“We don’t want to convert the young people to Christ or to the Catholic Church or anything like that at all,” said Bishop Américo Aguiar, the head of World Youth Day (WYD) Lisbon 2023 who will be created a cardinal by Pope Francis in September.
World Youth Day will be held in Lisbon, Portugal, Aug. 1–6.
Aguiar, an auxiliary bishop of Lisbon, made the statement July 6 in an interview with RTP Notícias, three days before Pope Francis announced the creation of 21 new cardinals, including the prelate.
In the interview, the bishop said that in his opinion the intention of World Youth Day is to have young people journey together, respecting their diversity.
For the cardinal-designate, the goal is to enable each young person to say: “‘I think differently, I feel differently, I organize my life in a different way, but we are brothers and we go together to build the future.’ This is the main message of this encounter with the living Christ that the pope wants to provide to young people.”
“We don’t want to convert the young people to Christ or to the Catholic Church or anything like that at all,” Aguiar continued. “We want it to be normal for a young Catholic Christian to say and bear witness to who he is or for a young Muslim, Jew, or of another religion to also have no problem saying who he is and bearing witness to it, and for a young person who has no religion to feel welcome and to perhaps not feel strange for thinking in a different way.”
The prelate stressed that it’s important “that we all understand that differences are a richness and the world will be objectively better if we are capable of placing in the hearts of all young people this certainty of Fratelli Tutti, brothers all, that the pope has made a enormous effort so that this enters the hearts of all.”
Pope Francis’ encyclical Fratelli Tutti was published Oct. 4, 2020. It is the third of his pontificate and is dedicated to “fraternity and social friendship.”
World Youth Day was instituted by Pope John Paul II in 1985. It has always been an opportunity for young people from all over the world to personally encounter Christ and choose to give themselves completely to his service in the priesthood or in consecrated life.
On Aug. 19, 2000, at WYD in Rome in the year of the Great Jubilee, Pope John Paul II called young people the “morning watchmen” and reminded them that by “saying ‘yes’ to Christ, you say ‘yes’ to all your noblest ideals. I pray that he will reign in your hearts and in all of humanity in the new century and the new millennium. Have no fear of entrusting yourselves to him! He will guide you, he will grant you the strength to follow him every day and in every situation.”
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
If you value the news and views Catholic World Report provides, please consider donating to support our efforts. Your contribution will help us continue to make CWR available to all readers worldwide for free, without a subscription. Thank you for your generosity!
Click here for more information on donating to CWR. Click here to sign up for our newsletter.
Four men carry a statue of St. Bonaventure during a candlelight procession on July 14, 2023, in Bagnoregio, Italy, his birthplace, on the vigil of the saint’s feast day. / Patrick Leonard/CNA
Bagnoregio, Italy, Jul 15, 2023 / 12:15 pm (CNA).
The birthplace of St. Bonaventure, a 13th-century intellectual giant now revered as a doctor of the Church and the “second founder” of the Franciscans, paid homage to its patron Friday night on the vigil of his feast day with music, prayers, and a candlelight procession.
For the citizens of Bagnoregio, an idyllic town nestled in Italy’s Lazio region about a 1½ drive north of Rome, the July 15 feast is both a solemn holy day and a wellspring of civic pride. Bonaventure’s “braccio santo,” or holy arm — the only surviving relic of the saint — is kept in a silver, arm-shaped reliquary housed in a side chapel of Bagnoregio’s Cathedral of San Nicola and San Donato.
Friday’s procession, which commenced at the cathedral, was led by the town’s confraternities of the Most Blessed Sacrament, St. Francis, and St. Peter. Following them were a brass band, a statue of the saint adorned with flowers and carried by four men, and a priest carrying the holy arm. Then came Cardinal Fortunato Frezza, numerous priests, and this year’s first communicants, followed by other religious and residents.
As the participants made their way down the candlelit Via Roma, onlookers watched from windows, balconies, and restaurants bustling with patrons on a warm summer evening.
Arriving at the piazza Sant’Agostino, Cardinal Frezza, standing beneath a monument of Bonaventure, offered a brief reflection on the importance of the saint and of procession as a form of popular devotion.
The relic “gives us strength to sustain our weakness … It is a relic that is alive and active,” observed the cardinal, a noted biblical scholar. It is “an arm that teaches,” he said, the very right arm that “wrote his works of great intellect and wisdom.”
The cardinal closed his brief catechesis by saying “our life is a holy procession, an itinerary of the mind towards God.” Here he was playing on the title of one of Bonaventure’s most important theological works, Itinerarium Mentis in Deum, “The Journey of the Mind to God.” Following a benediction with the relic, the procession continued down Via Fidanza, looping around the main gate and then back up Via Roma to the cathedral. The faithful entered and Cardinal Frezza imparted the final blessing, again with the relic.
The Franciscans’ ‘second founder’
Born in 1217 (or 1221, according to some accounts) as Giovanni Fidanza in Civita di Bagnoregio (then in the territory of the Papal States), he displayed great acumen and intellectual curiosity. He was, however, plagued by ill health in his youth. His mother called upon the intercession of St. Francis of Assisi, and he was, according to the legend, miraculously cured.
The young Bonaventure studied at the nearby Franciscan convent. Given his great talent, at 18 he left Bagnoregio to study in Paris, then the intellectual capital of Europe.
He joined the Franciscan Order of Friars Minor in 1243. At the University of Paris, he studied under the renowned Franciscan theologian Alexander de Hales; in 1257 he earned his teaching license (magister cathedratus) in theology there. Bonaventure was a contemporary of St. Thomas Aquinas, whom he met as they were both teaching at the university. The two future doctors of the Church were united in defending the then-nascent Franciscan and Dominican orders, whose orthodoxy was called into question by the secular clergy.
Bonaventure’s teaching career was cut short; in 1257 when he was appointed minister general of the Franciscan order, which was then plagued by internal factionalism due to divergent understandings of Francis’ spirituality following his death.
To rectify this, Bonaventure spent much time traveling around Europe to help maintain the unity of the order. In 1260 went to Narbonne, France, to solidify the rule of the order and that same year he started writing (which was completed three years later in 1263) the Legenda Maior, “The Major Legend,” considered the definitive biography of St. Francis. For Bonaventure, the key to righting the order lie in Francis’ ideals of obedience, chastity, and poverty, which he re-established as the Franciscans’ guiding principles.
Enduring influence
In addition to his contributions as the “second founder” of the Franciscans, Bonaventure had a profound impact on the papacy. Following the chaos of the three-year conclave in Viterbo that elected Gregory X in 1271 (the longest papal election in the history of the Church), the new pontiff, also a Franciscan, entrusted Bonaventure with preparing many of the key documents for the Second Council of Lyon (1272-1274) which sought to unify the Latin and Greek Churches.
He was made a cardinal in the consistory of May 28, 1273. He did not, however, see the end of the council, as he died on July 15, 1274. He was canonized in 1482 by Pope Sixtus IV and proclaimed Doctor of the Church by Pope Sixtus V in 1588.
In 2009, Pope Benedict XVI, who was a great admirer of Bonaventure, visited the saint’s birthplace to venerate the relic and address the faithful. In 2010 he dedicated three consecutive Wednesday audiences on the saint, outlining the importance of his governance of the Franciscans and his theological, philosophical, and mystical works. Bonaventure’s writings, Benedict observed, demonstrate that “Christ’s works do not go backwards, they do not fail but progress.”
“For St. Bonaventure, Christ was no longer the end of history, as he was for the Fathers of the Church, but rather its center; history does not end with Christ but begins a new period,” Benedict said.
“The following is another consequence: Until that moment the idea that the Fathers of the Church were the absolute summit of theology predominated, all successive generations could only be their disciples,” Pope Benedict explained.
“St. Bonaventure also recognized the Fathers as teachers forever, but the phenomenon of St. Francis assured him that the riches of Christ’s word are inexhaustible and that new light could also appear to the new generations,” he said. “The oneness of Christ also guarantees newness and renewal in all the periods of history.”
Rome Newsroom, Apr 3, 2021 / 06:00 pm (CNA).- Pope Francis has sent a video message to the Philippines to mark the 500 year anniversary of the first Mass on Philippine soil on Easter Sunday.“Give thanks for the gift of faith. Thank God for the people w… […]
13 Comments
1 John 4:1-6 1 John 4:1-6 “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are of God; for many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit which confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, 3 and every spirit which does not confess Jesus is not of God. This is the spirit of antichrist, of which you heard that it was coming, and now it is in the world already. 4 Little children, you are of God, and have overcome them; for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 5 They are of the world, therefore what they say is of the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are of God. Whoever knows God listens to us, and he who is not of God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.”
This article implies that the baby Cardinal is committed to nothing. Ah contraire! Not too many years ago he was elected as part of the ruling Socialist Party. No wonder the Pope lifted this synodalling prodigy from obscurity to the next Conclave. (All this is not to say that Lisbon didn’t need two Cardinals.)
And, should clerical functionaries actually have something elevating to say to youth who are, yes, looking for fraternity, but also deeply hungry for the permanence of Truth? If there is a Truth larger than just the “diversity” thingy.
” [….] Christ answers as he answered the young people of the first generation of the Church through the words of the Apostle [St. Paul]: ‘I am writing to you, young people, because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you, children, because you know the Father… I write to you, young people, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you”. The words of the Apostle, going back almost two thousand years, are also an answer for today. They use the simple and strong language of faith that bears within itself victory over the evil in the world: “And this is the victory that overcomes the world, our faith”. These words have the strength of the experience of the Cross and Resurrection of Christ, the experience of the Apostles and of the generations of Christians that followed them. In this experience the whole of the Gospel is confirmed. These words also confirm the truth contained in Christ’s conversation with the young man” [who asked: ‘Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’] (part of n. 15).
The difference between a shepherd in season and out of season, and an empty suit.
Young people – they are the true agents who keep converting the rusty, the outdated, the straight-jacketed and other fellow mortals into mobile, flexible, alert, conscientious, and concerned citizens of Planet Earth.
I look at the current situation as being spirituality as practiced by the hookup culture. Trying to create a church of the holy hookup and the sacred shack-up, where God had better be putting out. The Gospel according to Harvey Weinstein. Spiritual co-habitation. People who are incapable of making or keeping a promise. Catholicism is a covenantal faith based on promises, vows, and oaths.
Matthew 10:32-34
32 “Everyone therefore who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven; 33 but whoever denies me before others, I also will deny before my Father in heaven. 34 “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.”
Acts 2:38-40
And Peter said to them, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children and to all that are far off, every one whom the Lord our God calls to him.” And he testified with many other words and exhorted them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.”
Have we arrived at a point where we require a Protestant pastor (Timothy Keller, Making Sense of God) to explain to Catholic clergy why there is no such thing as choosing one’s own path? He compelling explains why everyone, including those who claim to shape their own beliefs, is actually formed/informed by some group or community. The question then becomes, who will form me? This seems so remedial it is sad that priests and bishops are ignorant of this truth, or worse, have rejected it for expediency’s sake.
No accident that such as this person is being promoted upwards. Francis will have a lot to account for when he goes to judgement, and all these appointments will not be able to help him then. “Anything goes” is no way to run the Catholic church.
1 John 4:1-6 1 John 4:1-6 “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are of God; for many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit which confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, 3 and every spirit which does not confess Jesus is not of God. This is the spirit of antichrist, of which you heard that it was coming, and now it is in the world already. 4 Little children, you are of God, and have overcome them; for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 5 They are of the world, therefore what they say is of the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are of God. Whoever knows God listens to us, and he who is not of God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.”
This article implies that the baby Cardinal is committed to nothing. Ah contraire! Not too many years ago he was elected as part of the ruling Socialist Party. No wonder the Pope lifted this synodalling prodigy from obscurity to the next Conclave. (All this is not to say that Lisbon didn’t need two Cardinals.)
And, should clerical functionaries actually have something elevating to say to youth who are, yes, looking for fraternity, but also deeply hungry for the permanence of Truth? If there is a Truth larger than just the “diversity” thingy.
Maybe by going back to the mentioned first World Youth Day of 1985….Here’s the link to St. John Paul II’s “Letter to Youth,” together with a peek at the confidence and fatherly guidance of a true shepherd: https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/apost_letters/1985/documents/hf_jp-ii_apl_31031985_dilecti-amici.html
” [….] Christ answers as he answered the young people of the first generation of the Church through the words of the Apostle [St. Paul]: ‘I am writing to you, young people, because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you, children, because you know the Father… I write to you, young people, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you”. The words of the Apostle, going back almost two thousand years, are also an answer for today. They use the simple and strong language of faith that bears within itself victory over the evil in the world: “And this is the victory that overcomes the world, our faith”. These words have the strength of the experience of the Cross and Resurrection of Christ, the experience of the Apostles and of the generations of Christians that followed them. In this experience the whole of the Gospel is confirmed. These words also confirm the truth contained in Christ’s conversation with the young man” [who asked: ‘Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’] (part of n. 15).
The difference between a shepherd in season and out of season, and an empty suit.
Young people – they are the true agents who keep converting the rusty, the outdated, the straight-jacketed and other fellow mortals into mobile, flexible, alert, conscientious, and concerned citizens of Planet Earth.
Well, we were the young people yesterday. What happened?
“… concerned citizens of Planet Earth.”
But not be converted to Christ.
I look at the current situation as being spirituality as practiced by the hookup culture. Trying to create a church of the holy hookup and the sacred shack-up, where God had better be putting out. The Gospel according to Harvey Weinstein. Spiritual co-habitation. People who are incapable of making or keeping a promise. Catholicism is a covenantal faith based on promises, vows, and oaths.
I thought it was “in the world but not of the world”.
Matthew 10:32-34
32 “Everyone therefore who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven; 33 but whoever denies me before others, I also will deny before my Father in heaven. 34 “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.”
Acts 2:38-40
And Peter said to them, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children and to all that are far off, every one whom the Lord our God calls to him.” And he testified with many other words and exhorted them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.”
Why are we funding these bums?
Have we arrived at a point where we require a Protestant pastor (Timothy Keller, Making Sense of God) to explain to Catholic clergy why there is no such thing as choosing one’s own path? He compelling explains why everyone, including those who claim to shape their own beliefs, is actually formed/informed by some group or community. The question then becomes, who will form me? This seems so remedial it is sad that priests and bishops are ignorant of this truth, or worse, have rejected it for expediency’s sake.
Jesus wept.
Why does someone like this even become a priest, let alone a bishop?
No accident that such as this person is being promoted upwards. Francis will have a lot to account for when he goes to judgement, and all these appointments will not be able to help him then. “Anything goes” is no way to run the Catholic church.