Pope Francis is to meet this month with Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill, in the first such meeting between a Roman Catholic pontiff and a leader of the Russian Orthodox church and in an unprecedented push for wider Christian unity.
The pope will make the visit Feb. 12 during a previously unannounced layover in Cuba just before continuing with his scheduled February visit to Mexico, Vatican spokesman Jesuit Fr. Federico Lombardi announced Friday.
The Vatican and the Moscow patriarchate said in a release that the meeting "will be the first in history and will mark an important stage in relations between the two churches."
Beyond an encounter between two Christian leaders, the February meeting also signals a significant and historic move toward wider Christian unity between the long-separated Eastern and Western churches.
It will come only months before the expected opening in June of the first Synod meeting of the various Orthodox churches in more than a thousand years, which has been threatened by differences of opinion between the Russian and other Orthodox leaders.
Vatican spokesman Jesuit Fr. Federico Lombardi told reporters at the Vatican Friday that Francis and Kirill are expected to meet for about two hours Feb. 12, and that both leaders would make short public remarks during the encounter. They also plan to sign some sort of joint declaration, said Lombardi.
The spokesman said the meeting has "extraordinary importance," and that Vatican officials had been working to organize the event for about two years.
Both former popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI had tried to organize meetings with the Russian patriarchs of their eras, especially after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1989, but had failed for a variety of reasons.
Francis told reporters in November 2014 while returning from a visit to Turkey that he had reached out to Kirill for a meeting, telling the Russian: "I'll go wherever you want. You call me and I'll go."
Friday’s release from the Vatican and the patriarchate said both hope the February meeting will “be a sign of hope for all people of good will.”
Cuba seems a unique choice as the meeting place for the two Christian leaders, as the Communist nation is officially atheist. Lombardi said the island country had been chosen because Kirill had already been planning to undertake a visit there in February.
But the choice of Cuba also fulfills a role Francis had asked the country to perform during his visit there last September, telling its political leaders then that the nation has a “key” value of linking together both north and south, east and west.
Unlike the Roman Catholic church -- which is organized as one entity led by the pope -- the global Orthodox churches are organized into a communion led by various patriarchs or archbishops around the world. The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, currently led by Bartholomew, acts as the “first among equals” of the churches.
The Russian Orthodox church is the largest of the churches, with some estimates putting its membership as high as 150 million. It has at times had a difficult relationship with the ecumenical patriarchate, with disputes arising over theological issues and leadership of other former Soviet bloc Orthodox churches.
The different Orthodox churches are to meet in June in Crete, in the first such meeting since the Fourth Council of Constantinople in the ninth century. The schism between the Eastern and Western churches first occurred in the year 1054.
The June meeting had first been planned to have been held in Istanbul, but Russian Orthodox leaders said the Turkish city had become “inconvenient” following the controversy over Turkey’s shooting down of a Russian fighter plane.
Lombardi said Friday that the Feb. 12 meeting between Francis and Kirill would not cause any significant changes to the pope’s Feb. 12-18 visit to Mexico, during which the pontiff will visit six of the country’s cities.
Jesuit Fr. David Nazar, rector of Rome’s Pontifical Oriental Institute and a Ukrainian Catholic from Canada, told Catholic News Service that news of the Francis-Kirill meeting is “big news in the Year of Mercy.”
“To make a step in this direction is beautiful, but also irreversible,” said Nazar.
Especially for Catholics in Russia and Ukraine, said the priest, relations with the Russian Orthodox are complicated, including because of the close relationship between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Russian government, which annexed the Crimea and is supporting fighting in Eastern Ukraine.
Nazar described his reaction to the news as “cautiously optimistic” and said he hoped it would mark “a new beginning” in Catholic-Russian Orthodox relations.
Friday, February 5, 2016
In a first, Francis to meet Russian Orthodox patriarch during Mexico trip
Joshua J. McElwee
National Catholic Reporter
February 5, 2016
Pope Francis is to meet this month with Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill, in the first such meeting between a Roman Catholic pontiff and a leader of the Russian Orthodox church and in an unprecedented push for wider Christian unity.
The pope will make the visit Feb. 12 during a previously unannounced layover in Cuba just before continuing with his scheduled February visit to Mexico, Vatican spokesman Jesuit Fr. Federico Lombardi announced Friday.
The Vatican and the Moscow patriarchate said in a release that the meeting "will be the first in history and will mark an important stage in relations between the two churches."
Beyond an encounter between two Christian leaders, the February meeting also signals a significant and historic move toward wider Christian unity between the long-separated Eastern and Western churches.
It will come only months before the expected opening in June of the first Synod meeting of the various Orthodox churches in more than a thousand years, which has been threatened by differences of opinion between the Russian and other Orthodox leaders.
Vatican spokesman Jesuit Fr. Federico Lombardi told reporters at the Vatican Friday that Francis and Kirill are expected to meet for about two hours Feb. 12, and that both leaders would make short public remarks during the encounter. They also plan to sign some sort of joint declaration, said Lombardi.
The spokesman said the meeting has "extraordinary importance," and that Vatican officials had been working to organize the event for about two years.
Both former popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI had tried to organize meetings with the Russian patriarchs of their eras, especially after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1989, but had failed for a variety of reasons.
Francis told reporters in November 2014 while returning from a visit to Turkey that he had reached out to Kirill for a meeting, telling the Russian: "I'll go wherever you want. You call me and I'll go."
Friday’s release from the Vatican and the patriarchate said both hope the February meeting will “be a sign of hope for all people of good will.”
Cuba seems a unique choice as the meeting place for the two Christian leaders, as the Communist nation is officially atheist. Lombardi said the island country had been chosen because Kirill had already been planning to undertake a visit there in February.
But the choice of Cuba also fulfills a role Francis had asked the country to perform during his visit there last September, telling its political leaders then that the nation has a “key” value of linking together both north and south, east and west.
Unlike the Roman Catholic church -- which is organized as one entity led by the pope -- the global Orthodox churches are organized into a communion led by various patriarchs or archbishops around the world. The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, currently led by Bartholomew, acts as the “first among equals” of the churches.
The Russian Orthodox church is the largest of the churches, with some estimates putting its membership as high as 150 million. It has at times had a difficult relationship with the ecumenical patriarchate, with disputes arising over theological issues and leadership of other former Soviet bloc Orthodox churches.
The different Orthodox churches are to meet in June in Crete, in the first such meeting since the Fourth Council of Constantinople in the ninth century. The schism between the Eastern and Western churches first occurred in the year 1054.
The June meeting had first been planned to have been held in Istanbul, but Russian Orthodox leaders said the Turkish city had become “inconvenient” following the controversy over Turkey’s shooting down of a Russian fighter plane.
Lombardi said Friday that the Feb. 12 meeting between Francis and Kirill would not cause any significant changes to the pope’s Feb. 12-18 visit to Mexico, during which the pontiff will visit six of the country’s cities.
Jesuit Fr. David Nazar, rector of Rome’s Pontifical Oriental Institute and a Ukrainian Catholic from Canada, told Catholic News Service that news of the Francis-Kirill meeting is “big news in the Year of Mercy.”
“To make a step in this direction is beautiful, but also irreversible,” said Nazar.
Especially for Catholics in Russia and Ukraine, said the priest, relations with the Russian Orthodox are complicated, including because of the close relationship between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Russian government, which annexed the Crimea and is supporting fighting in Eastern Ukraine.
Nazar described his reaction to the news as “cautiously optimistic” and said he hoped it would mark “a new beginning” in Catholic-Russian Orthodox relations.
Pope Francis is to meet this month with Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill, in the first such meeting between a Roman Catholic pontiff and a leader of the Russian Orthodox church and in an unprecedented push for wider Christian unity.
The pope will make the visit Feb. 12 during a previously unannounced layover in Cuba just before continuing with his scheduled February visit to Mexico, Vatican spokesman Jesuit Fr. Federico Lombardi announced Friday.
The Vatican and the Moscow patriarchate said in a release that the meeting "will be the first in history and will mark an important stage in relations between the two churches."
Beyond an encounter between two Christian leaders, the February meeting also signals a significant and historic move toward wider Christian unity between the long-separated Eastern and Western churches.
It will come only months before the expected opening in June of the first Synod meeting of the various Orthodox churches in more than a thousand years, which has been threatened by differences of opinion between the Russian and other Orthodox leaders.
Vatican spokesman Jesuit Fr. Federico Lombardi told reporters at the Vatican Friday that Francis and Kirill are expected to meet for about two hours Feb. 12, and that both leaders would make short public remarks during the encounter. They also plan to sign some sort of joint declaration, said Lombardi.
The spokesman said the meeting has "extraordinary importance," and that Vatican officials had been working to organize the event for about two years.
Both former popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI had tried to organize meetings with the Russian patriarchs of their eras, especially after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1989, but had failed for a variety of reasons.
Francis told reporters in November 2014 while returning from a visit to Turkey that he had reached out to Kirill for a meeting, telling the Russian: "I'll go wherever you want. You call me and I'll go."
Friday’s release from the Vatican and the patriarchate said both hope the February meeting will “be a sign of hope for all people of good will.”
Cuba seems a unique choice as the meeting place for the two Christian leaders, as the Communist nation is officially atheist. Lombardi said the island country had been chosen because Kirill had already been planning to undertake a visit there in February.
But the choice of Cuba also fulfills a role Francis had asked the country to perform during his visit there last September, telling its political leaders then that the nation has a “key” value of linking together both north and south, east and west.
Unlike the Roman Catholic church -- which is organized as one entity led by the pope -- the global Orthodox churches are organized into a communion led by various patriarchs or archbishops around the world. The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, currently led by Bartholomew, acts as the “first among equals” of the churches.
The Russian Orthodox church is the largest of the churches, with some estimates putting its membership as high as 150 million. It has at times had a difficult relationship with the ecumenical patriarchate, with disputes arising over theological issues and leadership of other former Soviet bloc Orthodox churches.
The different Orthodox churches are to meet in June in Crete, in the first such meeting since the Fourth Council of Constantinople in the ninth century. The schism between the Eastern and Western churches first occurred in the year 1054.
The June meeting had first been planned to have been held in Istanbul, but Russian Orthodox leaders said the Turkish city had become “inconvenient” following the controversy over Turkey’s shooting down of a Russian fighter plane.
Lombardi said Friday that the Feb. 12 meeting between Francis and Kirill would not cause any significant changes to the pope’s Feb. 12-18 visit to Mexico, during which the pontiff will visit six of the country’s cities.
Jesuit Fr. David Nazar, rector of Rome’s Pontifical Oriental Institute and a Ukrainian Catholic from Canada, told Catholic News Service that news of the Francis-Kirill meeting is “big news in the Year of Mercy.”
“To make a step in this direction is beautiful, but also irreversible,” said Nazar.
Especially for Catholics in Russia and Ukraine, said the priest, relations with the Russian Orthodox are complicated, including because of the close relationship between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Russian government, which annexed the Crimea and is supporting fighting in Eastern Ukraine.
Nazar described his reaction to the news as “cautiously optimistic” and said he hoped it would mark “a new beginning” in Catholic-Russian Orthodox relations.
Sunday, January 31, 2016
Prominent Catholics want Seattle Archdiocese to open all sex-abuse files
Lewis Kamb
The Seattle Times
January 30, 2016
Two prominent legal professionals and practicing Catholics want straight answers from the Seattle Archdiocese to questions about its recently published list of clergy members identified as admitted or credibly accused child-sex abusers.
Terry Carroll, a retired King County Superior Court judge, and Mike McKay, former U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Washington, said they’re frustrated with what appears to be more of a public-relations move than a sincere effort at transparency and accountability.
In 2004, the two men headed an appointed review panel charged with examining clergy sex-abuse cases that recommended the archdiocese publicize names of credibly accused clergy. This month, the archdiocese essentially did that — disclosing names of 77 priests and others “for whom allegations of sexual abuse of a minor have been admitted, established or determined to be credible.”
The list is posted on the archdiocese’s website. For each offender, it offers a name, a current status with the church, and details about dates and assignments within the archdiocese spanning from the 1920s to 2007.
But the accounting provides no details about when and where the alleged sex abuse occurred — information Carroll and McKay contend parishioners and the public deserve to know.
“Congratulate them on publishing these names, but that’s hardly the full story,” Carroll said. “Not so fast. Fill in the gaps and let us talk about it. I think that would be healthiest thing moving ahead.”
The two men urged the archdiocese to provide a thorough public airing about the church’s work in addressing child-sex-abuse issues leading up to the list, as well as answering several key questions:
• Why did it take so long for the archdiocese to publish the list?
• Why aren’t the names of certain credibly accused priests from other religious orders included in it?
• How many children were victimized by each offender?
• How much money has the archdiocese spent in attorneys’ fees fighting sex-abuse claims, and how did it pay for them?
Carroll and McKay also want the archdiocese to release each listed clergy member’s secret file in full, other than redacting names of victims.
“Put it all out there,” Carroll said. “Open these files and let us finally know exactly what happened so that we can put it behind us, instead of this type of an approach they’re doing with talking points and all of the spin that goes along with it.”
Since it published the list on the Friday afternoon before the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend, the archdiocese has said it will continue reviewing cases to determine if additional information or names should be included.
But it hasn’t responded to a number of follow-up questions, and rejected a request to provide additional information about those on the list and the allegations against them. Archbishop Peter Sartain has declined interview requests.
Archdiocese spokesman Greg Magnoni, in responding to Carroll’s and McKay’s question about attorneys’ fees, said it’s “nearly impossible” to determine what has been spent because the fees were part of settlement costs covered by insurance.
Transparency and healing
The archdiocese has said publication of the list was motivated by Sartain’s commitment to transparency and healing for victims, not by outside pressure or legal concerns.
The endeavor came after months of work by a consultant hired to evaluate case files and an appointed board that reviewed her recommendations, Magnoni has said.
But Carroll and McKay believe fallout from parishioners’ criticism over the archdiocese’s mishandling of an accused priest in 2014 prompted Sartain to act. The priest, the Rev. Harold Quigg, was among 13 clergy that Carroll, McKay and eight others on the 2004 review board investigated for child-sex-abuse claims.
The board supported accusations against nine priests and did not substantiate claims about three others. It also found allegations against Quigg to be credible, but determined they didn’t amount to child-sex abuse because the minor involved was 17 — a year older than the age of consent under church law.
Still, the panel wrote to then-Archbishop Alex Brunett, “This priest’s actions were so egregious so as to make him unsuitable for the priesthood.”
Among recommendations in a June 2004 report, the board advised Brunett to seek to defrock or bar from public ministry Quigg and the nine others, and to publicize their names.
Brunett resisted publishing the board’s report and wanted it rewritten, Carroll and McKay said. Brunett at the time said the board had exceeded its charge and that most of the recommendations were already in place.
Only after board members threatened to resign did Brunett publish the report, including the names of the nine priests. But Quigg’s name wasn’t released.
Brunett told the board Quigg “would live this life of private contemplation and penitence, but there would be no public ministry,” McKay said.
A few months later, when McKay attended a Catholic funeral of a friend in Bellevue, Quigg was officiating at the Mass.
“There he is up on the altar, and I’m very sure I’m the only one in the congregation that knew he shouldn’t be there,” McKay recalled.
In a December 2004 letter to Burnett, six review-board members called him out about Quigg and took issue with him for not adequately responding to their recommendations for more accountability for perpetrators and improved safeguards to reduce further abuse.
But 10 years later, North End parishioners at St. Bridget Church who learned Quigg was supposed to be barred from public ministry complained he still occasionally performed baptisms, funerals and weddings.
In May 2014, the archdiocese issued a statement about Quigg, detailing that starting in 1980, he and a teenager had “engaged in a 15-year-relationship.”
“The information was not made public because of the determination that the sexual contact did not involve a minor,” said the statement, which noted Brunett had ordered Quigg barred from public ministry.
The statement also said the archdiocese “learned recently” that Quigg had disobeyed the orders and that parish leaders weren’t alerted to the restrictions on him.
Carroll and McKay fired off a letter to Sartain, who replaced Brunett in 2010. It criticized the archdiocese’s statement about Quigg for errors and for downplaying the serious nature of his abuse.
“We had to call them on that for a couple reasons,” McKay said. “One, it was false. But secondly, it reflects a lack of vigilance on the Chancery’s part. We put them on notice about Quigg, and 10 years later, they said they didn’t know he was in active ministry.”
A short time later, Carroll and McKay sent another letter to Sartain, asking for an update on the nine other credibly accused priests from their 2004 review.
In July 2014, Sartain responded with an update saying all nine had been removed or restricted from ministry. His letter added he hadn’t had to discipline a priest for child-sex abuse since taking over as archbishop, nor was he “aware of any priests who have been disciplined for sexual abuse by Archbishop Brunett after 2002 that were not made public.”
Sartain concluded: “There is no place in the church for those who abuse minors, and I intend to do everything in my power to be sure that the vulnerable are protected and safe in our parishes and schools.”
Within three months of his letter, the archdiocese’s legal counsel had hired Kathleen McChesney, a consultant who specializes in investigating child-sexual abuse in religious institutions. She was tasked with compiling the list of credibly accused clergy.
The investigation
McChesney reviewed dozens of files to compile the list of 77 names by April 2015, she said.
“This was not an investigation by any means,” said McChesney, a former King County police officer and FBI administrator. “People were not contacted and interviewed.”
Instead, McChesney mostly focused on information already in the files.
“For the names we put forth, we felt we had enough information to make those determinations,” she said.
Because she was hired by the archdiocese’s legal counsel, McChesney said her work is covered by attorney-client privilege. She noted that means she can’t be forced to testify in court if someone sues the archdiocese later about claims related to the list.
“Some people might think (the archdiocese) did this for protection, but that’s not the case,” McChesney said. “There’s integrity in this and the people who worked with me. We didn’t have to do this. Our goal is to encourage others to come forward.”
Lucy Berliner, a member of both the 2004 review board and the current one that evaluated McChesney’s recommendations, added that the panel thoughtfully considered each case.
“The reason it took so long was because of this sort of caring, deliberative process we took,” said Berliner, who directs the Harborview Center for Sexual Assault and Traumatic Stress. “And in my view, it was very transparent.”
Many clergy on the list previously had been named in news reports and by victims’ advocates. That includes Quigg, who died in last November. A number of other accused clergy — and lay employees — are missing from the list, some say.
McKay and Carroll said they believe McChesney and the board’s work is competent.
“We’re not disputing that,” Carroll said. “But there are other questions, and for the sake of transparency, much more needs to be known.”
Tuesday, January 26, 2016
Pope plans to visit Sweden to commemorate Reformation anniversary
Carol Glatz
Catholic News Service
January 26, 2016
Pope Francis will visit Sweden in October to participate in an ecumenical service and the beginning of a year of activities to mark the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation.
Leaders from the Catholic church and the Lutheran World Federation had already been set to meet Oct. 31, 2016, for the ecumenical celebration in Lund, Sweden, where the LWF was founded in 1947.
Francis "intends to participate" in the joint ceremony to commemorate next year's anniversary, the Vatican press office said in a written communique. The announcement came Jan. 25, the feast of the conversion of St. Paul -- "an important day with regard to ecumenism," said Jesuit Fr. Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman. It is the last day of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.
Francis will lead the ecumenical commemoration in Lund alongside Bishop Munib Younan, president of the Lutheran World Federation, and the Rev. Martin Junge, federation general secretary, said a joint press release by the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and the LWF.
"The event will include a common worship based on the recently published Catholic-Lutheran 'Common Prayer' liturgical guide," and will highlight ecumenical developments between Catholics and Lutherans over the past 50 years, the press release said.
Cardinal Kurt Koch, council president, said in the press release, "By concentrating together on the centrality of the question of God and on a Christocentric approach, Lutherans and Catholics will have the possibility of an ecumenical commemoration of the Reformation, not simply in a pragmatic way, but in the deep sense of faith in the crucified and resurrected Christ."
Junge said in the joint statement that the federation "is approaching the Reformation anniversary in a spirit of ecumenical accountability."
"By working toward reconciliation between Lutherans and Catholics, we are working toward justice, peace and reconciliation in a world torn apart by conflict and violence," he added.
But some critics have questioned whether Francis could undermine distinctive Catholic teachings in the process.
Francis will not be the first pontiff to visit Sweden: Pope John Paul II visited the country in 1989 as part of a tour of Protestant countries in Scandinavia that included Norway, Iceland, Finland and Denmark.
The church of Sweden had been the official state church until 2000; most Swedes are members, but very few attend services. Last year, the country was ranked in a Gallup poll as “the least religious in the Western World,” with 78 percent describing themselves as not religious or as convinced atheists.
The common prayer document, released Jan. 11, is the first jointly developed liturgical material prepared by a task force made up of representatives of the official Lutheran-Catholic Commission on Unity.
Catholic bishops' conferences and Lutheran churches around the world are invited to use the Common Prayer as part of local commemorations of the Reformation anniversary in 2017. The prayer includes materials to be adapted to the local liturgical and musical traditions of the Catholic Church and Lutheran communities.
Martin Luther posted his "95 Theses" on a church door Oct. 31, 1517, which is usually marked as the beginning of the Reformation. While the Reformation fractured Western Christianity, Catholics and Lutherans have been committed to dialogue the past 50 years in an effort to restore full unity.
The Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and the Geneva-based Lutheran World Federation released a joint document in June 2013 titled, "From Conflict to Communion," which outlined ideas for joint commemorations in 2017.
The document looks at the central points of Luther's call for the reform of the church, the points addressed later by the Council of Trent and, especially, the Second Vatican Council and issues that still divide Catholics and Lutherans.
"Luther had no intention of establishing a new church but was part of a broad and many-faceted desire for reform," the document said. "In 2017, when Lutheran Christians celebrate the anniversary of the beginning of the Reformation, they are not thereby celebrating the division of the Western church. No one who is theologically responsible can celebrate the division of Christians from one another."
In a meeting in October 2013 with representatives of the Lutheran World Federation and members of the Catholic-Lutheran international theological dialogue, Francis said commemorations of the beginning of the Reformation must take place in a spirit of dialogue and humility.
"Catholics and Lutherans can ask forgiveness for the harm they have caused one another and for their offenses committed in the sight of God," he said.
"I believe that it is truly important for everyone to confront in dialogue the historical reality of the Reformation, its consequences and the responses it elicited," the pope told the group.
While theological dialogue is important, he said, the key to unity lies in prayer and trying to follow more closely the teachings of Jesus.
In other news regarding papal travel, the president of Colombia's Catholic bishops' conference told reporters Jan. 23 that Francis would visit their country early in 2017.
Friday, January 22, 2016
Sr. Julia Thundathil serves people with leprosy who are discard by their families and ostracized
Sami Thomas
Global Sisters Report
January 22, 2016
"This is my new life and I am indebted to my Ma [mother]," says Gundeli Bai, who has lost fingers on both hands due to leprosy. "I would have died, and my body could have been eaten by dogs long ago," says Bai, who has been living for more than two decades in an enclave for leprosy patients started by her "Ma," Sr. Julia Thundathil.
Leprosy, or Hansen's disease, is a skin disease considered to be a curse in India. Those infected with it are ostracized from family and society.
Thundathil, an Augustinian nun, set up the enclave for leprosy patients at Sendhwa, a village in Barwani district in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.
Bai is among six leprosy patients who had a chance meeting with the Catholic nun in 1994. The septuagenarian woman says her parents had died early, and after she was detected with leprosy, her only sister left her on the road. At the enclave, she earned the nickname "Sundari Bai" (beautiful woman) because of her cheerful disposition.
Thundathil met Bai and others during a visit to Sendhwa. "I found them on the roadside with worms coming out of their wounds," Thundathil told Global Sisters Report. The encounter motivated her to dedicate her life to restoring dignity to lepers.
"All of them" she said, "were in their 60s and they were begging for food, as they had not eaten for days." Their wounds were attracting flies, and people often chased them away, she added.
"I approached them and inquired how they reached there, and their stories were really heartbreaking," Thundathil recalls.
"I immediately returned to the convent, collected cotton and medicines to dress their wounds and a bucket to give them baths." She bathed all of them, including Bai, the lone woman among them, and dressed their wounds and fed them there.
"As I had no place to accommodate them, I had to leave them there and return to the convent with a heavy heart," she says.
Sundari Bai is among 258 lepers from 85 families living in Harsha Nagar (joyful city), the leprosy patients' enclave.
Sub Divisional Magistrate Mahesh Badole, a top official of the district, says, "Whatever you see here is the outcome of the perseverance and hard work of Sister Julia."
The official is the president of the Harsha Nagar Trust, which Thundathil formed in 1995 for managing the enclave. The trust's constitution stipulates that its president should be the magistrate. Thundathil said she insisted on that provision because she hoped to get government help and public participation. Otherwise, the enclave would have become "purely a church-run institution," she explains.
The government allotted 7 acres of land to set up the enclave, which gets nothing else substantial for its maintenance.
Badole says Thundathil provided "proper accommodation for every family in the [enclave] with the resources she had mobilized from donors and other funding partners."
What impresses him is that the nun cleans the lepers' wounds and dresses them "one after another, every day, without any hesitation, as if caring for a small kid."
He says the residents in the enclave have survived so long "precisely on account of her dedication and hard work."
The officer, however, is skeptical that it could continue without her. "There is nobody to look after them in her absence, even when she goes out for a day or two," he explains. "There is nobody to take up her task."
Contrary to Badole's view, the nun is confident the service will continue. "It's not my project. It's God mission, and it will continue even after me," she says.
Other sisters in her congregation will take up the task after her because the mission is unique, Thundathil says.
Everyone in the enclave has stories of rejection by loved ones.
One resident, Sumaria Ganga Ram, says his family not only ostracized him, but performed last rites over him, considering him as good as dead. According to Hindu tradition, the last rites liberate the soul of the deceased from this earth.
Ganga Ram, 60, told GSR: "I lived happily with my wife and three children, but when I was detected with leprosy, they chased me away from my home."
He owned 5 acres of land in a remote village. The illiterate farmer recalls that his family members stopped serving him food and water, eventually forcing him to leave the home.
"I lived on begging for five years until I met Ma," he says. Even begging was not easy for him. "I had to hide my wounds, otherwise no one would come near me to offer alms." Even hospitals chased him when he went to them for treatment.
"I am happy here and never want to go back to my family, which abandoned me when I need them the most."
Thundathil says many people dump their leprosy-infected relatives outside the enclave at night.
One such person is Shanti Bai, a mother of five children. The 65-year-old woman (not related to Sundari Bai) said her family members dropped her off outside the enclave 21 years ago. However, she found Shiva Lova, a man who had a similar background, and married him and settled on the campus. The couple has a 19-year-old son, Chandar Singh, who is doing his course in ophthalmology in Andhra Pradesh, a state in southeastern India.
Thundathil says the trust encourages the residents to marry and lead a normal family life. The nun helps their children grow up like other children, providing education and skill development courses so they can eke out a living as adults.
"Every child born to them," she says, "is separated from the parents at the age of 5 and put into schools."
Since they cannot be admitted to nearby regular schools because of the social stigma, she sends the children to faraway places. Currently, 87 sons of leprosy victims are studying in a school managed by the Jacobite Syrian Christian Church in Itarsi, 215 miles northeast of Sendhwa. At least 33 girls are studying in Pune, the cultural capital of the western Indian state of Maharashtra, 264 miles south of Sendhwa.
The children are aged 6 to 18, and some, such as Dilip Arya, progress to work part time as teachers while attending the 12th grade.
"I have not told anyone in the school that I am the son of a leprosy couple," the 21-year-old youth told GSR. Asked why, he said, "The school management will not allow me to teach, and students also will not sit in my class."
He said he was studying in another school earlier and shared with some friends that he was the son of lepers. They stoned him and he had to be shifted to another school.
Thundathil bemoans that Indian society still cannot accept leprosy patients or their children, "despite the fact that it is a curable disease," she says. "People still look at them with contempt. It should change."
She blames ignorance and prejudice for such views, adding that her own attitude toward lepers changed only after she joined the convent.
The native of the southern state of Kerala joined the Order of St. Augustine after 10th grade in 1985 and made her first profession four years later. She took her final vows in July 1995.
Since she wanted to dedicate her life to social work, her first appointment was with the St. Augustine Social Service Society in Sendhwa. "At that time my concept of social service was restricted to visiting the poor, sick and aged," she says.
Later, in 1991 to 1994, she completed a bachelor's course in social work from Bombay University in Maharashtra (now Mumbai University). She also earned a master of social work degree in 2004 from Devi Ahilya University in Indore, the commercial capital of Madhya Pradesh.
"This helped me understand that social work is not merely visiting people but transforming the lives of the poor, sick and needy." She then rejoined the congregation's social work department and started working among the poor.
Sr. Julia Thundathil with Shiv Lova, a leprosy patient in Harsha Nagar. (GSR photo / Saji Thomas)
She met the six lepers during one of those visits. "Until then I was not much aware of the plight of lepers," she recalls.
She had her share of hardships on her way to this stage. Initially, the congregation – used to more traditional ways – was not enthusiastic about her mission. But they learned to value her work and appreciate her.
In 2000, she was struck with breast cancer at the peak of her activities. The disease was detected at the critical third stage and she underwent immediate surgery. "I still have pain in the body as fallout from the operation," she says.
The disease prompted her to expand her work, and she began working with differently abled persons.
A survey she conducted in the district a few years ago revealed that about 20,000 people among a population of 1.4 million were disabled.
The nun has formed a network of self-help groups whose members visit the homes of disabled people and counsel their families to accept them as a blessing rather than a curse. She appointed one caretaker for each family who would help build their self-esteem. These self-managed groups are composed of poor community people helping themselves out of adverse circumstances through financial planning under the guidance of experienced volunteers.
More than 150 self-help groups have been set up to assist 1,800 people with disabilities. "Work is in progress to link the entire 20,000 disabled under one umbrella," says Sr. Navya Thomas, an Augustinian nun who assists Thundathil in her ministry.
"We have also formed a Disabled Persons Organization to bring together every differently abled person and educate them about their rights and responsibility. They will get special training for livelihood projects so that they don't have to rely on the mercy of others," says Thomas.
About 1,800 disabled persons have been trained so far in tailoring, weaving, and spice and clothing production. Each person earns an average of 300 rupees (about U.S. $4.50) every day. "This gives them confidence and hope to lead a dignified life," Thomas says.
Thomas reports that Thundathil recently led the congregation to launch community health intervention and HIV/AIDS screening, awareness and control programs.
"We also work among the tuberculosis patients in this backward tribal-dominated district," Thomas adds.
Leprosy, or Hansen's disease, is a skin disease considered to be a curse in India. Those infected with it are ostracized from family and society.
Thundathil, an Augustinian nun, set up the enclave for leprosy patients at Sendhwa, a village in Barwani district in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.
Bai is among six leprosy patients who had a chance meeting with the Catholic nun in 1994. The septuagenarian woman says her parents had died early, and after she was detected with leprosy, her only sister left her on the road. At the enclave, she earned the nickname "Sundari Bai" (beautiful woman) because of her cheerful disposition.
Thundathil met Bai and others during a visit to Sendhwa. "I found them on the roadside with worms coming out of their wounds," Thundathil told Global Sisters Report. The encounter motivated her to dedicate her life to restoring dignity to lepers.
"All of them" she said, "were in their 60s and they were begging for food, as they had not eaten for days." Their wounds were attracting flies, and people often chased them away, she added.
"I approached them and inquired how they reached there, and their stories were really heartbreaking," Thundathil recalls.
"I immediately returned to the convent, collected cotton and medicines to dress their wounds and a bucket to give them baths." She bathed all of them, including Bai, the lone woman among them, and dressed their wounds and fed them there.
"As I had no place to accommodate them, I had to leave them there and return to the convent with a heavy heart," she says.
Sundari Bai is among 258 lepers from 85 families living in Harsha Nagar (joyful city), the leprosy patients' enclave.
Sub Divisional Magistrate Mahesh Badole, a top official of the district, says, "Whatever you see here is the outcome of the perseverance and hard work of Sister Julia."
The official is the president of the Harsha Nagar Trust, which Thundathil formed in 1995 for managing the enclave. The trust's constitution stipulates that its president should be the magistrate. Thundathil said she insisted on that provision because she hoped to get government help and public participation. Otherwise, the enclave would have become "purely a church-run institution," she explains.
The government allotted 7 acres of land to set up the enclave, which gets nothing else substantial for its maintenance.
Badole says Thundathil provided "proper accommodation for every family in the [enclave] with the resources she had mobilized from donors and other funding partners."
What impresses him is that the nun cleans the lepers' wounds and dresses them "one after another, every day, without any hesitation, as if caring for a small kid."
He says the residents in the enclave have survived so long "precisely on account of her dedication and hard work."
The officer, however, is skeptical that it could continue without her. "There is nobody to look after them in her absence, even when she goes out for a day or two," he explains. "There is nobody to take up her task."
Contrary to Badole's view, the nun is confident the service will continue. "It's not my project. It's God mission, and it will continue even after me," she says.
Other sisters in her congregation will take up the task after her because the mission is unique, Thundathil says.
Everyone in the enclave has stories of rejection by loved ones.
One resident, Sumaria Ganga Ram, says his family not only ostracized him, but performed last rites over him, considering him as good as dead. According to Hindu tradition, the last rites liberate the soul of the deceased from this earth.
Ganga Ram, 60, told GSR: "I lived happily with my wife and three children, but when I was detected with leprosy, they chased me away from my home."
He owned 5 acres of land in a remote village. The illiterate farmer recalls that his family members stopped serving him food and water, eventually forcing him to leave the home.
"I lived on begging for five years until I met Ma," he says. Even begging was not easy for him. "I had to hide my wounds, otherwise no one would come near me to offer alms." Even hospitals chased him when he went to them for treatment.
"I am happy here and never want to go back to my family, which abandoned me when I need them the most."
Thundathil says many people dump their leprosy-infected relatives outside the enclave at night.
One such person is Shanti Bai, a mother of five children. The 65-year-old woman (not related to Sundari Bai) said her family members dropped her off outside the enclave 21 years ago. However, she found Shiva Lova, a man who had a similar background, and married him and settled on the campus. The couple has a 19-year-old son, Chandar Singh, who is doing his course in ophthalmology in Andhra Pradesh, a state in southeastern India.
Thundathil says the trust encourages the residents to marry and lead a normal family life. The nun helps their children grow up like other children, providing education and skill development courses so they can eke out a living as adults.
"Every child born to them," she says, "is separated from the parents at the age of 5 and put into schools."
Since they cannot be admitted to nearby regular schools because of the social stigma, she sends the children to faraway places. Currently, 87 sons of leprosy victims are studying in a school managed by the Jacobite Syrian Christian Church in Itarsi, 215 miles northeast of Sendhwa. At least 33 girls are studying in Pune, the cultural capital of the western Indian state of Maharashtra, 264 miles south of Sendhwa.
The children are aged 6 to 18, and some, such as Dilip Arya, progress to work part time as teachers while attending the 12th grade.
"I have not told anyone in the school that I am the son of a leprosy couple," the 21-year-old youth told GSR. Asked why, he said, "The school management will not allow me to teach, and students also will not sit in my class."
He said he was studying in another school earlier and shared with some friends that he was the son of lepers. They stoned him and he had to be shifted to another school.
Thundathil bemoans that Indian society still cannot accept leprosy patients or their children, "despite the fact that it is a curable disease," she says. "People still look at them with contempt. It should change."
She blames ignorance and prejudice for such views, adding that her own attitude toward lepers changed only after she joined the convent.
The native of the southern state of Kerala joined the Order of St. Augustine after 10th grade in 1985 and made her first profession four years later. She took her final vows in July 1995.
Since she wanted to dedicate her life to social work, her first appointment was with the St. Augustine Social Service Society in Sendhwa. "At that time my concept of social service was restricted to visiting the poor, sick and aged," she says.
Later, in 1991 to 1994, she completed a bachelor's course in social work from Bombay University in Maharashtra (now Mumbai University). She also earned a master of social work degree in 2004 from Devi Ahilya University in Indore, the commercial capital of Madhya Pradesh.
"This helped me understand that social work is not merely visiting people but transforming the lives of the poor, sick and needy." She then rejoined the congregation's social work department and started working among the poor.
Sr. Julia Thundathil with Shiv Lova, a leprosy patient in Harsha Nagar. (GSR photo / Saji Thomas)
She met the six lepers during one of those visits. "Until then I was not much aware of the plight of lepers," she recalls.
She had her share of hardships on her way to this stage. Initially, the congregation – used to more traditional ways – was not enthusiastic about her mission. But they learned to value her work and appreciate her.
In 2000, she was struck with breast cancer at the peak of her activities. The disease was detected at the critical third stage and she underwent immediate surgery. "I still have pain in the body as fallout from the operation," she says.
The disease prompted her to expand her work, and she began working with differently abled persons.
A survey she conducted in the district a few years ago revealed that about 20,000 people among a population of 1.4 million were disabled.
The nun has formed a network of self-help groups whose members visit the homes of disabled people and counsel their families to accept them as a blessing rather than a curse. She appointed one caretaker for each family who would help build their self-esteem. These self-managed groups are composed of poor community people helping themselves out of adverse circumstances through financial planning under the guidance of experienced volunteers.
More than 150 self-help groups have been set up to assist 1,800 people with disabilities. "Work is in progress to link the entire 20,000 disabled under one umbrella," says Sr. Navya Thomas, an Augustinian nun who assists Thundathil in her ministry.
"We have also formed a Disabled Persons Organization to bring together every differently abled person and educate them about their rights and responsibility. They will get special training for livelihood projects so that they don't have to rely on the mercy of others," says Thomas.
About 1,800 disabled persons have been trained so far in tailoring, weaving, and spice and clothing production. Each person earns an average of 300 rupees (about U.S. $4.50) every day. "This gives them confidence and hope to lead a dignified life," Thomas says.
Thomas reports that Thundathil recently led the congregation to launch community health intervention and HIV/AIDS screening, awareness and control programs.
"We also work among the tuberculosis patients in this backward tribal-dominated district," Thomas adds.
Thursday, January 21, 2016
Scandal plagued archbishop leaving Battle Creek
Battle Creek Enquirer
January 21, 2016
The controversial former Minnesota archbishop who came to Battle Creek to assist the Rev. John Fleckenstein is departing immediately, St. Philip Catholic Church parishioners were informed today.
A letter from Fleckenstein to parishioners dated Thursday said Archbishop John Nienstedt chose to leave in the face of concerns from churchgoers, and Fleckenstein agreed.
Nienstedt had resigned last summer as archbishop of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis,10 days after the archdiocese was criminally charged for its leaders' handling of allegations of sexual abuse by its priests. One, Curtis Wehmeyer, pleaded guilty to sexually abusing two boys and possessing child pornography; he's serving a five-year prison sentence.
A longtime friend of Fleckenstein, Nienstadt offered to help out at St. Philip while Fleckenstein underwent health treatments. He was to serve here for six months.
Some parishioners expressed concern about the safety of children in the church in the presence of a leader who had resigned in the face of the Minnesota scandal.
In his letter to parishioners today, Fleckenstein wrote:
"I wish to inform you that Archbishop John Nienstedt has decided to discontinue his pastoral assistance for St. Philip Parish, effective immediately. After discussions with the Archbishop conveying the expressed concerns by the faithful people of our community, he offered to withdraw from the diocese and I agreed. Archbishop Nienstedt has a deep concern for the Church, and in light of the unintended discord that his presence was causing, he decided that this would be the best course of action so the Church can remain focused on its mission. At the same time, the Archbishop shared with me the deep gratitude he has for the hospitality he received from so many of our parishioners."
The letter continues:
"A very regrettable circumstance of Archbishop Nienstedt’s presence within our community has been anger and fear. I’m proud of the good works of our parishes and our Catholic schools as well as our valuable place in our community. I wish for us to continue growing and striving. My hope is that we can move forward together.
"I wish Archbishop Nienstedt well and I know many of you do as well. In this Jubilee Year of Mercy, as called for by Pope Francis, I pray we may find peace, support, and healing for ourselves and with each other, and that we continue to care for all people with charity."
The controversial former Minnesota archbishop who came to Battle Creek to assist the Rev. John Fleckenstein is departing immediately, St. Philip Catholic Church parishioners were informed today.
A letter from Fleckenstein to parishioners dated Thursday said Archbishop John Nienstedt chose to leave in the face of concerns from churchgoers, and Fleckenstein agreed.
Nienstedt had resigned last summer as archbishop of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis,10 days after the archdiocese was criminally charged for its leaders' handling of allegations of sexual abuse by its priests. One, Curtis Wehmeyer, pleaded guilty to sexually abusing two boys and possessing child pornography; he's serving a five-year prison sentence.
A longtime friend of Fleckenstein, Nienstadt offered to help out at St. Philip while Fleckenstein underwent health treatments. He was to serve here for six months.
Some parishioners expressed concern about the safety of children in the church in the presence of a leader who had resigned in the face of the Minnesota scandal.
In his letter to parishioners today, Fleckenstein wrote:
"I wish to inform you that Archbishop John Nienstedt has decided to discontinue his pastoral assistance for St. Philip Parish, effective immediately. After discussions with the Archbishop conveying the expressed concerns by the faithful people of our community, he offered to withdraw from the diocese and I agreed. Archbishop Nienstedt has a deep concern for the Church, and in light of the unintended discord that his presence was causing, he decided that this would be the best course of action so the Church can remain focused on its mission. At the same time, the Archbishop shared with me the deep gratitude he has for the hospitality he received from so many of our parishioners."
The letter continues:
"A very regrettable circumstance of Archbishop Nienstedt’s presence within our community has been anger and fear. I’m proud of the good works of our parishes and our Catholic schools as well as our valuable place in our community. I wish for us to continue growing and striving. My hope is that we can move forward together.
"I wish Archbishop Nienstedt well and I know many of you do as well. In this Jubilee Year of Mercy, as called for by Pope Francis, I pray we may find peace, support, and healing for ourselves and with each other, and that we continue to care for all people with charity."
Pope Francis allows women to Holy Thursday foot washing
Fr. Anthony Ruff, OSB
Pray Tell
January 21, 2016
Pope Francis made the news, and raised eyebrows, when he washed the feet of women, including non-Christians, at Holy Thursday Mass immediately after being elected pope – not least because the rules only allowed for the feet of men to be washed. Now the Holy See has issued a decree making official what he – and many other priests around the world – had been already doing in contravention of the official rule.
Pope Francis washes the foot of a prison inmate during Holy Thursday Mass in 2013 (CNS)
The decree was issued today by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, the Vatican’s liturgy department which has Cardinal Robert Sarah as its head.
Pope Francis also wrote a letter to Cardinal Sarah regarding the changes.
As NCR reports, the previous wording about “men” is to be changed to this:
Those chosen from among the People of God are accompanied by the ministers’ (and consequently in the Caeremoniale Episcoporum No. 301 and No. 299 b referring to the seats for the chosen men, so that pastors may choose a group of faithful representing the variety and unity of every part of the People of God. This group may consist of men and women, and ideally of the young and the old, healthy and sick, clerics, consecrated persons and laypeople.
Look for much to be made of two words in that passage: “may” and “ideally.” Note that women may be included, but there is no obligation to do so and one may still include only males. But note that ideally the group should be diverse and representative of the People of God. But does “ideally” only refer to the second part of the sentence, and not the first part saying that women may be admitted?
And then there is “People of God.” Does that include only Christians? Only Catholics? Or all God’s people of any religion (including Islam)?
I also expect much discussion about how significant the change is. Is this a real turning point and a sign of significant movement at high official levels? Or is too much being made about a rather insignificant matter? Either view has merits, whatever side of the issue you’re on.
And of course there is the important question of how liturgical law functions and how it should be interpreted. One school of thought says that it may well be legitimate to wash women’s feet – if the rules allow for it. According to this line of thinking, Pope Francis should have changed the rule first, and then changed the practice. Otherwise he’s modeling a cavalier attitude toward the Church’s norms.
But on the other side, some people would say that Francis’s violation of a liturgical rule for pastoral reasons was itself a good model for the whole church. It sent the right kind of message to those who are overly legalistic and think that the Roman Curia ought to micromanage every liturgical practice in the whole world.
For those people, we’ve now lost the sign value of a Pope admirably violating the rules for pastoral reasons. With today’s decree, rules and practice will again be in sync when Francis celebrates Holy Thursday.
Be that as it may, I’m pretty sure Francis has already made clear in many ways what he thinks about people who put rules above all else
Pope Francis washes the foot of a prison inmate during Holy Thursday Mass in 2013 (CNS)
The decree was issued today by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, the Vatican’s liturgy department which has Cardinal Robert Sarah as its head.
Pope Francis also wrote a letter to Cardinal Sarah regarding the changes.
As NCR reports, the previous wording about “men” is to be changed to this:
Those chosen from among the People of God are accompanied by the ministers’ (and consequently in the Caeremoniale Episcoporum No. 301 and No. 299 b referring to the seats for the chosen men, so that pastors may choose a group of faithful representing the variety and unity of every part of the People of God. This group may consist of men and women, and ideally of the young and the old, healthy and sick, clerics, consecrated persons and laypeople.
Look for much to be made of two words in that passage: “may” and “ideally.” Note that women may be included, but there is no obligation to do so and one may still include only males. But note that ideally the group should be diverse and representative of the People of God. But does “ideally” only refer to the second part of the sentence, and not the first part saying that women may be admitted?
And then there is “People of God.” Does that include only Christians? Only Catholics? Or all God’s people of any religion (including Islam)?
I also expect much discussion about how significant the change is. Is this a real turning point and a sign of significant movement at high official levels? Or is too much being made about a rather insignificant matter? Either view has merits, whatever side of the issue you’re on.
And of course there is the important question of how liturgical law functions and how it should be interpreted. One school of thought says that it may well be legitimate to wash women’s feet – if the rules allow for it. According to this line of thinking, Pope Francis should have changed the rule first, and then changed the practice. Otherwise he’s modeling a cavalier attitude toward the Church’s norms.
But on the other side, some people would say that Francis’s violation of a liturgical rule for pastoral reasons was itself a good model for the whole church. It sent the right kind of message to those who are overly legalistic and think that the Roman Curia ought to micromanage every liturgical practice in the whole world.
For those people, we’ve now lost the sign value of a Pope admirably violating the rules for pastoral reasons. With today’s decree, rules and practice will again be in sync when Francis celebrates Holy Thursday.
Be that as it may, I’m pretty sure Francis has already made clear in many ways what he thinks about people who put rules above all else
Monday, January 18, 2016
Pope Francis: obstinate Christians are rebels and idolators
Vatican Radio
January 18, 2016
Christians who say “it’s always been done that way,” and stop there have hearts closed to the surprises of the Holy Spirit. They are idolaters and rebels will never arrive at the fullness of the truth. That was the message of Pope Francis at Mass on Monday morning at the chapel in the Casa Santa Marta.
In the first reading, Saul was rejected by God as King of Israel because he disobeyed, preferring to listen to the people rather than the will of God. The people, after a victory in battle, wanted to offer a sacrifice of the best animals to God, because, he said, “it’s always been done that way.” But God, this time, did not want that. The prophet Samuel rebuked Saul: “Does the Lord so delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obedience to the command of the Lord?” Jesus teaches us the same thing in the Gospel, the Pope explained. When the doctors of the law criticized Him because His disciples did not fast “as had always been done,” Jesus responded with these examples from daily life: “No one sews a piece of unshrunken cloth on an old cloak. If he does, its fullness pulls away, the new from the old, and the tear gets worse. Likewise, no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the skins are ruined. Rather, new wine is poured into fresh wineskins.”
“What does this mean? That He changes the law? No! That the law is at the service of man, who is at the service of God – and so man ought to have an open heart. ‘It’s always been done this way’ is a closed heart, and Jesus tells us, ‘I will send you the Holy Spirit and He will lead you into the fullness of truth.’ If you have a heart closed to the newness of the Spirit, you will never reach the full truth. And your Christian life will be a half-and-half life, a patched life, mended with new things, but on a structure that is not open to the voice of the Lord—a closed heart, so that you are not able to change others.”
This, the Pope emphasized, was the sin of Saul, for which he was rejected by God. “It is the sin of so many Christians who cling to what has always been done and who do not allow others to change. And they end up with half a life, [a life that is] patched, mended, meaningless.” The sin, he said, “is a closed heart,” that “does not hear the voice of the Lord, that is not open to the newness of the Lord, to the Spirit that always surprises us.” This rebellion, says Samuel, is “the sin of divination,” and obstinacy is the sin of idolatry:
“Christians who obstinately maintain ‘it’s always been done this way,' this is the path, this is the street—they sin: the sin of divination. It’s as if they went about by guessing: ‘What has been said and what doesn’t change is what’s important; what I hear—from myself and my closed heart—more than the Word of the Lord.’ Obstinacy is also the sin of idolatry: the Christian who is obstinate sins! The sin of idolatry. ‘And what is the way, Father?’ Open the heart to the Holy Spirit, discern what is the will of God.”
Pope Francis noted that in Jesus’ time, good Israelites were in the habit of fasting. “But there is another reality,” he said. “There is the Holy Spirit who leads us into the full truth. And for this reason he needs an open heart, a heart that will not stubbornly remain in the sin of idolatry of oneself,” imagining that my own opinion is more important than the surprise of the Holy Spirit.
“This is the message the Church gives us today. This is what Jesus says so forcefully: ‘New wine in new wineskins.’ Habits must be renewed in the newness of the Spirit, in the surprises of God. May the Lord grant us the grace of an open heart, of a heart open to the voice of the Spirit, which knows how to discern what should not change, because it is fundamental, from what should change in order to be able to receive the newness of the Spirit.”
Christians who say “it’s always been done that way,” and stop there have hearts closed to the surprises of the Holy Spirit. They are idolaters and rebels will never arrive at the fullness of the truth. That was the message of Pope Francis at Mass on Monday morning at the chapel in the Casa Santa Marta.
In the first reading, Saul was rejected by God as King of Israel because he disobeyed, preferring to listen to the people rather than the will of God. The people, after a victory in battle, wanted to offer a sacrifice of the best animals to God, because, he said, “it’s always been done that way.” But God, this time, did not want that. The prophet Samuel rebuked Saul: “Does the Lord so delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obedience to the command of the Lord?” Jesus teaches us the same thing in the Gospel, the Pope explained. When the doctors of the law criticized Him because His disciples did not fast “as had always been done,” Jesus responded with these examples from daily life: “No one sews a piece of unshrunken cloth on an old cloak. If he does, its fullness pulls away, the new from the old, and the tear gets worse. Likewise, no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the skins are ruined. Rather, new wine is poured into fresh wineskins.”
“What does this mean? That He changes the law? No! That the law is at the service of man, who is at the service of God – and so man ought to have an open heart. ‘It’s always been done this way’ is a closed heart, and Jesus tells us, ‘I will send you the Holy Spirit and He will lead you into the fullness of truth.’ If you have a heart closed to the newness of the Spirit, you will never reach the full truth. And your Christian life will be a half-and-half life, a patched life, mended with new things, but on a structure that is not open to the voice of the Lord—a closed heart, so that you are not able to change others.”
This, the Pope emphasized, was the sin of Saul, for which he was rejected by God. “It is the sin of so many Christians who cling to what has always been done and who do not allow others to change. And they end up with half a life, [a life that is] patched, mended, meaningless.” The sin, he said, “is a closed heart,” that “does not hear the voice of the Lord, that is not open to the newness of the Lord, to the Spirit that always surprises us.” This rebellion, says Samuel, is “the sin of divination,” and obstinacy is the sin of idolatry:
“Christians who obstinately maintain ‘it’s always been done this way,' this is the path, this is the street—they sin: the sin of divination. It’s as if they went about by guessing: ‘What has been said and what doesn’t change is what’s important; what I hear—from myself and my closed heart—more than the Word of the Lord.’ Obstinacy is also the sin of idolatry: the Christian who is obstinate sins! The sin of idolatry. ‘And what is the way, Father?’ Open the heart to the Holy Spirit, discern what is the will of God.”
Pope Francis noted that in Jesus’ time, good Israelites were in the habit of fasting. “But there is another reality,” he said. “There is the Holy Spirit who leads us into the full truth. And for this reason he needs an open heart, a heart that will not stubbornly remain in the sin of idolatry of oneself,” imagining that my own opinion is more important than the surprise of the Holy Spirit.
“This is the message the Church gives us today. This is what Jesus says so forcefully: ‘New wine in new wineskins.’ Habits must be renewed in the newness of the Spirit, in the surprises of God. May the Lord grant us the grace of an open heart, of a heart open to the voice of the Spirit, which knows how to discern what should not change, because it is fundamental, from what should change in order to be able to receive the newness of the Spirit.”
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