SEARCHING FOR NEW WORLDS USING VATICAN TELESCOPE – WORLD DAY OF MIGRANTS AND REFUGEES TO FOCUS ON RIGHT TO STAY – HOLY SEE DRAWS ATTENTION TO PEOPLE FACING RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION

I recently aired a Special report on the Vatican Observatory in the interview segment of my weekend radio show, Vatican Insider. I keep up with news about the Vatican specola because of my many visits there, including full days spent at the observatory in the Apostolic Palace of Castelgandolfo covering the summer schools offered for students of astronomy. The specola offices, classrooms and museum are no longer in the palace but on the ground of of the apostolic territory. I was thus interested when I saw this story today on Vatican News.

SEARCHING FOR NEW WORLDS USING VATICAN TELESCOPE

Vatican Observatory Foundation announced that astronomers from the Leibniz-Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP) and the Vatican Observatory (VO) teamed up to spectroscopically survey more than 1000 bright stars which are suspected to host their own exoplanets.

According to a Vatican Observatory statement, the team – which includes VO astronomers Fr. Paul Gabor, S.J., Fr. David Brown, S.J., and Fr. Chris Corbally, S.J., and VO engineer Michael Franz – now presents precise values of 54 spectroscopic parameters per star in the first of a series of papers in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics and releases all its data to the scientific community.

This unprecedented large number of parameters will be essential to interpreting the stellar light and finding connections between the properties of stars and their possible planets.

Pope Paul VI watching moon landing

Stars, the statement explained, tell stories about themselves, and sometimes about their undiscovered planets. Their language is light. Starlight reveals many physical properties of a star, such as its temperature, pressure, motion, chemical composition, and more. Researchers analyze the light with a method called quantitative absorption spectroscopy. Searching for new worlds using Vatican telescope – Vatican News

WORLD DAY OF MIGRANTS AND REFUGEES TO FOCUS ON RIGHT TO STAY

The Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development announces the theme of this year’s World Day of Migrants and Refugees focused on the right to choose migration as an option for livelihood and personal development.Pope Francis has chosen “Free to choose whether to migrate or to stay” as the theme for the 109th World Day of Migrants and Refugees, to be celebrated on 24 September.

The Day is observed every year on the last Sunday of September as an occasion to express support and concern for people who are forced to flee their homes, to encourage Catholics worldwide to remember and pray for those displaced by conflict and persecution, and increase awareness about the opportunities that migration offers. It was first celebrated in 1914. World Day of Migrants and Refugees to focus on right to stay – Vatican News

HOLY SEE DRAWS ATTENTION TO PEOPLE FACING RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION

Addressing the 52nd session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, Archbishop Fortunatus Nwachukwu, Secretary of the Dicastery for Evangelisation, stressed the desire of the Holy See to bring to the attention of this Council “the plight of many individuals and communities who endure persecution because of their religious beliefs.”

The Archbishop, in reiterating Pope Francis’ words, noted that peace also calls for the universal recognition of religious freedom. It is troubling that people are being persecuted simply because they publicly profess their faith, he said, noting that in many countries religious freedom is limited. “About a third of the world’s population lives under these conditions.” Holy See draws attention to people facing religious persecution – Vatican News

 

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)

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF FRANCIS: MASS FOR MIGRANTS AND REFUGEES, A PRAYER BEFORE A MARIAN ICON AND A FLIGHT TO CHILE

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF FRANCIS: MASS FOR MIGRANTS AND REFUGEES, A PRAYER BEFORE A MARIAN ICON AND A FLIGHT TO CHILE

Pope Francis celebrated Mass yesterday in St. Peter’s Basilica for the 104th World Day of Migrants and Refugees, urging the faithful to “overcome fear and to welcome the other’.” The papal liturgy seemed even more international than usual given the music from the young, multilingual voices of the Latin American choirs, the colorful flags and multicultural costumes of the 49 countries represented at the papal Mass, and the presence of ambassadors from 70 countries. In addition, some 460 priests from all over the world concelebrated with the Holy Father. Francis said he wanted to celebrate the World Day of Migrants and Refugees with a Mass of invitation and welcome.

Later, at the Angelus, the Holy Father again spoke of this World Day and quoted from his Message: “Every stranger who knocks on our door is an opportunity to meet Jesus Christ, who identifies himself with the foreigner who has been accepted or rejected in every age.” He also announced that, “for pastoral reasons,” this World Day will henceforth be commemorated on the second Sunday in September.

Francis asked the faithful in St. Peter’s Square to pray for his trip to Chile and Peru and, later Sunday, visited St Mary Major basilica to pray before the beloved icon of Mary, entrusting his trip to her maternal heart.

In fact, Pope Francis departed Rome at 8:55 this morning, Monday, for the 16-hour flight to Santiago, schedule to arrive about 8 pm local time. Rome is 4 hours ahead of Chile.

This may well be one of the Pope’s most difficult trips. There have been attacks on Churches in Chile, including some fire bombs, and in Peru, the country’s replica of the Christ the Redeemer Statue in Rio de Janeiro was set on fire days ago. In one case, the perpetrators of a church firebombed in Santiago, left a note that read: “Pope Francis, the next bomb will be in your robe.”

Needless to say, security will be uppermost in the minds of Vatican officials, gendarmes and Swiss Guards as well as the police and security officials of both Chile and Peru.

(Vatican News – Devin Watkins) Churches attacked in Chile ahead of Pope Francis’ Apostolic Visit – Four churches are vandalized on Friday in Chile’s capital, just ahead of Pope Francis’ Apostolic Visit to the country, and the Apostolic Nunciature is briefly occupied to protest against money spent on welcoming the Holy Father.(http://www.vaticannews.va/en/church/news/2018-01/chile-journey-churches-attacked-before-popes-arrival.html)

There is also anger over sexual abuse cases and the fact that Pope Francis, against advice, appointed a bishop who has been accused of turning a blind eye to abuse cases. Some fear these cases might overshadow the Pope’s desire to focus on the light of indigenous peoples.

In fact, the Holy Father intends to place the situation of indigenous peoples on the front pages of the world’s newspaper and he will focus on them in both Chile and Peru. A sample case of the problems faced by the indigenous is that of large pieces of land that were originally theirs but had been taken forcefully over the centuries, without any compensation. Others own land that criminal gangs are trying to take over – or have succeeded – in an attempt to grow lucrative palm oil or drug-related products.

In a story reported from Peru by the Guardian, for example, tribal leaders, who hail from four Amazon river basins, accuse the government of refusing to carry out a consultation process even though it is negotiating a new 30-year contract for oil block 192 with Frontera Energy, a Canadian firm, whose current contract expires in early 2019.

The so-called prior consultation law, passed in 2011 in Peru, requires the government to seek free, prior and informed consent from indigenous people before approving any development plans that might affect them.

But officials from Peru’s energy ministry refused to confirm if a new consultation process would be undertaken, stating that a 2015 process was still valid. Indigenous leaders representing more than 100 communities in the Marañon, Pastaza, Corrientes and Tigre river basins said that process had been carried out in “bad faith”.

Some say such stories are just the tip of the iceberg vis-à-vis indigenous peoples.

This is Francis’ 4th trip to Latin America but his fellow Argentinians are perplexed – and some angry – that he has not set foot in his homeland since his election in March 2013.

The itinerary for Pope Francis’ six days in Chile and Peru includes several Masses, meetings with civil and religious authorities, meetings with bishops, priests and men and women religious, a visit to a women’s prison, a private meeting with his fellow Jesuits, and encounters with indigenous peoples. A visit to Trujillo in northern Peru to visit those affected by the El Niño rains that left 100 dead and 141,000 displaced in early 2017.

The final event on the papal agenda next Sunday is Mass at Las Palmas Air Base in front of the image of the Lord of the Miracles. Francis and his entourage and the journalists covering this trip will depart for Rome that afternoon, arriving in the Eternal City about 2 p.m. on January 22.

Click here for the full itinerary: http://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2017-11/programme-of-pope-francis–apostolic-visit-to-peru-and-chile-rel.html