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| POPE BLESSES ST. MARON STATUE, SIGN OF COMMUNION, PEACE AND RECONCILIATION |
The Maronite community of the world is celebrating the installation of the newest statue at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.
Pope Benedict XVI blessed the 18-foot tall marble statue of St. Maron on the morning of Feb. 23. It was placed into the last open space of a series of large niches in the exterior wall of St. Peter's Basilica.
St. Maron established the first "Maronite" community based on a monastic spirituality in the 4th century. This year, the Church is celebrating the 1,600th anniversary of his death.
Despite hardship, the Maronite Church has remained intact and in communion with the Catholic Church and today has around three million members. Nearly one-third of these live in Lebanon.
Fr. Domique Hanna told CNA that the event was a special one for the Maronites of the world. Fr. Hanna is a parish priest at St. Joseph's Maronite Church, which offers a place of worship for 200 families in Atlanta, Ga.
"It's a confirmation and re-establishment that we are in full communion with the Catholic Church, with the Holy See," he said of the day's ceremony. "We are very proud of that."
They are also proud that St. Maron has taken such a visible place among the many saints of the Church remembered in statues around the Vatican, said Fr. Hanna. His community celebrates an anniversary of its own this March, a century since the establishment of the parish.
Cardinal Patriarch Nasrallah Pierre Sfeir of Antioch of the Maronites was present with the Pope for the ceremony with a delegation from the Lebanon-based Church. Lebanese president, Gen. Michel Suleiman, and other government ministers and Church officials were also there.
L'Osservatore reported that, for Cardinal Sfeir, the 20-ton statue represented peace and reconciliation for Lebanon.
Cardinal Angelo Comastri, archpriest of St. Peter's Basilica, addressed the gathering on the occasion. He said that the ceremony was "an act of affection, esteem and gratitude to the Maronite Church which in the course of the centuries has suffered so much for staying faithful to Jesus, to the Church and to the Pope."
"The statue of St. Maron will remind us every day of your heroic example and be an invitation to pray for you," he told the Lebanese delegations.
The statue was sculpted from a single block of the famed white marble of Carrara, Italy by Spanish artist Marco Augusto Dueñas.
Engraved into its base is the phrase in Aramaic from Psalm 92, "The just shall flourish like the palm tree, shall grow like a cedar of Lebanon."
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| Every Catholic Is Called To Encourage Vocations |
The vitality of the Church depends on individual Catholics fostering vocations in their homes and parishes.
The Pope says in his annual message for the May 15 World Day of Prayer for Vocations.
“It is essential that every local Church become more sensitive and attentive to the pastoral care of vocations,” the Pope writes in his new statement issued by the Vatican on Feb. 10.
He speaks of the role of the Church in helping children and young people to grow in a real friendship with Jesus, to increase their familiarity with the Scriptures, to understand the truth of his message and to be generous in creating relationships with others.
The theme of this year's prayer for vocations day is “Proposing Vocations in the Local Church.” Answering Jesus' call of “Follow me!” is “no less challenging” today than it was for the disciples 2,000 years ago, says the Pope.
The Church is called to protect and love the gift of God's call to people to share in his mission and serve as ordained ministers and consecrated religious, he says.
According to a report from the United States of America bishops, there are currently 5,131 men enrolled in the United States of America seminaries. The number is up from 4,973 in 2009.
The Pope urges the faithful to take every opportunity to develop vocations for awakening in the people of God ... a sense of belonging to the Church and of responsibility for answering the call to priesthood and to religious life by a free and informed decision,” he says.
“The ability to foster vocations is a hallmark of the vitality of a local Church.”
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| VATICAN DENIES CLAMPDOWN ON LITURGICAL REFORM |
 The Vatican has denied an Italian newspaper analyst's claim that one of its departments will be dedicating itself to a stricter interpretation of the Second Vatican Council's liturgical changes.
Tornielli reported that changes would make it possible for the worship congregation to promote a liturgy “more faithful to the original intentions of Vatican II.” This would put greater emphasis on the sacredness of the Mass, he said.
The divine worship department would assume this “new liturgical movement” as part of its function.
Vatican spokesman, Father Federico Lombardi, SJ, confirmed that the department has been studying the possibility of a “motu proprio” – the title of the Pope's order – to transfer the caseload of unconsummated marriages to the Rota.
There is no foundation or reason to see in this an intention to promote a 'restrictive' type control by the congregation over the promotion of the liturgical renewal by the Second Vatican Council.
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| CWO MOBILIZES TO SAVE NIGERIA |
The worrisome political, religious and socio-economic situations of the Nigerian nation demand divine intervention, the President of the National Council of Catholic Women Organization (NCCWO), Chief (Mrs.) Felicia Onyeabo, LSM, JP has declared.
The leader of the about 15million-strong women organization of the Catholic Church made this remark while addressing a press conference at the organization's head office in Abuja.
The group is aware of the situations and that the Lord has burdened the Catholic Women Organization to spear head a nationwide intercession.” Chief (Mrs.) Onyeabo stated: Our nation is closer to the brink of anarchy and doom. How can we continue to claim to be the world's most religious nation?
She continued: “it is against this background that we have declared Saturday, the 12th February 2011, a day of fasting and Night Vigil for all Catholic women, in all the diocese in Nigeria.” While calling on all Catholic women to join in this special day of prayer/vigil crusade.
The programme will take place in all dioceses across the country including Abuja; from the evening of Saturday, February 12 to the early hours of Sunday, February 13, 2011.
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| GREED, BANE OF OUR NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT |
The Secretary General of the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria, Very Rev. Fr. Michael Ekpenyong has attributed greed and covetous desire for wealth as a major constraint to the development of the country.
Fr. Ekpenyong made this observation in his address at the end of the Mass to celebrate the Golden jubilee of the Independence of Nigeria at the Chapel of the Secretariat.
Fr. Ekpenyong pointed out that God puts harmony in nature but our greed destroyed it. He continued: "Conflict in our person is the problem of this country. There is greed not only in our politicians but in all of us, hence, the present predicament of the country." While noting that the last fifty years in the life of the country has been a period of mixed blessings Fr. Ekpenyong stressed that "we have to go back to the harmony of creation through reconciliation, eschew conflict and embrace the peace of Jesus Christ.
In his homily, during the Mass, the Executive Secretary of Catholic CARITAS Foundation of Nigeria, Rev. Fr. Evaristus Bassey stated that the celebration country's Golden jubilee is a challenge to the Church and every Nigerian on what we contribute to the growth of the Nigerian nation. Rev. Fr. Bassey called on all departments and staff of CSN to discharge their entrusted duties with patriotism and thereby serve the Church faithfully and contribute their quota to make Nigeria great.
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| African church leaders offer to help end impasse in Ivory Coast |
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (CNS) -- African church leaders met with the two men claiming the presidency in the Ivory Coast and urged a strong role for religious leaders in mediating the impasse over the country's disputed presidential election.
Noting "the call made by the international community that the Ivorian crisis is an African issue and that it is the responsibility of African leaders to solve the political crisis" there, an umbrella body of African religious leaders, including the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar, known as SECAM, the All African Conference of Churches and the Africa Council of Religious Leaders, sent a delegation to Abidjan, Ivory Coast, Feb. 17-19, a SECAM statement said.
Cardinal Theodore-Adrien Sarr of Dakar, Senegal, led the delegation, which met with outgoing President Laurent Gbagbo and Alassane Ouattara, who was declared the winner of the November elections.
Gbagbo's refusal to leave office has led the international community to impose economic and travel sanctions against his government.
The religious delegation urged that a "platform be created by African political and religious leaders for sincere and frank dialogue" between Ouattara and Gbagbo in order "to find a peaceful and lasting solution to the political crisis," the statement said.
The two men attempting to secure the presidency should keep in mind U.S. President Barack Obama's message during a 2009 visit to Ghana that "Africans must take responsibility for their future," it said.
The delegation recommended that the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Ivory Coast "and other religious bodies should continue to play their prophetic role in the mediation process." They urged that Ivorians should not "allow themselves to be manipulated by the political differences that would undermine social cohesion."
The religious leaders also appealed to "all believers to redouble their efforts in prayers and never let partisan politics affect their faith."
Members of the delegation included Archbishop John Olorunfemi Onaiyekan of Abuja, Nigeria, who co-chairs the African Council of Religious Leaders, and Sheik Rahman Ahmad Abdur, who represented the Nigerian Sultan of Sokoto, a spiritual leader in the Muslim community.
About 300 people have been killed in violence since the election, which was conducted in an effort to bring stability to the country following the 2002-03 civil war and subsequent years of economic stagnation. However, the polling deepened divisions and raised the specter of renewed conflict. |
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| Kenyan church leaders teach children everyone is a missionary |
 NAIROBI, Kenya (CNS) -- In Kenya, evangelization begins with the children.
In the Archdiocese of Mombasa, along Indian Ocean coast, children from different parishes take turns feeding and spending time with children in the local hospital for the disabled. They also visit child prisoners, delivering toothbrushes and toothpaste, soap, slippers and tissues.
If a child dies, the children take over the planning of the funeral, said Sister Pauline Andrew Wangeci, a member of the Daughters of Divine Love.
"They carry the coffin, they bury that child," she said of the children. "Then they visit the family to console them with prayers."
Sister Pauline Andrew coordinates the work of the Pontifical Mission Societies for three dioceses in eastern Kenya. There are four societies, all of which concern evangelization, but the one that takes the most time, she said, is the Pontifical Society of the Missionary Childhood, known in the United States as the Holy Childhood Association.
Sister Pauline Andrew coordinates a large grass-roots network of programs and volunteers whose goal is to teach children that everyone is a missionary.
Nearly every parish in the Archdiocese of Mombasa has a volunteer animator, or coordinator, to work with the children's activities. Once a month, the parishes have a special Mass in which the children do the readings, take the collection, serve at the altar, lead the singing, and handle other liturgical tasks.
At Epiphany, parishes celebrate Holy Childhood Day with sports and a special Mass. Once each year, children from across the diocese celebrate a special Mass with the bishop.
During the April school holidays, the Pontifical Society of the Missionary Childhood sponsors a music festival. In August, it organizes sports activities, and in December, it plans a spiritual program.
Such activities are replicated across Kenya.
Felician Sister Veronica Wanjiku Maina has worked with the Pontifical Society of the Missionary Childhood in the Archdiocese of Nyeri for three years. She says the yearly Mass with the bishop is especially touching. Each parish has a small tin into which youngsters can drop donations for children in need around the world. The children carry those tins in the offertory procession at the Mass, presenting them to the bishop, who in turns blesses the children.
"He talks to them, and they entertain the bishop," Sister Veronica said, describing the Feb. 5 Mass attended by 12,000 children.
The money collected is sent to the national Pontifical Mission Societies office in Nairobi. The money is forwarded to the Vatican, where pontifical mission directors from around the world meet to decide what children's projects have the greatest need.
Some areas of the Nyeri Archdiocese are very poor, but Sister Veronica still meets with the children there.
"We ask them to support (other children) mostly with prayers ... and being a good witness," she said.
That might mean taking a friend to church, being good and studying well, staying away from bad kids or speaking out in a strong voice when called upon to recite prayers.
In her archdiocese, since the children are acting as missionaries, they also take a small collection -- less than a penny per child -- each year and buy something for the diocesan seminary. This year, they purchased a gas stove.
Both nuns credit Father Celestino Bundi, Kenyan national director of the Pontifical Mission Societies, with laying the groundwork for the active ministry to evangelize children.
Father Francis Muriithi, Pontifical Mission Societies director in the Diocese of Nakuru, serves in a diverse region that has poor farmers, nomadic herdsmen and business leaders, as well as street children and prostitutes.
He uses his network of animators to reach areas where a priest is not always present; some parishes have as many as 60 outstations because they are so large.
Father Muriithi said the animators use Pope John Paul II's idea that no one is so poor that he has nothing to offer.
Father Moses Kago, Pontifical Mission Societies director in the Archdiocese of Nairobi, also uses that approach. Although money is a resource, the poor offer other resources, he said. Energy is a resource, as is building unity and sharing.
He said that in the slums of Nairobi, animators work to teach children that "even a piece of sweet, you can break it into two to share with somebody else."
After Haiti's devastating earthquake in January 2010, he said, the children collected $835 for youngsters suffering in the Caribbean island nation.
"Each one of us was created to share himself or herself with the rest of humanity," he said. |
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