Pope Francis: Synod is a time for sharing

VATICAN - (October 3, 2018) - In his Opening Speech for the Fifteenth General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, Pope Francis said “the Synod we are living is a time for sharing” – sharing that must involve both speaking with courage and frankness, and listening with humility. The Synod, he said, “must be an exercise in dialogue,” especially for those directly participating in the event.

Pope Francis emphasized that the Synod “is an ecclesial exercise in discernment,” an “interior attitude rooted in an act of faith.” One of the innovations in this General Assembly will be moments of silence after every five speeches, precisely in order for participants to discern what they have heard.

The importance of listening was in important motif in the Pope’s speech. In order to be a Church that “listens and journeys,” Pope Francis said we must “leave behind” our “prejudice and stereotypes.” In particular, he warned against both the “scourge of clericalism” and the “virus of self-sufficiency.”

Despite the troubles the Church faces today, Pope Francis reminded us that “our faith tells us that it is also the Kairos,” God’s time, “in which the Lord comes to meet us in order to love us and call us to the fullness of life.”

“May the Synod awaken our hearts!” he proclaimed, expressing the hope that “the meeting between generations” might “be extremely fruitful for giving rise to hope.”

During the Synod, Pope Francis said, “let us ‘spend time with the future,’” in order “to take from this Synod not merely a document – that generally is only read by a few and criticized by many – but above all concrete pastoral proposals capable of fulfilling the Synod’s purpose.”

By Christopher Wells

At synod, Sydney archbishop apologizes to young people for church failures

Archbishop Fisher sees acknowledgment of mistakes as foundation for building relationships

VATICAN CITY - (October 4, 2018) - Australian Archbishop Anthony Fisher of Sydney used his speech at the Synod of Bishops to formally apologize to young people for all the ways the Catholic Church and its members have harmed them or let them down.

In the presence of Pope Francis, he apologized Oct. 4 "for the shameful deeds of some priests, religious and laypeople, perpetrated upon you or other young people just like you, and the terrible damage that has done."

He apologized "for the failure of too many bishops and others to respond appropriately when abuse was identified, and to do all in their power to keep you safe; and for the damage thus done to the church's credibility and to your trust."

Later, at the synod briefing for the press, Paolo Ruffini, prefect of the Dicastery for Communication, said several of the 25 bishops who spoke that morning asked young people to forgive the church and its members. Some spoke specifically of cases of clerical sexual abuse, he said, while others asked forgiveness for not welcoming migrants -- most of whom are young -- or for trying to "tame" young people rather than recognize their energy and enthusiasm as a gift.

Chiara Giaccardi, an Italian professor of sociology working with the synod, told reporters "at least five or six" of the 25 speeches "emphasized asking forgiveness in a strong way." Most of those, she said, mentioned "the church's lack of living its mandate fully."

The synod's communication plan is to have a few participants share each day their reflections on what was said in the hall. But the Vatican is not releasing a list of the bishops who speak during each session, is not publishing summaries of the talks and is not referring to anyone by name during the briefings.

Jesuit Father Antonio Spadaro, secretary of the synod's information commission, told reporters the gathering "is not a parliament, but a place of discernment" where everyone is free to speak openly, "knowing that what they say will remain inside the hall."

Still, Ruffini said, each bishop is free to talk to anyone about his own speech to the assembly.

Archbishop Fisher's office shared the text of his speech.

In addition to apologizing for the church's failures with clerical sexual abuse, the archbishop also apologized for the ways in which the church had failed to "introduce you to the person of Jesus Christ, his saving word and his plan for your life."

"And for the times when you were searching for your sexual, ethnic or spiritual identity and needed a moral compass, but found church people unsympathetic or ambiguous: I apologize," he said.

The Catholic Church, Archbishop Fisher said, often "sold you short" by not challenging young people to live up to their baptismal call to holiness, by offering them "unbeautiful or unwelcoming liturgies" and by not sharing with them church traditions such as the sacrament of reconciliation, pilgrimages and eucharistic adoration.

He apologized for "poor preaching, catechesis or spiritual direction" that failed to inspire conversion and for families, dioceses and religious orders that adopted a "contraceptive mentality" that did not even try to give birth to new vocations.

In addition to his apology, the Sydney archbishop pleaded with young people: "Never give up on Jesus because of our failures. Never give up on the church that you can help make more faithful. Never give up on the world that, with Christ and the church's help, you can make a better place."

By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service

New saints shared a close friendship, professor says

ROME - (October 10, 2018) - Blesseds Paul VI and Oscar Romero crossed paths on their road to sainthood and formed a personal friendship that strengthened each other's resolve in the face of growing challenges, an Italian professor said. 

According to Roberto Morozzo della Rocca, a professor of contemporary history at Roma Tre University and author of a biography of Blessed Romero, said that Blessed Paul had a deep appreciation and affection for Blessed Romero, despite the rumors and gossip that floated around the Vatican corridors. 

"We can say that Paul VI protected Romero. In Rome, there was a flood of negative information regarding the archbishop of San Salvador. They accused him of being political, of being a communist, of being heretical," Morozzo said Oct. 9 at a conference at Palazzo San Calisto in Rome.

The event, sponsored by the Salvadoran Embassy to the Holy See, reflected on the friendship between the pope and the Salvadoran archbishop who were scheduled to be declared saints by Pope Francis Oct. 14.

Manuel Roberto Lopez, El Salvador's ambassador to the Holy See, said the canonization of Blessed Romero "seemed like an impossible dream for us Salvadorans," and his being declared a saint alongside Pope Paul was the culmination of "a history of friendship."

Pope Paul "saw (Archbishop) Romero as an oasis in the desert, amid so much misunderstanding. And through (Paul VI's) support, Romero found the strength to remain in the country and continue his pastoral service despite the dangerous circumstances," Lopez said.

Although the archbishop of San Salvador enjoyed the trust of Blessed Paul VI, many within the Roman Curia viewed him in a negative light after he became more vocal against the right-wing paramilitary government following the assassination in 1977 of his friend, Jesuit Father Rutilio Grande. 

Father Grande was known as a champion of the poor and the oppressed at a time when El Salvador was on the threshold of a civil war, one that eventually killed over 70,000 people.

His death at the hands of El Salvador's notorious death squads is believed to have been the inspiration for Archbishop Romero -- known for being less outspoken -- to take up the mantle of defending the poor as Father Grande did.

One of the first meetings between Blesseds Paul VI and Romero, Morozzo said, occurred shortly after he was named archbishop of San Salvador. 

His appointment had come as a surprise to many of the local clergy who perceived their new archbishop to be too conservative. The apostolic nuncio at the time, Archbishop Emanuele Gerada, had lobbied heavily for Archbishop Romero's nomination, hoping that it would uphold the increasingly fragile relations with the government.

However, after the death of Father Grande, Archbishop Romero became more outspoken, which often drew warnings from the apostolic nuncio to exercise prudence. This prompted Archbishop Romero to travel to Rome and meet with the pope on March 26, 1977. 

Pope Paul "told him fraternally a phrase that was the encouragement that Romero needed: 'Animo! Tu eres el que manda!' ('Courage! You're the one in charge!')," the Italian author said. 

Blessed Romero's diary, Morozzo added, offered a glimpse into the mutual respect and affection between the two future saints during their next meeting in June 1978.

According to the archbishop, Pope Paul said, "I understand your difficult work. It is a work that perhaps may not be understood; you need to have a lot of patience and strength. I know that not everyone thinks like you; it is difficult in the circumstances of your country to find that unanimity of thought. Nevertheless, proceed with courage, with patience, with strength and with hope."

After returning from Rome, Blessed Romero also delivered the pope's words of encouragement to the people of El Salvador while celebrating Mass July 2, 1978. 

"'They are a people,' the pope told me, 'who fights for recognition, they look for a more just environment. And you must love the people, you must help them. Be patient, be strong and help them. And tell them the pope loves them, he loves them and is following their difficulties; but to never look for solutions through irrational violence, that they never let themselves be led by the currents of hate," Blessed Romero said. 

As he did until his martyrdom in 1980, Blessed Romero continued "to dream of a new heaven and a new earth" for the people of El Salvador, a country that, still today, suffers the scourge of violence, Morozzo said. 

"I hope," he said, "that (Blessed) Romero -- along with Paul VI -- will help to achieve this dream."

Letter of the Holy Father Francis to the People of God 

Carta del Papa al Pueblo de Dios

Pope Francis has writtten a letter to the whole People of God addressing the ongoing crisis of sexual abuse in the Church.

Con estas palabras de san Pablo, el Papa Francisco ha hecho pública una carta dirigida al Pueblo de Dios, porque estas palabras resuenan con fuerza al constatar una vez más el sufrimiento vivido por muchos menores a causa de abusos sexuales, de poder y de conciencia cometidos por un notable número de clérigos y personas consagradas.

En español

Letter of the Holy Father Francis to the People of God

"If one member suffers, all suffer together with it" (1 Cor 12:26). These words of Saint Paul forcefully echo in my heart as I acknowledge once more the suffering endured by many minors due to sexual abuse, the abuse of power and the abuse of conscience perpetrated by a significant number of clerics and consecrated persons. Crimes that inflict deep wounds of pain and powerlessness, primarily among the victims, but also in their family members and in the larger community of believers and nonbelievers alike. Looking back to the past, no effort to beg pardon and to seek to repair the harm done will ever be sufficient. Looking ahead to the future, no effort must be spared to create a culture able to prevent such situations from happening, but also to prevent the possibility of their being covered up and perpetuated. The pain of the victims and their families is also our pain, and so it is urgent that we once more reaffirm our commitment to ensure the protection of minors and of vulnerable adults.

1.         If one member suffers…

In recent days, a report was made public which detailed the experiences of at least a thousand survivors, victims of sexual abuse, the abuse of power and of conscience at the hands of priests over a period of approximately seventy years. Even though it can be said that most of these cases belong to the past, nonetheless as time goes on we have come to know the pain of many of the victims. We have realized that these wounds never disappear and that they require us forcefully to condemn these atrocities and join forces in uprooting this culture of death; these wounds never go away. The heart-wrenching pain of these victims, which cries out to heaven, was long ignored, kept quiet or silenced. But their outcry was more powerful than all the measures meant to silence it, or sought even to resolve it by decisions that increased its gravity by falling into complicity. The Lord heard that cry and once again showed us on which side He stands. Mary's song is not mistaken and continues quietly to echo throughout history. For the Lord remembers the promise He made to our fathers: "He has scattered the proud in their conceit; He has cast down the mighty from their thrones and lifted up the lowly; He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He has sent away empty" (Lk 1:51-53). We feel shame when we realize that our style of life has denied, and continues to deny, the words we recite.

With shame and repentance, we acknowledge as an ecclesial community that we were not where we should have been, that we did not act in a timely manner, realizing the magnitude and the gravity of the damage done to so many lives. We showed no care for the little ones; we abandoned them. I make my own the words of the then Cardinal Ratzinger when, during the Way of the Cross composed for Good Friday 2005, he identified with the cry of pain of so many victims and exclaimed: "How much filth there is in the Church, and even among those who, in the priesthood, ought to belong entirely to [Christ]! How much pride, how much self-complacency! Christ's betrayal by His disciples, their unworthy reception of His body and blood, is certainly the greatest suffering endured by the Redeemer; it pierces His heart. We can only call to Him from the depths of our hearts: Kyrie eleison – Lord, save us! (cf. Mt 8:25)" (Ninth Station).

2.   … all suffer together with it

The extent and the gravity of all that has happened requires coming to grips with this reality in a comprehensive and communal way. While it is important and necessary on every journey of conversion to acknowledge the truth of what has happened, in itself this is not enough. Today we are challenged as the People of God to take on the pain of our brothers and sisters wounded in their flesh and in their spirit. If, in the past, the response was one of omission, today we want solidarity, in the deepest and most challenging sense, to become our way of forging present and future history. And this in an environment where conflicts, tensions and above all the victims of every type of abuse can encounter an outstretched hand to protect them and rescue them from their pain (cf. Evangelii Gaudium, 228). Such solidarity demands that we in turn condemn whatever endangers the integrity of any person. A solidarity that summons us to fight all forms of corruption, especially spiritual corruption. The latter is "a comfortable and self-satisfied form of blindness. Everything then appears acceptable: deception, slander, egotism and other subtle forms of self-centeredness, for "even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light" (2 Cor 11:14)" (Gaudete et Exsultate, 165). Saint Paul's exhortation to suffer with those who suffer is the best antidote against all our attempts to repeat the words of Cain: "Am I my brother's keeper?" (Gen 4:9).

I am conscious of the effort and work being carried out in various parts of the world to come up with the necessary means to ensure the safety and protection of the integrity of children and of vulnerable adults, as well as implementing zero tolerance and ways of making all those who perpetrate or cover up these crimes accountable. We have delayed in applying these actions and sanctions that are so necessary, yet I am confident that they will help to guarantee a greater culture of care in the present and future.

Together with those efforts, every one of the baptized should feel involved in the ecclesial and social change that we so greatly need. This change calls for a personal and communal conversion that makes us see things as the Lord does. For as Saint John Paul II liked to say: "If we have truly started out anew from the contemplation of Christ, we must learn to see him especially in the faces of those with whom he wished to be identified" (Novo Millennio Ineunte, 49). To see things as the Lord does, to be where the Lord wants us to be, to experience a conversion of heart in his presence. To do so, prayer and penance will help. I invite the entire holy faithful People of God to a penitential exercise of prayer and fasting, following the Lord's command.[1] This can awaken our conscience and arouse our solidarity and commitment to a culture of care that says "never again" to every form of abuse.

It is impossible to think of a conversion of our activity as a Church that does not include the active participation of all the members of God's People. Indeed, whenever we have tried to replace, or silence, or ignore, or reduce the People of God to small elites, we end up creating communities, projects, theological approaches, spiritualities and structures without roots, without memory, without faces, without bodies and ultimately, without lives.[2] This is clearly seen in a peculiar way of understanding the Church's authority, one common in many communities where sexual abuse and the abuse of power and conscience have occurred. Such is the case with clericalism, an approach that "not only nullifies the character of Christians, but also tends to diminish and undervalue the baptismal grace that the Holy Spirit has placed in the heart of our people".[3] Clericalism, whether fostered by priests themselves or by lay persons, leads to an excision in the ecclesial body that supports and helps to perpetuate many of the evils that we are condemning today. To say "no" to abuse is to say an emphatic "no" to all forms of clericalism.

It is always helpful to remember that "in salvation history, the Lord saved one people. We are never completely ourselves unless we belong to a people. That is why no one is saved alone, as an isolated individual. Rather, God draws us to Himself, taking into account the complex fabric of interpersonal relationships present in the human community. God wanted to enter into the life and history of a people" (Gaudete et Exsultate, 6). Consequently, the only way that we have to respond to this evil that has darkened so many lives is to experience it as a task regarding all of us as the People of God. This awareness of being part of a people and a shared history will enable us to acknowledge our past sins and mistakes with a penitential openness that can allow us to be renewed from within. Without the active participation of all the Church's members, everything being done to uproot the culture of abuse in our communities will not be successful in generating the necessary dynamics for sound and realistic change. The penitential dimension of fasting and prayer will help us as God's People to come before the Lord and our wounded brothers and sisters as sinners imploring forgiveness and the grace of shame and conversion. In this way, we will come up with actions that can generate resources attuned to the Gospel. For "whenever we make the effort to return to the source and to recover the original freshness of the Gospel, new avenues arise, new paths of creativity open up, with different forms of expression, more eloquent signs and words with new meaning for today's world" (Evangelii Gaudium, 11).

It is essential that we, as a Church, be able to acknowledge and condemn, with sorrow and shame, the atrocities perpetrated by consecrated persons, clerics, and all those entrusted with the mission of watching over and caring for those most vulnerable. Let us beg forgiveness for our own sins and the sins of others. An awareness of sin helps us to acknowledge the errors, the crimes and the wounds caused in the past and allows us, in the present, to be more open and committed along a journey of renewed conversion.

Likewise, penance and prayer will help us to open our eyes and our hearts to other people's sufferings and to overcome the thirst for power and possessions that are so often the root of those evils. May fasting and prayer open our ears to the hushed pain felt by children, young people and the disabled.  A fasting that can make us hunger and thirst for justice and impel us to walk in the truth, supporting all the judicial measures that may be necessary. A fasting that shakes us up and leads us to be committed in truth and charity with all men and women of good will, and with society in general, to combating all forms of the abuse of power, sexual abuse and the abuse of conscience.

In this way, we can show clearly our calling to be "a sign and instrument of communion with God and of the unity of the entire human race" (Lumen Gentium, 1).

"If one member suffers, all suffer together with it", said Saint Paul. By an attitude of prayer and penance, we will become attuned as individuals and as a community to this exhortation, so that we may grow in the gift of compassion, in justice, prevention and reparation. Mary chose to stand at the foot of her Son's cross. She did so unhesitatingly, standing firmly by Jesus' side. In this way, she reveals the way she lived her entire life. When we experience the desolation caused by these ecclesial wounds, we will do well, with Mary, "to insist more upon prayer", seeking to grow all the more in love and fidelity to the Church (SAINT IGNATIUS OF LOYOLA, Spiritual Exercises, 319). She, the first of the disciples, teaches all of us as disciples how we are to halt before the sufferings of the innocent, without excuses or cowardice. To look to Mary is to discover the model of a true follower of Christ.

May the Holy Spirit grant us the grace of conversion and the interior anointing needed to express before these crimes of abuse our compunction and our resolve courageously to combat them.

                                                                                              FRANCIS

Vatican City, 20 August 2018

Carta del Papa al Pueblo de Dios

«Si un miembro sufre, todos sufren con él» (1 Co 12,26). Estas palabras de san Pablo resuenan con fuerza en mi corazón al constatar una vez más el sufrimiento vivido por muchos menores a causa de abusos sexuales, de poder y de conciencia cometidos por un notable número de clérigos y personas consagradas. Un crimen que genera hondas heridas de dolor e impotencia; en primer lugar, en las víctimas, pero también en sus familiares y en toda la comunidad, sean creyentes o no creyentes. Mirando hacia el pasado nunca será suficiente lo que se haga para pedir perdón y buscar reparar el daño causado. Mirando hacia el futuro nunca será poco todo lo que se haga para generar una cultura capaz de evitar que estas situaciones no solo no se repitan, sino que no encuentren espacios para ser encubiertas y perpetuarse. El dolor de las víctimas y sus familias es también nuestro dolor, por eso urge reafirmar una vez más nuestro compromiso para garantizar la protección de los menores y de los adultos en situación de vulnerabilidad.

1. Si un miembro sufre

En los últimos días se dio a conocer un informe donde se detalla lo vivido por al menos mil sobrevivientes, víctimas del abuso sexual, de poder y de conciencia en manos de sacerdotes durante aproximadamente setenta años. Si bien se pueda decir que la mayoría de los casos corresponden al pasado, sin embargo, con el correr del tiempo hemos conocido el dolor de muchas de las víctimas y constatamos que las heridas nunca desaparecen y nos obligan a condenar con fuerza estas atrocidades, así como a unir esfuerzos para erradicar esta cultura de muerte; las heridas "nunca prescriben". El dolor de estas víctimas es un gemido que clama al cielo, que llega al alma y que durante mucho tiempo fue ignorado, callado o silenciado. Pero su grito fue más fuerte que todas las medidas que lo intentaron silenciar o, incluso, que pretendieron resolverlo con decisiones que aumentaron la gravedad cayendo en la complicidad. Clamor que el Señor escuchó demostrándonos, una vez más, de qué parte quiere estar. El cántico de María no se equivoca y sigue susurrándose a lo largo de la historia porque el Señor se acuerda de la promesa que hizo a nuestros padres: «Dispersa a los soberbios de corazón, derriba del trono a los poderosos y enaltece a los humildes, a los hambrientos los colma de bienes y a los ricos los despide vacíos» (Lc 1,51-53), y sentimos vergüenza cuando constatamos que nuestro estilo de vida ha desmentido y desmiente lo que recitamos con nuestra voz.

Con vergüenza y arrepentimiento, como comunidad eclesial, asumimos que no supimos estar donde teníamos que estar, que no actuamos a tiempo reconociendo la magnitud y la gravedad del daño que se estaba causando en tantas vidas. Hemos descuidado y abandonado a los pequeños. Hago mías las palabras del entonces cardenal Ratzinger cuando, en el Via Crucis escrito para el Viernes Santo del 2005, se unió al grito de dolor de tantas víctimas y, clamando, decía: «¡Cuánta suciedad en la Iglesia y entre los que, por su sacerdocio, deberían estar completamente entregados a él! ¡Cuánta soberbia, cuánta autosuficiencia! [...] La traición de los discípulos, la recepción indigna de su Cuerpo y de su Sangre, es ciertamente el mayor dolor del Redentor, el que le traspasa el corazón. No nos queda más que gritarle desde lo profundo del alma: Kyrie, eleison – Señor, sálvanos (cf. Mt 8,25)» (Novena Estación).

2. Todos sufren con él

La magnitud y gravedad de los acontecimientos exige asumir este hecho de manera global y comunitaria. Si bien es importante y necesario en todo camino de conversión tomar conocimiento de lo sucedido, esto en sí mismo no basta. Hoy nos vemos desafiados como Pueblo de Dios a asumir el dolor de nuestros hermanos vulnerados en su carne y en su espíritu. Si en el pasado la omisión pudo convertirse en una forma de respuesta, hoy queremos que la solidaridad, entendida en su sentido más hondo y desafiante, se convierta en nuestro modo de hacer la historia presente y futura, en un ámbito donde los conflictos, las tensiones y especialmente las víctimas de todo tipo de abuso puedan encontrar una mano tendida que las proteja y rescate de su dolor (cf. Exhort. ap. Evangelii gaudium, 228). Tal solidaridad nos exige, a su vez, denunciar todo aquello que ponga en peligro la integridad de cualquier persona. Solidaridad que reclama luchar contra todo tipo de corrupción, especialmente la espiritual, «porque se trata de una ceguera cómoda y autosuficiente donde todo termina pareciendo lícito: el engaño, la calumnia, el egoísmo y tantas formas sutiles de autorreferencialidad, ya que "el mismo Satanás se disfraza de ángel de luz (2 Co 11,14)"» (Exhort. ap. Gaudete et exsultate, 165). La llamada de san Pablo a sufrir con el que sufre es el mejor antídoto contra cualquier intento de seguir reproduciendo entre nosotros las palabras de Caín: «¿Soy yo el guardián de mi hermano?» (Gn 4,9).

Soy consciente del esfuerzo y del trabajo que se realiza en distintas partes del mundo para garantizar y generar las mediaciones necesarias que den seguridad y protejan la integridad de niños y de adultos en estado de vulnerabilidad, así como de la implementación de la "tolerancia cero" y de los modos de rendir cuentas por parte de todos aquellos que realicen o encubran estos delitos. Nos hemos demorado en aplicar estas acciones y sanciones tan necesarias, pero confío en que ayudarán a garantizar una mayor cultura del cuidado en el presente y en el futuro.

Conjuntamente con esos esfuerzos, es necesario que cada uno de los bautizados se sienta involucrado en la transformación eclesial y social que tanto necesitamos. Tal transformación exige la conversión personal y comunitaria, y nos lleva a mirar en la misma dirección que el Señor mira. Así le gustaba decir a san Juan Pablo II: «Si verdaderamente hemos partido de la contemplación de Cristo, tenemos que saberlo descubrir sobre todo en el rostro de aquellos con los que él mismo ha querido identificarse» (Carta ap. Novo millennio ineunte, 49). Aprender a mirar donde el Señor mira, a estar donde el Señor quiere que estemos, a convertir el corazón ante su presencia. Para esto ayudará la oración y la penitencia. Invito a todo el santo Pueblo fiel de Dios al ejercicio penitencial de la oración y el ayuno siguiendo el mandato del Señor,[1] que despierte nuestra conciencia, nuestra solidaridad y compromiso con una cultura del cuidado y el "nunca más" a todo tipo y forma de abuso.

Es imposible imaginar una conversión del accionar eclesial sin la participación activa de todos los integrantes del Pueblo de Dios. Es más, cada vez que hemos intentado suplantar, acallar, ignorar, reducir a pequeñas élites al Pueblo de Dios construimos comunidades, planes, acentuaciones teológicas, espiritualidades y estructuras sin raíces, sin memoria, sin rostro, sin cuerpo, en definitiva, sin vida[2]. Esto se manifiesta con claridad en una manera anómala de entender la autoridad en la Iglesia —tan común en muchas comunidades en las que se han dado las conductas de abuso sexual, de poder y de conciencia— como es el clericalismo, esa actitud que «no solo anula la personalidad de los cristianos, sino que tiene una tendencia a disminuir y desvalorizar la gracia bautismal que el Espíritu Santo puso en el corazón de nuestra gente».[3] El clericalismo, favorecido sea por los propios sacerdotes como por los laicos, genera una escisión en el cuerpo eclesial que beneficia y ayuda a perpetuar muchos de los males que hoy denunciamos. Decir no al abuso, es decir enérgicamente no a cualquier forma de clericalismo.

Siempre es bueno recordar que el Señor, «en la historia de la salvación, ha salvado a un pueblo. No existe identidad plena sin pertenencia a un pueblo. Nadie se salva solo, como individuo aislado, sino que Dios nos atrae tomando en cuenta la compleja trama de relaciones interpersonales que se establecen en la comunidad humana: Dios quiso entrar en una dinámica popular, en la dinámica de un pueblo» (Exhort. ap. Gaudete et exsultate, 6). Por tanto, la única manera que tenemos para responder a este mal que viene cobrando tantas vidas es vivirlo como una tarea que nos involucra y compete a todos como Pueblo de Dios. Esta conciencia de sentirnos parte de un pueblo y de una historia común hará posible que reconozcamos nuestros pecados y errores del pasado con una apertura penitencial capaz de dejarse renovar desde dentro. Todo lo que se realice para erradicar la cultura del abuso de nuestras comunidades, sin una participación activa de todos los miembros de la Iglesia, no logrará generar las dinámicas necesarias para una sana y realista transformación. La dimensión penitencial de ayuno y oración nos ayudará como Pueblo de Dios a ponernos delante del Señor y de nuestros hermanos heridos, como pecadores que imploran el perdón y la gracia de la vergüenza y la conversión, y así elaborar acciones que generen dinamismos en sintonía con el Evangelio. Porque «cada vez que intentamos volver a la fuente y recuperar la frescura del Evangelio, brotan nuevos caminos, métodos creativos, otras formas de expresión, signos más elocuentes, palabras cargadas de renovado significado para el mundo actual» (Exhort. ap. Evangelii gaudium, 11).

Es imprescindible que como Iglesia podamos reconocer y condenar con dolor y vergüenza las atrocidades cometidas por personas consagradas, clérigos e incluso por todos aquellos que tenían la misión de velar y cuidar a los más vulnerables. Pidamos perdón por los pecados propios y ajenos. La conciencia de pecado nos ayuda a reconocer los errores, los delitos y las heridas generadas en el pasado y nos permite abrirnos y comprometernos más con el presente en un camino de renovada conversión.

Asimismo, la penitencia y la oración nos ayudará a sensibilizar nuestros ojos y nuestro corazón ante el sufrimiento ajeno y a vencer el afán de dominio y posesión que muchas veces se vuelve raíz de estos males. Que el ayuno y la oración despierten nuestros oídos ante el dolor silenciado en niños, jóvenes y minusválidos. Ayuno que nos dé hambre y sed de justicia e impulse a caminar en la verdad apoyando todas las mediaciones judiciales que sean necesarias. Un ayuno que nos sacuda y nos lleve a comprometernos desde la verdad y la caridad con todos los hombres de buena voluntad y con la sociedad en general para luchar contra cualquier tipo de abuso sexual, de poder y de conciencia.

De esta forma podremos transparentar la vocación a la que hemos sido llamados de ser «signo e instrumento de la unión íntima con Dios y de la unidad de todo el género humano» (Conc. Ecum. Vat. II, Const. dogm. Lumen gentium, 1).

«Si un miembro sufre, todos sufren con él», nos decía san Pablo. Por medio de la actitud orante y penitencial podremos entrar en sintonía personal y comunitaria con esta exhortación para que crezca entre nosotros el don de la compasión, de la justicia, de la prevención y reparación. María supo estar al pie de la cruz de su Hijo. No lo hizo de cualquier manera, sino que estuvo firmemente de pie y a su lado. Con esta postura manifiesta su modo de estar en la vida. Cuando experimentamos la desolación que nos produce estas llagas eclesiales, con María nos hará bien «instar más en la oración» (S. Ignacio de Loyola, Ejercicios Espirituales, 319), buscando crecer más en amor y fidelidad a la Iglesia. Ella, la primera discípula, nos enseña a todos los discípulos cómo hemos de detenernos ante el sufrimiento del inocente, sin evasiones ni pusilanimidad. Mirar a María es aprender a descubrir dónde y cómo tiene que estar el discípulo de Cristo.

Que el Espíritu Santo nos dé la gracia de la conversión y la unción interior para poder expresar, ante estos crímenes de abuso, nuestra compunción y nuestra decisión de luchar con valentía.

Vaticano, 20 de agosto de 2018

Francisco
 

Let us pray: Sunday Mass on air in Tucson

Beginning this month, homebound Catholics in the Tucson metro area unable to attend Sunday Mass will still be able to see it via broadcasts on KOLD, Channel 13.

The programming is sponsored by Catholic Extension as a partnership with the Diocese of Tucson and Tucson’s local CBS affiliate.

The Sunday Masses for Catholics who are homebound, sick or otherwise unable to go to church airs at 6 a.m. and 9:30 a.m.

“Catholic Extension has a long history of making it possible for Catholics in this country to gather and celebrate Mass,” said Catholic Extension’s president, Father Jack Wall. “In our early years, we sent priests out on railroad chapel cars to bring the Eucharist to remote areas of the US. They not only gathered area Catholics for Mass, but they also created new communities that allowed people to practice their faith, find new hope and grow in love and mercy. Thanks to these communities, people changed, and they changed the world around them.”

Catholic Extension will record and produce the half-hour televised Sunday Masses in collaboration with several other US mission dioceses. 

“It is wonderful to have this new opportunity to televise Sunday Mass to the homebound in our diocese,” said Bishop Edward J. Weisenburger. “This is an important ministry, and I am grateful that Catholic Extension has chosen to launch this new initiative here in Tucson.”

Catholic Extension is underwriting the cost of production and airtime for the Mass, which will be recorded in various US mission dioceses.

For more information, please visit catholicextension.org/TVMass.

Catholic Extension is an American papal society that serves US Catholic communities in poor regions. It supports the Diocese of Tucson, along with 89 other mission dioceses, by raising and distributing funds for church buildings, leadership development and ministries. Catholic Extension has provided financial support for the Tucson diocese since 1906, totaling more than $18 million.