavenly homeland where the Virgin Mary has preceded us, associated as she was in a unique and perfect way to the mystery of Christ and the Church. Karol Wojtyła took part in the Second Vatican Council, first as an auxiliary Bishop and then as Archbishop of Kraków. He was fully aware that the Council’s decision to devote the last chapter of its Constitution on the Church to Mary meant that the Mother of the Redeemer is held up as an image and model of holiness for every Christian and for the entire Church. This was the theological vision which Blessed John Paul II discovered as a young man and subsequently maintained and deepened throughout his life. A vision which is expressed in the scriptural image of the crucified Christ with Mary, his Mother, at his side. This icon from the Gospel of John (19:25-27) was taken up in the episcopal and later the papal coat-of-arms of Karol Wojtyła: a golden cross with the letter "M" on the lower right and the motto "Totus tuus", drawn from the well-known words of Saint Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort in which Karol Wojtyła found a guiding light for his life: "Totus tuus ego sum et omnia mea tua sunt. Accipio te in mea omnia. Praebe mihi cor tuum, Maria – I belong entirely to you, and all that I have is yours. I take you for my all. O Mary, give me your heart" (Treatise on True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin, 266).

In his Testament, the new Blessed wrote: "When, on 16 October 1978, the Conclave of Cardinals chose John Paul II, the Primate of Poland, Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński, said to me: ‘The task of the new Pope will be to lead the Church into the Third Millennium’". And the Pope added: "I would like once again to express my gratitude to the Holy Spirit for the great gift of the Second Vatican Council, to which, together with the whole Church – and especially with the whole episcopate – I feel indebted. I am convinced that it will long be granted to the new generations to draw from the treasures that this Council of the twentieth century has lavished upon us. As a Bishop who took part in the Council from the first to the last day, I desire to entrust this great patrimony to all who are and will be called in the future to put it into practice. For my part, I thank the Eternal Shepherd, who has enabled me to serve this very great cause in the course of all the years of my Pontificate". And what is this "cause"? It is the same one that John Paul II presented during his first solemn Mass in Saint Peter’s Square in the unforgettable words: "Do not be afraid! Open, open wide the doors to Christ!" What the newly-elected Pope asked of everyone, he was himself the first to do: society, culture, political and economic systems he opened up to Christ, turning back with the strength of a titan – a strength which came to him from God – a tide which appeared irreversible. By his witness of faith, love and apostolic courage, accompanied by great human charisma, this exemplary son of Poland helped believers throughout the world not to be afraid to be called Christian, to belong to the Church, to speak of the Gospel. In a word: he helped us not to fear the truth, because truth is the guarantee of liberty. To put it even more succinctly: he gave us the strength to believe in Christ, because Christ is Redemptor hominis, the Redeemer of man. This was the theme of his first encyclical, and the thread which runs though all the others.

When Karol Wojtyła ascended to the throne of Peter, he brought with him a deep understanding of the difference between Marxism and Christianity, based on their respective visions of man. This was his message: man is the way of the Church, and Christ is the way of man. With this message, which is the great legacy of the Second Vatican Council and of its "helmsman", the Servant of God Pope Paul VI, John Paul II led the People of God across the threshold of the Third Millennium, which thanks to Christ he was able to call "the threshold of hope". Throughout the long journey of preparation for the great Jubilee he directed Christianity once again to the future, the future of God, which transcends history while nonetheless directly affecting it. He rightly reclaimed for Christianity that impulse of hope which had in some sense faltered before Marxism and the ideology of progress. He restored to Christianity its true face as a religion of hope, to be lived in history in an "Advent" spirit, in a personal and communitarian existence directed to Christ, the fullness of humanity and the fulfillment of all our longings for justice and peace.

Finally, on a more personal note, I would like to thank God for the gift of having worked for many years with Blessed Pope John Paul II. I had known him earlier and had esteemed him, but for twenty-three years, beginning in 1982 after he called me to Rome to be Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, I was at his side and came to revere him all the more. My own service was sustained by his spiritual depth and by the richness of his insights. His example of prayer continually impressed and edified me: he remained deeply united to God even amid the many demands of his ministry. Then too, there was his witness in suffering: the Lord gradually stripped him of everything, yet he remained ever a "rock", as Christ desired. His profound humility, grounded in close union with Christ, enabled him to continue to lead the Church and to give to the world a message which became all the more eloquent as his physical strength declined. In this way he lived out in an extraordinary way the vocation of every priest and bishop to become completely one with Jesus, whom he daily receives and offers in the Eucharist.

Blessed are you, beloved Pope John Paul II, because you believed! Continue, we implore you, to sustain from heaven the faith of God’s people. Amen.

[Vatican Press Office; Original: Italian]

Read more: http://www.ewtn.com/JohnPaul2/beatification/b16homily.asp#ixzz1LSVFN56F