'John Paul II is blessed!' – Pope Benedict pays tribute to his successor

Pope Benedict XVI has beatified Pope John Paul II. In a ceremony before hundreds of thousands of pilgrims in Rome he explained his great admiration and affection for his predecessor.

“John Paul II is blessed because of his faith, a strong, generous and apostolic faith.”

It’s estimated that two million pilgrims have descended on Rome for the occasion. The Pope told them that Blessed John Paul II, as he can now be called, had reinvigorated the Catholic Church following his election as pontiff in October 1978.

“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.”

The presidents of Italy, Poland and Mexico were among some 90 heads of state and other dignitaries attending the beatification. Pope Benedict recalled for them the key role Blessed John Paul II’s pontificate played in the peaceful dismantling of communism.

“When Karol Wojtyla 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.”

It was Blessed John Paul’s first papal visit to communist-controlled Poland in 1979 that many historians pinpoint as the beginning of the end for communism. Today in St. Peter's Square, the Polish flag was being waived everywhere by thrilled Poles.

“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.”

On very personal note, Pope Benedict also recalled his 23 years in charge of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith when worked closely alongside Blessed John Paul.

“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.”

The coffin of Blessed John Paul II will now be on display in St. Peter’s Basilica until tomorrow to allow pilgrims to venerate him.

 

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John Paul II beatified in Vatican ceremony

The late Pope, John Paul II, has been officially beatified at a ceremony at the Vatican in front of hundreds of thousands of Catholic faithful.

Among those at St Peter's Square is French nun Marie Simon-Pierre, who says she was cured of Parkinson's Disease.

Her apparently miraculous cure is part of the case for the beatification, the last stage before sainthood.

It comes amid criticism of the Church for the speed of the beatification and the clerical child sex abuse scandal.

Much of the abuse occurred while John Paul II was Pope, from 1979-2005, and the Church has been criticised for not doing enough to punish those found responsible.

Police in Rome estimated that one million people had come to the city for the event, including large numbers of pilgrims from the late Pope's native Poland.

St Peter's Square, in the Vatican, was packed, with the faithful waving banners and flags as Pope Benedict XVI declared his predecessor blessed, or beatified.

Rome has not seen crowds of this size since the death of Pope John Paul II six years ago when some three million pilgrims converged on the Italian capital, says the BBC's Vatican correspondent David Willey.

Zimbabwean leader Robert Mugabe was among those attending the beatification.

A Roman Catholic, he was given special permission by the EU to fly to Italy despite being the subject of a travel ban.

The presidents of Poland and Mexico are also among some 90 heads of state and other dignitaries attending the beatification.

 

Giant screen

St Peter's Square was transformed for the occasion with a giant video screen showing Pope John Paul II's life story and a massive photograph hung from the white colonnades.

The late pontiff's coffin was exhumed from the crypt below St Peter's Basilica to be placed in front of the altar.

After the Mass, it will be moved to a different part of the basilica.

Some have questioned the Church's speed in beatifying the late Pope, just six years after his death.

Others have criticised John Paul II's handling of the Church's child sex abuse scandal.

"This sprint to sainthood is to deflect examinations into JPII's unedifying record on clerical child abuse - and, with it, Benedict's own role," said Keith Porteous Wood of Britain's National Secular Society.

Although John Paul II will be remembered as one of the great Popes of modern times, says our Vatican correspondent, the sex abuse scandal is the unspoken footnote of history.

The Vatican says he could not have been expected to do something about events he knew nothing of, but it is unlikely he was complete unaware of the growing scandal, our correspondent says.

 

'I was cured'

 

Beatification, or declaring a person to be "blessed", is the necessary prelude to full sainthood.

 

For this to happen, the Vatican must declare the person to have performed a miracle.

In John Paul II's case, Sister Marie, 49, said she and her fellow nuns had prayed for the intercession of the Pope after his death to cure her from Parkinson's Disease.

Her sudden cure had no logical medical explanation and she later resumed her work as a maternity nurse, the Vatican says. 

Appearing at a vigil on Saturday, she told the crowd: "I was cured on the night between June 2 and June 3, 2005.

"I woke up at four in the morning and felt that something had changed in me."

If the late Pope is declared to have performed another miracle he will be eligible for canonisation as a saint.

The vigil had the feel of a youth festival, correspondents say, with groups of young people dancing and singing. Many carried backpacks and sleeping bags in preparation for a night to be spent outdoors.

"It's true that nowadays most of the young don't care about religion, but John Paul showed us love, and love is all we need," said Matea Sarlija, a 21-year-old Croat, who had spent 10 hours on a bus to arrive in Rome for the vigil.

 

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"Man Is the Way of the Church, and Christ Is the Way of Man"

 

HOMILY OF POPE BENEDICT XVI
BEATIFICATION OF POPE JOHN PAUL II
ST PETER'S SQUARE

1 MAY 2011

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.

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Pope John Paul II is blessed for his strong, generous, apostolic faith

As of 10:40 today, 1 May 2011, the Feast of Divine Mercy, John Paul II is Blessed. He was proclaimed thus by his successor Benedict XVI in front of a huge crowd of faithful who filled  St Peter's Square, all along Via della Conciliation and most of Via Vittorio Emanuele II. 

Tens of thousands of pilgrims gathered in some areas of the city (the Circus Maximus, St. Anastasia, ... ..) linking live to the square via Giant TV screens.

In addition to the "pope 's people", hundred of cardinals, patriarchs, bishops, thousands of priests and 90 ambassadors and delegations representing countries worldwide were present in St Peter's Square.

After Card. Agostino Vallini, the pope's vicar for Rome, retold the life story Karol Wojtyla, Benedict XVI spoke the formula with which he proclaimed John Paul II Blessed setting for October  22 (the date of the beginning of his pontificate) the date of his liturgical memory. 

Soon after the giant tapestry with the smiling figure of the Polish pope suspended from the central balcony of the basilica, was unveiled. 

Then, two religious sisters - one from the hospital Bambin Gesu, the other Sr. Marie, cured of Parkinson's disease through the intercession of John Paul II -  presented Pope Benedict XVI with a relic of the new Blessed, a phial containing the blood of the Polish pope kept all this time. Immediately after the two nuns solemnly placed the relic beside the altar.

The crowd went into raptures, with tears of joy, prayers, applause, waving flags from all nations: first among them Poland, then Canada, Australia, the United States, Brazil, ... There were also many groups and movements with banners phrases of the great pope. 

A long banner signed by Communion and Liberation, carried out along the colonnade of Bernini, inscribed "Do not be afraid: open the doors to Christ!" 

While others expressed their love for Pope John Paul II, and still others carried the name of the city of origin of the various groups.

In his homily, Benedict XVI recalled the "pain" and "grace" the day of the funeral of Pope John Paul II and the "discreet speed" (for so it pleased the Lord ") of his cause of 

beatification.

The pope noted that the beatification takes place on the Feast of Divine Mercy (wanted by Wojtyla and tied to the revelations of Polish Saint Faustina Kowalska), on the eve of which, six years ago, John Paul II died. It is also the first day of May, the month dedicated to the devotion to Mary, and St. Joseph the Worker.

"John Paul II - said the pontiff - is blessed because of his faith, a strong, generous and apostolic faith.... The eternal bliss of John Paul II, that the Church has to proclaim the joy, is all in the words of Christ: 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”.

"The beatitude of faith - he continued - 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"

Much of the homily is dedicated to the bond between Wojtyla and the Virgin Mary: " 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 relationship is summed 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). 

Quoting from John Paul II’s testament, Benedict XVI said that he is the pope who brought "the Church into the Third Millennium", bringing to fruition the Second Vatican Council. "

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". 

This "cause" is "the same one that John Paul II has stated in his first solemn Mass in St. Peter's Square, with the memorable 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”.

Then continuing in Polish, he added: " 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". 

And returning to Italian, " 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, - explained the pope - 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"

At the conclusion of the homily, Benedict XVI - who has always referred to John Paul II as his "loved and revered" "beloved predecessor", - recalled his own personal experience of closeness to 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". 

Recalling all those occasions when Pope John Paul II blessed pilgrims from his window, Benedict XVI concluded: " 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. 

At the end of the Mass and after the Regina Caeli - in which the Pope thanked the participants with greetings in various languages - the papal procession went to honour the mortal remains of Pope John Paul II, on display before the altar of confession in St. Peter's Basilica . 

The mortal remains of the new Blessed will be exposed to the veneration of the faithful until all pilgrims to Rome, who wish to do so have prayed before the coffin, then it will be placed under the altar in the chapel of St. Sebastian. 

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Statement of Archbishop Neary

Statement of Archbishop Michael Neary, Saturday, April 30th, 2011

I deeply regret to inform you that an allegation with regard to child safeguarding has been made against Fr. X, your Parish Priest.  

The allegation dates back to the 1980s.

The allegation was reported immediately by the Diocese to the Gardaí and the HSE and the National Board for Safeguarding Children.

It is important to say that what has been received is an allegation, which will require to be investigated.  In accordance with Church safeguarding policy, Fr. X will not be exercising ministry while the investigation is underway.

Fr. X is entitled to the constitutional and natural right of every person to the presumption of innocence.

My prayers are with all concerned at this distressing time.

The Diocese continues to work with the civil authorities to promote the safety of children which is of paramount importance.

Should any person have any safeguarding concern, please do not hesitate to contact the Diocesan Designated Persons, Fr. John O’Boyle or Ms. Mary Trench and /or to contact the HSE or Gardaí.  

The contact details of all these people can be found in the Notice in the Church porch.

No further comment can be made at this time.

Source

Naomh An Lae - Saint Of The Day

St Joseph the Worker: feast established 1955

An ideological feast? 

Liturgical purists may be inclined to question the day in honour of St Joseph the Worker: they see it as "an ideological feast" brought into the liturgical calendar in 1955 by Pope Pius XII apparently as a counterweight to the socialist and communist celebration of Labour Day on 1 May.

Another perspective, however, is that the institution of the feast fits in well with the developing awareness in the social teaching of the Church from Rerum novarum of Pope Leo XIII to Laborem exercens of Pope John II on the dignity of human work and its creative role in the development of the human person.

Rerum novarum (1891)

In the encyclical Rerum novarum (1891), Pope Leo XIII raised a cry of protest against the harsh conditions which industrial workers had to endure and against their exploitation. This was a rejection of the prevailing 'realism' which held that labour was a commodity to be bought at market prices determined by the law of supply and demand rather than by the human needs of the worker. 

Leo's position was that the State was not the instrument of the richer class, but a neutral arbiter, that had a duty to protect the poor from abuse and exploitation. Leo also advocated that as many workers as possible should become owners of property and that workers had the right to form protective associations. With Leo the Church was first seen to take a stand on behalf of the poor.

Quadragesimo anno (1931)

Forty years later in Quadragesimo anno (1931) Pope Pius XI looked not only at the unjust conditions of workers, but also made an analysis of the socio-economic order to focus on the causes of injustice and poverty. 

He pointed out the need not only for 'an improvement of conduct' ( = moral change) but also for 'a reform of social institutions' ( = structural change) (QA 77). 

Further, in an encyclical called Firmissimum (1937) dealing with the situation of Catholics in Mexico, he even indicated in some circumstances that the possibility of an active resistance to civil authorities (= legitimate rebellion) could be considered (par 35).

Mater et magistra (1961)

Pope John XXIII in his encyclical Mater et magistra (1961) showed optimism in the way he spoke about the dignity and creative value of human work:

Work, which is the immediate expression of a human personality, must always be rated higher than the possession of external goods, which of their very nature are merely instrumental. This view of work is certainly an indication of an advance that has been made in our civilization (MM 107).

And about farm work:

In the work on the farm the human personality finds every incentive for self-expression, self-development and spiritual growth. It is a work, therefore, which should be thought of as a vocation, a God-given mission, an answer to God's call to actuate his providential, saving plan in history. It should be thought of, finally, as a noble task, undertaken with a view to raising oneself and others to a higher degree of civilization (MM 149).

Gaudium et spes (1965)

This positive estimation of human activity was reinforced by Vatican II's Constitution on the Church in the Modern World Gaudium et spes (1965):

When man and women provide for themselves and their families in such a way as to be of service to the community as well, they can rightly look upon their work as a prolongation of the work of the creator, a service to their fellow men, and their personal contribution to the fulfilment of the divine plan (GS 34)

Laborem exercens (1981) and 'the indirect employer' 

This positive evaluation of human work is more fully developed by Pope John Paul II in the opening chapters of his encyclical Laborem exercens (1981) 1-11. 

But quite early on John Paul II insists that 'the basis for determining the value of human work is not primarily the kind of work being done but the fact that the one who is doing it is a person' (LE 6).

Besides, to assist in a structural analysis of the injustice to workers in the global economy, the pope introduces the concept of the 'indirect' employer. This he defines as the 'many different factors, other than the direct employer, that exercise a determining influence on shaping both of the work contract and, consequently, of just or unjust relationships in the field of human labour'.

These would include the State and public departments that make decisions, employers' associations, trade unions, farmers' organisations, and not just within one particular State, but also in links between States, like the EU, and in transnational companies.

So, for example, farming agencies in Western countries can put pressure on their governments to protect their interests by restricting the entry of beef from Botswana or Argentina.

Preferential option for the poor 

This teaching about 'the indirect employer' helps us understand that whole peoples can suffer an impoverishment as a result of unjust political and economic structures and why Church leaders, especially from Latin America, have used the phrase "preferential option for the poor" as indicating the way to structural justice, both for workers and for the unemployed.

May - Month of Mary

 

Sé do Beatha Mhuire

Sé do Beatha Mhuire,
Tá lán do ghrást, Tá an Tiarna leat.
Is beannaithe thú idir mhná
Agus is beannaithe toradh do bhrionne Íosa.

A Naomh Mhuire mháthair Dé
Ghúi orainn na bpeacaí
Anois agus ar uair ár mbáis. 

Amen.

Prayer To Saint Matthew

 

O Glorious Saint Matthew, in your Gospel you portray Jesus as the longed-for Messiah who fulfilled the Prophets of the Old Covenant and as the new Lawgiver who founded a Church of the New Covenant. 

Obtain for us the grace to see Jesus living in his Church and to follow his teachings in our lives on earth so that we may live forever with him in heaven.

Amen.

Gay Education

Italian Politician Slams Gay Ikea Ad

A top Italian official thinks an ad for Swedish furniture maker Ikea featuring a gay couple holding hands is "in bad taste" and in direct opposition to Italy's constitution.

Secretary of State for family policy Carlo Giovanardi says he thinks it is "in bad taste that a Swedish multinational comes to Italy to tell Italians what they should think."

The ad, which features two men holding hands, reads, "We are open to all families."

Sweden has had marriage equality since 2009 and civil unions since the early '90s. 

By contrast, Italy does not recognize any form of same-sex unions.

"I think that many clients of Ikea will not find this pleasant," said Giovanardi, adding that while he thinks the company has a right to court any type of customer it pleases, the ad "is in direct opposition to our constitution, which says that family is founded on a marriage."

 

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The saint and the sinner: Tyrant Robert Mugabe invited to beatification ceremony for Pope John Paul II

Rome Tyrant Robert Mugabe is among VIPs who will attend the beatification ceremony of Pope John Paul II today, it has emerge.

The Zimbabwean dictator has been slammed by the international community for driving his country to poverty and is one of Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi's only allies.

His surprise inclusion on the list has raised eyebrows but it is not the first time that Catholic Mugabe's presence at Vatican ceremony has provoked controversy.

In 2005 during the funeral mass for the late Pope John Paul II, Mugabe sat next to Prince Charles, who was left flustered as Mugabe turned to him and shook hands with him - leaving him to say: 'He caught me by surprise.'

Mugabe is actually the subject of a travel ban but is able to visit Rome as the event on Sunday is being held at the Vatican and he is an invited head of state.

The invitation is in contrast to that of the Royal Wedding between Prince William and Kate Middleton but Zimbabwe's ambassador in London has been invited to that.

Security wasparticularly tight in Rome when Mugabe, 87, arrived on an official flight at Rome's Fiumicino airport last night (Saturday) and a no fly zone has been imposed over St Peter's for the ceremony.

Other VIPs include the president of Pope John Paul's native Poland, Bronislaw Komrowski, who will be accompanied by Senate Speaker, Grzegorz Schetyna, and House Speaker, Bogdan Borusewicz.

King Albert and Queen Paola of Belgium are among the European royalty who will travel to the Vatican to attend the beatification, while the Duke of Gloucester, Richard Windsor, will represent the British royal family.

Irish president Mary McAleese is also expected to attend and dozens of extra flights from Ireland have been laid on to bring the expected flood of pilgrims to Rome.

Officials expect around one million people to attend the ceremony on Sunday which will be led by Pope Benedict XVI and will take place in St Peter's Square before a vast TV audience.

The event will be spread over three days with a candlelit vigil being held at the famous Circus Maximus in Rome on Saturday and a thanksgiving Mass at the Vatican on Monday.

Police and Rome city council officials are taking extra measures to restrict traffic and ensure there are no security threats and metal detectors will be used to search the crowd before they are admitted.

Police chief Roberto Manganelli said: 'For the beatification of Pope Wojtyla there will be large crowds as well as heads of state and government leaders which always increases the terrorism risks.

'Of course surveillance, intelligence, investigation and civil protection of personnel and sites will be adequate.

'We should not expect to see a militarised city but a city with adequate security measures that will reassure those who are taking part in the event and those who are not. Rome is used to big events like this.'

Vatican official said that more than 2,000 journalists from all over the world had applied for accreditation to cover the event and a fleet of 23 ambulances and 300 volunteers will be on standby for medical emergencies.

The first pilgrims have already begun arriving in Rome and many are expected to take up prime positions in front of St Peter's so they can get a good view of the event.

As part of the ceremony a phial of Pope John Paul's blood will also be displayed to the crowd and his coffin will also be brought from the crypt beneath St Peter's so the faithful can pray before it.

Pope John Paul II died at the age of 84 on April 2, 2005, after a long battle against Parkinson's disease and more than three million people poured into Rome to visit his body and attend his funeral mass.

Pilgrims who gathered on the streets of Rome to remember the late pope immediately began the now famous cry, 'Santo Subito!' (Saint now!).

Beatification is the final step to sainthood. 

The miracle which has paved the way for Pope John Paul to be beatified or declared blessed, is that of French nun, Sister Marie Simon Pierre who is also expected to attend the ceremony.

An investigation by a panel of Vatican medical experts concluded that she had made an unexplained recovery from Parkinson's Disease - the same illness that affected Pope John Paul after praying to him.

Extra flights have been laid on - particularly from his native Poland - and pilgrims from all over the world are due to arrive with many finding hotels scarce with those available at a premium.

Last week police in Rome closed six hotels and issued fine of more than £250,000 to others in a blitz against tourist rip-offs ahead of the ceremony.

In March an American tour guide was accused of promoting an internet sales scam in which unsuspecting pilgrims were charged £150 for a false ticket granting them access to the ceremony which is in fact free of charge.

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Limerick has highest rate of births outside marriage: CSO

Nearly 60 per cent of all births in Limerick city in the third quarter of last year were outside marriage, according to the latest Vital Statistics figures.

Nationally, 33.8 per cent of all births were outside marriage, according to the figures, compiled by the Central Statistics Office (CSO).  

This constituted a rise of 1.4 per cent on the same figure in 2009.  

However, in Limerick, 58 per cent of births in the city were to unmarried mothers, a huge increase, 12 per cent, on the same figure in 2009, when 46 per cent of all births in the city were out-of-wedlock.

The figures show that the rate of unmarried births in Limerick city grew more than six times faster there than the national average.  

Figures from the first quarter of 2010 showed that 62 per cent of births in Limerick city were outside marriage, up from 53 per cent in the same quarter in 2009.

According to the data, there were 173 births in the city in July to September last year and 100 of these were to unmarried mothers, while 73 were to mothers who were married. 

Twenty one per cent of all births were to unmarried parents living at the same address.

Data shows that marriage, on average, provides children with far more stability than cohabitation.  

According to the British Millennium Cohort Study, only 10 per cent of married couples will have broken up by the time their child is five, compared with 25 per cent of cohabiting couples.

Only 35 per cent of British children born into a cohabiting union will live with both parents throughout their childhood, compared with 70 per cent born to married couples.  

In addition, the average length in Britain of a marriage that ends in divorce is 11.5 years compared with just two years for a live-in relationship.

Irish data also shows that only 25 per cent of cohabiting couples are still cohabiting after seven years. The rest have either broken up or married.

Overall, there were 19,171 births registered in the third quarter of 2010, 118 lower than the corresponding total for the 3rd quarter in 2009.  Of these, 6,481 births were registered as outside marriage.

The figures showed that 18.3 per cent of all births were to unmarried parents living at the same address, an increase of 1.3 per cent on the corresponding figure from 2009.

The lowest percentage of births outside marriage was in both Dun Laoghaire Rathdown and Galway County at 25 per cent. 

A total of 7,815 births (41 per cent) were to first time mothers in quarter three of 2010.  Second time mothers had 6,392 births (33.5 per cent). 

First births in the third quarter of 2009 and 2005 accounted for 42.6 per cent and 40.7 per cent of all births respectively.

The average age of mothers for births registered in quarter 3 2010 was 31.4 years, 0.2 years more than the corresponding figure in quarter 3 2009, 0.5 years more than in quarter 3 2005, and 1.1 years more than in quarter 3 2001.  

The average age of mothers having their first child in quarter 3 2010 was 29.4 years.

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Donegal cleric on his bike again – from Malin to Mizen

Last summer Canon David Crooks of Taughboyne Parish in Raphoe Diocese took part in two sponsored cycle rides. 

This year he hopes to cycle from Malin Head in County Donegal to Mizen Head in County Cork in aid of the Donegal Hospice.

Last summer’s efforts were in aid of Trinity Court in Newtowncunningham, and St Johnston Social Services.

This gave him and two others with them, the idea of doing a sponsored cycle the whole length of Ireland.

The proceeds will be donated to the Donegal Hospice and there will be no overhead expenses.

The trio depart from Malin Head on Monday morning, Fourth of July, at 10 AM and as David says, “Hopefully we will arrive at Mizen”.

There are no overheads and no doubt contributions would be greatly received.

Telephone–0749140135

E-mail: dcrooks@eircom.net

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People give witness to ways Pope John Paul changed, saved their lives

Hundreds of people have been giving public witness to the ways Pope John Paul II changed or even saved their lives.

Men and women of all ages and nationalities have sent personal stories to www.karol-wojtyla.org -- a website run by the Diocese of Rome dedicated to the late pope's beatification and canonization.

As of April 28, the multi-lingual site published more than 400 testimonies from people sharing the ways they feel Pope John Paul interceded on their behalf or brought them back to the church.

Many are notes of thanks for prayers answered, such as a risky surgery gone well or troubles in the family resolved.

Others are personal accounts of meeting or seeing the pope during one of his many trips abroad and the feeling of being in the presence of a holy and charismatic man. Others were influenced by the way Pope John Paul reached out to people in every walk of life.

One woman wrote that she was driven to prostitution to support her family and had lost her faith in God. "I ask for pardon ... in a moment of anger, I tore your picture to pieces," she wrote.

She implored the late pope to "always be near me. I ask you this. I don't have anyone but you! Please help me find my faith again. I will continue to speak with you. I love you."

Some tell of miraculous healings from illnesses like multiple sclerosis or lung cancer. There is even the testimony of the French nun whose healing was accepted as the miracle needed for Pope John Paul's May 1 beatification.

Sister Marie-Simon-Pierre, a member of the Little Sisters of the Catholic Motherhood, had been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease and believes she was cured in 2005 through the Polish pope's intercession. Her story recounts the debilitating progression of her disease, the miraculous healing, and how her new life has left her with a new love for the Eucharist and a devotion to the holy sacrament.

One man from Calgary, Canada, wrote about being trapped underwater after a helicopter carrying 20 workers crashed into the Persian Gulf. He said that, inexplicably, he found himself alive and floating on the water's surface even though he hadn't been able to unlatch himself from the seat straps.

He said he was one of eight people to survive the crash. Even his rosary, which he kept locked in his briefcase, was recovered.

"Personally I believe that the sainthood of John Paul II and his prayers also on my behalf to the God Almighty saved my life," he wrote.

A writer from Barentu, Eritrea, who was living in Rome said his mother and uncle were cured thanks to prayers to Pope John Paul after doctors had given up on them. The writer said he used to pray at Pope John Paul's tomb and cry.

One year, a day after the anniversary of the pope's death, he phoned his relatives in Eritrea to find that his mother and uncle were fine. The family now prays the rosary in a chapel that another relative built out of straw, he wrote.

There are stories of miraculous births after infertility or repeated miscarriages, and the tale of an Italian child prodigy named Karol who, the mother said, would have died at birth because of severe medical complications, if not for the intercession of Pope John Paul.

Today, the child is 4 years old, and "the miracle isn't over," she wrote in April.

He knows the multiplication table up to the number 14, can count backwards and do fractions, and he can name and identify on a map major cities in Italy and capitals of the world, she wrote.

"Obviously I can't list everything he knows and the beautiful thing is no one ever forced him. It's like a game for him. I don't know about you, but I still see the pope's blessings day after day," said the mother.

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John Paul II exhibit to open in St. Peter's Square

An exhibit chronicling the life of John Paul II has opened in St. Peter's Square in honor of the late Pope's beatification. 

The Vatican announced that the “John Paul II: Homage of Benedict XVI for the Beatification” was to open on April 29 in the Charlemagne Wing of Bernini's colonnades around St. Peter's Square.

The exhibition, which will remain open until July 24, is divided into 15 sections illustrating the life and pontificate of Karol Wojtyla. 

Scenes and details from his life will document his infancy and childhood in Wadowice all the way to his funeral in Rome on April 8 in 2005. 

The initiative was organized by the Governorate of the Vatican City State along with the Polish Embassy to the Holy See and the Polish Culture and Heritage Ministry. 

During the exhibit's inaugural ceremony – which will be attended by Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone among others – the official stamps issued jointly by the Vatican City State and Poczta Polska (Polish Post) will be presented.

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New missal translation a 'gift' to modern generation, says Denver bishop

Auxiliary Bishop of Denver James D. Conley praised the new translation of the Roman Missal, calling it the Church's “gift to our generation.”

“In order for the Church to realize the full potential of this gift, it is vital that we understand why we need this new translation,” he pointed out. 

“The changes are not superficial ritualism,” Bishop Conley said in an April 25 address to the Midwest Theological Forum in Indiana. “There is a deep liturgical and theological aesthetic at work.”

The U.S. bishops have announced that parishes will begin using the new translation in Advent of 2011. While the essentials of the Mass have not changed, the bishops say the new translation offers a richer way to explain and proclaim the Catholic faith.

Bishop Conley clarified in his remarks on Monday that he is committed to the new order of Mass that emerged from the Second Vatican Council's liturgical reforms.

“I was ordained a priest and a bishop in the Novus Ordo,” he said. “I have spent my entire priesthood praying this Mass with deep reverence.”

The Novus Ordo “has helped the Church to rediscover the Eucharist as the source and summit of our lives” he said. It has also “nourished and sanctified the spiritual lives of countless souls over the past 40 plus years,” including “two great figures of our generation – Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta and the soon-to-be Blessed John Paul II.”

However, Bishop Conley explained that the subsequent translation of that Mass into English has been problematic.

“Something has been lost,” he said. “Something of the beauty and grandeur of the liturgy. Something of the reverence, the mystery, the sense of the transcendent. This has been a persistent criticism since the Council – and not only from so-called traditionalists.”

The “problem is not the Novus Ordo – but the license that people sometimes take in celebrating it.”

“There is a banal, pedestrian quality to much of the language in our current liturgy,” he said. “The weakness in the language gets in the way and prevents us from experiencing the sublime spiritual and doctrinal ideas woven into the fabric of the liturgy.”

Bishop Conley also said that the use of “abstract terms” in the current translation effects how “we speak of God” and presents the danger of “undermining our faith in the Incarnation.”

He praised the new translation of the Mass instead, saying that it “restores this sense of the liturgy as transcendent and transformative” and “restores the sacramentality to our liturgical language.”

He gave an example from the new translation of the Communion Rite, which says, “Blessed are those who are called to the Supper of the Lamb.”

“For the last 40 years we have erased this heavenly reference in the Communion Rite with our bland translation: Happy are those who are called to his Supper,” he said.

“The Mass is truly a partaking in the worship that St. John saw around the throne and the altar of God,” Bishop Conley noted. “This is not a beautiful idea, but a sacred reality.”

He went on to emphasize that the “essential matter” of the Eucharist is its participation in the liturgy of heaven. “In other words, that’s what the Eucharist is all about. The Eucharist we celebrate on earth has its source in the heavenly liturgy.”

“Yet how many of our people in the pews – how many of our priests at the altar – feel that they are being lifted up to partake in the heavenly liturgy?” he asked. “This is why this new translation is so important.”

The Mass is “not only about praying beautiful words,” Bishop Conley said. “In the liturgy, we are praying to God in the very words of God.”

“They are not words alone, but words that have the power to do great deeds. They are words that can accomplish what they speak of.” 

“As Pope Benedict has said, our Eucharistic mystagogy must inspire 'an awareness that one’s life is being progressively transformed by the holy mysteries being celebrated,'” Bishop Conley said.

“That is the great promise of this new translation and new edition of the Missal. The promise of a people nourished and transformed by the sacred mysteries they celebrate.”

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