LOURDES SHRINE TO STUDY REMOVAL OF RUPNIK MOSAICS ON SHRINE FACADE

LOURDES SHRINE TO STUDY REMOVAL OF RUPNIK MOSAICS ON SHRINE FACADE

A March 31, 2023 statement by Bishop Jean-Marc Micas of Tarbes and Lourdes announced that a Think Tank will be set up in the diocese to look at whether or not to remove the mosaics on the Lourdes shrine façade designed by Jesuit Fr. Marko Rupnik, “who has been making headlines following several accusations of sexual abuse committed against adults in the context of his ministry, in various parts of the world.”

The statement goes on to say “He was sanctioned by his religious superiors and by the Holy See. The question of the status of his works and their future arises. (bold in original statement)”

The mosaics were created in 2008 on the 150^th anniversary of the apparitions. The bishop said that, “Like any work of art, they are appreciated by some, less by others, but the vast majority of pilgrims and visitors to Lourdes emphasize their beauty.”

Bishop Micas explains that, “Given the specificity of the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes, the general question of the status of works by artists involved in situations of abuse is considerably more sensitive here. Lourdes is a place where many victims come to the Immaculate Conception seeking consolation and healing. Their distress is great in front of Fr. Rupnik’s mosaics, in this very place: we cannot ignore it.”

“On Monday, March 27, with the rector Fr. Michel Daubanes,” wrote Bishop Micas, “we referred this question to the Shrine’s Orientation Council. The subject was approached with great seriousness: we now know that victims must be at the centre of our reflections, and any decision will have serious consequences.”

The Think Tank, to be set up in April, will be composed of the bishop, the shrine rector, at least one victim, an expert in sacred art and a psychotherapist.

The statement notes that, “A mission and two ‘instructions’ are entrusted at this stage (bold in original):

Develop the necessary elements to make the best decision;

Conduct this reflection in the most serene way possible;

Do not reject any hypothesis of a priori decision.

 

FEBRUARY 11 IN NUMBERS

I relived this day in numbers a few years ago but felt it might be good to update them.

FEBRUARY 11 IN NUMBERS

February 11 commemorates some important moments for the Catholic Church:

Today is the 164th anniversary of the apparition of Our Lady of Lourdes to St. Bernadette.

It is the 93rd anniversary of the establishment of Vatican City State via the 1929 Lateran Pacts.

It is the 30th World Day of the Sick, established in May 1992 by St. John Paul II a year after he learned that he had Parkinson’s.

It is the 9th anniversary of the announcement by Pope Benedict XVI that he would resign the papacy effective at the end of the month.

The 11th hour of the 11th Day….

Today I focus on that last anniversary because of its unique nature and because of what it entailed for me – and hundreds of others – as a vaticanista. How to handle history as it is actually being made! Getting it right!

Where does one start to write about a day that is historical, stunning, amazing and also sad – there were so many reactions and emotions. Having lived in Rome for decades and having worked for or covered the Vatican and the papacy for all but two of those years, all of the above emotions were part of that incredible February 11, 2013 when we heard Pope Benedict XVI tell the world he would resign the papacy effective February 28, 2013!

Over the years, from my first visit to Rome as a college student to this very day, I have met or been in the presence of Popes John XXIII, Paul VI, John Paul II, Benedict XVI and Francis, and have actually spoken to the last four. I was at the 1978 Mass when John Paul I was installed as Pope but never did meet him during his very brief pontificate.

Up to February 11, 2013, the whole world knew that the death of a Pope was the only way the papacy was vacated, that there could be a “sede vacante,” literally, a vacant seat (from which we get the word vacancy).

No one is alive on this earth today who ever heard a Pope say what Pope Benedict did on that fateful, historical morning exactly seven years ago – Monday, February 11, 2013.

I remember every moment of that day and subsequent ones like it just happened yesterday – the resignation, the TV appearances, the press conferences, the preparations for a conclave, the mountains of research need to answer questions and to prepare for EWTN’s live television coverage of all events, the visits prepared for the media to Castelgandolfo where Benedict would be living until his permanent home was ready to receive him, and the monastery where Benedict now lives.

I look back at February 11, 2013 with amazement, with gratitude for being here during an historical period, with awe at the events of the months that followed, and once again with gratitude for a Church that could so beautifully transition from one papacy to another.

I look back at the courage and humility and love of the Church that prompted Pope Benedict to resign as he feared, sensed, realized he could not serve the Church he loved as she deserved.

Benedict XVI had become a role model for so many people, for millions of Catholics – and others – who miss him very much today and wish him well and pray for him on a daily basis. More frequently than you might imagine – still today, seven years later – people write me to ask me to please extend to Pope emeritus Benedict their regards, their love, their prayers and their thanksgiving for his pontificate. I try to pass on what I can!

I vividly remember telling U.S. television the night of Benedict’s resignation that Pope John Paul II, in his long suffering, taught us how to die and Pope Benedict, in his humility, courage and love, was teaching us how to live!

Too often we live and make decisions based on what others might think of us. We want to “look good,” we need approval before we act. We rarely look inside ourselves to see – even pray – what is the right thing to do. That is what Benedict XVI did. He looked inside himself and, with great honesty, unbelievable courage and his noted humility, he knew he had to leave the papacy.

In my mind’s eye today I’ve relived every encounter I had with Pope Benedict over the years – the brief exchanges, his soft smile, his wonderful blue eyes, his total sincerity. I will say a rosary today for Benedict, out of love, respect and gratitude.

All this, of course, was a lead-in to the conclave that elected our Holy Father, Pope Francis.

So let’s pray for both!

I took this photo in 2014 on a Day for the Elderly:

Vaticannews photo –

POPE: SEEK THE FACE OF GOD IN THE POOR, SICK, ABANDONED AND FOREIGNERS – LOURDES: CARDINAL PAROLIN TO CELEBRATE MASS ON 15 AUGUST

Because he is on a “working” holiday in the Vatican in July, for the second consecutive Wednesday, Pope Francis did not preside at a general audience. He did say a special Mass in the residence chapel as you will see.

POPE: SEEK THE FACE OF GOD IN THE POOR, SICK, ABANDONED AND FOREIGNERS

Pope Francis on Wednesday urged Christians to discover the face of Jesus in the migrants, refugees and the displaced who are forced to flee because of the many injustices that still afflict our world today.

By Vatican News

Celebrating a Mass in the Vatican’s Casa Santa Marta chapel, to commemorate the 7th anniversary of his visit to the migrants in the Italian island of Lampedusa, the Pope recalled the words of Jesus: “Whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me”.  He said this warning, for better or for worse, is a burning issue today.

The July 8, 2013 visit of the Pope to the Mediterranean island was the first of his pontificate after his election on March 13 of the same year.  During the visit, he threw a floral wreath in the sea in memory of some 20,000 migrants who died while trying to cross the Mediterranean.  He briefly met and spoke to some young African migrants before celebrating an open-air Mass. (July 2013 – vaticanmedia)

The visit is highly symbolic of the pontificate of the Argentine Pope who wants the Church to be an inclusive one that goes forth to the peripheries, to include all, leaving no one out.

Seeking God’s face in others
Noting that the day’s psalm speaks about seeking the face of God, the Pope said that this fundamental attitude is the ultimate goal of all the faithful.

In this regard, the Prophet Hosea in the first reading, speaks about how the people of Israel had drifted away from the Lord because of abundance, prosperity and riches which filled their heart with falsehood and injustice, “a sin, from which even we, modern Christians, are not immune.”

Globalization of indifference
Recalling his homily of 7 years ago in Lampedusa, the Pope said that the “culture of comfort, makes us think only of ourselves, makes us insensitive to the cries of other people.”  It creates a fleeting and empty illusion, leading to indifference to others, even to the globalization of indifference.  “We have become used to the suffering of others: it doesn’t affect me; it doesn’t concern me; it’s none of my business!” the Pope said.

“Sow for yourselves justice, reap the fruit of piety,” the Pope said echoing the call of Hosea to conversion.

Personal encounter entails mission
Seeking the face of the Lord, the Holy Father said, entails the desire for a personal encounter with the Lord, just as it happened with the twelve apostles, as narrated in the day’s Gospel.  This personal encounter with the Lord, which is a time of grace and salvation, “immediately entails a mission” – to proclaim that, “the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”  “Encounter and mission,” he stressed, “cannot be separated.”

“Whatever you did… you did for me”
This mission, the Pope said, is also for the disciples of the third millennium.  “As we undertake to seek the face of the Lord, we may recognize Him in the face of the poor, the sick, the abandoned, and the foreigners whom God places on our way.”

Recalling the words of Jesus, “whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me,” the Pope said, “the encounter with the other is also an encounter with Christ.” “It is He who knocks on our door, hungry, thirsty, naked, sick, imprisoned, seeking an encounter with us and requesting our assistance.”

Pope Francis urged Christians to use the words of Jesus as a fundamental element to examine our conscience on a daily basis.  In this regard, he thought of the detention camps in Libya, “the abuses and violence that migrants are victims of, journeys of hope, rescue operations, and push-backs.”

“Distilled” version
The Holy Father remembered meeting a migrant during his visit to Lampedusa, who narrated at length the “terrible things” they suffered to get there, but the interpreter was very brief.  When the Pope got back home that afternoon, the lady receptionist, a daughter of Ethiopian parents who followed the conversation on television, said the Ethiopian interpreter didn’t even convey a fourth of the torture and suffering the migrants went through.  What was interpreted, the Pope remarked, was a “distilled” version of the real story.

This is what is happening with Libya today, the Holy Father said.  “They give us a ‘distilled’ version. “We know the war is bad but you can’t imagine the hell that one goes through there, in those detention camps.” The Pope said, “these people were only coming with the hope and crossing the sea.”

The Pope concluded, urging the Virgin Mary, under the title, “Solace or Comfort of Migrants,” to help Christians to “discover the face of Her Son in all our brothers and sisters who are forced to flee from their homeland because of the many injustices that still afflict our world today.”

(The press office released the Pope’s homily in the original Italian as well as English, French and Spanish: http://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/it/bollettino/pubblico/2020/07/08/0377/00867.html)

LOURDES: CARDINAL PAROLIN TO CELEBRATE MASS ON 15 AUGUST

At the invitation of the organizers of the national pilgrimage, Cardinal Pietro Parolin will travel to the shrine at Lourdes, France to preside over Mass for the Feast of the Assumption on August 15.

By Vatican News

The cardinal had been invited to the shrine before the coronavirus outbreak, and his attendance was confirmed on Monday.

Due to restrictions related to the pandemic, this year’s national pilgrimage will take place without the presence of the faithful who are sick. They are, however, being invited to unite spiritually with the event and to follow the Mass online.

In spite of the altered programme, the Vatican Secretary of State is making the trip to support the Marian Shrine, which has been particularly affected by the current health crisis.

It will also be the first official visit outside Italy by a senior member of the Curia since the pandemic began. Before arriving at Lourdes, Cardinal Parolin is expected to make a stop at the city of Ars, the town of the Cure d’Ars, St. Jean Vianney.

This is the Cardinal’s third visit to Lourdes since becoming Vatican Secretary of State. In 2017 he visited the shrine as Pope Francis’ representative for the World Day of the Sick and in 2018 for the St. Francis de Sales Days.

 

VATICAN INSIDER: FAITH AND REASON AND WESTERN CIVILIZATION – VATICAN STORIES OF THE DAY

VATICAN INSIDER: FAITH AND REASON AND WESTERN CIVILIZATION

My guest this weekend and next in the interview segment of “Vatican Insider” is Samuel Gregg, research director at the Acton Institute in Grand Rapids, Michigan. We spoke when he was in Rome to talk about his latest book, Reason, Faith and the Struggle for Western Civilization.

Sam talks about the genius of Western civilization with its unique synthesis of reason and faith and we learn that that synthesis is under attack from the East by radical Islam (faith without reason) and from within the West itself by aggressive secularism (reason without faith). He writes that the naïve and increasingly common assumption that reason and faith are incompatible is simply at odds with the facts of history. You will not want to miss that conversation!

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: https://www.ewtn.com/radio/audio-archive (write Vatican Insider where it says Search Shows and Episodes)

VATICAN STORIES OF THE DAY

Pope urges strengthening of penal law against “idolatry of market”
Pope Francis on Friday received in audience in the Vatican participants in the 20th International Congress of Penal Law and examined several critical issues of human justice in the light of the Christian vision of justice. https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2019-11/pope-francis-penal-law-justice-environment.html

Pope receives Grand Imam of Al-Azhar
Pope Francis on Friday received in the Vatican the Grand Imam Ahmed Al-Tayeb of Al-Azhar of Egypt and his retinue. https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2019-11/pope-francis-grand-imam-alazhar-audience.html

Pope sends video message to Thailand ahead of his Apostolic Journey
Pope Francis sends his greetings to the people of Thailand ahead of his visit to the country from the 20th to the 23rd of November. https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2019-11/pope-francis-video-message-thailiand-apostolic-journey.html

Pope to pilgrims in Lourdes for World Day of Poor: ‘God hears your prayers’
Pope Francis sends a video-message to participants of a 4-day gathering in Lourdes responding to his call for a ‘Poor Church for the Poor’. https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2019-11/pope-francis-world-day-of-poor-2019.html

Pope says Havana founded on roots of faith, hope and charity
Pope Francis sends a video message on the occasion of the 500th anniversary of the foundation of the city of San Cristóbal de La Habana, from whose name Havana is derived.https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2019-11/pope-says-havana-founded-on-roots-of-faith-hope-and-charity.html

World Day of the Poor: Clinic open for Rome’s poor
The Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization releases a press statement ahead of the 3rd World Day of the Poor, marked on the 17th of November. https://www.vaticannews.va/en/vatican-city/news/2019-11/pope-francis-world-day-of-the-poor-clinic.html

VATICAN INSIDER: HOW PRISONERS CAN GO TO LOURDES

VATICAN INSIDER: HOW PRISONERS CAN GO TO LOURDES

Join me again this weekend when I continue my conversation with three members of the American apostolate, Lourdes Volunteers. Once again, we hear from Marlene Watkins, a terrific storyteller, who founded the volunteers in the Jubilee Year 2000. Joining Marlene is Fr. Rob Hyde of St. Margaret’s Church in Syracuse, NY, spiritual advisor to the Volunteers and Deacon Dan Revetto of Los Angeles vice president of the Lourdes Volunteers. Greatb stories today including how they bring Lourdes – a virtual Lourdes – to prisoners! Great stuff!

Today, March 15, they were at EWTN in Alabama!

Please go their website (www.lourdesvolunteers.org) if you have a medical background and wish to help them in Lourdes.

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)

VATICAN INSIDER: ON A VIRTUAL PILGRIMAGE TO LOURDES – HOLY FATHER WELCOMES AMERICAN JEWISH COMMITTEE

VATICAN INSIDER: ON A VIRTUAL PILGRIMAGE TO LOURDES

Join me again this weekend when I continue my conversation with three members of an American apostolate, Lourdes Volunteers. I talk to Marlene Watkins who founded the volunteers in the Jubilee Year 2000 – she’s a wonderful storyteller! Joining Marlene is Fr. Rob Hyde of St. Margaret’s Church in Syracuse, NY, spiritual advisor to the Volunteers and Deacon Dan Revetto of Los Angeles vice president of the Lourdes Volunteers. Wait until you hear how they bring Lourdes – a virtual Lourdes – to prisoners! Great stuff!

Are you still laughing at what Deacon Dan told us last week about his very first encounter in Lourdes with a patient entrusted to his care! I laugh just typing these words!

Please go their website (www.lourdesvolunteers.org) if you have a medical background and wish to help them in Lourdes. You’ll hear who and what they need in our conversation this week.

HOLY FATHER WELCOMES AMERICAN JEWISH COMMITTEE

Pope Francis this morning welcomed members of the American Jewish Committee, noting that they have “had close contacts with the successors of Peter since the beginning of the official dialogue between the Catholic Church and Judaism.” He said, “your commitment to Jewish-Catholic dialogue goes back to the Declaration Nostra Aetate, a milestone in our journey of fraternal rediscovery.” (photo vaticannews)

He then told a story about what he called “cultivating good fraternal relations”:

“In this context, I would like to share with you an event that occurred in your part of the world. A young Catholic was sent to the front-line and experienced first-hand the horrors of the Second World War. On returning to the United States, he began to start a family. After much work, he was finally able to buy a bigger house. He bought it from a Jewish family. At the entrance was the mezuzah and this father did not want it removed during the renovations of the house: it had to remain exactly there, at the entrance. He passed on to his children the importance of that sign. He told them, one of whom was a priest, that this little “box” beside the door should be looked at each time when entering and leaving the house, because it held the secret for making a family strong and making humanity a family.

Today, March 8, is International Women’s Day. The Pope said, “I would also like to say a few words about the irreplaceable contribution of women in building a world that can be a home for all. Women make the world beautiful, they protect it and keep it alive. They bring the grace of renewal, the embrace of inclusion, and the courage to give of oneself. Peace, then, is born of women, it arises and is rekindled by the tenderness of mothers. Thus the dream of peace becomes a reality when we look towards women.”

He then underscored “a source of great concern for him, … the spread, in many places, of a climate of wickedness and fury, in which an excessive and depraved hatred is taking root. I think especially of the outbreak of anti-Semitic attacks in various countries.”

He reiterated “it is necessary to be vigilant about such a phenomenon” as “History teaches us where even the slightest perceptible forms of anti-Semitism can lead: ‘the human tragedy of the Shoah in which two-thirds of European Jewry were annihilated’. I stress that for a Christian any form of anti-semitism is a rejection of one’s own origins, a complete contradiction.”

Francis stressed that, “In the fight against hatred and anti-semitism, an important tool is inter-religious dialogue, aimed at promoting a commitment to peace, mutual respect, the protection of life, religious freedom, and the care of creation. Jews and Christians, moreover, share a rich spiritual heritage, which allows us to do much good together. At a time when the West is exposed to a de-personalizing secularism, it falls to believers to seek out each other and to cooperate in making divine love more visible for humanity; and to carry out concrete gestures of closeness to counter the growth of indifference.”

The Holy Father, in closing remarks, noted that, “In serving humanity, as in our dialogue, young people are waiting to be involved more fully; they want to dream and are open to discovering new ideals. I want to emphasize, therefore, the importance of the formation of future generations in Jewish-Christian dialogue.”

VATICAN INSIDER: VISIT LOURDES IN PERSON OR ON VIRTUAL PILGRIMAGE – CONVENTS AND MONASTERIES, ROME’S SURPRISE LODGINGS

VATICAN INSIDER: VISIT LOURDES IN PERSON OR ON VIRTUAL PILGRIMAGE

Do not miss the interview segment this weekend on Vatican Insider when my guests tell you in riveting fashion the story of Lourdes Volunteers, part of Our Lady of Lourdes Hospitality – North American Volunteers.

Join my conversation with three members of this American apostolate, Lourdes Volunteers. I talk to Marlene Watkins who founded the volunteers in the Jubilee Year 2000 – she’s a wonderful storyteller! Joining Marlene is Fr. Rob Hyde of St. Margaret’s Church in Syracuse, NY, spiritual advisor to the Volunteers and Deacon Dan Revetto of Los Angeles, vice president of the Lourdes Volunteers. You will never forget his story of his first day of volunteering at the French Shrine!

Learn how to go to Lourdes as a volunteer – or as a patient if you have health issues. Learn how, if you are a medical professional, you can become part of the team that volunteers at this celebrated French shrine. You can learn by visiting http://www.lourdesvolunteers.org

Here are Deacon Dan Revetto, Fr. Rob Hyde and Marlene Watkins –

The rest of the team currently visiting Rome –

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)

February 23-24 Vatican Insider: https://player.fm/series/catholic/vatican-insider-022319-protection-of-minors-in-the-church-summit-at-the-vatican

CONVENTS AND MONASTERIES, ROME’S SURPRISE LODGINGS

FROM ALETEIA: Many religious orders offer rooms to tourists in their beautiful centuries-old buildings, located within walking distance of the sites of Rome. It’s a best-kept secret of many a frequent traveler to Rome: staying at a monastery or convent is an affordable, unique way to visit the Eternal City.

Following the tradition of hospitality that religious orders have carried out for over 1,500 years, monks and nuns in monasteries and convent houses in Rome offer bed-and-breakfast style lodging to tourists and pilgrims alike.

To learn more: https://aleteia.org/2019/02/27/when-in-rome-these-convents-and-monasteries-offer-unique-and-affordable-lodging/

PS – Convents and Monasteries can be found throughout Italy –perhaps some of this beautiful nation’s best kept secrets. More on those treasures in a future post!

A PAPAL SUNDAY: A CULTURE OF LIFE, A CULTURE OF ENCOUNTER, A WORLD OF PEACE – WORLD DAY OF SICK TO BE CELEBRATED FEBRUARY 11 AT LOURDES

A PAPAL SUNDAY: A CULTURE OF LIFE, A CULTURE OF ENCOUNTER, A WORLD OF PEACE

Just nine days after he sent a message to organizers and participants in the March for Life in Washington, D.C., Pope Francis on Sunday at the Angelus marked Italy’s Day for Life by focusing on creating a culture of life and protecting life at all stages. He called on the faithful to join Italian bishops in promoting a culture of life in which “no one is left alone.….each life is sacred. … So let’s pray together for those children who risk a pregnancy termination and for those who are nearing the end of life. may no one be left alone and may love defend the sense of life.”

Addressing the crowds gathered in St. Peter’s Square after the recitation of the Marian prayer, Francis urged all believers to respond to “the logic of waste and demographic downturn” by upholding and promoting a “culture of life.” Quoting Saint Teresa of Calcutta who said, “life is beauty, admire it; life is life, fight for it,” the Pope stressed that is true for the child about to be born and for the person who is about to die as “every life is sacred!”

Sunday was also America’s greatest sports celebration – the Super Bowl. How many people know that Pope Francis sent a video message to Super Bowl athletes and fans, saying great sporting events like this annual championship game are “highly symbolic and show that it is possible to build a culture of encounter and a world of peace. By participating in sport, we are able to go beyond our own self-interest – and in a healthy way – we learn to sacrifice, to grow in fidelity and respect the rules. may this year’s super bowl be a sign of peace, friendship and solidarity to the world.”

WORLD DAY OF SICK TO BE CELEBRATED FEBRUARY 11 AT LOURDES

Officials from the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development held a press conference today in the Holy See Press Office to present the 25th World Day of the Sick to be held in Lourdes, France on February 11. They also presented the New Charter for Healthcare Workers.

Msgr. Jean-Marie Mate Musivi Mupendawatu, secretary of this Dicastery explained that the World Day of the Sick was instituted by St. John Paul II in 1992 and, on this 25th anniversary, it will be celebrated in an extraordinary way, at Pope Francis’ behest. Among the many figures who will attend the event in Lourdes on February 11, Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin will be present as papal legate, and will celebrate the solemn Mass on the anniversary of the first apparition of the Virgin to Bernadette Soubirous.

The new Charter was then presented. It was defined as a revision and updating of the previous Charter for Healthcare Workers, the theological, moral and medical “vademecum” that resulted from an intuition of the first president of the former pontifical council, Cardinal Fiorenzo Angelini and was translated into 19 languages and was for twenty years a basic text for healthcare workers.

Msgr. Musivi Mupendawatu also noted Pope Francis’ Message for the upcoming 25^th anniversary, saying its theme is “Amazement at what God has accomplished: ‘The Almighty has done great things for me…’” (Luke 1:49).

To read the entire summary of the press conference: http://www.news.va/en/news/vatican-presents-25th-world-day-of-sick-new-charte