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Holy Father once again reiterates need to forgive all debts to show the true value of wealth as God intended

    In his most recent regular weekly Wednesday Papal Audience in St. Peter's Square, Pope John Paul II continued his treatise on the Theological Virtue of Charity, this week concentrating on forgiving one's neighbor of debt especially richer nations towards third world or poorer nations. He didn't stop there, entreating all Christians to consider forgiving debts as a new beginning for the Jubilee Year 2000. For the Pope's words on his talk, "Jubilee calls for Economic Solidarity," click on THE VICAR OF CHRIST SPEAKS.

"Jubilee calls for Economic Solidarity"

Papal Audience Address from Wednesday, October 13, 1999

    On this past Wednesday, the Holy Father addressed over 12,000 in St. Peter's Square in calling for all nations to reduce the burden of international debt. He warned that in the global economy that if nations and peoples are not in solidarity, there could be dire consequences in all aspects of society and culture from the fallout of the haves to the havenots because of the insurmountable debts being piled up that will prevent man from fully living in human dignity and further burden the lenders as well. He emphasized the importance of forgiveness and the value of ethics of those who are responsible for reducing the debts and entreated them to be Christ-like in their approach and use wealth for the common good.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

1. "Come, blessed of My Father, receive the inheritance of the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. Because, I was hungry and you gave Me to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me to drink ..." (Matthew 25: 34-35).

    This Evangelical word helps us to make our reflection on charity concrete, spurring us to be set on fire, according to indications in the "Tertio Millennio Adveniente" (Cf. n. 51) with some words of commitment that are particularly consonant with the spirit of the Great Jubilee that we are preparing to celebrate.

    In this connection, it is opportune to refer to the Biblical Jubilee. Described in chapter 25 of the Book of Leviticus, in certain aspects this Jubilee reiterates and expresses more completely the function of the Sabbatical year (Cf. vv. 2-7, 188-22), which is the year in which one had to abstain from cultivating the earth. The Jubilee year occurred after a period of 49 years. It was also characterized by abstention of the cultivation of crops(Cf. vv. 8-12), but it implied two advantageous norms for the Israelites. The first concerned the recovery of both land and buildings (Cf vv. 13-17, 23-34); the second concerned the liberation of the Israelite, who had been sold as a slave to another Israelite to pay off his own debts (Cf. vv. 39-55).

2. The Christian Jubilee, which was first celebrated by Boniface VIII in 1300, has its own specific nature, but it does not lack content that recalls the Biblical Jubilee.

    In so far as the possession of real estate is concerned, the normative of the Biblical Jubilee rested on the principle according to which the "earth belongs to God" and, therefore, given for the benefit of the entire community. Because of this, if an Israelite had lost his land, the Jubilee year enabled him to regain possession of it. "The lands cannot be sold forever, because the land is mine and you are to me as foreigners and tenants. Because of this, in the whole country that you possess, you will give the right to rescue the land" (Leviticus 25, 23-24).

    The Christian Jubilee calls us to an ever greater awareness of the social values of the Biblical Jubilee that it hopes to interpret and re-propose in the contemporary context, reflecting on the demands of the common good and on the universal destiny of the goods of the earth. Precisely from this point of view, in the "Tertio Millennio Adveniente" I proposed that the Jubilee be lived as "an opportune time to think, among other things, of a consistent reduction, if not the outright cancellation, of the international debt, that weighs on the future of many nations" (TMA, 51).

3. In connection with this problem, typical of so many vulnerable countries, in the encyclical "Populorum Progression," Paul VI affirmed that a dialogue is necessary between those who provide the means and those who are the beneficiaries, in such a way as "to measure the contributions not only according to the generosity and disposition of some, but also in connection with the real needs and the possibility of use of others. In this way, the developing countries will no longer run the risk of seeing themselves overwhelmed by debts, the payment of which ends by absorbing the best of their earnings" (PP, 54). In the encyclical "Sollicitudo Rei Socialis" I was compelled to point out that, unfortunately, the change in circumstances -- be it in indebted countries or in the international financial market -- have made of the financing itself a "counter-productive mechanism," and this "either because the debtor nations, to pay back the commitment to the debt, see themselves obliged to export capitals which are necessary for growth, or even, just to maintain their level of life, because, for the same reason, they cannot obtain indispensable new financing" (n. 19).

4. The problem is complex and has no easy solution. It must also be clear that it is not only of an economic character, but involves fundamental ethical principles and must find a place in international law, to be addressed and adequately resolved according to medium and long-term perspectives. It is necessary to apply an "ethics of survival" that regulates relations between creditors and debtors, in such a way that the debtor in difficulty is not burdened by an unbearable weight. It is a question of avoiding abusive speculation, of agreeing to solutions through which those who lend are more reassured and those who receive feel committed to effective global reforms in so far as the political, bureaucratic, financial and social aspects of their countries are concerned (Cf. Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, At the Service of the Human Community. An Ethical Appreciation of the International Debt, II).

    Today, in the context of the globalized economy, the problem of international debt is increasingly thorny, but 'globalization' itself demands that one walk on the road of solidarity, if we do not want to meet with general catastrophe.

5. Precisely in the context of these considerations we make our own the virtually universal request that we have received through the recent Synods, from many Episcopal Conferences and of individual brother Bishops, as well as a large number of representations of religious, priests and laity of making a heartfelt appeal so that the debts contracted may be partially or even totally cancelled at the international level. In particular, the request for payment of exorbitant interests would necessitate taking political decisions that would leave entire populations in hunger and misery.

    This perspective of solidarity, which I had the occasion to point out in "Centesimus Annus" (Cf. n. 35) has become even more urgent in the world situation of the last few years. The Jubilee can be a propitious occasion for gestures of good will: may the richer countries give signs of trust regarding the economic improvement of the poorer nations; may the market agents know that in the vertiginous process of economic globalization it is not possible to save oneself alone. May the gesture of good will to cancel the debt or at least to reduce it be the sign to the world of a new way of considering wealth in function of the common good.

---

Retired Bishop of Sion Cardinal Henri Schwery is Switzerland's only cardinal

    We continue with this special series introducing you to the Princes of the Church. Our one-hundred-twentieth red-hat we feature, in alphabetical order is 79 year-old Cardinal Henri Schwery, Switzerland's sole member of the Sacred Conclave. Born and raised in the Diocese of Sion, he has spent practically his entire life there including the chief shepherd there from 1977 to 1995 when he retired. He was elevated to the cardinalate during Pope John Paul II's Consistory of June 28, 1991. For more on Cardinal Henri Schwery, click on COLLEGE OF CARDINALS COLLECTION

120.   Cardinal Henri Schwery

    Cardinal Henri Schwery, the former Bishop of Sion, was born in Saint-Leonard, Switzerland on June 14, 1932. Coming from an unusually large Catholic family, he was the youngest and his parents and siblings watched over him and instilled in him a vocation to the priesthood. The family realized this goal when he was ordained a priest in the Diocese of Sion on July 7, 1957. After more studies and some pastoral work he was assigned in 1958 to teach in the Diocese while also becoming the Diocesan Chaplain for the Catholic Student Movement in Switzerland, abbreviated JEC/JECF where he remained until 1966 when he became Rector of the College in Sion after several years as director of the minor seminary in Sion. He was also appointed in 1958 a military chaplain, a position he maintained until July 22, 1977 when Pope Paul VI made him a bishop and he was installed as the Bishop of Sion, his home diocese on September 17, 1977.

    He served as the Bishop of Sion from then until April 1, 1995 when he officially retired because of health. He was twice was elected President of the Episcopal Conference of Swiss Bishops and served membership in the Congregation for Catholic Education from 1978 through 1983. Finaly, at the age of 59 Pope John Paul II named him in the Consistory of June 28, 1991 when he received his red-hat and the titular church of the Protomartyrs on via Aurelia Antica. He still enjoys membership in the curial offices of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Disipline of the Sacraments, the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, the Congregation for the Clergy and the Pontifical Council for Social Communications. Today, he rests still in his home diocese of Sion at C.P. 2334 rue Mathieu-Schiner 5, CH-1950 Sion 2 in Switzerland.

Appreciation of rebuilding bridges with those who turned their backs on the Church

    Today we continue our short series on the Church's vigilance in the face of Protestantism with an eye on both the Reformation and Reconciliation, something that has begun with the historic concordat signed last Sunday in Augsburg, Germany on the 482nd anniversary of where the Reformation began. For the forty-seventh installment, click on APPRECIATING THE PRECIOUS GIFT OF OUR FAITH

THE CHURCH'S VIGILANCE IN THE FACE OF PROTESTANTISM

    Today more than ever before, the various Protestant denominations are making great efforts to unite among themselves. There is a wholesome leaning towards the Mother Church, the Apostolic Church; and a better understanding of many of her doctrines as we covered in Friday's installment and the historic landmark Declaration of Justification concord signed last Sunday in Germany. It seems that the hour is near when all the Christian Churches will return to the Mother Church. Division will disappear, the scandal of dissensions will cease, and there will be "One Shepherd" and "One Flock".

    Catholics should observe an attitude of understanding towards them, because the majority of those who do not belong to the True Church are in good faith.

    Catholic teachings are not easy to understand at first sight; many Catholic practices require sacrifice. Towards such a religion there is bound to be prejudice. In addition, many Catholics don't even understand their Faith, especially today where the Catechism has just recently been revived and generations have been deprived of truly knowing their Faith. Thus they fall into traps when discussing their own Faith and are easy fodder for evangelicals who are ready to pounce. If one's faith is not strong and based on terra firma then doubt can easily set in and their faith in the True Faith can get washed away in the sands of confusion and doubt.

    There are other hardships involved for Jesus says that the path is narrow and we must carry our cross if we want to be His disciples. To be obliged to go to Mass every Sunday under pain of mortal sin; to have to confess to a priest, who is another human being like ourselves; to condemn divorce and birth control; to observe fasts and abstinence; - these are not easy doctrines. Especially today they go against the grain of public opinion and the easy way.

    No wonder in looking for relief, man often, however unconsciously, seeks motives for not accepting the Church that commands its members to obey such precepts; to accept such doctrines. When Our Lord first announced the institution of the Holy Eucharist, many of the disciples said: "This is a hard saying. Who can listen to it?" (John 6:62). And they no longer went with Jesus.

    Catholics should above all try to give good example; nothing is more effective in the eyes of non-Catholics than the exemplary lives led by good Catholics. "Behave yourselves honorably among the pagans; that, whereas they sander you as evildoers, they may through observing you by reason of your good works glorify God in the day of visitations" (1 Peter 2:12). While avoiding useless discussions that generally end in bitter quarrels. Catholics should try to show the beauty, the truth of the Catholic Church. That is why it is so important Catholics know their Faith, know how to express it to others. As we near the new millennium apologetics has become paramount in defending the Faith.

    In our friendly discussions with non-Catholics we should not be always on the defensive, but should try to see whether they can trace the origin of the authority of their ministers to the Apostles, whether their church can be proved the True Church by the possession of the four marks. Often our non-Catholic friends criticize the Catholic Church on account of some devotional practices like holy water, candles, etc., as if such practices belonged to the essentials of faith.

    Catholics should often pray for the conversion of those outside the Church, praying with the Good Shepherd for only one Fold. When discussing religion with a non-Catholic, it is most important to persuade him to pray for the grace of God. To become a member of the Church is a gratuitous gift of God: one must humbly pray for it. In any discussion with another, we should always remember Christ's words to treat our neighbor as ourselves with love toward all and malice toward none.

Tomorrow: The Existence of Purgatory part one

    On this day 1,602 years ago in 397 Saint Martin of Tours was called to his Heavenly home after a life of dedication to God. He fought valiantly for the Church against heresy and was not afraid to preach to royalty as well as the pauper. His feast day is celebrated in the universal Church this Thursday. For other pertinent events throughout the centuries that are memorable in Church history today, click on MILLENNIUM MILESTONES AND MEMORIES

Historical Events in Church Annals for November 8:

397 A.D.


Death of Saint Martin of Tours, Bishop who is one of the patron saints of France. He was a great intercessor with kings, emperors and popes on behalf of his flocks and fought heresies with every ounce of his breath. Though his feast day is celebrated on November 11, he died on this day late in the fourth century.

618 A.D.


Death of Pope Saint Deusdedit I, 68th successor of Peter who was elected on October 10, 615. With heroic abnegation he tended lepers and the plaguestricken as a humble Supreme Pontiff. He was the first to use seals of lead for Papal Bulls and pontifical decrees. His is the oldest pontifical seal preserved in the Vatican.

1308 A.D.


Death of Blessed John Duns Scotus, Scottish Franciscan and theologian who was a professor and prolific writer. He died at Cologne. Because he adhered to the philosophies of Aristotle and Saint Augustine and not the more popular Saint Thomas Aquinas some of the Dominicans equated the word "Duns" with "dunce" which forever has meant one who is not a smart pupil. Scotus was anything but a dunce.

    Today is the Thirty-second Monday in Ordinary Time while tomorrow we celebrate the Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica For the readings, liturgies, meditations, and vignette on tomorrow's feast, click on DAILY LITURGY.

Monday, November 8, 1998

Monday November 8:
Thirty-second Monday in Ordinary Time

Green vestments

First Reading: Wisdom 1: 1-7
Psalms: Psalm 139: 1-10, 24
Gospel Reading: Luke 17: 1-6

Tuesday November 9:
Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome

White vestments

First Reading: 1 Kings 8: 22-23, 27-30 or Ephesians 2: 19-22
Psalms: 1 Chronicles/Paralipomenon 29: 10-13
Gospel Reading: Matthew 5: 23-24

      Known as "Christianity's first cathedral" and the "mother of all churches", the Lateran Basilica was the first church built by the Emperor Constantine after the Edict of Milan in 313. In 314 Constantine gave Pope Saint Miltiades the old palace on Monte Celio which had formerly been land owned by the patrician Laterani family. Constantine also decreed that the popes should live in the Lateran palace which was called the Patriarchate. It would remain the pontifical residence until the 15th Century, but the basilica itself would be in peril throughout the centuries. The successor to Pope Miltiades was Pope Saint Sylvester I who officially consecrated the basilica in 324 and dedicated it to Christ the Savior with Constantine's blessings. Eighty some years later the barbarian Alaric sacked the basilica; likewise the pagan Genseric in 455. It was the great Pope Saint Leo the Great who rebuilt it in 460. Three centuries later a devastating fire swept through the basilica and it was left to Pope Hadrian I in 785. A little over a century later an earthquake rocked Rome and practically destroyed the entire basilica. In 909 Pope Sergius III rebuilt the basilica and dedicated it to Saint John the Baptist. It was also dedicated to the other St. John - Saint John the Evangelist by Pope Lucius II in 1144. During the papacy of Pope Clement V the basilica was again heavily damaged by fire in 1308. No sooner was it rebuilt then another fire swept through in 1360 while Pope Innocent VI, the 199th in the line of Peter, was pontiff. It was so devastating that when Pope Gregory XI returned from exile in Avignon in the 1370's, he moved both the residential palace and the head of the See from the Caelian Hill to Vatican Hill which the Roman Senate had donated to the Pope. While the Lateran Basilica laid in ruins Gregory gave special prominence to Saint Mary Major Basilica for gaining a jubilee indulgence since people could not go on pilgrimage to the Lateran Basilica at that time. It was left to Pope Sixtus V to have the ruins of the Lateran torn down and in its place replaced them with late-Renaissance structures which he commissioned architect Domenico Fontana to construct. The only structure not torn down was the Pope's private chapel which was saved. Sixtus was known as the builder of churches and urban renewal projects. He also had the Holy Stairs (Scala Santa), which had been brought to Rome from Jerusalem by Saint Helena in the 4th Century, moved from the old palace residence to the entrance of the Sancta Sanctorum (Pope's private, holy chapel). This staircase was believed to be the one Jesus ascended in the palace of Pontius Pilate. In 1645 Pope Innocent X commissioned one of the leading Baroque architects Francesco Borromini to complete the interior of St. John Lateran's by the Jubilee Year of 1650. Nearly eighty years later later Pope Clement XII held a competition among architects to submit the best design for a new facade of the Lateran Basilica. Italian master Alessandro Galilei completed the work in 1735. The exterior of the Basilica today is a tribute to his work which aptly depicts a huge statue of Jesus holding the Cross of Redemption, the cross which Helena found and which her son saw miraculously in the sky on the eve before his victory and ultimate conversion. Flanking Our Lord at the top of the columned flat roof are a 15 gigantic statues of Saints and Doctors of the Church. The main bronze door into the church was the original one that closed the senate house and was built by the Emperor Julius Caesar in 44 BC. The magnificent massive statues of the apostles, chiseled by Italian master Gian Lorenzo Bernini, consume most of the columned side walls of the interior of the Basilica.

     There have been five Ecumenical Councils held over the centuries at the Lateran Basilica and numerous diocesan synods. The Lateran Pacts signed by and Benito Mussolina on February 11, 1929 which defined the territory and status of the State of Vatican City was signed at the Basilica. Sadly, the devastation of this magnificent structure was not limited to the middle centuries, for on July 27, 1992 a bomb, planted by the Italian Mafia in retaliation of Pope John Paul II's stand against the crime organization, exploded at the Roman Vicariate of the Basilica, causing great damage. It was restored in January of this year and it was of special significance when our present Holy Father celebrated Holy Thursday liturgy there this past Lent, symbollically washing the feet of priests who had been chosen from all over the world in the Pope's display of what Jesus asks: to be the servant of the servants. The November 9th date for celebrating the feast of the Dedication of this great Basilica evolves from early in the 1100's when almost all the churches dedicated to Jesus chose this date to celebrate a miraculous event that happened in Beirut, Lebanon prior to the Nicene Council there in 787. The phenomenon occurred when a crazed man struck a statue of Our Lord with a sword and the statue, though made of stone, bled profusely as blood poured out in torrents. It was not until 1565, that Pope Pius IV decreed it be celebrated throughout the Church. Since this was the first church of Christianity, it is considered the "mother of churches throughout the world" and served as the seat of Christianity for a thousand years.

     With the messages completed, you can now order the book that contains ALL the messages. This much-anticipated 224-page book of ALL the messages to the world imparted to the Hidden Flower of the Immaculate Heart from the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary is a lasting gift that will inspire you in your faith, and all God asks of us. You can acquire your own handsome, coffee-table top copy of "I SOLEMNLY TELL YOU..." containing all 632 messages or the THE HIDDEN WAY containing 100 inspirational Meditative Lessons from Our Lord and Our Lady on Church Doctrine by clicking on "I SOLEMNLY TELL YOU..." or THE HIDDEN WAY or both books at BOOKS

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November 8, 1999 volume 10, no. 211  DAILY CATHOLIC