Cardenal Law ofició un funeral por Loyola de Palacio en basílica de Roma
Feb 02, 2007
El cardenal Bernard Francis Law, arcipreste de la basílica romana de Santa María la Mayor, ofició hoy en este templo muy ligado a España una misa funeral por Loyola de Palacio, a la que asistió su hermana Ana, ex ministra de Exteriores, y el titular de Desarrollo Económico italiano, Pierluigi Bersani.
(Terra Actualidad - EFE, 01-02-2007) Law resaltó en la homilía -pronunciada, como toda la misa, en italiano- la figura de la que fuera ministra en el Gobierno de José María Aznar y vicepresidenta en el ejecutivo comunitario que presidió Romano Prodi, afirmando que De Palacio creía firmemente en la Europa unida y en el derecho de las personas a vivir en un mundo de justicia y paz.
El purpurado subrayó la fe de Loyola de Palacio y añadió que la fallecida 'nunca aceptó la dicotomía entre fe y vida'.
'Que su vida de fe y de servicio a la sociedad sirva de inspiración a las generaciones futuras', abogó Law.
Law recordó que Loyola de Palacio siempre que venía a Roma y podía se acercaba a la basílica de Santa María la Mayor para rezar.
'Era su lugar preferido, aquí buscaba conforto y paz y por ello es justo que hoy celebremos aquí la misa, en un lugar que además está muy ligado a España y tiene al rey don Juan Carlos I como protocanónigo', añadió el cardenal.
También destacó que Loyola se llamaba Ignacia de Loyola, como el santo español, que en esta basílica ofició su primera misa.
A la misa funeral asistieron un centenar de personas, entre ellas el embajador de España ante Italia, José Luis Dicenta; el ministro consejero de la embajada de España ante la Santa Sede, Luis Belzus, y otros representantes de las legaciones diplomáticas españolas en Italia y el Vaticano.
Además del ministro Bersani, también asistió el ex ministro italiano de Trabajo Tiziano Treu, amigo de Loyola.
El cardenal Law concelebró la misa con el que fuera 'ministro de Exteriores' del Vaticano y actual gobernador de la Ciudad del Vaticano, el arzobispo Giovanni Lajolo, y varios sacerdotes españoles de la Curia.
Santa María la Mayor es una de las cuatro grandes basílicas de la Roma junto con San Pedro del Vaticano, San Juan de Letrán y San Pablo Extramuros. Pertenece a la Santa Sede.
El templo, que data del papado de Sixto III (432-440), está muy ligada a España y por una bula del papa Inocencio X todos los reyes de España son protocanónigos de la Basílica.
El emperador Carlos V donó al Papa Alejandro VI el primer oro procedente de América, con el que se doró el artesonado de Santa María La Mayor.
Posteriormente, en tiempos del rey Felipe IV y en virtud de la Bula 'Hispaniarum Fidelitas', se instauró que cada año España entregase el óbolo (donativo) a la basílica y se celebrasen solemnes celebraciones eucarísticas en la misma con motivo de la festividad de San Fernando (el 30 de mayo) y en otras ocasiones, como el 8 de diciembre, festividad de la Inmaculada Concepción.
Abbiamo bisogno di uomini come san Benedetto
Mar 22, 2006
“Ciò di cui abbiamo bisogno in questo momento della storia sono uomini che, attraverso una fede illuminata e vissuta, rendano Dio credibile in questo mondo. Abbiamo bisogno di uomini come Benedetto da Norcia il quale, in un tempo di dissipazione e decadenza, si sprofondò nella solitudine più estrema riuscendo a risalire alla luce e divenendo, come Abramo, padre di molti popoli”.
(AGE, 21/03/2006) NORCIA, Perugia – Facendo proprie le parole pronunciate poco meno di un anno fa dal Santo Padre, allora cardinale Joseph Ratzinger, il cardinale Bernard Francis Law, giunto a Norcia per celebrare solennemente il giorno di San Benedetto, ha voluto ricordare il prezioso operato del celeste Patrono d’Europa, la semplicità e l’attualità del suo insegnamento, soprattutto “in un momento di grandi pericoli e di grandi opportunità per l’uomo e per il mondo, ma anche di grande responsabilità per tutti noi”. “San Benedetto – ha sottolineato Sua Eminenza Law nel corso della sua omelia – indica l’imperativo cristiano di un amore universale, invitandoci ad un totale assorbimento di mente e di cuore della propria intera vita nella vivificante Parola di Dio”.
L’appello del cardinale è stato rilanciato sia dall’arcivescovo di Spoleto-Norcia Riccardo Fontana che dal sindaco Nicola Alemanno, concordi sull’importanza di difendere e di rafforzare le comuni radici cristiane dell’Europa, impiantate sugli esempi dei grandi Santi. “Ogni nostra azione compiuta nel nome di San Benedetto – ha affermato il primo cittadino – deve essere orientata a contagiare un numero sempre maggiore di persone nell’affermazione dei nostri comuni valori cristiani, come il Santo Padre ci invita costantemente a fare. E, quali eredi dello straordinario patrimonio spirituale benedettino noi ‘nursini’ non possiamo non accettare questa sfida”. “San Benedetto – ha detto anche il sottosegretario alla Funzione Pubblica Learco Saporito, in rappresentanza del Governo – è un santo modernissimo pur essendo vissuto 1500 anni fa. E’ da lui che dobbiamo trarre la visione di un cammino di fede personale fatto di operosità e di impegno costante e paziente”. Ad onorare la memoria di San Benedetto sono giunti a Norcia numerose altre autorità civili, religiose e militari. Tra queste l’assessore regionale alla cultura Silvano Rometti e l’assessore provinciale Nerina Ponti.
He Lives his Life Without Fear
Jul 15, 2005
My first meeting with the current Pontiff goes back to the ’eighties, when he was Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and I was ecclesiastical delegate of the United States Episcopal Conference for the pastoral provision for members of the married Anglican clergy who wanted to enter the Catholic Church as priests. By Cardinal Bernard Francis Law. Archpriest of the Patriarchal Liberian Basilica of Saint Mary Major.
(30Days, May 2005) In practice I was the trait d’union between the Congregation that formally granted the Anglicans permission to be consecrated priests and the individual bishops who were disposed to give a pastoral role to these new priests of the Catholic Church.
After the special Synod of 1985, I had the possibility of frequenting the then Cardinal Ratzinger more closely. As a consequence of that Synod in fact the Pope decided that an official Catechism of the Catholic Church should be prepared. John Paul II nominated Ratzinger president of the Commission to draw it up and I was nominated among the members of the Commission.
On that occasion I had the opportunity of working side by side with Ratzinger. And that for me was an extraordinary experience, an enrichment of my life. In this regard I cannot forget a fact that binds me personally to the figure of the new Pope and that of his predecessor. It was 27 May 1994, the last day John Paul II spent in the Gemelli hospital, where he was recovering from a hip operation. That same morning the Pope – still in his room on the tenth floor of the hospital – received from the then Cardinal Ratzinger and myself the first copy, with the classic cover in white leather, of the English version of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
With Cardinal Ratzinger I also participated in numerous meetings of the various Congregations of the Roman Curia, during which I was impressed by his always valuable opinions. His capacity to listen, his ability to make a summary of the contributions that he heard during the course of the meetings, to eliminate confusion, was something wonderful.
Something that also always impressed me about Cardinal Ratzinger is that, listening to or reading all of his contributions, one always learns something and that he has a particular, extraordinary charism for teaching. Not only. The new Pope is also a man who lives his life without fear, because he puts all his trust in God, in Jesus and in the Blessed Virgin Mary. And this was also seen in the simple manner in which he accepted the humanly unheard of task of Bishop of Rome and successor of Peter.
Response to “Called to Be Catholic”
Apr 14, 2005
August 12, 1996, given in response to the statement by Cardinal Joseph Bernardin entitled "Called to be Catholic: Church in a Time of Peril." By Cardinal Bernard Law.
Cardinal Bernardin of Chicago has announced today a project which he has agreed to lead that is called "the Catholic Common Ground Project." He is joined in this effort by a group of Catholics including bishops, priests, religious, lay women and men. The several signatories from within the Archdiocese of Boston are persons for whom I have great esteem.
In connection with the announcement of this "project," a statement has been released which was prepared by the National Pastoral Life Center. This statement, titled "Called to Be Catholic," is proposed as "a good framework for fostering careful reflection on issues of concern."
It is, I think, unfortunate that the cardinal's initiative has tied itself to this statement. The statement is not very helpful. Throughout there are gratuitous assumptions, and at significant points it breathes an ideological bias which it elsewhere decries in others. The fundamental flaw in this document is its appeal for "dialogue" as a path to "common ground."
The church already has "common ground." It is found in sacred Scripture and tradition, and it is mediated to us through the authoritative and binding teaching of the magisterium. The disconnect that is so often found today between that Catholic common ground and faith and practice of some Catholics is alarming.
Dialogue as applied to this pastoral crisis must be clearly understood, however. Dissent from revealed truth or the authoritative teaching of the church cannot be "dialogued" away. Truth and dissent from truth are not equal partners in ecclesial dialogue. Dialogue as a pastoral effort to assist in a fuller appropriation of the truth is laudable. Dialogue as a way to mediate between the truth and dissent is mutual deception.
The statement raises the issue of the faithful's "reception" of a truth or in the incorporation of a decision or practice into the church's life. Surely this is an issue worthy of ongoing theological consideration. Reception by the faithful cannot be measured by polls which are subject to all the pressures of contemporary culture, however, anymore than the schism of all the bishops save one in Henry VIII's England can be ascribed to an exercise of collegiality.
Recent pastoral statements of the bishops of the United States on peace and on the U.S. economy were not universally well received by the faithful. If polls are to be believed, the position of the bishops of Massachusetts in opposition to capital punishment does not enjoy overwhelming support from the faithful. The church must teach "in season and out of season, when convenient and inconvenient." Careful discernment must be used in assessing what is called "reception."
The statement proposes as the sixth of seven "working principles" for dialogue the following: "We should not rush to interpret disagreements as conflicts of starkly opposing principles rather than as differences in degree or in prudential pastoral judgments about the relevant facts." Fair enough, as long as it is admitted that "conflicts of starkly opposing principles" can occur. When such conflict involves dissent from authoritative church teaching, that conflict cannot be dialogued away. Dissent either yields to assent or the conflict remains irresolvable.
In Paragraph 18 of 27, the statement introduces the thought that "Jesus Christ, present in Scripture and sacrament, is central to all we do; he must always be the measure and not what is measured." I would have preferred to have the statement begin at that point.
The crisis the church is facing can only be adequately addressed by a clarion call to conversion. Jesus' question to Peter must be responded to by each of us: "Who do you say that I am?" Only with this beginning will institutional renewal and reform be authentic.
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Pietà’ anche per il cardinal Law
Apr 14, 2005
Una delle messe di suffragio per il Papa è stata affidata al Cardinale Law, che per conto di Wojtyla, negli anni scorsi, aveva “silenziato” una serie di scandali sessuali nelle diocesi statunitensi.
(opinione.it, 13/04/2005) Parlammo male di Law quando in Italia imperversavano le polemiche ipocrite sui pedofili. Ricordammo che il 90% degli abusi sono attuati da familiari, preti o amici, e che internet e cose del genere c’entravano poco.
Ora che tutti, invece, ostentano malcelata repulsione per Law, per spirito di polemica ci tocca ricordare che il messaggio papale o si accetta tutto, o per niente. Se i pacifisti si nascondono dietro l’autorità morale del Papa per sostenere che si dovevano perdonare terroristi o dittatori (islamici o di sinistra, ovviamente), devono prendere atto che il “perdono” va esteso anche ai preti molestatori.
Este papa mariano nos a ayudado a apreciar a María, mujer eucarística
Apr 13, 2005
El Cardenal Bernard Francis Law, Arzobispo emérito de Boston, celebró el día de ayer una Misa en la Basílica de San Pedro, en sufragio por el Papa Juan Pablo II.
Roma, 12 (NE – eclesiales.org, 12-Abril-2005) El Cardenal, durante su homilía, explicó el vínculo especial que el Papa Juan Pablo II tuvo con las basílicas patriarcales de Roma: San Pablo Extramuros, San Juan de Letrán, Santa María la Mayor y San Pedro en el Vaticano. Refiriéndose a la basílica de Santa María la Mayor, el Cardenal se preguntó “¿hay alguien que haya hecho más que el Papa Juan Pablo II para promover la auténtica devoción mariana entre los católicos”.
Al recordar que el Pontífice dedicó un año al Santo Rosario y el año en curso a la Eucaristía, indicó que “este Papa mariano nos a ayudado a apreciar a María”, “Mujer eucarística”.
Le cardinal Law partage les prières, le repas et l’espérance avec les musulmans
Oct 08, 2004
Ayant participé à l’observance du Ramadan à la mosquée de Wayland en signe de bonne volonté, il a déclaré qu’il se sentait tout à fait chez lui au milieu des musulmans.
(DICI, 7/12/2002) "C’était dimanche, et le cardinal Bernard Law était venu pour prier. Portant une croix pectorale en or, une soutane noire à liseré rouge, il retira ses chaussures. Ensuite, pendant que l’imam chantait les prières au coucher du soleil, l’évêque s’agenouilla le front à quelques centimètres du tapis et offrit sa louange à Allah.
Sans aucun doute, le cardinal Law avait l’air un peu égaré au centre islamique de Boston la nuit dernière (24-11-004) – mais il ne se sentait pas du tout déplacé. Ayant participé à l’observance du Ramadan à la mosquée de Wayland en signe de bonne volonté, il a déclaré qu’il se sentait tout à fait chez lui au milieu des musulmans.
"Oui, il y a des différences. Mais le point de départ – et le point le plus important – c’est que nous croyons en un seul Dieu", leur a déclaré le cardinal Law.
Après les prières, il prit part au iftar, le repas qui interrompt le jeûne quotidien qui dure du lever au coucher du soleil pendant le Ramadan. Les membres de la congrégation ont commencé avec des dattes – comme aurait pu le faire Mahomet, le prophète et fondateur de l’Islam – ensuite ils continuèrent avec un repas de salade, poulet et riz.
Pendant un court discours après le repas, le cardinal évoqua le fait que les pieux catholiques et musulmans ont plus en commun entre eux qu’ils n’ont avec les radicaux laïques qui exigent que la vie soit considérée sans Dieu." "Je me sens tout à fait chez moi avec mes amis fondamentalistes ici, qui sont convaincus que Dieu doit être au centre de nos vies", déclara le cardinal.
Il reconnut qu’à travers l’histoire, les zélotes des deux religions avaient utilisé leur foi pour justifier la violence. Il exprima enfin l’espoir que des scènes semblables à celle d’hier soir, seraient, dans un pays pluraliste tel que les Etats Unis, des modèles pour un monde difficile.
Cardinal Law Orders Priests to Ignore Parish Councils Group
Sept 18, 2004
Cardinal Bernard Law has ordered priests to ignore a proposed association of church members, calling the idea "potentially divisive" and angering some loyal Catholics.
(Source unknown, 27 April 2002) Law says the church will not recognize a proposed Association of Parish Pastoral Councils, made up of volunteer laity who aid their parish in organizing, fund-raising and advising the pastor, according to a copy of a letter obtained by The Associated Press.
Law issued the order from Rome on Wednesday night. He instructed Bishop Walter Edyvean to draft a letter to tell priests of his disapproval.
"As pastor or parochial vicar, you are not to join, foster, or promote this endeavor among your Parish Pastoral Council members or the community of the faithful at large," Edyvean, the vicar general of the archdiocese, wrote on Law's behalf.
Law told parishioners last Sunday that he wants to find ways for the laity to become more involved, as part of a comprehensive plan to address the clergy sex abuse scandal.
The archdiocese said an Archdiocesan Pastoral Council already exists, and the creation of another group would be "superfluous and potentially divisive."
In his letter, Edyvean wrote that "discussions have begun and will be extended on the topic of how to make the canonically recognized groups more effective in the archdiocese."
Cardenal Law ofició un funeral por Loyola de Palacio en basílica de Roma
Abbiamo bisogno di uomini come san Benedetto
He Lives his Life Without Fear