VATICAN DOSSIER
Only Saints, Please: Pope Sets High Goal for Bishops Tells Newly Ordained That Ministry Depends on Testimony CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy, SEPT. 22, 2008 (Zenit.org).-
The Church needs holy bishops today more than ever, says Benedict XVI, since apostolic fruits depend on sanctity of life.The Pope affirmed this today when he addressed a group of bishops ordained over the past year. A dozen of the bishops come from Eastern Churches. On Saturday, the Holy Father addressed another group of recently ordained prelates -- those who serve in missionary lands. Both groups -- with a total of 111 participants -- are involved in two parallel courses under way in Rome and organized by the Congregations for Bishops, Eastern Churches, and the Evangelization of Peoples. The new bishops are being hosted at the Regina Apostolorum university. The Pontiff gave the new bishops a concrete recommendation: seek sanctity. In that regard, he offered the example of St. Paul, as the Church marks the Pauline Jubilee Year celebrating the 2,000th anniversary of the Apostle's birth. "The example of the great apostle calls bishops to grow each day in a holy life, so as to have the same sentiments as Christ," Benedict XVI said. "The first apostolic and spiritual commitment of a bishop should be to progress in the life of evangelical perfection." The Pope exhorted the bishops "to trust each day in the word of God, so as to be teachers of the faith and authentic educators of your faithful." Moreover, he entrusted the prelates to the world of God, "so that you will be faithful to the promises you have pronounced before God and the Church on the day of your episcopal consecration." "Progressing along the path of sanctity, you will manifest that indispensable moral authority and prudent wisdom that is demanded of one who is at the head of the family of God," the Holy Father affirmed. "This authority is today more necessary than ever. Your ministry will be pastorally fruitful if it is supported on your sanctity of life." email this article:
http://www.zenit.org/article-23685?l=englishPope Lauds Benedictines for Helping World Find God Urges Them to Found More Monasteries CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy, SEPT. 22, 2008 (Zenit.org).-
In an age marked by worry and absurdity, the Benedictines can teach people how to recognize the God whom they seek, says Benedict XVI.The Pope thus encouraged the monks and nuns to found new monasteries, also outside of Europe, when he spoke with them Saturday at Castel Gandolfo. "In many parts of the world, especially in Asia and Africa, there is a great need of vital spaces to encounter the Lord," the Holy Father explained to the abbots and abbesses. "Hence, do not fail to meet with an open heart the hopes of all those, including those outside of Europe, who express a true desire for your presence and apostolate." The witness of the Benedictine vocation is particularly important, added the Pontiff, "in a de-sacralized world and an age marked by the worrying culture of the void and the absurd." "This is the reason why your monasteries are places where men and women, also in our age, run to seek God and to learn to recognize the signs of the presence of Christ, of his charity and of his mercy," he said. The Pope appealed to Benedictines to "allow themselves to be led by the profound desire to serve all men with charity, without distinctions of race or religion," and to found new monasteries "there, where Providence calls you to establish them." Moreover, the Holy Father also called their attention to the evangelizing, formative and cultural work that the Benedictines can carry out in Europe, "especially in favor of the new generations." "Dedicate yourselves to young people with renewed apostolic ardor, as they are the future of the Church and of humanity," he encouraged. "To build a 'new' Europe, it is necessary to begin with the new generations, offering them the possibility to profoundly approach the spiritual riches of the liturgy, of meditation and of lectio divina." Vocational crisis The Holy Father also had words of encouragement especially for Benedictine abbesses, whose communities are suffering at present from a lack of vocations. Benedict XVI asked them "not to be discouraged" and especially to avoid "the weakening of their spiritual devotion to the Lord and to their own vocation and mission." "By persevering faithfully in it, you confess, instead, with great effectiveness in face of the world, your own firm trust in the Lord of history, in whose hands are the times and destinies of persons, institutions, peoples; to him we entrust all that touches upon the historical fulfillment of his gifts," he continued. Finally, the Pontiff praised traditional Benedictine hospitality, through which one can transmit many spiritual goods to those who go to monasteries. "This is a peculiar vocation of yours, a fully spiritual, human and cultural experience," he affirmed, which allows you "to offer the men and women of our time the possibility of reflecting more profoundly on the meaning of existence in the infinite horizon of Christian hope." email this article:
http://www.zenit.org/article-23686?l=englishPontiff: Missionary Bishops Have a Teacher in Paul Says Apostle Shared in Same Sufferings CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy, SEPT. 22, 2008 (Zenit.org).-
Bishops in missionary lands today live situations similar to those faced by St. Paul; thus the saint is not just a historical figure, but a teacher for our times, says Benedict XVI.The Pope affirmed this Saturday when he addressed a group of bishops ordained over the past year for work in missionary lands. Today, the Holy Father addressed another group of recently ordained prelates -- those who are not from missionary lands and those from Eastern Churches. Both groups -- with a total of 111 participants -- are involved in two parallel courses under way in Rome and organized by the Congregations for Bishops, Eastern Churches, and the Evangelization of Peoples. The new bishops are being hosted at the Regina Apostolorum university. The Holy Father proposed St. Paul as the model for bishops in missionary lands. "Your life as pastors is similar to St. Paul's in many respects," he said. "In the main, your dioceses are very extensive and they often lack roads and means of communication." Moreover, the Pontiff added, "as in other places, your societies are increasingly buffeted by the winds of de-Christianization, religious indifference, secularization and the relativization of values." Benedict XVI compared this situation with that of St. Paul in Athens: "In many regions Catholics are a minority, at times very small. This means that you have to confront other religions that are stronger and not always receptive to you. "Finally, there is no lack of situations in which, as pastors, you must defend your faithful in face of persecution and violent attacks." Re-fashioning Given these challenges, the Pontiff proposed that the new bishops regard St. Paul, not as "a figure of the past," but as "a teacher" that one can learn from even today. "We must learn from him to look with affection upon the people to whom we have been sent," he continued. "We can also learn from him to seek in Christ the light and grace to proclaim the good news today; following his example, we must re-fashion ourselves to tirelessly embark on the human and geographic paths of today's world." Benedict XVI encouraged the bishops to allow themselves to be "counseled and inspired by St. Paul, who suffered much for the same causes." "After the experience of the persecutions he faced in preaching the Gospel," the Apostle to the Gentiles discovered "the richness of the love of Christ and the truth of his mission as apostle," he said. "He will guide you on the often difficult but always exciting paths of the new evangelization." Refresher course There were just over 100 bishops ordained over the past year, from 43 countries around the world, especially Africa, explained Cardinal Ivan Dias, prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples. The dicastery has organized a "refresher" course for the new bishops, so that with the experience of the Roman Curia, they will be helped in their new pastoral ministry. This is the seventh course of this type to be organized. During the audience with the Pope, Cardinal Dias explained that the course aims to offer the new prelates "the possibility of experiencing episcopal communion 'cum Petro,' who presides in universal charity, an indispensable need in today's evangelization." In fact, the cardinal added, during their stay in Rome, the bishops have visited the Roman basilicas and received "greater information on the Holy See and its activities." email this article:
http://www.zenit.org/article-23684?l=englishSchools Can Be Evangelization Labs, Says Official Cardinal Bertone Affirms Universities Key for Culture VATICAN CITY, SEPT. 22, 2008 (Zenit.org).-
Catholic universities are strongly rooted in the very mission of the Church, and can become "laboratories of the evangelization of culture," says Benedict XVI's secretary of state.Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone spoke about the role of Catholic higher education when he visited the new Catholic university in Zagreb, Croatia, during his Sept. 18-21 trip there. His four-day visit marked the 10th anniversary of Pope John Paul II's journey to the Eastern European nation. Friday afternoon, after having met with Prime Minister Ivo Sanader, Cardinal Bertone blessed the new Catholic university of Zagreb and met with the academic community. He defined the institution as a "privileged laboratory of the evangelization of culture" and a "center of scientific research enlightened by the word of God and faithful to the magisterium of the Church, where the culture of the Croatian people will engage in dialogue," reported L'Osservatore Romano. The Pope's secretary of state, accompanied by Cardinal Josip Bozanic, archbishop of Zagreb, and the apostolic nuncio, Archbishop Mario Cassari, said that "every cultural institution, and still more the Catholic university, cannot in its scientific elaboration prescind from the search for God." Recalling "the importance of the presence and action of Christians in the world of culture in our time," the cardinal explained that the Catholic university is "strongly rooted in the mission itself of the Church to instruct and form responsible and mature persons, conscious of their identity and evangelical mission, ready to assume leadership roles in the various spheres of society." In a world of constant change, he added, the Catholic university must propose a reflection upon and research into the meaning of human life on earth "so that new discoveries and technologies are not used for ends other than the authentic good of the person and human society as a whole." Holy priests On Saturday morning, celebrating Mass in the major seminary, Cardinal Bertone expressed to the seminarians the Pope's desire that they become "holy priests ready to face the multiple religious and social challenges of the contemporary epoch," caring for their vocation with prayer, the word of God and community life. Meeting with the Croatian bishops afterward, the cardinal blessed the first stone of the new site of the bishops' conference. He then exhorted them in their efforts to foster vocations to the priestly life and to provide permanent formation for presbyters. Cardinal Bertone recalled that "there are many resources and possibilities of the Church in Croatia and just as urgent challenges that confront believers in Christ today." "Your country," the prelate said, "is called to contribute its human and Christian tradition to the Europe of the third millennium, emphasizing the importance, for the common future, of the spiritual roots that have marked the history of the all the peoples of our continent." This mission, he added, "demands courage and capacity for dialogue, clarity of perspectives and spiritual depth. We are all aware that the globalized situation of the modern world is becoming more and more impregnated by a vision of existence that is inspired by a dangerous cultural and ethical relativism, which undermines the Christian conception at its very foundations." Because of this, he observed, there is a necessity for "a permanent reflection by all of the components of the Church and clear, intrepid and timely apologetic and missionary action." "The humanity of our time, which is progressively losing its sensitivity for spiritual realities because it is almost paralyzed by the myths and idols of material progress, power and success, needs a proclamation of hope," Cardinal Bertone affirmed. "[Humanity] is in search of a solid foundation for its present and future prospects." email this article:
http://www.zenit.org/article-23681?l=englishWORLD FEATURES
The Secret Story of Padre Pio's Stigmata Volume Reveals Report of Vatican Investigator By Mirko TestaROME, SEPT. 22, 2008 (Zenit.org).- A volume detailing the report of a Vatican investigator into Padre Pio gives new information on the wounds of the Passion that the friar suffered. Padre Pio da Pietrelcina received the stigmata from the crucified Christ, who in an apparition invited the Capuchin friar to unite himself to his passion so as to participate in the salvation of others, particularly consecrated persons: This is what we can know with certainty thanks to the recent opening -- at the request of Benedict XVI -- of the archives of the former Holy Office up to 1939, which contain information on revelations to Padre Pio that were not previously published. These revelations have been released in a book titled "Padre Pio Sotto Inchiesta: l''Autobiografia Segreta'" ("Padre Pio Under Investigation: The 'Secret Autobiography'"). The volume is prefaced by Vittorio Messori and edited by Father Franceso Castelli, historian for the beatification cause of Pope John Paul II and professor of modern and contemporary history of the Church at the Romano Guardini Institute for Religious Sciences in Taranto, Italy. Until the publication of this book, many assumed that Padre Pio -- whether for reasons of modesty or because he thought himself unworthy of the charisms he had received -- had never disclosed to anyone what happened on the day he received the stigmata. The only known reference to these events was in a letter Padre Pio sent to his spiritual director, Father Benedetto da San Marco in Lamis, in which he speaks of the appearance of a "mysterious person" but does not offer any details. The new book, which contains the first complete version of the report penned by Bishop Raffaele Rossi of Volterra, (later cardinal), apostolic visitor sent by the Holy See to secretly investigate Padre Pio, clarifies that on the occasion of the reception of the stigmata the saint had a conversation with the crucified Christ. The book also contains a number of statements that Padre Pio made under oath, which provide an interpretive key to Bishop Rossi's report. Asked to swear on the Gospel, Padre Pio for the first time revealed the identity of the one from whom he received the wounds. It was June 15, 1921, and in answer to a question posed by Bishop Rossi, Padre Pio said: "On Sept. 20, 1918, I was in the choir of the church after celebrating Mass, making the thanksgiving when I was suddenly overtaken by powerful trembling and then there came calm and I saw Our Lord in his crucified form. "He was lamenting the ingratitude of men, especially those consecrated to him and favored by him." "Then," Padre Pio continued, "his suffering was apparent as was his desire to join souls to his Passion. He invited me to let his pains enter into me and to meditate on them and at the same time concern myself with the salvation of others. Following this, I felt full of compassion for the Lord's pains and I asked him what I could do. "I heard this voice: 'I will unite you with my Passion.' And after this the vision disappeared, I came back to myself, my reason returned and I saw these signs here from which blood flowed. Before this I did not have these." Padre Pio then said that the stigmata were not the result of a personal request of his own but came from an invitation of the Lord, who, lamenting the ingratitude of men, and consecrated persons in particular, conferred on Padre Pio a mission as the culmination of an interior mystical journey of preparation. Common theme Father Castelli, the book's editor, noted that the theme of the ingratitude of men and especially those favored by God is not something new in the Capuchin friar's private revelations. He told ZENIT: "What is decisive is that Padre Pio made no request for the stigmata. This helps us to understand the freedom and the humility of the Capuchin who is clearly completely uninterested in making a show of the wounds. "Padre Pio's humility also manifests itself in his reaction to seeing the signs of the Passion traced in his flesh once he had come back to himself. In fact, in the conversation with the bishop, once the mystical scene has finished, it is not elaborated on further." From the conversation with Padre Pio, from the letters, from the witnesses questioned by Bishop Rossi and finally from his own report, it is plain that the friar was unhappy about the signs of the Passion, that he tried to hide them and that he was uneasy in showing them at the request of the apostolic visitor, the editor explained. A 6th wound? The book conveys Bishop Rossi's conclusions about the stigmata, of which there had only been partial information, and so provides new information, especially about the form of the wound in the side and a rumored sixth wound on the friar's back. In his report the apostolic visitor says that there was no festering in Padre Pio's wounds, they did not close and did not heal. The remained inexplicably open and bloody, despite the fact that the friar had tried to stop the bleeding by treating them with iodine. "Bishop Rossi's description of the wound in the side," Father Castelli told ZENIT, "is decisively different from those before and after him. He did not see it as an upside down or slanted cross, but as having a 'triangular form' and so therefore with definite edges." Contrary to what certain doctors have said, Bishop Rossi concluded that the wounds did not appear to be externally inflicted. "This speaks in favor of the authenticity of the stigmata," Father Castelli explained, "because carbolic acid -- which according to some was what Padre Pio might have used to cause the wounds -- after it has been applied, consumes the tissue and inflames the surrounding area. It is impossible to think that for 60 years Padre Pio could have caused himself these wounds of the same definite shape. "Further, the wounds emitted the intense odor of violets rather than the fetid stench that degenerative processes, tissue necrosis or infections usually cause." According to the report, Padre Pio said that apart from the stigmata in his hands, feet and side, there were no other wounds, and therefore no wound on his back as Jesus might have had from carrying the cross. Some have suggested that Padre Pio might have had this wound. Father Castelli maintains that it is not possible to speculate beyond the information gathered in Bishop Rossi's 1921 investigation and attribute to Padre Pio any other sign of the Passion. email this article:
http://www.zenit.org/article-23688?l=englishCongress Marks 20 Years of "Mulieris Dignitatem"
2 Law Schools Co-sponsor Event By Irene LaganWASHINGTON, D.C., SEPT. 22, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Pope John Paul II's apostolic letter "Mulieris Dignitatem," which made history 20 years ago as the first letter of its kind devoted entirely to the subject of women, continues to guide reflection on women and their contribution to society. A conference next week marking the anniversary of the document will continue two decades of reflection on the letter's themes and tackle new challenges posed by contemporary society. The event, which will take place Oct. 3 at the John Paul II Cultural Center in Washington, D.C., is jointly sponsored by Ave Maria School of Law and the Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law. George Mason University law professor Helen Alvaré, a key conference organizer, explained to ZENIT that many of the dilemmas faced by women 20 years ago are still with us. "Some have become more complex," she said. "I think in particular the question of the meaning of 'service' for women, as mothers and as single women, is far from fully explored or harmonized with women's opportunities 'in the world.'" Alvaré said it takes time for a document like "Mulieris Dignitatem" to be "received" and fully appreciated: "Like so many documents of John Paul II, 'Mulieris Dignitatem' was prescient when written, and very deep in its analysis of women's situation in the world, their essential gifts and essential dilemmas. "Even 20 years after its promulgation, it's fitting to explore it in depth." Themes The conference's multidisciplinary panel of scholars will reflect on the nature and significance of the motherhood and consecrated life for contemporary society, the meaning of equality, and societal attempts to redress the disorder between men and women. In light of analyses about the human person that emerge from "Mulieris Dignitatem," scholars will address how these themes and current issues such as pornography, domestic violence and abortion legislation figure into American Constitutional law, international law, canon law and family law, including pornography, domestic violence and abortion legislation. While some would struggle to see the relevance of a highly theological text to the study of law, acting dean and associate professor of Ave Maria School of Law, Eugene Milhizer, explained that human law is inseparably linked to natural law: "The American legal culture is steeped in a superficial and partial account of the obligatory nature of the law, namely, that only human -- or positive -- law has full validity and is binding because it comes from a lawfully established human power. "Ultimately, as Blessed Antonio Rosmini once said, 'The human person is the essence of the law.'" In "Mulieris Dignitatem," Pope John Paul addressed the challenge of contemporary feminism with a theological reflection on the true meaning of womanhood, the vocation of women, and the role of women in the Church and in society. The letter, issued in 1988 on the occasion of the Marian Year, is written as a meditation on the Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, within the context of the mystery of Christ and the Church. In addition to addressing the particular challenges of contemporary feminism, the letter followed a recommendation from bishops who held a synod in 1987 to discuss the vocation and mission of the laity. Recognizing the need for increased authentic participation of the laity in the life of the Church, the bishops recommended further study on the anthropological and theological foundations needed to address problems associated "with the meaning and dignity of being a woman and of being a man" ("Mulieris Dignitatem," No. 1) Prophetic According to Ave Maria School of Law professor Jane Adolphe, who is also a main organizer for the conference, the event underscores pressing issues for both the Church as a whole and society, and the prescience of the apostolic letter. "We live in a time where the particular gifts of women are urgently needed in all sectors of society," she said. "On one hand there is greater understanding of the crucial role women play. But in a world filled with abuse of power, exploitation, and violence, women often bounce between two extremes. "In liberal milieus women often risk being viewed as objects, while in more conservative environments, women are sometimes shunned or avoided. The challenge for all women -- especially the laity -- in answering the call to holiness is to radiate the love of God in a world so opposed to his love." Reverend Monsignor Grzegorz Kaszak, secretary of the Pontifical Council for the Family, one of the keynote speakers, said: "We have seen many advances for women in the society in the past 20 years. But at the same time, we have seen new problems emerge. "This congress will help focus our attention on these areas, and will be useful for the Church and ultimately for society as a whole." --- --- --- On the Net: For more information on the conference:
http://www.avemarialaw.edu/conference// email this article:
http://www.zenit.org/article-23689?l=englishNEWS BRIEFS
Bishops Offering iPod to Faithful Citizen WASHINGTON, D.C., SEPT. 22, 2008 (Zenit.org).- As the U.S. presidential elections approach, the nation's bishops are seeking new ways to reach citizens with guidelines for voting according to conscience.The episcopal conference statement, "Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship," has been available at the Web site
http://www.faithfulcitizenship.org/. To encourage people to visit the site, the bishops are offering an iPod to a winner randomly selected from among those who register at the site to receive faithful citizenship resources. YouTube is another venue being used by the bishops. Two videos from the Web site have been uploaded to the video-sharing site. And the prelates are also using Facebook, a popular social networking site. A faithful citizenship page has been created there. "We hope these efforts will encourage Catholics to respond to the call by the bishops of the United States to bring the values of their faith to public life," Joan Rosenhauer, associate director for the bishops' Department of Justice, Peace and Human Development, said. These initiatives build on previous efforts to bring the prelates' election message to the faithful. The site itself already has featured interactive sections and downloadable podcasts. It also has a youth division, complete with quizzes and a discussion guide. --- --- --- On the Net: Faithful Citizenship:
http://www.faithfulcitizenship.org/ Faithful Citizenship for youth:
http://www.faithfulcitizenship.org/youth/ email this article:
http://www.zenit.org/article-23690?l=englishChinese Bishop Moved to House Arrest
STAMFORD, Connecticut, SEPT. 22, 2008 (Zenit.org).- The Chinese bishop arrested on the last day of the Olympics has been returned to his residence, where he is being held under house arrest.The U.S.-based Cardinal Kung foundation reported that Bishop Jia Zhiguo of the underground Church of Zhengding, Heibei, was returned to his home at Christ the King Cathedral on Thursday. The bishop was detained -- his 12th arrest since 2004 -- on Aug. 24. Now in his home, he continues under 24-hour surveillance and is isolated from the priests and faithful of the diocese, the Cardinal Kung foundation informed. It is not yet clear how the bishop was treated during his days held by the police. In China, the government permits religious practice only with recognized personnel and in places registered with the Religious Affairs Office and under the control of the Patriotic Association. This explains the difference affirmed between the "national" or "official" Church, and the faithful who oppose such control and who wish to obey the Pope directly. The latter constitute the non-official, or underground, Church. email this article:
http://www.zenit.org/article-23683?l=englishCatholics Lose Land Battle With Hanoi Former Nunciature Cleared for Public Park
HANOI, Vietnam, SEPT. 22, 2008 (Zenit.org).- The government has made a decision about the disputed land that used to be the apostolic nunciature in Vietnam -- the area was cleared for a public park.Hundreds of Catholics gathered Friday at the former nunciature after police-protected demolition crews arrived to clear the structures on the land. At the end of 2007, large numbers of the faithful began peaceful protests requesting the return of Church property that had been nationalized by the state in the '50s. The main dispute involved the 2.5-acre property that was cleared Friday. The vigil ended with an agreement between the Hanoi government and the parish to negotiate a settlement. According to VietCatholic News, a government official, Nguyen Thinh Thanh, chief of the secretariat of Hanoi's People's Committee, explained the demolition: "We are clearing the land to build a library and a park, to serve the whole community. We did not have to ask for the parish's permission, because that land belongs to the state." Thanh said the government had informed the parish in advance of Friday morning's moves, but priests said they had no warning. A Vatican delegation that visited Vietnam in June gave attention to the dispute, stating afterward that during the meeting, consideration was given to the need "to maintain dialogue between interested parties in the search for adequate solutions that take into account the needs of justice, of charity and of the common good." Vietnam is about 7% Catholic. According to a 1999 census, more than 80% of the population declares no religion. The Church does not have diplomatic relations with the communist nation, though in January 2007, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung made a historic visit to Benedict XVI. A Vatican-Vietnam working group was established in June to study a timetable and steps toward enhancing relations. email this article:
http://www.zenit.org/article-23682?l=englishINTERVIEW
Catholic Origins of the European Union Interview With Catholic Historian Alan Fimister By Dominic BasterNEWCASTLE, England, SEPT. 22, 2008 (Zenit.org).- The original idea of the European Union has deep roots in Catholic social teaching, according to the author of a book on Robert Schumann, one of the founders of the institution. Catholic historian Alan Fimister, author of "Robert Schumann: Neo-scholastic Humanism and the Unification of Europe," published by Peter Lang, affirms that Schuman's actions in 1950 to found what would later be the European Union were, to a remarkable degree, the conscious implementation of the Neo-Thomistic project of Pope Leo XIII (1878-1903). In this interview with ZENIT, Fimister discusses the Catholic vision of the European Union's founders and what it means for a Catholic understanding of the European Union today. Q: What was the role of Pope Leo XIII (1878-1903) in the development of the idea of European integration? Fimister: Pope Leo was not directly concerned with the issue of Europe. The political reality of his day was of great multi-national colonial empires based in Europe carving up the world between them. What concerned him was the collapse of the attempt at the end of the Napoleonic Wars to restore the European order that preceded the French Revolution. The failure of the "Vienna Settlement" of 1815 -- which had sought to redraw Europe's political map after the defeat of Napoleonic France -- had given free reign to the forces which had directed the French Revolution itself, namely nationalism, liberalism and anti-clericalism. It was clear, particularly in France, that the association of the Church with one particular form of government -- namely Royalism -- was eclipsing the more important message about the role of religion in public life and the moral requirements upon the state. Pope Leo made it the first aim of his papacy to achieve "the restoration, both in rulers and peoples, of the principles of the Christian life in civil and domestic society" -- and to resolve the Church's difficulties with the French Republic and republicanism generally. He made the first foundation of this project the primacy of the Christian philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas in Catholic thought. He produced nine encyclical letters that form the fundamental elements of Catholic social teaching, and made it clear that the Church was neutral on the issue of different forms of government. The old monarchy, the empire and the republic were all acceptable provided they conformed to the requirements of natural and revealed law. Q: How did this vision translate into concrete plans for a new Europe? Fimister: After World War I it was clear that the global power of Europe was on the wane. Western and Central Europe were threatened by the rise of Communism but, rather than seeing the disasters consequent upon the rejection of the faith, people were instead turning to neo-pagan ideologies of the right in reaction to this threat. Pope Pius XI taught that it was St. Thomas who "composed a substantial moral theology, capable of directing all human acts in accordance with the supernatural last end of man." And that "it is therefore to be wished that the teachings of Aquinas, more particularly his exposition of international law and the laws governing the mutual relations of peoples, became more and more studied." Pius XII taught that it was the refusal of the European powers to listen to the Church's warnings about the de-Christianization of public life that had led to the calamity of a second World War. He sought to show the outlines of the sort of order Pius XI had suggested in his 1939 encyclical "Summi Pontificatus" (On the Unity of Human Society). At the same time, Leo XIII's promotion of Thomism had led to an explosion of Catholic intellectual activity in this area and, in particular, an intense examination of how the Church's demand for the recognition of the Catholic faith by the civil power as the foundation of peace between and within nations could be pursued at a time when many existing states were committed to the so called separation of church and state. Jacques Maritain, a French Catholic convert and philosopher who wrote more than 60 books, held that democracy in the modern sense, and a coming together of nations, was the translation of the revealed universal law of Charity into the political realm. Because this order would be dependent upon the revealed core of the universal law of charity, it would set up a natural sympathy between such supranational entities and the Catholic Church, which alone could provide them with the revealed truths and the sacramental grace necessary for their existence. During the war Maritain even went so far as to say that a European federation conceived under the banner of liberty would ultimately lead to the establishment of a new Christendom. Q: What was Robert Schuman's vision for the development of a united Europe, and how widely was his vision shared by the other founders of what has become the European Union? Fimister: The first European Community was the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) from which the other communities developed. These were eventually merged into the European Community and then placed within the larger framework of the European Union, which now includes intergovernmental cooperation on security and foreign affairs as well as the "communitarian" supranational tasks of the original community. The political leaders who founded the ECSC were overwhelmingly Catholic: Robert Schuman was intensely loyal to the faith and affirmed publicly that papal encyclicals "define Catholic doctrine and bind in conscience" Konrad Adenauer and Alcide de Gaspari were also particularly important. The coal and steel plan was drawn up by an official, Jean Monnet, who became the first man to hold the office which is now called President of the Commission. He was not a committed Catholic but the essential architecture for the institutions was already being advocated by Schuman before Monnet came to him with his own project. Adenauer and de Gaspari were both strongly influenced by Leo XIII's teaching and its intellectual legacy. Schuman was directly influenced by Maritain's conception of supranational democracy as the foundation for a New Christendom. "Europe," said Schuman, is "the establishment of a generalized democracy in the Christian sense of the word." Unlike Maritain, Schuman held fast to the magisterium's demand that the final destination of Catholic political action must be the recognition by the civil order of the truth of the Faith, through conversion of a "numerical preponderance" of the electorate. Q: Does the European Union of today retain any legacies of Pope Leo XIII's and Robert Schuman's vision? Fimister: In its essential mechanism suggested to Schuman by Pius XII whereby "each state retains an equal right of its own sovereignty" -- but in certain areas this is exercised through "an organ invested by common consent with supreme power" -- the European Union remains what Schuman foresaw. However, its embracing of the culture of death would have appalled him. Schuman's slightly more ambitious goals also led him to appreciate more vividly than Maritain the possible consequences of the corruption of his vision. "An anti-Christian democracy," he said, "would be a caricature ending in anarchy or tyranny." Our present situation has elements of both. Because the essential justification for supranational democracy is supernatural, in a continent that has turned its back on the faith, supranational institutions seek an alternative basis in usurping the roll of national authorities. In the same way, the post-Christian national state, formerly led to assist the family by the law of charity, now seeks to usurp the place of the family causing the family to wither away. So there is simultaneously the creeping emergence of political tyranny and social anarchy -- the dictatorship of relativism. There is no other solution to this than the urgent pursuit of the New Evangelization. Nevertheless, Christians might be forgiven in the meantime for resisting the demands of both the European Union and national authorities for ever-wider powers. email this article:
http://www.zenit.org/article-23687?l=english
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