2800 Pope ordains Savio Hon and four other bishops
austraLasia #2800 Pope ordains Savio Hon and four other bishops
VATICAN CITY, 5 February 2011-- Pope
Benedict XVI celebrated Mass this morning in St Peter's
Basilica, during which he ordained five new bishops who will
exercise their ministry in the Roman Curia or as Papal
representatives. The five are: Archbishops Savio Hon
Tai-Fai, Chinese, 59 years of age, Salesian and member of
our EAO Region, now Secretary of the Congregation for the
evangelisation of Peoples; Marcelo Bartolucci, Italian, 66
years of age, Secretary of the Congregation for the Causes
of Saints; Celso Morga Iruzibieta, Spanish, 63 years of age,
Secretary for the Congregation for the Clergy; and Bishops
Antonio Guido Filipazzi, Italian, 47 years of age, Apostolic
Nuncio; Edgar Peña Parra, Venezuelan, 50 years of
age, Apostolic Nuncio.
In his homily Benedict XVI recalled the
passage from Acts on the primitive Jerusalem community, the
theme for the recent Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. The
Pope emphasised certain aspects of the episcopal ministry,
observing, through a metaphor of particular interest to some
of the candidates before him that “the Pastor should not be
like a bamboo bending in the wind, but a servant of the
spirit of his times”...
“Being intrepid, having the courage to go against the
prevailing current, belongs to the essential task of the
Pastor. He should not be like a bamboo in the swamp, but
instead – like the image from Psalm 1 – be like a tree with
deep roots, firm and well-founded”. “This", the Pope
explained, "has nothing to do with being rigid or
inflexible. Only where stability exists can there be
growth”.
He then went on to recall Cardinal
Newman, and his three 'conversions'. He said that “to live
is to be transformed”. But, Benedict XVI insisted,
“his three conversions and their corresponding
transformations constitute, however, a single consistent
path: the path of obedience directed to truth, God; the path
of true continuity which is precisely what progress is”.
“Faith has real content”, the Pope then
said, commenting on the expression “perseverance in the
teaching of the Apostles”. “Faith is not some indeterminate
spirituality, an indefinable sense of transcendence. God's
acting and speaking achieved something real. We can count on
the stability of his Word”. “By being in communion with the
Apostles, remaining in their faith, we are actually in
contact with the living God”.
“This is the objective", the Pope
continued, "which the Bishop's ministry serves: so this may
not be interrupted, this succession in communion”. "This is
the essence of the Apostolic succession: preserving
communion with those who encountered Jesus in a visible and
tangible way, keeping Heaven open, God's presence amongst
us". “Only through communion with the Successors of the
Apostles can we also be in contact with God incarnate”. "The
opposite is also true", observed the Pope: “thanks to
communion with God, thanks to communion with Jesus Christ,
this chain of witnesses is held together”.
“No bishop is alone, said Vatican II, but
he is always part of the College of Bishops. And this is not
confined simply to the time of his own generation. All
generations are entwined with collegiality, the Church lives
on through time. My dear brother bishops, hold to the
mission of preserving this Catholic communion", the Pope
added.
Benedict XVI also commented on the
“breaking of the bread”, which was a feature of the first
community in Jerusalem, recalling that “the holy Eucharist
is the centre of the Church and must be the centre of our
Christian and priestly lives”.
“The social dimension, sharing, is not a
mere appendage added to the Eucharist, but part of it”.
“Faith is always expressed through love and justice towards
each other and our social activity is to be inspired by
faith; and that faith is lived in love" the Pope concluded _________________ AustraLasia
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