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The World Seen From Rome
Daily dispatch - May 28, 2009
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VATICAN DOSSIER
Benedict XVI: Church Needs Change of Mentality
Program Released for Pope's Trip to Padre Pio Tomb
Vatican Radio Sells Advertising Time
WORLD FEATURES
Hispanic Tapped as US Envoy to Vatican
Bishops Weigh in on California Gay Marriage Ban
Opus Dei Welcomes 30 New Priests
NEWS BRIEFS
Orthodox Priest Says Faith Is Not Dead in Russia
IN FOCUS
Notre Dame's Watershed Moment
ROME NOTES
Tuning in to the Spirit; Clearly Catholic
Benedict XVI: Church Needs Change of Mentality
Calls on Laity to Recognize Pastoral ResponsibilityROME, MAY 28, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Laypeople are not merely the clergy's collaborators, but rather share in the responsibility of the Church's ministry, says Benedict XVI.
The Pope called on the laity to become more aware of their role when he inaugurated Tuesday an ecclesial conference for the Diocese of Rome on "Church Membership and Pastoral Co-responsibility." The conference is under way through Friday.
"There should be a renewed becoming aware of our being Church and of the pastoral co-responsibility that, in the name of Christ, all of us are called to carry out," the Holy Father said. This co-responsibility should advance "respect for vocations and for the functions of consecrated persons and laypeople," he added.
The Pontiff acknowledged that this requires a "change of mentality," especially regarding laypeople, shifting from "considering themselves collaborators of the clergy to recognizing themselves truly as 'co-responsible' for the being and action of the Church, favoring the consolidation of a mature and committed laity."
The Bishop of Rome suggested that "there is still a tendency to unilaterally identify the Church with the hierarchy, forgetting the common responsibility, the common mission" of all the baptized.
"Up to what point is the pastoral responsibility of everyone, especially the laity, recognized and encouraged," he asked.
Referring to laypeople committed in the service of the Church, the Pope said there should not be "a lessening of the awareness that they are 'Church,' because Christ, the eternal Word of the Father, convokes them and makes them his People."
Benedict XVI thus asked priests to transmit to laypeople a "sense of belonging to the parish community" and the importance of unity. He further encouraged that laypeople draw close to sacred Scripture, through means such as lectio divina, and carry out missionary activity, in first place through living out charity.
The Holy Father contended that preparations for the Jubilee Year 2000 in Rome helped "the ecclesial community to enhance awareness that the command to evangelize is not just for a few, but for all the baptized."
That's how the Church has lived for generations, he added, while "so many baptized" have "dedicated their lives to educating young generations in the faith, to care for the sick and to help the poor."
"This mission is entrusted to us today, in different situations, in a city in which many baptized have lost the way of the Church and those who are not Christians do not know the beauty of our faith," the Pope stated.
On the other hand, he cautioned against a tendency to see the People of God from a "purely sociological" point of view "with an almost exclusively horizontal perspective that excludes the vertical reference to God."
The Pontiff looked at the distinction between "People of God" and "Body of Christ," affirming that both concepts "are complementary and together form the New Testament concept of the Church."
He explained: "While 'People of God' expresses the continuity of the history of the Church, 'Body of Christ' expresses the universality inaugurated on the cross and with the resurrection of the Lord."
"In Christ, we become really the People of God," which, he affirmed, means everyone, "from the Pope to the last child."
"The Church, therefore, is not the result of a sum of individuals, but a unity among those who are nourished by the Word of God and the Bread of Life," the Pontiff noted.
And the Church "grows and develops," he affirmed. "The future of Christianity and the Church of Rome is also the commitment and the testimony of each one of us."
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Program Released for Pope's Trip to Padre Pio Tomb
ROME, MAY 28, 2009 (Zenit.org).- The Capuchins of San Giovanni Rotondo have announced the schedule for Benedict XVI's June 21 trip to the tomb of St. Pio of Pietrelcina, popularly known as Padre Pio.The Pope will arrive that Sunday by helicopter at 9:15 a.m., and take the popemobile through the city until arriving to the Our Lady of Grace Sanctuary.
There, representatives of the community of Capuchin Friars Minor will welcome him, and he will have a time of adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. The Holy Father will also visit the first cell of the monastery, where Padre Pio died in 1968.
Then, the Pontiff will go to the crypt to pray before the tomb of the saint. There he will be accompanied only by Capuchins. He will light two candles before the tomb, symbolizing his apostolic visit and that of Pope John Paul II.
Benedict XVI will vest for Mass in the sacristy there and be transferred by popemobile to the Plaza of the Church of San Pio de Pietrelcina, where he will preside over a 10:15 Eucharistic celebration. After Mass, he will pray the midday Angelus in the same place.
At 4:45 p.m., the Holy Father will meet with directors, employees and patients of the hospital established by Padre Pio, the Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza the "Home to Relieve Suffering."
Afterward, the Pope will return to the Church of San Pio de Pietrelcina, where he will meet with priests, religious and youth.
The Pontiff will return to Rome by helicopter, arriving to the Vatican at 7:30.
Padre Pio was canonized in 2002 by Pope John Paul II.
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Vatican Radio Sells Advertising Time
Italian Energy Company Enel Is 1st CustomerVATICAN CITY, MAY 28, 2009 (Zenit.org).- For the first time in 80 years, Vatican Radio has decided to transmit advertisements.
Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, director of the Vatican press office, announced this development Tuesday in a press conference.
The openness of the radio station to advertising "is not a novelty," he explained, and the goals of the station remain the same: to spread the message of the Pope and the magisterium, and report their activities.
Most of the commercials will be transmitted over the 105 FM channel in Rome, which is also available over the Internet, known as "One-O-Five Live."
The first company to advertise on the channel is Enel, an Italian energy provider that serves some 49 million power and gas customers in 22 countries.
The organization's chairman, Pietro Gnudi, appeared at the press conference and explained that Vatican Radio's international character is what motivated the company to advertise with them.
He acknowledged that it is an honor to advertise his company on the station, and noted the shared values between the Vatican and Enel, an organization that seeks more than the financial gain of its investors.
Bishop Renato Boccardo, secretary of the Governor's Office for Vatican City State, expressed hope about the possibilities implied by this initiative. He also reported that the Vatican has an agreement with Enel for the restoration of the Bernini colonnade in St. Peter's Square.
Father Lombardi explained that in the past the radio station has been dependent on the Vatican for funding, but that the advertising program is expected to help cover its costs in the future.
He stated that the annual budget of the station, which transmits its programs in 45 languages, is around €20 million [$28.9 million], and that the commercials will bring in an estimated €100,000 to €200,000 [$139,000 to $279,000] in the first six months.
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On the Net:
Vatican Radio: http://www.radiovaticana.org/inglese/enindex.html
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Hispanic Tapped as US Envoy to Vatican
Obama Names Theologian Miguel DíazWASHINGTON, D.C., MAY 28, 2009 (Zenit.org).- President Barack Obama nominated a Cuban-born theologian as ambassador of the United States to the Holy See, the White House announced Wednesday.
Miguel Díaz, 45, is a professor of theology at the College of St. Benedict and St. John’s University in Collegeville, Minnesota. In 2008, he served on the National Catholic Advisory Council for the presidential campaign of Senator Barack Obama.
If the Senate confirms the nomination, Díaz will become the first Hispanic to serve in that post. He will also succeed Harvard law professor Mary Ann Glendon, who ended her term as ambassador in January.
The announcement came on the eve of Catholic University of America's daylong symposium that marked the 25th anniversary of the establishment of full diplomatic ties between the United States and the Holy See.
At that symposium, Archbishop Pietro Sambi, apostolic nuncio to the United States, told the Catholic News Service that Díaz is "an excellent choice because he knows very well the United States and because of his background in the Catholic Church."
Latin Americans "should be very proud," he added.
In a statement released by St. John's University, Díaz said he is "very honored, grateful and humbled that President Obama has nominated me to serve as ambassador to the Holy See. If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, I will continue the work of my predecessors and build upon 25 years of formal diplomatic relations with the Holy See. I wish to be a bridge between our nation and the Holy See."
Díaz was born in Havana, Cuba, the son of a waiter and data-entry operator. He earned his bachelor's degree from St. Thomas University in Miami Gardens, Florida, and received his master's and doctorate in theology from the University of Notre Dame.
He is the author of "On Being Human: U.S. Hispanic and Rahnerian Perspectives" (Orbis Books, 2001), for which he received the Hispanic Theological Initiative’s 2002 Book of the Year award from Princeton Seminary.
In 2006, he served as president of the Academy of Catholic Hispanic Theologians of the United States. In 2008, Díaz was elected to the Board of the Catholic Theological Society of America.
"As a theologian and educator, Díaz embodies in his scholarship and commitments a profound respect for human dignity and a passion for justice," said a statement from the Academy of Catholic Hispanic Theologians of the United States. "A Catholic layman, Díaz and his family are devoted participants in the life of the Church.
"As a professional association of Hispanic theologians we are encouraged by President Obama’s historic nomination of a Latino Catholic to this office. This nomination affirms the important contribution that Hispanics are making as part of the fabric of our nation."
He is married to theology professor Marian Díaz, and they have four children.
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Bishops Weigh in on California Gay Marriage Ban
Affirm State's Responsibility to Protect Family StructureWASHINGTON, D.C., MAY 28, 2009 (Zenit.org).- The U.S. bishops' conference lauded the California Supreme Court's decision to uphold the voter-enacted ban on same-sex marriage.
In a statement released Wednesday, Archbishop Joseph Kurtz of Louisville, chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee for the Defense of Marriage, reported the bishops' satisfaction with the decision.
He stated, "The court has thus respected the eminently reasonable decision of the California electorate to retain the perennial definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman."
The archbishop explained: "This respects the uniqueness of the marital relationship and its service to the common good by respecting the value of procreation and the good of children as well as the unique complementarity of man and woman.
"Advancing the truth and beauty of marriage enhances, rather than diminishes, the intrinsic dignity of every human person."
In 2000, Californians voted to keep marriage between a man and a woman. But last May, the state's high court overturned that vote and approved same-sex marriage. Some 18,000 gay couples were quick to take advantage of the new prerogative.
California's citizens rallied to put the issue to vote again in November. With slightly more than a 52% majority, same-sex marriage was again made illegal in California, this time with a constitutional amendment.
That measure was known as Proposition 8 and it added to the California Constitution the following clause: "Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California."
However, activists succeeded in taking the issue back to the California Supreme Court, contending that the ban needed legislature approval before being added to the constitution.
The court's decision Tuesday upholds the ban, but does not "un-marry" the 18,000 gay couples who wed between May and November.
The bishops' statement expressed concern that the court failed to apply the marriage definition to these same-sex unions.
Truth
Archbishop Kurtz affirmed, "Attempts to change the legal definition of marriage or to create simulations of marriage, often under the guise of 'equality,' 'civil rights,' and 'anti-discrimination,' do not serve the truth."
"Such attempts," he said, "undermine the very nature of marriage and overlook the essential place of marriage and family life in society."
The prelate continued, "The state has a responsibility to protect and promote marriage as the union of one man and one woman as well as to protect and promote the intrinsic dignity of every human person, including homosexual persons."
He added that there are many ways to accomplish this, but "sacrificing marriage is not one of them."
The California bishops' conference released an additional statement in which Bishop Stephen Blaire of Stockton echoed the words of Archbishop Kurtz.
Quoting the natural law scholar and Princeton professor, Robert George, the prelate affirmed: "No matter what, the law will teach. It will either teach that marriage exists as a natural institution with public purposes and meanings, centered around bridging the gender divide, and bringing together one man and one woman to share their lives as husband and wife and to become father and mother to their children, or it will teach that marriage is a mere creation of the state, recognizing and condoning the private sexual choices of adults."
Dignity
"As Catholic bishops," the statement continued, "we are strongly committed to protecting the dignity and worth of every human person."
It affirmed: "We endorse the intent of law to provide equal protection for all. However, such purpose does not have to trump the natural and traditional definition of marriage between a man and a woman.
"The law has found other ways to regulate civil unions without destroying the traditional understanding of marriage.
"We believe -- as do the majority of Californians -- that marriage between a man and a woman is foundational to our culture and crucial for human perpetuity."
Ron Prentice, executive committee chairman of the coalition ProtectMarriage.com, explained that although this court decision is a victory for all supporters of Proposition 8, the work is not done.
He stated, "We will now turn our attention to public education and outreach so that citizens come to better understand and appreciate the many benefits that traditional marriage provides for society and our families."
"The institution of marriage as we have always understood it has served California and our broader society since the nation was founded," Prentice affirmed.
He added, "We look forward to working with young people, churches, ethnic communities and all of California with an ongoing discussion about the benefits of traditional marriage."
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Opus Dei Welcomes 30 New Priests
Newly Ordained Come From 12 CountriesROME, MAY 28, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Opus Dei welcomed 30 more priests to its personal prelature Saturday, ordained by their prelate, Bishop Javier Echavarría, who encouraged them to guide the faithful on the path of eternal life.
The newly ordained come from 12 nations, including China, the Ivory Coast, Kenya and Brazil.
"Starting today, conformed to Christ the Head of the Church, they will be able to carry out the priestly ministry: preaching the Word of God with authority, administering the sacraments, above all the sacrament of penance and the Eucharist, and guiding the Christian people along the paths of eternal life," the bishop said in his homily.
Noting the common call to holiness shared by all the faithful, Bishop Echavarría added that "it is undeniable that priests are particularly obliged to be holy." Citing the founder of Opus Dei, St. Josemaría Escrivá, the prelate added, "I remind you that 'the priestly vocation brings with it the need for sanctity. This sanctity is not just any sanctity, a common sanctity, nor is it even an excellent sanctity. It is a matter of heroic sanctity.'"
Bishop Echavarría also referred to the upcoming Year for Priests, convoked by Benedict XVI from June 19 of this year through June 19, 2010.
"The Holy Father […] has wanted to make the Christian people aware of the need for many holy priests," he said. "We are all asked to offer prayers and mortifications for the sanctity of priests during these months."
Ready to serve
Some of the newly ordained offered their testimony for the Opus Dei Web site, explaining how they discovered their call to the priesthood.
Father Sebastián Ramos Mejía, 35, of Argentina, said he realized while working in a school that he wanted to be a priest, so as to be able to offer spiritual assistance to the students.
"All of us need a person who helps us, encourages us, opens horizons for us, makes us see that God trusts in us more than we trust in ourselves," Father Ramos Mejía said. "Now as a priest, this idea motivates me a lot and offers me consolation. To know that if I put forth a little effort and seek the grace of God, I am going to be able to overcome the difficulties that come up and transmit this idea to many people."
Father Abdoulaye Sissoko of the Ivory Coast recounted his story, coming from a family with a Muslim father and a Catholic mother. He said he wants to live his priestly ministry with "24-hour-a-day, 365-days-a-year availability, to serve souls with the sacraments of the Eucharist and confession."
The new priest recalled Benedict XVI's visit in March to his continent, saying "that the Pope has encouraged Africans to make our continent progress." Father Sissoko affirmed that he wants to work "helping my brothers to love Africa, but above all to love God more."
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On the Net:
Complete text of homily and testimonies from eight of the newly ordained: www.opusdei.us/art.php?p=33924
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Orthodox Priest Says Faith Is Not Dead in Russia
PAMPLONA, Spain, MAY 28, 2009 (Zenit.org).- The Moscow Patriarchate's secretary for ecumenical relations is affirming that relations between the Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church in Russia are progressing, and that it is an important step for evangelizing the world.In an address at the University of Navarra in Spain, Father Igor Vyzhanov stated that the two Churches "seem to understand each other better now than before."
His conference titled "Relations Between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church: The Current Situation" noted signs of the Churches' collaboration.
The priest affirmed a shared responsibility of Orthodox and Catholics to "renew the Christian roots of Europe" and to preach the message of Christ to the world.
He explained the challenges of the Orthodox Church in the task of evangelization, faced to Russia's history of enforced atheism.
Nonetheless, Father Vyzhanov said, "the Russian people did not lose their faith," although the communist regime tried to take it away.
He added that in the communist era, "the faith was hidden, not dead, and after the changes in our country many people converted to the faith."
Now, the priest added, the principal challenge is to help people deepen in this faith, a project in which there is a "great future" for collaboration with the Catholic Church.
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University Continues to Struggle With Catholic Identity
By Genevieve Pollock
SOUTH BEND, Indiana, MAY 28, 2009 (Zenit.org).- While the debate over Notre Dame's Catholic identity is nothing new, the recent controversy surrounding its decision to honor President Barack Obama may be a watershed moment for the university.
Father John Jenkins, the university's president, put the issue front and center when he invited Obama, a staunch defender of abortion rights, to give the May 17 commencement address. The university also bestowed on him an honorary law degree.
The gesture drew national and international media attention as some 80 bishops and more than 367,000 Catholics voiced disagreement with Father Jenkins, saying he was compromising the school's Catholic identity. They said he disregarded the 2004 guidelines from the U.S. bishops that state: "Catholic institutions should not honor those who act in defiance of our fundamental moral principles" with "awards, honors, or platforms which would suggest support for their actions."
The university's leadership didn't budge, and Obama was greeted on campus with a standing ovation at commencement. Hecklers were shouted down while students chanted, "Yes, we can." Forty seniors -- out of a graduating class of more than 2,900 -- boycotted the ceremony.
Such a reaction might seem to indicate there is only a small remnant of faith left on campus.
But according to senior Mary Daly, president of the Notre Dame Right to Life group and chief editor of the Irish Rover, a campus newspaper, that's not exactly the case.
Daly told ZENIT that the admissions office reports that 80%-85% of every incoming class is Catholic.
She also noted a "strong subculture within the student body of earnest Catholics: people who are making sincere efforts to grow in their faith and to discern and live out God's will in their lives."
She described Notre Dame as a place that has "adoration five days a week on campus, Mass in all the dormitory chapels at least four times a week, and priests in every dorm."
Faith
Thus, Daly said, "if you are serious about your Catholic faith and want to grow in your personal relationship with Christ, this is an excellent place to do so," though, she acknowledged, you have to be willing to "challenge yourself."
Christina Holmstrom, a 2008 graduate and a campus ministry intern, affirmed to ZENIT that "faith is not only a commonality for much of Notre Dame's population, but it is also a source of challenge and strength."
She reported a "number of students taking part in regular service opportunities through the Center for Social Concerns, student-led faith-based groups, Bible studies and liturgies."
Holmstrom also noted the "hundreds" of graduates who "take their Notre Dame education and apply it to domestic and international volunteer programs, ministry work, teaching, medicine, their careers and their families," as the "greatest testament to the influence of faith on this campus."
At Notre Dame, she said, faith "finds its source and summit in the Eucharist and active participation in the Church and is lived out in a life of service to others."
Paolo Carozza, a law professor at Notre Dame and the faculty advisor to the Communion and Liberation student organization, affirmed: "If faith at Notre Dame remains for us a matter of words, of discourse, of ethics, or of projects, then the university will never correspond to the immensity of what our hearts desire from it.
"Faith has to become an experience, a life."
Identity
The professor added that this happens on campus "all the time." This lived faith is something to "nourish for the life of the Church and for the world," he said, "because it is the only thing, ultimately, capable of generating and sustaining a Catholic university."
Without it, Carozza stated, nothing can keep Notre Dame from "being just like any other institution."
Notre Dame's identity in relation to other institutions, however, is part of the dilemma. The Cardinal Newman Society, in its 2007 publication of "The Newman Guide to Catholic Colleges," wrote the epilogue on Notre Dame, which it describes as being in a "complex" situation.
The guide analyzed a wide spectrum of Catholic colleges: those that "have fallen victim to secularization and have chosen to minimize their Catholic identity," others that are "struggling to determine their direction," and the institutions that live their Catholic mission in "exemplary" ways.
In the spectrum, Notre Dame falls into a category all its own, with a strong academic reputation and overall renown, as well as a "vibrant spiritual life that comes at a time when most large Catholic universities have become increasingly more secularized."
Despite these positive aspects, the Newman society notes issues that "prevent us from recommending Notre Dame." The guide particularly notes the school's debate about "academic freedom," which encompasses the history of performances of the Vagina Monologues, programs supporting a homosexual lifestyle, and faculty members speaking out against Church teaching.
It states that for students to thrive at this school, they need a good Catholic formation, and the "exercise of caution in their course selections and social life."
Truth
As a student, Daly acknowledged that the university lacks resources for "students to actually learn about their Catholic faith."
The senior said: "We need to know what the teachings are, how the doctrine was arrived at, and how sometimes standing up for truth requires us to be somewhat counter-cultural.
"I think students at Notre Dame are interested in their religion and are looking for truth."
What we need from the university, she said, on top of all the beautiful buildings and shrines, is the truth.
Daly reported that every student is required to take two theology classes and two philosophy courses, but most do not receive "very high quality" courses in these subject areas.
She explained that often the introductory course instructors will "give their interpretation" on matters of faith.
Although we "cannot inhibit freedom of speech," she said, "it can be very misleading and disadvantageous to those students" who are not already educated in Catholic theology and philosophy to be presented with personal opinions of instructors.
The Newman guide reports that Catholic professors number around 53% of the total faculty, but noted that Father Jenkins launched an initiative to strengthen the hiring of Catholic faculty.
As well, due to his actions, this year marked the first time in eight years that the Vagina Monologues student production was canceled. Steps such as these are inspiring hope for Notre Dame's future as a Catholic university.
Carozza expressed this hope, noting that "one can see here all sorts of signs that Christ is present in the life of the university as a university."
He noted that this is "evident in relationships among faculty and students, in classrooms, and in research programs."
Carozza acknowledged some "extremely weighty and difficult challenges" in reaching this ideal, including the "dualism between faith and reason that pervades universities and modern life generally."
The professor also noted the difficulty in "understanding and accepting that communion with the Church is not a limitation or restriction on the nature of the university but the opposite -- it is a condition of freedom and a safeguard of reason."
He concluded that these "weaknesses begin in our own hearts, in our personal incapacity, and that is the first place where they need to be met."
Franciscan Father John Coughlin, Notre Dame law professor, echoed this hopeful vision, stating to ZENIT that "prayer is the key to the challenges ahead at our beloved Notre Dame."
There is no "magic plan or program," he said, but the hope for the university lies in "humble prayer to the Sacred Heart and pro-life action based on the reality of people struggling to be saints."
"Hope is a theological virtue," the priest said, that "stems from humble prayer" and "must also be based in reality."
"The fact that there are so many excellent Catholic professors and students" is "the reality upon which I base my hope for a lively Catholic faith at the university," he affirmed.
Father Coughlin added, "We can be the yeast in the dough that becomes the Bread of Life."
Daly, who helped organize a 3,000-strong rally on graduation day to support Notre Dame's pro-life, Catholic identity, affirmed that "there is great support for Notre Dame to do something profound, sincere and real to commit itself to the pro-life cause, and by default to fidelity to the Church."
"Notre Dame needs to celebrate its Catholic identity," she stated. "In an age when diversity is so highly valued, Notre Dame should flaunt its uniqueness as a Catholic institution and refuse to fall in step with other 'prestigious' universities."
The senior asserted, "What makes Notre Dame special is its commitment to the 'pursuit and sharing of the truth for the sake of itself.'
It "needs to return to the basics of what it means to be Catholic, and what it means to be a Catholic university," Daly said.
She added some suggestions for enhancing the school's Catholic identity: "increase the presence of Catholic faculty on campus, make a public statement that confirms they will never participate in embryonic stem cell research, appoint a pro-life ombudsperson, [and] host leaders from the Church at the university so that they can teach young Catholics how they should act in a modern society."
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Tuning in to the Spirit; Clearly Catholic
Contributions to Culture From the Faithful and DevotedBy Elizabeth Lev
ROME, MAY 28, 2009 (Zenit.org).- How do you awaken a weary, frightened following to the urgings of the Holy Spirit? Some 1,967 year ago, God used the sound of rushing wind and tongues of flame. This Pentecost Sunday, Pope Benedict XVI will try Haydn and Bernini.
May 31 will mark the 200th anniversary of the death of Joseph Haydn, the Austrian composer known for his role in forming the modern symphony, as well as his extraordinary body of sacred music. To celebrate this great Catholic composer, Pope Benedict’s Pentecost liturgy will use a Haydn orchestral Mass setting sung by the Cologne Cathedral Choir.
Joseph Haydn, born in Rohrau, Austria, spent the first 30 years of his career working for the noble Esterhàzy family, where he produced a multitude of compositions from chamber music to symphonies, perfecting his style all the while.
Haydn’s close contacts with the other brilliant musicians of the time enriched his own considerable gifts. Friends with Mozart and a former teacher of Beethoven, Joseph Haydn was also commissioned to take over writing the oratorio of "Creation" from Handel. The result is one of the most celebrated and beloved pieces of music today.
Haydn was born into a Catholic family and remained profoundly devout his whole life. When stumped in writing he always turned to the rosary, and he opened each composition with "in nomine Domini" (in the name of the Lord) and ended with "Laus Deo" (praise be to God).
During the 77 years of his life, Haydn produced 14 Masses, one Stabat Mater, two Te Deums, and 34 other sacred pieces -- a treasure trove for the Church. Undoubtedly Pope Benedict, a pianist himself, also appreciates Haydn for his development of the piano sonata.
The majesty of Haydn’s music will be complemented on Sunday by Bernini’s Baroque decoration in the apse of St. Peter. Although working a century and a half earlier, Bernini too, attempted to capture the splendor of the Holy Spirit in the Altar of the Chair. The oval window, radiant with golden light, frames the Holy Spirit -- represented as a dove -- as gilded cherubim and seraphim seem to pour forth from this opening in the heavens.
The fortunate faithful attending the papal Mass will gaze at Bernini’s spectacular vision while engulfed by the glorious music of Haydn. A treat for the eyes, ears and soul.
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Choosing to see
You may have heard of the so-called Duck Test, coined by Indiana poet J. Whitcomb Riley. It goes like this: If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck. This bit of common sense wisdom however, seems to be lost on most modern day interpreters of Michelangelo. According to the most recent “scholarship,” Michelangelo's Catholic words, works and piety were actually just camouflage for a secret Protestant, Kabbalist and/or homosexual agenda. Go figure.
Of course none of these conspiracy theories are ever sustained by actual documentation regarding Michelangelo’s personal or devotional practices, but are drawn out from overactive imaginations. A proliferation of books and articles simply look at his painting, pick a theory and make any facts fit, discarding the rest. This has become par for the course in art history, but what got me going was the abstract of an academic dissertation of all things, propounding these same old Dan Brown-type theories.
The target of this "scholarly" treatise is Michelangelo’s "Last Judgment," painted on the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel from 1534 to 1541, and discerned by the author as a crypto-Protestant work. To back up this notion, the researcher draws on bits and pieces of material from gender studies and gnosticism, but let’s look at three elements that indicate that this fresco is precisely what it appears to be: a superlative example of Catholic painting.
1) The artist and his space.
Those who attempt to see Michelangelo as an adherent to some underground religion of dissent, overlook his spiritual practices. While Michelangelo can only tenuously be tied to any kind of Protestant sect, he is known to have been a third order Franciscan.
He also participated in the visit to the seven churches to receive the indulgence during the years he was painting the Last Judgment. But Michelangelo’s devotion to the Catholic Church is perhaps best witnessed by his agreement to complete the Basilica of St. Peter for, in his own words, “the glory of God, the honor of St. Peter and the salvation of his own soul."
The Sistine Chapel itself was the space where Pope Paul III, busily assembling the Council of Trent, prayed with his court, the most theologically brilliant men in Europe. These theologians and philosophers formed the front lines of response to Luther, and were very savvy about art to boot. Painting a subversive crypto-Protestant treatise in the Chapel would have been like asking for an appointment with the Inquisition.
2) Mary, saints and intercession.
Michelangelo’s painting contains 391 figures, about a third of them acting as intercessors. The enormous figures of the saints, particularly martyrs, surround Christ in the heavens. Michelangelo’s emphasis on identifying the martyrs recalls that the Roman Church claims the martyrs as part of her tradition. In this period the ancient sites of the martyrs’ deaths and burials would be restored and redecorated.
Michelangelo also paints unidentified men and women helping the newly resurrected souls upward. The idea of people in heaven assisting others is a quintessentially Catholic notion.
But Mary is the pivotal image in the work. Michelangelo's Jesus seems terrifyingly distant, with his hand raised and his head turned away. But Mary, nestled at Christ’s side, turns toward the resurrected souls. Mary is painted next to Christ’s scar from the lance. That wound, spilling blood and water, brought forth the Church. Mary, like Eve stepping from the rib of Adam, represents the Church born of Christ’s sacrifice. In turn, Mary (the Church, bride of Christ) is the conduit to Jesus and his salvation. As if to underscore the importance of Marian devotion, Michelangelo painted a few feet down from Mary, a husband and wife being dragged to heaven by their rosary.
3) Heroic virtue and cooperation.
Michelangelo broke with an age-old tradition of painting saints in heaven with long pastel dresses and big golden halos by representing his martyrs with enormous nude bodies. Drawn from the classical Greek tradition, the use of nudity denotes a hero, one who is gifted with tremendous courage and nobility, celebrated for his great exploits and favored by the gods. For Michelangelo, steeped in ancient culture, what better fulfillment of the Greek hero than the Christian saint?
The powerful bodies painted by Michelangelo render the idea of grand deeds and sacrifices made for Christ by these saints now gifted with glorious forms after the bodily resurrection. The men and women, who cooperate in God’s grace and live a life of “heroic virtue,” are those worthy of these glorious bodies in the afterlife. The size, grandeur and nudity of these figures can only represent an active participation in Christ’s redemptive sacrifice.
Painted in a Catholic space, by a Catholic artist for a Catholic audience, the "Last Judgment" is very much a Catholic painting.
What makes these spurious interpretations most wearisome is that while Michelangelo was painting this work, Protestant iconoclast riots were breaking out in Northern Europe. In the 1520s, artwork had been destroyed in Basel, Wittenberg, Zurich and Strasburg. This iconoclast fervor would have had no use for Michelangelo’s art, but today some Protestants would like to claim Michelangelo nonetheless.
Furthermore, the First Commandment’s prohibition on images had prevented a rich tradition of Jewish figurative art from blossoming up through the Renaissance. Why would Michelangelo gravitate to a kabbalistic religion that denied his very raison d’etre?
Let’s face it: Catholics, with their 2,000-year fascination with the Word made Flesh, refined through their spirited defense of images necessitated by the Reformation, have made great art part of their spiritual tradition. But even more remarkable than its aesthetic appeal, is its universality. Everyone can find a reflection of him or herself in the art of the Catholic Church. So at the end of the day, or should I say end of days, these false interpretations are merely water off a duck’s back.
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Elizabeth Lev teaches Christian art and architecture at Duquesne University’s Italian campus and University of St. Thomas’ Catholic studies program. She can be reached at lizlev@zenit.org.
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