Says a Change of Mentality Is Needed
CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy, AUG. 24, 2012 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI says the laity should be seen as truly "co-responsible" for the Church, and not just "collaborators" with the clergy.
The Pope said this in an Aug. 10 message released Thursday by the Vatican. It is addressed to the 6th Assembly of the International Catholic Action Forum. The five-day assembly is under way through Sunday in Romania.
"Co-responsibility requires a change in mentality, particularly with regard to the role of the laity in the Church," the Holy Father said.
Laity should be considered "persons truly 'co-responsible' for the being and activity of the Church," he stated.
Hence, he called for a committed laity who are united, each making his own "specific contribution to the Church’s mission, in accordance with the ministries and tasks each one has in the life of the Church, and always in cordial communion with the bishops."
Read more >
Showing posts with label Church. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Church. Show all posts
Saturday, August 25, 2012
Thursday, July 19, 2012
For These Young Nuns, Habits Are The New Radical
Barbara Bradley Hagerty - NPR
For the most part, these are grim days for Catholic nuns. Convents are closing, nuns are aging and there are relatively few new recruits. But something startling is happening in Nashville, Tenn. The Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia are seeing a boom in new young sisters: Twenty-seven joined this year and 90 entered over the past five years.
The average of new entrants here is 23. And overall, the average age of the Nashville Dominicans is 36 — four decades younger than the average nun nationwide.
Unlike many older sisters in previous generations, who wear street clothes and live alone, the Nashville Dominicans wear traditional habits and adhere to a strict life of prayer, teaching and silence.
They enter the chapel without saying a word, the swish of their long white habits the only sound. It is 5:30 in the morning, pitch black outside — but inside, the chapel is candescent as more than 150 women kneel and pray and fill the soaring sanctuary with their ghostly songs of praise.
A few elderly sisters sit in wheelchairs, but most of these sisters have unlined faces and are bursting with energy. Watching them, you wonder what would coax these young women to a strict life of prayer, teaching, study and silence.
And did they always want to be nuns?
Read more >
For the most part, these are grim days for Catholic nuns. Convents are closing, nuns are aging and there are relatively few new recruits. But something startling is happening in Nashville, Tenn. The Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia are seeing a boom in new young sisters: Twenty-seven joined this year and 90 entered over the past five years.
The average of new entrants here is 23. And overall, the average age of the Nashville Dominicans is 36 — four decades younger than the average nun nationwide.
Unlike many older sisters in previous generations, who wear street clothes and live alone, the Nashville Dominicans wear traditional habits and adhere to a strict life of prayer, teaching and silence.
They enter the chapel without saying a word, the swish of their long white habits the only sound. It is 5:30 in the morning, pitch black outside — but inside, the chapel is candescent as more than 150 women kneel and pray and fill the soaring sanctuary with their ghostly songs of praise.
A few elderly sisters sit in wheelchairs, but most of these sisters have unlined faces and are bursting with energy. Watching them, you wonder what would coax these young women to a strict life of prayer, teaching, study and silence.
And did they always want to be nuns?
Read more >
Sunday, July 15, 2012
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Fr General appeals to youth
The Superior General of the Jesuits, Fr Adolfo Nicolás, has identified the nurturing and formation of young people as a central concern for the Society of Jesus in the 21st century.
Speaking at a gathering of Jesuits and their religious and lay colleagues and supporters at St Ignatius’ College, Riverview, in Sydney last week, Fr Nicolás said there was a strong need for a deep and ongoing investment in youth, especially with regard to their education.
‘We cannot build our societies unless we respect and honour the young people in our midst. They are the ones with the imagination, the energy, the desire to change things’, he said.
Fr Nicolás said this concern for the formation of young people was shared by Jesuits around the world, and that the ongoing accompaniment of the youth as they progressed into adulthood was needed now more than ever. While young people were honest, direct and willing to ask tough questions, they were finding it increasingly difficult to make decisions, he said.
‘How do we accompany them after graduation and into adulthood? This is an area where we have room for reflection. The aim of St Ignatius was that we would be internally transformed. If our education does not contribute to transformation then something very important is missing from our schools.’
Read more ...
Speaking at a gathering of Jesuits and their religious and lay colleagues and supporters at St Ignatius’ College, Riverview, in Sydney last week, Fr Nicolás said there was a strong need for a deep and ongoing investment in youth, especially with regard to their education.‘We cannot build our societies unless we respect and honour the young people in our midst. They are the ones with the imagination, the energy, the desire to change things’, he said.
Fr Nicolás said this concern for the formation of young people was shared by Jesuits around the world, and that the ongoing accompaniment of the youth as they progressed into adulthood was needed now more than ever. While young people were honest, direct and willing to ask tough questions, they were finding it increasingly difficult to make decisions, he said.
‘How do we accompany them after graduation and into adulthood? This is an area where we have room for reflection. The aim of St Ignatius was that we would be internally transformed. If our education does not contribute to transformation then something very important is missing from our schools.’
Read more ...
Monday, March 12, 2012
Arlington Catholic Herald: HHS mandate not ‘pro-women’
An all-female panel challenges the administration’s claim that free access to contraception is in the best interest of women.
By SOPHIA MASON | For the Catholic Herald
Last Monday, well past the 6 p.m. scheduled starting time, the Catholic Information Center’s panel had not yet begun. One of the panelists was late, which was just as well for the audience, many of whom were caught in heavy traffic along K Street in Washington, D.C., where the center is located.
....
The last panelist was Gloria Purvis from the board of the Northwest Pregnancy Center and Maternity Home in Washington. She addressed the HHS regulations from a woman’s perspective, describing the perceived need for contraception as being demeaning to women. The effect of contraception, she said, has been “the commodification of sex leading as a result to the commodification of the human person.”
For women, this commodification denies them their innate dignity, a dignity by which they are “already naturally ordained to take the sperm and the egg and make a human person,” she said.
She predicted that if the regulations stay in place, the result will be an even greater hostility to pregnancy and motherhood in the workplace.
She concluded by saying that the opposition to contraception is not about political parties or political figures, but about individual consciences.
“It may come at some personal cost, but we’re called to speak the truth to power and in charity and in love,” she said.
Read the complete story: The Arlington Catholic Herald
and the youtube video:
By SOPHIA MASON | For the Catholic Herald
Last Monday, well past the 6 p.m. scheduled starting time, the Catholic Information Center’s panel had not yet begun. One of the panelists was late, which was just as well for the audience, many of whom were caught in heavy traffic along K Street in Washington, D.C., where the center is located.
....
The last panelist was Gloria Purvis from the board of the Northwest Pregnancy Center and Maternity Home in Washington. She addressed the HHS regulations from a woman’s perspective, describing the perceived need for contraception as being demeaning to women. The effect of contraception, she said, has been “the commodification of sex leading as a result to the commodification of the human person.”
For women, this commodification denies them their innate dignity, a dignity by which they are “already naturally ordained to take the sperm and the egg and make a human person,” she said.
She predicted that if the regulations stay in place, the result will be an even greater hostility to pregnancy and motherhood in the workplace.
She concluded by saying that the opposition to contraception is not about political parties or political figures, but about individual consciences.
“It may come at some personal cost, but we’re called to speak the truth to power and in charity and in love,” she said.
Read the complete story: The Arlington Catholic Herald
and the youtube video:
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Thursday, August 18, 2011
WYD - video
Vatican Player:
http://www.vatican.va/video/index.html
Young Palestinians and Israelis mingle at World Youth Day
http://news.yahoo.com/video/world-15749633/young-palestinians-and-israelis-mingle-at-world-youth-day-26338511.html
http://www.vatican.va/video/index.html
Young Palestinians and Israelis mingle at World Youth Day
http://news.yahoo.com/video/world-15749633/young-palestinians-and-israelis-mingle-at-world-youth-day-26338511.html
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