From Cardinals to Cossacks[2010-02-03][Engleză]Each year for the past 10 years, Inside the Vatican has chosen 10 "People of the Year" -- men and women of courage, vision, learning and faith. Here below are our choices for this past yearBy Robert Moynihan, reporting from America ===================================== The Inside the Vatican "Top Ten" for 2009 Each year for the past 10 years, Inside the Vatican has selected 10 people to bring to the attention of our readers because of the important work that they do, and the courage, wisdom and charity with which they carry out that work. We make no claim that this list is exhaustive; we wish we could choose 100 persons instead of just this small number. (One reader has just written us asking us to expand the list to the "Top 50"!) The essential point, however, remains: that there are people in the world today who are signs of hope. This year we felt that we wished especially to focus on people who are working in situations of political and theological conflict. Men like Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos of Colombia, a recently retired Vatican cardinal who has spent many years working to keep open lines of communication with tradition-minded Catholics. He is our choice for Man of the Year, and we have given him the #1 spot on our list. The #3, #9 and #10 spots are given to men who have labored for many years in the difficult field of ecumenism, where deeply held beliefs must be discussed in depth in order to find ways to seek a new understanding and communion without leaving aside any essential element of Christian truth: the Russian Orthodox layman Leonid Sevastianov, the Austrian Catholic layman Dr. Johann Marthe, and the Italian Catholic Archbishop Antonio Mennini. In fact, in keeping with Jesus teaching that the last shall be first, we have given special attention to the work of Archbishop Mennini, since we regard his success in helping build a climate of trust between Catholics and Orthodox in Russia as of enormous significance... also in light of the promise of Fatima. That is why Mennini"s profile, the 10th profile below, is the longest of all -- and perhaps the most significant to read at this time. The Editor P.S. We welcome nominations from readers for next year"s "Top 10." We also welcome all new subscribers, whether to the printed edition of the magazine, or to this emailed newsflash. In this regard, you can help us by sending us one or several additional email addresses of people you believe might wish to receive these newsflashes, for us to add to our list. Thank you. ============================ The Top Ten People of 2009 1. Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos Former Prefect of the Congregation for Clergy, he is the former President of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei 2. Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson The new president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, he is a leader of the Church in Africa 3. Leonid Sevastianov Executive Director of the St. Gregory Nazianzus Foundation, he is working for the renewal of Russia and Europe 4. Don Luigi Maria Epicoco A parish priest in LAquila, Abruzzo, he saved people during the earthquake in the region in April 2009 5. Suor Giovanna Gentili An Italian nun, she retired this year after 25 years of service in the Vatican Press Office 6. Abbess Maria Tekla Famiglietti She is the energetic head of a religious order of nuns in rapid expansion worldwide 7. Bishop Mario Toso The new secretary of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, he advised the Pope on his last encyclical 8. Professor Antonio Paolucci The director of the Vatican Museums, he has great responsibility for the cultural patrimony of the Church 9. Dr. Johann Marthe An Austrian scholar, his work with the Pro Oriente Foundation has brought Christians closer together 10. Archbishop Antonio Mennini An Italian papal diplomat, he this year successfully negotiated the upgrade in Vatican relations with Russia ============================================ 1. Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos The life of Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos took a dramatic turn with the release of the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum, the papal document which rehabilitated the pre-Vatican II liturgy, on July 7, 2007. Since then, for two and a half years, the Church has been entering into a new phase in which the pre-conciliar tradition is once again appreciated and integrated into Catholic life. And no one has done more to implement this integration than Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos. Our choice of him as the first of our People of the Year is in part a choice of all those in the Church who have labored over the decades to preserve the treasures of the Catholic tradition, especially her liturgy, in a time of much confusion and forgetfulness of ancient things. Beginning in July 2007, even the Ecclesia Dei Commission had to reposition itself, from the role of a defender of the old rite from oblivion to that of an agent for its spreading and promotion, as noted by Msgr. Fernando Areas Rifan, the first traditional bishop consecrated by Rome since Vatican II. As the head of Ecclesia Dei, Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos was called to play a pivotal role in the strategy of Benedict XVI to restore the sacred in the Church. But what he did to accomplish the will of the Holy Father, in full loyalty and obedience, went well beyond his mandate, since he did not limit himself to preaching, but actually practiced what he preached. And what better way to preach than by example? It started well before the release of Summorum Pontificum, on May 24, 2003, when for the first time in decades a senior prelate of the Curia still fully in office, like Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos, celebrated a pontifical Mass in the old Latin rite in one of the major four basilicas in Rome, St. Mary Major. I had not celebrated anymore according to the missal of 1962, after the post-conciliar liturgical reform, Castrillon Hoyos was quoted as saying in an interview in the Osservatore Romano on March 27, 2008. Today in resuming sometimes the extraordinary rite, I myself have rediscovered the richness of the old liturgy that the Pope wants to keep alive, preserving that age-old form of Roman tradition. An old Italian proverb says that appetite grows by eating: since the pontifical in St. Mary Major, and especially after the motu proprio, Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos has celebrated the old rite on an increasing number of occasions: in Rome, outside of Rome and even in other countries, and it would not be possible to keep record of all of them in our limited space. But most of all, his tireless zeal has by no means dwindled after he had to retire on July 8, 2009 following his 80th birthday (he was born on July 4, 1929) -- on the very day when Benedict XVI attached the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith with the motu proprio Ecclesiae Unitatem. I was prefect of the Ecclesia Dei, my concern is for the Church, and Ill do all I can for her full unity, my interest will be devoted to her sanctification as well as the wonderful wealth of her traditional rites, he was quoted as saying in an interview by Süddeutsche Zeitung on September 25, 2009. But more than that, Castrillon Hoyos is also living up to his words traditional rites in the plural: for example, he administered the Sacrament of Confirmation according to the old rite on December 12, 2009, to a number of youth in the personal parish of Santissima Trinità dei Pellegrini. On Immaculate Conception day, December 8, 2009, he led a traditionalist public procession of almost a thousand people in the very heart of Rome promoted by the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest from the Church of Gesù e Maria al Corso, where they are headquartered, to the Cathedral of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva. Interestingly, in the morning of the same day, a pontifical in the extraordinary or Gregorian rite was being celebrated by Cardinal Franc Rodé, Prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, in the church of Santissima Trinità dei Pellegrini. It would really seem that in the footsteps of Castrillon Hoyos, an increasing number of cardinals are starting to celebrate the old rite, as was also the case with Cardinal Antonio Cañizares Llovera, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, who celebrated a traditional pontifical in Santissima Trinità dei Pellegrini on All Saints Day November 1, 2009, after having previously done so in the stately basilica of St John Lateran. In a press conference on the sidelines of the pontifical he celebrated on June 14, 2008, in the cathedral of Westminster in London, the first time after some three decades, with more than 1,500 people in attendance, Cardinal Castrillon-Hoyos revealed that the Popes intention was for the extraordinary rite to be made available at every parish. Should this ever materialize, Castrillon Hoyos should be also credited for it. And last but not least, should talks with the Lefebvre-founded Society of St. Pius X be successful, ample merit must also be attributed to his contribution in terms of charity, patience and diplomatic skills that enabled him to begin the talks in 2000 after they were discontinued in 1988. Alberto Carosa 2. Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson Some think he could be the next Pope. He himself doesnt waste a thought on the idea he is focused on doing what he can now to help bring the Gospel to Africa, and in so doing, to bring a better life to the people of his troubled continent. And now Pope Benedict has called him to Rome to become the highest-ranking African in the Roman Curia, following the retirement of Cardinal Francis Arinze of Nigeria. He will head the Vaticans Justice and Peace Council, which deals with the great social issues of our time. Our selection of Cardinal Turkson as one of our Top Ten of 2009 is in part the selection of all those in Africa, and around the world, who labor to bring justice and pecae in their countries. Africa is always present in the mind and heart of Peter Kodwo (Monday) Appiah Turkson. He was born on a Monday, and according to his countrys tradition, his first name, Kodwo, is that of the day he was born. This cardinal from Ghana, 61 years on October 11 during the bishops synod on Africa in the Vatican, is a man who knows media well. And that is not small news. Especially in a time when the communication of the Church is in deep crisis. He is also a man with a profound insight into the great global problems of our time, including the emerging conflict between the West and Islam. Turkson told the Synod on Africa,m which met in Rome this October, that in his native Ghana, but also in many other countries, religious diversity has never been a problem, that in the same family there may be Catholic, Methodist and even Islamic brothers and sisters. What does this mean? For Turkson, the intrusive and dangerous Islam now emerging is not the classical Islam but a new, politicized Islam which spreads and sneak into the souls of simple people. This is a concern for everybody, not only for Christians. Among the internal problems of the Church, on the other hand, Turkson believes one of the most serious problems in Africa is the education of priestsand faithful alike. The catechists often only have a superficial education, and old beliefs often continue to live in the hearts of the converts. If some of them choose to become priests, the danger is doubled. What should be done? The cardinal believes that the future priests should study in Africa, and not be sent to study in Europe before their ordination. Local seminaries must be strengthened and African anthropology and philosophy must be studied deeply in order to shape a formative and informed theology, he says. As bishop of Cape Coast in Ghana, Turkson invited deacons to live with him some months before their ordination, in order to know each other better and to learn to work together. What else should be done? This cardinal from Ghana believes that the most important thing of all is to stimulate the Africans capacity, their positivity, their richness, their "Africanness." At the Synod, the cardinal shook his fellow bishops and told them not to feel sorry for themselves but to act and react. And they, the African bishops gathered in the Vatican, celebrated him three times in 21 days: October 11th because it was his 61st birthday; October 17th because his country, Ghana, defeated Brazil in the Under-20 soccer World Cup; and on October 24th, the day before the end of the Synod, for his appointment as President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. As relator of the Synod he spent many nights correcting propositions and summarizing emendments, but also talking and getting to know people. His curriculum of studies starts in Ghana, continues in New York and at the Gregoriana University in Rome with a Doctorate at the Biblical Institute in 1992, and with the unexpected appointment to bishop of Cape Coast, after the sudden death of his predecessor. He is at ease with languages: English, French, Italian and German, not to mention Greek, Hebrew and Latin. As new President of Justice and Peace he talks about justice in Africa in the family, in the relationship between man and woman, with their children, and says: When I talk about family I also think about the tribe, which in Africa is a broader family. We dont even have a word for cousins and nephews: in our country, my cousin is my brother. In the text of the propositions of the Synod there is also a piece of advice for Iustitia et pax. The Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace is asked to promote an African Peace and Solidarity Initiative. In Ghana, Turkson presided over the National Peace Council, composed of five religious leaders and of six cultural, economic and social leaders. I have discussed it with the bishops of Togo, where there will be elections in February. We must not leave the politicians to their own devices, they must feel that someone is controlling their actions. On October 24, 2009, Cardinal Turkson was appointed by Pope Benedict XVI as president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, replacing Cardinal Renato Martino, who had reached the retirement age. Cardinal Turkson will work with the secretary, Bishop Mario Toso, appointed two days previously, on behalf of peace and justice around the world. And in future? If God would wish to see a black man also as Pope, thanks be to God, Turkson once said. Angela Ambrogetti 3. Leonid Sevastianov We have chosen as our #3 Person of the Year a remarkable young Russian whose father was a leader of the Old Believer community in Russia and who is close to the new Russian Orthodox Patriarch, Kirill, and to the new Foreign Minister of the Russian Orthodox Church, Archbishop Hilarion Alfeyev. Kirill and Alfeyev have asked this young layman, Leonid Sevastianov, 31, to promote traditional Christian values in Europe by means of a new foundation called The St. Gregory Nazianzus Foundation, set up in mid-2009. We think Sevastianovs appointment may signal the return of the Old Believer community to a more prominent position in the life of the Russian Orthodox Church, and that this is a development worth watching. Given Sevastianovs friendships, his fast rise, and his young age, he could be in a very prominent place in Russia in the years ahead. Sevastianov was born in 1978 in Rostov-on-Don, a Cossack region, into a family of Russian Old Believers. His grandfather was a Cossack who served as a bodyguard of the last Czar, Nicholas II, and after the 1917 revolution fought in the White Army during the civil war. His father never accepted the Bolshevik regime, Sevastianov told me. He never was a member of Communist Party. During his life, he combined his job of antique dealer with serving as a leader in Rostovs Old Believer community. From the time I was a boy, I understood the truth from my father that a man can be a Christian, a free, moral person, no matter what political regime he lives under. From my father I also understood that prosperity, freedom and final happiness come from traditional Christian values. The whole history of the Old Believers movement demonstrated this. After his graduation from high school at the age 17, Sevastianov entered the Moscow seminary where he got to know then-Metropolitan Kirill and then-Father Hilarion Alfeyev. After graduating from the seminary, he was sent by Kirill and Hilarion to to the Gregorian University in Rome to study political philosophy from 1999 to 2002 (he speaks Italian fluently). He was then sent to Georgetown University in Washington DC from 2002 to 2004 to complete an MA in international relations (he also speaks English fluently). When he returned to Russia, he decided not to become a priest because he wanted to strengthen the lay component in Russian Orthodoxy in order to have a greater impact on society. What are his plans for the new Foundation? We want to attract the attention of religious believers, in Russia and abroad, who believe in traditional Christian values, Sevastianov told me. We want to promote the idea of the unity between the West and Russia on the basis of common Christian roots. We believe in this alliance among traditional Christian countries, and we believe we need to talk with one voice in the face of secularism and a false liberalism. We believe traditional Christian values are the basis for a more just, prosperous, open and free society, and we can find an example of this at the beginning of the 20th century, when leading Russian Old Believers, the most traditional wing of Russian Orthodoxy, like Pavel Ryabushinsky and Savva Timofeyevich Morozov, attempted to reform Russian society. At the begining of 2009, Sevastianov introduced an initiative that was seen as revolutionary not only by Russians but also worldwide. After the death of Patriarch Alexi II and before the election of the new Church leader, he opened a website where all Russian Orthodox believers could express their opinion about who should be the next Patriarch. On that website, 702,000 voters expressed their preference, with 72% supporting Kirill. The site was so popular that the delegates of the Council could not help but take it into consideration when they voted, Sevastianov says. Sevastianov is now working very closely with Archbishop Hilarion, 43, as his financial and economic advisor, after helping him to organize concerts in Rome and the US in 2007. They now plan to found a theological academy similar to the ?Vaticans pontifical diplomatic academy. We were on Mt. Athos (in Greece) on the 11th of August this year, and we went to the monastery where are kept the holy remains of St. Gregory Nazianzus the Theologian, Sevastianov told me. The archbishop called me to his side, and together we venerated the relics. Just at that precise moment, my cellphone rang. It was Moscow calling. A government official informed me that the St. Gregory Foundation had been registered that morning. Just at that moment! We took it as a sign. Sevastianov told me the Russian Orthodox have decided to engage with Catholics, and others, in a collaboration which can be compared to an actual alliance against the great social evils of our day, not only in Russia, but also throughout Europe and the world. Therefore, with the spiritual blessing of Kirill, Archbishop Hilarion decided to set up the St. Gregory Nazianzus Foundation in order to work together with Catholics and others in the West, to support traditional spiritual values in Russia, but also throughout the world. (St. Gregory was a theologian in the 300s, well before the division of the Church into East and West, and so is venerated both by the Catholics and by the Orthodox. He is a Father of the Church for all Christians.) Hilarion chose Sevastianov to head up the foundation and direct its activity. We will see what he does. Robert Moynihan Sursa: www.InsideTheVatican.com Contor Accesări: 1163, Ultimul acces: 2024-04-17 06:58:31
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