SUMMARY OF APOSTOLIC TRIP TO TURKEY:
NOVEMBER 30 - DECEMBER 1
- Heal the Wounds of Separation between
Christians
- Church Asks to Live in Freedom in
Order to Reveal Christ
OTHER NEWS:
- Sunday: Primordial Nucleus of the
Liturgical Year
- Telegram of Condolence for
Typhoon in the Philippines
- Holy Father's Prayer Intentions for
December
- Other Pontifical Acts
___________________________________________________________
HEAL THE WOUNDS OF SEPARATION BETWEEN CHRISTIANS
VATICAN CITY, NOV 30, 2006 (VIS) - In Istanbul this
evening, after visiting the Museum of Santa Sophia, the Holy Father went
to the Blue Mosque where he and the Grand Mufti paused for a moment of
meditation. The Pope then travelled to the city's Armenian apostolic
patriarchate where he participated in a celebration of the Word in the
Cathedral of the Mother of God. The patriarchate of Istanbul is under the
jurisdiction of the Catholicos of all Armenia, Karekin II.
Upon his arrival, Pope Benedict was received by His
Beatitude Mesrob II, Armenian patriarch of Istanbul, with whom he entered
the cathedral in procession. After the ceremony and an address by Mesrob
II, the Holy Father addressed some brief remarks to those present.
"With great affection," said the Holy Father, "I
greet the entire Armenian apostolic community. ... My fraternal greeting
goes also to His Holiness Karekin II, Catholicos of Holy Etchmiadzin, and
the hierarchy of the Armenian Apostolic Church. I give thanks to God for
the Christian faith and witness of the Armenian people, transmitted from
one generation to the next, often in very tragic circumstances such as
those experienced in the last century.
"Our meeting," he added, "is more than a simple
gesture of ecumenical courtesy and friendship. It is a sign of our shared
hope in God's promises and our desire to see fulfilled the prayer that
Jesus offered for His disciples on the eve of His suffering and death:
'that they may all be one.' ... The tragic divisions which, over time,
have arisen among Christ's followers openly contradict the Lord's will,
give scandal to the world and damage that most holy cause, the preaching
of the Gospel to every creature. Precisely by the witness of their faith
and love, Christians are called to offer a radiant sign of hope and
consolation to this world, so marked by conflicts and tensions.
"We must continue therefore to do everything possible
to heal the wounds of separation and to hasten the work of rebuilding
Christian unity," said the Holy Father. "In this respect I can only offer
heartfelt thanks to the Lord for the deeper fraternal relationship that
has developed between the Armenian Apostolic Church and the Catholic
Church."
In closing, the Pope quoted the words of one of the
great Doctors of the Armenian Church, Nerses of Lambron, who lived in the
thirteenth century: "'Now, since we all need peace with God, let its
foundation be harmony among the brethren.' ... These words of Nerses have
lost nothing of their power. Together let us continue to pray for the
unity of all Christians."
Following the ceremony, a stone tablet in the form of
an Armenian cross was unveiled, bearing inscriptions in Latin and Armenian
recalling the visits to the cathedral by Paul VI, John Paul II and
Benedict XVI.
PV-TURKEY/ARMENIAN PATRIARCHATE/MESROB VIS
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CHURCH ASKS TO LIVE IN FREEDOM IN ORDER TO REVEAL
CHRIST
VATICAN CITY, DEC 1, 2006 (VIS) - At 8.30 a.m. today,
the Pope celebrated Mass at Istanbul's Latin Cathedral of the Holy Spirit,
in the presence of faithful from various communities present in the city
and from a number of Catholic rites. Also present were Ecumenical
Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople, Armenian Apostolic Patriarch
Mesrob II, and Syro-Orthodox Metropolitan Filuksinos Yusuf Cetin, as well
as representatives from the Protestant Churches.
The Cathedral of the Holy Spirit was inaugurated in
1846. Under the altar are relics of certain saints, among them St. Linus,
pope and martyr (67-69), St. Peter's immediate successor. In 1884, Pope
Leo XIII donated the cathedral a relic of St. John Chrysostom. In May
1989, the cathedral was affiliated to the Vatican Basilica.
In the courtyard of the building is a statue of
Benedict XV (1914-1922), erected by the Turks in memory of that Pope's
commitment in favor of the Turkish victims of World War One. An
inscription on the statue reads: "To the great pontiff of the world
tragedy, Benedict XV, benefactor of peoples without distinction of
nationality or religion, in recognition."
In 1967, Pope Paul VI visited the cathedral in the
company of Patriarch Athenagoras, a gesture repeated by John Paul II,
accompanied by Patriarch Dimitros I, in 1979.
Before Mass, the Pope paused in the courtyard to
bless a statue of Blessed John XXIII which is to be placed in a local
church. He also freed three white doves.
Various languages were used during the Eucharistic
celebration, including Latin, Turkish, French, German, Syriac, Arabic and
Spanish. The entrance antiphon and the "Sanctus" were left to the Armenian
Catholics; the responsorial psalm and the offertory antiphon to the
Chaldeans; the proclamation of the Gospel to the Syro-Catholics.
"As Saint Paul has just reminded us," said Benedict
XVI in his homily, "the Spirit is the enduring source of our faith and
unity. He awakens within us true knowledge of Jesus and He puts on our
lips the words of faith that enable us to acknowledge the Lord."
"To manifest the Spirit, to live by the Spirit, is
not to live for oneself alone, but to let oneself be conformed to Christ
Jesus by becoming, like Him, the servant of his brothers and sisters. Here
is a very concrete teaching for each of us."
The Church, said the Pope, "has been charged to
proclaim His Gospel to the ends of the earth, transmitting to the men and
women of our time the Good News which not only illuminates but overturns
their lives, even to the point of conquering death itself. This Good News
is not just a word, but a person, Christ Himself, risen and alive!"
"The Church's mission is not to preserve power, or to
gain wealth; her mission is to offer Christ, to give a share in Christ's
own life, man's most precious good, which God Himself gives us in His
Son."
"You know well," the Pope told his listeners, "that
the Church wishes to impose nothing on anyone, and that she merely asks to
live in freedom, in order to reveal the One whom she cannot hide, Christ
Jesus. ... Be ever receptive to the Spirit of Christ and so become
attentive to those who thirst for justice, peace, dignity and respect for
themselves and for their brothers and sisters."
"Together with the Virgin," he concluded, "let us
pray to Christ her Son: Send forth, O Lord, Your Holy Spirit upon the
whole Church, that He may dwell in each of her members and make them
heralds of Your Gospel!"
Following Mass, the Pope expressed his appreciation
for "the understanding and patience," and for "the truly warm welcome I
have been shown, also because I know that my presence over these days has
created no small disturbance in the daily lives of people in this city."
At the conclusion of the ceremony, the Pope went by
car to the airport of Istanbul where he bid farewell to the ecumenical
patriarch, the Armenian apostolic patriarch and the Syro-Orthodox
metropolitan. Before boarding the plane bound for Rome, he met briefly
with the governor of the local region and the mayor of Istanbul.
PV-TURKEY/MASS:FAREWELL/ISTANBUL
VIS 061201 (710)
SUNDAY: PRIMORDIAL NUCLEUS OF THE LITURGICAL YEAR
VATICAN CITY, DEC 1, 2006 (VIS) - Made public today was
a Message from Benedict XVI to Cardinal Francis Arinze, prefect of the
Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, for
a study day organized by that dicastery, which takes place today and is
dedicated to the theme of: "Sunday Mass for the sanctification of
Christian people."
In the text, which is dated November 27, the Pope
recalls how the study day falls on the anniversary of the promulgation of
the Constitution "Sacrosanctum Concilium," and is the third of its kind
following one dedicated to the Roman Martyrology and another to sacred
music.
"Sundays," writes the Pope, "remain the fundamental
seedbed and the primordial nucleus of the liturgical year; ... a fragment
of time pervaded by eternity, because its dawn saw the Risen Christ enter
victoriously into eternal life."
"For the first Christians, participation in Sunday
celebrations was the natural expression of their belonging to Christ, of
their communion with His mystical Body, in joyous expectation of His
glorious return."
"Today," the Holy Father continues, "it is more than
ever necessary to reiterate the sacred nature of the Lord's day and the
need to participate in Sunday Mass. The cultural context in which we live,
often marked by religious indifference and secularism that obscure the
horizon of transcendence, must not cause us to forget that the People of
God who came into being with the events of Easter must return [to those
events] as an inexhaustible spring, in order to better understand ...
their own identity and the reasons for their existence."
"Sunday was not chosen by the Christian community,"
he writes, "rather by the Apostles, indeed by Christ Himself Who on that
day, "the first day of the week," arose and appeared before the disciples.
... Each Sunday celebration of the Eucharist enacts the sanctification of
Christian people, until that Sunday without end, the day of the definitive
encounter of God with His creatures."
Benedict XVI closes his message by expressing the
hope that the study day "may help to recover the Christian meaning of
Sunday in ... the life of all believers."
MESS/SUNDAY/ARINZE
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TELEGRAM OF CONDOLENCE FOR TYPHOON IN THE
PHILIPPINES
VATICAN CITY, DEC 1, 2006 (VIS) - Cardinal Secretary of
State Tarcisio Bertone S.D.B., sent a telegram of condolence, in the
Pope's name, to Archbishop Fernando Filoni,
apostolic nuncio to the Philippines, for a typhoon that hit the country
yesterday, causing numerous victims:
"Deeply saddened by the tragic loss of life resulting
from the recent typhoon in the eastern Philippines, His Holiness Pope
Benedict XVI assures all affected of his closeness in prayer. The Holy
Father commends the deceased to the loving mercy of Almighty God, and upon
their grieving families and all those injured he invokes divine strength
and comfort. His Holiness likewise prays for the rescue workers and all
involved in providing practical assistance to the victims of this
disaster, encouraging them to persevere in their efforts to bring relief
and support."
TGR/TYPHOON PHILIPPINES/BERTONE
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HOLY FATHER'S PRAYER INTENTIONS FOR DECEMBER
VATICAN CITY, DEC 1, 2006 (VIS) - The Holy Father's
general prayer intention for December is: "That Christ, meek and humble of
heart, may inspire those responsible for nations to use power wisely and
responsibly."
His mission intention is: "That in every part of the
world missionaries may live out their vocation with joy and enthusiasm,
faithfully following in Christ's footsteps."
POPE-PRAYER INTENTIONS/DECEMBER/...
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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS
VATICAN CITY, DEC 1, 2006 (VIS) - The Holy Father:
- Appointed Fr. Manuel Antonio Mendes dos Santos C.M.F.,
provincial superior of the Congregation of Missionary Sons of the
Immaculate Heart of Mary, as bishop of Sao Tome and Principe (area 1,000,
population 140,000, Catholics 103,000, priests 12, religious 39). The
bishop-elect was born in Sao Joanhinho, Portugal in 1960 and ordained a
priest in 1985. He succeeds Abilio Rodas de Sousa Ribas C.S.Sp., whose
resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese, the Holy Father
accepted, upon having reached the age limit.
- Appointed Fr. Emilio Sumbelelo, judicial vicar of
the diocese of Benguela, Angola, as coadjutor bishop of the diocese of
Uije (area 63,467, population 1,295,555, Catholics 572,500, priests 49,
religious 92), Angola. The bishop-elect was born in Cubal, Angola, in 1964
and ordained a priest in 1991.
NER:RE:NEC/.../MENDES:RODAS:SUMBELELO
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