VATICAN INSIDER WELCOMES A DYNAMIC DUO OF GRANDMOTHERS

August 6 marks three important anniversaries, one for the entire world and two for the Catholic Church. Today is the 76^th anniversary of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945. A second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki on August 9, and the death toll from both was well over 200,000.

August 6 also marks two events for the Catholic Church: the death of Pope Paul VI – now St. Paul VI – on this day in 1978 at the papal residence of Castelgandolfo, and the feast of the Transfiguration. Here is Pope Francis’ tweet for today:

@pontifex The feast of the #TransfigurationoftheLord reminds us that we are called to experience being in touch with Christ so that, enlightened by his light, we might bear it and make it shine everywhere like tiny lamps of the gospel the bear a little bit of love and hope.

Here’s the link to the weekly English edition of L’Osservatore Romano (once you click on the link, click on Download and that should work). This is now a paying edition. I have a subscription and hope this works for you. I believe you can also subscribe via this link for €20 a year. ING_2021_032_0608.pdf (osservatoreromano.va)

And you might enjoy this story from Bethlehem:  800-year-old church organ in Bethlehem may breath new life – Catholic Philly

Whatever is on your agenda for the weekend – summer vacation time of relaxing, swimming, sailing or other sports, a family picnic, or perhaps just down time at home after returning from a vacation, I hope your days are health, happy and indeed relaxing. Try to have a weekend where you do want you want to do, not what you have to do. Have fun. Laugh a lot, hug your parents and siblings and children and nieces and nephews. Spend time so that when you wake up on Monday, you have a huge smile on your face from a weekend well spent!

VATICAN INSIDER WELCOMES A DYNAMIC DUO OF GRANDMOTHERS

Welcome to a new edition of Vatican Insider this weekend, in particular, welcome to Part II of my conversation with two dear friends, a dynamic duo – Catherine Wiley and Marilyn Henry – as we talk more about the first World day of Grandparents and the Elderly. Catherine founded the Catholic Grandparents Association in the UK and Marilyn Henry coordinates CGA in the US. Grandmothers themselves, they tell us the riveting tale of how CGA came about and how visits to the Vatican and a lot of work over 12 years led to this new World Day! We learn how Catherine and Marilyn found out the Pope had instituted this World Day and what it meant for them to be in Rome for the First World Day on July 25, 2021!

Some photos of our times together over the World Day of Grandparents weekend including meals and our conversation.

Here is the Catholic Grandparents Association’s marvelous website: Catholic Grandparents Association – Keeping Prayer at the Heart of Family Life

IN THE UNITED STATES, you can listen to Vatican Insider (VI) on a Catholic radio station near you (stations listed at www.ewtn.com) or on channel 130 Sirius-XM satellite radio, or on http://www.ewtn.com. OUTSIDE THE U.S., you can listen to EWTN radio on our website home page by clicking on the right side where you see “LISTEN TO EWTN.” VI airs at 5am and 9pm ET on Saturdays and 6am ET on Sundays. On the GB-IE feed (which is on SKY in the UK and Ireland), VI airs at 5:30am, 12 noon and 10pm CET on Sundays. Both of these feeds are also available on the EWTN app and on www.ewtnradio.net ALWAYS CHECK YOUR OWN TIME ZONE! For VI archives: go to https://www.ewtn.com/radio/audio-archive and write the name of the guest for whom you are serarching in the SEARCH box. Below that, will appear “Vatican Insider” – click on that and the link to that particular episode will appear.

 

VATICAN INSIDER: THE CATHOLIC GRANDPARENTS ASSOCIATION – POPE INSTITUTES GENERAL DIRECTORATE FOR PERSONNEL – 106TH WORLD DAY OF MIGRANTS: “FORCED LIKE JESUS CHRIST TO FLEE”

VATICAN INSIDER: THE CATHOLIC GRANDPARENTS ASSOCIATION

My two amazing guests in the interview segment of Vatican Insider this weekend and next are Catherine Wiley, grandmother and founder of Catholic Grandparents Association – CGA – and Marilyn Henry, also a grandmother, who founded the American branch of Catholic Grandparents.

We spoke when they were in Rome for “The Richness of Many Years of Life” conference organized by the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life that brought together 550 participants from 60 countries. Catherine tells us how she came to found this Association and both women speak about the work of CGA and how you, if you are a grandparent, can join this unique, lively and loving association.

Catherine Wiley-

Marilyn Henry-(from twitter)

If you could plug Catherine in to a wall socket, you’d not have to pay an electric company! She is so very passionate about her work, about CGA, about being a grandparent. And that’s how she feels about her “American double,” Marilyn Henry of Houston, Texas.

If you’re a grandparent and want to know if there is a CGA affiliate in your parish or diocese, all the info you need (phone numbers, email, etc) is right here: http://www.catholicgrandparentsassociation.org/

For Catherine Wiley’s powerful talk at “The Richness of Many Years of Life,” conference, click on the link below. By the by, Marilyn told me that the entire gathering applauded Catherine for several mion iutes!

The Richness of many years speech- Rome 2020 by Catherine Wiley

IN THE UNITED STATES, you can listen to Vatican Insider (VI) on a Catholic radio station near you (stations listed at http://www.ewtn.com) or on channel 130 Sirius-XM satellite radio, or on http://www.ewtn.com. OUTSIDE THE U.S., you can listen to EWTN radio on our website home page by clicking on the right side where you see “LISTEN TO EWTN.” VI airs at 5am and 9pm ET on Saturdays and 6am ET on Sundays. On the GB-IE feed (which is on SKY in the UK and Ireland), VI airs at 5:30am, 12 noon and 10pm CET on Sundays. Both of these feeds are also available on the EWTN app and on http://www.ewtnradio.net ALWAYS CHECK YOUR OWN TIME ZONE! For VI archives: http://www.ewtn.com/multimedia/audio-library/index.asp (write Vatican Insider where it says Search Shows and Episodes)

POPE INSTITUTES GENERAL DIRECTORATE FOR PERSONNEL

Accepting the proposal of the Council of Cardinals and the Council for the Economy, His Holiness Francis has arranged for the institution of the General Directorate for Personnel within the General Affairs Section of the Secretariat of State.

The General Directorate for Personnel will take over the tasks of the current personnel office of the Secretariat of State and will have authority not only on the Dicasteries and Entities of the Holy See, but also on Institutes (for example, the Institute for Religious Works), plants, chapters, administrations, organisms, foundations, Domus and other institutions dependent on the Holy See or in some way connected to it, notwithstanding the respective Regulations.

This new department will be presided over by a director and will have strategic, inspection and operational power, with coordination, control and surveillance functions; it will also be equipped so that it can respond in good time to the various requests that it will be called to carry out.

The new General Directorate for Personnel will maintain close links with the Secretariat for Economic Affairs, the Labor Office of the Apostolic See, the Pension Fund and the Governorate of the Vatican City State, as well as with the independent Commission of evaluation for the recruitment of lay personnel at the Apostolic See (CIVA).

This is a very important step in the reform process started by the Holy Father.

106TH WORLD DAY OF MIGRANTS: “FORCED LIKE JESUS CHRIST TO FLEE”

The 106th World Day of Migrants and Refugees will be celebrated on Sunday 27 September 2020. The Holy Father has chosen “Forced like Jesus Christ to flee” as the title for his annual Message. It will focus on the pastoral care of internally displaced persons (IDPs), who currently number over 41 million worldwide.

As the title makes clear, the reflection begins with the experience of the young Jesus and his family as displaced persons and refugees. This provides a Christological grounding for the Christian action of welcome or hospitality.

Over the coming months, the theme will be developed in six sub-themes expressed by six pairs of verbs: to know in order to understand; to draw near so as to serve; to listen in order to reconcile; to share and thus to grow; to involve in order to promote; and finally, to collaborate and therefore to build.

Again this year, the Migrants & Refugees Section of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development will encourage, prepare and support the celebration of this day. Resources are being developed and a communication campaign will soon get underway. Each month, information, reflections, and multimedia aids will be offered as means of exploring and expressing the theme chosen this year by the Holy Father. (source Vatican media)