Laudato Si': On Care for Our Common Home - POPE FRANCIS

The encyclical letter of the Holy Father Francis - 

Laudato Si': On Care for Our Common Home

1. "Laudato si', mi' Signore" – "Praise be to you, my Lord". In the words of this beautiful canticle, Saint Francis of Assisi reminds us that our common home is like a sister with whom we share our life and a beautiful mother who opens her arms to embrace us. "Praise be to you, my Lord, through our Sister, Mother Earth, who sustains and governs us, and who produces various fruit with coloured flowers and herbs".

2. This sister now cries out to us because of the harm we have inflicted on her by our irresponsible use and abuse of the goods with which God has endowed her. We have come to see ourselves as her lords and masters, entitled to plunder her at will. The violence present in our hearts, wounded by sin, is also reflected in the symptoms of sickness evident in the soil, in the water, in the air and in all forms of life. This is why the earth herself, burdened and laid waste, is among the most abandoned and maltreated of our poor; she "groans in travail" (Rom 8:22). We have forgotten that we ourselves are dust of the earth (cf. Gen 2:7); our very bodies are made upof her elements, we breathe her air and we receive life and refreshment from her waters.

Nothing in this world is indifferent to us

3. More than fifty years ago, with the world teetering on the brink of nuclear crisis, Pope Saint John XXIII wrote an Encyclical which not only rejected war but offered a proposal for peace. He addressed his message Pacem in Terris to the entire "Catholic world" and indeed "to all men and women of good will". Now, faced as we are with global environmental deterioration, I wish to address every person living on this planet. In my Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, I wrote to all the members of the Church with the aim of encouraging ongoing missionary renewal. In this Encyclical, I would like to enter into dialogue with all people about our common home.

4. In 1971, eight years after Pacem in Terris, Blessed Pope Paul VI referred to the ecological concern as "a tragic consequence" of unchecked human activity: "Due to an ill-considered exploitation of nature, humanity runs the risk of destroying it and becoming in turn a victim of this degradation". He spoke in similar terms to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations about the potential for an "ecological catastrophe under the effective explosion of industrial civilization", and stressed "the urgent need for a radical change in the conduct of humanity", inasmuch as "the most extraordinary scientific advances, the most amazing technical abilities, the most astonishing economic growth, unless they are accompanied by authentic social and moral progress, will definitively turn against man".

5. Saint John Paul II became increasingly concerned about this issue. In his first Encyclical he warned that human beings frequently seem "to see no other meaning in their natural environment than what serves for immediate use and consumption". Subsequently, he would call for a global ecological conversion. At the same time, he noted that little effort had been made to "safe-guard the moral conditions for an authentic human ecology". The destruction of the human environment is extremely serious, not only because God has entrusted the world to us men and women, but because human life is itself a gift which must be defended from various forms of debasement. Every effort to protect and improve our world entails profound changes in "lifestyles, models of production and consumption, and the established structures of power which today govern societies". Authentic human development has a moral character. It presumes full respect for the human person, but it must also be concerned for the world around us and "take into account the nature of each being and of its mutual connection in an ordered system". Accordingly, our human ability to transform reality must proceed in line with God's original gift of all that is.

6. My predecessor Benedict XVI likewise proposed "eliminating the structural causes of the dysfunctions of the world economy and correcting models of growth which have proved incapable of ensuring respect for the environment". He observed that the world cannot be analyzed by isolating only one of its aspects, since "the book of nature is one and indivisible", and includes the environment, life, sexuality, the family, social relations, and so forth. It follows that "the deterioration of nature is closely connected to the culture which shapes human coexistence". Pope Benedict asked us to recognize that the natural environment has been gravely damaged by our irresponsible behaviour. The social environment has also suffered damage. Both are ultimately due to the same evil: the notion that there are no indisputable truths to guide our lives, and hence human freedom is limitless. We have forgotten that "man is not only a freedom which he creates for himself. Man does not create himself. He is spirit and will, but also nature". With paternal concern, Benedict urged us to realize that creation is harmed "where we ourselves have the final word, where everything is simply our property and we use it for ourselves alone. The misuse of creation begins when we no longer recognize any higher instance than ourselves, when we see nothing else but ourselves"...

FULL TEXT: http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2015/06/18/full-text-laudato-si/

Fall in Love With Eucharist - Benedict XVI 2010

Pope Urges Faithful to Fall in Love With Eucharist

Recalls St. Thomas' Devotion to Sacrament

June 23, 2010 | 3798 hits

VATICAN CITY, JUNE 23, 2010 (Zenit.org).- Echoing one of his predecessors, Benedict XVI says all faithful children of the Church should be disciples of St. Thomas Aquinas.

The Pope said this today during the general audience, which he again dedicated to a reflection on the 13th century saint known as the Angelic Doctor.

The Holy Father cited Pope Paul VI, who in 1974 took a pilgrimage in the footsteps of St. Thomas. That Pope affirmed in Aquino: "All of us, who are faithful children of the Church can and must, at least in some measure, be his disciples!"

Benedict XVI took today's audience to offer a summary and explanation of the saint's masterpiece, the "Summa Theologiae." He also reflected on some of Thomas' other works, including a series of sermons given the year before his death.

One of the elements highlighted by the Pontiff was St. Thomas' devotion to the Eucharist.

"Speaking of the sacraments [in the third part of the Summa], St. Thomas pauses particularly on the mystery of the Eucharist, for which he had a very great devotion, to the point that, according to the ancient biographers, he used to lean his head on the tabernacle, almost as if to hear the beating of the divine and human Heart of Jesus," the Pope recalled.

He cited one of the saint's explanations of the Eucharist: "The Eucharist being the sacrament of the passion of our Lord, is also an effect of this sacrament, it not being other than the application in us of the passion of the Lord."

And in this light, the Pope reflected, "Let us understand well why St. Thomas and other saints celebrated the Holy Mass shedding tears of compassion for the Lord, who offers himself in sacrifice for us, tears of joy and of gratitude."

He continued: "Dear brothers and sisters, in the school of the saints, let us be enamored of this sacrament! Let us participate in the Holy Mass with recollection to obtain its spiritual fruits, let us nourish ourselves on the Body and Blood of the Lord, to be incessantly nourished by divine grace!

"Let us willingly and frequently converse, face to face, in the company of the Most Blessed Sacrament!"

Our Lady

Benedict XVI also reflected on Thomas' devotion to the Virgin Mary.

"St. Thomas was, as all the saints, a great devotee of Our Lady," he said. "He described her with a beautiful appellative: 'Triclinium totius Trinitatis,' triclinium, that is, place where the Trinity finds its rest, because, due to the Incarnation, the three divine Persons dwell [in her] and experience delight and joy to live in her soul full of grace as in no other creature."

"Through her intercession we can obtain all help," the Pope affirmed. And he concluded with a prayer attributed to St. Thomas: "Obtain for me, oh my most sweet Lady, true charity, with which I will be able to love with all my heart your Most Holy Son and you, after him, above all things, and my neighbor in God and for God."

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On ZENIT's Web page:

Full text: www.zenit.org/article-29689?l=english

Harmony Exists Between Faith and Reason - Benedict XVI 2010

Harmony Exists Between Faith and Reason

Pope Offers Reflection on Life and Works of St. Thomas Aquinas

June 02, 2010 | 2674 hits

VATICAN CITY, JUNE 2, 2010 (Zenit.org).- The "great work" of St. Thomas Aquinas was to show not only that faith and reason are compatible, but also that there is "a natural harmony" between the two, says Benedict XVI.

The Pope said this today at the general audience in St. Peter's Square in which he returned to his series of catechesis on the great thinkers of the Middle Ages with a reflection on the figure of St. Thomas Aquinas.

Quoting Pope John Paul II, Benedict XVI said, "The Church has been justified in consistently proposing St. Thomas a master of thought and a model of the right way to do theology." He also noted that St. Thomas is called the Doctor Angelicus "perhaps because of his virtues, in particular the loftiness of his thought and purity of life."

Thomas was born between 1224 and 1225 near Aquino, in present-day Lazio. He was from a wealthy family, and was sent to study in Naples, which was the capital of the Kingdom of Sicily. It was there that St. Thomas first came into contact with the works of Aristotle, "whose great value he intuited immediately," the Pope said.

In 1245, Thomas entered the Dominicans, and was sent to Paris to study theology under St. Albert the Great.

"Albert and Thomas forged a true and profound friendship and they learned to esteem and wish one another well," the Pontiff commented, "to the point that Albert wanted his disciple to follow him also to Cologne, where he had been invited by the superiors of the order to found a theological study."

During his stay in Paris, St. Thomas "made contact with all of Aristotle's works and with his Arab commentators," the Pope explained, "which had been ignored for a long time."

Aristotle

"They were writings on the nature of knowledge, on the natural sciences, on metaphysics, on the soul and on ethics, rich in information and intuition that seemed valid and convincing," he continued. "It was a whole complete vision of the world developed without and before Christ, with pure reason, and it seemed to impose itself on reason as 'the' vision itself."

It was in this context that "two cultures met," the Holy Father noted, "the pre-Christian culture of Aristotle, with his radical rationality, and the classic Christian culture."

And it was also in this context, Benedict XVI added, that St. Thomas Aquinas "carried out an operation of fundamental importance for the history of philosophy and theology, I would say for the history of culture."

The Pope explained that St. Thomas "studied Aristotle and his interpreters in depth," he obtained improved translations from the original Greek texts, and no longer relying on the Arab commentators, he provided his own commentaries on "the Aristotelian works, distinguishing what was valid from what was doubtful or to be refuted all together."

"In short," the Holy Father said, "Thomas Aquinas showed that there is a natural harmony between Christian faith and reason."

"This was the great work of Thomas," he continued, "who in that moment of encounter between two cultures -- that moment in which it seemed that faith should surrender before reason -- showed that they go together, that what seemed to be reason incompatible with faith was not reason, and what seemed to be faith was not faith, in so far as it was opposed to true rationality; thus he created a new synthesis, which shaped the culture of the following centuries."

Benedict XVI noted the "excellent intellectual gifts" of St. Thomas, as well as his "literary production, which he continued until his death, and which is something prodigious: commentaries on sacred Scripture -- because the professor of theology was above all interpreter of Scripture -- commentaries on Aristotle's writings, powerful systematic works, among which excels the Summa Theologiae, treatises and discourses on several arguments."

The Pope noted as well that attributed to St. Thomas are the liturgical texts for the feast of Corpus Domini: "Thomas had an exquisitely Eucharistic soul. The very beautiful hymns that the liturgy of the Church sings to celebrate the mystery of the real presence of the Body and Blood of the Lord in the Eucharist are attributed to his faith and his theological wisdom."

Straw

Regarding his death, the Holy Father said that "the last months of Thomas' earthly life remained surrounded by a particular atmosphere -- I would say a mysterious atmosphere."

"In December 1273," the Pontiff continued, "[St. Thomas] called his friend and secretary Reginald to communicate to him the decision to interrupt all work because, during the celebration of Mass, he had understood, following a supernatural revelation, that all he had written up to then was only 'a heap of straw.'

"It is a mysterious episode, which helps us to understand not only Thomas' personal humility, but also the fact that all that we succeed in thinking and saying about the faith, no matter how lofty and pure, is infinitely exceeded by the grandeur and beauty of God, which will be revealed to us fully in Paradise."

The saintly theologian died a few months later in 1274 while traveling to Lyon, where he was to participate in the Second Council of Lyon, convoked by Pope Gregory X.

"The life and teaching of St. Thomas Aquinas could be summarized in an episode handed down by the ancient biographers," Benedict XVI concluded. "While the saint, as was his custom, was praying in the morning before the crucifix in the Chapel of St. Nicholas in Naples, the sacristan of the church, Domenico da Caserta, heard a dialogue unfolding.

"Thomas was asking, worried, if what he had written on the mysteries of the Christian faith was right. And the Crucifix responded: 'You have spoken well of me, Thomas. What will be your recompense?'

"And the answer that Thomas gave is that which all of us, friends and disciples of Christ, would always wants to give: 'Nothing other than You, Lord!'"

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On ZENIT's Web page:

Full text: www.zenit.org/article-29447?l=english

St Anthony of Padua, the perfect patron for generation debt

St Anthony of Padua, the perfect patron for generation debt
by Mary O'Regan
posted Friday, 12 Jun 2015

Francisco de Zurbarán's painting of the saint

He could be intercessor for the young people who found themselves on the jobs market after 2008

During the winter just passed, I was out with a friend. The temperature dropped and there was a bitter chill in the air. Silly me, I had come out without a hat and the cold was freezing my skull. My friend kindly gave me a loan of their hat, which was made of deliciously soft grey cashmere. When we met up again, I returned the hat to my friend, but missed it, so I asked St Anthony if he could find me one.

Then a funny thing happened. On my birthday, another friend of mine gave me a grey cashmere hat with the words, “I saw it and knew you’d love it”. I had not said a word to her that I was on the look-out for this exact type of hat. True, I love warm hats. But it is very “coincidental” that I would pray for a grey cashmere hat and be given one as a gift. Perhaps it is not so out-of-the-ordinary when you consider that I prayed to St Anthony.

Now, on the whole, the 13th century Franciscan Friar is renowned for his intercession in finding lost or stolen goods. In the past, I’ve been admonished for giving “shopping lists” to St Anthony, but I believe that he is good to young people like me who are not rich and who can’t buy a new woolly hat unless it comes from Primark.

When you consider his short life, St Anthony was remarkably effective in fighting on behalf of the poor. He came from a Portuguese family who were reasonably well-off, and in his youth, he did not have to endure grinding poverty which would have made him experience hardship first hand. He was, however, an Augustinian for ten years, before leaving them to become a Franciscan, where he voluntarily embraced austere poverty. It was to be the making of St Anthony – he was able to rebuke wealthy people who gave nothing to the poor – while never being called a hypocrite.

In 1231, St Anthony lobbied the Council of Padua to pass a law in favour of debtors who could not pay off their debts. The museum of Padua still exhibits a copy of this law. Once St Anthony was invited to preach at the funeral of a loan-shark. While giving the sermon, he said that the rich man’s heart could be found among his treasures. Apparently, the usurer’s family went to look inside the usurer’s treasure and sure enough, miraculously they found his heart among the coins.

St Anthony may have gone to Heaven a long time ago on June 13, 1231, but he could become a great intercessor for the generation of young people who found themselves on the jobs market after the crash of 2008, and who have been racking up personal debt without knowing how they will ever pay it back.

A practicing Catholic guy with same sex attraction

I am a practicing Catholic guy who experiences same sex attraction.  I follow the clear and simple teaching of Scripture and the Catholic Church regarding homosexuality.
I am very much at peace in love with Jesus  :)

Our Homophobic Pope? - Reno

OUR HOMOPHOBIC POPE - R.R. Reno

The media make a big deal of Pope Francis when this or that utterance seems to signal that the Great Capitulation is imminent. Liberals have long hoped for the moment when the Catholic Church stops being “anti-modern,” which doesn't mean engaged with science, philosophically sophisticated, and capable of formulating a vision for modern political and economic life—the Church does all that—but instead means adopting liberal attitudes toward moral truth. If only the Catholic Church would be “progressive” (on matters of sexual liberation, that is) rather than “reactionary.”

And so it's good to remind ourselves of how frustrated progressives are when they actually pay attention to what Pope Francis says most of the time, because it's not encouraging to progressives. Here's Jamie Manson, writing recently for the National Catholic Reporter:

Anyone who reads Francis' speeches regularly knows that he frequently employs “one man, one woman” marriage rhetoric. Many journalists seem too busy searching for headline-grabbing progressive pearls to take much notice of this. But as we head toward the synod on the family, it would be wise to begin taking note of just how strongly the pope privileges heterosexual marriage and excludes the possibility of same-sex marriage.

Francis' rhetoric is important because it plays right into the hand of Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone, who is facing public backlash for his morality clauses for employees of the San Francisco archdiocese's Catholic schools.

It also emboldens culture-warrior bishops like Archbishop Joseph Kurtz, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and Archbishop William Lori, chairman of the USCCB's Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty. Both Lori and Kurtz spoke last week at the March for Marriage in Washington, D.C.

While Francis is pushing for justice in the workplace through equal pay, he is adding fuel to the unjust firings and witch hunts of LGBT employees of Catholic institutions who choose to be married.

Against this “reactionary” intransigence, Manson calls for church leaders to “evolve.” Don't the bishops know that forward-thinking people don't think in terms of “men” and “women” anymore? When is the Pope going to get over his reactionary mentality and ascend to the bright uplands of progressive thought? And not just thought, but a New Church!

In addition to evolving intellectually, church leaders must also transform their sacramental vision. They must have the courage and humility to see that God can be as fully present in the relationships of same-sex couples as God can be in opposite-sex couples and that God can be as sacramentally present through the body of a woman priest as God can be sacramentally present in the body of a male priest.

Our church leaders must, in essence, stop telling God where God can and cannot be. They must admit that they cannot control how God can and cannot work through God's own people and where God's sacramental life can and cannot emerge. Only then will we have a church that moves beyond the limits of complementarity and into a new life as a true reflection of the justice of God.

I find it reassuring to know that Jamie Manson finds Pope Francis frustratingly reactionary.

R. R. Reno is editor of First Things.

Our Lady of the Isles - Argyll and the Isles Roman Catholic Diocese, Scotland

Our Lady of the Isles

To give honour to the Blessed Virgin Mary is as natural to the people of the Gaeltachd as breathing the air. As well as being expressed in the personal and community prayer of the people, it is also expressed in their language and in their description of everyday things. The Gael sees no boundary between the world of faith and the secular world – every thing and every event may be pervaded by the grace of God which in practice is principally obtained through the intercession and protection of Mary, the Mother of God. Especially in times of trouble or threat the Gael places special reliance on her power of intercession and looks to her for safety and refuge.

In Scots Gaelic there is a special name for the Virgin Mary which is used for her alone – "Moire" (Mary). The ordinary word for Mary is "Mairi" but this word is never used to denote the Virgin Mary. Her special place in the lives and culture of the people demands a special name. On the lips of many Gaelic speakers today can be regularly heard the phrase "A Mhoire" (By Mary).

Innumerable blessings, hymns, religious songs, legends, and pious customs relating to "Moire Mhin Mhathar" (Sweet Mother Mary) form the great majority of all the collected material of Gaelic folklore in the Isles. Mary's name is to be found in connection with plants, nuts, birds, and the sea itself, called "cuilidh Moire" (Mary's Treasury). All of life was permeated by devotion to the Blessed Virgin: "safe delivery" into the world was attributed to her protection as was "safe passage" to the world to come.

The relatively modern hymns of Donald John MacDonald, mostly composed in the late 1970s, beautifully and powerfully express the depth of devotion of the island people to Our Lady:

A Mhoire mhìn-gheal, a mhéinn nan gràsan,

Do dh'aona Mhac Dhè bu tu fhèin a mhàthair:

Stiuir mo cheum-sa tro rè mo làithean                    

Air sligh' an dòchais gu sòlas Phàrrais.

~ Fair gentle Mary, rich source of grace,

You were the mother of God's only begotten Son:

Guide my footsteps throughout my days

On the journey of hope to the joy of Paradise.

(translation: John Campbell)

Fishermen marked their devotion to the Mother of God, and their unswerving belief in her power to protect them from danger, in the names that they gave to their fishing boats: Morning Star, Reul na Mara, and Ocean Star.

But on land there was little tangible evidence of the peoples' devotion other than the naming of churches. The Rosary was recited both privately and publicly but there was no need to "declare tangibly" for all to see what had been previously held in the bosom of the faith and the culture.

This all changed after the Second World War. In the late 1940s the Ministry of Defence announced its intention to establish a Rocket Range on the island of South Uist. Initially, the proposal was welcomed as it would bring much need jobs to the island but this stance changed when it was realised what the scale of the establishment was intended to be. There was to be a new military town, along with facilities for the construction of missiles. The development was to extend from Sollas in North Uist to Bornish in South Uist with its centre in the parish of Ardkenneth. It was to be something similar to the army training centre at Salisbury Plain. People and their activities were to be 'removed' from the military area.

Resistance to the proposal was led by Canon John Morrison ("Father Rocket"), the energetic Parish Priest of Ardkenneth. He realised that if the development on the scale anticipated went ahead, not only would his parish be effectively destroyed, but a distinctive way of life, language, and culture would be in serious jeopardy. He mustered political support and ran a highly effective campaign in the national media opposing the intended development. At the same time, he supervised the building of the wayside shrines to the Blessed Virgin Mary which are a unique feature of Ardkenneth Parish to this day. These are not just expressions of the devotion of the people but they were deliberately placed alongside the intended military roads to remind 'strangers' that they were now in a 'different' place.

The perceived threat to the distinctive faith, language, and culture of the people which the proposal for the militarization of large tracts of South Uist would be prompted a tide of prayer of intercession for the protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In conjunction with the Marian Year of 1954, the statue of Our Lady went round the houses and villages of Ardkenneth and Bornish parishes where neighbours would come together for the recitation of the rosary.

It was during the same Marian Year of 1954 that permission to use the title 'Our Lady of the Isles' (Moire ro Naomh nan Eilean; Ban -Tighearna nan Eilean) was obtained from Archbishop William Godfrey, Apostolic Delegate to Great Britain.

Then Canon Morrison began his final and his most ambitious project – a shrine was to be built to Our Lady of the Isles on the island of South Uist. The site for the statue was selected deliberately – the hill of Rueval. There it would overlook much of the island and, in particular, it would overlook the proposed military facility. He commissioned one of the foremost sculptors of the day, Hew Lorimer, to carry out the work. The statue was intended to be both an expression of the devotion of the people of the parishes of South Uist to the Blessed Virgin Mary but was also intended to be a public and permanent reminder to 'strangers' that they were entering a 'different' world. People of all denominations supported the project through fundraising and the giving of their labour to construct the road and the foundations for the forty ton statue. The first work of Hew Lorimer stands in the grounds of St Michael's, Ardkenneth. It was then 'scaled up' to the 25ft height that the statue on Rueval has today.

The project was completed in 1957 and the statue was dedicated on the Feast of the Assumption 1958. On the day of dedication there was an honour guard of the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders through which passed the visiting clergy, an Archbishop, two Bishops, Canons and Monsignors, a choir of schoolchildren sang, and it rained almost incessantly.

Eight months later, in April 1959, the announcement was made by the Ministry of Defence that the rocket range development proposal was to be much scaled down. It was to be a missile testing and firing range with mostly visiting military personnel. There was to be no 'new' town and no removal of people.

For the past fifty years 'the Range', as it is popularly known locally, has been an undoubted blessing for the people of these islands. It has brought much needed, well-paid employment and far from 'destroying' the distinctive faith, language, and culture of the people, the process of assimilation has led to many service personnel choosing to make their home here when their time of military service was over. The Blessed Virgin Mary, Our Lady of the Isles, has protected her people and brought them great blessings.

The portable statues of Our Lady still go round the houses and villages of Ardkenneth and Bornish Parishes and the Rosary is still recited. The wayside shrines of Ardkenneth parish are still lovingly cared for. 'Statue Rueval' stands against the backdrop of radar domes: Our Lady of the Isles, with her beloved Son's hand raised in blessing for the people of these islands. Through her intercession, she protects us, delivers us from threat, and enables the blessings of her Son to be bestowed upon us. Perhaps, too, her presence on the hill of Rueval reminds another generation of 'strangers' that they are entering a distinctive world of faith, language, and culture, where deep devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary is still as natural to the people as breathing the air. 

Story: Fr. Michael MacDonald, Ardkenneth
Photos: Christine MacIntyre, Ardrishaig © All rights reserved.

From: http://rcdai.org.uk/our-lady-of-the-isles.html

Beda College a seminary for mature vocations

Le Pape ouvre la voie à la béatification des martyrs du Laos

Le Pape ouvre la voie à la béatification des martyrs du Laos

2015-06-06 Radio Vatican

(RV) C’est un grand jour pour l’Église du Laos : le Pape François a signé vendredi le décret reconnaissant le martyre d’un jeune prêtre, Joseph Thao Tien, et de 14 autres religieux et laïcs qui ont perdu la vie entre 1954 et 1970 au Laos, assassinés, exécutés ou morts d’épuisement. Ils furent assassinés pour leur foi dans le contexte de la guérilla communiste qui était déterminée à éliminer tout ce qui était étranger et chrétien. Certains étaient laotiens, souvent catéchistes, d’autres missionnaires étrangers, des Missions Étrangères de Paris pour les uns, Oblats de Marie Immaculée pour les autres. Parmi eux des français originaires de l’Ouest comme le père Jean-Baptiste Malo. Tous payèrent de leur vie leur engagement à la suite de l’Evangile et leur décision de rester sur place malgré les lourdes menaces qui pesaient sur eux.

Le prêtre laotien Joseph Tien (1918-1954) est considéré comme le premier martyr laotien. Dix prêtres français ont aussi payé de leur vie leur engagement pour l'évangélisation du Laos, parmi lesquels cinq prêtres des MEP : Jean-Baptiste Malo (1899-1954), René Dubroux (1914-1959), Noël Tenaud (1904-1961), Marcel Denis (1919-1961) et Lucien Galan (1921-1968), et cinq prêtres des OMI : Louis Leroy (1923-1961), Michel Coquelet (1931-1961), Vincent L’Hénoret (1921-1961), Jean Wauthier (1926-1967) et Joseph Boissel (1909-1969).

Figurent aussi parmi ces martyrs reconnus le catéchiste thaïlandais Joseph Outhay (1933-1961), le catéchiste laotien Luc Sy (1938-1970) et les laïcs laotiens Thomas Khampheuane (1952-1968) et Maisam Pho Inpeng (1934-1970).

L’évangélisation du Laos est récente. Les prêtres des Missions étrangères de Paris furent les premiers à apporter l’Evangile dans ce pays à la fin du 19° siècle. Aujourd’hui encore les chrétiens vivent sous étroite surveillance. A ces 15 martyrs du Laos, il faut ajouter le missionnaire italien Mario Borzaga est son catéchiste hmong, tués eux aussi en haine de la foi au Laos en 1960. Leur procès diocésain, instruit en Italie, a également abouti. Le décret les concernant a été signé par le Pape François au début du mois de mai.

Pope: Marriage between man and woman, no to gender ideology

Pope: marriage between man and woman, no to gender ideology

2015-06-08 Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) The challenges facing the Church in Puerto Rico were under the spotlight in the Vatican on Monday as Pope Francis met with the bishops of the Caribbean archipelago.

Among the difficulties facing people there, the Pope mentioned the serious economic situation leading to widespread migration, unemployment, corruption, drugs trafficking and domestic violence.

Stressing the need to focus on the pastoral care of the family, Pope Francis also spoke of the challenge of gender ideology in his prepared remarks which were handed to the bishops during the audience .

In his discourse, the Pope again invites the Church to distance itself from ideologies and political trends and asks the Church leaders to bind together to address the many problems facing the Caribbean country and U.S. territory.

The sacrament of marriage is one of the Latin American people’s most important treasures, the Pope says, and it must be defended. He urges them to emphasize family pastoral ministry in order to counter "serious social problems" such as "the difficult economic situation, migration, domestic violence" and "unemployment, drug trafficking and corruption."

No to gender ideology, protecting the complementarity between men and women

The complementarity between a man and a woman is being questioned by the so-called gender ideology in the name of a freer and more just society, the Pope observes. In fact, he warns, the differences between men and women are not a question of “opposition or subordination but rather of communion and generation… always in the image and likeness of God." Without mutual giving- he adds - neither can have an in-depth understanding of the other.

Bishops are united to face the country's problems

The Pope invites the Church leaders not simply to pray but also to reach out in friendship and “fraternal aid" to address the many serious problems facing Puerto Rico. And, he warns them against "wasting energy in divisions and clashes." "The more intense the communion…the more it favors the mission," he says.

Pope Francis encourages the bishops to distance themselves from any ideologies or political trends that can “waste their time and a real passion for the Kingdom of God." Because of its mission, he points out, the Church is not tied to any political system so that it may always safeguard the transcendence of the human person.

Be merciful pastors, care for vocations

The bishop, the Pope affirms, "is a model for his priests and motivates them to always seek spiritual renewal and rediscover the joy of leading his flock in the great family of the Church." In view of the forthcoming Jubilee Year of Mercy, the Pope therefore asks bishops and priests to be "servants of God's forgiveness, especially in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. To have good shepherds , he notes, one must start with the seminaries so that they can generate an adequate number of vocations. And, he urges the faithful of Puerto Rico, in particular associations and movements, to cooperate generously in proclaiming the Gospel in every environment including the most hostile and alienated from the Church.(from Vatican Radio)