OL’ S S E RVATOR E ROMANO · Stephanus Han Jung Hyun as Aux-iliary Bishop of the Diocese of...

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L’O S S E RVATOR E ROMANOWEEKLY EDITION

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Fifty-third year, number 50 (2.676) Vatican City Friday, 11 December 2020

Apostolic Journey from 5 to 8 March 2021

Pope Francis to visit the Republic of Iraq

Apostolic Penitentiary Decree

Special Indulgence

PAGE 4

GeneralAudience

PAGE 3

An g e l u s

Immaculate Conception

PAGE 12

Pope’s Apostolic Letter

‘Patris Corde’

PAGE 5-8

Pope pays homage to the Immaculate Conception and prays at Saint Mary Major

A year dedicated to Saint Joseph

The Director of the Holy See Press Office, Mr MatteoBruni, announced on Monday, 7 December, that the HolyFather will visit the Republic of Iraq.

“Pope Francis, accepting the invitation of the Republic ofIraq and of the local Catholic Church, will make anApostolic Journey to the aforementioned Country on 5-8March 2021. He will visit Baghdad, the plain of Ur, linkedto the memory of Abraham, the city of Erbil, as well as Mo-sul and Qaraqosh in the plain of Nineveh.

The programme of the Journey will be made known indue course, and will take into consideration the evolution ofthe worldwide health emergency”.

Despite the heavy rain, Pope Fran-cis made a private Marian pilgrim-age into the heart of Rome earlyTuesday morning, 8 December, theSolemnity of the Immaculate Con-ception. He visited both Piazza diSpagna and the Basilica of SaintMary Major to entrust to theMother of God all those who, bothin the city and in the world, are af-flicted by illness and discourage-ment.

In Piazza di Spagna

First on the Pope’s itinerary wasto pause in prayer before the Mari-an column in Piazza Mignanelli,next to Piazza di Spagna. At 7:10am, the Holy Father placed a bas-ket of white roses as a gift, at thebase of the column which holdsthe statue of Our Lady, andthanked the firefighters who werethere to generously lend their ser-vices.

At Saint Mary Major

The second event was his visit tothe Liberian Basilica where PopeFrancis prayed before the icon ofthe Salus Populi Romani andoffered a second basket of whiteroses and, at 7:30, celebrated Massin her honour in Basilica’s Crypt ofthe Nativity. The Pope carried withhim the memory of Saint Ignatiusof Loyola who celebrated the firstMass there on Christmas in 1538.

At the conclusion Francis reciteda prayer to Saint Joseph for the oc-

casion of the publication of hisApostolic Letter P a t r i s C o rd e , “Witha father’s heart”. The text was writ-ten by the Pontiff to commemoratethe 150th anniversary of the Decreewith which Pius IX declared SaintJoseph Patron of the UniversalChurch. The text of the ApostolicLetter along with a Decree grant-ing special indulgences by theApostolic Penitentiary were in factpublished on the same day asFr a n c i s ’ Marian pilgrimage.

Indulgences

The Holy Father has instituted aspecial year — from 8 December2020 to 8 December 2021 — duringwhich the Plenary Indulgence willbe granted to those who completefive particular acts of piety orworks of charity connected to themodel offered by the putative fath-er of Jesus. The Decree in particu-lar notes the devotion to SaintJoseph which has grown extens-ively throughout the history of theC h u rc h .

L’OSSERVATORE ROMANOWEEKLY EDITION

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page 2 L’OSSERVATORE ROMANO Friday, 11 December 2020, number 50

VAT I C A NBULLETIN

AUDIENCES

Saturday, 28 November

Cardinal Marc Ouellet, PSS, Prefectof the Congregation for BishopsH.B. Cardinal Béchara Boutros Raï,OMM, Patriarch of Antioch for Ma-ronites, LebanonFr Frédéric Fornos, S J, InternationalDirector, Pope’s Worldwide PrayerNetwork

CHANGES IN EP I S C O PAT E

The Holy Father accepted the resig-nation presented by Bishop PatrickKieran Lynch, SSCC, from the officeof Auxiliary Bishop of the Metro-politan Archdiocese of Southwark,England (28 Nov.).The Holy Father appointed Fr IvanPhilip Camilleri as Auxiliary Bishopof the Metropolitan Archdiocese ofToronto, Canada, assigning him thetitular episcopal See of Teglata inNumidia. Until now he has servedas vicar general and moderator ofthe Curia for the said Archdiocese(28 Nov.).

Bishop-elect Camilleri, 51, wasborn in Malta. He was ordained apriest on 12 May 2007. He holds: alicence in commerce; a Master’s de-gree in Business Administration; alicence in canon law.

The Holy Father appointed FrStephanus Han Jung Hyun as Aux-iliary Bishop of the Diocese of Dae-jeon, Korea, assigning him the titu-lar episcopal See of Mozotcori. Un-til now he has served as parish priestof the Sacra Famiglia Parish (28N o v. ) .

Bishop-elect Han Jung Hyun, 49,was born in Hong Sung, Korea. Hewas ordained a priest on 21 February2000. He holds a degree in philo-sophy and theology.

The Holy Father appointed as VicarApostolic of El Beni, Bolivia, Bish-op Aurelio Pesoa Ribera, OFM, titu-lar Bishop of Leges and Auxiliary ofLa Paz, Bolivia (28 Nov.)

Bishop Pesoa Ribera, 58, wasborn in Concepción, Bolivia. Mem-ber of the Order of Friars Minor, hewas ordained a priest on 16 April1989. He was ordained a bishop on 5

June 2014, subsequent to his ap-pointment as titular Bishop of Legesand Auxiliary of La Paz.

The Holy Father appointed Fr Mi-chael Otieno Odiwa as Bishop ofHoma Bay, Kenya. Until now he hasserved as fidei donum priest in theArchdiocese of Adelaide, Australia(29 Nov.).

Bishop-elect Otieno Odiwa, 58,was born in Sori Karungu, Kenya.He was ordained a priest on 3 July1993. He holds a degree in philo-sophy and theology.

The Holy Father accepted the resig-nation presented by Bishop RobertOvide Bourgon from the pastoralcare of the Diocese of Hearst-Moo-sonee, Canada (29 Nov.).

APOSTOLIC AD M I N I S T R AT O R

The Holy Father appointed asApostolic Administrator Sede plenaof the Diocese of Broome, Australia,Mons. Paul Boyers. Until now hehas served as Vicar General of thesaid Diocese (28 Nov.).

The Holy Father appointed Arch-bishop Terrence Thomas Prender-gast, S J, as Apostolic Administratorof Hearst-Moosonee (29 Nov.)

SISTINE CHAPEL CHOIR

The Holy Father appointed Fr Mar-cos Pavan as Maestro Director of theSistine Chapel Choir. Until now hehas served as Maestro director ad in-terim of the said Choir (22 Nov.).

ADVENT SERMON

On Friday morning, 4 December, inthe presence of the Holy Father,Cardinal Raniero Cantalamessa,OFM Cap., held the first Sermon ofAdvent on the theme: “Teach us tocount our days aright, that we maygain wisdom of heart” (Psalm 90:12)in the Paul VI Hall.

NECROLO GY

Bishop Uriah Adolphus AshleyMaclean, titular Bishop of Agbiaand Auxiliary Bishop emeritus ofPanamá and first Bishop of Pen-onomé, Panama, at age 76 (25 Nov.)

Bishop Alfonso Milián Sorribas,Bishop emeritus of Barbastro-Monzón, Spain, at age 81 (26 Nov.)

Pop e’s Chirograph

Wo r l d w i d ePrayer Network

With a Chirograph dated 17November 2020, the Holy Fatherestablished the Pope’s WorldwidePrayer Network Foundation(formerly the Apostleship ofPrayer), as a canonical andVatican legal entity. The HolyFather has appointed Fr FrédéricFornos, SJ, as InternationalDirector of the Foundation. Thefollowing is a translation of theC h i ro g ra p h .

The Pope’s Worldwide PrayerNetwork, formerly the Apostle-ship of Prayer, founded inFrance by Fr François-XavierGautrelet, S J, is based on thespirituality of the Sacred Heartof Jesus and receives themonthly prayer intentions pro-posed to the Church by theHoly Father.

Several years ago I institutedthe Pope’s Worldwide PrayerNetwork as a Pontifical Work toemphasize the universal nature ofthis apostolate and the need weall have to pray more and more,and with heartfelt sincerity.

With the purpose to coordin-ate and inspire this spiritualmovement so dear to me, provid-ing it with a structure adequateto the times in which we live byvirtue of the apostolic power ofthe Church, and of the sover-eignty of Vatican City State, inview of canons 331, 114 and 115§ 3, 116 § 1 and 1303 § 1, n. 1 ofthe Code of Canon Law, andArticle n. 1 of t he FundamentalLaw of Vatican City State of 26November 2000, accepting therequest presented by the Pope’sWorldwide Prayer Network,

I HEREBY E S TA B L I S H

the Pope’s Worldwide PrayerNetwork as a canonical and Vatic-an juridical entity, with headquar-ters in Vatican City State, gov-erned by the Statutes annexed tothis Chirograph, approved by metoday, which will enter into forceon 17 December 2020.

Vatican City, 17 November 2020.

Pop e’s prayer intention for December

Prayer changes reality

“For a life of prayer” is the prayer intention for the month of December,showcased in the video on the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network.

“The heart of the Church’s mission is prayer”, the Pontiff states, andit “is the key for us to be able to enter into dialogue with the Father”.Images are seen of people engaged in prayer, joined hands, faces of wo-men and children raising their requests to God. Silent, heartfelt prayer,like that of the Pope before the miraculous Crucifix preserved in theRoman church of San Marcello al Corso, as well as on the parvis inSaint Peter’s Square on Friday, 27 March, as he prayed for an end tothe pandemic. “Every time we read a short passage from the Gospel”,Francis continues, “we hear Jesus speaking to us. We have a conversa-tion with Jesus. We listen to Jesus and we reply. And this”, he says, “isprayer”, because “by praying, we change reality. And we change ourhearts”. Indeed, “our heart changes when we pray”. In fact, the HolyFather points out, “we can do many things, but without prayer, it doesnot work”.

Thus, he invites us to ask the Lord “that our personal relationship withJesus Christ be nourished by the Word of God and a life of prayer”. Thevideo ends with these words: “In silence, everyone, each one in heartfeltprayer”, which Pope Francis pronounced during the meeting with theWorldwide Prayer Network on the 175th anniversary of its foundation.

As always, the video, available on the internet at www.thepopevideo.organd translated into nine languages, was created and produced by thePop e’s Worldwide Prayer Network in cooperation with La Machi Agencyand the Dicastery for Communication.

number 50, Friday, 11 December 2020 L’OSSERVATORE ROMANO page 3

Catechesis on the prayer of asking

A cry that does not go unheard

“God always answers: [it may be] today, tomorrow, but he alwaysanswers, in one way or another”, Pope Francis told the faithful, as hecontinued his series of catecheses on prayer at the General Audience onWednesday morning, 9 December. The following is a translation of theHoly Father’s words which he delivered in Italian from the Library ofthe Vatican’s Apostolic Palace.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,Good morning!Let us continue our reflections onprayer. Christian prayer is fullyhuman — we pray as humans, aswhat we are — it includes praiseand supplication. Indeed, whenJesus taught his disciples to pray,he did so with the “Our Father”,so that we might place ourselvesin a relationship of filial trustwith God, and ask him all ourquestions. We implore God for thehighest gifts: the sanctification ofhis name among men, the adventof his lordship, the fulfillment ofhis will for good in relation tothe world. The Catechism re c a l l sthat: “There is a hierarchy inthese petitions: we pray first forthe Kingdom, then for what isnecessary to welcome it and co-operate with its coming” (n.2632). But in the “Our Father”we also pray for the simplestgifts, for more everyday gifts,such as “daily bread” — whichalso means health, home, work,everyday things; and it alsomeans for the Eucharist, neces-sary for life in Christ; just as wepray for the forgiveness of sins —which is a daily matter; we are al-ways in need of forgiveness — andthen for peace in our relation-ships; and finally, that he help usduring temptation and deliver usfrom evil.

To ask, to supplicate. This isvery human. Let us listen to theCatechism again: “By prayer ofpetition we express awareness ofour relationship with God. Weare creatures who are not our ownbeginning, not the masters of ad-versity, not our own last end. Weare sinners who as Christiansknow that we have turned awayfrom our Father. Our petition isalready a turning back to him”(no. 2629).

If one feels bad because he hasdone bad things — he is a sinner— when he prays the “Our Fath-er” he is already approaching theLord. At times we may believe wedo not need anything, that we areenough for ourselves, and that welive in complete self-sufficiency.This happens at times! But soon-er or later this illusion vanishes.The human being is an invoca-tion, that at times becomes a cry,often withheld. The soul re-

sembles a dry, parched land, asthe Psalm says (cf. Psalm 63:2).We all experience, at some timeor another in our existence, atime of melancholy, or of loneli-ness. The Bible is not ashamed ofshowing our human condition,marked by disease, injustice, thebetrayals of friends, or the threatof enemies. At times it seems thateverything is collapsing, that thelife lived so far has been in vain.And in these situations, seeminglydead ends, there is only one wayout: the cry, the prayer “L o rd ,help me!”. Prayer can open up asliver of light in the densest dark-ness. “Lord, help me!”. Thisopens up the road, it opens upthe path.

We human beings share this in-vocation of help with the rest ofcreation. We are not the onlyones “praying” in this boundlessuniverse: every fragment of cre-ation bears the desire for God.And Saint Paul himself expressedit in this way. He says: “We knowthat the whole creation has beengroaning in travail together untilnow; and not only the creation,but we ourselves, who have thefirst fruits of the Spirit, groan in-w a rd l y ” (Rom 8:22-24). The mul-tiform cry of creatures resoundsin us: of trees, of rocks, of anim-als. Everything yearns for fulfill-ment. Tertullian wrote: “Everycreature prays; cattle and wildbeasts pray and bend their knees;and when they issue from the lay-ers and lairs, they look up heav-enward with no idle mouth, mak-ing their breath vibrate after theirown manner. Nay, the birds too,rising out of the nest, upraisethemselves heavenward, and in-stead of hands, expand the crossof their wings, and somewhat toseem like prayer” (De oratione,XXIX). This is a poetic expressioncommenting on what Saint Paulsays: “the whole creation has beeng ro a n i n g ”. But we are the onlyones who pray consciously, whoknow that we are addressing theFather, and entering into dialoguewith the Father.

Therefore, we should not beshocked if we feel the need topray, we should not be ashamed.And, especially when we are inneed, to ask. Jesus, in speaking ofa dishonest man, who had to

settle the accounts with his land-lord, says this: “To ask, I amashamed”. And many of us havethis feeling: we are ashamed toask, to ask for help, to asksomething of someone who canhelp us, to reach our purpose,and also ashamed to ask God.One should not be ashamed topray and to say: “Lord, I needthis”, “Lord, I am in difficulty”,“Help me!”: It is the cry of theheart to God who is the Father.And we have to learn to do soalso in happy moments, to thankGod for everything that is givento us, and not to take anythingfor granted or as if it were owedto us: everything is grace. TheLord always gives to us, always,and everything is grace,everything. The grace of God.However, we must not suffocatethe supplication that rises up inus spontaneously. Prayer of peti-tion goes in step with acceptanceof our limitations and our natureas creatures. One may even notreach the point of belief in God,but it is difficult not to believe inprayer: it simply exists, it presentsitself to us as a cry; and we allknow this inner voice that mayremain silent for a long time, butone day awakens and cries out.

Brothers and sisters, we knowthat God will respond. There isno one at prayer in the Book ofPsalms who raises a lament thatremains unheard. God always an-swers: [it may be] today, tomor-row, but he always answers, inone way or another. He alwaysanswers. The Bible repeats itcountless times: God listens tothe cry of those who invoke him.Even our reluctant questions,those that remain in the depths ofour heart, that we are ashamed toeven express: the Father listens tothem and wishes to give us theHoly Spirit, who inspires everyprayer and transforms everything.It is always a question of pa-tience, of withstanding the wait.Now we are in the season of Ad-vent, a time that is typically ofexpectation of Christmas. We arein waiting. This is clear to see.But all our life is also in waiting.And prayer is always in expecta-tion, because we know that theLord will answer. Even deathtrembles when a Christian prays,

because it knows that everyonewho prays has an ally who isstronger than it: the Risen Lord.Death has already been defeatedin Christ, and the day will comewhen everything will be final, andit will no longer scorn our lifeand our happiness.

Let us learn to remain in ex-pectation of the Lord. The Lordcomes to visit us, not only duringthese great feasts — Christmas,Easter — but rather the Lord vis-its us every day, in the intimacyof our heart if we are in waiting.And very often we do not realizethat the Lord is nearby, that heknocks on our door, and we lethim pass by. Saint Augustineused to say: I am afraid of Godwhen he passes; I am afraid hewill pass and I will not realize.And the Lord passes, the Lordcomes, the Lord knocks. But ifyour ears are filled with othernoise, you will not hear the callof the Lord.

Brothers and sisters, to be wait-ing: this is the prayer.

SPECIAL GREETINGS

I cordially greet the English-speaking faithful. On our Adventjourney, may the light of Christillumine our paths and dispel alldarkness and fear from our hearts.Upon you and your families I in-voke the joy and peace of ourLord Jesus Christ. God bless you!

Yesterday an Apostolic Letterwas published, dedicated to SaintJoseph who was declared Patron ofthe Universal Church 150 yearsago. I entitled it “With a Father’sHeart”. God entrusted him withthe most precious treasures — Jesusand Mary — and he faithfully re-sponded in full with courage, withtenderness, “with a father’s heart”.Let us invoke his protection overthe Church of our time and let uslearn from him to always do God’swill with humility.

Lastly as usual, my thoughtsturn to the elderly, to young people,to the sick and to newlyweds. Asyou contemplate with Mary themystery of God made Man, joy-fully walk towards the Lord whocomes to save us.

GENERAL AU D I E N C E

L’OSSERVATORE ROMANO Friday, 11 December 2020, number 50

PLENARY INDULGENCE

Apostolic Penitentiary

In the Year of Saint Josephthe gift of Indulgences

DECREE

The gift of special Indulgences isgranted on the occasion of the Yearof Saint Joseph, announced byPope Francis to celebrate the 150thanniversary of the proclamation ofSaint Joseph as Patron of the uni-versal Church.

Today marks 150 years since theDecree Quemadmodum Deus, withwhich Bl. Pius IX, moved by thegrave and sorrowful circumstances inwhich the Church was threatened bymankind’s hostility, declared SaintJoseph the Patron of the CatholicC h u rc h .

In order to perpetuate the entrust-ment of the whole Church to thepowerful patronage of the Guardianof Jesus, Pope Francis has estab-lished that, from today’s date, theanniversary of the Decree of the pro-clamation as well as a day sacred tothe Blessed Immaculate Virgin andBride of Joseph most chaste, until 8December 2021, a special Year ofSaint Joseph will be celebrated, inwhich all faithful, after his example,may daily reinforce their own life offaith in complete fulfilment of God’swill.

All the faithful will thus have theopportunity to commit themselves,with prayer and good works, to ob-tain, with the help of St Joseph,head of the heavenly Family of Naz-areth, comfort and relief from theserious human and social tribula-tions that besiege the contemporaryworld today.

Devotion to the Guardian of theRedeemer has developed abundantlyin the course of the history of theChurch, which not only attributes tohim among the loftiest worship,after that of his Bride, the Motherof God, but has also conferred manypatronages upon him. The Magis-terium of the Church continues toreveal great things, old and new, inthis treasure that is Saint Joseph,like the householder of the Gospelof Matthew “who brings out of histreasure what is new and what isold” (Mt 13:52).

The gift of the Indulgences thatthe Apostolic Penitentiary kindly be-stows during the Year of SaintJoseph, through this Decree issuedaccording to Pope Francis’ wish, willcontribute greatly to the perfect ac-complishment of the designated pur-p ose.

The Plenary Indulgence is grantedunder the customary conditions (sac-ramental confession, Eucharisticcommunion and prayers accordingto the Holy Father’s intentions) tothe faithful who, with a soul de-tached from any sin, shall participate

in the Year of Saint Joseph, in theoccasions and with the modalitiesindicated by this Apostolic Peniten-t i a r y.

— a. Saint Joseph, an authenticman of faith, invites us to rediscoverour filial relationship with the Fath-er, to renew our devotion to prayer,to dispose ourselves to listen andcorrespond with profound discern-ment to God’s will. The Plenary In-dulgence is granted to those whoshall contemplate the Lord’s Prayerfor at least 30 minutes, or participatein a Spiritual Retreat of at least oneday which involves a meditation onSaint Joseph;

— b. The Gospel attributes toSaint Joseph the appellation “justman” (cf. Mt 1:19): he, guardian ofthe intimate secret that lies right atthe bottom of the heart and soul”1,depository of the mystery of Godand therefore an ideal patron of theinternal forum, spur us to rediscoverthe value of silence, prudence andintegrity in carrying out our duties.The virtue of justice practiced bySaint Joseph in an exemplary man-ner is full adherence to divine law,which is the law of mercy, “for it isthe very mercy of God that bringstrue justice to fulfilment”2. Thereforethose who, after the example ofSaint Joseph, shall fulfil a work ofcorporal or spiritual work of mercy,will likewise be able to attain thegift of the Plenary Indulgence;

— c. The primary aspect of SaintJoseph’s vocation was that of beingguardian of the Holy Family ofNazareth, spouse of the Blessed Vir-gin Mary and legal father of Jesus.In order that all Christian familiesmay be inspired to recreate the sameatmosphere of intimate communion,love and prayer that was lived bythe Holy Family, the Plenary Indul-gence is granted for the recitation ofthe Holy Rosary in families andamong betrothed;

— d. The Servant of God PiusXII, on 1 May 1955 instituted theFeast of Saint Joseph the Worker,“with the intent that the dignity ofwork be recognized by all, and thatit inspires social life and laws, basedon the fair distribution of rights andduties”3. Therefore the Plenary In-dulgence may be obtained by thosewho shall daily entrust their life tothe protection of Saint Joseph, andall faithful who shall invoke throughprayer the intercession of the Work-er of Nazareth, so that those insearch of work may find employ-ment and the work of all peoplemay be more dignified;

— e. The flight of the Holy Fam-ily to Egypt “shows us that God isthere where man is in danger, where

man suffers, where he runs away,where he experiences rejection andabandonment”4. The Plenary Indul-gence is granted to the faithful whoshall recite the Litanies to SaintJoseph (for the Latin tradition), orthe Ak a t h i s t o s to Saint Joseph, intheir entirety or at least some part ofit (for the Byzantine tradition), orsome other prayer to Saint Joseph,proper to other liturgical traditions,in favour of the Church persecutedad intra and ad extra and for the re-lief of all Christians who suffer anyform of persecution.

Saint Teresa of Ávila recognizedin Saint Joseph the protector for allthe circumstances of life: “To othersaints, the Lord seems to have givengrace to help us in some of our ne-cessities. But my experience is thatSaint Joseph helps us in them all”5.More recently, Saint John Paul IIemphasized that the figure of SaintJoseph has acquired “a renewed rel-evance for the Church of our time,in relation to the new Christian mil-lennium”6.

To reaffirm the universality ofSaint Joseph’s patronage over theChurch, in addition to the afore-mentioned occasions the ApostolicPenitentiary grants the Plenary In-dulgence to the faithful who shall re-cite any prayer legitimately approvedor act of piety in honour of SaintJoseph, for example, “To you, OBlessed Joseph”, especially on theoccasions of 19 March and 1 May,on the Feast of the Holy Family ofJesus, Mary and Joseph, on theSunday of Saint Joseph (accordingto the Byzantine tradition), on the19th of every month and every Wed-nesday, the day dedicated to theSaint’s memory, according to theLatin tradition.

In the current context of thehealth emergency, the gift of thePlenary Indulgence extends particu-larly to the elderly, the sick, the suf-fering and all those who for legitim-ate reasons are unable to leave thehouse, and who with a soul de-tached from any sin and with the in-tention to fulfil, as soon as possible,

the three customary conditions intheir own home or wherever the im-pediment detains them, shall recitean act of piety in honour of SaintJoseph, Comfort of the Sick andPatron of a Happy Death, faithfullyoffering to God their suffering andthe hardships of their life.

In order to pastorally facilitate theattainment of divine grace throughthe power of the Keys, this Peniten-tiary prays earnestly that all priestsendowed with the appropriate fac-ulties may offer themselves with awilling and generous soul to the cel-ebration of the Sacrament of Pen-ance and often administer HolyCommunion to the infirm.

This Decree is valid for the Yearof Saint Joseph, notwithstandingany disposition to the contrary.

Given in Rome, from the See ofthe Apostolic Penitentiary,

on 8 December 2020CARDINAL MAU R O PIACENZA

Major Penitentiary

KRZYSZTOF NYKIELRegent

L. + S.Prot. n. 866/20/I

1 PIUS XI, Address on the occasion ofthe proclamation of the heroic virtues ofthe Servant of God Emilia de Vialar,in ‘L'Osservatore Romano’, yearL X X V, n. 20-21 March 1935, 1.2. FRANCIS, General Audience, 3 Feb-ruary 2016.3. PIUS XII, Address on the occasion ofthe Solemnity of Saint Joseph theWo rk e r, 1 May 1955, in Discorsi e Ra-diomessaggi di Sua Santità Pio XII,XVII, 71-76.4. FRANCIS, An g e l u s , 29 December2013.5. TERESA D’ÁVILA, Life, VI, (trans-lated from Italian, in E A D., Tutte leo p e re , ed. M. BETTETINI, Milan 2018,67).6. JOHN PAU L II, Apostolic Exhorta-tion Redemptoris Custos on the figureand mission of Saint Joseph in thelife of Christ and of the Church (15August 1989), 32.


‘Patris Corde’On the 150th Anniversary of the Proclamation of Saint Joseph as Patron of the Universal Church

CONTINUED ON PA G E 6

APOSTOLIC LETTER

Pope Francis has marked the 150th anniversary of thedeclaration of Saint Joseph as Patron of the UniversalChurch with an Apostolic Letter and to celebrate theoccasion has proclaimed a “Year of Saint Joseph” f ro m8 December 2020 to 8 December 2021. The followingis the English text of the Holy Father’s Apostolic Letter.

APOSTOLIC LETTER

PATRIS CORDE

OF THE HO LY FAT H E RFRANCIS

ON THE 150TH ANNIVERSARY OF THEPRO CLAMATION OF

SAINT JOSEPH AS PAT R O N OF THEUNIVERSAL CHURCH

WITH A FAT H E R S ’S HE A R T: that ishow Joseph loved Jesus, whom allfour Gospels refer to as “the son ofJoseph”.1

Matthew and Luke, the two Evan-gelists who speak most of Joseph,tell us very little, yet enough for usto appreciate what sort of father hewas, and the mission entrusted tohim by God’s providence.

We know that Joseph was a lowlycarpenter (cf. Mt 13:55), betrothed toMary (cf. Mt 1:18; Lk 1:27). He wasa “just man” (Mt 1:19), ever ready tocarry out God’s will as revealed tohim in the Law (cf. Lk 2 : 2 2 . 2 7. 3 9 )and through four dreams (cf. Mt1:20; 2:13.19.22). After a long and tir-ing journey from Nazareth to Beth-lehem, he beheld the birth of theMessiah in a stable, since “there wasno place for them” elsewhere (cf. Lk2:7). He witnessed the adoration ofthe shepherds (cf. Lk 2:8-20) andthe Magi (cf. Mt 2:1-12), who repres-ented respectively the people of Is-rael and the pagan peoples.

Joseph had the courage to be-come the legal father of Jesus, towhom he gave the name revealed bythe angel: “You shall call his name

Jesus, for he will save his peoplefrom their sins” (Mt 1:21). As weknow, for ancient peoples, to give aname to a person or to a thing, asAdam did in the account in theBook of Genesis (cf. 2:19-20), was toestablish a relationship.

In the Temple, forty days after Je-sus’ birth, Joseph and Mary offeredtheir child to the Lord and listenedwith amazement to Simeon’s proph-ecy concerning Jesus and his Mother(cf. Lk 2:22-35). To protect Jesusfrom Herod, Joseph dwelt as a for-eigner in Egypt (cf. Mt 2:13-18).After returning to his own country,he led a hidden life in the tiny andobscure village of Nazareth in Ga-lilee, far from Bethlehem, his ances-tral town, and from Jerusalem andthe Temple. Of Nazareth it was said,“No prophet is to rise” (cf. Jn 7:52)and indeed, “Can anything goodcome out of Nazareth?” (cf. Jn1:46). When, during a pilgrimage toJerusalem, Joseph and Mary losttrack of the twelve-year-old Jesus,they anxiously sought him out andthey found him in the Temple, indiscussion with the doctors of theLaw (cf. Lk 2:41-50).

After Mary, the Mother of God,no saint is mentioned more fre-quently in the papal magisteriumthan Joseph, her spouse. My Prede-cessors reflected on the message con-tained in the limited informationhanded down by the Gospels in or-der to appreciate more fully his cent-ral role in the history of salvation.Blessed Pius IX declared him “Pa t -ron of the Catholic Church”,2 Ve n e r -able Pius XII proposed him as “Pa t -ron of Workers”3 and Saint JohnPaul II as “Guardian of the Re-deemer”.4 Saint Joseph is universallyinvoked as the “patron of a happydeath”.5

Now, one hundred and fifty yearsafter his proclamation as Patron ofthe Catholic Church by Blessed PiusIX (8 December 1870), I would liketo share some personal reflections onthis extraordinary figure, so close toour own human experience. For, asJesus says, “out of the abundance ofthe heart the mouth speaks” (Mt

12:34). My desire to do so increasedduring these months of pandemic,when we experienced, amid thecrisis, how “our lives are woven to-gether and sustained by ordinarypeople, people often overlooked.People who do not appear in news-paper and magazine headlines, or onthe latest television show, yet inthese very days are surely shapingthe decisive events of our history.Doctors, nurses, storekeepers andsupermarket workers, cleaning per-sonnel, caregivers, transport workers,men and women working to provideessential services and public safety,volunteers, priests, men and womenreligious, and so very many others.They understood that no one issaved alone… How many peopledaily exercise patience and offerhope, taking care to spread not pan-ic, but shared responsibility. Howmany fathers, mothers, grandparentsand teachers are showing our chil-dren, in small everyday ways, how toaccept and deal with a crisis by ad-justing their routines, looking aheadand encouraging the practice ofprayer. How many are praying, mak-ing sacrifices and interceding for thegood of all”.6 Each of us can discov-er in Joseph — the man who goesunnoticed, a daily, discreet and hid-den presence — an intercessor, a sup-port and a guide in times of trouble.Saint Joseph reminds us that thosewho appear hidden or in the shad-ows can play an incomparable rolein the history of salvation. A wordof recognition and of gratitude isdue to them all.

1. A beloved fatherThe greatness of Saint Joseph is

that he was the spouse of Mary andthe father of Jesus. In this way, heplaced himself, in the words of SaintJohn Chrysostom, “at the service ofthe entire plan of salvation”.7

Saint Paul VI pointed out thatJoseph concretely expressed his fath-erhood “by making his life a sacrifi-cial service to the mystery of the in-carnation and its redemptive pur-pose. He employed his legal author-

ity over the Holy Family to devotehimself completely to them in hislife and work. He turned his humanvocation to domestic love into a su-perhuman oblation of himself, hisheart and all his abilities, a loveplaced at the service of the Messiahwho was growing to maturity in hishome”.8

Thanks to his role in salvationhistory, Saint Joseph has alwaysbeen venerated as a father by theChristian people. This is shown bythe countless churches dedicated tohim worldwide, the numerous reli-gious Institutes, Confraternities andecclesial groups inspired by his spir-ituality and bearing his name, andthe many traditional expressions ofpiety in his honour. Innumerableholy men and women were passion-ately devoted to him. Among themwas Teresa of Avila, who chose himas her advocate and intercessor, hadfrequent recourse to him and re-ceived whatever graces she asked ofhim. Encouraged by her own experi-ence, Teresa persuaded others to cul-tivate devotion to Joseph.9

Every prayer book contains pray-ers to Saint Joseph. Special prayersare offered to him each Wednesdayand especially during the month ofMarch, which is traditionally dedic-ated to him.10

Popular trust in Saint Joseph isseen in the expression “Go toJoseph”, which evokes the famine inEgypt, when the Egyptians beggedPharaoh for bread. He in turnreplied: “Go to Joseph; what he saysto you, do” (Gen 41:55). Pharaoh wasreferring to Joseph the son of Jacob,who was sold into slavery because ofthe jealousy of his brothers (cf. Gen37:11-28) and who — according to thebiblical account — subsequently be-came viceroy of Egypt (cf. Gen 41:41-44).

As a descendant of David (cf. Mt1:16-20), from whose stock Jesus wasto spring according to the promisemade to David by the prophetNathan (cf. 2 Sam 7), and as thespouse of Mary of Nazareth, Saint


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Joseph stands at the crossroadsbetween the Old and New Testa-ments.

2. A tender and loving fatherJoseph saw Jesus grow daily “in

wisdom and in years and in divineand human favour” (Lk 2:52). As theLord had done with Israel, soJoseph did with Jesus: “he taughthim to walk, taking him by thehand; he was for him like a fatherwho raises an infant to his cheeks,bending down to him and feedinghim” (cf. Hos 11:3-4).

In Joseph, Jesus saw the tenderlove of God: “As a father has com-passion for his children, so the Lordhas compassion for those who fearhim” (Ps 103:13).

In the synagogue, during thepraying of the Psalms, Joseph wouldsurely have heard again and againthat the God of Israel is a God oftender love,11 who is good to all,whose “compassion is over all thathe has made” (Ps 145:9).

The history of salvation is workedout “in hope against hope” (Rom4:18), through our weaknesses. Alltoo often, we think that God worksonly through our better parts, yetmost of his plans are realized in anddespite our frailty. Thus Saint Paulcould say: “To keep me from beingtoo elated, a thorn was given me inthe flesh, a messenger of Satan totorment me, to keep me from beingtoo elated. Three times I appealedto the Lord about this, that it wouldleave me, but he said to me: ‘Mygrace is sufficient for you, for poweris made perfect in weakness’” (2 Cor12:7-9).

Since this is part of the entire eco-nomy of salvation, we must learn tolook upon our weaknesses withtender mercy.12

The Evil one makes us see andcondemn our frailty, whereas theSpirit brings it to light with tenderlove. Tenderness is the best way totouch the frailty within us. Pointingfingers and judging others are fre-quently signs of an inability to ac-cept our own weaknesses, our ownfrailty. Only tender love will save usfrom the snares of the accuser (cf.Rev 12:10). That is why it is so im-portant to encounter God’s mercy,especially in the Sacrament of Re-conciliation, where we experience histruth and tenderness. Paradoxically,the Evil one can also speak the truthto us, yet he does so only to con-demn us. We know that God’s truthdoes not condemn, but instead wel-comes, embraces, sustains and for-gives us. That truth always presentsitself to us like the merciful father inJesus’ parable (cf. Lk 15:11-32). Itcomes out to meet us, restores ourdignity, sets us back on our feet andrejoices for us, for, as the father says:“This my son was dead and is aliveagain; he was lost and is found” ( v.24).

Even through Joseph’s fears,Go d’s will, his history and his planwere at work. Joseph, then, teachesus that faith in God includes believ-ing that he can work even through

our fears, our frailties and our weak-nesses. He also teaches us that amidthe tempests of life, we must neverbe afraid to let the Lord steer ourcourse. At times, we want to be incomplete control, yet God alwayssees the bigger picture.

3. An obedient fatherAs he had done with Mary, God

revealed his saving plan to Joseph.He did so by using dreams, whichin the Bible and among all ancientpeoples, were considered a way forhim to make his will known.13

Joseph was deeply troubled byMary’s mysterious pregnancy. Hedid not want to “expose her to pub-lic disgrace”,14 so he decided to “dis-miss her quietly” (Mt 1:19).

In the first dream, an angel helpshim resolve his grave dilemma: “Donot be afraid to take Mary as yourwife, for the child conceived in heris from the Holy Spirit. She willbear a son, and you are to name him

Once again, Joseph promptlyobeyed. “He got up, took the childand his mother, and went to theland of Israel” (Mt 2:21).

During the return journey, “whenJoseph heard that Archelaus was rul-ing over Judea in place of his fatherHerod, he was afraid to go there.After being warned in a dream” —now for the fourth time — “he wentaway to the district of Galilee. Therehe made his home in a town calledN a z a re t h ” (Mt 2:22-23).

The evangelist Luke, for his part,tells us that Joseph undertook thelong and difficult journey from Naz-areth to Bethlehem to be registeredin his family’s town of origin in thecensus of the Emperor Caesar Au-gustus. There Jesus was born (cf. Lk2: 7) and his birth, like that of everyother child, was recorded in the re-gistry of the Empire. Saint Luke isespecially concerned to tell us thatJesus’ parents observed all the pre-scriptions of the Law: the rites ofthe circumcision of Jesus, the puri-fication of Mary after childbirth, the

fatherho o d” and that in this way,“he cooperated in the fullness oftime in the great mystery of salva-tion and is truly a minister of salva-tion.”17

4. An accepting fatherJoseph accepted Mary uncondi-

tionally. He trusted in the angel’swords. “The nobility of Joseph’sheart is such that what he learnedfrom the law he made dependent oncharity. Today, in our world wherepsychological, verbal and physicalviolence towards women is so evid-ent, Joseph appears as the figure ofa respectful and sensitive man. Eventhough he does not understand thebigger picture, he makes a decisionto protect Mary’s good name, herdignity and her life. In his hesitationabout how best to act, God helpedhim by enlightening his judg-ment”.18

Often in life, things happenwhose meaning we do not under-stand. Our first reaction is fre-quently one of disappointment andrebellion. Joseph set aside his ownideas in order to accept the courseof events and, mysterious as theyseemed, to embrace them, take re-sponsibility for them and make thempart of his own history. Unless weare reconciled with our own history,we will be unable to take a singlestep forward, for we will always re-main hostage to our expectationsand the disappointments that follow.

The spiritual path that Josephtraces for us is not one that explains,but accepts. Only as a result of thisacceptance, this reconciliation, canwe begin to glimpse a broader his-tory, a deeper meaning. We can al-most hear an echo of the impas-sioned reply of Job to his wife, whohad urged him to rebel against theevil he endured: “Shall we receivethe good at the hand of God, andnot receive the bad?” (Job 2:10).

Joseph is certainly not passivelyresigned, but courageously andfirmly proactive. In our own lives,acceptance and welcome can be anexpression of the Holy Spirit’s giftof fortitude. Only the Lord can giveus the strength needed to accept lifeas it is, with all its contradictions,frustrations and disappointments.

Jesus’ appearance in our midst isa gift from the Father, which makesit possible for each of us to be re-conciled to the flesh of our own his-tory, even when we fail to under-stand it completely.

Just as God told Joseph: “Son ofDavid, do not be afraid!” (Mt 1:20),so he seems to tell us: “Do not beafraid!” We need to set aside all an-ger and disappointment, and to em-brace the way things are, even whenthey do not turn out as we wish.Not with mere resignation but withhope and courage. In this way, webecome open to a deeper meaning.Our lives can be miraculously re-born if we find the courage to livethem in accordance with the Gospel.It does not matter if everythingseems to have gone wrong or somethings can no longer be fixed. God

Jesus, for he will save his peoplefrom their sins” (Mt 1:20-21).Joseph’s response was immediate:“When Joseph awoke from sleep, hedid as the angel of the Lord com-manded him” (Mt 1:24). Obediencemade it possible for him to sur-mount his difficulties and spareM a r y.

In the second dream, the angeltells Joseph: “Get up, take the childand his mother, and flee to Egypt,and remain there until I tell you; forHerod is about to search for thechild, to destroy him” (Mt 2:13).Joseph did not hesitate to obey, re-gardless of the hardship involved:“He got up, took the child and hismother by night, and went to Egypt,and remained there until the deathof Herod” (Mt 2:14-15).

In Egypt, Joseph awaited with pa-tient trust the angel’s notice that hecould safely return home. In a thirddream, the angel told him that thosewho sought to kill the child weredead and ordered him to rise, takethe child and his mother, and returnto the land of Israel (cf. Mt 2:19-20).

offering of the firstborn to God (cf.2:21-24).15

In every situation, Joseph de-clared his own “fiat”, like those ofMary at the Annunciation and Jesusin the Garden of Gethsemane.

In his role as the head of a family,Joseph taught Jesus to be obedientto his parents (cf. Lk 2:51), in ac-cordance with God’s command (cf.Ex 20:12).

During the hidden years in Naz-areth, Jesus learned at the school ofJoseph to do the will of the Father.That will was to be his daily food(cf. Jn 4:34). Even at the most diffi-cult moment of his life, in Gethse-mane, Jesus chose to do the Father’swill rather than his own,16 b ecoming“obedient unto death, even death ona cross” (Phil 2:8). The author ofthe Letter to the Hebrews thus con-cludes that Jesus “learned obediencethrough what he suffered” (5:8).

All this makes it clear that “SaintJoseph was called by God to servethe person and mission of Jesus dir-ectly through the exercise of his

A traditional depiction of the Holy Family (Wikicommons)


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can make flowers spring up fromstony ground. Even if our heart con-demns us, “God is greater than ourhearts, and he knows everything”(1 Jn 3:20).

Here, once again, we encounterthat Christian realism which rejectsnothing that exists. Reality, in itsmysterious and irreducible complex-ity, is the bearer of existential mean-ing, with all its lights and shadows.Thus, the Apostle Paul can say: “Weknow that all things work togetherfor good, for those who love God”(Rom 8:28). To which Saint Au-gustine adds, “even that which iscalled evil (etiam illud quod malumdicitur)”.19 In this greater perspect-ive, faith gives meaning to everyevent, however happy or sad.

Nor should we ever think that be-lieving means finding facile andcomforting solutions. The faithChrist taught us is what we see inSaint Joseph. He did not look forshortcuts, but confronted realitywith open eyes and accepted person-al responsibility for it.

Joseph’s attitude encourages us toaccept and welcome others as theyare, without exception, and to showspecial concern for the weak, forGod chooses what is weak (cf. 1 Cor1:27). He is the “Father of orphansand protector of widows” (Ps 68:6),who commands us to love thestranger in our midst.20 I like tothink that it was from Saint Josephthat Jesus drew inspiration for theparable of the prodigal son and themerciful father (cf. Lk 15:11-32).

5. A creatively courageous fatherIf the first stage of all true interior

healing is to accept our personal his-tory and embrace even the things inlife that we did not choose, we mustnow add another important element:creative courage. This emerges espe-cially in the way we deal with diffi-culties. In the face of difficulty, wecan either give up and walk away, orsomehow engage with it. At times,difficulties bring out resources wedid not even think we had.

As we read the infancy narratives,we may often wonder why God didnot act in a more direct and clearway. Yet God acts through eventsand people. Joseph was the manchosen by God to guide the begin-nings of the history of redemption.He was the true “miracle” by whichGod saves the child and his mother.God acted by trusting in Joseph’screative courage. Arriving in Bethle-hem and finding no lodging whereMary could give birth, Joseph tooka stable and, as best he could,turned it into a welcoming home forthe Son of God come into the world(cf. Lk 2:6-7). Faced with imminentdanger from Herod, who wanted tokill the child, Joseph was warnedonce again in a dream to protect thechild, and rose in the middle of thenight to prepare the flight intoEgypt (cf. Mt 2:13-14).

A superficial reading of these stor-ies can often give the impressionthat the world is at the mercy of thestrong and mighty, but the “go o d

news” of the Gospel consists inshowing that, for all the arroganceand violence of worldly powers,God always finds a way to carry outhis saving plan. So too, our livesmay at times seem to be at themercy of the powerful, but the Gos-pel shows us what counts. God al-ways finds a way to save us,provided we show the same creativecourage as the carpenter of Naz-areth, who was able to turn a prob-lem into a possibility by trusting al-ways in divine providence.

If at times God seems not to helpus, surely this does not mean thatwe have been abandoned, but in-stead are being trusted to plan, tobe creative, and to find solutionsourselves.

That kind of creative courage wasshown by the friends of the paralyt-ic, who lowered him from the roofin order to bring him to Jesus (cf.Lk 5:17-26). Difficulties did notstand in the way of those friends’boldness and persistence. They wereconvinced that Jesus could heal theman, and “finding no way to bringhim in because of the crowd, theywent up on the roof and let himdown with his bed through the tilesinto the middle of the crowd infront of Jesus. When he saw theirfaith, he said, ‘Friend, your sins areforgiven you’” (vv. 19-20). Jesus re-cognized the creative faith withwhich they sought to bring their sickfriend to him.

The Gospel does not tell us howlong Mary, Joseph and the child re-mained in Egypt. Yet they certainlyneeded to eat, to find a home andemployment. It does not take muchimagination to fill in those details.The Holy Family had to face con-crete problems like every other fam-ily, like so many of our migrantbrothers and sisters who, today too,risk their lives to escape misfortuneand hunger. In this regard, I con-sider Saint Joseph the special patronof all those forced to leave their nat-ive lands because of war, hatred,persecution and poverty.

At the end of every account inwhich Joseph plays a role, the Gos-pel tells us that he gets up, takes thechild and his mother, and does whatGod commanded him (cf. Mt 1:24;2:14.21). Indeed, Jesus and Mary hisMother are the most precious treas-ure of our faith.21

In the divine plan of salvation,the Son is inseparable from hisMother, from Mary, who “advancedin her pilgrimage of faith, and faith-fully persevered in her union withher Son until she stood at thec ro s s ”.22

We should always consider wheth-er we ourselves are protecting Jesusand Mary, for they are also mysteri-ously entrusted to our own respons-ibility, care and safekeeping. TheSon of the Almighty came into ourworld in a state of great vulnerabil-ity. He needed to be defended, pro-tected, cared for and raised byJoseph. God trusted Joseph, as didMary, who found in him someonewho would not only save her life,but would always provide for herand her child. In this sense, SaintJoseph could not be other than the

Guardian of the Church, for theChurch is the continuation of theBody of Christ in history, even asMary’s motherhood is reflected inthe motherhood of the Church.23 Inhis continued protection of theChurch, Joseph continues to protectthe child and his mother, and we too,by our love for the Church, continueto love the child and his mother.

That child would go on to say:“As you did it to one of the least ofthese who are members of my fam-ily, you did it to me” (Mt 25:40).Consequently, every poor, needy,suffering or dying person, everystranger, every prisoner, every infirmperson is “the child” whom Josephcontinues to protect. For this reason,Saint Joseph is invoked as protectorof the unfortunate, the needy, exiles,the afflicted, the poor and the dy-ing. Consequently, the Church can-not fail to show a special love forthe least of our brothers and sisters,for Jesus showed a particular con-cern for them and personally identi-fied with them. From Saint Joseph,we must learn that same care and re-sponsibility. We must learn to lovethe child and his mother, to love thesacraments and charity, to love theChurch and the poor. Each of theserealities is always the child and hism o t h e r.

6. A working fatherAn aspect of Saint Joseph that

has been emphasized from the timeof the first social Encyclical, PopeLeo XIII’s Rerum Novarum, is hisrelation to work. Saint Joseph was acarpenter who earned an honest liv-ing to provide for his family. Fromhim, Jesus learned the value, thedignity and the joy of what it meansto eat bread that is the fruit of one’sown labour.

In our own day, when employ-ment has once more become a burn-ing social issue, and unemploymentat times reaches record levels even innations that for decades have en-joyed a certain degree of prosperity,there is a renewed need to appreci-ate the importance of dignifiedwork, of which Saint Joseph is anexemplary patron.

Work is a means of participatingin the work of salvation, an oppor-tunity to hasten the coming of theKingdom, to develop our talentsand abilities, and to put them at theservice of society and fraternal com-munion. It becomes an opportunityfor the fulfilment not only of one-self, but also of that primary cell ofsociety which is the family. A familywithout work is particularly vulner-able to difficulties, tensions, es-trangement and even break-up. Howcan we speak of human dignitywithout working to ensure thateveryone is able to earn a decent liv-ing?

Working persons, whatever theirjob may be, are cooperating withGod himself, and in some way be-come creators of the world aroundus. The crisis of our time, which iseconomic, social, cultural and spir-itual, can serve as a summons for allof us to rediscover the value, the im-portance and necessity of work forbringing about a new “normal” f ro mwhich no one is excluded. SaintJoseph’s work reminds us that Godhimself, in becoming man, did notdisdain work. The loss of employ-ment that affects so many of ourbrothers and sisters, and has in-creased as a result of the Covid-19pandemic, should serve as a sum-mons to review our priorities. Let usimplore Saint Joseph the Worker tohelp us find ways to express ourfirm conviction that no young per-son, no person at all, no familyshould be without work!

7. A father in the shadowsThe Polish writer Jan Do-

braczyński, in his book The Shadowof the Father,24 tells the story of SaintJoseph’s life in the form of a novel.He uses the evocative image of ashadow to define Joseph. In his rela-tionship to Jesus, Joseph was theearthly shadow of the heavenly Fath-er: he watched over him and protec-ted him, never leaving him to go hisown way. We can think of Moses’words to Israel: “In the wilderness…you saw how the Lord your Godcarried you, just as one carries achild, all the way that you travelled”


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1 Lk 4:22; Jn 6:42; cf. Mt 13:55; Mk 6:3.2 S. RITUUM CO N G R E G AT I O, QuemadmodumDeus (8 December 1870): ASS 6 (1870-71), 194.3 Cf. Address to ACLI on the Solemnity of SaintJoseph the Worker (1 May 1955): AAS 47 (1955),406.4 Cf. Apostolic Exhortation Redemptoris Custos (15August 1989): AAS 82 (1990), 5-34.5 Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1014.6 Meditation in the Time of Pandemic (27 March2020): L’Osservatore Romano, 29 March 2020, p.10.7 In Matthaeum Homiliae, V, 3: PG 57, 58.8 Homily (19 March 1966): Insegnamenti di PaoloVI, IV (1966), 110.9 Cf. Au t o b i o g ra p h y, 6, 6-8.10 Every day, for over forty years, following LaudsI have recited a prayer to Saint Joseph taken froma nineteenth-century French prayer book of theCongregation of the Sisters of Jesus and Mary. Itexpresses devotion and trust, and even poses acertain challenge to Saint Joseph: “Glorious Patri-arch Saint Joseph, whose power makes the im-possible possible, come to my aid in these times

of anguish and difficulty. Take under your protec-tion the serious and troubling situations that Icommend to you, that they may have a happyoutcome. My beloved father, all my trust is inyou. Let it not be said that I invoked you in vain,and since you can do everything with Jesus andMary, show me that your goodness is as great asyour power. Amen.”11 Cf. Deut 4:31; Ps 69:16; 78:38; 86:5; 111:4; 116:5;Jer 31:20.12 Cf. Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium(24 November 2013), 88, 288: AAS 105 (2013),1057, 1136-1137.13 Cf. Gen 20:3; 28:12; 31:11.24; 40:8; 41:1-32; Num12:6; 1 Sam 3:3-10; Dan 2, 4; Job 33:15.14 In such cases, provisions were made even forstoning (cf. Deut 22:20-21).15 Cf. Lev 12:1-8; Ex 13:2.16 Cf. Mt 26:39; Mk 14:36; Lk 22:42.17 SAINT JOHN PAU L II, Apostolic Exhortation Re-demptoris Custos (15 August 1989), 8: AAS 82(1990), 14.18 Homily at Mass and Beatifications, Villavicencio,Colombia (8 September 2017): AAS 109 (2017),1061.

19 Enchiridion de fide, spe et caritate, 3.11: PL 40,236.20 Cf. Deut 10:19; Ex 22:20-22; Lk 10:29-37.21 Cf. S. RITUUM CO N G R E G AT I O, QuemadmodumDeus (8 December 1870): ASS 6 (1870-1871), 193;BLESSED PIUS IX, Apostolic Letter Inclytum Patri-a rc h a m (7 July 1871): l.c., 324-327.22 SECOND VAT I C A N ECUMENICAL COUNCIL, Dog-matic Constitution on the Church Lumen Genti-um, 58.23 Catechism of the Catholic Church, 963-970.24 Original edition: Cień Ojca, Warsaw, 1977.25 Cf. SAINT JOHN PAU L II, Apostolic ExhortationRedemptoris Custos, 7-8: AAS 82 (1990), 12-16.26 Cf. Gen 18:23-32.27 Cf. Ex 17:8-13; 32:30-35.28 SECOND VAT I C A N ECUMENICAL COUNCIL, Dog-matic Constitution Lumen Gentium, 42.29 Cf. 1 Cor 11:1; Phil 3:17; 1 Thess 1:6.30 Confessions, VIII, 11, 27: PL 32, 761; X, 27, 38: PL32, 795.

(Deut 1:31). In a similar way, Josephacted as a father for his whole life.25

Fathers are not born, but made. Aman does not become a fathersimply by bringing a child into theworld, but by taking up the respons-ibility to care for that child.Whenever a man accepts responsib-ility for the life of another, in someway he becomes a father to that per-son.

Children today often seemorphans, lacking fathers. TheChurch too needs fathers. SaintPa u l ’s words to the Corinthians re-main timely: “Though you havecountless guides in Christ, you donot have many fathers” (1 Cor 4:15).Every priest or bishop should beable to add, with the Apostle: “I be-came your father in Christ Jesusthrough the Gospel” (ibid.). Paullikewise calls the Galatians: “Mylittle children, with whom I amagain in travail until Christ beformed in you!” (4:19).

Being a father entails introducingchildren to life and reality. Notholding them back, being overpro-tective or possessive, but rather mak-ing them capable of deciding forthemselves, enjoying freedom andexploring new possibilities. Perhapsfor this reason, Joseph is tradition-ally called a “most chaste” f a t h e r.That title is not simply a sign of af-fection, but the summation of an at-titude that is the opposite of pos-sessiveness. Chastity is freedom frompossessiveness in every sphere ofone’s life. Only when love is chaste,is it truly love. A possessive love ul-timately becomes dangerous: it im-prisons, constricts and makes formisery. God himself loved humanitywith a chaste love; he left us freeeven to go astray and set ourselvesagainst him. The logic of love is al-ways the logic of freedom, andJoseph knew how to love with ex-traordinary freedom. He never madehimself the centre of things. He didnot think of himself, but focused in-stead on the lives of Mary and Je-sus.

Joseph found happiness not inmere self-sacrifice but in self-gift. Inhim, we never see frustration butonly trust. His patient silence wasthe prelude to concrete expressionsof trust. Our world today needsfathers. It has no use for tyrantswho would domineer others as ameans of compensating for theirown needs. It rejects those who con-fuse authority with authoritarianism,service with servility, discussion withoppression, charity with a welfarementality, power with destruction.Every true vocation is born of thegift of oneself, which is the fruit ofmature sacrifice. The priesthood andconsecrated life likewise require thiskind of maturity. Whatever our vo-cation, whether to marriage, celibacyor virginity, our gift of self will notcome to fulfilment if it stops at sac-rifice; were that the case, instead ofbecoming a sign of the beauty andjoy of love, the gift of self wouldrisk being an expression of unhappi-ness, sadness and frustration.

When fathers refuse to live thelives of their children for them, newand unexpected vistas open up.Every child is the bearer of a uniquemystery that can only be brought tolight with the help of a father whorespects that child’s freedom. A fath-er who realizes that he is most afather and educator at the pointwhen he becomes “useless”, when hesees that his child has become inde-pendent and can walk the paths oflife unaccompanied. When he be-comes like Joseph, who always knewthat his child was not his own buthad merely been entrusted to hiscare. In the end, this is what Jesuswould have us understand when hesays: “Call no man your father onearth, for you have one Father, whois in heaven” (Mt 23:9).

In every exercise of our father-hood, we should always keep inmind that it has nothing to do withpossession, but is rather a “sign”pointing to a greater fatherhood. Ina way, we are all like Joseph: a shad-

ham26 and Moses27, and like Jesus,the “one mediator” (1 Tim 2:5), whois our “advo cate” with the Father (1Jn 2:1) and who “always lives tomake intercession for [us]” (Heb7:25; cf. Rom 8:34).

The saints help all the faithful “tostrive for the holiness and the per-fection of their particular state oflife”.28 Their lives are concrete proofthat it is possible to put the Gospelinto practice.

Jesus told us: “Learn from me, forI am gentle and lowly in heart” (Mt11:29). The lives of the saints too areexamples to be imitated. Saint Paulexplicitly says this: “Be imitators ofme!” (1 Cor 4:16).29 By his eloquentsilence, Saint Joseph says the same.

Before the example of so manyholy men and women, Saint Au-gustine asked himself: “What theycould do, can you not also do?”And so he drew closer to his definit-ive conversion, when he could ex-claim: “Late have I loved you,Beauty ever ancient, ever new!”30

We need only ask Saint Josephfor the grace of graces: our conver-sion.

Let us now make our prayer tohim:

Hail, Guardian of the Redeemer,

Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

To you God entrusted his only Son;

in you Mary placed her trust;

with you Christ became man.

Blessed Joseph, to us too,

show yourself a father

and guide us in the path of life.

Obtain for us grace, mercy and cour-age,

and defend us from every evil.

Am e n .

Given in Rome, at Saint JohnLateran, on 8 December,

Solemnity of the ImmaculateConception of the Blessed Virgin

Mary, in the year 2020,the eighth of my Pontificate.

ow of the heavenlyFather, who “makeshis sun rise on the eviland on the good, andsends rain on the justand on the unjust”(Mt 5:45). And ashadow that followshis Son.

***“Get up, take the

child and his mother”(Mt 2:13), God toldSaint Joseph.

The aim of thisApostolic Letter is toincrease our love forthis great saint, to en-courage us to implorehis intercession and toimitate his virtues andhis zeal.

Indeed, the propermission of the saints isnot only to obtainmiracles and graces,but to intercede for usbefore God, like Abra-‘Saint Joseph with the Infant Jesus’ by Guido Reni c. 1635


advisor for teaching the President ofthe University of Nouakchott(2007–2009); Secretary General ofthe University of Nouakchott(2009); Minister of secondary andsuperior education of Mauritania(2009–2011); Minister of State fornational education (2011–2013); Dir-ector of the Cabinet of the Presidentof the Islamic Republic of Maurit-ania (2013–2019); Ambassador toFrance (since 2019)

H.E. Mr Makram Queisi, 50, wasborn in Amman, Jordan. He is mar-ried and has three children. Heholds a degree in information tech-nology and a master’s in diplomacy.He has served as: official at the of-fice of the Royal Court Chief, Am-man (1993-1994); director of the of-fice of HRH Crown Prince AbdullahBin Al Hussein, Amman (1994–1996);deputy chief of Royal Protocol, Am-man (1996–2005); chief of Protocol,with the rank of Ambassador at theMinistry of Foreign Affairs(2005–2007); Ambassador to Austriaand Permanent Representative at theUnited Nations Office and Special-ized Agencies in Vienna (2007–July2013); Ambassador to France and tothe Holy See (2013– June 2018); Min-ister for Youth (2018); Ambassador toFrance (since 2019).

Ten new AmbassadorsBiographies of the new diplomats accredited to the Holy See

KA Z A K H S TA N

JORDAN

H.E. Mr Alibek Bakayev, 39, wasborn in Almaty, Kazakhstan. He ismarried and has three children. Heholds a degree in international rela-tions and world languages and com-pleted a programme at the NationalSchool of Public Policy of theAcademy of State Governance. Hehas served as: expert at the Depart-ment for Europe and America, Min-istry of Foreign Affairs (M FA ) (2004);attaché, third secretary at the em-bassy in Germany; counsellor at theMinistry of Economy and BudgetPlanning (2008-2009); DirectorGeneral of the Department of Inter-national Relations, Ministry of Eco-nomic Development and Trade(MEDT) (2009-2010); Director Gener-al of the Department of StrategicPlanning and Analysis, MEDT

(2010–2012); division head andDeputy Director of the Departmentof Cooperation, Asia Section, M FA(2012–2015); Ambassador to Switzer-land (since 2019).

ZAMBIA

H.E. Mr Paul Mihova, 63, was bornin the district of Chavuma, Zambia.He is married and has seven chil-dren. He entered military service in1979, continuing his studiesthroughout a distinguished career inwhich he was promoted through theranks and served in various posi-tions: promoted to lieutenant (1982);promoted to captain (1984); pro-moted to major (1988); served asmilitary observer in Baghdad, Iraq,for the United Nations Iran-IraqMonitoring Observer Group (UNII-MO G) (1989); promoted to lieutenantcolonel (1995); served as military as-sistant to the deputy commander ofthe Army and chief of staff (1995);served as military assistant to thecommander of the Army (2002-2006); promoted to colonel (2003);served as military attaché at the Em-bassy in South Africa (2009); pro-moted to Brigadier General (2010);promoted to Lieutenant General(2011); promoted to Commander ofthe Army (2011-2018). Since 2019 hehas served as High Commissioner inthe UK and Ambassador to Ireland.

MAU R I TA N I A

H.E. Mr Jakhongir Ganiev, 65, wasborn in Bukhara, Uzbekistan. He ismarried and has three children. Hecompleted studies in biology anddiplomacy. He has served as: engin-eer, chief specialist for the state fish-eries committee of the Republic ofUzbekistan (1982–1989); engineer forUzagrapromservice (1989–1992);deputy director of the Tashkent In-ternational Trade Company(1992–1993); first secretary of the De-partment of the Americas, Ministryof Foreign Affairs (M FA ) (1993); firstsecretary, Embassy in the UnitedStates (1993–1994); first secretary ofthe Department of European Coun-tries, M FA (1994–1995); first secretary,Embassy in Great Britain (1995);first secretary, Embassy in Austria(1995-1997); assistant in the Depart-ment for Inter-parliamentary Co-operation, Secretariat of the OliyMajlis of the Republic (1997–2003);first secretary of the Department forthe United Nations and Internation-al Organizations, M FA (2003–2004);interim chief of the Department ofBudgeting and Strategic Planning,Directorate for Analysis andStrategy of Foreign Policy activitiesof the M FA (2005–2007); Ambassadorto Italy (2007-2012); division head ofthe Department for Cooperationwith Asia and Pacific Countries, M FA(2012–2017); adviser for Commerceand Economic Issues, Chargé d’af-

faires, Embassy in Spain(2017–2018); Ambassador to Spain(since 2018) Permanent Representat-ive at the WTO (since June 2019).

UZ B E K I S TA N

MADAGASCAR

H.E. Mr Olivier Hugues Rija Ra-johnson, 74, is married and has fourchildren. His fields of study in-cluded business administration, for-eign trade and transport economics.He has served in the administrativeand financial sector at La CiotatShipyards, France (1973–1976) andas: department director at Tranom-barotra R O S O, Marseilles, France; at-taché at the the general directorateof Star (1980–1987); permanent ad-visor at the Prime Minister’s office(1987–1989); general director of in-dustry at the Ministry of Industrial-ization and Tourism (1990–1991);Minister of waters and forests(1997–2002); worker in the econom-ics sector and founder of variouscompanies (in packaging, fruit ex-port and tourism) (2003–2011); Cent-ral Bank administrator, representat-ive of the presidency (2012–2014);director of the cabinet to the presid-ential transition (2011–2014); Ambas-sador to France (since 2019).

ESTONIA

H.E. Ms Celia Kuningas-Saagpakk,45, was born in Tallinn. She is mar-ried and has one child. She holds adegree in public administration andpolitical science as well as a master’sdegree. She has served as: internalauditor, Ministry of Foreign Affairs(M FA ) 1997–1998); advisor to the Sec-retary General, M FA (1998–2001);


H.E. Mr Ahmed Ould Bahiya, 58,was born in Atar, Mauritania. He ismarried and has five children. Heholds a doctorate in mathematicalsciences. He has served as: lecturer(1989–1996); qualified professor(1996–2003); university professor(since 2003); coordinator of themathematics programme of the In-stitut supérieur scientifique, Nouak-chott (1991– 1995); coordinator of themathematics-physics programme ofthe faculty of sciences and techno-logy (FST) of the University of Nou-akchott (1995 -1998); head of the de-partment of mathematics and in-formation technology, FST (1998–2002); technical advisor for projectsof the Rector of the University ofNouakchott (2002-2004); technical


On Friday, 4 December, the Holy Father received inaudience the new Ambassadors from Jordan,Kazakhstan, Zambia, Mauritania, Uzbekistan,Madagascar, Estonia, Rwanda, Denmark andIndia, who presented their Letters of Credence bywhich they are accredited to the Holy See. Thefollowing is the English text of his address.

Your Excellencies,It is a pleasure for me to receive you for thepresentation of the Letters accrediting you as Am-bassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary ofyour countries to the Holy See: Jordan, Kazakh-stan, Zambia, Mauritania, Uzbekistan, Madagas-car, Estonia, Rwanda, Denmark and India. Iwould ask you to convey my sentiments of esteemto your respective Heads of State, together withthe assurance of my prayers for them and foryour fellow citizens.

You are beginning your mission at a time ofgreat challenge facing the entire human family.Even before the outbreak of Covid-19, it was clearthat 2020 was going to be a year marked by ur-gent humanitarian needs, due to conflicts, viol-

ence and terrorism in different parts of our world.Economic crises are causing hunger and mass mi-gration, while climate change is increasing therisk of natural disasters, famine and drought. In-deed, the pandemic is aggravating the inequalitiesalready present in our societies; as the poor andthe most vulnerable of our brothers and sistersrisk being neglected, excluded and forgotten. Thecrisis has made us realize “that we are on thesame boat, all of us fragile and disoriented, but atthe same time important and needed, all of uscalled to row together, each of us in need of com-forting the other” (Extraordinary Moment of Pray-e r, 27 March 2020).

Today, perhaps more than ever, our increasinglyglobalized world urgently demands sincere andrespectful dialogue and cooperation capable ofuniting us in confronting the grave threats facingour planet and mortgaging the future of youngergenerations. In my recent Encyclical Fratelli Tutti,I expressed my desire that “in this our time, byacknowledging the dignity of each human person,we can contribute to the rebirth of a universal as-piration to fraternity” (n. 8). The presence of the

Holy See in the international community standsat the service of the global common good, bydrawing attention to the anthropological, ethicaland religious aspects of the various questions thataffect the lives of individuals, peoples and entirenations.

It is my hope that your diplomatic activity asrepresentatives of your nations to the Holy Seewill foster the “culture of encounter” (Fra t e l l iTu t t i , 215) needed to transcend the differences anddivisions that so often stand in the way of realiz-ing the high ideals and goals proposed by the in-ternational community. Each of us is invited, infact, to work daily for the building of an evermore just, fraternal and united world.

Dear Ambassadors, as you now undertake yourmission to the Holy See, I offer you my prayerfulgood wishes and I assure of you of the constantreadiness of the various offices of the Holy See toassist you in the fulfilment of your responsibilit-ies. Upon you and your families, your collaborat-ors and all your fellow citizens, I cordially invokeabundant divine blessings. Thank you!

Biographies

H.E. Ms Marie Chantal Rwakazina,47, was born in Burundi. She is mar-ried and has two children. She holdsa degree in economics and a mas-

RWA N D A

DENMARK

Egypt (2004-2005); head of ESDPsection of the Department for Secur-ity Policy at the M FA (2005-2006);deputy director of the executive sec-retariat at the M FA (2006-2008); offi-cial of the Danish Security and In-telligence Service in Copenhagen(2008-2009); deputy head of mis-sion, Embassy in Italy (2009-2013);deputy director of the Departmentfor Asia and Latin America at theM FA (2013-2015); director of the De-partment for Security at the M FA(2015-2016); director of the Depart-ment for Security and Real Estate atthe M FA (2016).

INDIAH.E. Mr Jaideep Mazumdar, 55, ismarried and has two children. Heholds a degree in economics and a

A universal aspiration to fraternity

Pope Francis’ address for the Presentation of Letters of Credential by the Ambassadors

third secretary, Representation of Es-tonia to the United Nations, NewYork 2000 Millennium Summit;Consul in New York (2002–2004);director of the Policy Division forpersonnel abroad, M FA (2004–2008);first secretary, Embassy in France(2008–2011); director for Russia,Eastern Europe and Central Asia,M FA (2011–2014); Ambassador toItaly, Malta and San Marino(2014–2020); Ambassador to Croatiaand Slovenia (2015–2017).

CONTINUED FROM PA G E 9

H.E. Mr Odd Sinding, 49, was bornin Gentofte, Denmark. He is mar-ried and has three children. Heholds a master’s degree in politicalscience. He has served as: sectionhead, Ministry of Foreign Affairs(M FA ) (1998-2002); first secretary,Embassy in Egypt (2002-2004);deputy head of mission, Embassy in

ter’s in development. She has servedas: assistant lecturer at the econom-ics faculty of the National Universityof Rwanda in Huye (2000–2005);Visiting Assistant Lecturer in devel-opment sciences at the CatholicUniversity of Kabgayi, Muhanga,Rwanda (2003-2004); head of thedepartment of applied statistics atthe economics faculty of the Nation-al University of Rwanda in Huye(2005–2008); capacity building ex-pert at the Rwandan Association ofLocal Government Authorities(RALGA) (2008–2011); Deputy Secret-ary General at RALGA (2011–2013);United Nations Coordination Ana-lyst at the United Nations Develop-ment Programme (UNDP), mayor ofKigali (2018– 2019); Ambassador toSwitzerland and Permanent Repres-entative to the UN Offices in Genevaand to the World Trade Organiza-tion (since 2019).

master’s in business administration.He has served as: third, then secondsecretary of the General Consulatein Hong Kong (1991-1993); second,then first secretary of the Embassyin China (1993-1996); Assistant HighCommissioner in Bangladesh (1996-1999); deputy secretary of the Officeof the Prime Minister (1999-2002);first secretary and advisor of the Per-manent Mission to the United Na-tions in New York (2002-2006);Counsellor at the embassy in Egypt(2006-2008); deputy head of missionin China (2008-2010), and in Nepal(2010-2014); Chief of Protocol of the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs (M FA )(2014-2016); head of the southern di-vision of the M FA (2016-2017); Am-bassador to the Philippines (2017-2020); Ambassador to Austria andto the International Organizationsin Vienna (since 2020).


ANGELUS

At the end of the Angelus on Sunday, 6 December, the HolyFather underscored the importance of Christmas trees andNativity scenes as “signs of hope”, at the same time inviting thefaithful to focus on the meaning behind the symbolism. Earlier hehad reflected on the day’s Gospel Reading, addressing the themeof conversion. The following is a translation of his words whichhe offered in Italian.

Pope Francis describes the Nativity scene and the Christmas tree as signs of hop e

No pandemic can halt the light of ChristmasDear Brothers and Sisters,Good morning!This Sunday’s Gospel passage(Mk 1:1-8) introduces the personand work of John the Baptist. Hereveals to his contemporaries anitinerary of faith similar to theone that Advent proposes to us,who are preparing ourselves to re-ceive the Lord at Christmas. Thisitinerary of faith is an itinerary ofc o n v e rs i o n . What does the word‘conversion’ mean? In the Bible itmeans, first and foremost, tochange direction and orientation;and thus also to change one’sway of thinking. In the moral andspiritual life, to convert means toturn oneself from evil to good,from sin to love of God. And thisis what the Baptist was teaching,who in the desert of Judea was“preaching a baptism of repent-ance for the forgiveness of sins”(v. 4). Receiving baptism was anoutward and visible sign of theconversion of those who hadlistened to his preaching and de-cided to repent. That baptism oc-curred with immersion in theJordan, in water, but it proveduseless; it was only a sign and itwas useless if there was no will-ingness to repent and changeone’s life.

Conversion involves sufferingfor sins committed, the desire tobe free from them, the intentionto exclude them from one’s own

life forever. To exclude sin it isalso necessary to reject everythingthat is connected to it; the thingsthat are connected to sin andthus, we have to reject: a worldlymentality, excessive esteem forcomforts, excessive esteem forpleasure, for well-being, forwealth. The example of this de-tachment comes to us once againfrom today’s Gospel in the per-son of John the Baptist: an aus-tere man who renounces excessand seeks the essential. This isthe first aspect of conversion: de-tachment from sin and worldliness:commencing a journey of detach-ment from these things.

The other aspect of conversionis the aim of the journey, that is,the search for God and his king-dom. Detachment from worldlythings and seeking God and hiskingdom. Abandoning comfortsand a worldly mentality is not anend in itself; it is not an ascesisonly to do penance: a Christian isnot a “fakir”. It is something else.Detachment is not an end in it-self, but is a means of attainingsomething greater, namely, theKingdom of God, communionwith God, friendship with God.But this is not easy, because thereare many ties that bind us closelyto sin; and it is not easy....Temptation always pulls down,pulls down, and thus, the tiesthat keep us close to sin: incon-

stancy, discouragement, malice,unwholesome environments, badexamples. At times the yearningwe feel toward the Lord is tooweak and it almost seems thatGod is silent; his promises ofconsolation seem far away andunreal to us, like the image of thecaring and attentive shepherd,which resounds today in the read-ing from Isaiah (cf. 40:1, 11). Andso one is tempted to say that it isimpossible to truly convert. Howoften we have heard this discour-agement! “No, I can’t do it. Ibarely start and then I turnback”. And this is bad. But it ispossible. It is possible. When youhave this discouraging thought,do not remain there, because thisis quicksand. It is quicksand: thequicksand of a mediocre exist-ence. This is mediocrity. Whatcan we do in these cases, whenone would like to go but feels heor she cannot do it? First of all,remind ourselves that conversionis a grace: no one can convert byhis or own strength. It is a gracethat the Lord gives you, and thuswe need to forcefully ask God forit. To ask God to convert us, thatwe can truly convert, to the de-gree in which we open ourselvesup to the beauty, the goodness,the tenderness of God. Thinkabout God’s tenderness. God isnot a bad father, an unkind fath-er, no. He is tender. He loves us

so much, like the Good Shep-herd, who searches for the lastmember of his flock. It is love,and this is conversion: a grace ofGod. Begin to walk, because it ishe who moves you to walk, andyou will see how he will arrive.Pray, walk, and you will alwaystake a step forward.

May Mary Most Holy, whomwe will celebrate the day after to-morrow as the Immaculate Con-ception, help us to separateourselves more and more from sinand worldliness, in order to openourselves to God, to his Word, tohis love which restores and saves.

After the Angelus, the Holy Fath-er continued:

Dear brothers and sisters, Iwholeheartedly greet all of youpresent here — with this badweather, you are courageous —people of Rome and pilgrims,and those who are connectedthrough the media.

As you see, the Christmas treehas been raised in the Square andthe Nativity scene is being set up.In these days, these two signs ofChristmas are being prepared alsoin many homes, to the delight ofchildren … and adults too! Theyare signs of hope, especially inthis difficult time. Let us be surewe do not stop with the sign, butget to the meaning, that is, toJesus, to the love of God that herevealed to us; get to the infinitegoodness that he made shine onthe world. There is no pandemic,there is no crisis that can extin-guish this light. Let us allow it toenter our heart, and let us lend ahand to those who need it most.In this way God will be bornanew in us and in our midst.

I wish everyone a happySunday. Please, do not forget topray for me. Enjoy your lunch.Ar r i v e d e rc i !

[Responding to the cheersfrom the Square]. Those of theImmaculate are good!


ANGELUS

At the Angelus on Tuesday, 8 December, Solemnity of theImmaculate Conception of Mary, Pope Francis invited thefaithful to offer “our Mother the flowers that she enjoys themost: prayer, penance, a heart open to grace”. The following isa translation of the Holy Father’s words which he shared withthe faithful gathered in Saint Peter’s Square.

The flowers most pleasing to Mary

Prayer, penance and an open heartDear Brothers and Sisters,Good morning!To day’s liturgical feast celebratesone of the wonders of the historyof salvation: the ImmaculateConception of the Virgin Mary.Even she was saved by Christ,but in an extraordinary way, be-cause God wanted that the moth-er of his Son not be touched bythe misery of sin from the mo-ment of conception. And thus,for the entire course of herearthly life, Mary was free fromany stain of sin, she was “full ofgrace” (Lk 1:28), as the angelcalled her. She was favoured by aunique action of the Holy Spiritso as to always remain in perfectrelationship with her Son, Jesus.Indeed, she was Jesus’ disciple:his Mother and disciple. Butthere was no sin in her.

In the magnificent hymn thatopens the Letter to the Ephesians(cf. 1:3-6, 11-12), Saint Paul makesus understand that every humanbeing is created by God for thatfullness of holiness, for thatbeauty in which Our Lady wasclothed from the beginning. Thegoal to which we are called is alsoa gift of God for us, for which,the Apostle says he “chose us in

him before the foundation of theworld, that we should be holyand blameless before him” (v. 4);he predestined us (cf. v. 5), inChrist to be totally free from sinone day. And this is the grace, itis free, it is a gift of God.

And what Mary had from thebeginning, will be ours in theend, after we have passedthrough the purifying “bath” ofGo d’s grace. What opens thegates of paradise to us is God’sgrace, received by us with faith-fulness. All the saints walked thispath. Even the most innocentwere, nevertheless, marked by ori-ginal sin and fought with all theirstrength against its consequences.They passed through the “n a r ro wdo or” that leads to life (cf. Lk13:24). And do you know who isthe first person we are sureentered paradise? Do you knowwho? A “ru f f i a n ”: one of the twowho was crucified with Jesus.And he turned to Jesus saying:“Jesus, remember me when youcome into your kingdom”. AndHe responded: “Today you willbe with me in paradise” (Lk23:42-43). Brothers and sisters,Go d’s grace is offered to every-one; and many who are the least

on this earth will be the first inheaven (cf. Mk 10:31).

But be careful. It does not payto be clever — to continuallypostpone a serious evaluation ofone’s own life, taking advantageof the Lord’s patience. He is pa-tient. He waits for us. He is al-ways ready to give us grace. Wemay be able to deceive people,but not God; he knows ourhearts better than we doourselves. Let us take advantageof the present moment! This, yes,is the Christian sense of seizingthe day. Not to enjoy life in eachpassing moment — no, this is theworldly sense. But to seize today,to say “no” to evil and “yes” toGod, to open oneself to his grace,to once and for all stop fallingback on ourselves, draggingourselves into hypocrisy and toface our own reality as we are —to recognize that we have notloved God and neighbour as weshould have. And to confess it.This is the beginning of a journeyof conversion, asking God’s par-don first of all in the Sacramentof Reconciliation, and then to re-pair the harm done to others. Butalways open to grace: the Lordknocks on our door, he knockson our heart to enter into friend-

ship with us, in communion, togive us salvation.

And this, for us, is the path forbecoming “holy and immaculate”.The uncontaminated beauty ofour Mother is incomparable, butat the same time it attracts us. Letus entrust ourselves to her andsay “no” to sin and “yes” toGrace once and for all.

After the Angelus, the Holy Fathercontinued:

Dear brothers and sisters, Igreet all of you, the faithful fromRome, and pilgrims from variouscountries, and I greet the “Imma-colata” group, today, on the Feastof the Immaculate Conception:they are great, they are alwaysh e re !

Today, the members of ItalianCatholic Action renew their com-mitment to the Association. I ex-tend my greeting to them andwish them a good journey. I praythat Christ may be formed inyou, as Saint Paul wrote, and thatyou may be artisans of fraternity.

I greet the representatives ofthe city of Rocca di Papa who,according to tradition, will lightthe Christmas star on the city’sfortress today. May the light ofChrist always illuminate yourc o m m u n i t y.

As you know, this afternoonthe traditional veneration of theImmaculate Conception in Piazzadi Spagna will not take place.But this does not keep us fromoffering our Mother the flowersthat she enjoys the most: prayer,penance, a heart open to Grace.Nonetheless, early this morning, Iwent privately to Piazza diSpagna and then to Saint MaryMajor where I celebrated Mass.

I wish everyone a Happy FeastDay. And, please do not forget topray for me. Enjoy your lunch.Ar r i v e d e rc i !

After his private moment of prayer be-fore the Statue of Our Lady in Piazzadi Spagna early on Tuesday morning, 8December, Pope Francis visited the Ba-silica of Saint Mary Major where hemade an offering of white roses andprayed before the icon, Salus Populi Ro-mani. There, the Pontiff celebratedHoly Mass in the Nativity Crypt andrecited a prayer to Saint Joseph on theoccasion of the publication of his newApostolic Letter Patris Corde on the150th Anniversary of the Proclamationof Saint Joseph as Patron of the Univer-sal Church.

At Saint Mary Major

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