U.S. President Joe Biden / Credit: White House – Public Domain
Washington D.C., Dec 31, 2022 / 14:25 pm (CNA).
President Joe Biden paid tribute to Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, who died on Saturday, calling him “a renowned theologian” and “an inspiration to us all.”
“Jill and I join Catholics around the world, and so many others, in mourning the passing of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI,” Biden said following the Vatican’s announcement that the pope emeritus had died at the age of 95.
Biden is the second Catholic president in U.S. history.
“I had the privilege of spending time with Pope Benedict at the Vatican in 2011 and will always remember his generosity and welcome as well as our meaningful conversation,” the president said Dec. 31.
As vice president, Biden made a surprise visit to the Vatican and held a private meeting with Pope Benedict XVI in 2011.
“He will be remembered as a renowned theologian, with a lifetime of devotion to the Church, guided by his principles and faith,” Biden said.
“As he remarked during his 2008 visit to the White House, ‘the need for global solidarity is as urgent as ever, if all people are to live in a way worthy of their dignity,’” Biden said. “May his focus on the ministry of charity continue to be an inspiration to us all.”
Other prominent Catholic politicians also offered tributes to Benedict XVI.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi praised Benedict XVI, saying: “I join our fellow Catholics in mourning the passing of Pope Benedict XVI: a leader whose devotion, scholarship, and message stirred the hearts of people of all faiths.”
Joe Donnelly, U.S. ambassador to the Holy See, issued a statement reflecting on Benedict XVI’s first address from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, saying: “He set the tone for a papacy by labeling himself as a ‘simple, humble laborer in the vineyard of the Lord.’”
The Vatican announced Saturday that the funeral Mass of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI will take place at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, Jan. 5, in St. Peter’s Square.
Benedict XVI will be buried in the crypt under St. Peter’s Basilica.
Pope Francis will preside over the funeral, which, in keeping with Benedict’s wishes, “will be carried out under the sign of simplicity,” Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said.
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Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., speaks during news conference to announce a new bill on abortion restrictions on Capitol Hill Sept. 13, 2022, in Washington, D.C. Graham’s proposal would enact a national ban on abortions after the 15-week mark. Also pictured, at left, is President of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America Marjorie Dannenfelser. / Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images
South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham introduced legislation Tuesday that would ban abortions nationwide after 15 weeks, except in cases of rape, incest, or when the life of the mother is in danger.
Speaking at a press conference alongside members of several national pro-life groups Sept. 13, Graham said the legislation was designed to “get America in a position at the federal level that’s fairly consistent with the rest of the world.”
Forty-seven out of 50 European countries have bans on abortions before 15 weeks. France, for example, bans abortions beginning at 12 weeks.
“This act provides the bare minimum protections for vulnerable unborn children,” Jeanne Mancini, president of March for Life, said at the conference. Mancini added that the United States ranks with North Korea and China in allowing “gruesome, late-term elective abortion[s].”
15-week ban aligns with science of fetal pain
The bill’s rationale rests on the overwhelming scientific and medical consensus that unborn children feel pain by 15 weeks’ gestation.
“Pain receptors … begin forming at 7 weeks gestational age,” the bill’s text reads.
The bill cites the fact that anesthesia is used in medical procedures performed on unborn children in the womb to prevent suffering from pain.
The bill would impose criminal penalties on abortionists who commit abortions on unborn children 15 weeks or older.
It also forbids the prosecution of women who obtain these abortions and allows them to pursue civil action against abortionists in violation of the bill.
Republican Rep. Chris Smith of New Jersey, leader of the House Pro-Life Caucus and a Catholic, introduced an identical House version of the bill this afternoon, for which he was joined by more than 80 members of Congress.
“Every day, a whole segment of human beings is being subjected to painful — and deadly — procedures. This unconscionable human-rights abuse must stop,” Smith said in a statement.
Bill would allow most abortions to continue
Graham’s bill is supported by a variety of pro-life groups, including Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, National Right to Life Committee, Americans United for Life, March for Life, and Urban Cure.
It is being messaged as a counter to Senate Democrats’ Women’s Health and Protection Act — reintroduced after Roe v. Wadewas overturned this year — which would legalize abortion on-demand through all nine months of pregnancy.
“Democrats’ pro-abortion extremism flies in the face of American public opinion, which strongly supports compassionate limits on abortion like those proposed today by Sen. Graham and Rep. Smith,” Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of SBA Pro-Life America, said in a statement.
The Washington Post reported Tuesday that Graham’s bill may not garner equal support from all pro-life organizations.
A 15-week ban has been “long denounced by many in the antiabortion movement because it would allow the vast majority of abortions to continue,” the Post wrote.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 92% of abortions occur before 15 weeks’ gestation and around 6% of abortions occur at or after 15 weeks.
“We have our work cut out for us,” Mancini said at the press conference. “At the March for Life, we work for a day when abortion is unthinkable.”
White House, Democrats condemn bill
Graham’s bill faced immediate backlash from pro-abortion activists and prominent Democrats, who are denouncing the move as a reversal from states’ rights.
“‘Let the states decide’ was always a lie,” Sen. Patty Murray, D-Washington, tweeted. “They want to ban abortion in every state, in every community.”
At the press conference, Graham said that “it is left up to the elected officials in America to define the issue.”
“States have the ability to do it at the state level, and we have the ability in Washington to speak on this issue if we choose. I have chosen to speak,” he said.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre issued a statement condemning the bill on Tuesday.
“Today, Senator Graham introduced a national ban on abortion which would strip away women’s rights in all 50 states,” Jean-Pierre said. “This bill is wildly out of step with what Americans believe.”
The ban is unlikely to advance, with a Democrat-controlled Congress and the White House held by President Joe Biden, who is on record as one of the most pro-abortion presidents in history.
Pope Francis waves during the weekly general audience in the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall on Dec. 28, 2022. / Credit: Vatican Media.
Vatican City, Dec 28, 2022 / 10:30 am (CNA).
Pope Francis Wednesday published a message on St. Francis de Sales, a saint who teaches us that “devotion [to God] is meant for everyone, in every situation.”
The pope’s apostolic letter, titled Totum amoris est, or “Everything Pertains to Love,” was published on Dec. 28, the 400th anniversary of St. Francis de Sales’ death in 1622.
The title comes from the preface of the Swiss saint’s book “Treatise on the Love of God,” in which he wrote that “In Holy Church, everything pertains to love, lives in love, is done for love and comes from love.”
St. Francis de Sales was a priest and bishop who taught against Protestant heresies and encouraged holiness in all people, no matter their vocation. He is known for his spiritual writings, including two books that are still widely read today: “An Introduction to the Devout Life” and “Treatise on the Love of God.” In 1877, he was proclaimed a Doctor of the Church.
“On this anniversary of the fourth centenary of his death, I have given much thought to the legacy of Saint Francis de Sales for our time,” Pope Francis said in his apostolic letter. “I find that his flexibility and his far-sighted vision have much to say to us.”
“Today he bids us set aside undue concern for ourselves, for our structures and for what society thinks about us, and consider instead the real spiritual needs and expectations of our people,” the pope noted.
Saint Francis de Sales, painted by Francisco Bayeu y Subías. Wikimedia (CC0)
Commenting on St. Francis de Sales’ teachings, Pope Francis said “devotion is meant for everyone, in every situation, and each of us can practice it in accordance with our own vocation.”
“As Saint Paul VI wrote on the fourth centenary of the birth of Francis de Sales, ‘Holiness is not the prerogative of any one group, but an urgent summons addressed to every Christian: “Friend, come up higher” (Lk 14:10). All of us are called to ascend the mountain of God, albeit not each by the same path.’”
“Devotion,” Paul VI said, quoting St. Francis, “must be practiced differently by the gentleman, the craftsman, the chamberlain, the prince, the widow, the young woman, the wife. Moreover, the practice of devotion must be adapted to the abilities, affairs and duties of each.”
False Devotion
In his letter, Pope Francis reflected on what St. Francis de Sales called “false devotion” and its relevance for our spiritual lives today.
Saint Francis de Sales. Kelson / Wikimedia (CC0)
“Francis’ description of false devotion is delightful and ever timely. Everyone can relate to it, since he salts it with good humor,” the pope explained.
De Sales wrote: “Someone attached to fasting will consider himself devout because he doesn’t eat, even though his heart is filled with bitterness; and while, out of love for sobriety, he will not let a drop of wine, or even water, touch his tongue, he will not scruple to drench it in the blood of his neighbor through gossip and slander. Another will consider himself devout because all day long he mumbles a string of prayers, yet remains heedless of the evil, arrogant and hurtful words that his tongue hurls at his servants and neighbors. Yet another will readily open his purse to give alms to the poor, but cannot wring an ounce of mercy from his heart in order to forgive his enemies. Another still will pardon his enemies, yet never even think of paying his debts; it will take a lawsuit to make him do so.”
“All these,” Pope Francis said, “of course, are perennial vices and struggles, and they lead the saint to conclude that ‘all these fine people, commonly considered devout, most surely are not.’”
True Devotion
The pope explained that St. Francis de Sales taught that true devotion, instead, is found in “God’s life dwelling within our hearts.”
“True and lively devotion presupposes the love of God; indeed, it is none other than a genuine, and not generic, love of God,” the saint said.
Saint Francis de Sales giving Saint Jeanne de Chantal the rule of the order of the Visitation /. null
Pope Francis said: “In Francis’ lively language, devotion is ‘a sort of spiritual alertness and energy whereby charity acts within us or, we act by means of it, with promptness and affection.’ For this reason, devotion does not exist alongside charity, but is one of its manifestations, while at the same time leading back to it.”
“Devotion is like a flame with regard to fire: it increases the intensity of charity without altering its quality,” the pope said, adding a quote from St. Francis de Sales, who said: “Charity is a spiritual fire that, when fanned into flame, is called devotion. Devotion thus adds nothing to the fire of charity but the flame that makes charity prompt, active and diligent, not only in the observance of God’s commandments but also in the exercise of his divine counsels and inspirations.”
“Understood in this way, devotion is far from something abstract,” the pope said. “Rather, it becomes a style of life, a way of living immersed in our concrete daily existence. It embraces and discovers meaning in the little things: food and dress, work and relaxation, love and parenthood, conscientiousness in the fulfillment of our duties. In a word, it sheds light on the vocation of each individual.”
Love
Pope Francis also reflected on St. Francis de Sales’ teachings on love as “the first act and principle of our devout or spiritual life.”
Mosaic of Sales on the exterior of St. Francis de Sales Oratory in St. Louis, Missouri. RickMorais / Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
“The source of this love that attracts the heart is the life of Jesus Christ,” he explained. “‘Nothing sways the human heart as much as love,’ and this is most evident in the fact that ‘Jesus Christ died for us; he gave us life through his death. We live only because he died, and died for us, as ours and in us.’”
“These words are profoundly moving; they reveal not only a clear and insightful understanding of the relationship between God and humanity, but also the deep bond of affection between Francis de Sales and the Lord Jesus,” the pope said. “The ecstasy of life and action is no abstract reality, but shines forth in the charity of Christ that culminates on the cross. That love, far from mortifying our existence, makes it radiate with extraordinary brightness.”
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