We Are All Brothers

After Pope Francis’s visit to Albania this past weekend, we decided to look back at some of the words Saint John Paul II shared when he visited the country back in 1993. When giving a speech in Tirana, he said:

Nothing reminds us more than faith that we have one Creator, that we are all brothers! Religious freedom is a fortress against totalitarianism and a decisive contribution to human brotherhood. True religious freedom shies away from the temptation of intolerance and sectarianism and promotes respectful attitudes and constructive dialogue. The Albanian people – it pleases me to remember this right now- is exemplary from this point of view.

Pope Francis shared a similar message during his visit on Sunday.

Saint John Paul II, please pray for our world today, that religious freedom may lead to true justice and peace.

In Defense Of The Cross

In an article published by Columbia Magazine this past spring, Krzysztof Mazur wrote about the town of Nowa Huta, or “The New Steel Mill,” built by the communists in Poland after World War II. This was a town for workers, intended to make communism more attractive. Polish religiosity and culture were left out.

Catholic residents of Nowa Huta desperately wanted to build a church, but the authorities wouldn’t allow it. Town leaders eventually permitted believers to build a cross in the city square. This cross became the place of worship for the people there. Christians gathered at the cross for prayers, and Mass was said there on occasion. 

In 1960, four years after the cross was built, the authorities in Nowa Huta decided that it was time to take it down and build a school in its place. On April 27, workers and guards arrived in the city square to tear down the cross. As Mazur recounts, the people put up a fight:

A group of women saw what was happening and equipped themselves with shopping carts, brooms, bricks and bottles. A short time later, when a shift at the steel mill was let out, more than a thousand men started making their way toward the cross carrying shovels, pickaxes and other tools. In a spontaneous act of civil disobedience, 5,000 workers and citizens suddenly gathered in the square.

The protests came to a violent end, but the cross was allowed to remain in its place. Saint John Paul II, who was serving as an auxiliary bishop at the time, provided much religious support for people struggling in Nowa Huta. One way was by organizing midnight Masses under the cross each Christmas eve. 

Conscience Has Rights Because It Has Duties

As the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops kick off their Fortnight for Freedom today, let us reflect on this passage from Blessed John Paul II’s Vertatis Splendor, in which he shares his thoughts on the importance of freedom of conscience:

The human issues most frequently debated and differently resolved in contemporary moral reflection are all closely related, albeit in various ways, to a crucial issue: human freedom. 

Certainly people today have a particularly strong sense of freedom. As the Council's Declaration on Religious Freedom Dignitatis Humanae had already observed, "the dignity of the human person is a concern of which people of our time are becoming increasingly more aware." Hence the insistent demand that people be permitted to "enjoy the use of their own responsible judgment and freedom, and decide on their actions on grounds of duty and conscience, without external pressure or coercion." In particular, the right to religious freedom and to respect for conscience on its journey towards the truth is increasingly perceived as the foundation of the cumulative rights of the person. 

This heightened sense of the dignity of the human person and of his or her uniqueness, and of the respect due to the journey of conscience, certainly represents one of the positive achievements of modern culture. This perception, authentic as it is, has been expressed in a number of more or less adequate ways, some of which however diverge from the truth about man as a creature and the image of God, and thus need to be corrected and purified in the light of faith. 

The Desire for Peace

The world needs peace,

The world ardently desires peace.

Let us pray that all men and women,

enjoying religious freedom,

may be able to live in peace.

-Blessed John Paul II

December 8, 1987

Some New Year’s Resolutions From the USCCB

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops is calling all Catholic faithful to prayer, penance, and sacrifice in 2013. This is part of a movement for life, marriage, and religious liberty in America, in response to social and political movements in the past year. This movement begins tomorrow, on the feast of the Holy Family, and lasts until the feast of Christ the King on November 24, 2013.

Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordlleone of San Francisco, chairman of the bishops' Subcommittee for the Promotion and Defense of Marriage, said, “The pastoral strategy is essentially a call and encouragement to prayer and sacrifice - it's meant to be simple. ... Life, Marriage, and Religious Liberty are not only foundational to Catholic social teaching but also fundamental to the good of society.”

These simple resolutions include:

1.  Monthly Holy Hour
2. Daily Rosary
3. Intentions for life, marriage, and religious liberty in Prayers of the Faithful
4. Fasting and Abstinence on Fridays
5. Participating in the 2^nd Fortnight for Freedom in Summer 2013

For more information on these resolutions and about the strategy itself, see the USCCB site. 

Long Live Christ the King!

Today the Church celebrates the feast of Blessed Miguel Pro, a Jesuit priest martyred in 1927, during a time of intense religious persecution in Mexico. Dubbed the “undercover priest,” he was ultimately arrested and executed for administering the Sacraments.

Videos and photos of his execution are very moving. Catholic News Agency provides a telling account:

As Fr. Pro walked from his cell to the prison courtyard, he blessed the firing squad and then knelt and prayed silently for a few moments. Refusing a blindfold, he stood, faced the firing squad, and with a crucifix in one hand and a rosary in the other, he held his arms outstretched in the form of a cross and in a loud, clear voice cried out, "May God have mercy on you! May God bless you! Lord, Thou knowest that I am innocent! With all my heart I forgive my enemies!" As the soldiers lifted their rifles, he exclaimed in a loud voice, "Viva Cristo Rey!" - "Long live Christ the King!"

Miguel Pro, who was beatified by Blessed John Paul II in 1988, stood for the Church until the day he died, and his whole life was a lesson in love and truth.

Blessed Miguel Pro, pray for us today, that we may stand with the Lord in the face of our daily trials and in the bigger ones to come. 

Blessed John Paul II to Politicians

The Church has deep esteem for the task entrusted to politicians and government leaders; this is why she never tires of recalling the essential aspect of service which must characterize the activity of those who represent the people and every public authority.

In particular, the Church recalls this aspect to believers, whose faith presents political activity as a vocation. Moreover, all right-minded people find guidance for the decisions that the office entrusted to them obliges them to take in the dictates of the natural law, which echo in their conscience.

In speaking of this, we naturally think of the shining figure of St Thomas More, an extraordinary example of freedom and of fidelity to the law of conscience in the face of morally untenable, albeit authoritative, demands. I wanted to proclaim him your patron, dear government leaders, members of parliament and politicians, so that his witness might be an incentive and encouragement to you.

May your work each day be at the service of justice, peace, freedom and the common good. God will not fail to support your efforts, enriching them with abundant fruit so that the civilization of love will become ever more extensive and deeply rooted.

-Blessed John Paul II, Address for Jubilee of Government Leaders, 2000

With Election Day Around the Corner, Pray for Religious Liberty

We’ve written about the importance of religious liberty here on Open Wide the Doors before. As people inspired by the life and legacy of Blessed John Paul II and as faithful members of the Church, it is important that we continue to pray for religious liberty in America and around the world.

Election Day is tomorrow, and it is crucial that we cast our votes for religious freedom and for the dignity of every human life. Bishop David Ricken from the diocese of Green Bay reminded Catholics of the “non-negotiables” on the ballot, which “are areas that are ‘intrinsically evil’ and cannot be supported by anyone who is a believer in God or the common good or the dignity of the human person.”

The U.S. Bishops designate six issues as “intrinsically evil” and that “must always be rejected and opposed”:

·       Abortion
·       Embryonic stem-cell research
·       Same-sex marriage
·       Violation of religious liberty
·       Cloning
·       Euthanasia 

They designate six additional issues that do not carry the same weight, but are serious and should be taken into consideration as well:

·       Racism
·       Unjust discrimination
·       Death penalty
·       Unjust war
·       Lack of health care
·       Unjust immigration policy

In his encyclical Evangelium Vitae, Blessed John Paul II wrote:  

…certain that moral truth cannot fail to make its presence deeply felt in every conscience, the Church encourages political leaders, starting with those who are Christians, not to give in, but to make those choices which, taking into account what is realistically attainable, will lead to the re-establishment of a just order in the defense and promotion of the value of life. 

With our prayers and with our votes tomorrow, let us encourage political leaders to recognize the freedom and dignity of every human life.