Bishop Columba Macbeth-Green OSPPE, ordained priest for the Pauline Fathers, is celebrating 10 years of service as bishop of the Diocese of Wilcannia-Forbes. This diocese is 160,000 square miles in its territory, and the largest diocese in New South Wales.
Prayers for Bishop Columba.
It seems the Bishop of Rome, Pope Francis, is once again the Patriarch of the West, according to the Annuario Pontificio 2024. It was removed from the list of papal titles by Pope Benedict XVI in 2005. An act that was unfathomable to me.
The Annuario has on the front page the Pope with his original title: “Francis, Bishop of Rome”.
The current list of titles that the Roman Pontiff claims for himself:
Vicar of Jesus Christ, Successor of the Prince of the Apostles, Pontifex Maximus of the Universal Church, Primate of Italy, Archbishop and Metropolitan of the Province of Rome, Sovereign of the State of Vatican City, Servant of the Servants of God”. And now, add Patriarch of the West.
Each title has a history and has a place in our ecclesiology. Titles as they are make certain claims in light of service (diakonia) and faith.
There was no shortage of irritation among the churches of the East by the change effected by Benedict since it was among the appropriate titles because it affirms a basic ministry of the Roman Pontiff. The title, also allows us to understand our place among the communion of churches viz. the gift of headship and fatherhood.
For nearly two decades plus some years the Manquehue Apostolic Movement (MAM) has been active ministering at Portsmouth Abbey and School and the Priory School at St. Louis Abbey. The lay men and women of the MAM some of the best people I’ve met over the years who are part of a group at the service of the Gospel and the Benedictine charism.
For those who don’t know the Manquehue Apostolic Movement it was founded in 1977 first as an Association of Lay Faithful according to the Code of Canon Law (1983) in the Archdiocese of Santiago de Chile. By 1994 the Movement was granted a firmer position in the Church by becoming a juridic personality in Law.
The Movement is composed of laity. There are no clerics who are members of the Movement. Yet they have had a strong and influential presences of Benedictine monks who have given good witness to the Benedictine way of proceeding. In many ways one can say that members of the Manquehue Apostolic Movement are lay Benedictines, similar but not the same as an Oblate’s call to relate to a monastery.
I have met over then years several members of the MAM at both noted abbeys but have been in touch with them mostly at Portsmouth in years. This year I had the privilege of meeting the men seen in the above picture: Martín, Mattias, Nico and Vicente. All four these guys inspire me. All graduates of the MAM school in Santiago and currently doing university studies having just finished two months of missionary work among the students at Portsmouth Abbey school. They are great young men who made an impact on many of us.
The work of the of the Movement is the prayerful reading of sacred Scripture – also called Lectio Divina. This is closely linked to the teaching and witnessing to the spirituality of St Benedict and 1500 years of life of monks, nuns, sisters and laity. In Santiago de Chile, Manquehue runs three schools and guides more that 100 weekly Lectio Divina groups. And probably one of the most impressive charitable works is a hostel for homeless women. You can find the Movement also at the end of the world –or near the end of the world– in Patagonia, in the south of Chile where there’s a retreat house. I am scheming to have a Manquehue community in the Providence, Rhode Island Diocese and close to Portsmouth Abbey.
Some members of the Manquehue Movement make an oblation to live the charism of the movement more intensely. Some are married couples, some are single, all centered on the Lord. Many of the graduates of the Manquehue schools do missionary work to deepen our love for Scripture.
May God abundantly bless the Manquehue Apostolic Movement and Martín, Mattías, Nico and Vicénte. May Our Lady and St Benedict intercede. AMEN.
Today begins the Octave of Prayer for the Unity of Christians. A spiritual work given to us by Father Paul of Graymoor and approved by Pope Saint Pius X. This prayer of Fr Sergius Bulgakov ought to be in our heart.
O Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour, thou didst promise to abide with us always. Thou dost call all Christians to draw near and partake of Thy Body and Blood. But our sin has divided us and we have no power to partake of Thy Holy Eucharist together. We confess this our sin and we pray Thee, forgive us and help us to serve the ways of reconciliation, according to Thy Will. Kindle our hearts with the fire of the Holy Spirit. Give us the spirit of Wisdom and faith, of daring and of patience, of humility and firmness, of love and of repentance, through the prayers of the most blessed Mother of God and of all the saints. Amen.
The Church mourns the death of Cardinal Albert Vanhoye, SJ, 98, who fell asleep in the on Thursday, 29 July 2021. At 98 years of age, Vanhoye was the world’s oldest cardinal at the time of his death. The oldest cardinal is now the 97-year-old Slovakian Cardinal Jozef Tomko, president emeritus of the Pontifical Committee for International Eucharistic Congresses.
In the pope’s 30 July telegram he described the Cardinal as an “authoritative biblical scholar.” A similar comment was made by Benedict XVI when he created Vanhoye a cardinal in 2006. To be noted, Vanhoye received the cardinal’s red hat on March 24, 2006, having been dispensed from the requirement to be consecrated as a bishop beforehand, something that many of the Jesuits who have been made a cardinal a senior age have requested.
Catholic News Agency ran this obituary for the Cardinal, which gives a brief and interesting perspective on Vanhoye.
May Albert Cardinal Vanhoye rest in peace.
A friend of mine shared with me the trailer of Exarch Leonid Fyodorov “Between Truth and Darkness” (2012). From what I can it is fascinating piece of work introducing us to a rather unknown person in contemporary church history but a giant in ecclesial circles. As bishop for the Russian Byzantine Catholics he energetically took up his mission until government authorities persecuted him.
The Russian Byzantine Catholics are a minority and they are worthy of our knowledge of them and for our fraternal support. Pray for the re-establishment of the Eparchy for the Russian Byzantine Catholics. The Holy See seems to be deaf to this request.
Of your charity please pray for Prospero Cardinal Grech OSA, founder and first president of the Augustinianum in Rome, who died today.
Born Stanley Grech in Malta on 24 December 1925
Joined the Augustinian Order in 1943 and ordained in 1950
Served the Roman Pontiffs John XXIII and Paul VI in various capacities
Created Cardinal of the Roman Church by Benedict XVI in 2012
Requiescat in pace.
On Saturday, the Pope made news for the USA: Italian Archbishop Gabriele Giordano Caccia is the new representative of the Holy See to the United Nations. He succeeds Philippine Archbishop Bernardito Auza, who was named by the Pope as Apostolic Nuncio to Spain and Andorra. Since September 12, 2017, Archbishop Caccia has been serving the Church as the Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines. We pray that he will be accessible to both the UN, the Church in the USA and in New York.
According to the Vatican News Service, says the following of Archbishop Caccia:
Born in Milan, northern Italy, on 24 February 1958, he has ordained to the priesthood on 11 June 1983. After serving in a parish for three years, he was sent to the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy in Rome where obtained a Doctorate in Theology and a Licentiate in Canon Law from the Pontifical Gregorian University.
Upon graduation in 1991, he entered the diplomatic service of the Holy See. His first assignment was at the Apostolic Nunciature in Tanzania, where he served for two years, until in 1993 he returned to Rome to work in the First Section (for General Affairs) of the Secretariat of State of the Vatican.
On December 17, 2002, he was appointed Assessor for General Affairs of the Secretariat of State. On July 16, 2009, Pope Benedict XVI appointed him Apostolic Nuncio to Lebanon and also an archbishop.
He was consecrated bishop on September 12, 2009, by Pope Benedict. On September 12, 2017, Pope Francis appointed him Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines.
Archbishop Caccia will arrive in New York to assume his new responsibilities on January 16, 2020. He speaks English, French and German.
Archbishop Caccia becomes the seventh Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations in New York since the Holy See became a Permanent Observer State on April 6, 1964.
Speaking about his new responsibility, Archbishop Caccia said, “I have really loved my time in the Philippines and will miss this beautiful country and its faithful people, to whom I express my deepest gratitude.”
He hopes to be able to fulfil well the new task that Pope Francis has entrusted to him, “seeking to bring the light of Catholic social teaching to the discussions and debates of the international community.”
The UN is celebrating its 75th anniversary next year, and Archbishop Cassia says he is looking forward to helping the Holy See assist the world body in “renewing its commitment to the pillars of its Charter, preventing the scourge of war, defending human dignity and rights, promoting integral development, and fostering respect and implementation of international law and treaties.”
From the Holy See today:
Yesterday evening the Holy Father received the letter in which Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, Archbishop Emeritus of Washington (U.S.A.), presented his resignation as a member of the College of Cardinals.
Pope Francis accepted his resignation from the cardinalate and has ordered his suspension from the exercise of any public ministry, together with the obligation to remain in a house yet to be indicated to him, for a life of prayer and penance until the accusations made against him are examined in a regular canonical trial.
Giacomo Dalla Torre del Tempio di Sanguinetto, 73, was elected Lieutenant of the Grand Master of the Order of Malta. A Roman by birth.
More information:
https://www.orderofmalta.int/2017/04/29/fra-giacomo-dalla-torre-del-tempio-di-sanguinetto-elected-lieutenant-grand-master-sovereign-order-malta/
