Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 14, 2023 / 09:36 am (CNA).
Pope Francis on Thursday announced the appointment of Father Antonio Spadaro as the undersecretary for the Dicastery for Culture and Education, a position the Jesuit priest will take after over a decade leading an influential Catholic journal in Rome.
Spadaro will assume office on Jan. 1, 2024, the Vatican said in an announcement. The priest had previously served as the editor of the Jesuit-run La Civiltà Cattolica for 12 years.
Spadaro, known popularly as “the pope’s mouthpiece” for his regular outspoken defense of the Holy Father, had announced early on Thursday that he was leaving La Civiltà, a decision he said came about from his “Jesuit superiors” that had been “agreed upon one year ago.”
As editor, the priest has sometimes generated controversy such as with his co-authorship of a 2017 article in which the writers criticized so-called “value voters” in the United States who traffic in an “ecumenism of hate.”
The Dicastery for Culture and Education was formed last year after the merger of two other departments, the Pontifical Council for Culture and the Congregation for Catholic Education.
The Vatican says that the cultural wing of the dicastery is “dedicated to the promotion of culture, pastoral activity, and the enhancement of cultural heritage.”
The educational division, meanwhile, works worldwide with bishops and Church authorities to ensure that “the fundamental principles of education, especially Catholic education, may be welcomed and better understood, enabling them to be implemented contextually and culturally.”
The dicastery as a whole “works for the development of people’s human values in the context of Christian anthropology, contributing to the full realization of Christian discipleship,” the Holy See says.
The Italian-born priest said his tenure at the magazine “has been a challenging responsibility that I have lived with enthusiasm since 2011.”
He thanked the Jesuit leaders and contributors to the periodical who “have collaborated to build the network of a magazine that is now fully international.” He described them as “a solid foundation for the future.”
The Vatican in its announcement noted that Spadaro was already a “consultor” of the dicastery as well as “an ordinary member of the Pontifical Academy of Fine Arts and Letters of the Virtuosi al Pantheon.”
Spadaro in his resignation announcement indicated he was ready to leave his long-held post at the magazine. “Twelve years is the right time to give the best without repeating yourself,” he said.
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Vatican City, May 26, 2017 / 11:37 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Addressing the Little Missionary Sisters of Charity on Friday, Pope Francis spoke to them about their charism for evangelization, especially to the poor, encouraging them to be joyful in their mission.
“You are called, and are by vocation, ‘missionaries’; that is, evangelizers, and at the same time you are at the service of the poor. Sisters, be missionaries without borders,” the Pope said May 26 at the Vatican’s Consistory Hall.
“To all, but especially to the poor, in whom you are called to recognize the flesh of Christ, bring the joy of the Gospel that is Jesus Himself. To all, show the beauty of God’s love manifested in the merciful face of Christ. With this beauty fill the hearts of those you encounter. Closeness, encounter, dialogue, and accompaniment are your missionary approach. And do not let yourselves be robbed of the joy of evangelization.”
The Little Missionary Sisters of Charity are holding their 12th General Chapter in Rome throughout the month of May. They are also known as the Don Orione Sisters, after their founder, St. Luigi Orione. The Italian priest founded the order in 1915 to perform works of charity among the poor, orphans, the aged, and the handicapped.
Pope Francis thanked the sisters for their apostolate “in the various activities of youth ministry, in schools, in homes for the elderly, in the little ‘Cottolengo’ institutes, in catechesis and oratories, with new forms of poverty, and in all places where Divine Providence has placed you.”
Mission and service “help you overcome the risks of self-referentiality, of limiting yourselves to survival and self-defensive rigidity” and “make you take on the dynamics of exodus and giving, of coming out of yourselves, of walking and sowing,” he reflected. “For all these purposes, it is vital to nurture communion with the Lord” in prayer, he added.
“In the Church, mission is born of the encounter with Christ … The centre of the Church’s mission is Jesus. As His disciples, you are called to be women who work assiduously to transcend, projecting towards the encounter with the Master and the culture in which you live.”
Missionaries must be “bold and creative,” the Pope said. “The convenient criterion of ‘it has always been the case’ is not valid. It is not valid. Think of the aims, the structures, the style and the methods of your mission.”
“We are living in a time when we need to rethink everything in the light of what the Spirit asks us,” Pope Francis maintained. “This demands a special look at the recipients of the mission and reality itself: the look of Jesus, which is the look of the Good Shepherd; a gaze that does not judge, but which grasps the presence of the Lord in history; a gaze of closeness, to contemplate, to be moved, and to stay with the other as often as necessary; a deep look of faith; a respectful gaze, full of compassion, that heals, frees, and comforts.”
This gaze “will make you courageous and creative and will help you always to be in search of new ways to bring the Good News that is Christ to all.”
He also said that missionary must be free, “without anything of his or her own. I never tire of repeating that comfort, lethargy and worldliness are forces that prevent the missionary from ‘going out’, ‘starting out’ and moving on, and ultimately sharing the gift of the Gospel. The missionary can not walk with the heart full of things (comfort), an empty heart (lethargy) or in search of things extraneous to the glory of God (worldliness).”
“The missionary is a person who is free of all these ballasts and chains; a person who lives without anything of his own, only for the Lord and His Gospel; a person who lives on a constant path of personal conversion and works without rest towards pastoral conversion.”
A missionary must also be “inhabited by the Holy Spirit. It is the Spirit Who reminds the disciples of all that Jesus said to them, Who teaches them, Who bear witness to Jesus and leads the disciples, in turn, to bear witness to Him. The missionary is asked to be a person obedient to the Spirit, to follow His movement.”
This obedience should lead them “to become capable of perceiving the presence of Jesus in so many people discarded by society,” he said. “You too, dear sisters, be in this sense spiritual people, let yourselves be led, driven and guided by the Spirit.”
Pope Francis said a missionary’s spirituality must be based on Christ, the Word of God, and on the liturgy. A ‘holistic’ spirituality, involving the whole person in its various dimensions, based on complementarity, integrating and incorporating. It allows you to be daughters of heaven and daughters of the earth, mystical and prophetic, disciples and witnesses at the same time.”
“Finally, the missionary is required to be a prophet of mercy … Your charism of service to the poor demands that you exercise the prophecy of mercy, that is, to be people centred on God and on the crucified of this world. Let yourselves be provoked by the cry of help from so many situations of pain and suffering. As prophets of mercy, announce the Father’s forgiveness and embrace, a source of joy, serenity and peace.”
“Along with the other institutes and movements founded by Don Orione, you form a family. I encourage you to walk the paths of collaboration with all the members of this rich charismatic family … Cultivate between you the spirit of encounter, the spirit of family and cooperation.”
Francis concluded by offering the Visitation as “an example for your mission and for your service to the poor.”
“Like the Virgin Mary, go on your way, in haste – not the rush of the world, but that of God – and, full of the joy that dwells in your heart, sing your Magnificat. Sing the love of God for every creature. Announce to today’s men and women that God is love and can fill the heart of those who seek Him and who let themselves be encountered by Him.”
Vatican City, Dec 9, 2018 / 06:46 am (CNA).- Advent is a time of waiting and expectation, Pope Francis said Sunday, but this season also requires a “journey of conversion.”
“To prepare the way for the Lord who comes, it is necessary … […]
Pope Francis waves to crowds gathered in St. Peter’s Square on June 19, 2022, on Corpus Christi Sunday. / Vatican Media
Denver Newsroom, Jun 19, 2022 / 09:56 am (CNA).
The Feast of Corpus Christi is a time for Christians to remember that God will meet their basic needs to eat and to be filled with the joy and amazement of receiving loving nourishment from Jesus Christ, Pope Francis said Sunday.
At the same time, the pope emphasized, the Eucharist must also move Christians to action.
“We can evaluate our Eucharistic Adoration when we take care of our neighbor like Jesus does,” the pope said Sunday before the recitation of the Angelus at St. Peter’s Square in Rome.
“There is hunger for food around us, but also for companionship; there is hunger for consolation, friendship, good humor; there is hunger for attention, there is hunger to be evangelized. We find this in the Eucharistic Bread — the attention of Christ to our needs and the invitation to do the same toward those who are beside us. We need to eat and feed others.”
The pope’s remarks reflected on Sunday’s Gospel reading, the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes from the Gospel of Luke.
The pope linked the reading to the institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper. The Eucharist was like “the destination of a journey along which Jesus had prefigured through several signs, above all the multiplication of the loaves narrated in the Gospel of today’s liturgy.”
The pontiff reflected on the manner of the miracle when Jesus fed so many who lacked food.
“The miracle of the loaves and fishes does not happen in a spectacular way, but almost secretly, like the wedding at Cana — the bread increases as it passes from hand to hand. And as the crowd eats, they realize that Jesus is taking care of everything,” said Pope Francis.
“This is the Lord present in the Eucharist. He calls us to be citizens of Heaven, but at the same time he takes into account the journey we have to face here on earth,” he said. “If I have hardly any bread in my sack, he knows and takes care of it himself.”
The pope connected the tangible needs of food with the intangible needs of humankind.
“Sometimes there is the risk of confining the Eucharist to a vague, distant dimension, perhaps bright and perfumed with incense, but rather distant from the straits of everyday life. In reality, the Lord takes all our needs to heart, beginning with the most basic,” he said.
“In the Eucharist, everyone can experience this loving and concrete attention of the Lord. Those who receive the Body and Blood of Christ with faith not only eat, but are satisfied. To eat and to be satisfied: These are two basic necessities that are satisfied in the Eucharist,” he added. “The crowd is satisfied because of the abundance of food and also because of the joy and amazement of having received it from Jesus!”
Jesus Christ’s self-giving presence is key to understanding the Eucharist, the pope said.
“We certainly need to nourish ourselves, but we also need to be satisfied, to know that the nourishment is given to us out of love. In the Body and Blood of Christ, we find his presence, his life given for each of us. He not only gives us help to go forward, but he gives us himself — he makes himself our traveling companion, he enters into our affairs, he visits us when we are lonely, giving us back a sense of enthusiasm.”
“This satisfies us, when the Lord gives meaning to our life, our obscurities, our doubts; he sees the meaning, and this meaning that the Lord gives satisfies us,” the pope explained. Everyone is looking for the presence of the Lord, because “in the warmth of his presence, our lives change,” the pope added.
“Without him, everything would truly be gray,” he said. “Adoring the Body and Blood of Christ, let us ask him with our heart: ‘Lord, give me that daily bread to go forward, Lord, satisfy me with your presence!’”
The pope also prayed that the Virgin Mary may teach us “how to adore Jesus, living in the Eucharist and to share him with our brothers and sisters.”
Statements on Spanish martyrs, Ukraine war
After the Angelus, the pope discussed the Saturday beatification of Dominican religious who were killed in the Spanish Civil War.
“They were all killed in hatred of the faith in the religious persecution that took place in Spain in the context of the civil war of the last century,” the pope said, calling for applause for them. “Their witness of adherence to Christ and forgiveness for their killers show us the way to holiness and encourage us to make their lives an offering of love to God and their brothers and sisters.”
The conflict of Ukraine after the Russian invasion also was a point for prayer, the pope said: “Let us not forget the suffering of the Ukrainian people in this moment, a people who are suffering.”
“I would like you all to keep in mind a question: What am I doing today for the Ukrainian people? Do I pray? Am I doing something? Am I trying to understand? What am I doing today for the Ukrainian people? Each one of you, answer in your own heart,” he asked.
Prayers for Myanmar, World Meeting of Families
Pope Francis also lamented the violence in Myanmar, which has forced many to flee their homes and blocked them from meeting basic needs.
“I join the appeal of the bishops of that beloved land, that the international community does not forget the Burmese people, that human dignity and the right to life be respected, as well as places of worship, hospitals, and schools. And I bless the Burmese community in Italy, represented here today,” he said.
In early 2021 the Myanmar military seized power in the country. Its crackdown on opponents provoked a violent backlash. The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees has said the conflict has displaced more than 800,000 people from their homes. Of these, 250,000 are children.
Pope Francis also noted that the 10th World Meeting of Families will begin June 22 in Rome and throughout the world. Around 2,000 Catholic families will gather in Rome this week to meet Pope Francis and hear talks on marriage and the faith.
“I thank the bishops, parish priests, and family pastoral workers who have called families to moments of reflection, celebration and festivity,” he said. “Above all, I thank the married couples and families who will bear witness to family love as a vocation and way to holiness. Have a good meeting!”
Perhaps something should be said about entropy and institutional leveling. By departing La Civiltà Cattolica and joining the Dicastery for Culture and Education, does Fr. Spadaro improve the magisterium average IQ of the former while depressing the magisterium average IQ of the latter?
And, what will be the agreed dialect between this papal “mouthpiece” and Fernandez as the papal “ghostwriter”?
Fearless Reverend Antonio Spadaro is blessed with a creative and constructive mindset. His best is yet to come. The Dicastery for Culture and Education has the right man in the right place. Wishing the dynamic and forward looking Padre divine blessings.
About “mindset!” And, too, about the, yes, defensible merger of complementary “culture” and “education,” yours truly still recalls an academic panel discussion in 2008 between a Dominican from the Western Dominican Province, a Muslim interreligious studies member from Loyola-Marymount in Los Angeles, and an evangelical Christian, obviously “ecumenically” aligned with the latter.
The agreed topic was the fit between Faith and Reason…
But, the conspicuous Islamic diversion was to continually migrate the focus toward “culture” (and away from “education”?). Culture, as within assimilative Islam, e.g., the monotheistic and above-question Qur’an which is part Pentateuch, part New Testament, part Arabian warrior cult, and part trans-tribal folk hero. As part of the diversion, the panelist even interjected a tape of Muslim young musicians playing Western rock music.
The self-understanding of very sectarian Islam is as an egalitarian and “congregational theocracy.” We might say, like a fragmented “polyhedron” Church shaped more by an inscrutable Holy Spirit than centered on the incarnate Jesus Christ. Contrast egalitarian Islam, then, with the Church’s sacramental clergy, and “hierarchical communion”—the revealed self-understanding of the apostolic Church (Lumen Gentium), yet in no way excluding the People of God.
But, if “pluralism” of religions means historical “convergence” rather than Christian “conversion,” then how might we drift unwittingly and yet institutionally toward this outcome?
Well, the devolution first might involve ambivalent appointments to levelized dicasteries, as in demotion of the Congregation for Doctrine of the Faith and then merger of culture with education? Second, with “facilitator” bishops (imams?), perhaps an exercise in “inverted pyramid” consensus-building? In Islam this option is called Ijtihad. Third, when the potpourri of recommendations is received on high, then possibly strategic silences (as with the dubia)? And, fourth, synodality/ijtihad as part of an indeterminant “endless journey”? Islamic ijtihad is not binding on future generations, but can be “abrogated,” as under Western process theology now feeding on the plagiarized language of Thomas Kuhn’s natural sciences: “paradigm shifts.”
Who needs, yes, “not-a-parliament” Synodality when you can have Ijtihad? But, as we say, and in freedom from “mindsets,” only a thought experiment…
Perhaps something should be said about entropy and institutional leveling. By departing La Civiltà Cattolica and joining the Dicastery for Culture and Education, does Fr. Spadaro improve the magisterium average IQ of the former while depressing the magisterium average IQ of the latter?
And, what will be the agreed dialect between this papal “mouthpiece” and Fernandez as the papal “ghostwriter”?
Perhaps we do have it backwards Beaulieu.
Fernández is the mouth💋 and Spadaro is the brain 🧠 of the one “head over all things for the church.”
https://www.ncregister.com/news/archbishop-fernandez-outlines-his-vision-as-the-vatican-s-new-doctrinal-chief
Porno-mysticism and Georgetown. Heart and head.
Fearless Reverend Antonio Spadaro is blessed with a creative and constructive mindset. His best is yet to come. The Dicastery for Culture and Education has the right man in the right place. Wishing the dynamic and forward looking Padre divine blessings.
His understanding of Christianity in the U.S. is certainly creative. Not accurate or constructive, but creative. Same with math.
About “mindset!” And, too, about the, yes, defensible merger of complementary “culture” and “education,” yours truly still recalls an academic panel discussion in 2008 between a Dominican from the Western Dominican Province, a Muslim interreligious studies member from Loyola-Marymount in Los Angeles, and an evangelical Christian, obviously “ecumenically” aligned with the latter.
The agreed topic was the fit between Faith and Reason…
But, the conspicuous Islamic diversion was to continually migrate the focus toward “culture” (and away from “education”?). Culture, as within assimilative Islam, e.g., the monotheistic and above-question Qur’an which is part Pentateuch, part New Testament, part Arabian warrior cult, and part trans-tribal folk hero. As part of the diversion, the panelist even interjected a tape of Muslim young musicians playing Western rock music.
The self-understanding of very sectarian Islam is as an egalitarian and “congregational theocracy.” We might say, like a fragmented “polyhedron” Church shaped more by an inscrutable Holy Spirit than centered on the incarnate Jesus Christ. Contrast egalitarian Islam, then, with the Church’s sacramental clergy, and “hierarchical communion”—the revealed self-understanding of the apostolic Church (Lumen Gentium), yet in no way excluding the People of God.
But, if “pluralism” of religions means historical “convergence” rather than Christian “conversion,” then how might we drift unwittingly and yet institutionally toward this outcome?
Well, the devolution first might involve ambivalent appointments to levelized dicasteries, as in demotion of the Congregation for Doctrine of the Faith and then merger of culture with education? Second, with “facilitator” bishops (imams?), perhaps an exercise in “inverted pyramid” consensus-building? In Islam this option is called Ijtihad. Third, when the potpourri of recommendations is received on high, then possibly strategic silences (as with the dubia)? And, fourth, synodality/ijtihad as part of an indeterminant “endless journey”? Islamic ijtihad is not binding on future generations, but can be “abrogated,” as under Western process theology now feeding on the plagiarized language of Thomas Kuhn’s natural sciences: “paradigm shifts.”
Who needs, yes, “not-a-parliament” Synodality when you can have Ijtihad? But, as we say, and in freedom from “mindsets,” only a thought experiment…