January 13, 2023

Year 118, No. 2

Week of Prayer for Christian

"Do good; seek justice."

- Isaiah 1:17 Wednesday, January 18, 2023 marks the beginning of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (WPCU). The theme for 2023’s WPCU was selected by the Minnesota Council of Churches, USA, in the aftermath of the extrajudicial killing of George Floyd and the trial of the police officer responsible for his death. These events brought anguish, but also time for the Christian communities to contemplate ways in which they may be complicit in racial injustice. Christian unity is needed as a source of reconciliation and unity.

The theme, taken from the first chapter of the Book of Isaiah, reflects his concern for the oppressed who suffer from injustice and inequality fed by hypocrisy that leads to disunity.

He teaches that God requires righteousness and justice from all of us, to create the peace and unity that God desires. These virtues originate in God's love for all, and racism runs counter to this vision. Isaiah's challenge to do good and seek justice together applies equally to us today.

The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is an international Christian ecumenical observance kept

annually around Pentecost in the Southern Hemisphere and between 18-25 January in the Northern Hemisphere. Each year ecumenical partners in a different region are asked to prepare the materials. With roots going back over 100 years, the dedicated octave of prayers has been jointly commissioned and prepared since 1966, after the Second Vatican Council, by the Roman Catholic Church and the World Council of Churches. ❖

Learn more about the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity: www.oikoumene.org/resources/ week-of-prayer-for-christian-unity

Sr. Marie Therese Gomes O.S.U. dies at 96

ister Marie Therese Gomes, O.S.U. passed away on the afternoon of Tuesday, January 10, 2023, at the Saint Joseph Mercy Hospital. Sister Marie Therese, a Guyanese Ursuline Sister of the Roman Union, was 96 years 7 months old.

An evening of prayer and reflection for Sr. Marie Therese was held on Friday, January 13 at the Ursuline Convent Chapel, 245 Camp Street, Georgetown, with the Funeral Mass in celebration of her life being held at 10:00 am on Saturday, January 14, also at the Ursuline Convent Chapel. May her Soul Rest in Peace. ❖

Editorial: Every disciple is called to be an agent of peace - p2

Retired bishop of French Guiana Emmanuel Lafontguiltyofsexabuse,Vaticancourtsays - p2

Papal condemnations of nuclear war ‘indispensable,’ saysU.N.official - p3

A Christian Perspective on Social Issues - p4 Sunday Scripture - p5

Artificial intelligence must not hurt the most vulnerable, pope says - p6

Pope’s January Prayer Intention - p7

Vatican prosecutor opens investigation into Orlandi disappearance - p8

Children’s Page - p9

Cardinal Felix hospitalised with Covid - p10 Women religious are pillars of peace in war-torn Ukraine - p11

Nuncio: Pope Benedict’s resignation was example of true humility, service - p12

Bishop’s Engagements

Please be informed that I will be away from the Diocese during the period December 27, 2022 to January 23, 2023, inclusive. During my absence the Vicar General or Monsignor will attend to matters on my behalf, depending on the nature of the request.

Friday, January 13th2023

Established 1905

222 South & Wellington Streets, Georgetown, Guyana

Francis Alleyne OSB

Retired bishop of French Guiana guilty

claimed that Lafont offered housing and help with his migration process in exchange for sexual favors.

The other complaint was filed by a former employee of the diocese, moral harassThe French outlet Marianne interviewed the former diocesan identified only as in the investigation.

EDITORIAL

Every disciple is called to be an agent of peace

From Our Sunday Visitor

January 1, the day when we began the new year, was the World Day of Peace for the Catholic Church. Inspired by Pope St. John XXIII, Pope St. Paul VI established the annual celebration in 1967. In his encyclical letter Pacem in Terris, John XXIII praises those who work for the cause of peace, but he laments that they are too few. He writes, “Considering the need, the men who are shouldering this responsibility are far too few in number, yet they are deserving of the highest recognition from society, and we rightfully honor them with our public praise.”

But John XXIII then insists, “Everyone who has joined the ranks of Christ must be a glowing point of light in the world, a nucleus of love, a leaven of the whole mass.” Peace belongs to every Christian, flowing from the unity of the Church and our vocation to discipleship. It is not an optional pursuit. It is part and parcel of our vocation.

If we are so blessed to live in a time of peace that is, if we and those we love live in places unmarked by war and violence we can easily forget that there are unsettled places.

To continue the fight for peace is to be aware. We grow so weary of the news of war. The story of the needless suffering in Ukraine caused by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s demonic war has become old to so many of us. But despite this being a natural enough fault indeed, it’s a gruesome thing to ponder the sorrows and calamity of suffering we cannot allow the temptation of apathy to shape our lives. We have a certain duty to be informed as Christian citizens. We must be up to date so as to speak the truth in the face of unrest. War is never a morally neutral thing. Christian voices must respond unhesitatingly.

But apart from following the news of the day, or offering financial support to humanitarian efforts as we’re able, it’s not easy to know what to do in service of the cause of peace. Mother Teresa of Calcutta, in her acceptance (please turn to page 3)

Lafont participated in the 2019 Synod on the Amazon (and was in Guyana for the Pre-Synodal Regional Assembly held at St. Ignatius in November 2018),

wrote a preface for the French-language edition of Querida Amazonia, Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation after the synod.

(The Pillar) - The Vatican has found French Guiana’s retired Bishop Emmanuel Lafont guilty of sexual abuse and ordered him to observe a life of prayer and penance at a French monastery. The bishop has been accused of sexual misconduct with immigrants whom he had housed in his episcopal residence.

The retired bishop is also facing a civil investigation by the Cayenne public prosecutor’s office, for human trafficking, breach of trust, and aiding illegal residents.

La Croix reported the Vatican verdict Dec. 19, saying it was actually handed down in October.

The Dicastery of Bishops’ decision means that Lafont “is forbidden to carry out any pastoral activity, to wear the insignia of a bishop, to come into contact with his acquaintances in Guiana as well as with young migrants,” the French bishops’ conference (CEF) confirmed to AFP. “He is under house arrest, in a monastery on mainland France,” the CEF told French journalists.

Neither the CEF nor the Dicastery for Bishops clarified why the October verdict had not been made public before La Croix published it.

The Vatican ruling is the conclusion of a canonical investigation launched in April 2021, led by Archbishop David Macaire of Fort-de-France, Martinique, the metropolitan see of Cayenne.

The investigation began with two separate complaints against Lafont.

One complaint was filed by a 27year-old Haitian asylum seeker who

She claimed that upon signing her employment contract in 2012, you have not ” apparently regarding inappropriate conduct in diocesan offices. Catherine said that old Indigenous man arrived to stay as a guest at the episcopal residency. She said that within a few days the man told her that the naked Bishop Lafont had entered his room and asked to sleep with him. Catherine said she told the man to report the situation to the diocesan chancellor, who spoke with Lafont; but no other action was taken.

After discovering that Catherine knew about the situation, Lafont reduced her responsibilities and continuously mocked and verbally abused her, according to Marianne. Eventually, on May 5, 2021, the woman filed a complaint with the police for “moral harassment” and “defamation.”

Lafont was named Bishop of Cayenne in 2004 by Pope John Paul II. The Diocese of Cayenne covers all of French Guiana, a French overseas territory with about 294,000 inhabitants.

When he became a bishop in 2004, Lafont was best-known for having been a missionary in South Africa for 13 years during the apartheid period, living in Soweto, one of the epicenters of oppression for Black South Africans. He was friends with Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu. In 2019, Lafont participated in the Vatican’s Synod of Bishops for the Pan-Amazon Region, and later wrote a preface for the French-language edition of Querida Amazonia, Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation after the synod.

Lafont is generally reported to be well-liked in mainland France, where he has been lauded as a champion for social justice causes. But claims of misconduct against Lafont have been piling up since his 2004 arrival in French Guiana.

Marianne also interviewed a woman who worked in 2007 as a diocesan finance official. The woman said her husband had complained to the bishop about imprudence over the bishop’s penchant for housing migrants - some of whom were minors - in the episcopal residency. The woman says her responsibilities in the diocesan office were subsequently reduced to supervising some cleaning staff. She claims to have suffered verbal abuse from Lafont, and eventually, in 2008 was fired. In

2008, she said, she wrote a letter to the Vatican and filed a complaint with a civil court for wrongful dismissal, and in 2012 the court ruled in her favor. She also filed a criminal complaint in 2011 for moral harassment, which has not received a ruling.

Also in 2008, five priests wrote a letter to the Vatican’s apostolic delegation to the Antilles complaining about the financial, pastoral, and sexual practices of the bishop. The Vatican appointed emeritus Bishop Jean Bonfils of Nice to investigate the allegations. At the time, Bonfils said he was surprised to be asked to conduct the investigation, because he was a close friend of Lafont. The investigation did not lead to a sanction against Lafont, but, according to Marianne, Bonfils instructed Lafont to stop housing migrants at his residence though the bishop didn’t actually stop doing so.

On October 26, 2020, Lafont turned 75 and submitted his resignation to Pope Francis, as is required by canon law. The pope immediately accepted the resignation.

Just five days before submitting his resignation, Lafont had accused one of his guests, a 27-year-old Haitian asylum seeker, of assault after an altercation between them. When the asylum-seeker was questioned by police, he told them the argument stemmed from the bishop’s insistence that the migrant houseguest perform a sex act upon him.

The Pillar asked Fr. Mesmin Gaya, vicar general of the Diocese of Cayenne, if there had been additional accusations against Lafont, and whether the canonical investigators had collaborated with civil authorities in 2008. Fr. Gaya said that he was only appointed as vicar general “a few months ago” and therefore he “does not know the details of the case.”

According to the French publication Marianne, local police have interviewed at least four undocumented migrants that live or have lived in the episcopal residence.

A former employee of the diocese told the French magazine that she found one of those men engaging in a sexual act with the former bishop. The employee alleged that the migrant is now receiving financial support from the bishop in exchange for his silence.

Lafont has previously denied sexual misconduct allegations, claiming to have only “lacked prudence” in hosting young men in his residency.

The canonical verdict and civil investigation against Lafont comes at a difficult time for the Church in France. In October, an independent report estimated 216,000 cases of abuse between 1950 and 2020 within the Catholic Church in France, and at least 11 bishops emeritus have been accused of sexual abuse.❖

Retired Bishop Emmanuel Lafont. The Vatican has convicted the former bishop of French Guiana of sexual abuse, banning him from all public ministry and ordering him to stay in a monastery in mainland France to conduct a life of prayer and penance.

and later

Papal condemnations of nuclear war EDITORIAL

other side of recklessly shelling the plant and risking a nuclear disaster.

Pope Francis drew attention to the situation in his general audience Aug. 24 by saying that he hoped “concrete steps will be taken to end the war and avert the risk of a nuclear disaster in Zaporizhzhia.”

Grossi said the current situation in Ukraine is “precarious” and that “the bombings around and at the plant at Zaporizhzhia continue.”

He said he would travel to Ukraine the week of Jan. 16 and expects to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other officials. Although Grossi has expressed his desire to travel to Moscow, a Kremlin spokesperson has said that Russian President Vladimir Putin has no plans to meet with him.

The diplomat also expressed his concern about the stall in negotiations regarding the Iran nuclear deal. He said that negotiations are at an “impasse” and that he hoped to travel to Tehran as soon as possible.

speech when she received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979, said: “Truth will bring prayer in our homes, and the fruit of prayer will be that we believe that in the poor, it is Christ. And if we really believe, we will begin to love. And if we love, naturally, we will try to do something.” Mother’s words provide the twin roots of our response.

We must pray for peace daily. We must pray for an end to the war in Ukraine, for an end to violence in Ethiopia. We must pray that peace would spread across the four corners of the globe. We must approach the throne of the Prince of Peace and pray that swords would be beat into plowshares and spears turned to pruning hooks (cf. Is 2:4).

VATICAN CITY (CNS) Pope Francis’ condemnations of the threat of nuclear war are “indispensable,” said the headof theU.N. nuclear energy agency.

Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, met with Pope Francis at the Vatican Jan. 12. He also met with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, and Archbishop Paul Gallagher, Vatican foreign minister. Speaking with the Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, the Argentine diplomat said that the Holy See’s

support in finding a multilateral approach to avoid nuclear disaster in Ukraine is “fundamental,” and that the pope’s voice is particularly important in this conflict that is based in Europe and involves Christians around the world. The IAEA currently has a four-person team present at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in Ukraine to monitor the security situation. The plant, which is the largest in Europe, was captured by Russian forces in March 2022. Both the Ukrainian and Russian militaries have accused the

Pope Francis shared his concern over the lack of negotiations on the Iran deal with foreign ambassadors Jan. 9, saying he hoped a “concrete solution can be reached as quickly as possible, for the sake of ensuring a more secure future.”

Grossi noted that while both the IAEA and the pope have made clear the risks of producing more nuclear weapons, the “exclusively peaceful use of nuclear power is important,” especially as humanity faces another crisis beyond nuclear war: climate change.❖

Peru’s bishops urge peace amid violent protests

ed, the bishops in a message issued Jan. 9 wrote that the deaths were a consequence of the “distortion of the right to protest,” in which people “resorted to illegality,” combined with the “excessive use of force” by security forces.

The brutal confrontation Jan. 9 occurred when protesters tried to seize the airport in Juliaca, a city of around 280,000 people two miles high in the southern Peruvian Altiplano, near the border with Bolivia.

Videos circulating on social media showed civilian victims arriving at the local hospital in ambulances, a motorized rickshaw and a cart. Protesters later set fire to a police car, burning one officer alive and injuring another.

And then, as Mother Teresa suggests, little by little our hearts will be changed by that prayer. John XXIII says, “The world will never be the dwelling place of peace, till peace has found a home in the heart of each and every man, till every man preserves in himself the order ordained by God to be preserved.” When the Prince of Peace is enthroned in our hearts, our lives will be shaped by his governance. We can radiate peace in our online discourse, preferring to cultivate peace in our friendships and families, peace among our colleagues and in the workplace.

The great lie is that these efforts of peacekeeping won’t matter or will have little effect. Others suggest that only fullscale revolution will be of any avail. To those hearts, John XXIII says, “We would remind such people that it is the law of nature that all things must be of gradual growth.” Slow and deliberate growth from within is the way forward, the pope declares. We must keep this always before our mind, reminding ourselves that the call to be a peacemaker is a daily task.

Demonstrators clash with security forces near the Juliaca, Peru, airport during a Jan. 9, 2023, protest demanding early elections and the release of jailed former Peruvian President Pedro Castillo. (OSV News photo/Hugo Courotto, Reuters)

LIMA, Peru (OSV News) Peru’s bishops have called on the country’s government to stop violence that claimed at least 18 lives in antigovernment protests Jan. 9-10 and has

left more than 40 people dead and hundreds injured since early December. After expressing their condolences to the families of those killed and promising pastoral accompaniment to the wound-

On Jan. 10, the bishops wrote: “We cannot return to the dark times of terror that left our country in mourning for 20 years,” a reference to the political violence of the 1980s and 1990s. “This situation merits energetic and resounding rejection by all,” they added, reaffirming “with great urgency” a call for an end to the violence from both sides.

The protests began in early December, when the national Congress impeached then-President Pedro Castillo after he announced he was closing down Congress and (please turn to page 10)

This January, we make the prayer of John XXIII our own: “May Christ inflame the desires of all men to break through the barriers which divide them, to strengthen the bonds of mutual love, to learn to understand one another, and to pardon those who have done them wrong. Through his power and inspiration may all peoples welcome each other to their hearts as brothers, and may the peace they long for ever flower and ever reign among them.”❖

Pope Francis gives gifts to Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, during a meeting Jan. 12, 2023, in the library of the Apostolic Palace. Grossi said they discussed the threat of a disaster from bombings of a nuclear power plant in Ukraine. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)

By GHK Lall

took in the city roads and streets, and I concluded that things are on the move, despite being stuck most of the time. I observed the thick crowds in front of stores, the parks, and anywhere that I looked or happened to be, and I said to myself that Guyanese are pulling out all the stops. That was from as early as midNovember, which sentiment only intensified as the days trickled smartly into December. As the crowds advanced in early December, I began my hasty withdrawal. I had had enough and no more stomach for either road or road user. I don’t have to have any kind of imagination to appreciate what each new day in December brought for frenzy, busy, noisy, messy, and whatever else, rain or no rain.

It is now the first fine days of January in this brand new 2023. To everyone: may the Good Lord bless with a year that is healthy, peaceful, progressive, and rewarding. But revisiting the power and energy of De-

cember in Guyana, this last one, Guyanese must have struck it big. Well, yes and no. Yes, because the liquids areoutthereinthe billions of barrels; no, because the last I heard was how steep the price of everything was, and how unreachable most things were, and that was not in December, but back in September, if not earlier.

So, what happened? Did prices go down? Or did Guyanese, one after another, make lucky strikes? I ask these questions when I think of the delights of holiday shopping in Guyana like if there was going to be no tomorrow. This was in December, I remind, and here I am in early January with these thoughts of mine. Money had to come from somewhere, since Guyanese on the lower rungs of the economic ladder were limping throughout 2022, while crying out how tough they were having it. And with Christmas followed by Old Year’s, whatever the financial sacrifice that had to be made, so be it. Sacrifices were made, and they were not small ones.

The 0% interest rate until such a such a date, and immediate cash always does the trick near the end of the year, so irresistible is the bait. Now the house and fence and furniture have all had their makeover, but there is going to be a hangover of several years’ duration. Now there will be some real pain for any borrowing and spending excesses, and usually it is the little people at the bottom who can least afford the luxury of this kind of tempting borrowing and splurging, who will hang their heads in agony, and drag with their debt burdens beating them deeper into the ground.

What’s the point? What was there to prove? I suppose I am being a bit off the wall myself in this instance, but I just had to ask. This is despite knowing that this is not new, but a

timeless aspect of man and his history that keeps repeating itself in every era and in most places. This country is going through what is called a purple patch (richness); while working class citizens are struggling to scratch out a miserable existence from day to day. The name of the game is pain, and it is sharp. Those laboring to get by in a rising price environment, with no relief in sight, just made their plight even more torturous. How the happy go lucky are going to manage is anybody since they were looking uphill to begin with, and with the sun in their eyes.

It is too late to talk about thrift, and as the adage counsels of living with one’s means. Those had all resonance and relevance back in November or December. This is January and the piper has to be paid. That is, the lenders and brokers, and whatever else was used to access what was not free money. I heard that some were the beneficiaries of timely monetary generosity from their overseas relations and friends. How many can say that, and it had better be something out of the ordinary. For US$100, even US$200, does not amount to much to explain the shopping madness that took place in December. Neither amount absorbs much, and while they count for something, I think that some of our fellow citizens had their Titanic moments, and possibly bit off what is beginning to cause the first hard acid pangs of indigestion right now. Think hundreds of thousands of dollars in new debt taken on, and which the first payment should be as early as by the end of next month.

Perhaps, the 2023 national budget may contain some provision in the form of cash relief. Though remote looking currently, there is hope. Hope is what waters our parched souls, soothes our pain. ❖

Gracious and loving God, we thank your for the gift of our priests.

Through them, we experience your presence in the sacraments. Help our priests to be strong in their vocation.

Set their souls on fire with love for your people.

Grant them the wisdom, understanding, and strength they need to follow in the footsteps of Jesus. Inspire them with the vision of your Kingdom.

Give them the words they need to spread the Gospel.

Allow them to experience joy in their ministry.

Help them to become instruments of your divine grace.

We ask this through Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns as our Eternal Priest. Amen

Counselling Services at Brickdam Presbytery

Carmelite Sisters are available for counselling on Mondays and Thursdays from 9:00am to 12 noon and 1:00pm to 2:00 pm, at theCathedral Presbytery. They are also available by appointment. Persons are encouraged to avail themselves of these services. Kindly contact the Cathedral parish office on tel. no. 226-4631fordetails.

Pope’s Intentions

January Monthly Intention:

For Educators

We pray that educators may be credible witnesses, teaching fraternity rather than competition and helping the youngest and most vulnerable aboveall.❖

First Reading Isaiah 49:3.5-6

I will make you the light of the nations so that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth. The Lord said to me, ‘You are my servant Israel in whom I shall be glorified’; I was honoured in the eyes of the Lord, my God was my strength. And now the Lord has spoken, he who formed me in the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him, to gather Israel to him:

‘It is not enough for you to be my servant, to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back the survivors of Israel;

I will make you the light of the nations so that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.’

Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 39

Response: Here I am, Lord! I come to do your will.

1. I waited, I waited for the Lord and he stooped down to me; he heard my cry.

He put a new song into my mouth, praise of our God. Response

2. You do not ask for sacrifice and offerings, but an open ear. You do not ask for holocaust and victim. Instead, here am I. Response

3. In the scroll of the book it stands written that I should do your will. My God, I delight in your law in the depth of my heart. Response

4. Your justice I have proclaimed in the great assembly. My lips I have not sealed; you know it, O Lord. Response

Second Reading 1 Corinthians 1:1-3 May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ send you grace and peace.

I, Paul, appointed by God to be an apostle, together with brother Sosthenes, send greetings to the church of God in Corinth, to the holy people of Jesus Christ, who are called to take their place among all the saints everywhere who pray to our Lord Jesus Christ; for he is their Lord no less than ours. May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ send you grace and peace.

Gospel:

John 1:29-34

Look, there is the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.

Seeing Jesus coming towards him, John said, ‘Look, there is the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. This is the one I spoke of when I said: A man is coming after me who ranks before me because he existed before me. I did not know him myself, and yet it was to reveal him to Israel that I came baptising with water.’ John also declared, ‘I saw the Spirit coming down on him from heaven like a dove and resting on him. I did not know him myself, but he who sent me to baptise with water had said to me, “The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and rest is the one who is going to baptise with the Holy Spirit.”

Yes, I have seen and I am the witness that he is the Chosen One of God.’ ❖

Today’s readings provide clear and inspiring reminders of the most fundamental aspect of our identity that of servants of our most high and holy God, His modern-day disciples and stewards.

John the Baptist recognized the holiness of Jesus and the response due to Him when he encountered Christ in person on the day they met at the Jordan River. His response, which we read in our Gospel passage from St. John was, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world He is the one of whom I said, ‘A man is coming after me who ranks ahead of me because he existed before me.’”

What a powerful description of our Lord and the place He should

rightfully have in each of our lives. He is truly our Saviour, the only one who can free us from our sinfulness. We are utterly and completely dependent on His power, love and mercy. Therefore He truly does “rank ahead” of us; he deserves to be first, above all other priorities and plans in our lives. Let us examine our daily lives and encourage our children to do the same.

Does the way I spend my time reflect that God comes first? Do prayer and weekly Mass, regular confession and time with my family “rank ahead” of

everything else on my calendar? Do I use my talents, skills and energy to serve my family, parish and community in thanksgiving and recognition that God’s kingdom ranks ahead of any other goals or ambitions? Do I spend my money and use my material possessions so as to glorify God?

Challenge questions, to be sure. But questions worthy of our high calling as Christian stewards offered a glorious mission in service of our Lord and His kingdom. What will our response be? ❖ [www.catholicsteward.com/blog/

Gospel Reflection

Artificial intelligence must not hurt

In today’s Gospel, John the Baptist tells the people who Jesus is and what his mission is to be. He is God’s Chosen One, the Anointed, who will take away people’s sins. He is the ‘Servant of the Lord’ of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke, who will gather, not only the scattered tribes of Israel, but all nations and bring them back to God. John is pointing him out to us, too, as our salvation. The call of John the Baptist is for us to take stock of ourselves and to make changes, to reflect on what we are really about in this world and to seek to review and reset our lives. This means that Jesus Christ is to be the focus of our lives and not just someone barely recognisable on the margins looking on. 

John points out Jesus as the one who takes away the sins of the world. Clearly, Jesus’ mission led to him being involved with sinners. When our sins are taken away, we are relieved of a great burden and we are able to go forward in life freely. But this is easier said than done. First of all we have to be conscious of our sin and accept full responsibility for what we have done. Blaming others means that we have not accepted personal responsibility. And after we have been forgiven, it doesn’t mean that life will be all easy after we are forgiven. We do not suddenly become different people. We still have our old weaknesses, and our bad habits and desires still remain with us. It means that we still have to struggle to overcome the evil that lies within.

Jesus comes to us and brings out the goodness that exists in us. He comes to us, not because we are good and holy people, but because we are sinful people who need to recognise that we are good at heart. Evil can only be conquered by goodness. ❖

[From: Journeying with the Word of God, The Religious Education Department, Diocese of Georgetown, Guyana ]

VATICAN CITY (CNS)

criticized the use of artificial intelligence in ways that negatively affect the most vulnerable, specifically those seeking asylum.

“It is not acceptable that the decision about someone’s life and future be entrusted to an algorithm,” he said Jan. 10 in an address to experts and religious leaders taking part in an event sponsored by the Pontifical Academy for Life promoting the ethical development of artificial intelligence.

Artificial intelligence “is increasingly present in every aspect of daily life,” the pope said, and it is increasingly being used in decision making.

“Every person must be able to enjoy a human and supportive development, without anyone being excluded,” he said.

noting, the example of asylum seekers.”

Artificial intelligence tools, such as biometric data collection using iris and fingerprint recognition technology and data scraping technology to screen, track or locate individuals, are increasingly being used for immigration and asylum controls, prioritization and management. While the tools promise increased efficiency, critics point to concerns about transparency and the risk of violating people’s human rights, privacy and safety.

The Jan. 10 event at the Vatican included the signing of the academy’s Rome Call for AI Ethics by representatives of the three Abrahamic religions:

Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, president of the papal academy; Chief Rabbi Eliezer Simcha Weisz, member of the Chief Rabbinate Council of Israel; and Mahfoudh bin Abdallah of the Abu Dhabi Forum for Peace.

Brad Smith, president of Microsoft, and Dario Gil, global vice president of IBM, who were among the first signatories of the Rome Call in 2020 also attended the event and the papal audience.

In his address, Pope Francis encouraged participants in their work, saying he was “pleased to know that you also wish to involve the other great world religions and men and women of goodwill so that ‘algor-ethics’ ethical reflection on the use of algorithms will be increasingly present not only in public debate, but also in the development of technical solutions.”❖

21 Lay Ministers commissioned in Berbice

By Ana Abrahams

On Sunday, January 8th - the Feast of the Epiphany of the Lord - the Upper Corentyne cluster commissioned and recommissioned 21 Lay Ministers from the parishes of St. Francis Xavier (Port Mourant), St. Joachim’s (Springlands), Holy Name (Black Bush Polder), and Our Lady of Guadalupe Mission (Siparuta). The individuals participated in a 6-month extensive and comprehensive training program held at the different parishes which commenced in July, 2022. The sessions were hosted and guided by the parish priest of the cluster - Fr. Ramesh Vanan SJ. Each session generally concluded with mass and the reading materials from each session were shared

for future reference. The sessions were found to be very interactive and practical which gave the participants a sense of community and fellowship.

Fr. Ramesh, while commissioning said, “the wait is over, the preparation is done, and it’s time to be missioned,” The lay ministers were asked to serve with patience and understanding. They were cautioned to first of all practice their faith and to pass on the correct teachings of the church to those they minister to.

He also advised the ministers that the journey would not be an easy one and they should expect criticisms and other stumbling blocks. This they must do so by focusing on the bigger pictureserving God’s people.❖

Pope Francis leads an audience with participants of the Rome Call for AI ethics meeting, at the Vatican Jan. 10, 2023.

Pope’s January prayer intention: For educators Journeying with the Word of God

fraternity rather than confrontation, and helping especially the youngest and most vulnerable above all.”

Broadening the reach of education

In a press release accompanying the Pope’s first prayer intention for 2023, the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer network explains that the Holy Father “wants to broaden the reach of education, so it will not be centred only on content. As authentic witnesses, the Pope expresses his hope that educators will be able “to be heeded more attentively and will be builders of community.”

Jesuit Father Frédéric Fornos, the Director of the Prayer Network, says that fraternity “is the only path for humanity, and this is why education is essential.”

(Vatican News) - In his prayer intention for January, Pope Francis invites educators to add “fraternity” to the content of their teaching, noting that “educators are witness who impart not only their mental knowledge, but also their convictions, their commitment to life.”

He added that education itself is an “act of love” that can show us the way “to recover a sense of fraternity, so we will not ignore those who are most vulnerable.”

Pope Francis called on the faithful to pray “that educators may be credible witnesses, teaching

Emphasizing the importance of coherence between what is taught and the lives of those who teach, Fr Fornos points to Jesus, from whom we learn “that we can only communicate and transmit to others what we ourselves live.” This, he said, “requires coherence in our lives between what we say and what we do.” ❖

Mass at Churikidnau, South Rupununi

MAKING THE WORD OF GOD YOUR OWN

Step 1: Lookattoday’sReadingsprayerfully.

1st Reading: The prophet sees himself as God’s servant who has been chosen to bring, not only the people of Israel, but all people everywhere back to God.

2nd Reading: Paul greets the converts of Corinth in the opening of his first letter to them. He tells them that they are the church of God, the holy people who call on Jesus as Lord.

Gospel: The role of John the Baptist is to be a witness to the true identity of Jesus. He presents Jesus as God’s Chosen servant who will take away the people’s sins and renew themin the HolySpirit

Step 2: ApplyingthevaluesoftheReadings toyourdailylife.

1.Isaiah’s servant is to be the “light of the nations”. Do you see yourself as someone who can bring light to the world? What form would such a “light” take?

2.John the Baptist points out Jesus to us as the ‘Chosen One’ who takes away the sins of the world. What is your experience of Christ taking away your sins?

3.John the Baptist points out Jesus to us but there are many who have not seen or recognised him for what he is. How can we believers be witnesses like the Baptist in pointing him out to others who do not know him?

4.We are called to be servants, formed in the womb to be light to others. This sort of discipleship is urgently needed in the world today. But such discipleship can be costly. What do you think the cost would be to you?

Step 3: Accepting the message of God’s Wordinyourlifeoffaith

John the Baptist points to Jesus as the Lamb of God, the One who takes away our sins, who reunites us to the Father and who constantly calls us to be reconciled to one another. As disciples of Christ we are called to bring light to the world, to work towards removing the structures of sin which limit and destroy the human race and to help others overcome that which can cause their downfall.

Step 4: Somethingtothink&prayabout

1.Apart from personal sin, there is also social sin such as racism and sexism. How do social sins like these affect our lives?

2.Victory over sin is not an easy thing to achieve. We must expect to make what seems like little progress over our sinfulness. What is important is the struggle for goodness. Reflect on your own struggle against sin.

3.Pray for the ability to acknowledge your sins and the willingness to look to Jesus for help ❖

Holy Mass in Churikidnau, South Rupununi. “Train up children in the way they should go, and when they are old they will not depart from it.” - Proverbs 22:6 (St Ignatius Mission Facebook page)

Pope baptizes babies, urges parents to teach them to pray

also reassured the parents, telling them not to worry if the babies cry during Mass or need to be fed or fuss because they are too hot or too cold.

“Make them comfortable; everyone should be comfortable,” he said.

Later, reciting the Angelus at midday with visitors in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Francis focused on the meaning of the feast of the Baptism of the Lord, and he quoted the late Pope Benedict XVI in doing so.

In his homily on the feast day in 2008, Pope Francis said, “Benedict XVI affirmed that ‘God desired to save us by going to the bottom of this abyss himself so that every person, even those who have fallen so low that they can no longer perceive heaven, may find God’s hand to cling to and rise from the darkness to see again the light for which he or she was made.'”

Pope Francis told the crowd in the square, “The Lord is always there, not ready to punish us, but with his hand outstretched to help us rise up.”

VATICAN CITY (CNS) Telling parents and godparents to teach their little ones to pray from the time they are small, Pope Francis baptized 13 babies in the Sistine Chapel as their older brothers and sisters looked on or got away and ran around.

With his knee apparently improving, Pope Francis walked with a cane from his seat to a lectern to give his homily standing something he has not done at a public Mass for months and rolled up his sleeves and stood at the font as he poured water over the heads of the infants, children of Vatican employees.

The annual baptism Mass in the Sistine Chapel is celebrated on the feast of the Baptism of the Lord, which the

Vatican and Italy celebrated Jan. 8 this year.

Pope Francis began his homily by thanking the parents for deciding to have their children baptized and asking them to remind the children throughout their lives of the date of their baptism since “it is like a birthday because baptism is a rebirth to the Christian life.” “May they remember and thank God for this grace of having become Christians,” he said.

Baptism is the beginning of a journey, he said, and it is up to parents and godparents to support the children as they take their steps along the way.

The first task, he said, is to teach the children to pray from the time they

are very small, starting with showing them how to make the sign of the cross and how hold their hands in prayer.

“Prayer will be what gives them strength throughout their lives in good times to thank God and in the difficult times to find strength,” the pope said. “It’s the first thing you must teach: how to pray.”

They also should teach children to pray to Mary, who “is the mother, our mother,” the pope said. “They say that when someone is mad at the Lord or has distanced himself from him, Mary is always nearby to show the path to return.”

As he does every year, Pope Francis

Too often, the pope said, people think that God administers justice like human beings do: “those who do wrong pay, and in this way compensate for the wrong they have done.”

But, he said, “God’s justice, as the Scripture teaches, is much greater: it does not have as its end the condemnation of the guilty, but their salvation and rebirth, making them righteous.”

God’s justice, he said, “comes from love, from the depths of compassion and mercy that are the very heart of God, the father who is moved when we are oppressed by evil and fall under the weight of sins and fragility.”

Jesus came into the world “to take on his own shoulders the sin of the world and to descend into the waters of the abyss, death, so as to rescue us from drowning,” the pope said. ❖

Vatican prosecutor opens investigation into Orlandi disappearance

VATICAN CITY (CNS) The disappearance 40 years ago of Emanuela Orlandi has haunted her family, fueled conspiracy theories and provided grist for a recent Netflix series.

Matteo Bruni, director of the Vatican press office, said Jan. 9 that Alessandro Diddi, Vatican City’s chief prosecutor, was opening a new file on the case, although he provided no details about the direction the investigation was expected to take.

The Italian news agency ANSA said Diddi’s decision was in response to requests by Pietro Orlandi, Emanuela’s brother.

about documents” related to the case that never have been published. He said he was certain someone in the Vatican knew more about what happened to his sister.

Pietro and Emanuela are the children of a Vatican employee and grew up in an apartment inside the Vatican. Emanuela disappeared in Rome June 22, 1983, when she was 15.

The letter said, “Look where the angel is pointing,” according to Laura Sgrò, the lawyer.

She filed a formal petition with the Vatican to investigate the matter and, following her request, the Vatican City State court ordered the opening of two tombs near the angel sculpture.

Emanuela Orlandi is pictured in a photo that was distributed after her disappearance in 1983. The Vatican prosecutor has opened a new investigation into the disappearance 40 years ago of Orlandi, the 15-year-old daughter of a Vatican employee.

Vatican investigators will begin by “analyzing the acts and documents related to prior investigations,” of which there have been many, ANSA said.

Pietro Orlandi told the television RaiNews24 that he had received copies of WhatsApp messages exchanged in 2014 by “two persons very close to Pope Francis that talk

Over the past 40 years, dozens of theories have been advanced to explain what happened to her. Some were related to the attempted assassination of St. John Paul II in 1981 the idea being she was kidnapped to force the release from prison of the pope’s would-be assassin to Vatican bank scandals and to organized crime.

In March 2019, the family’s lawyer said the family had been sent a letter with a photo of an angel above a tomb in the Vatican’s Teutonic Cemetery, which is reserved mainly for German-speaking priests and members of religious orders.

No human remains were found in either tomb during the search in 2019, so the investigators moved to two nearby ossuaries, which are vaults containing the bones of multiple people. The forensic anthropologist who led the study of the bones said none of them were more recent than the 1800s.

The four-part Netflix series looked at the various theories floated over the past 40 years and added the idea that the disappearance had to do with a high-ranking Vatican cleric, who allegedly had made sexual advances toward the 15-year-old.. ❖

Pope Francis gives the homily as he celebrates Mass on the feast of the Baptism of the Lord in the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican Jan. 8, 2023. The pope baptized 13 babies at the Mass. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)

“Show and Tell"

Dear Girls and Boys, Do you remember having "Show and Tell" at school? "Show and Tell" gives you the chance to show and tell others about something that is really important to you. Our Gospel reading today tells us about a man named John who loved to "show and tell" others about Jesus.

One day John was standing with a group of people when he saw Jesus coming. He said, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! I have seen him and I tell you that this is the Son of God."

Because John loved to show and tell others about Jesus, many people came to know Jesus and follow him. It is important for us to show and tell others about Jesus too. We can show others about Jesus by doing the things that Jesus taught us to do things like loving one another and being helpful and kind. Then people will see that we know Jesus and that will give us a chance to tell them about Jesus. We can tell them about what he has done for us and what he wants to do for them. Yes, each day we should show and tell others about Jesus!

Dear Father, help us this week to "show and tell" others about you and your love. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. ❖

http://www.sdc.me.uk , http://www.catholickidsbulletin.com/, http://www.sermons4kids.com , http://www.salfordliturgy.org.uk & https://thekidsbulletin

Cardinal Felix hospitalised with Covid

In a January 8 message to his brother bishops, Archbishop Gabriel Malzaire of Castries asked for prayers for Cardinal Felix, who was hospitalised at the Dominica – China Friendship Hospital in Roseau since January 4. Fr Thaddeus Mama, the Parish Priest of Soufriere, where the Cardinal resides, indicated that he was experiencing weakness in his limbs and loss of appetite.

“On being taken to the hospital he was diagnosed with Covid-19, which necessitated isolation. I have been receiving daily reports from the hospital indicating gradual improvement and regaining of appetite,” said Archbishop Malzaire, President of the AEC.

Archbishop Malzaire, who is also the Apostolic Administrator for the Diocese of Roseau, arrived in Dominica on Friday, January 6, but was unable to visit Cardinal Felix until Monday, January 9.

“

I brought him Holy Communion and administered the Sacrament of the Sick. While he was still on the ventilator, reports from Fr Mama who had been visiting daily and from the hospital staff indicated marked improvement from when he was first admitted.”

Born in Dominica, Cardinal Felix will celebrate his 90th birthday on February 15. Pope Francis made the former Archbishop of Castries a cardinal February 22, 2014. ❖

Peru’s bishops urge peace

ruling by decree. Receiving no support from the military, Castillo attempted to take refuge in the Mexican Embassy, but was arrested and jailed. His wife and daughter were granted asylum in Mexico.

Those events on Dec. 7 were a tumultuous end to a nearly 18-month presidency for Castillo, a teacher and farmer from Peru’s northern Cajamarca region, with no government experience, who ran on the ticket of a leftist party. His term was marred by constant accusations of corruption and a revolving door of more than 70 government ministers.

After Castillo’s impeachment, Vice President Dina Boluarte was sworn in as president and called early elections for April 2024. Although she ran on the same ticket as Castillo, Boluarte had distanced herself from the president and was expelled from his Peru Libre party in January 2022. Analysts have noted that with no congressional bloc to support her, Boluarte turned to the police and military

when protests erupted, especially along the coastal highway and in Andean regions where Castillo had substantial support.

In demonstrations that began after Castillo’s impeachment and continued almost until Christmas, police used tear gas and fired at protesters who had blocked key highways and attempted to seize airports in several cities.

After a lull during the holidays, protests resumed Jan. 4. Juliaca has seen the most violent confrontations, but the government Ombudsman’s Office reported demonstrations in 24 provinces, strikes in seven and roadblocks in 16 as of Jan. 10.

Protesters are calling for Boluarte to resign, elections to be held this year and a constituent assembly to rewrite Peru’s constitution, which was last rewritten in 1993, after thenPresident Alberto Fujimori seized power in a move similar to that attempted by Castillo.

(From Page 3)

Boluarte has said her resignation would not solve the country’s problems and that she sees her administration as a transition government. In their Jan. 9 message, the bishops, who begin their semi-annual retreat and assembly Jan. 11, said the country must “distinguish just demands from others that do not allow for rational dialogue. We cannot allow Peru to be destroyed by our own actions or let it fall into an institutional abyss.”

They called on the government to “urgently stop the violence and deaths, whatever their source,” for judicial authorities to investigate the killings and punish those responsible, and for Congress “to make the decisions demanded” by the situation. They concluded, “Let us walk together to build peace in our beloved Peru.”❖

Prayer for the Synod on Synodality

We stand before You, Holy Spirit, as we gather together in Your name.

With You alone to guide us, make Yourself at home in our hearts; Teach us the way we must go and how we are to pursue it.

We are weak and sinful; do not let us promote disorder. Do not let ignorance lead us down the wrong path nor partiality influence our actions.

Let us find in You our unity so that we may journey together to eternal life and not stray from the way of truth and what is right.

All this we ask of You, who are at work in every place and time, in the communion of the Father and the Son, forever and ever.

Amen

Dioceses of the Antilles Episcopal Conference (AEC) have been asked to pray for the full recovery of Cardinal Kelvin Felix who has been hospitalised with Covid.

religious are pillars of peace in war-torn Ukraine

We sort it and send it farther east,” Dominican Sister Mateusza Trynda told OSV News. “Winter is the worst.”

In many places at the moment, there is no electricity, houses are damaged by rockets and there are food shortagThat is why we must continue to organize concrete help,” Sister Ma-

Catholic religious women in Ukraine also look after orphaned children. At the beginning of the armed conflict, many orphanages were evacuated to neighboring Poland. Some returned to Ukraine after a few months when the children missed their homeland too

In the orphanage of the Sisters of the Angels in Zhytomyr, several children make their home. The nuns make sure that the little ones do not feel the effects of the war, providing not only a roof over their heads but also psychological support. “We just want them Sister of the Angels, Sister Irena Wlasowa, a Sister of the Angels, told OSV News.

The Sisters of St. Joseph near Lviv and the Sisters Servants of the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Immaculate Conception of Horodok in western Ukraine run centers for the sick and the elderly. They also decided not to leave after the Russian invasion.

(OSV News) - While war in Ukraine continues with no end in sight, one group in particular is contributing to a more peaceful world amid the turmoil of Russian invasion the Catholic religious sisters of Ukraine.

From feeding and sheltering displaced refugees, to evacuating orphanages and providing spiritual and psychological support, to hiding the artistic treasures of their monasteries, these women religious are mirroring what many congregations did during World War II in neighboring Poland. The rule they operate under? “It’s our vocation.”

Before the war, about a thousand religious sisters lived and worked in several dozen female congregations in Ukraine. After the Russian invasion that began Feb. 24, 2022, most of the sisters decided to stay in the war-torn country to support the local population.

“We couldn’t leave those poor people alone,” Orionine Sister Renata Jurczak told OSV News. “We had to help them.” Most of the Latin-rite Catholic sisters working in Ukraine are Polish, but some are Ukrainian and Slovak, and some come from Moldova and Armenia.

Shortly after the outbreak of the war, the Orionine sisters from Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine decided to evacuate

“Hope,” their home for single mothers.

“We knew that if the Russians entered the city, those young mothers would be threatened with violence,” Sister Renata Jurczak told OSV News. In the space of an hour, the sisters packed and escaped Kharkiv together with mothers and their children a total of 200 people. After journeying for several days, they arrived at the Congregation of the Sisters of the Immaculate Conception in Yazlovets in western Ukraine.

“We opened our monastery because there was a need. And this help continues today,” said Sister Julia Podles from Yazlovets, adding: “It would be impossible to stay for so long without help coming from Poland food, diapers, clothes from associations, parishes or (charity organizations like) Caritas.”

After months of war, several Orionine sisters decided to return to Kharkiv to support those who had remained there.

“Despite the war, children are born there, including unwanted children. Women are left alone, without help,” said Sister Renata, who along with two other sisters resumed operations of the Hope shelter.

Accompanied by explosions and rocket attacks, the sisters welcome not only single mothers and their children but also those simply left homeless. In December, a dozen women and children lived with them. “The youngest single mother is 16 and gave birth to twins in November,” Sister Renata said.

To provide food for the women and babies, Sister Renata regularly travels from Kharkiv to Poland, 1,200 miles one way, for supplies. Just before Christmas, she managed to collect two vans of food and an amount of money that will allow the house to run for the next few months.

“Sometimes I am afraid of both travel and rockets,” Sister Renata told OSV News. “But I know that God is with me.”

Even though the town of Zhovkva, 70 miles east of the Polish border, looks akin to something out of a fairy tale, it is at the moment far from a winter wonderland. In the midst of the hardest winter in Ukraine since World War II, Dominican sisters based there have been accepting displaced people and relocating them – and they have done so since the beginning of the war. The proximity of the border allowed them to organize a large aid station, which has received European supplies throughout the war.

“Our people cannot be evacuated. They would not survive the move,” Servant of the Blessed Virgin Mary Sister Adrianna Kis told OSV News. “We do not leave them even during a missile alert so that they feel safe. If we die, we will die together.”

The elderly people who are their charges remember the Second World War and the current conflict is yet another trauma for them. If not for the support of the sisters, many patients would be doomed to loneliness and, as a result, to death.

Many religious convents in Ukraine also support the local soldiers fighting for freedom. The sisters collect food for them, but above all, provide spiritual support. For their safety, they ask for anonymity.

“We meet with soldiers to talk about God, give rosaries and pray together,” one of the sisters said.. “We want to bring them hope. Ukrainian soldiers are grateful to us, they are willing to pray even though they have not attended church services before the war.”

The sisters also take care of the widows and children left behind by fallen soldiers. They work in silence, without publicity. They are not heroes, they say. Rather, what they do is an expression of their love for God and neighbor, and, in this way, they fulfill their vocation. ❖

Polish Orionine Sister Renata Jurczak, who runs a home for single mothers in Kharkiv, Ukraine, is seen Dec. 22, 2022, during a trip Poland to collect supplies and drive them back to Ukraine. (OSV News photo/Agata Puscikowska)

Nuncio: Pope Benedict’s resignation was example of true humility, service

Saint of the Week

The life of Anthony will remind many people of St. Francis of Assisi. At 20, Anthony was so Go, sell what (Mark 10:21b), that he actually did just that with his large inheritance. He is different from Francis

tude. He saw the world completely covered with snares, and gave the Church and the world the witness of solitary asceticism, great personal mortification and prayer. But no saint is antisocial, and Anthony drew many people to himself for spiritual healing and guidance.

At 54, he responded to many requests and founded a sort of monastery of scattered cells.

The Archdiocese of Port of Spain celebrated a Memorial Mass, Thursday, January 5, for the repose of the soul of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, 95, who passed away on New Year’s Eve and was buried in Rome, January 5.

In homage to Pope Benedict, a “humble worker in the Lord’s vineyard,” Apostolic Nuncio, His Excellency Archbishop Santiago de Wit Guzmán highlighted that Pope Benedict resigned from his ministry as successor of Peter in a “surprising and unexpected” way.

Surprising, Archbishop de Wit Guzmán explained, because in this world, no one renounces their legitimately obtained authority on their own initiative.

Unexpected, because “no one had done it in the Church in the last 600 years”.

The Nuncio opined that Pope Benedict, at the age of 85, understood that he did not have the necessary energy to exercise the responsibility entrusted to him. He knew how to step aside, to let someone else assume that ministry to face the challenges that the Catholic Church must face in today’s world.

“The importance of Peter’s ministry in the Church today, his (Pope Benedict) deep love for Her, and the conviction that by renouncing the papacy he fulfilled the will of God, continue to remind us that the will to serve is the one that best explains the exercise of authority in this world, and that there is no greater service, and

truer humility, than to yield the initiative to those who are most qualified for it,” Archbishop de Wit Guzmán said.

He told the faithful gathered at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception that it is people like Pope Benedict who, with the testimony of their lives, remind us that our Redeemer lives, and one day we will fully know the promised salvation, that our eyes will see the Lord face to face.

Pope Benedict XVI was always concerned about the rise of moral relativism, “which greatly characterises the mentality of our time”.

According to the Nuncio, the absence of clear values, recognised or accepted by the majority, undermines our life in common, progressively deteriorating the fundamental institutions on which we have built our culture and society.

“It has also negatively influenced our Christian communities, eroding the perception of our Christian identity, often compromising the genuine and healthy interpretation of the essential values of the Gospel,” said the Nuncio.

He commented that in dialogue with the world, Pope Benedict vindicated the need for encounter and constructive dialogue, and the need to expand the limits of reason that make it possible to agree on values, to overcome the limits of a positivism that does not explain so much and to reach agreements among all to affirm what is necessary to us.

“….dialogue that is the responsibility of all social actors, and that urgently needs to be addressed,” Archbishop de Wit Guzmán said.

He added that Pope Benedict himself reminds us that we Christians have another measure before which to set ourselves: the Son of God, the True Man, of whom in these days of Christmas, we contemplate the “marvellous and unlooked” for mystery of His incarnation.

Archbishop de Wit Guzmán underscored that Pope Benedict XVI also insisted on the need for a personal encounter with the Risen One not only for faith to emerge, but also for it to take root deep within us, and to illuminate all areas of our existence.

The Archbishop prayed that the peace of God and mercy welcome Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI into His bosom, that the fruitful and farsighted ministry that the Lord has bequeathed in his person continue to illuminate the path of the Church in this world, and that those who have been strengthened by the example of his life and his teaching share with him the joy of the promised Kingdom.

The Memorial Mass was concelebrated by Archbishop Jason Gordon, Archbishop Emeritus Robert Rivas OP and other clergy. In attendance were members of the diplomatic corps. (Catholic News of T&T) ❖

At 60, he hoped to be a martyr in the renewed Roman persecution of 311, fearlessly exposing himself to danger while giving moral and material support to those in prison. At 88, he was fighting the Arian heresy, that massive trauma from which it took the Church centuries to recover. “The mule kicking over the altar” denied the divinity of Christ.

Anthony is associated in art with a T-shaped cross, a pig and a book. The pig and the cross are symbols of his valiant warfare with the devil the cross his constant means of power over evil spirits, the pig a symbol of the devil himself. The book recalls his preference for “the book of nature” over the printed word.

Anthony died at age 105.❖ [www.franciscanmedia.org]

On the Lighter Side

From left: Archbishop Jason Gordon, Archbishop Santiago de Wit Guzmán and Archbishop Emeritus Robert Rivas OP celebrate a Memorial Mass at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Port of Spain, Trinidad, on Thursday, January 5, for the repose of the soul of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, who passed away on New Year’s Eve.