Reform the Reform

We all know we need to careful when it comes to reading the newspaper.  I was often told as I was growing up that paper never refuses ink and just because a newspaper says something is true, it is not necessarily so.  When you get into the nuances of hermeneutics and "sources", a good salt cellar is a handy tool to have at your side. 

The same rule could also be applied to the writings of some theologians and liturgists: one needs to be very careful when thrashing through the ideas and proposals of certain thinkers - knowing where they are coming from is vital.  When reading their account of history, it is even more important to check facts - ideas and opinions are exactly that, but when it comes to historical reality, then we have to show prudence for a false history can serve as a very shaky foundation.

This is especially true when it comes to Church history, and liturgical history in particular.  There is an excellent article by Michael Foley on the Crisis Magazine website, exposing five of the most common myths proposed by liturgists in the last number of decades as an argument to introduce revolutionary ideas and practices in the Catholic liturgy.  

For years these versions of how the early Church worshipped were accepted as fact and changes in the Mass and the orientation of prayer were founded on these very "historical facts".  By the time I got to seminary to study liturgy enough research had been carried out by objective parties to undermine these myths, so much so our lecturers put their hands up and admitted that there was no evidence to support their propositions but they think the new way is the best and, anyway, people are used to it now so things cannot be changed.  Their ideological work done and reinforced, they can afford to let the cat out of the bag.

Well, they thought they could, but they did not factor Pope Benedict into the equation, nor Summorum Pontificum nor the establishment of the new Ordinariates, nor the corrected translation of the Roman Missal nor the orthodox nature of the up and coming generation of priests, religious and laity. 

Now those of you who know me know I am not a Traditionalist, though I count some Traditionalists among my friends and we have had many conversations on the liturgy.  While I am often infuriated by the attitude of some Traditionalists and their views, some of whom pick and chose when they are faithful to the Pope and when not, the ones who are truly faithful to the Pope and not reactionary I respect and admire. 

When it comes to the liturgy I am a liberal: not in accord with the usually meaning of the term, I assure you.  Unlike the ideological liberals, I have no problem whatsoever with the normalisation of the Extraordinary Form and making it widely available.  I think Pope Benedict is on to a winner with his hope that the two forms of the Latin Rite will cross pollinate and, in time, one form may emerge organically with the best of both.  Now I know that statement may give some Traditionalists a stroke, but, if they survive it, they may realise that that will not happen in their lifetime nor in mine: the Church tends to work and think in terms of centuries, and the recalibration of the sacred liturgy will take time.

At the heart of the reform of the liturgy is, of course, a return to reverence, devotion and prayer: three things which tend to be absent to various degrees at many liturgical celebrations.  We need to be reacquainted with the idea of sacred space - something the liberals have been talking about for years, but ironically, have managed to undermine.  Indeed in creating sacred space out in a field or forming a coven in a group, they have turned the sanctuaries of churches into marketplaces.  

Reclaiming the sacred space will include how we behave in a church, and at the moment that is a real issue as people treat the building as if it was an ordinary public hall.  In Ireland in particular we have a real problem of talking, and loud talking, in churches, particularly in the time before and after Mass.  They have forgotten what a church is, and indeed, they have forgotten who is there.   

Over time I have begun to realise the importance of altar rails, dividing the sanctuary from the the rest of the church: a physical reminder to all of us that this place is different. Of course this brings up the whole topic of church architecture, another serious issue that has to be addressed.  It is interesting that the restored St Patrick's Church in Soho is being considered by some to be an example of liturgical progress: I would agree.

Another thing I have come to realise as necessary, is the reorientation of the liturgy prayer.  Pope Benedict speaks about this in his The Spirit of the Liturgy.  More and more as I offer Mass, and try to enter more deeply into the mystery, I find myself wanting to turn around and lead the people in prayer rather than stand as the focus of the Mass. 

People judge the Mass on the basis of the priest's ability to say it (perform it??), and this, of course, distorts what the Mass is.  The priest-performer is under pressure to deliver and make the Mass interesting and entertaining, so he has to resort to new ideas, themes, para-liturgical elements, to keep his congregation (audience??) onside.  This has to change not only because greater reverance is needed, but also because thus way of worship cannot be sustained: people's threshold for boredom will get lower and more and more crazy stuff has to be introduced be it clown Masses, or Barney blessings, or aging sisters girating in the sanctuary (that'll drive them out!). 

So much to do, and so much opposition, and the worst enemy is the mediocrity which reigns among bishops, priests and laity.  It seems for many in the church today mediocrity is taken as a sign of authenticity: beauty, excellence, devotion and ritual are seen as dishonest, irrelevant and unnecessary.  Yet these things are part of our human nature, they have always been a means of expressing what is important to us.  We are in a bad way if we deny this part of our humanity and our worship. 

Back Down To Earth



Well, we're back from Fatima after a wonderful week.  I had to be carried kicking and screaming to the airplane, as I usually do it's so hard to leave.   You were all remembered in prayer, dear readers, and your intentions remembered in a Mass I offered at the Capelinha, the Chapel of Apparitions.  

We had a wonderful time of prayer, candlelight processions, visits to the holy places around the town and further afield to Lisbon (the house of St Anthony) and the Eucharistic Miracle of Santarem.  We also got to visit Coimbra for Mass in the monastery where Sr Lucia lived most of her religious life, and to the tomb of St Elizabeth of Portugal, my first visit, but which was a little disappointing as it is very run down.

All the talk of the sanctuary was of a "miracle" of the sun which took place last month, on the feast of Our Lady of Fatima.  After the Solemn Mass, images of Blessed John Paul were being broadcast over the square to celebrate his beatification, when the sun changed and became like a large host with a halo around it.  Many of you may have heard about it, but here in Ireland we heard nothing - our media would not tend to be interested in such celestial happenings.  When visiting the Dominican sisters of Perpetual Rosary they confirmed it: they saw it from their cloister.  Apparently the phenomenon lasted three hours.  Here are some videos so you can see for yourself.  The first is the moment when the "miracle" was first seen, the last, Portugese television's report:

Pilgrimage

I am away tomorrow morning leading the Fraternity pilgrimage to Fatima.  I may not get the chance to blog at all - the schedule is pretty busy, so the blog may go silent for a week ("Thank God!" I hear you say!).  But be assured I will remember the intentions of all my readers during the pilgrimage, and I will light a candle at the capelinha for you.  If you have a special intention, as St Pio used to advise, send your guardian angel over to Fatima with it, so it can be included in the Masses and prayers.

For your information, our schedule includes:

Visit to the capelinha, site of the apparitions; the old village of Fatima where the visionaries lived, and the places where the angel appeared to the children in 1916.  We will be staying in a hotel beside the Sanctuary, so we will be taking part in the daily ceremonies, including the celebrations for Pentecost and the 13th day.

Pilgrimage to Coimbra, to the monastery where the visionary and Servant of God, Sr Lucia, lived most of her life.  There we will also visit the tomb of St Elizabeth of Portugal, and the church where St Anthony of Padua was received into the Franciscan Order.

Pilgrimage to Santarem to venerate the Eucharistic Miracle.

Pilgrimage to Lisbon to visit the birthplace of St Anthony of Padua, the convent where Blessed Jacinta Marto died and to sample the beauties of the capital.

If we have enough interested, we may even get up to Balasar to make a pilgrimage to the tomb and house of Blessed Alexandrina da Costa, the great saint of the Eucharist.

And of course a visit to the Dominican Sisters of Perpetual Rosary, a number of whom are Irish, and one of whom, Sr Angela, is a spiritual companion of the Fraternity (the spiritual companions were a group of holy people who accompanied us through prayer and sacrifice in the process of discernment).  I normally stay with the sisters when in Fatima, but with leading a group I will be in a hotel, so I will miss the silence, serenity (and, let's face it) the wonderful food of the nuns - ahhhhh, not even Fr Z (peace be upon him) in his most inspired culinary moments can cook like these angels of St Dominic!  And their mashed potatoes - like an angel crying on your tongue!  Ok, not very penitential, but I'll make up for it in other ways!

Adeus, queridos leitores, até
breve!

The Problem Of The Elderly

As my Irish readers will know, there is a scandal being uncovered in yet another Irish nursing home - one in a leafy, upmarket suburb of Dublin, Rostrevor Nursing Home in Rathgar.  According to new reports there are accusations of abuse and mistreatment, so the place has been closed down, the residents are being moved and an official investigation is underway, one which may led to prosecutions.  

This is not the first nursing home here to fall under the accusation of elder abuse, over the past few years other private nursing homes have come under scrutiny and have been found wanting.  One of them, Leas Cross, was found guilty of "institutional abuse".   That said, it has been said by many, especially by those who visit nursing homes regularly, the HSE or state run homes, need to be as zealous in scrutinising their own homes as private nursing homes, as you sometimes hear the accusation that these institutions not to meet the standards the state has set for others.

All of this is deeply disturbing, more particularly when we remember those relatives who can no longer care for their elderly make the painful decision to admit them to a nursing home trusting the institution to provide the professional care that is needed.  They are also paying out a lot of money.  Your average fee for a week in a nursing home is about €1,000, much more if the nursing home classes itself above the average. 

Of course this situation raises the issue of care of the elderly in general.  Our country was once renowned for its care of the older generation in whom we recognised a wisdom and a nobility which was worthy of veneration.  This respect was derived from our Christian faith, but also from Celtic family traditions which honour age.  The extended family was the norm, as it still is in traditional societies. 

However, as we moved towards the nuclear family, as we divested ourselves of the Christian faith and as we became wealthier, our respect for the elderly began to wane.  With money in their pockets and generous subsidies from the state, people availed of nursing homes which were sprouting up all over the country.   As one friend of mine often remarks when this issue of a nursing home culture arises, the motto for many of these could be: "We care so you don't have to".   Which, to be honest, is a typical consumerist attitude: we can pay for everything now, even to get rid of the inconvenient, that includes inconvenient relatives who can't look after themselves.

Not everyone is like that, as I said above, for many the decision to admit a relative into a nursing home is distressing and difficult - and it is one all of us may have to make, and one which may need to be made for us.  But there is an attitude growing in Irish society that is diluting our respect for the elderly.  As a more selfish society, we are focused on ourselves and our ambitions (our self-fulfillment?), anything that gets in the way of that has to be removed, and sometimes our obligations to our weaker relations can be a serious barrier to that.  This attitude fuels the euthanasia movement, though few in it would admit it - they claim they are being compassionate.  Well, we know compassion is often used to justify anything even the murder of children before their birth.

This neglect of the elderly falls under what Blessed John Paul II famously referred to as "the culture of death", we might even discern the contraceptive mentality in it.  The lives of the weak and vulnerable are seen as inconvenient, and so like the child that could be conceived, action must be taken to prevent this inconvenience.  We can't kill them as they do in "Logan's Run" (not yet anyway, but they're working on it), so we put them away.  The scandal of abuse in nursing homes should shake us up and remind us of our duties and obligations to the elder generation.

All that said, there are worrying times ahead.  Thanks to contraception and abortion, the population in the industrialised west is falling - with fewer people being born and people living to a greater age the problem of providing for the elderly is a real one, and it will be interesting to see how western governments deal with it.  At the moment they are raising the retirement age, but that is a very short term solution: what instant solution will they choose?  

Not A Da Vinci At All, It's A Giotto!

You got to love some people. It seems that the Shroud of Turin was not painted by Leonardo da Vinci, as many have maintained, but by Giotto, or at least this is what one Italian artist wants us to believe.   This theory will get the same response as the "Da Vinci" one.  As far as the most up to date scientific techniques can discern there is no paint on the Shroud, and the image was produced by some sort of process which is still unknown to us, though similiar to photography.  So far, though, the most up to date photographic techniques have failed to reproduce the Shroud exactly.

Of course we will never convince those who do not believe (or will not believe).  My own personal opinion is that it is genuine and science is gradually edging towards that conclusion.  In reality there is more scientific and historical evidence in favour of authenticity than it being a medieval fake.  The Shroud's critics, of course, tend to pick and choose the evidence they want to acknowledge.  The Carbon-14 test is still being resurrected (no pun intended) long after sindonologists have left it behind and moved on, recognising that it is no longer reliable. 

But you have to hand it to the critics they are still working hard; many of them cannot bring themselves to accept it - to do so would mean they would have to accept much more than they want to.  The more the Shroud is investigated, the more of an enigma it becomes, the more mysterious and more complex.  The more they know about it, the more they realise they know so little.   I think there is a sign in that.

Interestingly, the whole field of study which has developed around the Shroud - sindonology, has done a great deal to bring science and religion together.  In this unique area of research numerous disciplines work together to unravel this scientific and historical tapesty, or what has been called, an icon of the suffering Christ. 

At Last, A Blessed!

Today a new Blessed was enrolled in the Church's official list  - the Spanish bishop and defender of human rights, Juan de Palafox y Mendoza.   

Blessed Juan was born in Navarre, Spain, on the 26th June 1600, the illegitimate son of Jaime de Palafox.  His father was not too keen to accept the child as his own, so he was taken in and raised by a miller and his family who gave him the name, Juan.  When he was ten his father finally accepted him as his son, and took responsibility for his education sending first to Alcala, and then to the University of Salamanca.   He was a gifted young man, and so he became a deputy in the Cortes and later a prosecutor.

However, Juan's heart lay elsewhere, and so he decided to become a priest.  When ordained he was appointed chaplain to the sister of the King of Spain, and as such accompanied her on various journeys around Europe. 

Partially because of his ability, and perhaps mostly because of his connections, he was nominated as bishop of Puebla de los Angeles in the New World, now Mexico.  He was formally appointed by the pope and consecrated bishop on the 27th December 1639. He arrived at his See the following June, not only as Ordinary, but also as visitator which the brief to investigate the administration of two previous viceroys of what was a Spanish colony.  During his time in Mexico he also served as Archbishop of Mexico for a year while remaining bishop of Puebla, he also served as viceroy himself.

Once in the New World, Blessed Juan quickly saw how the native peoples were being treated, and he understood this as an offence to Christian teaching.  At every opportunity he sought to protect the natives, forbade forced conversion and publicly opposed those who mistreated them.   In other matters he was as diligent: he completed his diocese's cathedral and was a patron of the arts and education.

His strong defence of the natives and his ban on forced conversion led to issues which brought him into conflict with the Jesuits.  Relations got so bad he was forced to impose an interdict against them in 1647.  In retaliation the Jesuits excommunicated him twice, as if they had the power to do so, but also began to send formal complaints against him to Rome.  Their campaign against him was successful, and the Pope, believing their accusations to be true, refused to confirm the interdict, though he did command the Jesuits to respect Blessed Juan's jurisdiction.  The Jesuit final victory came in 1655 when, after Blessed Juan had signed an accord with them presuming this would lead to better relations with them, they used their influence to have him removed from his See and transferred back to Spain where he was appointed Bishop of Osma. 

Despite these difficulties, Blessed Juan sought to follow God's will and overcome the trails he was forced to endure.  He was a friend of a community of Discalced Carmelite sisters, and was highly influenced by St Teresa of Avila and St John of the Cross, so much so that his writings, of which there are many, are very much in the Carmelite tradition and the school of Spanish mysticism. 

Worn out from his labours, but with a reputation for holiness both through his life and writings, Blessed Juan died on the 1st October 1659.     The investigative process for his Cause was opened in his diocese, Osma, in 1666, and in Puebla de los Angeles in 1688.   In 1694 the Cause found support in King Charles II of Spain when he petitioned Rome for the bishop's canonisation.  The process was formally introduced in 1726, and, with the work completed, it seems he was proclaimed Venerable.  A miracle had been identified - the cure of a Spanish priest from TB which was incurable then.  The miracle was examined and approved, and so on the 28th February 1777 the way was cleared for this beatification.  However, a new generation of Jesuits were as determined as a previous one to defeat Palafox, and they persuaded Pope Pius VI to suspend the Cause.  Palafox, they thought, had finally been finished off for good.

However, they had not thought of a figure like Blessed John Paul II, who reopened the Cause in 2003, giving it to Palafox's spiritual family, the Discalced Carmelites, to process.  In 2009 Pope Benedict approved his writings and declared him Venerable.  The original miracle was reexamined, and approved (again), and today, at long last, 234 years after it should have happened, Juan de Palafox was beatified. 

Phew!  Revenge is a terrible thing, even the Saints fall prey to it.  Blessed Juan's holiness was born of his sufferings.  Like his spiritual parents, St Teresa of Avila and St John of the Cross, he recognised the purifying power of suffering, and its part in the journey which we know as the way of perfection. 

Congratulations to Fr Ildefonso, our postulator in Rome: he has done Trojan work on the Cause and has a fondness of Blessed Juan - I believe he keeps a picture of the bishop on his desk.  Here is RomeReports video on the announcement of the decree of the miracle:

Here are the sacred remains of the new Blessed:

A Saint For Our Times

Original photo of St Charles Lwanga

Today in Ireland we celebrate the feast of St Charles Lwanga and his companions, the martyrs of Uganda.  We are a day out from the rest of the Church because on the 3rd June we mark the memorial of St Kevin of Glendalough, so St Charles has been moved. 

Charles is a saint to whom devotion should be growing, a young man whose witness is of profound relevance to all Christians in these times.  You know his story: he and a number of companions, all men and servants of Mwanga, the king of Bukanda, were martyred by their king when they refused to participate in homosexual activities with him.  Indeed, they reminded him that such acts were morally wrong.  For their heroic stance he had some hacked to death, and others burned alive.

St Charles was in charge of the pages of the royal court, and he heroically protected them from the evil desires of the king.  He led many of them into the Church, and in the hours before their martyrdom, he baptised the catechumens among them in preparation for their deaths.  He was not the protomartyr of the group, but for his heroism his name heads the list.

A year or so ago I discovered that there was a photograph of many of these martyrs with other Catholics with two missionary priests who ministered to them, St Charles included.  So above you will see a original photograph of St Charles himself - he looks like a capable and strong young man, indeed a pure soul.  See the full photo here with the martyrs marked.

I first discovered the martyrs of Uganda in my teens, and have had a bit of devotion to them.  Of the group St Charles and St Matthias Kalemba have interested me the most - their stories are fascinating, particularly St Matthias' journey to the Catholic faith.  When in Rome I was given relics of these two, ex ossibus, and I cherish them.

As I said above, St Charles and his companions are necessary witnesses for our time as Christians today face a persecution from militant homosexualists.  As the governments of our nations are becoming more and more like pawns in the hands of gay groups, those who profess the orthodox Christian faith are now the target of laws which are, in essence, anti-Christian and  destroying religious freedom.  The tyranny of the gay king Mwanga is alive and well in the 21st century. 

That said, my devotion to St Charles was strengthened after I started helping Courage, a Catholic organisation which ministers to men and women with same sex attraction.  It is a marvellous organisation peopled with saints - men and women struggling but with faith in Christ, relying on the sacrament of confession and prayer, and making much better Christians than this priest here!   Pray for them today, and for our various countries.

The St Vitalis Skull: The Whole Truth!

It seems the whole St Vitalis thing has really intrigued my friends - they are all talking about the skull.  At a Consecration Mass on Tuesday evening a number were huddled around in a group pondering over my blog on an iPhone and discussing whether the skull was authentic or not.  Today another mate, a priest, has informed me that he and his school pal now living in England, have finally worked out how the skull ended up in Ireland.  It's so funny I thought I'd share it.

Young Anglo-Irish gentleman (henceforth referred to as "your boyo") is doing the grand tour thing.  Starting off with great intentions he ends up availing of the services of those whom it is not moral to avail services of, and after a number of services your boyo ends up with a rash or another such aggressive complaint that tends to come from availing too often of services that it is not moral to avail of. 

In desperation he seeks a cure of this aggressive complaint before he goes home, otherwise how could he explain how he ended up with this complaint when he was supposed to be finishing off his education?  Perhaps (it is cited by my friend and his pal) in such desperation your boyo was introduced to a foreign gentleman who informed him that there was a cure to be found in the rub of the relic of St Vitalis of Assisi, whose patronage covers such aggressive complaints.  And you would never guess, but he knows where to get the skull of this saint for the rubbing, but it will require a tidy sum and the utmost secrecy: if the priest found out there would be war.  Though it offends his respectable Protestant sensibilities, your boyo agrees, hands over the dosh (translation: money) and off goes yon foreign gentleman to raid the sacristy. 

However, the foreign gentleman does not go to the local church, for the relics of its saints and martyrs are guarded with great jealousy because there is always the threat that the crowd from the parish next door might stage a raid to grab whatever relics they can - a common pastime in Europe at the time.  He takes another turn and ends up in the local charnel house, where rifling through the various skulls of the dearly departed picks one, that of the late Signora Maria Teresa Benedetti-Morales fine upstanding mistress of the Buon Amici hostelry out the Milan road, who died at the ripe old age of 93 after burying three husbands, all rich, and finally succumbing herself following an incident with a hazelnut.*  And polishing up the skull, the foreign gentleman brings it to your boyo.  Delighted, with utmost faith in the fake, your boyo heads off back to the manoral pile in Ireland hoping this Vitalis of wherever will do the job and return him to his pristine state.  

We may never know if your boyo got the cure, but if not, the skull of the saint would be enough to distract the mater's attention.  And so it remained in the ancestral seat until one day a young little auctioneer arrived on the scene with a heap of dosh to carry off the skull to Hollywood with the promise of making it famous.  Here endeth the proposition.

The late Signora Maria Teresa Benedetti-Morales (note the resemblance to the skull)

Indeed!  I take it, then, they think it is a fake.

* That bit about Signora Benedetti-Morales is my insertion, which I do admit might not be the most inspired; call it a bit of colour, if nothing else.

In Glorious Splendour

For those of you who know London, and Catholic London in particular, St Patrick's Church, Soho, may be well known to you.  Many times I popped in to the church for a few prayers whenever passing down Oxford Street on the way to Charing Cross and Covent Garden. 

Of late, though, the church had been looking very grimy, long past a restoration.   At my last visit to the church before they closed it I had the honour of concelebrating Midnight Mass for New Year with the Parish Priest, the kind and most welcoming Fr Alexander Sherbrooke.  After Mass we had a delighted soiree into the wee hours with members of the Brazilian community who were hosting their annual post-Mass New Year's party in the basement.  We sacrificed the London fireworks to join in the Mass and party and we certainly chose the better part.

Well, Fr Alexander closed the doors of St Patrick's soon after to begin the restoration, and on the 31st May last they opened again to reveal a truly magnificent and splendid church.  A dark church has been wonderfully transformed into a gem.  Congratulations to Fr Alexander and all involved.  

The church  has a long and prestigious history, and among the many people of renown who have entered under its roof was the Servant of God Archbishop Fulton Sheen who spent some time there ministering.  It was in that church that the famous incident of the actress and the confessional took place.

Here are some more photographs of the restored church and ceremony.  It is interesting to note that church design and decoration are finally moving back to a richer, more traditional, devotional and artistic style.  Thank God the temptation to create another whitewashed, austere and bland minimalist monster was avoided.  Time we left those experimental disasters behind. 

Holy Father On The New Evangelisation

Here is the text of the Holy Father's speech to the members of the new Pontifical Council for Promotion of the New Evangelisation, delivered on Monday last (that title needs to be tighted up, why not Pontifical Council for the New Evangelisation?).  Some good points we in the Fraternity should take careful note of, particularly the observation that modern man is distracted.  How true that is in the area of culture and the arts.

Lord Cardinals,
Venerable Brothers in the Episcopate and the Priesthood,
Dear Brothers and Sisters,

When last June 28, at First Vespers of the Solemnity of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, I announced that I wished to institute a dicastery for promoting the New Evangelization, I gave an operative beginning to a reflection that I had had for a long time on the need to offer a concrete answer to the moment of crisis in Christian life, which is being verified in so many countries, above all those of ancient Christian tradition. Today, with this meeting, I can see with pleasure that this new pontifical council has become a reality. I thank Archbishop Salvatore Fisichella for the words he addressed to me, introducing me to the work of your first plenary assembly. My warm greetings to all of you with my encouragement for the contribution you will make to the work of the new dicastery, above all in view of the 13th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops that, in October of 2012, will in fact address the topic "New Evangelization for the Transmission of the Christian Faith."

The term "New Evangelization" speaks of the need for a renewed method of proclamation, especially for those who live in a context, such as the present one, in which the developments of secularization have left heavy traces even in countries with a Christian tradition. The Gospel is the ever new proclamation of the salvation wrought by Christ to render humanity a participant in the mystery of God and in his life of love and to open it to a future of sure and strong hope. To underscore that at this moment in the history of the Church she is called to carry out a New Evangelization, means intensifying missionary action to correspond fully with the Lord's mandate. The Second Vatican Council reminded that "the groups among which the Church dwells are often radically changed, for one reason or other, so that an entirely new set of circumstances may arise" (Decree Ad Gentes, 6). With farsighted understanding, the Conciliar Fathers saw on the horizon the cultural change that today is easily verifiable. Precisely this changed situation, which has created an unexpected situation for believers, requires particular attention to the proclamation of the Gospel, to give the reason for one's faith in situations that are different from the past.

The crisis being experienced bears in itself traces of the exclusion of God from people's lives, of a generalized indifference toward the Christian faith itself, to the point of attempting to marginalize it from public life. In past decades it was still possible to discover a general Christian sense that unified the common feeling of whole generations, growing up in the shadow of the faith that had molded the culture.

Today, unfortunately, we are witnessing the drama of a fragmentation that no longer consents to a unified point of reference; moreover, we often see the phenomenon of persons who wish to belong to the Church, but are strongly molded by a vision of life that opposes the faith.

To proclaim Jesus Christ the only Savior of the world seems more complex today than in the past; but our task remains the same as at the dawn of our history. The mission has not changed, just as the enthusiasm and the courage that moved the Apostles and the first disciples must not change. The Holy Spirit who pushed them to open the doors of the Cenacle, making them into evangelizers (cf. Acts 2:1-4), is the same Spirit that moves the Church today in a renewed proclamation of hope to the men of our time. St. Augustine said that one must not think that the grace of evangelization was extended only to the Apostles and with them that source of grace was exhausted, but that "this source manifests itself when it flows, not when it ceases to be poured out. And it was in this way that, through the Apostles, grace also reached others, who were sent to proclaim the Gospel ... what is more, it has continued to call, up to these last days, the whole body of his only-begotten Son, namely, his Church spread throughout the earth" (Sermon 239, 1). The grace of the mission is always in need of new evangelizers capable of receiving it, so that the salvific proclamation of the Word of God will never diminish in the changing conditions of history.

A dynamic continuity exists between the proclamation of the first disciples and our own. In the course of the centuries the Church has never ceased to proclaim the salvific mystery of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, but that same proclamation today needs a renewed vigor to convince contemporary man, often distracted and insensitive. Because of this, the New Evangelization will have to be responsible for finding the methods to make the proclamation of salvation more effective, without which personal existence remains in its state of contradiction, deprived of the essential.

Even in one who remains linked to his Christian roots, but lives the difficult relationship with modernity, it is important to make it understood that being Christian is not a sort of uniform to wear in private or on particular occasions, but is something alive and all-encompassing, able to take up all that is good in modernity.

I hope that in the work of these days you will be able to delineate a plan able to help the whole Church and the various particular Churches, in a commitment to the New Evangelization; a plan where the urgency for a renewed proclamation will take care of formation, in particular for the new generations, and be combined with a proposal of concrete signs able to make evident the answer that the Church intends to offer in this peculiar moment. If, on one hand, the whole community is called to reinvigorate the missionary spirit to give the new proclamation that the men of our time await, it must not be forgotten that believers' style of life needs to be genuinely credible, convincing all the more when the life situations of those who see it is all the more dramatic. It is because of this that we wish to make our own the words of the Servant of God Pope Paul VI when, in regard to evangelization, he said: "It is therefore primarily by her conduct and by her life that the Church will evangelize the world, in other words, by her living witness of fidelity to the Lord Jesus -- the witness of poverty and detachment, of freedom in the face of the powers of this world, in short, the witness of sanctity" (Apostolic Exhortation "Evangelii Nuntiandi," 41).

Dear friends, invoking the intercession of Mary, Star of evangelization, so that she will accompany the bearers of the Gospel and open the hearts of those who listen, I assure you of my prayer for your ecclesial service and impart to all of you the apostolic blessing.