Vaticano

A spate of attacks by Islamists – including the dramatic seizure of a port town – have left the people “terrified” of a growing campaign of insurgency, according to a leading bishop.

After the brief capture of Mocímboa da Praia – a district capital of 20,000 inhabitants, in Cabo Delgado province, north Mozambique – Bishop Luiz Fernando Lisboa of Pemba told Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) that more attacks were likely.

He said: “They [the militants] left a message that they would be returning. The people are afraid.

“If they can attack Mocímboa, which is the largest town in the region, then the people of Palma, Mueda, and Macomia have reason to feel themselves in danger.

“The people are terrified. They were already frightened before, but now it’s worse.”

During the attack a week ago (23rd March), militants burned public buildings, released prisoners from the local prison, patrolled the streets with impunity and flew a black jihadi flag.

Reports indicate the attack took place overnight, with some militants arriving by boat and the rest entering the city in jeeps.

On 25th March, there were reports that jihadists also attacked the town of Quissanga.

Jihadist attacks in Mozambique have grown in frequency since October 2017, mainly in rural areas, but the attack on 23rd March was the first on a major urban center.

Bishop Lisboa said the violence exposed weaknesses in the security services.

He said: “They [the militants] came and went as they pleased. There was no effective response by the security forces.

“Many of them fled because the attackers were more numerous than they were, leaving them free to help themselves to food, supplies, vehicles and military equipment.

“Some of the attackers were dressed in military uniform.

“The reinforcements that were called for arrived only after the attackers had dispersed.

“It is a tragedy. What is happening in Mozambique is a disgrace. It is a real shame that our people should be humiliated in this way.”

A security source reportedly said that the attackers took military equipment “sufficient for two battalions”.

Daesh (ISIS) and Somalia-based paramilitaries Ahlu Sunnah Wa-Jama have both claimed responsibility for the attack on Mocímboa da Praia.

Daesh also claimed responsibility both for an early March attack in Cabo Delgado province, in which soldiers from the Mozambique army died, and an attack on 19th February which killed four soldiers in the town of Chiculua, in Palma district.

Bishop Lisboa said: “The attacks this week have intensified the feeling of insecurity.

“Nevertheless, the Catholic Church will continue to stay close to the people, despite the obvious danger of further armed attacks.”

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By Father Francois-Marie Lethel, OCD

I am writing this text at Rome on March 27, 2020, after three weeks of confinement in our Community of Carmelites of the Teresianum. I share the life of our 25 young Brothers of the Saint John of the Cross International College, from different parts of the world. We are living a strong spiritual experience of cloister, as our Carmelite Sisters, in an intense and simple daily life of prayer, fraternity and study.

We cannot go out because of the contagion, respecting fully all the right and courageous decisions of the Italian Government, shared by the Bishops that have suspended all the celebration and mainly all the Sunday and feast day Masses with the people. However, the first decision to close all the churches of Rome, which was too painful for the people, was canceled by the Cardinal Vicar in agreement with Pope Francis and with his Almoner (Delegate for the poor), Cardinal Krajewski, who made the prophetic gesture of opening his church to the poor always respecting the security norms).

So the churches of Rome remain open and as they are many, the faithful have again the possibility to enter now and then into the closest to their home, when they leave their home for grocery shopping. They can pray before the Tabernacle and also, individually, ask the priests for Communion. Many priests accept <to do so>, always in full respect of the present requirements: only Communion in the hand, after the priest himself has disinfected his hands.

The greatest suffering of the laity is the privation of the Eucharist, especially for the most committed, who live the Mass and daily Communion as the heart of their life. Pope Francis sustains their faith, inviting them to follow the Mass on television, which he concelebrates every day at 7 o’clock in the morning in his Chapel at Saint Martha, with two or three priests that live with him and the few women religious that are at his service. He offers Jesus’ Holy Sacrifice for all, for the whole world, and he invites the faithful that follow the Mass and to make a Spiritual Communion.

Pope Francis himself has invited priests to be close to the faithful so tested and also to take Communion to the sick, something that is very difficult in the present conditions and almost impossible for the sick with Coronavirus. The most gravely ill are in intensive therapy services, intubated, totally isolated, served heroically by the doctors, the nurses and all the hospital personnel. Many of them were infected and are dead. Thousands of the sick already died in extreme conditions of suffering and solitude, without the presence of relatives, without the assistance of a priest and the gift of the Sacraments of Reconciliation, of Anointing of the Sick and of the Eucharist.

Instead, in our Community, we are six priests. Like the Pope, we concelebrate Mass every day behind closed doors, only with our young Brothers, always in respect of the norms (Distance, Communion in the hand after the disinfection of the hands of the <priest> that distributes Communion, Communion under the two species only by the priests and by intinction). We live the celebration and Communion not as a “spiritual luxury,” but as a strong commitment of solidarity and prayerful closeness with all the faithful that cannot live the Eucharist in this period.

Like our Sister Therese of Lisieux, Patroness of the Missions, we believe in the power of prayer for the whole of suffering humanity, for the sick, the dying and the deceased; for the doctors and the nurses, for all the families sorely tested by this confinement, and especially the rulers, the forces of order and all the people that have to work outside of their home and are more exposed to the danger. Like them, we must be the “little Moseses” who prayed on the mountain with his hands raised, while the army fought in the plain  (Cf. Exodus 17:8-12). Because, as many have rightly said, we are in a time of war, a new world war, and this time one can speak of “a just war,” because we fight, not against human brothers, but against an invisible and inhuman enemy, this virus, which we must defeat with the arms of faith and of reason.

It is necessary to remember, more than ever, that faith never goes against reason, the reason that guides the rulers, the doctors, and the scientists to fight against the enemy and finally defeat it. It would be a grave sin not to respect these reasonable rules of confinement, putting in danger not only our own life but especially the life of others. We certainly must pray with trust, without doubting God’s Omnipotence, asking also for miracles of healing, and for this tragedy to end. As Therese of Lisieux and all the Saints, we must fix our gaze continually on Jesus, asking Mary to share her gaze of faith, hope and love when she saw Him suffer and die on the Cross, for the salvation of all men.

With Mary, we must contemplate the Risen Jesus, with the certainty that death doesn’t have the last word. And, with the Church, more than ever we must raise our eyes to Heaven, contemplating Mary in the Glory of Her Son, with all the known and unknown Saints, with full trust that the innocent suffering of the sick and the dying, united to the redemptive suffering of Jesus, opens to them the door of Heaven. As Therese of Lisieux, we pray every day for the eternal salvation of the souls of the deceased, that none be lost forever.

As other faithful, we try to use to the maximum the means of communication to reach our brothers: telephone, Skype, WhatsApp. With our young Carmelites, we have made a video already amply diffused on YouTube (video below).

Ee are in a time of war, and it is urgent to adapt even more the Eucharistic pastoral to this situation, seeking new and exceptional ways to bring the Eucharistic Jesus to the faithful, as the Military Chaplains did taking Communion to the soldiers, especially the wounded and the dying, often at the risk of their own life.

We have many examples of holy priests that gave their lives to be close to brothers in danger. Many have already died in Italy in these last days. In the past, we can recall the luminous figure of Saint John Eudes (candidate to be declared Doctor of the Church) in the 17th century in France. As a young priest, when the plague (even more lethal than the Coronavirus) broke out in Normandy, he obtained from his Superior, Father Pierre de Berulle, permission to go and live in the midst of the plague victims. Every day, with another holy priest of that region, he celebrated Mass and carrying consecrated hosts in a small iron box, which he wore on his neck to give communion to the sick and the dying. At the end of his long life, he kept this iron box as a precious relic!

More recently, we have the example of the Venerable Vietnamese Cardinal Francois-Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan, he remained 13 years in prison, at the time of the Communist persecution. He was able to celebrate the Eucharist every day in the most extreme conditions, with three drops of wine in the palm of his hand, a small host in the other, keeping continually a consecrated host in the pocket of his shirt. He made for another prisoner priest an iron ring that was a “mini Tabernacle,” with a fragment of consecrated host. To Catholic prisoners, he gave a reserve of consecrated hosts in cigarette packets, so that they could continue to live Adoration and Communion. During this period of persecution, the Vietnamese Bishops gave trustworthy laymen permission to keep the Eucharist and to take it into areas where priests couldn’t penetrate. In one of his prayers, written in prison, Monsignor Van Thuan said to the Eucharistic Jesus: “I carry You with me day and night.” This continuous closeness with Jesus helped him to forgive and love his enemies heroically to the point that his Communist jailers became his friends! He affirmed: “My sole strength is the Eucharist.” It was the same at the time of the French Revolution, when many courageous women, lay and religious, guarded the Eucharist.

The Eucharist was at the heart of the life and magisterium of the holy Pope Paul VI. In the great crisis after the Council (1968), he defended the truth of the Eucharistic faith (Sacrifice and Real Presence) trying to promote in the People of God love of Jesus-Eucharist in the liturgical celebration as well as in Eucharistic Adoration. He made an effort to make Jesus-Eucharist closer to the faithful when he permitted Communion in the hand and when he instituted the Extraordinary Ministers of the Eucharist, men, and women in charge of distributing Communion and taking it to the sick and the elderly. Paul VI truly put Jesus-Eucharist in the hands of the faithful, so that He would be closer to all, especially the suffering. In the same years, a humble Salesian co-operator, Vera Grita (now on the way to Beatification) experienced this wonderful closeness of Jesus –Eucharist who wishes to make of every faithful a true “Living Tabernacle.”

In the spirit of Pope Francis, who fights against every form of clericalism, it is more than ever necessary, in this dramatic situation, to remember that we, priests, are ministers, namely servants of the Eucharist for the People of God, and not owners and proprietors. In communion with the Bishops, we must invent new and exceptional ways to bring to the faithful the consolation of the presence of Jesus-Eucharist, by Communion and Adoration in the measure of the possible, respecting always all the security norms.

In regard to this painful privation of the Eucharist, it would be better not to speak of “Eucharistic fasting” (as is often done today), because this traditional expression means the contrary of depriving oneself of some food to receive the Eucharistic food. It’s better, therefore, to speak of the privation of the Eucharist, without imposing on all the People of God the idea of a “fast,” as if daily Communion were an exaggeration of food, a spiritual luxury, of which it would be better to abstain, This disputable idea has spread a lot in France and in Italy (I experienced this already 50 years ago). Instead, for more than a century, with the Decrees of Saint Pius X in favor of daily Communion (1905), all the recent Saints have been Saints of the daily Eucharist. Before him, Therese of Lisieux insisted, not so much on our desire to receive Jesus, but on His desire to give Himself to us, to live in us and with us and to unite us to Himself.

Translation by Virginia M. Forrester

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The Archdiocese of Cebu, Philipines has opened its International Eucharistic Congress (IEC) center, a facility with a floor area of about 25, 754 square meters, for people showing symptoms of coronavirus, according to CBCP News.

The IEC Convention Center Cebu (IC3), formerly known as the IEC Pavillon, will be among the two “first response areas” set up to serve as Covid-19 care and quarantine facilities.

The other FRA is the Sacred Heart School — Ateneo de Cebu, formerly known as SHS School for Boys.

The initiative was part of a concerted effort called “Bayanihan Cebu Center” (BCC) to serve mildly to moderately symptomatic patients.

The IC3 was the venue of the 51st IEC that brought in over 10,000 participants from all over the world in 2016.

“Now, its doors are to be opened in collaboration with the kindness and generosity of some people in Cebu, to become a haven of hope and healing,” Caritas Cebu said.

“The venue that used to hold the teachings on the Eucharist will now become a place of concretizing that bread being broken and shared to those in need in time of this Covid-19 pandemic,” it added.

The San Carlos Seminary will also serve as BCC’s “drop-off area” for medical supplies and equipment which will be needed by the two centers.

The archdiocese has earlier launched an initiative aimed at providing assistance to frontline workers and relief for the poor communities.

Through its “Archbishop Teofilo Camomot Buhat sa Kalu-oy Program”, the archdiocese aims to provide the basic needs to poor families who are at a disadvantage due to the pandemic.

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As we approach our most important week of the year – Holy Week – the way we follow Christ – from his triumphant entrance into Jerusalem, to the foot of the Cross, to an empty tomb – will be completely different this year.

Our Catholic churches would have been packed on Easter Sunday but in 2020 we won’t be able to take communion and celebrate the resurrection of Our Lord and Saviour under the church roof. This year we will follow Holy Week at home.

In preparation, many would have availed themselves of the Sacrament of Reconciliation – Confession – to prepare for a fresh start at Easter.

But what does it mean for our spiritual well-being and salvation if we can’t fulfill our “Easter Duties”?

Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster and President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, addresses these issues in a video released March 31, 202.

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Appointment of the apostolic nuncio in Sudan and Eritrea

The Holy Father has appointed the Most Reverend Luís Miguel Muñoz Cárdaba, nunciature counselor, as apostolic nuncio to Sudan and Eritrea, at the same time elevating him to the titular see of Nasai, with the dignity of archbishop.

Archbishop Luís Miguel Muñoz Cárdaba

Archbishop-elect Luís Miguel Muñoz Cárdaba was born in Vallelado, Spain, on 25 August 1965.

He was ordained a priest on June 28, 1992, and incardinated in Toledo, Spain.

He graduated in theology, canon law and jurisprudence.

He entered the diplomatic service of the Holy See on 1 April 2001 and subsequently worked in the pontifical representations in Greece, Mexico, Belgium, Italy, Australia, France, and Turkey.

He is fluent in Spanish, Italian, French and English.

 

Appointment of member of the Pontifical Committee for Social Sciences

The Holy Father has appointed as a member of the Pontifical Committee for Social Sciences the Reverend Fr. Marek Andrzej Inglot, S.J., Poland, dean of the Faculty of History and Cultural Heritage of the Church at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome.

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The Holy Father has accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the diocese of Świdnica, Poland, presented by Bishop Ignacy Dec.

The Holy Father has appointed as bishop of the diocese of Świdnica, Poland, Bishop Marek Mendyk, transferring him from the titular see of Rusuccuru and the office of auxiliary of the diocese of Legnica.

Bishop Marek Mendyk

Bishop Marek Mendyk was born on March 18, 1961, in Głuszyca (currently the diocese of Świdnica). After passing his baccalaureate exams in 1981, he was admitted to the Major Seminary in Wrocław and attended courses in philosophy and theology at the local theological faculty. He was ordained a priest on May 23, 1987, in Wrocław Cathedral, and after his ordination, he worked for four years as parish vicar in Saint George’s parish in Dzierżonów.

In 1992 he was incardinated in the new diocese of Legnica. He completed his theological formation at the Catholic University of Lublin, where he received a doctorate in pastoral theology in 1995. Since 1995 he has been director of the Catechetical Office of the diocesan Curia and professor of catechetics at the Pontifical Theological Faculty of Wrocław-Section of Legnica.

In the years 1999-2000, he attended the University of Eichstätt and since 2001 he has been assistant professor at the Pontifical Theological Faculty in Wrocław. From 2001 to 2005 he was vice-vector of the major seminary of Legnica.

On June 2, 2002, he was named Chaplain of His Holiness and in 2004 he was appointed as a member of the college of consultors, the presbyteral council, and the canonical council of the Cathedral Chapter of Legnica.

On December 24,  2008, he was appointed titular bishop of Rusuccuru and auxiliary of the diocese of Legnica.

Within the Polish Episcopal Conference Bishop Mendyk is a member of the permanent board, president of the Commission for Catholic Education and member of the Council for Youth Ministry.

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More than 80 religious leaders from across Canada issued a common message to all who call Canada home, expressing the need for hope, gratitude, and solidarity in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This ecumenical and interfaith message is a response by religious leaders from across Canada which was initiated by the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops and The Canadian Rabbinic Caucus with the support and coordination of The Canadian Council of Churches and the Canadian Interfaith Conversation. The French translation was funded by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The message says: “In spite of present sufferings, which can seem overwhelming at times, the flames of hope cannot be extinguished. Love, which gives life its fullest meaning, continues to seek out the common good in spite of individual difficulties.”

The message reflects the unity of thought and concern among Canada’s diverse religious communities in the face of the uncertainty, fear, and anxiety surrounding COVID-19. Acknowledging the significant impact of COVID-19, the message reminds Canadians of the hope we share, the reasons we have to give thanks, and the ways we can act together for the good of one another.

See Full Document Here

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Contemplate, pray and give thanks…. This is how we ought to respond to Jesus’ having born our sins…

Pope Francis stressed this today, March 31, as he offered his private daily Mass at his residence Casa Santa Marta for the victims of Coronavirus, which has claimed more than 11,600 lives in Italy.

Today, the Holy Father prayed for the homeless.

“At this moment in which everyone is supposed to be at home, may society, men and women, realize this reality and help them, and that the Church might welcome them.”

In today’s homily, the Holy Father reflected on the symbol of the serpent presented in both readings of the Fifth Tuesday of Lent (Numbers 21:4-9 and John 8:21-30), reported Vatican News.

As he reflected on how from the very beginning, people have been sinful and ungrateful, the Pope stressed how we must be grateful to the Lord for taking on our sins to redeem all of us.

Jesus, Francis stressed, took upon himself all of our sins….

“There was a vendetta by the doctors of the law who didn’t want Him,” he reminded, saying: “All of that is true. But the truth that comes from God is that He came into the world to take our own sins upon Himself to the point of making Himself sin…. Our sins are there.”

Exhorting us to be more grateful, he continued, “Christians need to make it a habit of looking at the crucifix “in this light”, in the “light of the redemption” and as a reminder that Jesus did not pretend to suffer and die.”

“Rather,” he said, “it was the moment of His utter defeat,” as “He was entirely alone with the burden of our sin that He had taken on Himself to the point of annihilation and the feeling of total abandonment by His Father.”

“It’s not easy to understand this,” the Jesuit Pope said, noting “should we think about it, we’ll never arrive at a conclusion.”

“We can only contemplate, pray, and give thanks,” he said.

Before concluding, the Pope exhorted faithful to partake in Spiritual Communion in this difficult time, and ended the celebration with Eucharistic Adoration and Benediction.

Here are the Holy Father’s words, followed by the prayer for Spiritual Communion:

I prostrate myself at your feet, O my Jesus, and I offer you the repentance of my contrite heart, which abases itself in its nothingness in Your Holy Presence. I adore you in the Sacrament of Your Love; I desire to receive You in the poor abode that my heart offers You. While waiting for the happiness of a Sacramental Communion, I want to possess You in spirit. Come to me, O my Jesus, that I may come to You. May Your Love inflame my whole being, in life and in death. I believe in You, I hope in You, I love You. Amen.

The Masses in Francis’ chapel normally welcome a small group of faithful, but due to recent measures’ taken by the Vatican, are now being kept private, without their participation.

It was announced this month that the Pope would have these Masses, in this period, be available to all the world’s faithful, via streaming on Vatican Media, on weekdays, at 7 am Rome time.

The Vatican has also published the Pope’s Holy Week and Easter schedule, confirming this year’s events will not welcome the physical presence of the faithful, and the events will be made available via streaming.

This comes at a time too when the Italian bishops’ conference has canceled public Masses throughout the nation, until at least April 3rd, following guidelines put out by Italian authorities.

In addition to Santa Marta, the Vatican has taken other steps to keep people safe and to stay close to the Pope, even if from a distance. They are televising the Pope giving privately, from the papal library, his weekly Angelus and General Audience addresses.

The Vatican Museums are now closed, along with the Vatican’s other similar museums. There have also been various guidelines implemented throughout the Vatican, to prevent the spread of the virus.

For anyone interested, the Pope’s Masses at Santa Marta can be watched live and can be watched afterward on Vatican YouTube. Below is a link to today’s Mass. Also, a ZENIT English translation of the Pope’s full homily can be read below:

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FULL HOMILY

A serpent is certainly not a likable animal: it’s always associated with evil. In revelation also, the serpent is in fact the animal that the devil uses to induce to sin. In the Apocalypse the devil is called the “ancient serpent,” he that from the beginning bites, poisons, destroys and kills. Therefore, he can’t succeed. If he wants to succeed, as someone that proposes beautiful things, these are fantasies: but we believe him and so we sin. This is what happened to the people of Israel: they couldn’t endure the journey. They were tired. And the people spoke against God and against Moses. It’s always the same thing, isn’t it? “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt? To have us die in this wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food, the manna.” (Cf. Numbers 21:4-5) And, we read in past days, their imagination goes always to Egypt: “But, we were fine there, we ate well . . . “And it also seems that the Lord didn’t endure the people in this moment. He got angry. God’s wrath could sometimes be seen . . . And then the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, which bit the people and they died. ” Many people of Israel died” (Numbers 21:5). The serpent is always the image of evil. In that moment, the people saw in the serpent sin; they see in the serpent the one that has done evil. And they go to Moses and say: “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you; pray to the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us” (Numbers 21:7). They repent. This is the story in the wilderness. Moses prayed for the people and the Lord said to Moses” “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and every one who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live” (Numbers 21:8).

It makes me think: is this not idolatry? The serpent is there, an idol, which gives me health . . . It’s not understandable. Logically, it’s not understandable, because this is a prophecy; this is an announcement of what is to come. Because we also heard in the Gospel as a close prophecy: “When you have lifted up the Son of man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing on my own” (John 8:28). Jesus lifted on the cross. Moses makes a serpent and lifts it. Jesus will be lifted, as the serpent, to give salvation. However, the core of the prophecy is, in fact, that Jesus made Himself sin for us. He didn’t sin: He made Himself sin. As Saint Peter says in his Letter: “He Himself bore our sins” (Cf. 1 Peter 2:24). And when we look at the crucifix, we think of the Lord suffering: all that is true. However, we pause before coming to the center of that truth: in this moment You seem to be the greatest sinner; You made Yourself sin. You have taken all our sins upon Yourself. He annihilated Himself to this. The cross, it’s true, is a torture; there is the vengeance of the Doctors of the Law, of those that didn’t want Jesus: all this is true. However, the truth that comes from God is that He came into the world to take our sins upon Himself, to the point of making Himself sin, every sin. Our sins are there. We must get into the habit of looking at the crucifix in this light, which is the truest; it’s the light of the redemption. In Jesus made sin we see Christ’s total defeat. He doesn’t feign to die; He doesn’t feign he’s not suffering, alone, abandoned . . . “Father, why hast Thou forsaken me? (Cf. Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34).” A serpent: I am lifted as a serpent, as that which is all sin.

It’s not easy to understand this and, if we think, we’ll never come to a conclusion. We must only contemplate, pray and thank.

The Pope ended the celebration with Eucharistic Adoration and Benediction, inviting the faithful to make a Spiritual Communion.

Here Is the Prayer Recited by the Pope:

My Jesus, I believe you are really present in the Most Holy Sacrament of the altar. I love You above all things and I desire You in my soul. As I cannot receive You sacramentally now, come at least spiritually into my heart. As You have already come, I embrace you and unite myself to You. Do not let me ever be separated from You.

Before leaving the Chapel dedicated to the Holy Spirit, the Marian antiphon Ave Regina Caelorum (Hail Queen of Heaven”) was intoned.

“Hail, Queen of Heaven, Lady of the Angels: door and root of salvation, bring light into the world; delight, glorious Virgin, beautiful among all women. Hail, all holy

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Following is Zenit’s translation of the Holy Father’s March 29, 2020, homily during Mass at Casa Santa Marta in the Vatican.

******

Jesus had friends, He loved all, but He had friends with whom He had a special relationship, as happens with friends — more love, more confidence.  . . . And many, many times he stayed at the home of these brethren: Lazarus, Martha, Mary . . . And Jesus felt grief over the sickness and death of His friend. He reached the sepulcher and, profoundly moved and very troubled, He asked: “Where have you laid him?” And Jesus wept. Jesus, God, but man, wept. The Gospel tells us that Jesus wept one other time: when He wept over Jerusalem. And with how much tenderness Jesus weeps! He weeps from the heart, He weeps with love, He weeps with His own who weep. Jesus’ weeping; perhaps He wept at other times in His life — we don’t know –, no doubt in the Garden of Olives. But Jesus weeps out of love — always.

Profoundly moved and very troubled, He weeps. How many times we have heard in the Gospel this emotion of Jesus, with that phrase that is repeated: seeing, He felt compassion.” Jesus can’t see the people and not feel compassion. His eyes are with His heart; Jesus sees with the eyes, but He also sees with the heart and is capable of weeping.

Today, in face of a world that is suffering so much, of so many people suffering the consequences of this pandemic, I ask myself: are they capable of weeping, as Jesus would surely have done and as Jesus does now? Is my heart like Jesus’? And if it’s too hard, (even if) I am capable of speaking, of doing good, of helping, but <my> heart doesn’t enter in it, I’m not capable of weeping, ask the Lord for this grace: Lord, that I may weep with You, weep with Your people that is suffering at this moment. So many are weeping today. And we, from this altar, from the sacrifice of Jesus, of Jesus who was not ashamed to weep, let us ask for the grace to weep. May today be for all of us the Sunday of weeping.

Finally, the Pope ended the celebration with Eucharistic Adoration and Benediction, inviting <the faithful> to make a Spiritual Communion.

Here is the Prayer Recited by the Pope

 My Jesus, I believe that You are really present in the Most Holy Sacrament of the altar. I love You above all things and I desire You in my soul. As I cannot receive you sacramentally now, come at least spiritually into my heart As You have now come, I embrace you and unite myself wholly to You. Do not permit me to be ever separated from You.

 Before leaving the Chapel dedicated to the Holy Spirit, the Marian antiphon Ave Regina Caelorum (Hail Queen of Heaven”) was intoned.

© Libreria Editrice Vatican

Translation by Virginia M. Forrester

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Today, flags throughout the Vatican at half mast, in mourning …

This gesture was announced early today, March 31, in a statement of the Director of the Holy See Press Office, Matteo Bruni.

“Today, in solidarity with Italy,” the note began, “the Holy See will display the flags at half mast, in mourning.”

The gesture, it concluded, explaining is “to express its closeness to the victims of the pandemic in Italy and in the world, to their families and to all those that fight generously to put an end to it.”

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The Cardinal Vicar Angelo De Donatis has tested positive for coronavirus.

In a March 30 statement from the Vicariate of Rome, this news of the first confirmed cardinal with the virus was published.

“After manifesting some symptoms today, Monday, March 30, 2020,” the note began, “Cardinal Angelo De Donatis, Vicar General of the Diocese of Rome, was subjected to the swab for COVID-19, which turned out to be positive.”

While adding the cardinal has been hospitalized at Rome’s Policlinico Gemelli Hospital, and has a fever, it stated “his general condition is good, and he has begun an antiviral therapy.”

His closest collaborators, it noted, are in self-isolation as a preventive measure.”

“I am also living this test,” Cardinal De Donatis said, expressing: “I am serene and confident!”

Saying “I entrust myself to the Lord and to the support of the prayer of all of you, dearest faithful of the Church of Rome!,” he noted: “I am living this moment,” he said, “as an occasion that Providence gives me to share the sufferings of so many brothers and sisters.”

The Cardinal concluded, noting: “I offer my prayer for them, for the whole diocesan community and for the inhabitants of the city of Rome!”

The post ‘An Opportunity to Share in Suffering’ — Cardinal Vicar of Rome, Angelo De Donatis, Tests Positive for Coronavirus appeared first on ZENIT - English.

The Cardinal Vicar Angelo De Donatis has tested positive for coronavirus.

In a March 30 statement from the Vicariate of Rome, where this news of the first confirmed cardinal with the virus was published, the Cardinal expressed: “I am also living this test; I am serene and confident!”

“After manifesting some symptoms today, Monday, March 30, 2020,” the noted began, “Cardinal Angelo De Donatis, Vicar General of the Diocese of Rome, was subjected to the swab for COVID-19, which turned out to be positive.”

While adding the cardinal has been hospitalized at Rome’s Policlinico Gemelli Hospital, and has a fever, it stated “his general condition is good, and he has begun an antiviral therapy.”

His closest collaborators, it noted, are in self-isolation as a preventive measure.”

After expressing how he feels, Cardinal De Donatis underscored: “I entrust myself to the Lord and to the support of the prayer of all of you, dearest faithful of the Church of Rome!”

“I am living this moment,” he said, “as an occasion that Providence gives me to share the sufferings of so many brothers and sisters. I offer my prayer for them, for the whole diocesan community and for the inhabitants of the city of Rome!”

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Faced with the spread of coronavirus and its psychosocial impact on the population, Fr. Jean Messingue, a specialist in clinical psychology and director of ITCJ, the theology institute of the Society of Jesus in Abidjan, in collaboration with Professor Médard Koua, director of the Bouaké psychiatric hospital, has opened a listening and telephone assistance center.

As reported to Fides News Agency, the Center “aims to strengthen the psychological support systems for people who feel the need to find adequate answers to their emotional suffering and the threats that the coronavirus poses to them”, says Fr. Messingue.

Three phone lines are open 24 hours a day, after which two teams of volunteers try to provide the necessary assistance. One is made up of professionals from the Bouaké psychiatric hospital and the other by 25 students from Copac, the Center for professional advice and clinical pastoral care created by ITCJ.

“These students have already followed the certification course”, assures Father Jean Messingue. “A preparatory phase has been carried out on psychosocial crisis intervention and each student carries out an oral test. Professor Koua and I coordinate and supervise telephone interventions”.

The services are free and it is Copac and the Bouaké psychiatric hospital that assume the financial expenses necessary to start and implement the project. Given that telephone lines are not toll-free numbers, “unfortunately those who call must have sufficient credit to hold on average a 30-minute interview”, said Fr. Messingue. Since its opening on March 23, the telephone psychological support center has received dozens of calls from people seeking psychological assistance.

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The health emergency following Covid-19 has now reached all continents. The Pontifical Mission Societies (PMS) of Spain have collected the testimony of some missionaries who have doubled their commitment, worried about the consequences that the pandemic will have on many poor people who live on the streets or who eat only thanks to small daily jobs, reported Fides News Agency.

“With this situation due to the coronavirus, poverty has worsened, there is nothing to eat”, explains missionary Domingo García Hospital, an OCSHA priest, from Peru. In Piura, where he lives, the vast majority of the population survives with daily informal work. In the parish, women run five “common pots”, in which they cook what they manage to collect, for all families. In Lurín, the Little Sisters of the Poor take care of 35 poor elders in a reception house. María Henar González stresses that the elderly are the population most at risk, and at the moment they are also isolated, following the indications of the government. “We live on alms – she explains -, the sisters usually go out to seek help. Now that we cannot go, let us fully trust in the Providence of God”.

In Brazil, in the diocese of Bacabal, the diocesan priest of Getafe, Father Alberto Íñigo Ruano, through social networks joins in prayer with the people of his parish for the adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, the Rosary, the Mass. “Every week I go out with the Eucharistic Container in the streets of the city and communities – he says -. Families who want to receive the blessing come out to the front door with a burning candle in their hand”.

In Chile another Spanish priest, Father Álvaro Chordi, ADSIS missionary in Santiago de Chile, promoted a campaign in the parish of San Saturnino to help immigrants and homeless people in these moments of quarantine. “Before the start of the quarantine, we distribute food for several days. In addition, the parish is open 4 hours a day so that the poor can use the toilets”.

In Africa, in northern Chad, the Samburu tribe knows little about the virus. The Colombian-born missionary of Yarumal, Luis Carlos Fernández, is visiting all the communities to warn them and explain the importance of washing their hands. “Schools have closed and now the markets are closing. Hunger, which is what kills most people in the world, will be more deadly than the coronavirus”, he explains.

In Cameroon, Xaverian missionary Navarro Ángel de la Victoria writes in his blog that although schools have closed, people continue their normal life, many because they ignore or do not believe in the seriousness of the virus, many others because they live on small daily jobs.

From Mozambique, the Somascan missionary Carlos Moratilla applied preventive measures in the house he runs where he welcomes street children and has joined the prayer of the whole Church: “We made a procession and a rosary with the statue of the Virgin of Fatima and we prayed for all those involved and affected by the disease.”

The PMS of Spain invite everyone to live this time in a missionary way by offering on their website food for thought, reflection, and entertainment for children and adults.

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