Cardinal Rodé Calls for Renewal of Religious Life
Says Young Monks and Priests Give Wordless Testimony
ROME, MARCH 19, 2008 (Zenit.org).- A return to the authenticity of religious life is being encouraged by Cardinal Franc Rodé, prefect of the Vatican congregation that oversees consecrated life in the Church.
Cardinal Rodé, prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, spoke Tuesday with Vatican Radio about the situation of religious life in France.
"France certainly forms part of the reality of Western Europe and there, secularization has been very strong over the last 40 years, after the Council," he said. "It could be said that certain traditional congregations suffer because of this secularized mentality that has seeped into them."
The cardinal recalled that Benedict XVI "continuously warns against the danger of so-called internal secularization."
"To flee from this worldly spirit, therefore, and to put the emphasis on life in community, on fraternal life, on prayer, on poverty, on obedience, on chastity lived in the joy of the heart and in interior liberty, it is this that we should recover, that we should live intensely," he proposed.
"Living the charism intensely and returning to the authenticity of religious life," is what Cardinal Rodé suggested as the "only way to get out of this crisis situation in which religious life finds itself."
Despite the difficulties, the cardinal also noted "surprising reactions." He pointed to the experience of "great admiration and joy when you encounter young monks, young Carmelite or Dominican fathers, Benedictine religious, and you see them full of joy, transparent, with a great interior liberty."
"They are visibly in their place, where God wants them, and they live their vocation in the joy and peace of the heart," the cardinal affirmed. "I think this is the first testimony that these religious give and it is a very convincing, very believable testimony. As the philosopher Bergson said in other times, their existence is an invitation; they have no need for words."
URL: http://www.zenit.org/article-22107?l=english
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Cardinal Rodé Calls for Renewal of Religious Life
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Benedict XVI Tells Youth: See You in Sydney
Benedict XVI Tells Youth: See You in Sydney
Asks for Prayers That July Event Will Bring Renewal
VATICAN CITY, MARCH 16, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI is asking prayers for young people, so that this summer's World Youth Day in Sydney might be a time of "deep and lasting spiritual renewal."
The Pope made this appeal in English today after he prayed the midday Angelus with thousands gathered in St. Peter's Square. He celebrated Palm Sunday Mass and the diocesan-level Youth Day this morning, offering a special greeting to the young people gathered in the square.
"I address [my greeting] in a special way to young people," the Holy Father said, "come from many countries of the world on the occasion of the World Youth Day, which the beloved Servant of God John Paul II wanted to link with Palm Sunday. In this moment my thoughts turn to Sydney, in Australia, where the preparations are under way for the great meeting that I will have with the young people of the whole world from July 15 to 20 of this year.
"I thank the Italian bishops' conference, Cardinal Pell, the archbishop of Sydney, and his collaborators in particular, for all the work that they are doing with such commitment. I am also grateful to the Australian federal and state officials for the generous support offered to this important initiative. See you in Sydney!"
After the Angelus, when the Holy Father addressed the people in various languages, he again turned his attention to World Youth Day in his English-language greeting.
"I welcome the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors here this Palm Sunday, when we acclaim Jesus, model of humility, our messiah and king. In a special way I greet all the young people gathered in Rome. I am looking forward to seeing many of you, together with thousands of others from across the globe, at World Youth Day in Sydney," he said. "Let us all pray for our young people, that World Youth Day will be a time of deep and lasting spiritual renewal.
"May the great events of Holy Week, in which we see love unfold in its most radical form, inspire you all to be courageous ‘witnesses of charity' to your friends, your communities and our world. Upon each of you present and your families, I invoke God's blessings of peace and wisdom."
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