Chieti, Italy, Dec 26, 2016 / 08:05 pm (CNA).- Ten years ago, Benedict XVI visited the Shrine of the Holy Face in Manoppello, which houses an image of the face of Christ which some believe to be the Veil of Veronica. “Seeking the Face of Jesus must be the longing of all of us Christians; indeed, we are 'the generation' which seeks his Face in our day, the Face of the 'God of Jacob',” Benedict said during his Sept. 1, 2006 pilgrimage to the shrine. “If we persevere in our quest for the Face of the Lord, at the end of our earthly pilgrimage, he, Jesus, will be our eternal joy, our reward and glory for ever.” During that pilgrimage, Benedict was the first Pope in more than 400 years to kneel in veneration before the Manoppello Image which is kept in the shrine, located about 12 miles southwest of Chieti in Italy's Abruzzo region. After his visit to Manoppello, the talk of the human face of God in Christ became a kind of mark in Benedict's pontificate. In commemoration of the tenth anniversary of the event, Paul Badde asked Archbishop Bruno Forte of Chieti-Vasto about his memories of the day.  Badde: Your Grace, ten years ago, Pope Benedict XVI visited the holy veil, which is called the “Volto Santo” in Manoppello and was long known as the “Veil of Veronica”, on your invitation as the first Pope in over 400 years to visit. You stood one meter away from the Holy Father on this historic encounter. What was going through your mind during those moments?Archbishop Forte: In those moments, my eyes were going back and forth between the venerated image and the face of the Successor of Peter, who contemplated it intensely, as if to be captured by the image and at the same time challenged to enter into that which this veil suggests – with that extraordinary mystical and inquiring intelligence that characterized the whole work of Joseph Ratzinger and Benedict XVI. It was like attending a dialogue in which silence was more eloquent than each word: a silence from the surplus, touching and being touched on the threshold of mystery from whose depths allows itself to be illuminated.Badde: “The Pope was delighted!” as you said in German right after the Pope’s visit. Can you remember more today the immediate reaction of Benedict XVI to this “face-to- face” encounter?Archbishop Forte: Of course. The enthusiasm of the Pope seemed to me to be like what the Greek term “enthousiasmós” means in the original sense of the word: “en theó ousía” – as an “act of being in God.”Badde: You said in 2006 that there is a “moral certitude” that the image of Manoppello is identical with that which the Evangelist John mentioned as “soudarion” from Christ’s empty tomb in Jerusalem. What did you mean?Archbishop Forte: John names it in verses 6 and 7 in the 20th chapter of his Gospel: “When Simon Peter arrived after him, he went into the tomb and saw the burial cloths there, and the cloth that had covered his head, not with the burial cloths, but rolled up in a separate place.” The burial cloths – in the original “tá othónia” – correspond in all likelihood with that unique witness that we have in the famous Shroud of Turin (or Santa Sindone in Italian). The “Soudárion,” on the other hand, allows me to say from my moral certainty that it corresponds with the veil from Manoppello. This certainty is supported by various data. First and foremost, the veil  was kept in Jerusalem as a precious remembrance of the Redeemer. Then it was taken to Camulia in Cappadocia where it was venerated for a long time. From there it was later taken under the threat of the so-called iconoclasts first to Constantinople and then in safety to Rome. Here it was displayed at the beginning of the 13th century for the public to view, where it was treasured as an incomparable relic at St. Peter’s Basilica. When the new construction of the magnificent and current St. Peter’s began on April 18, 1506, the sacred Sudarium was still located in a vault, from where the veil in all likelihood was brought to safety by Cardinal Giampietro Carafa, Archbishop of Chieti and later governor of the city (and future Pope Paul IV) in 1527 as German and Spanish soldiers ravaged Rome in the so-called “Sack of Rome.” And which place was safer than a monastery on the other side of the Papal States’ borders – in his Diocese of Chieti-Vasto? Manoppello was the first town behind the border, which is reached as soon as one comes out of Rome and therefore the holy veil arrived here at a Capuchin monastery after it was previously kept in sure hands in private homes. But when it was decided in 1640 to put the veil on display for public veneration, the threat that the Vatican’s  Chapter of Canons could demand to get the veil back was foiled and thwarted by a certain Fra’ Donato da Bomba with a chronicle in which he asserted that the holy veil had already reached Manoppello in 1506, when the new construction on St. Peter’s began. Therefore, it could not be possible to be the so-called Veil of Veronica as it was back then also called in Rome. It was thus a pious lie, but nevertheless a lie, even if it was pronounced with good  intentions, which saved the whereabouts of this genuine divine proof of the passion and resurrection of Christ for the people of Abruzzi and for all of us…Badde: How do you then explain the opposition to the Volto Santo, even still today, especially in relation with the Shroud of Turin?Archbishop Forte: The Shroud of Turin has been well known and honored for a long time throughout the world; however, the holy face of Manoppello seems for some still to be something unheard of and new, which is not supported in the same way from the perception and tradition of the faith of the people of God. But it is not so in reality, as I have just called to mind. Between these two incomparable witnesses, there is not only no contradiction, but also they have even been proven for a long time to concur and correspond perfectly to one another. The Trappist sister Blandina Paschalis Schlömer has compellingly pointed out a variety of concurring points that show the extreme compatibility between the face on the Sindone (or Shroud) and the face on the Sudarium. It indicates that there is a relationship between both cloths, which were established in the holy tomb in Jerusalem. In any case, the Shroud of Turin and the Manoppello Image show the inexplicable and mysterious way the same person once dead and once alive. It is Jesus Christ, the Lord.Badde: And how do you answer the voices that claim the portrait of Christ on the veil of Manoppello is simply “painted” and indeed from a human hand, probably during the time of the Renaissance?Archbishop Forte: The Veil of Manoppello was tested under an electron microscope and even in extra enlargements, no traces of paint were found. The image was not painted; rather, it is a true image – and that makes it even more precious because it provides us with a kind of authentic image which we have of the Redeemer of the world.Badde: In Germany – especially since Rudolf Bultmann - the supposition that Jesus was risen only “in kerygma” meaning in the faith and in the speech and in the preaching of the apostles was frequent even among theologians. Christ could not possibly be raised from the dead. How do you as a theologian bring this modern line of thought within the Church together with the process of the rediscovery of the Holy Sudarium over the last 40 years in the Diocese of Chieti-Vasto?Archbishop Forte: The theses of Bultmann’s existentialist interpretation have been academically obsolete for a while thanks to the return and development of research on the historical Jesus. In the gap of time between the death of Jesus on the cross and the new beginning of Easter, something essential must have happened in order to transform the frightened and fleeing disciples on Good Friday into the bold heralds of the resurrection of Christ on Easter. This “something” was not a fruit of hysterical imagination of the events as, for example, Ernest Renan declared; rather, it approaches them externally as an unexpected gift that transformed their sorrow into joy and their fear into audacious courage and their escape from Jerusalem into a new life and worldwide mission. To conclude, there is almost complete unanimity in serious research since then on the historical Jesus.Badde: Since Pope Benedict’s visit 10 years ago, the Volto Santo draws more pilgrims from the whole world to Manoppello, including countless bishops from every continent. What other implications did Pope Benedict’s “private visit” have on your diocese and on your faith?Archbishop Forte: Certainly Pope Benedict’s visit, which was accompanied by more than 300 media representatives and about 70 television channels from the whole world, raised the awareness of the holy face of Manoppello to a truly planetary level and drew waves of pilgrims here. What delights me even more as a believer and shepherd is this: that the visits of the “Volto Santo” are kind of bound all together with personal confession and participation in sacramental Confession and the Eucharist; and that is not an aesthetic phenomena, but a thoroughly deep and transformative encounter with the risen Christ. And that is truly a wonderful gift to us all.Badde: On this coming September 18th, you will receive 70 Catholic and Orthodox bishops before the Holy Face in Manoppello. In 2005 you invited Pope Benedict to the Holy Veil. How did these bold and audacious initiatives come about?Archbishop Forte: Here I must specify that Pope Benedict’s decision to come to the Volto Santo was made by he himself, and totally alone. He shared that with me even before his election to be the Successor of Peter and after the election in the course of an audience, in which I participated as member of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity. This initiative was a great gift from him. I was very happy about that and it filled me with great thankfulness towards him.Badde: What will you tell Pope Francis about the concrete “Misericordiae Vultus” (Face of Mercy) in Manoppello, if the opportunity should ever arise?Archbishop Forte: I have already spoken enthusiastically with his Holiness about the Holy Face of Manoppello and also sent him a beautiful reproduction. For that reason, I leave it all now in his hands and in the hands of God. It lies there now and will continue on in the right manner.Translation by R. Andrew Krema.This article was originally published on CNA Aug. 6, 2016 Read more

Dublin, Ireland, Aug 6, 2016 / 03:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin has transferred his seminarians away from Ireland's main seminary, St. Patrick's College, after anonymous accusations emerged of a gay culture at the institution. The three seminarians, who are studying for the Archdiocese of Dublin, will instead continue their studies at the Pontifical Irish College in Rome. “There are allegations on different sides. One is that there is a homosexual, a gay culture, and that students have been using an app called Grindr,” Archbishop Martin told RTE Radio Aug. 2. This “would be inappropriate for seminarians, and not just because they are training to be celibate priests, but (because) an app like that would be something that would be fostering promiscuous sexuality, which is certainly not in any way the mature vision of sexuality one would expect a priest to understand,” he added. The archbishop also lamented that the allegations have been made anonymously, saying, “the trouble with anonymous complaints is that it's almost impossible to carry out due process…a culture of anonymous letters is poisonous. Until that's cleared up, I would be happier sending my students elsewhere.” Fr. John Gilligan, the vocations/diaconate director of the Dublin archdiocese, told CNA Aug. 4 that Archbishop Martin “has the final say and decides where to send [seminarians] for study. To date that has been to Rome where we had three this year and to Maynooth where we had seven.” He added that “a number of the seminarians in Maynooth have taken time out,” and that three “are to do the remainder of their studies in Rome from September.” St. Patrick's College is located in Maynooth, about 15 miles west of Dublin. Established in 1795 and built for some 500 students, it now hosts fewer than 70 seminarians. It includes a pontifical university which grants undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in theology, philosophy, and canon law to non-seminary students of both sexes. Archbishop Martin had told RTE he was “somewhat unhappy about an atmosphere which was growing in Maynooth.” He described how “anonymous letters and blogs” were “accusing people of misconduct or accusing the faculty of Maynooth of not treating allegations correctly.” “If this is going on a large scale in the seminary and it hasn't been noticed in the seminary, then there is something wrong,” he said. The archbishop also noted that “there are people saying that anyone who tries to go to the authorities with an allegation are being dismissed from the seminary.” He said he “offered to provide a totally independent person” to whom whistleblowers could go with their evidence, but that “the answer was simply more anonymous letters.” “That's not a healthy culture. We have to find a way where people will come forward with solid hard evidence which can be used to follow up allegations,” Archbishop Martin stated. He offered that St. Patrick's College's formation staff “have to find a way to let people come forward with solid evidence to substantiate the allegations.” “There seems to an atmosphere of strange goings-on there; it seems like a quarrelsome place with anonymous letters being sent around…I felt that a quarrelsome attitude of that kind was not the healthiest place to be, so I sent them to the Irish College.” Archbishop Martin said that “I don't think this is a good place for students. However, when I informed the president of Maynooth of my decision, I did add 'at least for the moment.'” “I think a lot more structural reform will be needed at Maynooth,” the archbishop reflected. Msgr. Hugh Connolly, president of St. Patrick's College, has said that with no public complaints, no investigation has been made. He told RTE following Archbishop Martin's interview that the allegations of a gay culture at the seminary made him “very unhappy,” citing the requirement of priestly celibacy. He added that “the broader atmosphere is, I think, actually quite a wholesome, healthy one because there are a lot of interplay between students of many, many disciplines, lay students and clerics, male and female, people who are engaged pastorally.” St. Patrick's College told The Irish Times that it “has no concrete or credible evidence of the existence of any alleged 'active gay subculture',” and that it is “not true that seminarians are prohibited from reporting misbehaviour or concerns.” The college added that it “will be reviewing current policies and procedures with a view to enhancing structures for reporting concerns or/and misbehavior so as to discourage recourse to anonymous correspondence while taking care to ensure due process and justice.” St. Patrick's College has been defended in recent days by the Association of Catholic Priests – which aims at, among other things, “a redesigning of Ministry in the Church, in order to incorporate the gifts …  of the entire faith community, male and female.” An Aug. 2 statement by the ACP said St. Patrick's College “has become a focus of unfair and unwarranted attention, and charged that “the anti-Maynooth issue is being driven by a number of agendas.” These agendas, the ACP said, include “conservative commentators”, “former students who were deemed unsuitable for priesthood by the seminary authorities”, “right-wing commentators who are unhappy with the focus on the theology of the Second Vatican Council”, and “writers of blogs”. Other Irish bishops have said they will continue sending seminarians to St. Patrick's College.According to The Irish Times, Archbishop Eamon Martin of Armagh said: “We are extremely grateful to Saint Patrick’s College, Maynooth, for the spiritual, human, pastoral and academic formation that he received there.” Archbishop Martin of Dublin has been joined in his decision to remove seminarians from Maynooth, however, by Bishop Alphonsus Cullinan of Waterford and Lismore. An apostolic visitation of the Church in Ireland which concluded in 2012 found that “fairly widespread” dissent from Catholic teaching is hampering its renewal.The visitation called for, wherever necessary, assurance that formation would be “rooted in authentic priestly identity, offering a more systematic preparation for a life of priestly celibacy by maintaining a proper equilibrium between human, spiritual and ecclesial dimensions” and showing “greater concern for the intellectual formation of seminarians, ensuring that it is in full conformity with the Church’s Magisterium.” It suggested that the pastoral training of seminarians be re-evaluated to ensure “it is sacramental, priestly and apostolic, and duly concerned with preparing candidates to celebrate the sacraments and to preach.” It also stated that “the seminary buildings should be exclusively for seminarians of the local Church and those preparing them for the priesthood, to ensure a well-founded priestly identity.” Read more

Assisi, Italy, Aug 5, 2016 / 05:09 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- During his visit to Assisi Thursday, Pope Francis had a brief, unscheduled meeting with the imam of Perugia, Abdel Qader Mohammed, who thanked the Roman Pontiff for his recent statement that true Islam is not a religion of violence, but of peace. Pope Francis met briefly with Mohammed during his Aug. 4 visit to the Porziuncola inside the Basilica of Saint Mary of the Angels. According to San Francesco, the official magazine of the Franciscans in Assisi, Mohammed thanked Pope Francis for statements he made during his July 31 papal flight to Rome where he affirmed, in Mohammed's words, “that Islam is not a religion of terrorism, but a faith of peace.” When asked by a French journalist during the flight whether or not Islam as a whole can be considered a violent religion, the Pope responded that “I do not believe it is right to identify Islam with violence…This is not right and it is not true.” “I don’t like to speak about Islamic violence,” he said, noting that while “one can speak of the so-called ISIS,” it is "an Islamic state which presents itself as violence.” “This is a small fundamentalist group called ISIS,” he said. But “I do not believe it is true or correct that Islam is terrorist.” According to San Francesco, Mohammed said the unexpected meeting with Pope Francis was “an exciting, important and necessary encounter, now more than ever…because dialogue is built on mutual respect and sincerity. And today more than ever, firm stances are needed against all forms of violence and terror.” “A heartfelt thanks to Pope Francis for his closeness to us Muslims,” Mohammed commented, closing by praising “Allah, the Merciful.” Pope Francis visited Assisi to mark the 800th anniversary of the “Pardon of Assisi,” when, according to tradition, Saint Francis had a vision of Christ and Our Lady surrounded by angels. When the Lord asked what he wanted for the salvation of souls, Saint Francis responded by asking God to grant a plenary indulgence to all pilgrims who visited the church. This isn’t the first time Francis has met with an imam. On March 19 he embraced the grand imam of Ahmed el-Tayeb, grand imam of the al-Azhar Mosque, during a meeting at the Vatican, a move which is seen as a step toward reopening dialogue between Christians and Sunni Muslims. On that occasion, el-Tayeb issued a global appeal to counter terrorism, which he said is “deviant” from true Islam and threatens both east and west alike. While in Assisi, Pope Francis also heard the confessions of 19 people and visited the hospital of the friars of the Porziuncola in the evening, where he gave a brief speech before heading back to Rome. “Thank you so much for your welcome and I ask the Lord to bless you,” Pope Francis said. “I thank you for this desire to be close to me. Do not forget: always forgive. Forgive from the heart, or if you can get closer… but forgive, because if we forgive the Lord forgives us, and we all need forgiveness. Is there anyone not in need of pardon here? All (are)!” Read more