RADIO VATICANA REPORT: Pope
Benedict XVI on Saturday spoke about the importance of Catholic education when
addressing a group of United States bishops in Rome on their ad limina
visit.
Calling Catholic schools “an essential resource for the new evangelization,” the Holy Father urged that a Catholic education be within the reach of all families, whatever their financial status.
Turning his attention to higher education, Pope Benedict said colleges and universities “need to reaffirm their distinctive identity in fidelity to their founding ideals and the Church’s mission in service of the Gospel.”
He said this includes the obligation for theological faculty to receive the mandate from the local bishop laid down in the Code of Canon Law.
“The question of Catholic identity, not least at the university level, entails much more than the teaching of religion or the mere presence of a chaplaincy on campus,” Pope Benedict told the bishops.
“All too often, it seems, Catholic schools and colleges have failed to challenge students to reappropriate their faith as part of the exciting intellectual discoveries which mark the experience of higher education,” he continued. “The fact that so many new students find themselves dissociated from the family, school and community support systems that previously facilitated the transmission of the faith should continually spur Catholic institutions of learning to create new and effective networks of support.”
The full text of Pope Benedict XVI’s discourse to Region XIII of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Dear Brother Bishops,
I greet all of you with affection in the Lord and I offer you my prayerful good wishes for a grace-filled pilgrimage ad limina Apostolorum. In the course of our meetings I have been reflecting with you and your Brother Bishops on the intellectual and cultural challenges of the new evangelization in the context of contemporary American society. In the present talk, I wish to address the question of religious education and the faith formation of the next generation of Catholics in your country.
Before all else, I would acknowledge the great progress that has been made in recent years in improving catechesis, reviewing texts and bringing them into conformity with the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Important efforts are also being made to preserve the great patrimony of America’s Catholic elementary and high schools, which have been deeply affected by changing demographics and increased costs, while at the same time ensuring that the education they provide remains within the reach of all families, whatever their financial status. As has often been mentioned in our meetings, these schools remain an essential resource for the new evangelization, and the significant contribution that they make to American society as a whole ought to be better appreciated and more generously supported.
On the level of higher education, many of you have pointed to a growing recognition on the part of Catholic colleges and universities of the need to reaffirm their distinctive identity in fidelity to their founding ideals and the Church’s mission in service of the Gospel. Yet much remains to be done, especially in such basic areas as compliance with the mandate laid down in Canon 812 for those who teach theological disciplines. The importance of this canonical norm as a tangible expression of ecclesial communion and solidarity in the Church’s educational apostolate becomes all the more evident when we consider the confusion created by instances of apparent dissidence between some representatives of Catholic institutions and the Church’s pastoral leadership: such discord harms the Church’s witness and, as experience has shown, can easily be exploited to compromise her authority and her freedom.
It is no exaggeration to say that providing young people with a sound education in the faith represents the most urgent internal challenge facing the Catholic community in your country. The deposit of faith is a priceless treasure which each generation must pass on to the next by winning hearts to Jesus Christ and shaping minds in the knowledge, understanding and love of his Church. It is gratifying to realize that, in our day too, the Christian vision, presented in its breadth and integrity, proves immensely appealing to the imagination, idealism and aspirations of the young, who have a right to encounter the faith in all its beauty, its intellectual richness and its radical demands.
Here I would simply propose several points which I trust will prove helpful for your discernment in meeting this challenge.
First, as we know, the essential task of authentic education at every level is not simply that of passing on knowledge, essential as this is, but also of shaping hearts. There is a constant need to balance intellectual rigor in communicating effectively, attractively and integrally, the richness of the Church’s faith with forming the young in the love of God, the praxis of the Christian moral and sacramental life and, not least, the cultivation of personal and liturgical prayer.
It follows that the question of Catholic identity, not least at the university level, entails much more than the teaching of religion or the mere presence of a chaplaincy on campus. All too often, it seems, Catholic schools and colleges have failed to challenge students to reappropriate their faith as part of the exciting intellectual discoveries which mark the experience of higher education. The fact that so many new students find themselves dissociated from the family, school and community support systems that previously facilitated the transmission of the faith should continually spur Catholic institutions of learning to create new and effective networks of support. In every aspect of their education, students need to be encouraged to articulate a vision of the harmony of faith and reason capable of guiding a life-long pursuit of knowledge and virtue. As ever, an essential role in this process is played by teachers who inspire others by their evident love of Christ, their witness of sound devotion and their commitment to that sapientia Christiana which integrates faith and life, intellectual passion and reverence for the splendor of truth both human and divine.
In effect, faith by its very nature demands a constant and all-embracing conversion to the fullness of truth revealed in Christ. He is the creative Logos, in whom all things were made and in whom all reality “holds together” (Col 1:17); he is the new Adam who reveals the ultimate truth about man and the world in which we live. In a period of great cultural change and societal displacement not unlike our own, Augustine pointed to this intrinsic connection between faith and the human intellectual enterprise by appealing to Plato, who held, he says, that “to love wisdom is to love God” (cf. De Civitate Dei, VIII, 8). The Christian commitment to learning, which gave birth to the medieval universities, was based upon this conviction that the one God, as the source of all truth and goodness, is likewise the source of the intellect’s passionate desire to know and the will’s yearning for fulfilment in love.
Only in this light can we appreciate the distinctive contribution of Catholic education, which engages in a “diakonia of truth” inspired by an intellectual charity which knows that leading others to the truth is ultimately an act of love (cf. Address to Catholic Educators, Washington, 17 April 2008). Faith’s recognition of the essential unity of all knowledge provides a bulwark against the alienation and fragmentation which occurs when the use of reason is detached from the pursuit of truth and virtue; in this sense, Catholic institutions have a specific role to play in helping to overcome the crisis of universities today. Firmly grounded in this vision of the intrinsic interplay of faith, reason and the pursuit of human excellence, every Christian intellectual and all the Church=s educational institutions must be convinced, and desirous of convincing others, that no aspect of reality remains alien to, or untouched by, the mystery of the redemption and the Risen Lord’s dominion over all creation.
During my Pastoral Visit to the United States, I spoke of the need for the Church in America to cultivate “a mindset, an intellectual culture which is genuinely Catholic” (cf. Homily at Nationals Stadium, Washington, 17 April 2008). Taking up this task certainly involves a renewal of apologetics and an emphasis on Catholic distinctiveness; ultimately however it must be aimed at proclaiming the liberating truth of Christ and stimulating greater dialogue and cooperation in building a society ever more solidly grounded in an authentic humanism inspired by the Gospel and faithful to the highest values of America=s civic and cultural heritage. At the present moment of your nation’s history, this is the challenge and opportunity awaiting the entire Catholic community, and it is one which the Church’s educational institutions should be the first to acknowledge and embrace.
In concluding these brief reflections, I wish to express once more my gratitude, and that of the whole Church, for the generous commitment, often accompanied by personal sacrifice, shown by so many teachers and administrators who work in the vast network of Catholic schools in your country. To you, dear Brothers, and to all the faithful entrusted to your pastoral care, I cordially impart my Apostolic Blessing as a pledge of wisdom, joy and peace in the Risen Lord.
From the Vatican, 5 May 2012
Calling Catholic schools “an essential resource for the new evangelization,” the Holy Father urged that a Catholic education be within the reach of all families, whatever their financial status.
Turning his attention to higher education, Pope Benedict said colleges and universities “need to reaffirm their distinctive identity in fidelity to their founding ideals and the Church’s mission in service of the Gospel.”
He said this includes the obligation for theological faculty to receive the mandate from the local bishop laid down in the Code of Canon Law.
“The question of Catholic identity, not least at the university level, entails much more than the teaching of religion or the mere presence of a chaplaincy on campus,” Pope Benedict told the bishops.
“All too often, it seems, Catholic schools and colleges have failed to challenge students to reappropriate their faith as part of the exciting intellectual discoveries which mark the experience of higher education,” he continued. “The fact that so many new students find themselves dissociated from the family, school and community support systems that previously facilitated the transmission of the faith should continually spur Catholic institutions of learning to create new and effective networks of support.”
The full text of Pope Benedict XVI’s discourse to Region XIII of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Dear Brother Bishops,
I greet all of you with affection in the Lord and I offer you my prayerful good wishes for a grace-filled pilgrimage ad limina Apostolorum. In the course of our meetings I have been reflecting with you and your Brother Bishops on the intellectual and cultural challenges of the new evangelization in the context of contemporary American society. In the present talk, I wish to address the question of religious education and the faith formation of the next generation of Catholics in your country.
Before all else, I would acknowledge the great progress that has been made in recent years in improving catechesis, reviewing texts and bringing them into conformity with the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Important efforts are also being made to preserve the great patrimony of America’s Catholic elementary and high schools, which have been deeply affected by changing demographics and increased costs, while at the same time ensuring that the education they provide remains within the reach of all families, whatever their financial status. As has often been mentioned in our meetings, these schools remain an essential resource for the new evangelization, and the significant contribution that they make to American society as a whole ought to be better appreciated and more generously supported.
On the level of higher education, many of you have pointed to a growing recognition on the part of Catholic colleges and universities of the need to reaffirm their distinctive identity in fidelity to their founding ideals and the Church’s mission in service of the Gospel. Yet much remains to be done, especially in such basic areas as compliance with the mandate laid down in Canon 812 for those who teach theological disciplines. The importance of this canonical norm as a tangible expression of ecclesial communion and solidarity in the Church’s educational apostolate becomes all the more evident when we consider the confusion created by instances of apparent dissidence between some representatives of Catholic institutions and the Church’s pastoral leadership: such discord harms the Church’s witness and, as experience has shown, can easily be exploited to compromise her authority and her freedom.
It is no exaggeration to say that providing young people with a sound education in the faith represents the most urgent internal challenge facing the Catholic community in your country. The deposit of faith is a priceless treasure which each generation must pass on to the next by winning hearts to Jesus Christ and shaping minds in the knowledge, understanding and love of his Church. It is gratifying to realize that, in our day too, the Christian vision, presented in its breadth and integrity, proves immensely appealing to the imagination, idealism and aspirations of the young, who have a right to encounter the faith in all its beauty, its intellectual richness and its radical demands.
Here I would simply propose several points which I trust will prove helpful for your discernment in meeting this challenge.
First, as we know, the essential task of authentic education at every level is not simply that of passing on knowledge, essential as this is, but also of shaping hearts. There is a constant need to balance intellectual rigor in communicating effectively, attractively and integrally, the richness of the Church’s faith with forming the young in the love of God, the praxis of the Christian moral and sacramental life and, not least, the cultivation of personal and liturgical prayer.
It follows that the question of Catholic identity, not least at the university level, entails much more than the teaching of religion or the mere presence of a chaplaincy on campus. All too often, it seems, Catholic schools and colleges have failed to challenge students to reappropriate their faith as part of the exciting intellectual discoveries which mark the experience of higher education. The fact that so many new students find themselves dissociated from the family, school and community support systems that previously facilitated the transmission of the faith should continually spur Catholic institutions of learning to create new and effective networks of support. In every aspect of their education, students need to be encouraged to articulate a vision of the harmony of faith and reason capable of guiding a life-long pursuit of knowledge and virtue. As ever, an essential role in this process is played by teachers who inspire others by their evident love of Christ, their witness of sound devotion and their commitment to that sapientia Christiana which integrates faith and life, intellectual passion and reverence for the splendor of truth both human and divine.
In effect, faith by its very nature demands a constant and all-embracing conversion to the fullness of truth revealed in Christ. He is the creative Logos, in whom all things were made and in whom all reality “holds together” (Col 1:17); he is the new Adam who reveals the ultimate truth about man and the world in which we live. In a period of great cultural change and societal displacement not unlike our own, Augustine pointed to this intrinsic connection between faith and the human intellectual enterprise by appealing to Plato, who held, he says, that “to love wisdom is to love God” (cf. De Civitate Dei, VIII, 8). The Christian commitment to learning, which gave birth to the medieval universities, was based upon this conviction that the one God, as the source of all truth and goodness, is likewise the source of the intellect’s passionate desire to know and the will’s yearning for fulfilment in love.
Only in this light can we appreciate the distinctive contribution of Catholic education, which engages in a “diakonia of truth” inspired by an intellectual charity which knows that leading others to the truth is ultimately an act of love (cf. Address to Catholic Educators, Washington, 17 April 2008). Faith’s recognition of the essential unity of all knowledge provides a bulwark against the alienation and fragmentation which occurs when the use of reason is detached from the pursuit of truth and virtue; in this sense, Catholic institutions have a specific role to play in helping to overcome the crisis of universities today. Firmly grounded in this vision of the intrinsic interplay of faith, reason and the pursuit of human excellence, every Christian intellectual and all the Church=s educational institutions must be convinced, and desirous of convincing others, that no aspect of reality remains alien to, or untouched by, the mystery of the redemption and the Risen Lord’s dominion over all creation.
During my Pastoral Visit to the United States, I spoke of the need for the Church in America to cultivate “a mindset, an intellectual culture which is genuinely Catholic” (cf. Homily at Nationals Stadium, Washington, 17 April 2008). Taking up this task certainly involves a renewal of apologetics and an emphasis on Catholic distinctiveness; ultimately however it must be aimed at proclaiming the liberating truth of Christ and stimulating greater dialogue and cooperation in building a society ever more solidly grounded in an authentic humanism inspired by the Gospel and faithful to the highest values of America=s civic and cultural heritage. At the present moment of your nation’s history, this is the challenge and opportunity awaiting the entire Catholic community, and it is one which the Church’s educational institutions should be the first to acknowledge and embrace.
In concluding these brief reflections, I wish to express once more my gratitude, and that of the whole Church, for the generous commitment, often accompanied by personal sacrifice, shown by so many teachers and administrators who work in the vast network of Catholic schools in your country. To you, dear Brothers, and to all the faithful entrusted to your pastoral care, I cordially impart my Apostolic Blessing as a pledge of wisdom, joy and peace in the Risen Lord.
From the Vatican, 5 May 2012
ASIA : PAKISTAN : RIP MISSIONARY MOTHER TERESA SISTER ALESSIA
ASIA NEWS REPORT: by Shafique
Khokhar
Missionary in the country for 61 years, the Italian-born nun, dedicated her entire life to the poor, women, marginalised and the disabled. More than 350 priests, lay people, activists and worshippers attend the ceremony. Her fellow nuns pledge "to continue her mission."
Faisalabad (AsiaNews) - The Catholic community is mourning the death of Sister Alessia (pictured). Known as the 'Mother Teresa of Pakistan, she was born in a small hamlet in Italy's Veneto region and spent 61 years of her life in mission in the Asian country, devoting her time to the marginalised, women, the poor. However, she will be especially remembered for her devotion to the disabled.
Sister Alessia's funeral was held last Monday in Faisalabad's cathedral in the presence of more than 350 priests, nuns, catechists, educators, students, media people, representatives of civil society organisations and ordinary worshippers. During the ceremony, participants paid tribute to her for her services to humanity.
During the Mass, Sister Sosan Buta laid out the main facts about Sister Alessia's life, describing her contributions to the growth of Pakistan's civil society and the Church's missionary work in the world.
Born on 18 November 1923 in Gasparina, a small hamlet in the municipality of Sommacampagna, Verona province, Sister Alessia took her final vows with Dominican Sisters.
She arrived in Pakistan for the first time on 13 October 1951 and her first posting was in the Catholic village of Khushpur, Punjab, the birthplace of the late Shahbaz Bhatti, Pakistan's Minority Affairs minister who was assassinated on 2 March 2011.
Four years later, she was transferred to Francisabad, a Christian village near Shortkot, where she spent 26 years serving the local community.
In 1980, she moved again, for the last time, to Faisalabad this time. In the big city, she took charge of the 'Miss Haq Home', a Catholic charitable institution for children with disabilities where she spent the remainder of her life in mission and service.
"The death of Sister Alessia OP is a shock and a great loss to the Church," said Sister Sosan Buta. However, "while we mourn this loss, we promise to the soul of Sister Alessia that we will continue her mission for the poor, the weak and the voiceless."
"Sister Alessia was so kind, philanthropic and gregarious to every human being," said Sister Sabina, an educator at the Sacred Heart School in Faisalabad.
Although born in Italy, "she was more Pakistani than us. She was filled with maternal love for all of us. For this reason, we, her fellow co-workers, used to call her mother. She was a true follower of Saint Catherine. May her soul rest in peace."
"Sister Alessia was the Mother Teresa of Pakistan," said Fr Khalid Rashid Asi, vicar general of Diocese of Faisalabad, "because she devoted her entire life to the downtrodden and oppressed. We are very grateful to her for her social and spiritual service."
SOURCE: http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Faisalabad:-Catholics-mourn-the-passing-of-Sister-Alessia,-the-'Mother-Teresa-of-Pakistan'-24672.html
Missionary in the country for 61 years, the Italian-born nun, dedicated her entire life to the poor, women, marginalised and the disabled. More than 350 priests, lay people, activists and worshippers attend the ceremony. Her fellow nuns pledge "to continue her mission."
Faisalabad (AsiaNews) - The Catholic community is mourning the death of Sister Alessia (pictured). Known as the 'Mother Teresa of Pakistan, she was born in a small hamlet in Italy's Veneto region and spent 61 years of her life in mission in the Asian country, devoting her time to the marginalised, women, the poor. However, she will be especially remembered for her devotion to the disabled.
Sister Alessia's funeral was held last Monday in Faisalabad's cathedral in the presence of more than 350 priests, nuns, catechists, educators, students, media people, representatives of civil society organisations and ordinary worshippers. During the ceremony, participants paid tribute to her for her services to humanity.
During the Mass, Sister Sosan Buta laid out the main facts about Sister Alessia's life, describing her contributions to the growth of Pakistan's civil society and the Church's missionary work in the world.
Born on 18 November 1923 in Gasparina, a small hamlet in the municipality of Sommacampagna, Verona province, Sister Alessia took her final vows with Dominican Sisters.
She arrived in Pakistan for the first time on 13 October 1951 and her first posting was in the Catholic village of Khushpur, Punjab, the birthplace of the late Shahbaz Bhatti, Pakistan's Minority Affairs minister who was assassinated on 2 March 2011.
Four years later, she was transferred to Francisabad, a Christian village near Shortkot, where she spent 26 years serving the local community.
In 1980, she moved again, for the last time, to Faisalabad this time. In the big city, she took charge of the 'Miss Haq Home', a Catholic charitable institution for children with disabilities where she spent the remainder of her life in mission and service.
"The death of Sister Alessia OP is a shock and a great loss to the Church," said Sister Sosan Buta. However, "while we mourn this loss, we promise to the soul of Sister Alessia that we will continue her mission for the poor, the weak and the voiceless."
"Sister Alessia was so kind, philanthropic and gregarious to every human being," said Sister Sabina, an educator at the Sacred Heart School in Faisalabad.
Although born in Italy, "she was more Pakistani than us. She was filled with maternal love for all of us. For this reason, we, her fellow co-workers, used to call her mother. She was a true follower of Saint Catherine. May her soul rest in peace."
"Sister Alessia was the Mother Teresa of Pakistan," said Fr Khalid Rashid Asi, vicar general of Diocese of Faisalabad, "because she devoted her entire life to the downtrodden and oppressed. We are very grateful to her for her social and spiritual service."
SOURCE: http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Faisalabad:-Catholics-mourn-the-passing-of-Sister-Alessia,-the-'Mother-Teresa-of-Pakistan'-24672.html
AMERICA : PERU : 260000 HOMELESS FROM RAINS
Agenzia Fides REPORT- Since November last year, when the
rains began to fall, until recent days, considering the 25 regions across the
country, the total affected by natural disasters is very high: 53 deaths and
more than 260,000 without a roof. The news, sent to Fides from the Catholic
radio station Onda Azul in Puno, reports the data in the Report of the National
Institute of Civil Defense (Indeci), regarding the consequences of heavy rains
in the last 6 months: 53 deaths, 267,391 homeless , 9,383 houses
destroyed.
Some mountain areas of the "Sierra" as it is known throughout the central part of the Andes that cross the country from north to south, are considered at risk due to avalanches, especially when rains are abundant, as happened in recent months. Processed data related to losses in agriculture have still not been carried out, because many cultivated fields were destroyed or wiped away by rivers and avalanches in many areas of the country, causing huge losses to farmers.
Only less than 15 days ago, the head of the Emergency Operations Center (COE) of Puno had informed that they were more than 100 hectares damaged by hail and heavy rainfall in the region of Puno. Only in the region of Puno, Andean highlands in the south, the Indeci had counted 15 victims, 25,834 homeless and 133,424 families with serious damage. (CE) (Agenzia Fides 04/05/2012)
Some mountain areas of the "Sierra" as it is known throughout the central part of the Andes that cross the country from north to south, are considered at risk due to avalanches, especially when rains are abundant, as happened in recent months. Processed data related to losses in agriculture have still not been carried out, because many cultivated fields were destroyed or wiped away by rivers and avalanches in many areas of the country, causing huge losses to farmers.
Only less than 15 days ago, the head of the Emergency Operations Center (COE) of Puno had informed that they were more than 100 hectares damaged by hail and heavy rainfall in the region of Puno. Only in the region of Puno, Andean highlands in the south, the Indeci had counted 15 victims, 25,834 homeless and 133,424 families with serious damage. (CE) (Agenzia Fides 04/05/2012)
EUROPE : RIP LADY DEVLIN AGE 102 - CONVERT
CATH NEWS REPORT:
Lady Devlin, née Madeleine Oppenheimer
1909-2012
- By Tim Devlin
Madeleine Devlin, who died on March 22 aged 102, was a woman of boundless energy, grace and academic talent. She helped two brothers and made their lives much easier: the first her husband Lord Devlin, the Law Lord, and the second his younger brother Christopher, the scholar and missionary, who inspired her to convert to Catholicism when she was 46.
Of Jewish origin and Anglican upbringing, she was the third and youngest child of Sir Bernard Oppenheimer – a diamond merchant and an older brother of Sir Ernest Oppenheimer. Sir Ernest controlled De Beers and founded the Anglo-American Corporation of South Africa.
Lady Devlin grew up in London, where she attended Frances Holland School. She went on to Somerville College, Oxford, to study PPE (Philosophy, Politics and Economics). At Oxford she was particularly close to her cousin Harry, who was to succeed Ernest as chairman of Anglo-American and De Beers. She also formed a lifelong friendship with the historian CV (Veronica) Wedgwood.
After university Lady Devlin worked for Professor Lancelot Hogben FRS, the Professor of Social Biology at the University of London, helping him in his research into the uniqueness of fingerprints and working on what became Mathematics for the Million, a bestseller in 1933. During that period she met and married her husband Patrick in February 1932.
Patrick came from a devout Catholic Irish-Scottish family of five. The two daughters – Joan and Frances – became nuns. All three brothers went to Stonyhurst. While the youngest William became a distinguished actor, Patrick and his brother Christopher seemed both destined for the Church. Patrick lapsed and after Cambridge went to the Bar.
Christopher became a Jesuit. During the 1950s while a missionary in Southern Africa, Madeleine and he corresponded frequently. She was his English outpost, helping when needed with his dealings with Farm Street, his contributions to The Month, his biography of Robert Southwell (1956) and his edition of the writings of Gerald Manley Hopkins (1959). But above all she followed closely his missionary journeys in Rhodesia and in the process she became converted to Catholicism in 1956.
When Christopher returned to London seriously ill with cancer in 1959, she looked after him until he died at the family home, West Wick House, near Pewsey, in Wiltshire. She converted a playroom in the cellars of the house into a chapel so that he could say Mass every day. She also helped with the publication of Poor Kit Smart on the life of the eighteenth-century poet Christopher Smart.
Full obituary in The Tablet: http://www.thetablet.co.uk/blogs/277/13
Baron Devlin according to Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Devlin,_Baron_Devlin
Lady Devlin, née Madeleine Oppenheimer
1909-2012
- By Tim Devlin
Madeleine Devlin, who died on March 22 aged 102, was a woman of boundless energy, grace and academic talent. She helped two brothers and made their lives much easier: the first her husband Lord Devlin, the Law Lord, and the second his younger brother Christopher, the scholar and missionary, who inspired her to convert to Catholicism when she was 46.
Of Jewish origin and Anglican upbringing, she was the third and youngest child of Sir Bernard Oppenheimer – a diamond merchant and an older brother of Sir Ernest Oppenheimer. Sir Ernest controlled De Beers and founded the Anglo-American Corporation of South Africa.
Lady Devlin grew up in London, where she attended Frances Holland School. She went on to Somerville College, Oxford, to study PPE (Philosophy, Politics and Economics). At Oxford she was particularly close to her cousin Harry, who was to succeed Ernest as chairman of Anglo-American and De Beers. She also formed a lifelong friendship with the historian CV (Veronica) Wedgwood.
After university Lady Devlin worked for Professor Lancelot Hogben FRS, the Professor of Social Biology at the University of London, helping him in his research into the uniqueness of fingerprints and working on what became Mathematics for the Million, a bestseller in 1933. During that period she met and married her husband Patrick in February 1932.
Patrick came from a devout Catholic Irish-Scottish family of five. The two daughters – Joan and Frances – became nuns. All three brothers went to Stonyhurst. While the youngest William became a distinguished actor, Patrick and his brother Christopher seemed both destined for the Church. Patrick lapsed and after Cambridge went to the Bar.
Christopher became a Jesuit. During the 1950s while a missionary in Southern Africa, Madeleine and he corresponded frequently. She was his English outpost, helping when needed with his dealings with Farm Street, his contributions to The Month, his biography of Robert Southwell (1956) and his edition of the writings of Gerald Manley Hopkins (1959). But above all she followed closely his missionary journeys in Rhodesia and in the process she became converted to Catholicism in 1956.
When Christopher returned to London seriously ill with cancer in 1959, she looked after him until he died at the family home, West Wick House, near Pewsey, in Wiltshire. She converted a playroom in the cellars of the house into a chapel so that he could say Mass every day. She also helped with the publication of Poor Kit Smart on the life of the eighteenth-century poet Christopher Smart.
Full obituary in The Tablet: http://www.thetablet.co.uk/blogs/277/13
Baron Devlin according to Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Devlin,_Baron_Devlin
AFRICA : MOZAMBIQUE : PRIEST BRUTALLY KILLED BY GANGSTERS
CISA NEWS REPORT:
LIQUELEVA, May 4, 2012 (CISA) -Armed gangsters
killed a Catholic priest on a Tuesday night raid on Liqueleva Parish,
Mozambique.
Fr Valentim Eduardo Camale, a Consolata
Missionary, was brutally killed May 3, 2012 during a robbery in his parish at
around at 8 pm.
Reports indicate that he was trying to repulse
four armed robbers before he was overwhelmed and beaten to death.
A fellow priest returning from pastoral work,
Fr Fabio Malesa, found Fr Valentim lying in a pool of blood. He died on the way
to hospital.
This was not the first time that the late Fr
Valentim became a victim of armed crime. He was once attacked by armed Congolese
rebels during his internship in Congo.
Born November 29, 1963 at Intiquita-Montepuez,
Province of Cabo Delgado, Mozambique, Fr Vlentim attended elementary school in
Montepuez before proceeding to Christ the King Seminary.
He studied philosophy in Maputo-Santo Agostinho
before entering the novitiate. He took his religious vows on January 7, 1995 in
Maputo, before proceeding for Theology studies at the Seminary of
Kinshasa.
At the end of his theology studies, he worked
in Miguel Cuamba Parish in Mozambique. He was ordained priest in Montepuez Pemba
by Dom Tome Makhweliha, Archbishop of Nampula, on February 27, 2000, and was
posted to Mozambique where he worked in Nossa Senhora de Fatima Parish and St.
Terezinha do Menino Jesus parish of in Liqueleva, where he was killed.
He was 48, and had served the church for 29
years: 17 as a religious and 12 as a priest.
AUSTRALIA : PRESIDENT OF BISHOPS CONFERENCE DENIS HART
ARCHDIOCESE OF SYDNEY RELEASE:
\
Catholic Communications, Sydney Archdiocese,
4 May 2012
Archbishop
Denis Hart, Metropolitan Archbishop of Melbourne has been elected President of
the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference at the Australian Bishops Plenary
today in Sydney.
Archbishop Hart will take over from Archbishop Philip Wilson who has held the post for the past six years.
"I am pleased to be able to serve the Church in any way that I can. I hope to see the faith of Catholics in Jesus Christ grow in this country. I am also grateful for the faith that my brother Bishops have placed in me," Archbishop Hart said.
The Bishops Conference President is elected every two years and can serve up to three terms.
Archbishop
Denis James Hart, DD was named auxiliary Bishop of Melbourne in 1997 and has
been the Archbishop of Melbourne since 2001.
In the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference he has been Chairman of the Bishops Commission for Administration and Information, as well as being a member of the Permanent Committee and of the Bishops Commission for Liturgy.
He is also vice-chairman of the International Commission on English in the Liturgy.
Archbishop Philip Wilson was also elected today as the Vice-President
\
Catholic Communications, Sydney Archdiocese,
4 May 2012
Archbishop Denis Hart
Archbishop Hart will take over from Archbishop Philip Wilson who has held the post for the past six years.
"I am pleased to be able to serve the Church in any way that I can. I hope to see the faith of Catholics in Jesus Christ grow in this country. I am also grateful for the faith that my brother Bishops have placed in me," Archbishop Hart said.
The Bishops Conference President is elected every two years and can serve up to three terms.
New President of the ACBC
In the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference he has been Chairman of the Bishops Commission for Administration and Information, as well as being a member of the Permanent Committee and of the Bishops Commission for Liturgy.
He is also vice-chairman of the International Commission on English in the Liturgy.
Archbishop Philip Wilson was also elected today as the Vice-President
TODAY'S MASS ONLINE : SAT. MAY 5, 2012
| John
14: 7 - 14
| |
| 7 | If you had known me, you would have known my Father also; henceforth you know him and have seen him." |
| 8 | Philip said to him, "Lord, show us the Father, and we shall be satisfied." |
| 9 | Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you so long, and yet you do not know me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father; how can you say, `Show us the Father'? |
| 10 | Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority; but the Father who dwells in me does his works. |
| 11 | Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father in me; or else believe me for the sake of the works themselves. |
| 12 | "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I go to the Father. |
| 13 | Whatever you ask in my name, I will do it, that the Father may be glorified in the Son; |
| 14 | if you ask anything in my name, I will do it. |
TODAY'S SAINT : MAY 5 : ST. HILARY OF ARLES
St. Hilary of Arles
BISHOP
Feast: May 5
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Information:
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This saint was nobly born about the year 401, and was
related to St. Honoratus of Arles, and of the same country in Gaul, which was
probably Lorraine, or some other part of Austrasia. He was brought up in a
manner suitable to his birth, in the study of the liberal arts, and of every
branch of polite learning. especially of eloquence and philosophy. But how
little value we ought to set on all things that appear great in the eyes of the
world, he himself has taught us. "We are all equal," says he, "in Jesus Christ;
and the highest degree of our nobility is to be of the number of the true
servants of God. Neither science, nor birth, according to this world, can exalt
us, but in proportion to our contempt of them." Before God had put these
sentiments into his heart, he seems to have been not altogether insensible to
the advantages of this world, in which he was raised to the highest dignities.
His kinsman, St. Honoratus, who had forsaken his country to seek Christ in the
solitude of the isle of Lerins, where he had founded a great monastery, was the
instrument made use of by the Almighty to open his eyes. This holy man had
always loved Hilary, and thought he could not give him more solid proof of his
friendship than by endeavoring to gain him entirely to God. He therefore left
his retirement for a few days to seek him out, and endeavored to move him by the
same powerful, weighty reflections, which had made the deepest impression on his
own mind, and induced him to break the chains of the world. "What floods of
tears," says St. Hilary, "did this true friend shed to soften the hardness of my
heart! How often did he embrace me with the most tender and compassionate
affection, to obtain of me that I would take into serious consideration the
salvation of my soul! Yet, by an unhappy victory, I still remained conqueror."
Honoratus, finding his endeavors to wean him from the charms of a deceitful
world ineffectual, had recourse to prayer, his ordinary refuge. "Well," said he
to Hilary, "I will obtain of God, what you will not now grant me." Upon which
they took leave of each other. Hilary, reflecting on what Honoratus had said to
him, was not long before he began to feel a violent conflict within himself. "On
one side," says he, "me-thought I saw the Lord calling me; on the other the
world offering me its seducing charms and pleasures. How often did I embrace and
reject, will and not will the same thing! But in the end Jesus Christ triumphed
in me. And three days after Honoratus had left me, the mercy of God, solicited
by his prayers, subdued my rebellious soul." He then went in person to seek St.
Honoratus, and appeared before him as humble and tractable as the saint had left
him haughty and indocile.
From this moment there appeared in Hilary that wonderful
change which the Holy Ghost produces in a soul which he truly converts. His
words, looks, and whole comportment breathed nothing but humility, patience,
sweetness, mortification, and charity. Every one saw in him a man who began to
labor in earnest to save his soul, and who had put his hand to the plough to
look no more behind him, or to send a single thought alter v. hat he had left
for Christ's sake. Aspiring to perfection, he sold all his several estates to
his brother, and distributed all the money accruing from the sale among the
poor, and the most indigent monasteries. Thus disengaged from the world, and
naked, no less in the inward disposition of soul than in his exterior, he, like
Abraham, took leave of his own country, and made the best of his way to Lerins;
where from his first entrance he made it appear that he was worthy to live in
the company of saints. He set out in the pursuit of monastic perfection with
such zeal and fervor, as to become in a short time the pattern of those on whose
instructions and example he came to form his own conduct. His application to
prayer and mortification, and his watchfulness and care to avoid the smallest
faults and imperfections, prepared him to receive the gift of tears. It is
thought that his baptism was posterior to his retirement. St. Honoratus having
been chosen archbishop of Arles, in 426, Hilary followed him to that city; but
it was not long before his love of solitude occasioned his return to Lerins. All
the holy inhabitants of that isle testified as great joy to receive him again,
as he felt to see himself among them. But God, who had other designs upon him,
did not permit him to enjoy long his beloved retirement. St. Honoratus begged
his assistance, and the comfort of his company, and as he did not yield to
entreaties, went himself to fetch him from Lerins. Soon after God called St.
Honoratus to himself, his death happening in 428 or 429. Hilary, though sensibly
afflicted for the loss of such a friend, rejoiced however to see himself at
liberty, and set out directly for Lerins. But no sooner were the citizens
apprized of his departure, than messengers posted after him with such
expedition, that he was overtaken, brought back, and consecrated archbishop,
though only twenty-nine years of age.
In this high station the virtues which he had acquired in
solitude shone with lustre to mankind. The higher he was exalted by his dignity,
the more did he humble himself beneath all others in his heart. He reduced
himself in every thing to the strictest bounds of necessity: and he had only one
coat for winter and summer. He applied himself diligently to meditation on the
holy scriptures, and preaching the word of God, was assiduous in prayer,
watching, and fasting. He had his hours also for manual labor, with a view of
gaming something for the poor; choosing such work as he could join with reading
or prayer. He travelled always on foot, and had attained to so perfect an
evenness of temper, that his mind seemed never ruffled with the least emotion of
anger. He had an admirable talent in preaching. When he spoke before the learned
of the world, his elocution, his accent, his discourse, his action, were such as
the greatest orators justly admired, but despaired ever to come up to. Yet when
he instructed the illiterate, he changed his manner of address, and proportioned
his instructions to the capacities of the most simple and ignorant, though
always supporting the dignity of the divine word by a maimer and expression
suitable to its majesty. He preached the truth in its purity, without flattering
the great. He had often in private admonished a certain judge in the province of
a criminal partiality in the administration of justice, but without effect. One
day the magistrate came into the church, attended by his officers, while the
saint was preaching. The holy bishop broke off his sermon on the spot, and gave
his surprised audience for reason, that he who had so often neglected the advice
he had given him for his salvation, was not worthy to partake of the nourishment
of the divine word. the judge no sooner heard his reflection, but withdrew in
confusion, and the saint resumed his discourse Observing one day that many went
out of the church immediately after the reading of the gospel, just as he was
going to preach, he prevailed with them to return, by saying: "You will not so
easily get out of hell, if you are once unhappily fallen into its dungeons." He
had such a love for the poor, that to have the more to bestow on them, he lived
himself in the greatest poverty: he never kept a horse, and labored hard in
digging and manuring the ground, though educated according to the dignity of his
family. To redeem captives, he caused the church plate to be sold, not excepting
the sacred vessels; making use of patens and chalices of glass ill the
celebration of the divine mysteries. If his compassion for the corporal miseries
of the faithful was so tender, we may judge how much more he was moved to pity
at their spiritual necessities. He bore the weak with tenderness, but never
indulged the passions or sloth of any. When he put any one in a course of
penance he was himself bathed in tears; whereby he troth excited the penitent to
the like, and with ardent sighs and prayer obtained for him of God the grace of
compunction and pardon. He visited the bishops of his province, and endeavored
to make them walk in the perfect spirit of Christ, the prince of pastors. He
established many monasteries and took particular care to enforce a strict
observance of monastic discipline among them. He had a close friendship with St.
Germanus, whom he called his father, and respected as an apostle. He presided in
the council of Ries in 439, in the first council of Orange in 441, in the
council of Vaison in 442, and probably in 443, in the second council of Arles,
in all which several canons of discipline were framed.
His zeal exasperated several tepid persons; and some of
these, by misconstruing his actions, gave the holy pope St. Leo a
disadvantageous character of him. His zeal, indeed, had been on some occasions
too hasty and precipitate: but this was owing in him to mistake, not to passion;
for the circumstances of his actions, and of his eminent piety, oblige us to
interpret his intention by the same spirit by which he governed himself in his
whole conduct. This disagreement between St. Leo and St. Hilary proved a trial
for the exercise of zeal in the former, and of patience in the latter, for his
greater sanctification by humility, submission, and silence. Chelidonius, bishop
of Besancon, had been deposed by St. Hilary Upon an allegation, that, before he
was consecrated bishop, he had married a widow, and had condemned persons to
death as magistrate; both which were looked upon as irregularities or
disqualifications for holy orders. Chelidonius hereupon set out for Rome, to
justify himself to the pope, St. Leo, who received his appeal from his
metropolitan, and acquitted him of the irregularity with which he stood charged.
St. Hilary, upon hearing that his suffragan was gone for Rome, followed him
thither on foot, and in the midst of winter. The pope having assembled a council
to judge this affair, St. Hilary took his seat among the other bishops that
composed it: but from his not attempting to prove the irregularity which had
been alleged against Chelidonius, the saint seemed to own that he had been
imposed on as to the matter of fact. But he pretended, that the cause ought not
to be judged otherwise than by commissaries deputed by the pope to take
cognizance of it in the country that gave it birth, a point for which some
Africans had contended. This plea was overruled, the contrary having been
frequently practiced, when both parties could appear at Rome: though the manner
of judging appeals is only a point of discipline, which may vary in different
places. Another affair brought St. Hilary into a greater difficulty. Projectus,
a bishop of his province, being sick, St. Hilary, upon information, hastened to
his see, and ordained a new bishop: after which Projectus recovering, there were
two bishops contending for the same see, and Hilary supported the last ordained;
perhaps because the first might remain disabled for his functions. The author of
St. Hilary's life does not clear up his conduct in this particular: but we
cannot doubt of the sincerity of his intention. Moreover the discipline of the
church in such matters was not at that time so clearly settled by the canons as
it has been since. St. Hilary therefore imagined a metropolitan might have a
discretionary power in such matters. However St. Leo rightly judged such an
ordination irregular, liable to great inconveniences, and productive of schisms.
Wherefore he forbade St. Hilary to ordain any bishops for the future. Our holy
prelate cancelled his mistakes by his patience, and St. Leo, writing immediately
after the saint's death, to his successor Ravennus, calls him,
That this saint never gave in to the Semi-Pelagian doctrine,
though it hard not been then condemned by any decree of the pastors of the
church, is clearly shown by Tillemont and Dom. Rivet. This is proved from
several passages in his life by St. Honoratus; and in the Martyrologies of
Rabanus and Notker it is mentioned that he vigorously exerted his zeal in
bringing a light and in correcting the Pelagian heresy, which is taught in the
conferences of Cassian. His exposition of the creed, commended by the ancients,
is now lost: his homilies on all the feasts of the year were much esteemed, but
are not known at present. The best edition of his works is given by John
Salinas, regular canon of St. John Lateran, in Italy, in
1731.
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SOURCE: http://www.ewtn.com/saintsHoly/saints/H/sthilaryofarles.asp#ixzz1u3LxGWUD
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