Jubilee of the Poor

 The Jubilee event dedicated to the poor is to be celebrated from the evening of 14th November 2025, concluding on the World Day of the Poor on Sunday 16th November 2025. It is reported that, after his election to the See of St Peter, Pope Francis was prompted to take the name Francis after a remark from one of his fellow cardinals to the effect that he should not forget the poor. Similarly, Pope Leo XIV's first major document has been dedicated to the Catholic Church's particular mission towards the poor:

...  in continuity with the Encyclical Dilexit Nos, Pope Francis was preparing in the last months of his life an Apostolic Exhortation on the Church’s care for the poor, to which he gave the title Dilexi Te, as if Christ speaks those words to each of them, saying: “You have but little power,” yet “I have loved you” ( Rev 3:9). I am happy to make this document my own — adding some reflections — and to issue it at the beginning of my own pontificate, since I share the desire of my beloved predecessor that all Christians come to appreciate the close connection between Christ’s love and his summons to care for the poor. I too consider it essential to insist on this path to holiness, for “in this call to recognize him in the poor and the suffering, we see revealed the very heart of Christ, his deepest feelings and choices, which every saint seeks to imitate.” 

The person who is poor is likely to lack shelter, to be without access to clean water for drinking or for washing, to lack regular access to wholesome food, to lack clothing suitable to the weather, to have no habitation that they can call their own with any permanence, to lack the company of family or friends, to be disregarded by those who pass by; they might be anywhere in the world, not just in those places that are less developed than our own. The person who is poor lacks the material things that are the framework for a life lived with the dignity that is due to a human person; being poor, they lack the agency  that gives them the opportunity to choose a way in life. 

It is this lack of agency in their being poor that distinguishes their poverty from that of the life of the evangelical counsels. At first sight, the Church appears to contradict itself in advocating for poverty as one of the evangelical counsels freely chosen by those in religious life and working to alleviate poverty among those who do not have the agency to choose other than their poverty. Though the two poverties are quite different in nature from each other, there is a common ground for both of them. The life of the evangelical counsels represents a choice for a style of life lived in close imitation of that lived by Christ himself, and so is an attempt to identify a life with the life of Christ. Then, as Pope Leo XIV has pointed out, in a kind of reciprocity we are called to recognise Christ in those who are involuntarily poor and suffering.

There is a story of St Benedict Joseph Labre, who lived the last part of his life as a poor vagrant in the city of Rome in the 18th century, that captures the essential dignity that belongs to the person who is poor. On one occasion, he was picked out from the vagrants around the Spanish Steps to pose as a model by a painter. It took a bit of persuasion before St Benedict Joseph agreed, and he then posed for the figure of Christ, having at first shuddered at the prospect. Given the intinerant nature of his life, St Benedict Joseph (see here and here) is an appropriate figure to whom we can turn in a Jubilee Year.

Pope Francis expressed his wish that hope be granted to the poor in the Bull of Indiction for the Jubilee Year, citing his Encyclical Letter Laudato Si' n.49:

I ask with all my heart that hope be granted to the billions of the poor, who often lack the essentials of life. Before the constant tide of new forms of impoverishment, we can easily grow inured and resigned. Yet we must not close our eyes to the dramatic situations that we now encounter all around us, not only in certain parts of the world. Each day we meet people who are poor or impoverished; they may even be our next-door neighbours. Often they are homeless or lack sufficient food for the day. They suffer from exclusion and indifference on the part of many. It is scandalous that in a world possessed of immense resources, destined largely to producing weapons, the poor continue to be “the majority of the planet’s population, billions of people. These days they are mentioned in international political and economic discussions, but one often has the impression that their problems are brought up as an afterthought, a question which gets added almost out of duty or in a tangential way, if not treated merely as collateral damage. Indeed, when all is said and done, they frequently remain at the bottom of the pile”. Let us not forget: the poor are almost always the victims, not the ones to blame.

Jubilee of Consolation

The Jubilee of Consolation is being marked on 15th September 2025.

All those who are experiencing a time of pain and affliction, due to illness, bereavement, violence or abuse, are especially invited to this jubilee event, together with their families and friends. 

The recent canonisations of Pier Giorgio Frassati and Carlo Acutis bring to mind the life of another young person who lived her Catholic faith to an heroic extent, Blessed Chiara "Luce" Badano. In the story of her life and of her illness there are countless moments that might be characterised as being acts of consolation. In some instances these moments are offered by Chiara to people she encounters; in others they are offered to her by her friends, particularly those in the Focolare. The following stories are told in Michele Zanzucchi's account of Chiara's life (I have an early French language edition - I think there is an updated English edition available). The first occurs during a hospital stay early in the course of Chiara's illness; the second occurs during a hospital stay during what was Chiara's last Christmas before she died. 

Her father, Ruggero, says: "At the hospital Pietra Ligura, despite the suffering and the fever, she did not stop. She concerned herself with a young girl suffering from depression in the next room. She accompanied her everywhere, for very long walks in the corridors, even if she needed to rest. Before our suggestions to take more care, she replied: 'I will have plenty of time to sleep later'."

[That day], a hospital volunteer fell into a deep existential crisis: how can a God exist if in this hospital children are dying of cancer? While Maria Teresa [Chiara's mother] went down to the bar, this woman sat with Chiara. I do not know what they said to each other, but this woman confirmed, having recovered all her courage, that this Christmas was the most beautiful of her life. "For us too, it was the same thing", insists Ruggero. 

The Bull of  Indiction for the Jubilee 2025 includes the following paragraphs:

Signs of hope should also be shown to the sick, at home or in hospital. Their sufferings can be allayed by the closeness and affection of those who visit them. Works of mercy are also works of hope that give rise to immense gratitude. Gratitude should likewise be shown to all those healthcare workers who, often in precarious conditions, carry out their mission with constant care and concern for the sick and for those who are most vulnerable.

Inclusive attention should also be given to all those in particularly difficult situations, who experience their own weaknesses and limitations, especially those affected by illnesses or disabilities that severely restrict their personal independence and freedom. Care given to them is a hymn to human dignity, a song of hope that calls for the choral participation of society as a whole.

Homily for the Jubilee of Deacons

 Pope Francis is currently in hospital and so was not able to celebrate Mass for the Jubilee of Deacons earlier today. His homily was read by Archbishop Fisichella, the pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelisation. The full text is available from the website of the Holy See: Holy Mass and Ordinations to the Diaconate.

In a manner typical of Pope Francis, the homily was structured around three words:

The message of today’s readings can be summed up in a single word: “gratuity”. That is surely a word dear to you as deacons, gathered here for the Jubilee celebration. So, let us reflect on three specific aspects of this fundamental dimension of the Christian life in general and your ministry in particular: forgiveness, selfless service and communion.

It is a short passage at the end of the homily that caught my attention (my emphasis added, as it reflects something of my previous post for the Jubilee of Deacons):

Dear deacons, your mission sets you apart from society only to be re-immersed in it in order to enable it to be an ever more open and welcoming place for everyone. It is one of the finest expressions of a synodal Church, one that “goes forth.”

Soon some of you, in receiving the sacrament of Holy Orders, will “descend” the steps of the ministry. I deliberately say “descend,” and not “ascend,” because being ordained is not an ascent but a descent, whereby we make ourselves small. We lower ourselves and divest ourselves. In the words of Saint Paul, through service, we leave behind the “earthly man,” and put on, in charity, the “man of heaven” (cf. 1 Cor 15:45-49). 

 

Offerte vobis pacem - a further thought

 In my last post, I reflected on how the absence of the celebration of the sign of peace at Mass during the earlier stages of the COVID-19 pandemic prompted me to think more deeply about the meaning of the dialogue immediately preceding the invitation to the sign of peace: Offerte vobis pacem.

At that time, I also had a thought arising from Pope Francis' Amoris Laetitia. In an earlier discussion of this Apostolic Exhortation, I suggested that the pastoral programme of Chapter 8 is focussed on discerning how those in an "objective state of sin" with regard to their marital situation, but with a genuine wish to "seek God", can engage in the Church's mission of charity in order to work out their salvation. The post involved - Correcting the correction ... looks at his question quite carefully.

My further thought was that someone in this kind of situation could be encouraged in their participation in the sign of peace at Mass by recognising the deeper meaning suggested in my post Offerte vobis pacem. An enriched celebration of the sign of peace cannot replace being able to receive Holy Communion itself; but for a person whose objective situation means they cannot receive Communion, it might represent a pastoral proximation to receiving Communion. This discernment could be valuably undertaken alongside that of the way in which a person engages in the mission of charity, as suggested in Correcting the correction ...

Amoris Laetitia: love as courtesy

 The two paragraphs nn.99-100 of Amoris Laetitia are a part of Pope Francis' reflection on St Paul's account of love in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, under the general heading "Our Daily Love".  In the English translation, these paragraphs have a sub-heading "Love is not rude"; the Italian sub-heading is "Amabilita" (rough translation: "lovable-ness", perhaps with a nuance of "gentleness" implied by the context; Italian has the words "cortesia" and "gentilezza" to express more explicitly the idea of courtesy); and the French: "Amabilite" (which my French dictionary translates as "kindness" or "courtesy"). The Spanish is "Amabilidad" and the Portuguese "Amabilidade", neither of which I am able to translate directly, but which probably represent the source of Pope Francis' choice of terminology. 

The sub-heading is not the only aspect of these two paragraphs where a reading of the Italian and French translations aids understanding. Pope Francis wishes to draw our attention to an idea of love expressed in the courtesy, gentleness of every day living.

Setting on one side Pope Francis' citation of Octavio Paz' The Double Flame (of which more below), part of n.99 in the English translation reads somewhat enigmatically:

[Courtesy] is not something that a Christian may accept or reject. As an essential requirement of love, "every human being is bound to live agreeably with those around him".

The corresponding Italian translation reads:

Essere amabile non è uno stile che un cristiano possa scegliere o rifiutare: è parte delle esigenze irrinunciabili dell’amore, perciò «ogni essere umano è tenuto ad essere affabile con quelli che lo circondano».

Translating directly from the Italian, in the light of the French, gives:

To be courteous is not a style that a Christian can choose or refuse: it is part of the indispensable demands of love, since "every human being is obliged to be courteous with those who surround him".

The terms "essential" and "irrinunciabili" (indispensable) need to be read in a metaphysical sense, as indicating that courtesy is of the essence of what it means to love rather than being an incidental to that love. It is intrinsic as part of love and, as such, is not something that the one who loves either chooses or refuses - it is simply given.

N.99 ends with a quotation from what must be one of Pope Francis' most memorable General Audience addresses, where he speaks of three expressions for the every day living of family life, most easily stated in English as  "please", "thank you" and "sorry". It is worth reading this Audience address to  grasp the practical intention of the term "courtesy" as intended by these two paragraphs of Amoris Laetitia: General Audience 13 May 2015.

N.100, though addressed specifically to the relationships within family life itself, nevertheless reads as if it applies to how family life affects society as a whole:

Loving kindness builds bonds, cultivates relationships, creates new networks of integration and knits a firm social fabric. In this way, it grows ever stronger, for without a sense of belonging we cannot sustain a commitment to others; we end up seeking our convenience alone and life in common becomes impossible.

Pope Francis' citation of Octavio Paz is from a book that represents a wide ranging study of the relationship of eros and love in the history of literature and culture. The immediate citation is somewhat nuanced, and refers to an idea of love as courtesy in a historical and literary cultural context. Paz's discussion here parallels approximately in a secular sphere the discussion of eros and agape that Pope Benedict XVI pursued in a specifically Christian context in Deus Caritas Est nn.3 ff. Writing of stories of lovers in literature from all parts of the world, Paz comments (in English translation):

Their encounter requires, in turn, two contradictory conditions: the attraction that lovers experience must be involuntary, born of a secret and all-powerful magnetism; at the same time, it must be a choice. In love, predestination and choice, objective and subjective, fate and freedom intersect. The realm of love is a space magnetized by encounter.... 

But sometimes reflection on love becomes the ideology of a society; then we find ourselves in the presence of a way of life, an art of living and dying, an ethic, an aesthetic, and an etiquette. A courtesy, to use the medieval term. 

Courtesy is not within the reach of all: it is a body of knowledge and a practice. It is the privilege of what might be called an aristocracy of the heart. Not an aristocracy founded on bloodlines and inherited privileges but on certain qualities of the spirit. Although these qualities are innate, in order that they be manifested and made second nature, the adept must cultivate his mind and his senses, learn to feel, speak, and sometimes remain silent. Courtesy is a school of sensibility and selflessness.... 

"Courtly love" is learned: it is a knowledge of the senses illuminated by the light of the soul, a sensual attraction refined by courtesy.

Pope Francis cites from the Spanish original of Octavio Paz's work, and, in the English translation of Amoris Laetitia, it appears as follows: 

Courtesy "is a school of sensitivity and disinterestedness" which requires a person "to develop his or her mind and feelings, learning how to listen, to speak and, at certain times, to keep quiet".

A glance at the French, Italian and Spanish translations of Amoris Laetitia, and the translation from the original work above, suggests that a reference to the cultivation of the senses in Paz's original text has dropped out of the English translation of Pope Francis' citation though it is present in other translations; and there is as a result an ambivalence as to how far the term sensitivity/sensibility refers to the senses or more generally to a sensitivity/sensibility of spirit. 

Lent: Pope Francis, Mercy and the Salvific Value of the "via caritatis"

 There is something that I think is true of Pope Francis, just as it is true of all the recent holders of the office of the Successor of Peter: some exercises of their office (audiences, Apostolic letters, interviews etc) are just for their particular time or context, while others have a permanent significance for the future life of the Church (what might more strictly be termed the "Magisterium"). I wonder at times whether some sections of the ecclesial commentariat are too willing to confuse the former with the latter when they choose to criticise Pope Francis....

The beginning of Lent, however, leads me to suggest an aspect of Pope Francis' exercise of his office that I think does have a permanent significance for the teaching and life of the Church. It arises from the celebration of the Year of Mercy in 2015-16. If we read the Bull of Indiction for the start of the Jubilee and the Apostolic Letter issued to mark the end of the Year, we cannot escape the place given to  the living out of the Sacrament of Penance and to the living out of the corporal and spiritual works of mercy.

Let us place the Sacrament of Reconciliation at the centre once more in such a way that it will enable people to touch the grandeur of God’s mercy with their own hands. For every penitent, it will be a source of true interior peace.

I will never tire of insisting that confessors be authentic signs of the Father’s mercy. We do not become good confessors automatically. We become good confessors when, above all, we allow ourselves to be penitents in search of his mercy. Let us never forget that to be confessors means to participate in the very mission of Jesus to be a concrete sign of the constancy of divine love that pardons and saves. We priests have received the gift of the Holy Spirit for the forgiveness of sins, and we are responsible for this. None of us wields power over this Sacrament; rather, we are faithful servants of God’s mercy through it. Every confessor must accept the faithful as the father in the parable of the prodigal son: a father who runs out to meet his son despite the fact that he has squandered away his inheritance. Confessors are called to embrace the repentant son who comes back home and to express the joy of having him back again....

I invite priests once more to prepare carefully for the ministry of Confession, which is a true priestly mission. I thank all of you from the heart for your ministry, and I ask you to be welcoming to all, witnesses of fatherly tenderness whatever the gravity of the sin involved, attentive in helping penitents to reflect on the wrong they have done, clear in presenting moral principles, willing to walk patiently beside the faithful on their penitential journey, far-sighted in discerning individual cases and generous in dispensing God’s forgiveness. Just as Jesus chose to remain silent in order to save the woman caught in adultery from the sentence of death, so every priest in the confessional should be open-hearted, since every penitent is a reminder that he himself is a sinner, but also a minister of mercy. 

 During the Jubilee Year, Pope Francis undertook a series of encounters called "Fridays of Mercy" in which he modelled the practice of the works of mercy by visits, for example, to hospitals.

It is my burning desire that, during this Jubilee, the Christian people may reflect on the corporal and spiritual works of mercy. It will be a way to reawaken our conscience, too often grown dull in the face of poverty. And let us enter more deeply into the heart of the Gospel where the poor have a special experience of God’s mercy. Jesus introduces us to these works of mercy in his preaching so that we can know whether or not we are living as his disciples. Let us rediscover these corporal works of mercy: to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, welcome the stranger, heal the sick, visit the imprisoned, and bury the dead. And let us not forget the spiritual works of mercy: to counsel the doubtful, instruct the ignorant, admonish sinners, comfort the afflicted, forgive offences, bear patiently those who do us ill, and pray for the living and the dead....

Let us make every effort, then, to devise specific and insightful ways of practising charity and the works of mercy. Mercy is inclusive and tends to spread like wildfire in a way that knows no limits. Hence we are called to give new expression to the traditional works of mercy. For mercy overflows, keeps moving forward, bears rich fruit. It is like the leaven that makes the dough rise (cf. Mt 13:33), or the mustard seed that grows into a tree. 

 In one sense Pope Francis' promotion of the Sacrament of Penance is entirely traditional; but the context of mercy gives to it a freshness and attractiveness that is of a permanent value.

As far as the works of mercy are concerned, Amoris Laetitia takes a further step, in the specific context of "irregular" marital situations and against the background of the Year of Mercy, but nevertheless in a way that is of wider application too. It is the suggestion that the way of living the works of mercy - the via caritatis - is the way in which those who are not able share fully in other aspects of the life of the Church can nevertheless work out their salvation. This is to recognise a very high estimation to be given to the salvific value of the works of mercy for the one who carries them out, in addition to their value as a testimony of Christian faith to others. This is an aspect of Pope Francis' exercise of his office, in Amoris Laetitia and in the experience of the Jubilee Year of Mercy, that I think contributes an insight, to an extent new, that is of permanent value for the life of the Church.

306. In every situation, when dealing with those who have difficulties in living God’s law to the full, the invitation to pursue the via caritatis must be clearly heard. Fraternal charity is the first law of Christians (cf. Jn 15:12; Gal 5:14). Let us not forget the reassuring words of Scripture: “Maintain constant love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins” (1 Pet 4:8); “Atone for your sins with righteousness, and your iniquities with mercy to the oppressed, so that your prosperity may be prolonged” (Dan 4:24[27]); “As water extinguishes a blazing fire, so almsgiving atones for sins” (Sir 3:30). This is also what Saint Augustine teaches: “Just as, at the threat of a fire, we would run for water to extinguish it… so too, if the flame of sin rises from our chaff and we are troubled, if the chance to perform a work of mercy is offered us, let us rejoice in it, as if it were a fountain offered us to extinguish the blaze”.

To conclude, a quote from the Apostolic Letter written at the close of the Year of Mercy:

Mercy renews and redeems because it is an encounter between two hearts: the heart of God who comes to meet us and a human heart. The latter is warmed and healed by the former. Our hearts of stone become hearts of flesh (cf. Ezek 36:26) capable of love despite our sinfulness. I come to realize that I am truly a “new creation” (Gal 6:15): I am loved, therefore I exist; I am forgiven, therefore I am reborn; I have been shown mercy, therefore I have become a vessel of mercy.

St Maximilian Kolbe: an "offering of life"

Some spirited remarks about St Maximilian Kolbe in this morning's homily have reminded me to place alongside each other the text of Pope St John Paul II's homily at the canonisation Mass for the saint (Italian original here, English translation here) and Pope Francis' recent motu proprio Maiorem Hac Dilectionem establishing the offer of life as a cause for beatification.

Speaking of the event of St Maximilian's death, Pope St John Paul II said:

All this happened in the concentration camp at Auschwitz where during the last war some four million people were put to death, including the Servant of God, Edith Stein (the Carmelite Sister Teresa Benedicta of the Cross), whose cause for beatification is in progress at the competent Congregation. Disobedience to God-the Creator of life who said, "Thou shalt not kill"-caused in that place the immense holocaust of so many innocent persons. And so at the same time, our age has thus been horribly stigmatized by the slaughter of the innocent.

Father Maximilian Kolbe, himself a prisoner of the concentration camp, defended in that place of death an innocent man's right to life. Father Kolbe defended his right to life, declaring that he was ready to go to death in the man's place, because he was the father of a family and his life was necessary for his dear ones. Father Maximilian Maria Kolbe thus reaffirmed the Creator's exclusive right over innocent human life. He bore witness to Christ and to love. For the Apostle John writes: "By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren" (1 John 3:16).

I have added the italics to try to draw out how John Paul II's words indicate a way of understanding the intention of Pope Francis' idea of an "offer of life". Later in the homily, this becomes clearer still:

Men saw what happened in the camp at Auschwitz. And even if to their eyes it must have seemed that a companion of their torment "dies," even if humanly speaking they could consider "his departure" as "a disaster," nevertheless in their minds this was not simply "death." Maximilian did not die but "gave his life...for his brother." In that death, terrible from the human point of view, there was the whole definitive greatness of the human act and of the human choice. He spontaneously offered himself up to death out of love.

And in this human death of his there was the clear witness borne to Christ: the witness borne in Christ to the dignity of man, to the sanctity of his life, and to the saving power of death in which the power of love is made manifest.  

Pope Francis characterises the offer of life as "a free and voluntary offer of life and heroic acceptance propter caritatem of a certain and untimely death". Pope John Paul II, to an extent foreshadowing Pope Francis' motu proprio, assimilated St Maximilian's offer of his life to martyrdom and proclaimed that St Maximilian was to be recognised, not just as a confessor of the faith, but as a martyr for the faith.

Many years ago now I recall speaking and writing about Archbishop Oscar Romero and Fr Jerzy Popieluszko as "martyrs for the truth about man". I think we can see in both of these great figures examples of the "offering of life" which Pope Francis has now established as a way to beatification.

Love or approval?

A while ago now, I received a comment on the post The Family: what is the real question for the Synod that I have not yet published. In its most substantial part that comment read as follows:

On the question of how we treat people whose behaviour is contrary to the teachings of Jesus Christ may I refer to something said by one of the two Scottish midwives whose case went to the Supreme Court. She is totally opposed to abortion but she said that she does not let that influence her behaviour towards the women in her hospital who have abortions. (Or something like that.) That must be very difficult to do but how do we show disapproval of the behaviour whilst showing love towards the person? Today, the world insists that we cannot show love without approving of the behaviour.

I would respond by suggesting that there are two distinct "moments" that can be seen in the difficulty articulated in this comment. The first moment arises from the obligation to show disapproval of an immoral action of another person. I would recast that obligation as one, on our part, of not letting ourselves become party to the immoral action, and that primarily from the point of view of a form of implicit internal consent. We need at the most fundamental level to say an internal "no" to that action. This appears to me to be what is meant by a prompting of conscience. But conscience prompts us to make that internal "no" manifest in an external way - it prompts us to give witness or to give testimony to our internal "no". The point, though, is that there can be other ways of externally manifesting that internal "no" than doing it by an expression of disapproval of the action of an individual who we encounter.

The second "moment" arises from wishing to act in love towards a person without approving, or rather, without being perceived by others as approving, a behaviour that we believe to be morally wrong. Here, where the demand of charity comes to the fore, I think we have to have the courage to act in charity, with a full consciousness of our internal "no", even though that acting in charity may be misunderstood by others as approval. It does require a particular style of courage to do this, but I believe that we are called to that courage.

I suspect that many Catholics, pastors and lay faithful, have, in the past and do in our own times, lived this second moment as a matter or ordinary common sense - "it just wasn't the right time and place".

Perhaps we need to be reminded of, and strengthened in, the internal "no" that accompanies such an act of charity, to avoid the situation where the act of charity slips imperceptibly into an indifference towards a behaviour that we believe to be contrary to the moral good.

And at the same time, pastors and those Catholics in public view might speak about the fact that an act of charity in a particular situation is about bringing Christ's presence to that situation and not about indicating approval of a behaviour contrary to Christian teaching.

Pope Ramps up Charity Office to Be Near Poor, Sick

Pope Ramps up Charity Office to Be Near Poor, Sick

"Being an almoner, it has to cost me something so that it can change me," he said. He contrasted such alms-giving with, say, the unnamed cardinal who once boasted about always giving two euros to a beggar on the street near the Vatican.

"I told him, 'Eminence, this isn't being an almoner. You might be able to sleep at night, but being an almoner has to cost you. Two euros is nothing for you. Take this poor person, bring him to your big apartment that has three bathrooms, let him take a shower — and your bathroom will stink for three days — and while he's showering make him a coffee and serve it to him, and maybe give him your sweater. This is being an almoner."

What is there to add?

A circle of flowers

Two posts on the death of Christopher Hitchens - Christopher Hitchens now knows there is a God, and Pray for Christopher Hitchens - prompted me to recall a story about Madeleine Delbrel. It is related on p.76 of Charles F Mann's biography Madeleine Delbrel: A Life Beyond Boundaries. The story comes from the first days of Madeleine's life in Ivry, a Communist suburb of Paris.

As part of her growing social involvement, Madeleine agreed to care for a cancer patient while his wife was at work. He was close to death, yet still reading l'Humanite, the French Communist newspaper, delivered by his good comrades. Sensing the man's hostility toward her as a Catholic, Madeleine engaged him on a personal level, talking about his favourite jams and jellied fruits. By the end of the afternoon, they had established a warm and jovial rapport.

The next day, Madeleine arrived  with flowers, chicken soup and pear jam. When the man did not respond to her greeting, she thought he was asleep only to discover moments later that he was dead. Recovering from her initial shock, Madeleine sent for the wife and summoned enough courage to prepare the corpse for burial. The wife arrived, her face flushed and her eyes brimming with tears. She was accompanied by a horde of Communist neighbours who became a captive audience when she turned to Madeleine and scolded her for arranging the flowers in the form of a cross on her husband's chest. Realizing her blunder, Madeleine sincerely apologized and carefully rearranged the flowers in a circular fashion.

Now, a Catholic should certainly pray for the repose of the soul of Christopher Hitchens, as they should pray for the repose of the souls of all those who have died. And it is not inappropriate to recall the hostility of Christopher Hitchens towards Catholic figures like Mother Teresa and Pope John Paul II. The obituaries and commentaries on his death do to a degree continue the controversy that was Christopher Hitchens'  life, and Catholics are entitled to engage in their side of that controversy.

But, at the same time, I wonder whether or not charity asks for a certain discretion? For a prayer that is said quietly, but said nevertheless, and said in the form of flowers arranged in a circle rather than a cross.

UPDATE: An interesting comment by the President of the Pontifical Council for Culture is reported here.

Lateral thoughts on happiness

I had the opportunity this morning to listen to the Today programme's coverage of the launch of Action for Happiness. The Today package included a visit to a coffee shop where a representative from Action for Happiness offered to buy the person behind them in the queue a coffee. That person in turn bought a coffee for the person behind them .... but then it broke down because the third person in the queue hadn't quite caught the context and didn't trust the offer of a free coffee being placed before them. Towards the end of the package, reference is made to the part that a movement for happiness might play in a world that is increasingly secular.

The package prompted in my mind two distinct thoughts. The first was that the acts of consideration for others being advocated by Action for Happiness carry, in the Christian context, a very traditional name: caritas or charity. An aspect of this, too, is awareness of a "context" of charity, the lack of which led to a break down in the chain of purchasing of coffee in the Today package. As Pope Benedict XVI argues in Caritas et Veritate, charity is something that we are called to live not only as individuals but also as a community. Ecclesial life does, of course, provide precisely this shared context for charity.

The second thought had to do with how quickly the relationships of trust between the one who offered and the one who received the free gift of a cup of coffee broke down. I think it is fair to say that relationships of trust have changed in society, certainly during my lifetime. Asking about the factors that have contributed to these changed relationships of trust can be uncomfortable. Divorce, or more particularly, the frequency of re-marriage after divorce; co-habitation; cultural acceptance of sexual activity outside marriage; cultural acceptance of same sex lifestyles. Whilst it is true to say that these factors have always been present, their increasing prevalence and societal acceptance alter the assumptions of trust in our relating to each other.  Situations that in the past would have been assumed to be completely neutral in sexual terms are no longer so neutral, and the relationships of trust in those situations are changed. Whilst, at the level of individual life situations involved here, one might quite rightly hesitate to adopt an attitude of apportioning blame or stigma, nevertheless at the level of public policy we do need to be realistic about the changes in trust that have occurred. I believe we should also be realistic about those organisations in our society that are deliberatetly trying to alter these relationships of trust, but not for the good. The scale of child abuse in the Church and other caring professions, with, in the past inadequate response by those in authority, and the consequent emergence of a culture of "child protection", needed as it was, is a factor of quite a different nature that has also altered assumptions of trust in society.

"Why I avoid both the Catholic left and the Catholic right"

H/T to A Catholic Mom in Hawaii for the link to this post. I think there is a role for Catholics to engage in controversy, but I think Heather King makes a good point that it is possible that such engagement can be about one's own status among fellow controversialists. And there is also the condition of charity that should govern that engagement, a condition that is much harder to maintain at the "distance" of the electronic media than in direct face-to-face contact.

The whole article, and its comments, are thought provoking and well worth reading. I was particularly struck by the following paragraph, though I think its real force can only be appreciated if you have read the whole post:

.... I’m always a little taken aback by the complete lack of affection, often within her own ranks, for the Church. To me, the Church is kind of like having an alcoholic mother: majestic one minute; engaging in some cringingly  non-Christ-like behavior the next. But no matter what, she’s your Mother. No matter what, you love your mother. And the way you love her is you notice when she goes wrong, you grieve for her, you mourn for her, and then you silently resolve to help her do a little better. You don’t pretend not to see her faults and get all self-righteous and militaristic if someone attacks her—but you also don’t kick her when she’s down. I think the way we feel about the Church is very much an indication of how we feel, in our hearts, about the least of our brothers and sisters.

I am not sure where I gained my perception of Pope Paul VI as being a man who suffered greatly for his love of the Church - I see this as being his particular charism for the Church of our time - but this paragraph put me in mind of that perception.

New City: Drying the cutlery

Over several years of trade union work I have met a number of situations where I think to myself afterwards: "If these people had been able to talk to each other properly about this ages ago, there wouldn't be a problem". Sometimes in relationships at work the sort of ordinary conversations that encourage positive working together, and avoid problems, just don't happen. Sometimes these good working relations do exist. What makes the difference?

In the spirituality of the Focolare, this sort of situation is addressed by the idea of trying to love other people in the ordinary circumstances of life: "be the first to love". Among themselves, and in their publications, those associated with the Focolare share stories of how they have tried to do this. The "Word in Action" feature of the August/September issue of their magazine New City contains this:

I'm studying in Budapest at the moment and live in a small flat let to me by a family. A friend of mine came to visit me recently and after lunch he did the washing up, leaving the knives and forks to dry with their handles facing upwards, different to how I would normally do it putting them with their handles down. I told him this, giving my reasons, and he explained why he did it his way.

As a result of this very simple experience it struck me that if I don't learn to be a little more flexible in my habits, I'll end up growing old with my head full of very good reasons for always doing things my way! From then on I started drying the cutlery with the handles facing upwards.

I came across something St Therese of  Lisieux said to her sister Celine: "Before dying by the sword, let us die by pinpricks". And a pinprick can be a point of view which differs from my own, an insult, a disappointment, an official who behaves more like a robot than a person, a colleague who makes life difficult for me ...

A short time later I went to dinner with my friend's family. They didn't allow me to wash the dishes, but I was very surprised to see that they put the cutlery to dry with the handles facing downwards. We had a real laugh when I told them that I had changed how I dry the cutlery ... they had done exactly the same for me! Every time I manage to "lose my life", I experience such joy, such a freedom that makes it much easier for me to love the others.

My first thought, accompanied by considerable laughter (LOL, is I think the modern term): how someone dries their cutlery really isn't that important!

Second thought, also accompanied by laughter: what can someone who gets a towel and dries their cutlery straight away, without leaving it to drain at all, learn from this story?

Third thought, more serious this time: a privilege of living on my own is that I can stick to my habits, or at least to some of them.

Fourth thought: reflecting on my trade union experience, that a practice of these small and, in themselves insiginificant, acts helps to create a situation in the workplace where potentially problematic situations are addressed in the ordinary intercourse of daily life, and so don't become problems at all.

The million dollar question: the next time I have visitor to my home, will I leave the washing up to drain or not?

The Genesee Diary: here and there

In at least two different places in his diary (I haven't finished reading it yet, so there might be others as well) Henri Nouwen comments on events taking place in other parts of the world. He writes with feeling of events in Chile and Africa, and about testimonies to persecution and to shortages of basic foods in these distant parts of the world. The depth of feeling with which Fr Nouwen writes makes an impression on the reader.

For the monk, more than for the lay person, there might be the sense that events such as these are "distant". It is easy to see them as not being something we should worry about; instead we should focus on our own lives, and the fulfilling of God's will in our own lives.

When discussing the question raised by this, it is easy to play these two polarities off against each other. In the Christian life, this might be expressed by a tendency to let one's commitment to "the third world" provide a gloss over things that are wrong in our immediate living of Christian life in our own circumstances. The dichotomy is one that isn't as apparent now as it was perhaps in the 1960's and 1970's.

An authentic Christian response is a "both-and" rather than an "either-or". Perhaps primarily, we should focus on living in our own, immediate circumstances. The challenges that this presents to us represent the vocation that, in the providence of God, is our particular one. Our first call, then, is to answer that vocation, and so achieve a fruitfulness in the Christian life. However, this does not mean that we should exclude that part of Christian living that might be expressed by the word "solidarity".

If we understand the monastic life as Christian living taken to its most radical form, and so see it as a model for all Christian living, it can teach us the lesson of this "both-and" very well. The monk is confined to one place - the monastery - which prompts the focus on living the Christian life in the place where he finds himself. But, at the same time, the monk can be extraordinarily well informed about what is going on in the wider world. Which opens up to the monk the possibilities of solidarity in his prayer and penance.

Thinking Faith: An Advent Narrative

The Jesuit on-line journal Thinking Faith has posted an interesting article about Pope Benedict XVI's first Encyclical, Deus Caritas Est. It is well worth a read.

The author of this article, Dominic Robinson SJ, points out a close comparison between Pope Benedict's themes of eros and agape in the encyclical and the same themes in the writing of Hans Urs von Balthasar. A particular book in which von Balthasar presents this theme is entitled in English translation Love Alone is Credible. This is a book I chose to study for one of my examinations at the Gregorian University in first semester theology. How I had failed to recognise its parallels in Deus Caritas Est now that I have had them pointed out defeats me altogether! Dominic Robinson writes:

Balthasar also uses the terms agape and eros to characterise the eternal drama of God’s love for humanity played out in the appearance and descent of Christ. The eros of our longing for the meaning of our earthly existence is echoed in the agape of the perfect image of the God who meets us in the event of the incarnation. Christ, lover and beloved, our Advent hope, turns us towards a vision of our future glory for which we naturally long, and which will surely be sealed in his coming. This is undoubtedly a timely theme in a world where so many are searching for a sense of value, dignity and identity, but in which the figure of Jesus Christ has, perhaps in a strange twist even at Christmas, become much less obvious as the focal point of culture and human identity.

He continues to highlight the work of a Lutheran theologian and of the Protestant thinker Karl Barth (who profoundly influenced von Balthasar) in a similar vein, suggesting a quite fascinating ecumencial possibility of this thought.

..continuity [between eros and agape] will also constitute Balthasar’s discourse, just as it is also a key message of Deus Caritas Est. Agape and eros come together in a new way which proclaims how Christ’s infinite love transforms all our finite human desires. Thus the drama of this encounter of Advent hope with Easter joy transcends the perceived dualism surrounding the motifs agape and eros in the Lutheran and Roman Catholic traditions.

At a rather more subtle level, Dominic Robinson offers a reflection on the thought of Hans Urs von Balthasar that is genuinely and totally Balthasarian. It is thoroughly Christocentric. One of the more frustrating aspects I found in reading On the Way to Life (a document commissioned by the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales Department for Education and Formation and written by Frs James Hanvey SJ and Tony Carroll SJ of the Heythrop Institute for Religion, Ethics and Public Life and intended to offer an analytical basis for renewing religious education and catechesis) was its citations of von Balthasar in support of a perspective that was contrary to any genuinely Balthasarian vision.

I wonder whether we will now see an end to the fashion of quoting von Balthasar to support non-Balthasarian views by some of Dominic Robinson's colleagues at Heythrop College....

UK Bishops Marriage and Family Life Project: leaflet on homosexuality (1)

I offer here a first thought on this leaflet. The text of the leaflet can be found here, and I am for once following a rule I have (but sometimes break) - respond to the original and not to the media coverage of it! The website suggests that the leaflet was first published in May 2007, so I am not sure what has now brought it to the attention of the media.

A reflection at Antagonistic Pots and Pans about recent reports of an increase in the number of children being born with Downs Syndrome is also relevant. Here is part of that post:

"But one of the biggest factors at play is people changing their attitudes. There is far more support, and advances in medicine mean that it is not uncommon for sufferers to live into their sixties."

This 'change in attitude' claim is what struck me. If attitudes change, then yes, we've still lost on many counts on the legislative level, but that legislation (to abort DS babies and all the other recent additional horrors) would lie there unused, as it would be abhorrent in society's view not to protect every life from conception to its natural end.

[But see John Smeaton's precautionary post here]

What I suspect, though, is that, if a parish community were to learn that a Mum-to-be in the parish was expecting a baby that had a high risk of being born with Downs Syndrome, they really would not have a properly developed response strategy. Considerable pastoral skill is needed to respond in a way that is both supportive of the Mum-to-be and her family and that is faithful to the teaching of the Church; a (dogmatic) restatement of the Church's teaching on abortion does not comprise such a strategy. I feel that there is an un-preparedness of Catholic parish communities, that is, of parish clergy in collaboration with their lay people, to respond to these sorts of situations. The causes of such un-preparedness lie in weaknesses in theological/catechetical formation and in the gift/grace of charity, a tendency to oppose these two at a practical level rather than to synthesise them.

So the idea of producing a leaflet about how parish communities should respond when Catholics with a homosexual inclination approach and wish to take part in the life of the parish seems to me to be a matter of very sound pastoral intent. Most parishes, including those with priests who are well formed, will simply have no real idea about how to make such a response; and it does take a considerable pastoral skill and thought beforehand.

The leaflet produced by the Bishop's Project for Marriage and Family Life is flawed. It does not represent the synthesis of Catholic teaching and charity that I suggest forms the structure of an effective pastoral response. Time permitting, I will look at this in more detail in a later post.

What would be a good idea would be to prepare an alternative leaflet that does not suffer the failures of the one just produced.

Three items from the Synod of Bishops

ZENIT are carrying a report of an intervention by Bishop Luis Tagle, of the Phillipines. This intervention addressed the question of listening to the Word, so nicely complements earlier interventions about preaching. I have not been able to find a full text, only ZENITs report, which can be found here. Bishop Tagle gave one of the main catecheses at the International Eucharistic Congress in Quebec earlier this year.

Bearing in mind a concept of the Code of Canon Law as being "applied ecclesiology", I found the following intervention interesting. Text also from ZENIT. My observation [in italics].

-- H.E. Most. Rev. Francesco COCCOPALMERIO, Titular Archbishop of Celiana,
President of the Pontifical Council for the Interpretation of Legislative Text
(VATICAN CITY)

But now I would like to propose something more specific, in other words, more relevant to my particular work in the Roman Curia and in the service of the Pope. As President of the Pontifical Council for the Interpretation of Legislative Texts and so responsible for ensuring the Church's legislation is always up to date, I ask myself if such an important meeting and on such a determining theme for the life of the Holy Church cannot and should not make a significant contribution to the Law of the Church itself, in a particular way in the Code of canon law.

To clarify this thought I will provide an absolutely elementary example. Canon 276 on the spiritual life of the clergy states: "[The Clergy] are to nourish their spiritual life at the twofold table of the Sacred Scripture and the Eucharist..." (§ 2, no. 2). The text is valuable, but it refers only to the celebration of the Eucharist. When it then goes on to speak of personal prayer, it affirms merely: "they are exhorted to engage regularly in mental prayer" (§ 2, no. 5). The expression "mental prayer" is absolutely clear, but dated. It might be, instead, that this is the place in which to "exhort the clergy to practice daily the lectio divina".

To sum up my proposition it is that the conclusion of the Synod, with the consent of the Holy Father, should also become a task of reflection entrusted to the Dicasteries of the Curia, with the special service of stimulating and coordinating entrusted to the Pontifical Council for the Interpretation of Legislative Texts [a touch of Vatican politics here?], so that they may propose to the Supreme Legislator the necessary changes to the rules of the Church as regards the particular field of the Word of God.

This next is an interesting "aside" intervention relating to one aspect of the Instrumentum Laboris. I cite it because of its immediate relevance to developments in the UK. My observations [in italics].

-- H. Em. Card. Paul Josef CORDES, President of the Pontifical Council "Cor
Unum" (VATICAN CITY)

In the civilized world, care for one's neighbour in need is, at the same time, a cultural matter. The majority of world religions - such as Islam, Hinduism or Buddhism - have learnt from Christianity [they share this with Christianity, but that may not be the same as saying they have learnt it from Christianity] and made it their own to foster love of neighbour. Hence, for number 39 of the Instrumentum laboris to demand love of neighbour for the Church's members, does not seem to be the most urgent task today.

In the present cultural context, it would be much more important to reflect back to the tree that produces the fruit. We need to become more conscious of the biblical roots of humanitarian action and strengthen these. For Divine Revelation binds the commandment to love one's neighbour to that of love of God from which it stems. In the preaching of Jesus, the duty to love appears as a double commandment. Precisely to show the love of the Heavenly Father (cf. Jn 10:32) Jesus Himself, the definitive model of love of neighbour, "went about doing good and healing all" (Acts 10:38). The Pastors of the Church will thus be careful not to simply abandon ecclesial aid institutions to the general climate of philanthropy. Rather they will recognise in the sensitivity of people today the KAIROS to reveal God as the one who enables every "Good Samaritan" deed: it is the announcement of the love of God that grants the capacity to love our neighbour. For this very reason, Cor Unum organized this past June Spiritual Exercises for leaders of Catholic aid agencies in America. The substantial positive feedback is proof that our collaborators are begging for the personal encounter with God. The theocentric emphasis does not water down the commitment to work for justice in society, which the Instrumentum laboris erroneously describes as the "first form of charity" (no. 39); indeed, love surpasses justice many times over (cf. I Co 13). When, for those who are questioning and seeking, the service of the Church's aid agencies and the individual Christian does not show God clearly, we forsake a function of the Church that is decisive for these times of ours. For the man of today needs this connection to God more than anything else. The first Encyclical of the Holy Father, Deus caritas est, unmistakably affirms the theological truth that, in their dioceses, Bishops are ultimately responsible for the Church's charitable mission (no. 32). They cannot delegate this task to collaborators or renounce it into the hands of some powerful administration or organism.

Equally true for charity is what is already explicit for the preaching of the Word - the martyria - and celebration of the sacraments - the leitourgia: in the diocese, the final responsibility for the diakonia lies with the Bishop. It is most unfortunate that Canon Law does not expressly mention this duty of the Pastors, an omission that Pope Benedict points to in his Encyclical (no. 32). The time is ripe to fill this gap.

On this last point about the responsibility of Bishops for the ministry of charity in their dioceses, see also my recent posts about diocesan children's societies. I have been tending to emphasise the responsibility of lay Catholics for the activity of these - and other - Catholic associations, on the grounds that they lie in the field of the rightful autonomy of the laity in tasks relating to the secular world. I think this is certainly part of the picture. See, for example, my remarks at the end of an earlier post about the Synod. I shall have to post at some point on the relationship between the Episcopal and the lay responsibility for the ministry of charity in a diocese. Unless, of course, someone beats me to it ...

PS: Catholic Analysis has an observation and link about the Bible needing to become part of life, the need for building a bridge between erudite scholarship and the ordinary life of the Christian faithful. For the Year of St Paul, I have been making my weekly allocutio for the Legion of Mary praesidium in the parish a catechesis on the second reading of the Sunday Mass. It is quite a challenge trying to be true to the findings of scholarship and at the same time relevant to ordinary Christian lives.

Two observations on the Ordinary/Extraordinary Form

I am away from home at the moment, which creates opportunities to exchange views with one or two different people.

Two observations on the Ordinary/Extraordinary form.

The present situation in this regard is making some of us feel that we have to "take a position" - when we do not really want to feel forced to do so. Essentially, we are happy to participate in the life of the Roman Rite - period (as the Americans might say) - without really wanting to go further and define ourselves vis a vis the Extraordinary Form.

Is it possible for the availability of a celebration of the Extraordinary Form to be divisive, in a place where the Ordinary Form has previously been usual, accepted and celebrated correctly and reverently? In principle it should not be so, since the celebration of either form remains a celebration of the one Roman Rite, and the choice to attend one form rather than the other therefore does not have any "content" as far as theology of liturgy, communion with the local and universal Church etc are concerned. But how do people actually feel about this when it happens? This question applies equally to those who make both choices, and perhaps demands a careful evaluation of our response to this situation.

It might well be that we are in a phase where the more generous provision for the Extraordinary Form has a certain novelty for people (and I do not intend this to be disparaging to anyone, simply to describe the situation we find ourselves in), a novelty which they quite understandably wish to exercise, and that the two concerns above may resolve themselves as we move into a more settled phase.

It was mooted some time ago that there would be a second document making more precise some of the juridical provisions of Summorum Pontificum. I wonder whether a strategy of waiting to see how the situation develops before further juridical provision is made is perhaps a good one?

Meanwhile a considerable level of charitable give and take might well be in order - with people preferring celebration according to each form being willing to give way to a celebration of the other form out of charity and in the interests of a communion that can be experienced as well as one that we know is objective.

A Newsletter Notice: continued continued

I have just posted the following comment to a post at hermeneutic of continuity. Fr Tim has posted some background on CAFOD and the Lent Fast Day. I re-post my comment here, and link to Fr Tim's post, because the catechetical implications of Fr Tim's background reflect those in my earlier posts on A Newsletter Notice (here and here).

Thank you for a useful and informative post. I had not recognised the drift away from "Family" via "CAFOD" to a branding that uses "Lent" as a cultural term somewhat detached from its specifically Christian meaning. Your post, and our earlier discussion on the "conversio ad creata", suggest that, even expressed in just human terms, this branding of what should be an exercise in Christian charity [ie where the act of alms giving grows out of an act of faith in Christ - cf Deus Caritas Est] is off beam.

Fr Tim also indicates some other charities to which you might contribute if you share concerns about CAFOD.