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Fifty-third year, number 19 (2.646) Vatican City Friday, 8 May 2020

Higher Committee of Human Fraternity calls to join together on 14 May

A day of prayer, fasting and works of charityThe Holy Father has accepted theproposal of the Higher Commit-tee of Human Fraternity to callfor a day of prayer, of fasting andworks of charity on Thursday, 14May, to be observed by all menand women “believers in God,the All-Creator”. The proposal isaddressed to all religious leadersand to people around the worldto implore God to help humanityovercome the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.

The appeal released on Sat-urday, 2 May, reads: “Our worldis facing a great danger thatthreatens the lives of millions ofpeople around the world due tothe growing spread of thecoronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.While we reaffirm the role ofmedicine and scientific researchin fighting this pandemic, weshould not forget to seek refugein God, the All-Creator, as weface such severe crisis. Therefore,we call on all peoples around theworld to do good deeds, observefast, pray, and make devout sup-plications to God Almighty toend this pandemic. Each onefrom wherever they are and ac-cording to the teachings of theirreligion, faith, or sect, should im-plore God to lift this pandemicoff us and the entire world, torescue us all from this adversity,to inspire scientists to find a curethat can turn back this disease,and to save the whole world fromthe health, economic, and humanrepercussions of this serious pan-demic.

“As part of its efforts to realizethe objectives of the Documenton Human Fraternity, the HigherCommittee of Human Fraternitysuggests announcing ThursdayMay 14th, 2020, a day for fasting,prayers, and supplications for thegood of all humanity. As such,the Committee invites all reli-gious leaders and peoples aroundthe world to respond to this callfor humanity and together be-seech God Almighty to safeguardthe entire world, to help us over-come this pandemic, to restore se-curity, stability, healthiness, andprosperity, so that, after this pan-demic is over, our world will be-come a better place for humanityand fraternity than ever before”.

General Audience

A cry that touchesGo d’s heart

PAGE 3

John Paul I Vatican Foundation

The timeliness ofPope Luciani

PAROLIN ON PA G E 4

Ramadan Message

Protecting together theplaces of worship

PAGE 9

Domus Sanctae Marthae

Summaries of the HolyFa t h e r ’s meditations

PAGES 10, 11

L’OSSERVATORE ROMANOWEEKLY EDITION

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page 2 L’OSSERVATORE ROMANO Friday, 8 May 2020, number 19

VAT I C A NBULLETIN

AUDIENCES

Saturday, 2 May

Cardinal Marc Ouellet, PSS, Prefectof the Congregation for BishopsCardinal Gualtiero Bassetti, Arch-bishop of Perugia-Città della Pieve,Italy, President of the Italian Epis-copal ConferenceBishop Ambrogio Spreafico ofFrosinone-Veroli-Ferentino, ItalyCardinal Angelo Becciu, Special del-egate to the Sovereign Military Or-der of MaltaMonday, 4 May

Meeting of the Heads of the Dicas-teries of the Roman CuriaTuesday, 5 May

Cardinal Angelo Becciu, Prefect ofthe Congregation for the Causes ofSaints

CHANGES IN EP I S C O PAT E

The Holy Father accepted the resig-nation of Bishop Luigi Stucchi fromhis office as Auxiliary Bishop of theArchdiocese of Milan, Italy (30A p r. ) .The Holy Father accepted the resig-nation of Bishop Erminio De Scalzifrom his office as Auxiliary Bishopof the Archdiocese of Milan, Italy(30 Apr.).The Holy Father appointed Fr Gio-vanni Luca Raimondi as AuxiliaryBishop of Milan, assigning him thetitular episcopal See of Feradimaius. Until he has served as epis-

copal vicar for the Territorial zone IVof Milan (30 Apr.).

Bishop-elect Raimondi, 56, wasborn in Cernusco sul Naviglio, Italy.He attended the Diocesan MinorSeminary of Milan. He was or-dained a priest on 13 June 1992.

The Holy Father appointed Fr Gi-useppe Natale Vegezzi as AuxiliaryBishop of Milan, assigning him thetitular episcopal See of Turres Con-cordiae. Until now he has served asepiscopal vicar for the TerritorialZone II of Milan (30 Apr.).

Bishop-elect Vegezzi, 60, wasborn in Nerviano, Italy. He was or-dained a priest on 9 June 1984.The Holy Father appointed FrAlessandro Damiano as coadjutorArchbishop of the MetropolitanArchdiocese of Agrigento, Italy. Un-til now he has served as vicar gener-al of the said diocese (30 Apr.).

Archbishop-elect Damiano, 59,was born in Trapani, Italy. He holdsa licence in moral theology and incanon law. He was ordained a prieston 24 April 1987.

The Holy Father accepted the resig-nation of Bishop Cyprian Monisfrom his office as Bishop of Asansol,India (4 May).The Holy Father accepted the resig-nation of Bishop Salvatore Lobofrom his office as Bishop ofBaruipur, India (4 May).The Holy Father appointed BishopShyamal Bose as Bishop ofBaruipur. Until now he has served

as Coadjutor of the said Diocese (4May).

Bishop Bose, 59, was born in Gos-aba, India. He was ordained a prieston 5 May 1991. He was ordained abishop on 24 June 2019, subsequentto his appointment as coadjutorBishop of Baruipur.

The Holy Father appointed Fr NoelAndrew Rucastle as Bishop ofOudtshoorn, South Africa. Untilnow he has served as parish priest ofOur Lady of Fatima Parish, and ju-dicial vicar (4 May).

Bishop-elect Rucastle, 52, wasborn in Kimberley, South Africa. Heholds a degree in theology. He wasordained a priest on 14 July 2000.

The Holy Father accepted the resig-nation of Bishop Robert DanielConlon from his office as Bishop ofJoliet in Illinois, USA (4 May).The Holy Father appointed FrJacques Assanvo Ahiwa as AuxiliaryBishop of the Archdiocese of Bou-aké, Côte d’Ivoire, assigning him thetitular episcopal See of Elephantariain Mauretania. Until now he hasserved as lecturer at the Universityof Strasbourg (5 May).

Bishop-elect Ahiwa, 51, was bornin Kuindjabo, Ivory Coast. Heholds a doctorate in biblical theo-logy. He was ordained a priest on 13December 1997.

APOSTOLIC NUNCIO

The Holy Father appointed MsgrMitja Leskovar as Apostolic Nuncioin Iraq, at the same time raising himto the dignity of archbishop and as-signing him the titular episcopal Seeof Benevento. Until now he hasserved as Counsellor to the Nunci-ature (1 May).The Holy Father appointed MsgrHenryk Mieczysław Jagodziński asApostolic Nuncio in Ghana, at thesame time raising him to the dignityof archbishop and assigning him thetitular episcopal See of Limosano.Until now he has served as counsel-lor to the Nunciature (3 May).

ORDER OF BISHOPS

The Holy Father has appointed asmember of the Order of BishopsCardinal Beniamino Stella, Prefectof the Congregation for the Clergy,assigning him the title of the Subur-bicarian Church of Porto-SantaRufina (1 May).

VICE CAMERLENGO OF THEHO LY ROMAN CHURCH

The Holy Father appointed as ViceCamerlengo of the Holy RomanChurch Archbishop Ilson de JesusMontanari, titular Archbishop ofCapocilla and Secretary of the Con-gregation for Bishops (1 May).

CO N G R E G AT I O N FORCAT H O L I C ED U C AT I O N

The Holy Father has appointed asconsultors of the Congregation forCatholic Education the following:Dr. Sjur Bergan, head of the De-partment of Higher Education andHistory Teaching at the Council ofEurope, Norway-France, and Pro-fessor Gerald M. Cattaro, professorand executive director of the Centerfor Catholic School Leadership Ad-ministration and Policy at FordhamUniversity, New York, United Statesof America (25 Apr.).

PONTIFICAL COUNCIL FORCU LT U R E

The Holy Father appointed as officehead of the Pontifical Council forCulture Fr Lech Piechota, study as-sistant in the said Pontifical Council(4 May).

PONTIFICAL IN T E R N AT I O N A LMARIAN ACADEMY

The Holy Father appointed as sec-retary of the Pontifical InternationalMarian Academy Fr GilbertoCavazos González, OFM (4 May)

InternationalEucharistic Congress

p ostp onedThe Director of the Holy SeePress Office Matteo Bruni an-nounced on Thursday, 23 April,that: “Due to the current healthcrisis and its consequences forthe movement and gathering ofthe faithful and pilgrims, theHoly Father, along with thePontifical Committee for Inter-national Eucharistic Congressesand with the Hungarian Epis-copate, has decided to postponethe 52nd International Euchar-istic Congress, scheduled to takeplace in September 2020, toSeptember 2021”.

Rescriptum ex Audientia S S.MIThe Supreme Pontiff Francis

in the Audience granted to the undersigned Substitute for General Af-fairs on 14 April 2020, decided to co-opt into the Order of Bishops, of-fering him equal standing among all the Cardinals honoured with thetitle of a suburbicarian church, as an exception to canons 350 §§1-2and 352 §§2-3 CIC, His Eminence Cardinal Luis Antonio G. Tagle, ofthe Title of S. Felice da Cantalice a Centocelle, Prefect of the Con-gregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.

This Rescriptum shall be promulgated with its publication in “L’Os-servatore Romano”, entering into force on 1 May 2020, and then pub-lished in the Acta Apostolicae Sedis.

From the Vatican, 1 May 2020.

A rc h b i s h o p ED GAR PEÑA PARRASubstitute

CONTINUED ON PA G E 8

number 19, Friday, 8 May 2020 L’OSSERVATORE ROMANO page 3

New series of catecheses dedicated to prayer

A cry that touches God’s heart

“Faith is a cry; lack of faith is the suppression of that cry”, PopeFrancis said at the General Audience on Wednesday morning, 6May, as he began a new series of catecheses dedicated to prayer.Speaking from the library of the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace, hereflected on the mystery of prayer as he commented on the day’sGospel passage, Mark 10:46-52, which recounts the healing ofblind Bartimaeus. The following is a translation of the HolyFa t h e r ’s words, which he delivered in Italian.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,Good morning!Today we begin a new series ofcatecheses on the theme of p ra y e r.Prayer is the breath of faith; it isits most proper expression. Like acry that issues from the heart ofthose who believe and entrustthemselves to God. Let us thinkabout the story of Bartimaeus, acharacter in the Gospel (cf. Mk10:46-52), and I confess that forme he is the most likeable of all.He was blind and sat begging foralms by the roadside on the peri-phery of his city, Jericho. He isnot an anonymous character. Hehas a face and a name: Bartim-aeus, that is, “son of Timaeus”.One day he heard that Jesuswould be passing through there.In fact, Jericho was a crossroadsof people, continually criss-crossed by pilgrims and trades-men. Thus, Bartimaeus posi-tioned himself: he would havedone anything possible to meetJesus. So many people did thesame. Let us recall Zacchaeuswho climbed up the tree. Manywanted to see Jesus; he did too.In this way the man enters theGospels as a voice that loudlycries out. He cannot see. He doesnot know whether Jesus is near orfar away but he hears him. Heunderstands this from the crowdwhich, at a certain point, growsand comes closer…. But he iscompletely alone and no one isconcerned about him. And whatdoes Bartimaeus do? He criesout. And he cries out and contin-ues to cry out. He uses the onlyweapon he possesses: his voice.He begins to shout: “Jesus, Sonof David, have mercy on me!” ( v.47). And he continues to cry outin this manner. His repeated criesare a nuisance. They do not seempolite and many people scoldhim, telling him to be quiet: “Butbe polite; do not do this”.However, Bartimaeus does notkeep silent but rather cries outeven more loudly: “Jesus, Son ofDavid, have mercy on me!” ( v.47): That beautiful stubbornnessof those who seek a grace andknock and knock on the door ofGo d’s heart. He cries out; he

knocks. That expression: “Son ofD avid”, is very important. Itmeans “the Messiah” — he pro-fesses the Messiah. It is a profes-sion of faith that emerges fromthe mouth of that man who wasdespised by all. And Jesus listensto his cry. Bartimaeus’ prayertouches his heart, God’s heart,and the doors of salvation openup for him. Jesus calls for him.He jumps to his feet and thosewho had first told him to bequiet, now lead him to the Mas-ter. Jesus speaks to him. He askshim to express his desire — this isimportant — and then the cry be-comes a request: “that I may seeagain, Lord!” (cf. v. 51).

Jesus says to him: “Go yourway; your faith has made you well”(v. 52). He recognises in thatpoor, defenceless and despisedman, all the power of his faith,which attracts the mercy and thepower of God. Faith is havingtwo hands raised up, a voice thatcries out to implore the gift ofsalvation. The Catechism statesthat “humility is the foundationof prayer” (Catechism of the Cath-olic Church, 2559). Prayer is bornof the earth, of the humus f ro mwhich “humble”, “humility” de-rive. It comes from ourprecarious state, fromour continuous thirstfor God (cf. ibid., 2560-2561). Faith, as we haveseen with Bartimaeus,is a cry. Lack of faith isthe suppression of thatcry. That attitude thatthe people had, inmaking him keep quiet:they were not people offaith, whereas he was.To suppress that cry isa type of omertà (co deof silence). Faith is aprotest against a pitifulcondition the cause ofwhich we do not un-derstand. Lack of faithis to limit ourselves toendure a situation towhich we have becomeaccustomed. Faith isthe hope of beingsaved. Lack of faith isbecoming accustomedto the evil that op-

presses us and continuing in thatw a y.

Dear brothers and sisters, webegin this series of catecheseswith Bartimaeus’ cry because per-haps everything is already writtenin someone like him. Bartimaeusis a persevering man. He was sur-rounded by people who ex-plained that imploring was use-less, that it was clamouringwithout receiving a reply, that itwas noise that was only bother-some, and thus please stop cryingout. But he did not remain in si-lence. And in the end he ob-tained what he wanted.

Greater than any discussion tothe contrary, there is a voice inmankind’s heart that invokes. Weall have this voice within. A voicethat comes forth spontaneouslywithout anyone commanding it, avoice that asks itself about themeaning of our journey on earth,especially when we find ourselvesin darkness: “Jesus, have mercyon me! Jesus have mercy on me!”.This is a beautiful prayer.

But are these words perhapsnot chiselled in all of creation?Everything invokes and imploresso that the mystery of mercy may

be definitively fulfilled. Not onlyChristians pray; they share theircry of prayer with all men andwomen. But the horizon can befurther widened: Paul states thatall of creation “has been groaningin travail together until now”(Rom 8:22). Artists are often theinterpreters of this silent cry ofcreation that is found in everycreature and emerges above all inthe heart of men and women, be-cause they are “beggars beforeGo d” (CCC, 2559). It is a beauti-ful definition of mankind: “b eg-gars before God”. Thank you.

At the end of his catechesis, theHoly Father launched an appeal infavour of farm workers:

On 1st May, I received severalmessages about the world of workand its problems. I was particu-larly struck by that of the farmworkers, among them many mi-grants, who work in the Italiancountryside. Unfortunately, manyare very harshly exploited. It istrue that the current crisis affectseveryone, but people’s dignitymust always be respected. That iswhy I add my voice to the appealof these workers and of all ex-ploited workers. May the crisisgive us the opportunity to makethe dignity of the person and thedignity of work the centre of ourconcern.

SPECIAL GREETINGS

I greet the English-speakingfaithful joining us through themedia. In this Easter season, I in-voke upon you and your familiesthe joy and strength that comefrom the Risen Christ. May Godbless you!

I offer a special greeting toyoung people, the elderly, thesick and newlyweds. Trustinglyplace yourselves under the mater-nal protection of Mary and restassured that she will not fail tocomfort you in your time of trial.May the Lord Bless you and MayOur Lady protect you.

GENERAL AU D I E N C E

“Jesus heals the blind”, Stained Glass Inc.

page 4 L’OSSERVATORE ROMANO Friday, 8 May 2020, number 19

The John Paul I Vatican Foundation is born

The timeliness of Pope Luciani

Aims of the new Foundation

Pope Paul VI visits Venice on 16 September 1972, with Patriarch Albino Lucianiwho would later succeed him as Pope, taking the name John Paul I

PIETRO PAROLIN

Meeting the proposal to create anentity designated to study in depththe person, thought and teachings ofJohn Paul I (26 August 1978 – 28September 1978), on 17 February theHoly Father Francis constituted theJohn Paul I Vatican Foundation.

Pope John Paul I was and remainsa reference point in the history ofthe universal Church, whose import-ance — as Saint John Paul II p ointedout — is inversely proportional to theduration of his extremely brief Ponti-ficate “magisostentus quam datus”.

Albino Luciani’s life history isthat of a pastor close to the people,centred on the essential of faith andwith extraordinary social sensitivity.

matic work beginning from a gazeof faith. Then receiving more than100 representatives of internationalmissions present at the inaugurationof his Pontificate, he emphasizedthat “our heart is open to allpeoples, all cultures and all races”,to then affirm: “Of course, we donot have miraculous solutions forthe great world problems, howeverwe can offer something very pre-cious: a spirit that helps to dissolvethese problems and position them inthe essential dimension, that ofopenness to the values of universalcharity ... so that the Church,humble messenger of the Gospel toall peoples of the earth, may con-tribute to create a climate of justice,brotherhood, solidarity and hope,

The perspective marked by his briefPontificate was not a parenthetical.Although John Paul I’s governanceof the Church was not able to un-fold in history, he nevertheless con-tributed — explevit tempora multa —to strengthen the design of a Churchclose to the people’s suffering andto their thirst for charity.

Through the cause for the Canon-ization of John Paul Paul I to daythe acquisition of sources has beenaccomplished, launching a work ofimportant research and elaborationfrom a historical and historiographicviewpoint. Thus a proper restitutionof the memory of Pope Luciani isnow possible, so that his historical

value can be fully restored in thehistorical contingencies crossed withthe analytical rigour that he is dueand to open new study perspectiveson his work.

In this regard the constitution ofa new ad hoc Foundation can rightlyfulfil the task not only of protectingthe entire patrimony of the writingsand work of John Paul I, but alsoprovide incentive for the systematicstudy and dissemination of histhought and his spirituality. All themore motivated by the considerationof how extraordinarily timely hisperson and his message are.

* Cardinal, Secretary of State

Rescriptum ex Audientia S S.MI.The Holy Father, in the Audience granted to the undersigned Car-dinal Secretary of State on 10 February 2020, decided to institute theJohn Paul I Vatican Foundation, with canonical and civil juridicalcharacter and with its headquarters at the Secretariat of State.

The purpose of the Foundation is the promotion and disseminationof knowledge of the thought, works, and example of Pope John Paul I.

The Foundation shall be governed by canon law, by laws in forcein Vatican City and by the attached Statute, approved by the Su-preme Pontiff and to be understood as an integral part of this act.

The Holy Father has additionally appointed, in accordance withand for the purposes of article 7 of the Statute, the President of theFoundation in the person of the undersigned Secretary of State.

From the Vatican, 17 February 2020Cardinal PIETRO PAROLIN

Secretary of State of His Holiness

The Holy Father, with Rescriptum ex Audientia Ss.miof 17 February 2020, established the “John Paul I Va t -ican Foundation”, in accordance with the Code ofCanon Law and the fundamental Law of VaticanCity State, thereby meeting the proposal to create anentity designated to study in depth the person,thought and teachings of his venerable Predecessor,Pope John Paul I – Albino Luciani (26 August 1978– 28 September 1978) — and to promote the studyand dissemination of his writings (cf. Statute, art. 1).

More particularly the Foundation aims to:— protect and preserve the cultural and religious

patrimony left by Pope John Paul I— promote initiatives such as conferences, meet-

ings, seminars, study sessions;— institute awards and scholarships;— curate the editorial work through the publication

of study results and of its own research and that ofthird parties;

— to offer itself as a reference point, in Italy andabroad, for those who work in the same field andwith the same objectives (Statute, art. 2).

Concurrently, the Supreme Pontiff has appointedas President of the Foundation H.E. Cardinal PietroParolin, Secretary of State. In implementing what isestablished by art. 4, paragraph 1 of the Statute, thesaid President has appointed as members of the Ad-ministrative Board, for the duration of a five-yearterm, the following persons: Dr. Stefania Falasca,who also assumes the role of Vice President of theFoundation; Cardinal Beniamino Stella; Msgr AndreaCelli; Fr Davide Fiocco; Dr. Lina Petri; Dr. AlfonsoC a u t e ru c c i o .

In the performance of its activities the Foundationmay avail itself of a Scientific Committee, composedof six members, chosen from among persons ofproven competence and expertise, but with the pos-sibility of being temporarily expanded for particularinitiatives, projects, studies, research or consultations.

Closeness, humility, simplicity, insist-ence on the mercy of God, love ofneighbour and solidarity were his sa-lient traits. He was a bishop wholived the experience of the SecondVatican Ecumenical Council, appliedit, and in his brief Pontificate helpedthe Church advance along the mainpaths it indicated: a return to thewellsprings of the Gospel and a re-newed missionary approach, epis-copal collegiality, service in ecclesialpoverty, seeking Christian unity, in-terreligious dialogue, dialogue withcontemporaneity and internationaldialogue, conducted with persever-ance and determination, in favour ofjustice and peace.

I think, for example, of his Gen-eral Audiences and on his insistenceon ecclesial poverty, on universal fra-ternity and on active love for thepoor: he wanted to include amongthe traditional precepts of theChurch a command on the works ofsolidarity and he proposed it toItalian bishops.

I think of his appeal at the An -gelus of 10 September 1978 in favourof peace in the Middle East, withthe invitation to prayer addressed tothe Presidents of different faiths. Anappeal that he had previously ex-pressed in his address to the Diplo-matic Corps held on 31 August, inwhich, freeing himself from the pre-sumptions of geopolitical attention-seeking, he defined the nature andparticularity of the Holy See’s diplo-

without which the world cannotlive”. And thus, in the wake of theConciliar Constitution Gaudium etSpes, as in many of the messages ofSaint Paul VI, he moved in the wakeof great diplomacy, bearing manyfruits to the Church, nourishing herwith charity.

With his sudden death this his-tory of the Church, so bowed toserve the world, was not interrupted.

number 19, Friday, 8 May 2020 L’OSSERVATORE ROMANO page 5

Preface by Pope Francis to book on John Paul II

He shed his blood for the Churchoffered his sufferings for humanity

One hundred years since his birthOn the occasion of the centenary of the birthof Karol Wojtyła, which will be observed on 18May, the Libreria Editrice Vaticana has sent topress a small and agile volume entitled SaintJohn Paul II. A celebration in Words and Im-ages (2020, 128 pp., € 7,00; $ 9.95). The workopens with Francis’ preface, which is repro-duced on this page, and covers the Pontificateof the Polish Pope through a collection of writ-ings and phrases running from the day of hiselection, 16 October 1978, to that of his deathon 2 April 2005. The edition is also available inEnglish, co-published with the American print-ing house Paulist Press, and in Polish, co-pub-lished with the printing house Wydawnictwośw. Stanislawa BM., also thanks to the patronageof the Embassy of the Republic of Poland tothe Holy See and of the Polish Institute ofRome. The selection of texts of his homilies,his addresses, his Magisterium was made by Gi-useppe Merola, while the images by VaticanMedia were selected by Miroslawa Lesner.

Message for the Feast of Our Lady of Luján

Everyone together as ‘virtual’ pilgrims

St. John Paul II was a great witness of faith, agreat man of prayer who lived completely im-mersed in his time and constantly in contact withGod, a sure guide for the Church in times ofgreat changes. Many times in the course of mylife as a priest and bishop, I have looked to him,asking in my prayers for the gift of being faithfulto the Gospel as he testified to us. His magisteri-um; his encyclicals on Jesus the Redeemer ofman, on God rich in mercy, on the Holy Spirit;the encyclical Redemptoris Mater, on Mary in thelife of the Church; his social encyclicals; his dailyteachings; the most precious gift of the Catechismof the Catholic Church: these remain a living leg-acy to the Church. They remain etched inmemory, to us who have lived through the yearsof his long and fruitful pontificate, his great pas-sion for the human being, his openness, hissearch for dialogue with everyone, his determina-tion to implement every attempt to stop wars, hispropensity to go out to meet any-one and to em-brace those who suffer. With him, the first Bishopof Rome from Eastern Europe, the “Church of si-lence”, the Church of the martyrs of beyond thewall, found a voice.

But it is not of this St. John Paul II that Iwould like to speak to you, introducing thisbeautiful initiative of the Vatican PublishingHouse. What we sometimes risk forgetting, andwhich I would like to bring to the attention ofreaders, is how much this Pope suffered in hislife. His personal sufferings were linked to thoseof his people and his nation, Poland. Prema-turely orphaned of a mother, he experienced thetrauma of the death of his beloved brother andthen of his father. When he entered the under-ground seminary in Krakow, he had lost all hisclosest family members. He lived his total devo-tion to God and his Church in a time whenmany of his friends lost their lives during thewar. In a biographical book, which he wrote dur-ing his papacy, he revealed that every day hewondered why the Lord had left him alive, whileso many people around him died. The sufferinghe experienced entrusting himself totally to theLord forged him and made the Christian faithwith which he was raised even stronger. He wasan extraordinary educator of many young peoplewho, through him, a young priest, were intro-

duced to the path of concrete faith, witnessed,lived in every moment of life.

St. John Paul suffered as Pope, suffered theterrible attack in 1981, offered his life, shed hisblood for the Church, and testified that even inthe difficult trial of the disease, shared daily withGod made man and crucified for our salvation,we can remain happy, we can remain ourselves.We can rejoice in the certainty of the encounterwith the risen Jesus. Fifteen years now separate usfrom his death. Three lustrums may be few, butthey are many for children and young adults whohave not known him or who have only a fewvague memories of him from childhood. For thisreason, on the centenary of his birth, it is right toremember this great holy witness of the faith thatGod has given to his Church and to humanity.He was a great witness of mercy, and throughouthis pontificate he called us to this characteristic of

God. It is nice to remember him in a simple way:with images, so expressive and capable of trans-mitting to us what John Paul II was, and with itsshort texts and prayers drawn from his homilies,his documents and his magisterium. I hope thatthis book will reach the hands of many, andabove all young people. Let us remember hisfaith, and may his life be an example for us tolive our testimony today. We hear his appeal toopen the doors to Christ, not to be afraid. Wewalk happily, despite the difficulties, along thepaths of the world, following in the footsteps ofthe giants who preceded us in the certainty thatwe are not and will never be alone. St. John PaulII taught us this throughout his life, always cultiv-ating a special bond with Mary, our Mother inHeaven, Mother of tenderness and mercy.

A particular feast was celebrated inLuján, Argentina in honour of theVirgin Mary. Due to the Covid-19emergency, the traditional observ-ance on 8 May was followed by

the faithful only by means of so-cial communication.

At 7 PM the Archbishop of Mer-cedes-Luján, Msgr Jorge EduardoScheinig, presided the Mass, andthe p e re g r i n a t i o of the statue of thePatroness of Argentina this yearwas only “virtual”. Announcing thisnews, the prelate referred to asigned letter the Pope had sent on28 April, for the celebration whichhe too will join as a “spiritual andvirtual pilgrim”. “I will look uponher yet once again, I will let myselfbe looked upon by her”, writes thePontiff, referring to the Blessed Vir-gin. “That Mother’s gaze — he adds— which renews you, takes care ofyou, gives you strength”. The Popeemphasized that he will not bealone but “together with the holy

faithful People of God who loveHer so much, faithful and sinfulpeople like me”. He then recalled aspecial tradition: the changing ofthe mantle that covers the BlessedVirgin. The new mantle was blessedand placed on the statute onSunday, 3 May.

On the day of the celebration,Francis writes, “we will tell her ourworries and our joys”, invoking“the grace to always ask for forgive-ness”, because “we know that herSon does not tire of forgiving”. Inconclusion he quotes the words of“that great priest from my previousdio cese”, Fr Amelio Luis Calori:“This evening, Our Lady, thepromise is sincere. But, for everyeventuality, do not forget to leavethe key outside”.

number 19, Friday, 8 May 2020 L’OSSERVATORE ROMANO page 6/7

The revolution of Alfred Hitchcock

GABRIELE NICOLÒ

Sir Alfred Hitchcock shot the famousshower scene in Psycho nine times. Itshould have lasted a minute and a half,but was then reduced to 45 seconds: grip-ping seconds that nail us down. All that is‘Hitch’ (as his friends and closest collab-orators called him) is in that scene: atten-tion to detail, down to obsession. The willto be perfect. And to be perfect — themaster of shivers would say — you need tobe plausible and credible. Otherwise theviewer, even the most distracted, will nev-er forgive you. François Truffaut saidabout him: Before Hitchcock cinema wasas if it had never existed. After Hitchcockthere is no director who is not indebted tohim. Yet, precisely the shower scene inflic-ted a wound on the British genius which,by his own admission, would never com-pletely heal. His wife Alma, the “grey em-inence” behind the scenes of all of hisfilms, realized that Janet Leigh, her deadbody, after being stabbed to death by An-thony Perkins (as Norman Bates in thefilm), was breathing, although impercept-ibly, still. Alma sprang to her feet andpointed her finger at the image reprodu-

‘But she’s stillb re a t h i n g ’

On the set of the film “Rear Window”: James Stewart and Grace Kelly with their friend ‘Hitch’

Cary Grant in a scene from“North by Northwest” (1959)

Janet Leigh in the famous shower scene from “Psycho” (1960)

EMILIO RA N Z AT O

Alfred Hitchcock contributed in a decisiveway in demonstrating that one could makegreat cinema, cinema d’a u t o re , even departingfrom the framework of a genre. It was prob-ably his films that definitively broke the bar-rier between ‘‘art’ and commercial film-mak-ing, putting into crisis the world of criticswho in fact, went suddenly from indifferenceto enthusiasm in his regard, giving the im-pression of having lost their traditional para-meters of judgment.

More specifically, Hitchcock demonstratedthat the concept of authorship in cinema isnot necessarily linked to profound poetics —which, even in the most adult phase of hiscareer, he was able to express — but also tothe recognizability of a directorial style. Aprinciple that he was able to increasingly fil-ter into a way of storytelling that was pro-gressively linked more to the image than tothe narrative dimension; until arriving at anearly abstract, “p u re ” cinema, as he loved todefine it, that would liken his art to that of apainter. The subject is not as important asthe manner of expression. With his thrillers,in fact, the British director was able to enterthe deep layers of the machinery of cinema-tography, down to the ganglia that regulateits technical and expressive functioning, aswell as the relationship between representa-tion and the viewer’s emotions.

After receiving a fundamental e n d o rs e m e n tfrom visionary French critics, starting in themid-1950s — following a decades-long careerand dozens of films produced — he under-stood his status as a modern author, para-doxically newer than at the beginning of hiscareer, perfectly in line with his time, and ac-tually the precursor to that era in which,thanks to Warhol or the Beatles, it was bythen established that one could create arteven through the world of pop.

Of the films shot in his homeland, in thefirst half of his career, his silent films wereperhaps the most interesting. “The Lodger”(1927) or “D ownhill” (1927) were indeed ex-cellent examples of Hitchcockian cinemawhich, by virtue of a visual dimensionsummoned to fill in for the lack of dialogue,appeared as prototypes of his more matureworks. With the arrival of sound, Hitchcockreveals himself to be a fine orchestrator ofplots between mystery and espionage. “The39 Steps” (1935), “Sab otage” (1936) and “TheLady Vanishes” (1938) are films of a certainlevel, albeit with a rather static rhythm, andtoday seem irreparably dated. The Americanjourney in some sense signaled an obviousbreak. The encounter with exceptionally tal-ented collaborators — including musicianBernard Hermann, film editor George To-masini, cinematographer Robert Burks, setdesigners Hal Pereira and George Milo —and more generally with the highest technicalstandards and Hollywood professionals, rep-resented a fundamental turning point forHitchcock. His American debut was stun-ning. “Reb ecca” (1940) is a great film withGothic origins and a curious initial mix ofgenres that testifies to the director’s taste forwhat he called the MacGuffin, or rather, forthe narrative pretext adopted only to thenentirely change the direction of the story to-ward other horizons, thus mocking the view-er’s expectations.

It was just the beginning of a triumphalmarch of masterpiece thrillers: “Suspicion”(1941), “Shadow of a Doubt” (1943), “Life-b oat” (1944), “Sp ellb ound” (1945), “Notori-ous” (1946), “The Paradine Case” (1947),

“Rop e” (1948), “Strangers on a Train” (1951),“Dial M for Murder” (1954), “Rear Window”(1954), “The Trouble with Harry” (1955), “ToCatch a Thief” (1955), “The Wrong Man”(1956), “The Man Who Knew Too Much”(1956). The director solidified the practice ofusing the transposition of perhaps not exal-ted stories and romances, but endorsed byexperts of the genre. A means of assuring asolid but not particularly binding subject, onwhich to build an exquisitely visual narrative.In this way, among others, Hitchcock leveledanother cliché according to which, in thecase of transpositions, “the book is alwaysbetter than the film”.

The director developed a personal concep-tion of suspense which sets aside thesimplistic notion of ‘who dunnit’ (or the sur-prise ending) that was typical of the Anglo-Saxon mystery in favour of an identificationbetween the viewer and the protagonist, al-most always an innocent who ends up in aplot that is larger than himself. Paradoxicalsituations that reconcile a bit of Kafka withthe theme of an atavistic sense of guilt, theresult of the director’s Catholic education.But it was above all the style of filming asmentioned that was truly recognizable.Hitchco ck’s hand in a film was often recog-nizable from a still image, because in prac-tice it was his invention to condense much ofa story’s significance into a single frame orsingle camera movements.

The camera plunging into the increasinglymacroscopic detail of a key in “Notorious”,the panorama passing from the bourgeoistranquillity of a street to the murder takingplace in an apartment in “Rop e”, the stalk-er’s head which remains fixed in the direc-tion of his victim while others are movingduring a tennis match in “Strangers on aTr a i n ”, the forward zoom as the camera pullsback (and vice versa) in the stairwell in “Ve r -tigo”. It should not be surprising then, thatsome of the most important Hitchcockian

films take place in few locations, if not actu-ally in a single setting. It has nothing to dowith filmed theatre. The single setting givesthe director a way to exercise one of hisgreatest talents, which is to chisel out asingle frame so as to make it become a mi-crocosm in itself. Not by chance, when BrianDe Palma takes on overtly Hitchcockianthrillers, he often makes use of the splitscreen, a way of recalling the concentrationof information in a single instant that is typ-ical of the model of reference. Thus, whileHitchco ck’s encounter with Hollywood wasfundamental, his method of storytelling be-came less and less Hollywoodesque, by vir-tue of the emphasis being placed more on in-dividual frames than on editing as a whole.And it was precisely this latter feature thatparticularly attracted the attention of futureFrench directors and critics, who saw the vi-aticum for cinema as being more poetry thanp ro s e .

Starting with “Rear Window”, in any case,there is a further breakthrough. Truffautwould note in fact that the courtyard inwhich the events take place is not only thescene of a crime but a world in essence inwhich the physiology of a day, of life itself, isdescribed poetically, through a thousandlittle details. It was already evident here thatHitchcock was gradually broadening his ownhorizons, while remaining faithful to acinema that was also entertaining.

With “Ve r t i g o ” (1958), the breakthroughbecame an acrobatic flight. The film was notonly a top thriller but a masterpiece toutcourt, something of a Buñuelian metaphorfor frustrated love.

Even without the explicit use of surreal-ism, Hitchcock staged an existential dramain which the line between reality and dreamis fleeting, paving the way for those thatwould be the intoxicating Lynchian delu-sions.

After signing his most meaningful film,however, with “North by Northwest” (1959)Hitchcock made a U-turn and quickly movedto the other side; through a narrative inwhich everything is abstract, beginning with aprotagonist who is taken for a man whodo esn’t exist, hunted by unidentified spies.Consistently, the visual apparatus is moreartefact than ever, culminating in an epilogueon a Mount Rushmore of paper mache Thusby taking the concept of genre film to the ex-

treme, as an end in itself, the directorachieved a work of pop art in motion.

With “Psycho” (1960), we turn instead tointercept — whether deliberately or not —deep meanings. Twisting Robert Bloch’shomonymous short, modest novel, Hitchcockfinds himself speaking not only of a text-book Oedipal case, but of an Americannightmare that a few years later would beginto take shape. “Psycho” in fact anticipatednumerous narrative and iconographic ele-ments of many independent horror films ofthe 1960s and 70s, culminating with anothermasterpiece, “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre”(Tobe Hooper, 1974). Elements that wouldlater carry an explicit symbolic value and beanchored to the most traumatic and self-de-structive phase of American history. It re-mains a mystery how a British ’Sir’ whobegan with simple thrillers was able toprophetically anticipate all this. Was it thekeen eye of the consummate entertainer, orthe great artist’s ability to be in harmonywith his own time? The fascination of Hitch-cockian cinema also lies in this ambiguity.

With “The Birds” (1963), however, the ab-stractness is definitive. Are the winged anim-als, that in increasingly large flocks begin totorment the protagonists for no reason, a di-vine punishment? Surely it is the Dadaistgesture with which the director-demiurge de-cided to stain the canvas of the big screen inorder to definitively deconstruct narrativecinema, and to lay a solid foundation for allof post-modern cinema.

“Marnie” (1964), a backward journey to-ward childhood trauma, on the edge betweenreality and imaginary suggestions, is the lastgreat film, as well as confirmation of the factthat few like Hitchcock have been able torepresent psychoanalytical itineraries on thebig screen. At the end of his career, with thehelp of the civil registry, but above all theloss of his precious collaborators, the directorreturned to the tracks of a more conventionalgenre cinema. But in terms of cinemato-graphic revolution he had already doneenough.

29 April marked 40 years since the death of the British director

cing the scene just filmed, and yelled,“But she’s still breathing!”. Hitchcockheaved a very deep sigh of relief, and im-mediately prepared to cut that tiny frame.“Had Alma not realized it, my reputationwould have been compromised forever”,the director admitted years later. But fromthat scene, Hitchcock — also noted for hiscynical humour and for the pleasure hefelt in unnerving the viewer — drew ma-lign satisfaction. It was that realism ofwhat was happening around her, JanetLeigh once confessed, that “I stopped tak-ing showers and I only take baths”. Glan-cing aside as always, from the corner ofher eye, to be sure the fist of NormanBates didn’t pop out from behind the door.

page 8 L’OSSERVATORE ROMANO Friday, 8 May 2020, number 19

Passing of the Prince and 80th Grand Master of the Sovereign Order of Malta

A man at the service of the poor and the sickFr a ’ Giacomo Dalla Torre del Tempio diSanguinetto, Grand Master of the SovereignMilitary Order of Malta (SMOM), died inRome early Wednesday morning, 29 April,several months after being diagnosed with aterminal illness. He was 75. “A zealous manof culture and of faith” said Pope Francis inhis telegram of condolence recalling Fra’Giacomo’s “fidelity to Christ and to theGospel, and his generous commitment incarrying out his office with a spirit of ser-vice for the good of the Church” [for thePope's telegram: ORE, 1 May 2020, p. 2].

As stated in a communiqué by the Orderof Malta, in accordance with article 17 of theConstitution of the Sovereign Order ofMalta, the Grand Commander, Fra’ RuyGonçalo do Valle Peixoto de Villas Boas hasassumed the role of lieutenant ad interim,and will remain at the helm of the SMOMuntil the election of a new Grand Master.

Fr a ’ Giacomo served as the 80th Princeand Grand Master, beginning on 2 May2018, after his election by the Council Com-plete. On 29 April 2017, in the wake of hispredecessor, Fra’ Matthew Festing, the sameCouncil had elected him Lieutenant of theGrand Master for one year.

Always involved in assisting the needy,personally serving meals to the homeless inRome’s Termini and Tiburtina railway sta-tions, Dalla Torre had also participated invarious international SMOM pilgrimages toLourdes, and within Italy to Loreto and As-sisi, and in international summer camps fordisabled youth. He also made numerous of-ficial journeys during which, in addition tomeeting Heads of State, he visited the med-ical and social structures supported by theOrder: he was in Benin in January 2020,

and in Cameroon in July 2019; and more re-cently he visited Germany, Slovenia andBulgaria.

Fr a ’ Giacomo was born in Rome, Italy on9 December 1944. His grandfather was Gi-useppe Dalla Torre, who served as Editor-in-Chief of L’Osservatore Romano for 40Years (1920 – 1960). Fra’ Giacomo held de-grees in literature and philosophy from LaSapienza University, specializing in Christi-

an archaeology and art history. He held aca-demic posts at the Pontifical Urban Uni-versity, where he taught classical Greek, andalso served as chief librarian and archivistfor the research collections of the CollegioPropaganda Fide. Over the years he pub-lished academic essays and articles on thehistory of medieval art.

He entered the SMOM in 1985 as a Knightof Honour and Devotion, professing his sol-emn vows in 1993. From 1994 to 1999 he wasGrand Prior of Lombardy and Venice, andfrom 1999 to 2004 he was a member of theSovereign Council. He was elected GrandCommander at the General Chapter of2004. On the death of the 78th Grand Mas-ter, Fra Andrew Bertie, in February 2008 heassumed the role of Lieutenant ad interim.Lastly, from 2008 to 2017 he served asGrand Prior of Rome before being electedto the highest post of the Order whichworks mainly in the realm of medical andsocial assistance and humanitarian interven-tions, with activities in more than 120 coun-tries, thanks to its 13,500 members, and thecooperation of 80,000 volunteers, includingover 42,000 doctors, nurses and alliedhealth professionals.

The funeral Mass was celebrated by Car-dinal Angelo Becciu, Special Delegate ofthe Holy Father, on Tuesday, 5 May, in theChurch of Santa Maria in Aventino, inRome, in the presence of the Grand Mas-ter’s sisters, brothers, and members of theSovereign Council.

In compliance with the sanitary measuresestablished by the Italian State and theItalian Bishops’ Conference, a solemn Re-quiem Mass will be celebrated on a date tobe defined.

VAT I C A N BULLETIN

STA R T OF MISSION

On 10 March, Archbishop Antoine Camilleri,began his mission as Apostolic Nuncio inEthiopia with the presentation of his Letters ofCredence to H.E. Mrs Sahle-Work Zewde,President of the Federal Democratic Republicof Ethiopia.

NECROLO GY

Archbishop Raphael Simon Ndingi Mwana’aNzeki, Archbishop emeritus of Nairobi, Kenya,at age 88 (31 Mar)Bishop Aldo Mongiano, IMC, Bishop emeritusof Roraima, Brazil, at age 100 (15 Apr.)Bishop Patrick Leo McCartie, Bishop emeritusof Northampton, Great Britain, at age 94 (23A p r. )Bishop Emilio S. Allué, SDB, Auxiliary Bishopemeritus of Boston, USA, at age 85 (26 Apr.)Bishop Silas Silvius Njiru, Bishop emeritus ofMeru, Kenya, at age 92 (28 Apr.)Bishop Philippe Breton, Bishop emeritus ofAire et Dax, France, at age 83 (29 Apr.)Bishop Mathew Anikuzhikattil, Bishop emerit-us of Idukki for Syro-Malabars, India, at age77 (1 May)

CONTINUED FROM PA G E 2

The Swiss Guards recall the victims of the Sack of Rome

Faithful to the Pope with spirit of sacrificeNo mask can hide the smile or lessen the man-ner of kindness and welcome that continues tocharacterize, even in this time of pandemic, theservice of the Pontifical Swiss Guard at the entrygates to Vatican City. As “phase 2” has begun,the guards wear masks to protect themselves asthey are in increasingly more direct contact withp eople.

Meanwhile, on 6 May, the Corp’s traditionalcelebration also took place in a particular way inorder to limit the possibility of spreading thevirus. At 5 PM, Msgr Luigi Roberto Cona, as-sessor of the Secretariat of State, presided atMass in the Church of Santa Maria della Pietàin the Teutonic Cemetery. At 6 PM in the“Piazzale dei Protomartiri Romani”, CommanderChristof Graf placed a floral wreath in memoryof the 147 guards who fell defending PopeClement VII during the Sack of Rome on 6 May1527. Afterwards, Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra,

Substitute, conferred honours upon severalguards in recognition of their long and faithfulservice to the Holy See.

The wreath-laying ceremony, which normallyinvolves the participation of guests of honourand family members, was conducted in a re-served and restricted manner, respecting therules of hygiene and safety that apply in VaticanCity State. Both the ceremony and the Masswere livestreamed by Vatican Media and couldbe followed live on the website www.guardias-vizzera.ch.

Meanwhile, the swearing-in of new guards,which is traditionally held on 6 May, has beenpostponed to Sunday, 4 October, due to thecoronavirus pandemic.

number 19, Friday, 8 May 2020 L’OSSERVATORE ROMANO page 9

Christians and MuslimsProtecting together the places of worship

Message for the month of Ramadan and ’Id al-Fitr

Pope visits Heydar Aliyev Mosque in Baku, Azerbaijian, 2 October 2016

Pop e’s prayer intention for the month of May

Deacons, faithful in their service to the Word and the poor

Frame from the video for the Pope's prayer intention

The prayer intention for the month ofMay is dedicated to deacons. They are“not ‘second-level’ priests”, Pope Francissays, but “are part of the clergy”. Thevideo message was posted on ‘thep-op evideo.org’ through which the Popeentrusts his prayer intentions to theWorldwide Prayer Network.

The Holy Father asks everyone topray that deacons, “faithful in their ser-vice to the Word and the poor, may bean invigorating symbol for the entireC h u rc h ”.

The scenes which form the backdropto the Pontiff’s message highlight dea-cons in their mission. Francis recalls thatthese men “live their vocation in and

with their family” and at the same time“are dedicated to the service of the poor,who carry within them the face of thesuffering Christ”. Whether in churches,at the altar or in the sacristy; in thehome, in prisons or in hospital wards; inthe streets and in stations, to help thehomeless; deacons — the Pope concluded— are “the guardians of service in theC h u rc h ”.

Translated into nine languages, thevideo was prepared by La Machi agency,which is responsible for production anddistribution, in collaboration with Vatic-an Media, which recorded it.

Dear Muslim brothers and sisters,The month of Ramadan is so centralin your religion and therefore dearto you at personal, familial and so-cial levels. It is a time for spiritualhealing and growth, of sharing withthe poor, of strengthening bondswith relatives and friends.

For us, your Christian friends, itis a propitious time to furtherstrengthen our relationships withyou, by greeting you, meeting youon this occasion and, where pos-sible, by sharing in an iftar withyou. Ramadan and ’Jd al-Fitr thusare special occasions to foster fra-ternity between Christians andMuslims. It is in this spirit that thePontifical Council for InterreligiousDialogue offers its prayerful bestwishes and hearty congratulations toyou all.

The thoughts we like to sharewith you this year following ourcherished tradition are about theprotection of the places of worship.

As we all know, the places of wor-ship occupy an important place inChristianity and Islam, and in otherreligions as well. For both Christiansand Muslims, churches and mosquesare spaces reserved for prayer, per-sonal and communitarian alike.They are constructed and furnishedin a way that favours silence, reflec-tion and meditation. They are spaceswhere one can go deep in him-self/herself, so favouring for God-ex-perience in silence. A place of wor-ship of any religion therefore is “ahouse of prayer” (Isaiah 56, 7).

Places of worship are also spacesfor spiritual hospitality, where believ-ers of other religions also join forsome special ceremonies like wed-dings, funerals, feasts of the com-munity etc. While they participate inthe events in silence and with duerespect to the religious observancesof the believers of that particular re-ligion, they also savour the hospital-ity accorded to them. Such practiceis a privileged witness to what unitesbelievers, without diminishing ordenying what distinguishes them.

In this regard, it is worthwhile torecall what Pope Francis said whenhe made a visit to the Heydar AliyevMosque, in Baku (Azerbaijan) onSunday, 2 October 2016: “Meetingone another in fraternal friendshipin this place of prayer is a powerfulsign, one that shows the harmonywhich religions can build together,

based on personal relations and onthe good will of those responsible”.

In the context of recent attacks onchurches, mosques and synagoguesby wicked persons who seem to per-ceive the places of worship as a priv-ileged target for their blind andsenseless violence, it is worth notingwhat the Document on “HumanFraternity for World Peace and Liv-ing Together”, signed by Pope Fran-cis and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Dr. Ahmad Al-Tayyeb, inAbu Dhabi, on 4 February 2019,said: “The protection of places ofworship — synagogues, churches andmosques — is a duty guaranteed byreligions, human values, laws andinternational agreements. Every at-tempt to attack places of worship orthreaten them by violent assaults,bombings or destruction, is a devi-

ation from the teachings of religionsas well as a clear violation of inter-national law”.

While appreciating the effortsdone by the international com-munity at different levels for theprotection of the places of worshipworldwide, it is our hope that ourmutual esteem, respect and coopera-tion will help strengthen the bondsof sincere friendship, and enable ourcommunities to safeguard the placesof worship to assure for coming gen-erations the fundamental freedom toprofess one’s own beliefs.

With renewed esteem and fraternalgreetings, in the name of the Ponti-fical Council for Interreligious Dia-logue, we convey friendly wishes fora fruitful month of Ramadan and ajoyous ’Id al-Fitr.

From the Vatican, 17 April 2020

This year too, the Pontifical Council for InterreligiousDialogue (PCID) has sent to the Islamic communitythe traditional message of best wishes on the occasionof the month of Ramadan, which began on 23 April,and of ’Id al-Fitr (1441 H. / 2020 A.D.), the feastthat marks its conclusion. Published on Friday, 1May, the text was prepared before the surge of theCovid-19 pandemic, and reflects on the theme ofrespect and of protection of places of worship.“Th e re f o re ”, the Combonian Cardinal Miguel ÁngelAyuso Guixot, MCCJ, explained in a note, “I wouldlike, as PCID President, to add the wish thatChristians and Muslims, united in the spirit of

fraternity, may demonstrate solidarity with thehumanity so harshly stricken, and address theirprayers to Almighty and Merciful God, that heextend his protection over every human being, so thatthese such difficult moments may be overcome”.Moreover, the Cardinal explained in an interviewgiven to Vatican News, the feast is “essential,important and meaningful for our Muslim friends,although as Easter also was for us, for them too thisyear it assumes a particular significance due to thepandemic”. In essence it is a Ramadan experiencedin “a more interior dimension, because the communityaspect cannot be celebrated”. And in this regard he

recalled what “Pope Francis, in this difficultsituation, has called us to spread”, which is “the‘contagion of hope’”, encouraging “the differentreligious leaders to promote unity, solidarity andbrotherhood, so that from this moment on we may allcome out better than what we were before and helpour societies to be ready to change all that isnecessary, not following only the laws of economy andp ro f i t ”. The following is the English text of the PCID

Message, signed by the Cardinal President and theSecretary of the Dicastery, Msgr IndunilKodithuwakku Janakaratne Kankanamalage.

page 10 L’OSSERVATORE ROMANO Friday, 8 May 2020, number 19

Thursday, 16 April

For pharmacists

On Thursday, 16 April, Pope Francis beganhis daily Mass at Santa Marta with prayers ofgratitude for pharmacists who “have beenworking hard to help the sick”. During hishomily, he commented on the days followingthe Resurrection of Jesus which he said werenot very tranquil as the people were filledwith “fear, amazement and doubt”. The dis-ciples themselves who knew that the Lord hadrisen, had appeared to Simon and had heardthe testimony of the disciples on their returnfrom Emmaus, were afraid. Their fear grewwhen Jesus appeared in their midst for theythought they were seeing a ghost (cf. Lk 24:37).

However, when Jesus spoke to them invit-ing them to touch his wounds, their fearturned into immense joy. But their joy was sogreat that it kept them from believing: it wasas if they “were paralyzed with joy”, the HolyFather explained. Different from being“happy, positive or radiant”, this was thegreatest possible joy”. “Joy is the fruit of the

ing. “Instead of accepting the truth that theysaw before them, their hearts were so closedthat they chose the way of diplomacy, the wayof compromise”, the Pope explained. Peter onthe other hand had received from the HolySpirit the gift of “frankness and courage” onPentecost which enabled him to be bold. Thatis precisely where the mission begins. At theend of his homily the Holy Father prayedthat the Lord may help us to always be cour-ageous in proclaiming his Word.

Monday, 20 April

For politiciansOn Monday 20 April, Pope Francis reflectedon the figure of Nicodemus who was a leaderof the Jews and a righteous Pharisee. Al-though Nicodemus was restless because Jesus’actions had been foretold by the prophets, hewould visit Jesus at night as he knew thatthose who were with Jesus were negativelyjudged.

However, despite his confession to Jesus,that he believed he was from God, the Pope

Prayer is the key to opening the door tothe Spirit, the Pope said, as it did for the dis-ciples. In the first Reading, the Christiancommunity was somewhat afraid when Peterand John returned after being questioned bythe priests. But they turned to God in prayerand experienced a “second Pentecost” thatemboldened them. At the end of his homilythe Pope prayed that through prayer we maybe open to the Spirit so that he will bring usforward in our life of service to the Lord.

Wednesday, 22 April

For unity in Europe

During his homily for Mass at Santa Martaon Wednesday, 22 April, Pope Francis re-turned to the figure of Nicodemus (Jn 3:16-21)and Jesus’ words to him regarding God’slove. “God so loved the world that he gavehis only begotten son, so that everyone whobelieves in him might not perish but mighthave eternal life”. These words, the HolyFather explained, contain a wealth of theolo-gical revelation about redemption and identi-fied two key aspects: God’s love and thechoice between light and darkness.

The Cross is the highest expression ofGo d’s love and as such, anyone who contem-plates the Cross has everything revealed tothem, the Pope said. Indeed, “so many Chris-tians, spend time gazing at the CrucifiedOne.... And there they find everything be-cause they have understood”, he continued.As Saint Paul explains “all human reasoningis useful only to a certain point”.

However, Pope Francis added, some peopleare unable to do so, to live in the light be-cause they have become accustomed to thedarkness. The light “blinds them and theycannot see”. Like human bats “they can onlymove about during the night”. When we arein a state of sin, we find ourselves in this con-dition “unable to tolerate the light. It is easierto live in darkness”. This is because the “lightshows us what we do not want to see”. And,he added, “those who are corrupt do not knowwhat the light is, and do not recognize it”.

At the end of his homily, Francis invitedthe faithful to let God’s love shine in our livesthrough the Holy Spirit and to ask ourselves“Do I walk in the light or in darkness”.

Thursday, 23 April

For families and usurers

During Mass at Santa Marta on Thursday, 23April, Pope Francis reflected on the day’sGospel passage in which the Apostles werebrought before the Sanhedrin and the highpriest for questioning for having disobeyedthe order not to teach in the name of Jesus.The Apostles, however, and Peter in particu-lar, were courageous and bold in upholdingtheir faith saying: “we must obey God”.

Although Peter himself had denied Jesus,and had been filled with fear, he was bold be-cause of the Holy Spirit, whom God gives “tothose who obey him” (Acts 5:32). He couldhave chosen to compromise, but instead hechose to pursue the journey. People have hadto do this throughout the history of theChurch “in order to save the People of God”,The Pope said.

In the moment of temptation, “Satan de-sires that you be sifted like wheat”, Jesus toldthe Apostles before his Passion. However, Je-sus tells Peter “but I have prayed for you sothat your faith may not fail”, the Pope contin-ued. In the same way, Jesus prays for all of usand when we pray to him we should not onlyask for a grace but also to contemplate Jesus.“Let us think about how Peter was able toprogress on this path from being a coward tobecoming a courageous person with the gift

Holy Spirit”, he added, and there can benone without him. Thus “to receive the joy ofthe Holy Spirit is a grace”.

Referring to Saint Paul VI’s Apostolic Ex-hortation Evangelii Nuntiandi (n. 80), Pop eFrancis explained that this joy is similar to theone experienced by Ezra and Nehemiah whenthey discovered the Book of the Law. Ad-dressing the Israelites as they wept havingheard the Book of the Law, Nehemiah said“the joy of the Lord is our strength”. TheHoly Father concluded his homily with aprayer asking the Lord to grant us the graceof having the strength to preach the Gospeland be witnesses of the Lord’s joy.

Saturday, 18 April

For those who care for the disabled

On Saturday, 18 April, during his homily forHoly Mass at Santa Marta, Pope Francis re-flected on the day’s First Reading which de-scribed the boldness with which Peter andJohn pushed the priests, scribes and elders in-to a corner after a man had been healed inthe name of God. These “uneducated men”,the Pope said had left the learned menspeechless. The boldness of their belief,parrhesia, he said, became the “style of Chris-tian preachers in the Acts of the Apostles”.Parrhesia is “the Christian courage that drivessomeone to speak openly”. Indeed in the Actsof the Apostles, “it says that Paul and Barna-bas sought to explain the mystery of Christ tothe Hebrews with boldness and the “p re a c h e dthe Gospel boldly”. In fact, the Pope noted,one cannot be a good Christian withoutparrhesia.

The Holy Father then turned to a passagefrom a Letter to the Hebrews which tells ofthe Christian community’s loss of their origin-al boldness and their tepidness (Heb10:32,35): “Remember the days past when,after you had been enlightened, you endureda great contest of suffering ... therefore do notthrow away your confidence”.

This confidence is thus crucial to Christi-ans. The priests, scribes and elders hadhardened and corrupt hearts and thereforethey could only remain astonished at the heal-

explained, Nicodemus stopped at that, unableto ask what to do next, to make the leap. Je-sus in turn replies: “Unless one is born fromabove, he cannot see the kingdom of God”.Misunderstanding his meaning, Nicodemusasks how one can be born again as an adultand Jesus explains that being born fromabove means to be born of the Spirit.

The Sprit, the Holy Father said, is unpre-dictable. As Jesus further explained, it is awind “that blows where it wants and you hearits sound, but you do not know where itcomes from or where it goes”. Those who aredocile to the Spirit, he continued, are peoplewho allows themselves “to be carried fromone place to the other by the Holy Spirit”and thus attain the freedom of the Spirit.

In order to be a good Christian, PopeFrancis said, it is not sufficient for us to fol-low the commandments. We must allow the“spirit to enter into” us and take us where hewants. Like Nicodemus, we too may stop be-fore the “what next” “because we do notknow what step to take or we do not trustGod enough”, he explained. However, he ad-ded, to be truly born again, we must be will-ing to allow ourselves to be guided by theSpirit’s freedom even without knowing wherewe will end up.

Morning Mass at the DomusSanctae Marthae

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number 19, Friday, 8 May 2020 L’OSSERVATORE ROMANO page 11

of the Holy Spirit”, the Pope urged the faith-ful. The Holy Father concluded by asking forthe grace of allowing the Lord to “teach ushow to ask him for the grace of praying foreach one of us”.

Friday, 24 April

For teachers and students

Taking his cue from the Gospel passage aboutthe loaves and fishes (Jn 6:1-15) at Holy Masson Friday, 24 April, the Holy Father reflectedon how Jesus tests his disciples. Jesus asksPhilip “where can we buy some bread forthese people to eat”. Although Jesus knewwhat he was about to accomplish, he was test-ing Philip. Jesus, the Holy Father noted,“continually put them to the test in order toteach them”. When they deviated from whatJesus asked them, he would stop and use thatas an opportunity to teach them. Indeed theGospel is filled with similar examples becauseJesus wanted his disciples to grow to becomepastors of the People of God.

Jesus, the Pope continued, loved beingwith the crowd “because this too is a symbolof the universality of Redemption”. Howeverthe Apostles did not share this view “b ecausethey liked to be close to the Lord, to heareverything the Lord said”. Jesus sought thecloseness of the people and he wanted to“form the hearts of the pastors to closenesswith the People of God” in order to servethem.

Jesus teaches the Apostles this pastoral be-haviour of being close to the People of Godbecause the People of God make one tired as“they always ask for concrete things”. Thepastor must always be able to provide thesethings. “You feed them”, Jesus tells theApostles. This means you provide: “are theydistressed? Give them comfort. Are they lost?Show them the way out”, the Pope said.

Thus, the very “power of the pastor is ser-vice. He has no other power”. When pastorsbegin to err and take other powers, then theirvocation is ruined, he warned. Pope Francisended his homily by asking the Lord to speakto the pastors of the Church, and to teachthem above all not to be afraid but rather tobe close to his people.

Saturday, 25 April

For those who work infuneral services

During his homily for Holy Mass at SantaMarta on Saturday, 25 April, the Holy Fatherreflected on Christian mission as he commen-ted on the passage from the Gospel of Markin which Jesus sent his disciples forth to pro-claim the Good News. “Faith is either mis-sionary or it is not faith at all”, the Popestressed. It is not something for one’s self. Asone grows in faith, it leads one to otherswhich is what is meant by being sent forth. Inother words, “faith must be transmitted, itmust be offered”, the Pope told the faithful.And above all, it should be transmittedthrough witness.

Being Christian or Catholic is not merely acultural matter. In transmitting the faith, wereveal God through our witness so that theHoly Spirit can take action within God’speople. Thus, the Pope explained, whenpeople say they are Christians but live like pa-gans, no one will be convinced. But when onelives as a Christian, people are attracted. This,he said, is bearing witness.

But bearing witness, the Holy Father con-tinued, must be done with humility, echoingPe t e r ’s words in the day’s First Reading:“Clothe yourselves all with humility towardseach other (1 Pt 5:5). If we go out of ourselvesto witness, we will be fruitful and work won-ders, the Lord says. Transmitting faith is notlike transmitting ideas as teachers do. This isbecause in transmitting the faith, we are ac-companied by the Lord.

Monday, 27 April

For artists and creativity

In his homily for Holy Mass at Santa Martaon Monday, 27 April, the Holy Father com-mented on the day’s Gospel Reading fromJohn (Jn 6:22-29) in which Jesus redirects thecrowd who sought him after the multiplica-tion of the loaves and fishes. They had soughthim because their stomachs were full. But Je-sus exhorts them: “do not labour for the foodwhich perishes, but for the food which en-dures to eternal life” (v. 27). When the peopleasked him how they could do this, Jesusreplied: “that you believe in him whom he hassent” (v. 29).

The Lord then recognizing that the peoplehad forgotten the Word, reminded them oftheir first encounter with the Word. He “cor-rected the path of the people who had taken amore worldly, rather than evangelical path”,the Pope said. This loss of path can occur tous too as we lose our memory of our first en-thusiasm for the Word of the Lord. We mightmove away and forget the freshness of thatfirst call. When this happens, Pope Francissaid, the Lord asks us to return to that firstencounter. When we are faced with tempta-tion, it is a grace return “to that first call,when Jesus looked at us with love”.

The Holy Father ended his homily by ask-ing for the grace to return to the moment ofour first encounter with Jesus, to “our ownGalilee within us”.

Tuesday, 28 April

For prudence as quarantinerestrictions ease

On Tuesday morning, 28 April, during hishomily at Santa Marta, the Holy Father con-tinued to reflect on the courage of Christiansas he commented on the day’s Reading fromthe Acts of the Apostles (Acts 7:5, 8:1). In it,Stephen courageously speaks to the people,the elders and the scribes who, after accusinghim of false testimony, drag him out of thecity and then stone him.

Because the Doctors of the Law did nottolerate his clarity of doctrine, the Pope said,they asked someone to say they had heardStephen make blasphemous remarks aboutGod and the Law. Essentially they did toStephen what they had done to Jesus. Andthe same thing continues to happen to today’smartyrs. He gave the example of Asia Bibi, aCatholic from Pakistan who had been im-prisoned for many years due to slander. Un-fortunately, he added, in the face of false newsthat shapes opinion, sometimes nothing canbe done, as occurred during the Shoah whenopinion was created to cast out an entirep eople.

But, Pope Francis continued, there is alsothe “small daily lynching of gossip that cre-ates opinions in order to condemn people”and to ruin their reputation. Truth, on theother hand, he explained, “is clear and trans-parent, it is the testimony of truth, of what isb elieved”. The Pope invited the faithful to

think about our words and the times whenour own comments commit this lynching.

“May the Lord help us”, said the Pope, “tobe righteous, in our judgments, not to beginto follow this mass condemnation that pro-vokes gossip”.

Thursday, 30 April

For the deceased

We cannot know Christ or his mystery unlesswe are drawn by the Father, Pope Francis saidduring his homily for Holy Mass at SantaMarta on Thursday, 30 April. Although wecan study religion or theology and learn muchabout Christ, this is not sufficient. Taking hiscue from the day’s First Reading which nar-rated the story of the Ethiopian eunuch, hereflected on conversion. The eunuch, who wasan official in the Ethiopian royal court wasreading a passage from the prophet Isaiah onhis return from Jerusalem when God sentPhilip the Deacon to him. God had alreadyprepared his heart and so when the time cameand they saw some water by the wayside, theEthiopian asked to be baptized.

It is important to understand this principlein our apostolic mission as Christians, thePope said. Conversion is not something thatwe do ourselves as only God can convertsomeone and only the Father can drawsomeone to Jesus. Our job, the Holy Fatherexplained, is to bear witness. Instructing oth-ers on the faith is not enough in missionarywork. True proclamation involves bearing wit-ness in our own lives.

We must also remember that witness andprayer go together, and that there cannot beone without the other. When we bear witnesswithout proselytising, we open the door top eople’s hearts, leading them to welcome themessage and mystery of Jesus while prayeropens the Father’s heart to draw people to Je-sus. At the end of his homily, Pope Francisasked the Lord to grant us the grace to liveour work with witness and prayer.

For the full texts of the Holy Father’s dailymeditations at Santa Marta visit:w w w. v a t i c a n . v a

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Morning Mass at the Domus Sanctae Marthae

page 12 L’OSSERVATORE ROMANO Friday, 8 May 2020, number 19

REGINA CAELI

Pope Francis offered support and encouraged “theinternational collaboration that is taking place withvarious initiatives ... to find vaccines and treatments” forCovid-19. He shared these thoughts after reciting theRegina Caeli on Sunday, 3 May, in the private library ofthe Vatican's Apostolic Palace, as he has been doing weeklysince the pandemic has required the establishment of socialdistancing measures that prohibit gatherings. Prior to theMarian prayer, the Pontiff commented on the SundayGospel reading centred on the Good Pastor. The followingis a translation of the Holy Father’s reflection.

The Holy Father appeals for international collaboration on treatments and vaccines for Covid-19

The Lord calls us by nameDear Brothers and Sisters,Good Morning,The fourth Sunday of Easter,which we celebrate today, is ded-icated to Jesus the Good Shep-herd. The Gospel says that: “Thesheep hear his voice, and he callshis own sheep by name and leadsthem out” (Jn 10:3). The Lordcalls us by name, He calls us be-cause he loves us. However, theGospel says, there are other voices,that are not to be followed: thoseof strangers, thieves and brigandswho mean harm to the sheep.

These different voices resonatewithin us. There is the voice ofGod, who speaks kindly to theconscience, and there is thetempting voice that leads to evil.How can we recognise the voiceof the Good Shepherd from thatof the thief, how can we distin-guish the inspiration of God fromthe suggestion of the evil one?One can learn to discern thesetwo voices: they speak two differ-ent languages, that is, they haveopposite ways of knocking on[the door of] our hearts. Theyspeak different languages. Just aswe know how to distinguish onelanguage from another, we canalso distinguish the voice of Godfrom the voice of the evil one.

The voice of God never forcesus: God p ro p o s e s himself, He doesnot impose himself. Instead, theevil voice seduces, assails, forces:it arouses dazzling illusions, emo-tions that are tempting but transi-ent. At first it flatters, it makes usbelieve that we are all-powerful,but then it leaves us empty insideand accuses us: “You are worthnothing”. The voice of God, in-stead, corrects us, with great pa-tience, but always encourages us,consoles us: it always nourisheshope. God’s voice is a voice thathas a horizon, whereas the voice

of the evil one leads you to awall, it backs you into a corner.

Another difference: the voice ofthe enemy distracts us from thepresent and wants us to focus onfears of the future or sadnessabout the past — the enemy doesnot want the present — it bringsto surface the bitterness, thememories of the wrongs suffered,of those who have hurt us, ...many bad memories. On the oth-er hand, the voice of God speaksin the present: “Now you can dogood, now you can exercise thecreativity of love, now you canforego the regrets and remorsethat hold your heart captive”. Itinspires us, it leads us ahead, butit speaks in the present: now.

Again: the two voices raise dif-ferent questions in us. The onethat comes from God will be:“What is good for me?”. Insteadthe tempter will insist on anotherquestion: “What do I feel like do-ing?”. What do I feel: the evilvoice always revolves around theego, its impulses, its needs,everything straight away. It is like achild’s tantrums: everything, andnow. The voice of God, however,never promises joy at a low price:it invites us to go beyond our egoin order to find the true, goodpeace. Let us remember: evil nev-er brings peace. First it causesfrenzy, and then it leaves bitter-ness. This is the style of evil.

Lastly, God’s voice and that ofthe tempter, speak in different“e n v i ro n m e n t s ”: the enemyprefers darkness, falsehood, andgossip; the Lord loves sunlight,truth, and sincere transparency.The enemy will say to us: “Closeyourself up in yourself, besidesno one understands and listens toyou, do not be trusting!” Go o d-ness, on the contrary, invites us toopen up, to be clear and trustingin God and in others. Dearbrothers and sisters, during this

time many thoughts and worrieslead us to turn inwards intoourselves. Let us pay attention tothe voices that reach our hearts.Let us ask ourselves where theycome from. Let us ask for thegrace to recognise and follow thevoice of the Good Shepherd, whobrings us out of the enclosures ofselfishness and leads us to thepastures of true freedom. MayOur Lady, Mother of GoodCounsel, guide and accompanyour discernment.

After the Regina Caeli, the HolyFather continued:

Dear brothers and sisters, todaywe celebrate World Day of Prayerfor Vocations. Christian life is al-ways a response to God's call, inany living condition. This Day re-minds us of what Jesus said oneday, that the field of the King-dom of God requires much work,and we must pray the Father tosend labourers to work in his har-vest (cf. Mt 9:37-38). Priesthoodand consecrated life require cour-age and perseverance; and onecannot continue along this pathwithout prayer. I invite everyoneto invoke the Lord for the gift ofgood workers for his Kingdom,with a heart and hands that areopen to his love.

Once again I would like to ex-press my closeness to those whoare suffering from Covid-19, tothose who are dedicated to theircare and to all those who, in anyway, are suffering from the pan-demic. At the same time, I wouldlike to support and encourage theinternational cooperation that islaunching various initiativesaimed at responding adequatelyand effectively to the seriouscrisis we are experiencing. In-deed, it is important to bring to-gether scientific capabilities, in atransparent and disinterested way,

in order to find vaccines andtreatments and to guarantee uni-versal access to essential technolo-gies that will enable every infec-ted person, in every part of theworld, to receive the necessaryhealth care.

I offer a special thought to the“Meter” Association, promoter ofthe National Day for children vic-tims of violence, exploitation andindifference. I encourage those incharge and the staff to continuetheir prevention and awarenessraising work alongside the variouseducational agencies. And Ithank the children from the Asso-ciation who have sent me a col-lage with hundreds of daisies theycoloured. Thank you!

We have just started May, thequintessential Marian month,during which the faithful love tovisit the Shrines dedicated to OurLady. This year, because of thehealth situation, let us visit theseplaces of faith and devotion spir-itually, to place in the heart of theBlessed Virgin our worries, ex-pectations and plans for the fu-t u re .

And since prayer is a universalvalue, I have accepted the pro-posal of the Higher Committeefor Human Fraternity for believ-ers of all religions to unite spir-itually this 14 May for a day ofprayer, fasting, and works ofcharity, to implore God to helphumanity overcome the coronavir-us pandemic. Remember: 14 May,all believers together, believers ofdifferent traditions, to pray, fast,and perform works of charity.

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