IN BRIEF
Spain: “purifying memory, asking for forgiveness”A mourning service to commemorate the victims of the civil war and pay a special tribute to 14 Basque priests sank into oblivion. The bishops of the three Basque dioceses are going to pay homage to all the people who lost their lives in the civil war which ravaged Spain between 1936 and 1939 in the new cathedral of Vitoria on July 11. Among them, there were 70 priests of the diocese of Vitoria – the only diocese in the region at that time. In a pastoral letter entitled “Purifying Memory, Serving the Truth, Asking for Forgiveness” – which has just been released -, Bishop of Bilbao Ricardo Blázquez, bishop of San Sebastián Juan María Uriarte, bishop of Vitoria Miguel Asurmendi and auxiliary bishop of Bilbao Mario Iceta explained the decision to look back at past events as a reply to a popular petition. Like John Paul II – and after 498 Spanish 20th-century martyrs were beatified by Benedict XVI in 2007 -, the pastors would like to undertake with the faithful an “exercise for the ‘purification’ of memory”. “We want to look at past to learn how to build a new present and future by purifying our memory, serving the truth, asking for, offering and accepting forgiveness”, they explained in the document. Besides the funeral service – that they did not have -, the 14 priests will have their biographies published in the official newsletter of every diocese, as a visible sign of this “exercise” for the purification of memory. “We wish to serve the truth, which is one of the main pillars on which to build justice, peace and reconciliation”, they said. “We do not want to reopen old wounds, but to help healing them”. Moreover “we want to ask for forgiveness and encourage forgiveness. In no case will we pass judgements on others, but we want to acknowledge our past and present limits before God”.Portugal: the social action of Mercy Institutions A few days ago, during the inauguration of the Holy House of Mercy, the bishop of Oporto, Msgr. Manuel Clemente declared, “the State should not restrain initiatives nor the freedom of action of groups and institutions present in society. Catholic associations are shared with other citizens within global pluralism”. “The State, in charge of public administration, ought to view the common good as its primary concern. This objective can be achieved by stepping up social groups and institutions, according to the specific nature of each. This is what subsidiarity is all about. It is the real and true symptom of the soundness of social and political life leading to free and responsible citizenship”, he added. Msgr. Clemente recalled the erection of the Holy Home of Mercy in Oporto 150 years ago, underlining this principle as its founding pillar and that developed into “a fruitful ground for creativity. In referring to the ecclesial spiritual and concrete roots of Mercy institutions, the Church is intended as the common environment shared by all those who at the time described themselves as the citizens of the Kingdom of Portugal”. “The Church’s wholesome environment marked the social action of Portugal’s Mercy Institutions, conveyed with ongoing charity and prayer. Indeed, a large part of the common heritage of the Lusitani people was born and is preserved still today in the Churches of Mercy”. England: the beatification of Cardinal Newman In a communiqué the Bishops Conference of England and Wales welcomed the publication, past July 3rd, of the decree by which Benedict XVI recognized the miracle resulting from the intercession of Cardinal John Henry Newman, founder of the Orators of Saint Philip Neri in England, who converted from Anglicanism to Catholicism in 1845. In their note the bishops write, “Pope Benedict XVI acknowledged the recovery of deacon Jack Sullivan in 2001, following the intercession of the venerable servant of God John Henry Newman, as a miracle”. The miraculous healing from a serious disability in the spine occurred in Boston, in the United States. “The Pope’s decision – the bishops continue – paves the way to beatification”. “The prayers of Christ’s faithful all over the world have now been answered”, said Father Paul Chavasse, provost of the Community of Newman at the Oratory of Birmingham. “I pray that Newman, by the example of his life and the depth of his teaching, will be received as an authentic guide for Catholics everywhere. It is surely providential that the Beatification of this great English theologian will occur in the pontificate of Benedict XVI, a major theologian in his own right whom Cardinal Newman has influenced profoundly.” In the past months a spokesman of the English bishops had envisaged the possibility that the Pope participate in the ceremony, grasping the occasion for an apostolic visit to Great Britain. The Pope was officially invited to the U.K. by premier Gordon Brown. It would be the second papal visit after John Paul II’s, who in 1982 was the first Roman Pontiff to visit England after the schism with Henry VIII in 1534. Cardinal Newman was declared “venerable” by John Paul II on January 22 1991.
