Rome official: Retired pope to attend canonizations; spokesman cautious
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Retired Pope Benedict XVI is expected to attend
the canonization of Blesseds John XXIII and John Paul II April 27, said
Msgr. Liberio Andreatta, head of the Vatican-related pilgrim agency,
Opera Romana Pellegrinaggi.
"Never before have there been two popes canonized and two popes living,"
he said at a news conference in Rome April 23 to discuss final plans
and preparations for pilgrims. "You can imagine their emotions!"
However, Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman, continued
to caution journalists, saying that while the retired pope certainly had
been invited to the Mass, "we'll have to wait and see" if, at 87 years
old, he feels up to attending.
Retired
Pope Benedict XVI greets Pope Francis at the conclusion of a consistory
at which Pope Francis created 19 new cardinals in St. Peter's Basilica
Feb. 22. (CNS/Paul Haring)
During the canonization Mass, Msgr. Andreatta said, priests will be
stationed amid the crowds in St. Peter's Square and along the broad Via
della Conciliazione, leading to the square, in order to distribute
Communion even to those far from the altar.
Planning for the predicted arrival of millions of visitors has been a daunting task for both the Vatican and the city of Rome.
"Still, we want to make this event livable," stressed Msgr. Andreatta.
"We also had to meet expenses, which we have done thanks to
sponsorship."
Of the 40-some sponsors, the largest single contributor was ENI, the
multinational energy agency which is Italy's largest single industrial
company, he said.
Maurizio Pucci, director of special events planning for the city of
Rome, told reporters that while the city has been informed officially of
the arrival of 58 chartered planes and 700 buses coming from all over
Europe, the actual number of visitors cannot be calculated.
"Many more are expected," said Pucci. "Our concerns have included
arranging parking spaces for this unknown number of buses." The parking
must be close to public transportation so the passengers can reach the
center of Rome.
For buses arriving from abroad, overhead signs on major highways have
been programmed to provide directions in English, Polish, French, as
well as Italian, he said.
Street cleaners are already working overtime, Pucci added, and their
chores include keeping the 980 portable toilets clean and odor-free.
Security is a prime concern. From 7 p.m. April 26, the evening before
the canonization, most of central Rome will be off limits to vehicles,
except police cars, ambulances and cars carrying visiting heads of
state. Tight security measures will extend to the Tiber River banks and
Rome's underground tunnels and catacombs. However, access to St. Peter's
Square and to Via della Conciliazione will be open to everyone on foot,
Msgr. Andreatta said.
In its preparations, the Diocese of Rome is reaching out to the digital
generation through tweets and a free app available in English, Spanish
and Polish, as well as Italian.
The app -- Santo Subito -- provides such pragmatic details as maps, the
time and place of events, the addresses of the churches which will
remain open for a prayer vigil the night of April 26, and spiritual
reflections based upon the teachings of both future saints. The app,
developed with the help of volunteer university students, is available
for both Android and IOS formats.
The Rome diocesan office promoting Blessed John Paul's cause also has a
YouTube page -- www.youtube.com/user/adminkarol -- with videos in a
variety of languages.
Msgr. Andreatta said that in addition to the 17 large video screens that
will be erected around the center of Rome for pilgrims wanting to avoid
the bigger crowds, another will be set up in Terminal 3 of Rome's
Leonardo da Vinci International Airport and one in the square in front
of the cathedral of Milan in northern Italy.
Retired Pope Benedict XVI greets Pope Francis at the conclusion of a consistory at which Pope Francis created 19 new cardinals in St. Peter's Basilica Feb. 22. (CNS/Paul Haring)
http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1401679.htm
Celebrating the newest Roman Catholic Saints
Photo via Wikimedia Commons
Ordinarily, Jews have little interest in whom the Roman Catholic Church
canonizes as saints. Yet, on the Sunday after Easter, the day that
coincides with Yom Ha-Shoah, the 27th of Nisan, two men, Pope John XXIII
and Pope John Paul II, will be elevated to sainthood, and both of them
bear notice.
There is a paradox relating to the Holocaust that was first observed by
Rabbi Yitz Greenberg: The innocent feel guilty, and the guilty feel
innocent.
The greatest strides in Catholic-Jewish relations in the entire two
millennia of that relationship were made at the initiative of these two
popes, who were innocent during the Shoah and yet who felt
responsibility for the Holocaust.
A word about Pope John XXIII: While serving as papal nuncio, a
diplomatic post, in Istanbul, and known at the time as Archbishop
Roncalli, he worked with the delegates of the Yishuv, the Jewish
leadership in Palestine — pre-state Israel — to warn Hungarian Jews and
to rescue those who could be rescued. He established direct
communication with the Yishuv’s formal leaders in Turkey and even met
with clandestine operatives. He did not, as was widely rumored, offer
false baptismal certificates, but rather did something a bit more clever
— he wrote letters indicating that the holder of the letter was a
“co-religionist and fellow countryman of Jesus” and “should be entitled to Vatican protection.” Notice the language — “co-religionist and fellow countryman” is a reference to Jews. “Should be
entitled to Vatican protection” does not mean that the holder is
entitled to Vatican protection. It suggests a tone of aspiration rather
than actual fact. He wrote to leaders in Bulgaria, where he had
previously served, urging them to protect their Jews and directly to
King Boris III, asking him not to deport Bulgarian Jews.
Elected as an interim, caretaker pope after the long pontificate of
Pope Pius XII, Pope John XXIII met with the French historian Jules Isaac
and studied the history of anti-Semitism. He then took the bold
initiative of calling the Second Vatican Council of 1962-65 (commonly
known as Vatican II), bringing about, among its important initiatives, Nostra Aetate,
which used the tools of Catholicism to revamp the Church’s teaching on
the Jews. The Church then institutionalized that transformation by
changing the Good Friday liturgy, as well as its scriptural reading.
In essence, Vatican II taught what critical historical scholarship had
established long ago — that Jews were not responsible for the
Crucifixion of Christ, but, rather, the human propensity to sin was. If,
as Christians believe, Christ died for our sins, if his death was a
sacrificial atonement, then without human sin, there would be no need
for such atonement. Furthermore, Good Friday liturgy eliminated the
reference to perfidious Jews and the reading of Matthew 27, in which
Jews are depicted as having accepted responsibility on themselves and
their children for the Crucifixion.
Teaching was combined with gesture, doctrine with human contact. Pope
John XXIII stopped at the Great Synagogue of Rome and greeted its
worshipers leaving Sabbath prayers, wishing them a “good Shabbat.” It
was an unprecedented step for the bishop of Rome, the heir of St. Peter,
to visit the Jews of Rome. It had simply never been done before.
Thus, Pope John XXIII came to terms with 1,878 years of Jewish life —
following the destruction of the Second Temple until the birth of
Israel.
Enter Pope John Paul II, who took the transformations initiated by Pope
John XXIII, and sustained by Paul VI, another series of steps further.
A word of biography is in order. John Paul II is probably the first
pope who could truthfully say, “Some of my best friends are Jewish,” and
mean it literally. Prior to becoming a priest, he was in direct contact
with Jews; he knew them from the soccer fields, where he often played
on the Jewish side when they were short a player, as well as while a
university student and from the theater; one local Jew was among his
closest friends and remained a friend throughout the pontiff’s long
life. His friend even took an apartment in Rome to be near the pope,
once he was elected.
Yaffa Eliach documented in legendary form that while still a parish
priest, Karol Józef Wojtyła refused to baptize Jewish children who had
been saved by Roman Catholic Polish families when their parents were
deported, unless the children were informed that their biological
parents had been Jews. This was an act of singular integrity and, in
fact, it was not quite in keeping with the instructions of the postwar
Church that was interested in saving the souls of all people —
including, perhaps even especially, Jewish children. It was also an act
of courage, as his parishioners must have felt the conversation
burdensome.
Allow me to explain.
If you trusted a neighbor and your child had a certain type of
appearance, meaning that they did not look “too Jewish” and they were
preverbal, Jewish parents about to be deported might ask a Polish family
to take care of their child. The child could not be told that they were
Jewish at the time, as the information, if repeated, would be lethal to
the child and also to the family that was sheltering him. When and if
the parents returned, the child might not remember them or even
recognize them. Often the child had been treated with love, and
responded in kind, embracing his or her adoptive parents, the only
parents he or she had known, and feeling the biological parents to be
strangers who had abandoned him or her. So even when the parents
survived, the child often wanted to stay put. If the parents or a parent
did not return after the war, it became dangerous to reveal to a child
that they were Jewish, as this could lead to the surrogate parents being
labeled as “Jew lovers” and to their ostracism. So such information was
not easily revealed to a child, but Wojtyła insisted.
As pope, John Paul II visited the Roman synagogue and worshipped with
the Jewish community. He treated the synagogue as a house of God, with
all the respect due to such standing, and he treated the chief rabbi of
Rome as a fellow religious leader. He established diplomatic relations
with Israel and traveled there in 2000, visiting both Yad Vashem and the
Western Wall. At Yad Vashem, he apologized for the anti-Semitism of
Christians — not of Christianity — and made the all-important statement
that anti-Semitism is anti-Christian. A man of the theater, he
understood well that the media is the message, and that his words would
echo throughout the Christian world.
Although he did not say everything I would have liked him to have, what
he did say was all-important, and the place from which he uttered these
statements was even more symbolic. By visiting the Western Wall, the
holiest site of Judaism, Pope John Paul II recognized the form that
Judaism took after the destruction of the Second Temple in the year 70
C.E. He placed a prayer into the Wall, as is the custom of the devout.
His visit to the office of the chief rabbinate, certainly not the most
ecumenical of religious offices in the world, was also compelling.
Prepared by Jewish history and memory, the rabbis expected polemics,
great medieval disputations. Instead he greeted them as one religious
leader to another. The rabbis were shocked at how moved they were by the
pope’s visit.
Not all problems were solved, not all issues were settled, but the
result was tremendous progress and unprecedented warmth in Jewish-Roman
Catholic relations.
It is worth noting, as well, who was not elevated to sainthood
this Yom HaShoah: Pope Pius XII, the wartime pontiff whose record
during the Holocaust is, to say the least, controversial. Pope Francis’
predecessor, Pope Benedict, admired Pius XII for his piety and
asceticism, and prior to stepping down had been moving along his
candidacy for sainthood.
There is another reason to celebrate Pope John XXIII and Pope John Paul
II. I believe that the most urgent issue in interreligious life today
is whether we can find within our religious traditions a way to accept
the other, rather than to demonize the other. Can we use the tools of
our own tradition to move beyond the notion of tolerance into acceptance
of an underlying religious embrace of the other? Or must we resort to
those parts of our tradition — each of our traditions, Jewish, Christian
and Muslim — that demonize the other, that deny the other, that cannot
recognize in the other one of God’s creation. I know of no issue more
central to the world today, no other issue that could so likely
determine our collective future, and I know of no religious leaders who
have done more to show us the way than the two men who will be canonized
as saints in the Roman Catholic tradition, Pope John XXIII and Pope
John Paul II.
We should note, as well, that Pope Francis has made yet another
profound gesture by elevating these men. To me, their deeds were
saintly.
http://www.jewishjournal.com/religion/article/celebrating_the_newest_roman_catholic_saints
If a priest wants to overcome those inevitable moments of sadness, exhaustion and boredom as well as discover his true identity, he must head for the exit sign, going outside himself to be with God and his people, he said April 17 during the chrism Mass in St. Peter's Basilica.
He must also be a dutiful servant who listens to people's need and
builds a church whose doors are wide open, offering refuge for sinners, a
home for the homeless, comfort for the sick and God's word and joy for
the young, he said.
Presiding over the first of two Holy Thursday liturgies, Pope Francis blessed the oils that will be used in the sacraments of baptism, confirmation, ordination and the anointing of the sick.
Deacons carried the sacramental oils in large silver urns to the main altar to be blessed by the pope.
Joined by more than 1,500 priests, bishops and cardinals, Pope Francis led them in a renewal of their priestly vows and a reflection on what it means to be a priest, in a homily that was lengthier than usual.
He focused on the meaning of being anointed through ordination, emphasizing that Holy Thursday was the day Jesus shared his priesthood with the apostles by anointing them with "the oil of gladness."
"Priestly joy is a priceless treasure, not only for the priest himself but for the entire faithful people of God," the pope said.
He said it's not an exaggeration, given the "grandeur of the gift granted us" to minister and serve, to say the priest is a very small person.
While "in that littleness we find our joy," he said, being "little" without God spells danger.
"No one is more 'little' than a priest left to his own devices."
Priestly joy must be sought and rooted in God's love and it can find protection from evil in prayer to Mary, he said.
Otherwise a priest risks becoming "the poorest of men unless Jesus enriches him by his poverty, the most useless of servants unless Jesus calls him his friend, the most ignorant of men unless Jesus patiently teaches him as he did Peter, the frailest of Christians," unless Jesus gives him strength in the midst of his flock, he said.
Self-denial, forsaking earthly happiness and giving oneself to others mean the priest "has to seek his joy from the Lord and from God's faithful people. He doesn't need to try to create it for himself."
Nor should the priest be trying to carve out his own identity because "there is no identity -- and consequently joy of life -- without an active and unwavering sense of belonging to God's faithful people," he said.
"The priest who tries to find his priestly identity by soul-searching and introspection may well encounter nothing more than 'exit' signs, signs that say: Exit from yourself, exit to seek God in adoration, go out and give your people what was entrusted to you."
The people of God "will make you feel and taste who you are," he said.
They will also be able "to protect you, to embrace you and to help you open your heart to find renewed joy" during those moments a priest finds himself feeling isolated, gloomy, listless and bored, "which at times overcome us in our priestly life and which I too have experienced," the pope said.
With his infinite compassion "for all the little ones and the outcasts of this earth, wearied and oppressed like sheep without a shepherd," Jesus calls people to his ministry, so that he can be present and work "in the person of his priests, for the good of his people."
Like an attentive servant, the priest "makes the church a house with open doors, a refuge for sinners, a home for people living on the street, a place of loving care for the sick, a camp for the young, a classroom for catechizing children," he said.
The priest must be wherever there are people in need or searching; he needs to know how to listen, and feel driven by Christ to lift burdens with mercy and encourage hope with charity.
He asked that people pray for vocations so that when young people hear the call to religious life, they have "the stroke of boldness to respond willingly."
He asked for prayers for the recently ordained, that they never lose the "joy sparkling" in their eyes as they "go forth to devour the world."
He also prayed for elderly priests and those who have served many years, that they may "gather their strength and rearm themselves, get 'a second wind.'"
Later in the day, the pope was scheduled to celebrate the Holy Thursday Mass of the Lord's Supper at a Rome rehabilitation facility for the elderly and people with disabilities.
He also was going to wash the feet of four women and eight men with different disabilities and ranging in ages from 16 to 86. Of the 12 chosen, nine are Italian, one woman is from Ethiopia, one young man is from Cape Verde and one man from Libya is Muslim, according to organizers.
http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1401589.htm
Pope to priests: Look for the exit, go out into world, serve with love
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- A priest is called to be in the midst of his flock, protecting his people, searching for those who are lost and always serving those in need, Pope Francis told the world's priests.If a priest wants to overcome those inevitable moments of sadness, exhaustion and boredom as well as discover his true identity, he must head for the exit sign, going outside himself to be with God and his people, he said April 17 during the chrism Mass in St. Peter's Basilica.
 Pope Francis breathes over chrism oil, a gesture symbolizing the infusion of the Holy Spirit, during Holy Thursday chrism Mass in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican April 17. (CNS/Paul Haring) |
Presiding over the first of two Holy Thursday liturgies, Pope Francis blessed the oils that will be used in the sacraments of baptism, confirmation, ordination and the anointing of the sick.
Deacons carried the sacramental oils in large silver urns to the main altar to be blessed by the pope.
Joined by more than 1,500 priests, bishops and cardinals, Pope Francis led them in a renewal of their priestly vows and a reflection on what it means to be a priest, in a homily that was lengthier than usual.
He focused on the meaning of being anointed through ordination, emphasizing that Holy Thursday was the day Jesus shared his priesthood with the apostles by anointing them with "the oil of gladness."
"Priestly joy is a priceless treasure, not only for the priest himself but for the entire faithful people of God," the pope said.
He said it's not an exaggeration, given the "grandeur of the gift granted us" to minister and serve, to say the priest is a very small person.
While "in that littleness we find our joy," he said, being "little" without God spells danger.
"No one is more 'little' than a priest left to his own devices."
Priestly joy must be sought and rooted in God's love and it can find protection from evil in prayer to Mary, he said.
Otherwise a priest risks becoming "the poorest of men unless Jesus enriches him by his poverty, the most useless of servants unless Jesus calls him his friend, the most ignorant of men unless Jesus patiently teaches him as he did Peter, the frailest of Christians," unless Jesus gives him strength in the midst of his flock, he said.
Self-denial, forsaking earthly happiness and giving oneself to others mean the priest "has to seek his joy from the Lord and from God's faithful people. He doesn't need to try to create it for himself."
Nor should the priest be trying to carve out his own identity because "there is no identity -- and consequently joy of life -- without an active and unwavering sense of belonging to God's faithful people," he said.
"The priest who tries to find his priestly identity by soul-searching and introspection may well encounter nothing more than 'exit' signs, signs that say: Exit from yourself, exit to seek God in adoration, go out and give your people what was entrusted to you."
The people of God "will make you feel and taste who you are," he said.
They will also be able "to protect you, to embrace you and to help you open your heart to find renewed joy" during those moments a priest finds himself feeling isolated, gloomy, listless and bored, "which at times overcome us in our priestly life and which I too have experienced," the pope said.
With his infinite compassion "for all the little ones and the outcasts of this earth, wearied and oppressed like sheep without a shepherd," Jesus calls people to his ministry, so that he can be present and work "in the person of his priests, for the good of his people."
Like an attentive servant, the priest "makes the church a house with open doors, a refuge for sinners, a home for people living on the street, a place of loving care for the sick, a camp for the young, a classroom for catechizing children," he said.
The priest must be wherever there are people in need or searching; he needs to know how to listen, and feel driven by Christ to lift burdens with mercy and encourage hope with charity.
He asked that people pray for vocations so that when young people hear the call to religious life, they have "the stroke of boldness to respond willingly."
He asked for prayers for the recently ordained, that they never lose the "joy sparkling" in their eyes as they "go forth to devour the world."
He also prayed for elderly priests and those who have served many years, that they may "gather their strength and rearm themselves, get 'a second wind.'"
Later in the day, the pope was scheduled to celebrate the Holy Thursday Mass of the Lord's Supper at a Rome rehabilitation facility for the elderly and people with disabilities.
He also was going to wash the feet of four women and eight men with different disabilities and ranging in ages from 16 to 86. Of the 12 chosen, nine are Italian, one woman is from Ethiopia, one young man is from Cape Verde and one man from Libya is Muslim, according to organizers.
http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1401589.htm
Pope Francis to beatify Myanmar martyr Isidore Ngei Ko Lat
Isidore Ngei Ko Lat, a lay catechist, martyred in 1950, on path to sainthood
25401507
Pope
Francis has authorized a decree recognizing both the martyrdom of
Italian priest Fr. Mario Vergara of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign
Missions and Isidore Ngei Ko Lat, a lay catechist, martyred in Shadaw,
or Myanmar on May 24, 1950. Archbishop Charles Bo of Yangon of Myanmar
has since hailed the upcoming beatification as a sign of the Pope's love
for the Church in Myanmar, formerly Burma.
PrintLOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - "We are delighted to know that the first Burmese Blessed will be Isidore Ngei Ko Lat. The Holy Father is close to Myanmar and this first Blessed is the sign of Pope Francis and the Holy See's love and attention," Archbishop Charles Bo says.
The recognition of their martyrdom was among 12 decrees by the pope. One of these included a miracle and 10 heroic virtues that Pope Francis authorized. Another forthcoming beatification is of 19th century Italian nun, Giovannina Franks, through whose intercession a miracle has been recognized.
The "great joy and happiness," of the Catholic community in Myanmar was caught by surprise. While it was admittedly a long awaited announcement, the Myanmar martyr's journey to sainthood began in May 2008. At that time, the Catholic Bishops' Conference wrote a letter to Pope Benedict XVI to "humbly ask the Pope to authorize the study of the cause."
The beatification of Fr. Vergara and his catechist, the bishops wrote, will be a source of " encouragement" for the whole community to live" a faith more in line " with the Gospel and to witness to it "in a brave and heroic" way, even at the cost of dying because of hatred for the faith and giving their lives "for the Gospel."
The Church in Myanmar is preparing to celebrate 500 years of history and hopes for a visit by Pope Francis to the country. Archbishop Bo says that the beatification is a first step on a long journey and "there are many others", because they have many martyrs in Myanmar, who deserve sainthood.
Is Clemente Vismara close to beatification?
http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Is-Clemente-Vismara-close-to-beatification-3442.html
Milan
(AsiaNews) – On 11 April last, the Congregation for the Causes of
Saints published a decree to initiate the Vatican enquiry into an
extraordinary grace obtained by the intercession of the servant of God,
Fr Clemente Vismara, and presented as a presumed "miracle" for the
beatification of this great missionary. Clemente served for 65 years in
Burma and is already venerated and invoked as the "Patriarch of Burma"
and "Saint of Children".
Born in 1897 in Agrate Brianza (Milano), Clemente was awarded three
medals in World War One, also attaining the rank of sergeant major;
however he emerged from the war disgusted by all manner of violence and
he became a missionary priest of PIME on 26 May 1923. He left for Burma
on 2 August of the same year and died on 15 June 1988 in Mongping, the
last of six parishes he set up. During this time, he only returned to
Italy once, spending some months in 1957. Cordial and optimistic, always
smiling, he died at the age of 91 "without ever growing old", according
to his co-brethren, because, as he himself wrote, "old age starts when
you realise you are no longer useful to anyone". Until the end, he was
useful to so many in a country among the poorest of the poor, among
tribal peoples tormented by war, dictatorship, famine, disease and
misery.
Clemente lived among some 200 or 250 orphans. He gathered them from destroyed and abandoned villages, raising them with the help of sisters who educated and brought them up until they got married. They taught them to read and write, and trained them in an occupation. But Clemente was above all a holy missionary, wholly dedicated to his poorest neighbours. He prayed much and entrusted himself to Providence, spending wisely the donations he received but without keeping any accounts. In a locked chest, he kept a bag in which he put the money he received and from which he took what was necessary. The Italian sisters with him testified that, mysteriously, there was always money and enough to meet the need! Clemente sustained more than 300 people every day, among them orphans, widows, disabled, sick and poor. Every night after dinner, he would go to bid the sisters good night and ask them: "Did everyone eat today?" And he would say to visitors: "In my home, no one has ever gone hungry." In such a situation, this was the greatest boast anyone could make.
He wrote many articles and letters; he knew how to transform the squalid reality in which he lived into a poetic literary style, adventurous, full of faith and humour. His writings, published in several books, are a classic of missionary literature, especially adapted to youths who love to dream. "Who will come to take my place when I am no longer here?" he would write. The question is aimed at those who still have life to live and who want to live it well.
Milan
(AsiaNews) – On 11 April last, the Congregation for the Causes of
Saints published a decree to initiate the Vatican enquiry into an
extraordinary grace obtained by the intercession of the servant of God,
Fr Clemente Vismara, and presented as a presumed "miracle" for the
beatification of this great missionary. Clemente served for 65 years in
Burma and is already venerated and invoked as the "Patriarch of Burma"
and "Saint of Children".
Born in 1897 in Agrate Brianza (Milano), Clemente was awarded three
medals in World War One, also attaining the rank of sergeant major;
however he emerged from the war disgusted by all manner of violence and
he became a missionary priest of PIME on 26 May 1923. He left for Burma
on 2 August of the same year and died on 15 June 1988 in Mongping, the
last of six parishes he set up. During this time, he only returned to
Italy once, spending some months in 1957. Cordial and optimistic, always
smiling, he died at the age of 91 "without ever growing old", according
to his co-brethren, because, as he himself wrote, "old age starts when
you realise you are no longer useful to anyone". Until the end, he was
useful to so many in a country among the poorest of the poor, among
tribal peoples tormented by war, dictatorship, famine, disease and
misery.Clemente lived among some 200 or 250 orphans. He gathered them from destroyed and abandoned villages, raising them with the help of sisters who educated and brought them up until they got married. They taught them to read and write, and trained them in an occupation. But Clemente was above all a holy missionary, wholly dedicated to his poorest neighbours. He prayed much and entrusted himself to Providence, spending wisely the donations he received but without keeping any accounts. In a locked chest, he kept a bag in which he put the money he received and from which he took what was necessary. The Italian sisters with him testified that, mysteriously, there was always money and enough to meet the need! Clemente sustained more than 300 people every day, among them orphans, widows, disabled, sick and poor. Every night after dinner, he would go to bid the sisters good night and ask them: "Did everyone eat today?" And he would say to visitors: "In my home, no one has ever gone hungry." In such a situation, this was the greatest boast anyone could make.
He wrote many articles and letters; he knew how to transform the squalid reality in which he lived into a poetic literary style, adventurous, full of faith and humour. His writings, published in several books, are a classic of missionary literature, especially adapted to youths who love to dream. "Who will come to take my place when I am no longer here?" he would write. The question is aimed at those who still have life to live and who want to live it well.
"The blacksmith of God": 70 years in Burma
http://www.asianews.it/news-en/The-blacksmith-of-God:-70-years-in-Burma-3441.html
"The blacksmith of God": 70 years in Burma
by Piero Gheddo
Milan
(AsiaNews) – The missionary world is full of eccentric and
extraordinary kinds of people. Felice Tantardini was one of these. He
suffered from inguinal hernia which he would keep in place with a
leather belt and wooden clip he himself made; he washed his teeth with
ashes and an old toothbrush (at 85 years, he still had all his teeth);
he slept on the floor near the bed on a straw mat and blanket, without
sheets or pillow; when he felt a cold or intestinal problems (the only
ailments he suffered from) coming on, he would eat nothing save chunks
of dry bread soaked in salted water for two days, and he would get
better. He lived in malarial zones but he never got malaria; he would
always say laughingly: "Mosquitoes which bite me die."
Milan
(AsiaNews) – The missionary world is full of eccentric and
extraordinary kinds of people. Felice Tantardini was one of these. He
suffered from inguinal hernia which he would keep in place with a
leather belt and wooden clip he himself made; he washed his teeth with
ashes and an old toothbrush (at 85 years, he still had all his teeth);
he slept on the floor near the bed on a straw mat and blanket, without
sheets or pillow; when he felt a cold or intestinal problems (the only
ailments he suffered from) coming on, he would eat nothing save chunks
of dry bread soaked in salted water for two days, and he would get
better. He lived in malarial zones but he never got malaria; he would
always say laughingly: "Mosquitoes which bite me die."
Felice was a lay missionary born in Introbio in Valsassina (Lecco) in
1898. He was educated in school until the third elementary grade and
then he went on to become a blacksmith. He was in the army in World War
One, and he later joined PIME as a "brother co-operator", that is, a lay
missionary consecrated for life. He left for Burma in 1922 and died
there on 23 March 1991 aged 93, after 70 years of mission with only one
return visit home in 1956. In his autobiography, written on the order of
the bishop, he described himself "the blacksmith of God" and he trained
many Burmese youths in the skill of working iron.
He was at the service of the Burma missions, where the bishop sent
him: he would go and do everything: from metal work to carpentry, to
being a greengrocer, a farmer, a nurse, sacristan, head mason. Smiling,
witty, available, he travelled always on foot, capable of covering 50km
of mountain and forest paths every day for days at a stretch, carrying a
load of around 30 or 40 kilos on his shoulders. He had extraordinary
strength: he could fold iron bars with his hands. He would wake up at
4.30am every morning and he would go to bed at 10pm at night, without
resting in the afternoon, when he would spend an hour in church reciting
his daily three rosaries. At night, he would spend an hour in
adoration.
He dearly loved the poor, the most marginalised in society and
animals too; he gave away all he had and received. In decades of hard
work, he built churches, schools, parish houses, hospitals, seminaries,
orphanages, convents… his fame spread far and wide throughout Burma; at
his funeral, a large crowd gathered, including Buddhists and Muslims.
Many started to invoke him as the "saint with the hammer". On 28 January
2005, the Congregation for the Causes of Saints published the "decree
of validity" for the diocesan enquiry into his heroic virtues, concluded
last year by the archdiocese of Taunggyi of Burma. Felice Tantardi, the
blacksmith of God, is on the path to recognised sainthood.
The
mission of the Church in non-Christian countries is no longer that lived
by Br Felice, but his story has the essence of the "little flowers of
San Francesco", the same fragrance of the Gospel, the same "beatitudes"
which according to human logic seem like folly, but which in the light
of faith, bring serenity, peace and joy to the heart.
Myanmar Catholics: religious freedom and inter-ethnic peace as bases for social and economic development
Myanmar Catholics: religious freedom and inter-ethnic peace as bases for social and economic development
by Charles Bo - Benedict Rogers
The archbishop of Yangon and an activist and Burma expert make an appeal to this effect. Focusing on the persecution of Muslims and the danger of an Islamist response, they stress that economic development depends on individual freedoms, social peace and lower ethnic tensions. The two look at the two years since the first, historic meeting between Thein Sein and Aung San Suu Kyi.
Yangon (AsiaNews) - In their appeal for Myanmar Times, Archbishop Charles Bo of Yangon
and human rights activist Benedict
Rogers, a member of Christian
Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) and a Burma expert
author of Burma: A Nation at the Crossroads, analyse the country's recent history. The archbishop of Yangon and an activist and Burma expert make an appeal to this effect. Focusing on the persecution of Muslims and the danger of an Islamist response, they stress that economic development depends on individual freedoms, social peace and lower ethnic tensions. The two look at the two years since the first, historic meeting between Thein Sein and Aung San Suu Kyi.
From the inter-religious violence to the Islamist danger, they look at the dark pages of the last two years during which Myanmar opened up to the world and the international community.
For the two Catholic leaders, true peace requires respect for ethnic and religious diversity. It also requires frank and honest talks with the ethnic minorities that make up a nation united in its diversity. Freedom of thought, freedom of conscience and freedom of religion are essential if all forms of violence and persecution are to be eliminated.
The Muslim community, which was especially affected last year, must however know what it wants, must have its own goals and agenda, and must remove all doubts about any ties it might have with Islamist movements that are plaguing nations such as Pakistan, Egypt and Syria.
Here is what Mgr Charles Bo and Benedict Rogers have to say. The latter became a Catholic in Yangon cathedral (pictured).
Two years ago, President U Thein Sein and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi met for the first time. That meeting heralded the beginning of a new era for Myanmar, which has led to the release of hundreds of political prisoners; more freedom for civil society, political activists and the media; preliminary ceasefires with almost all the ethnic armed resistance organisations; and the opening of Myanmar to the world.
There is much to be thankful for. For the first time in decades, there is talk of democracy and peace. While there is still a long way to go, at least the dreams of change that had once been but a distant desire appear a more realistic possibility.
True peace and real freedom, however, hinge on an issue that has yet to be addressed: respect for Myanmar's ethnic and religious diversity. Unless and until a genuine peace process is established with the ethnic nationalities, involving a nationwide political dialogue about the constitutional arrangements for the country, ceasefires will remain fragile and will not result in an end to war.
The most urgent need is to stop the war in Kachin State and move towards a meaningful dialogue with the Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO). But real peace will be achieved only when the guns fall silent and are put away across the whole nation; when people can return to their homes without fear, and the people of Myanmar enter into a dialogue with each other and with the government in an atmosphere of mutual respect.
A distinct but inter-related and equally urgent challenge that must be addressed is religious harmony. The past year has seen shocking violence against Muslims in Myanmar, starting in Rakhine State in June 2012 but spreading to Meiktila, Oakkan, Lashio and other towns and cities. The violence and anti-Muslim propaganda has highlighted a deep-seated issue in Myanmar society: how to live with our deepest differences. No society can be truly democratic, free and peaceful if it does not respect-and even celebrate-political, racial and religious diversity, as well as protect the basic human rights of every single person, regardless of race, religion or gender.
A year on from the first wave of violence in Rakhine State, at least 130,000 people are displaced. They are living in conditions that the United Nations has described as "dire". They are at grave risk of disease and malnutrition. They live in fear. Now, during the monsoon season, the humanitarian crisis grows. Whatever the politics of their status in the country, these are human beings who should be treated humanely. In Buddhism, the principles of metta (loving kindness) and karuna (compassion) apply to all living beings. In Christianity, the same principles exist: "Love your neighbour as yourself," and, "Love your enemy." The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is precisely that, universal.
The non-government organisations, faith-based groups, government officials and United Nations agencies that have tried to provide help to the marginalised deserve our recognition and appreciation. But there is an urgent need for much, much more. We appeal to the government to allow unhindered access to camps for the displaced in Rakhine State and ensure security for aid workers who feel threatened. We also appeal to donors, in Myanmar and internationally, to help provide the aid required. Many lives are at risk.
Freedom of thought, conscience, religion or belief, as detailed in Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, is perhaps the most precious and most basic freedom of all. Without the freedom to choose, practise, share and change your beliefs, there is no freedom. Other basic rights, such as freedom of expression, assembly, association and movement, hinge to some extent on freedom of conscience.
So when we hear people attacking those of other religious beliefs-physically or verbally--or using religious platforms to preach hatred, we are deeply saddened. Such hate speech is completely contrary to the teachings of the great religions of the world, completely contrary to the majority religion of Myanmar, Buddhism, and completely contrary to principles of human rights and respect for humanity. We therefore urge the authorities to take action to prevent the spread of further hatred and intolerance. We defend the right to free speech but not when it includes incitement to violence. We therefore urge the authorities to prosecute anyone found inciting violence and we urge religious leaders to discipline their clergy and lay adherents.
We call on everyone who has a position of influence - in politics, in religion, in the media, in education and in civil society-to use their voice to speak out against religious hatred and intolerance. In schools, there is a need to ensure that the religious and ethnic diversity of Myanmar is taught accurately and celebrated. The curriculum for religious education should ensure a fair and balanced understanding of all the religions of Myanmar. No one should ever be forced to change their religion, for such a practice is a serious violation of human rights. Religion and faith are matters of personal freedom and conscience.
These principles that we have set out apply to everyone, whether they are Buddhist, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, animist or hold another belief. The crisis over the past year has particularly impacted the Muslim community and we grieve for the loss of life, the destruction and the fear inflicted on our Muslim brothers and sisters. But the principles and the challenges are important for us all. Many Buddhists have concerns about perceived Islamisation, which our Muslim brothers and sisters should work hard to address.
Around the world, there is a global Islamist agenda that causes concern. It is absolutely not the agenda of all Muslims - indeed, many Muslims are victims of this agenda - and the vast majority of Muslims have been unfairly scapegoated and stereotyped. But the agenda is there, unfolding in different ways in countries such as Pakistan, Indonesia, Nigeria, Syria and, most particularly at the moment, Egypt. In recent days more than 50 churches have been torched in Egypt by militant Islamists.
So it is understandable that some people in Myanmar see events in other parts of the world and are afraid. It is therefore in the interests of our Muslim brothers and sisters, and all the people of Myanmar, to engage in a frank, peaceful and respectful exchange of views. Our Muslim brothers and sisters should tell us sincerely what is in their hearts. What is their interpretation of their religion and their agenda? Only through interaction and education can misunderstandings be overcome. Inter-faith dialogue is needed in Myanmar now more than ever, at every level: between religious leaders, to set the tone, but perhaps more importantly at a grassroots level. What are the dreams, ideals and values that unite us, the people of different religions? Are there religious teachings, customs and practices that cause misunderstanding but which-if properly understood-can be respected and celebrated and contribute to the wider community?
Violence, discrimination and hatred are not solutions. To treat Muslims in the way they have been treated in Myanmar over the past year is no different to the way radical Islamists treat minorities in places such as Pakistan or Egypt. Indeed, such behaviour is likely to provoke the attention of radical Islamists outside Myanmar and may already have done so. Extremism breeds extremism. As Martin Luther King said, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." The best way to prevent further violence is to combat intolerance. The best way for any of us to share our beliefs is through the way we live our lives but dialogue is also essential. Through talking, getting to know each other and discovering that what we have in common is bigger than what divides us, we can build a Myanmar based on shared dreams, mutual respect and unity in diversity. In so doing, we can put decades of strife and conflict behind us.
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