Monthly Archives: March 2013

The end and rebirth of a world

29 Friday Mar 2013

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1A ND I saw, and I heard a voice telling me:

“Come here! I will show you the judgment of this great whore that sat upon so many waters, 2with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her perversity.”

3Then, I was carried away into the wilderness and, I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. 4And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet color, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: 5And upon her forehead was a name written: Mystery, Babylon The Great, The Mother Of Harlots and Abominations of The Earth. 6And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the Saints, and with the blood of the martyrs. And when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.

7And I saw and I heard again, that voice telling me:

“Wherefore and what for did you marvel? Let me tell you the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carried her, which had the seven heads and ten horns. 8The beast that you saw was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is. 9And here is the mind, which has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sits. 10And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he will come, he must continue a short space. 11And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goes into perdition. 12And the ten horns, which you saw, are ten kings, which have received no kingdom yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. 13These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast. 14These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.”

15And, the voice told me:

“The waters which you saw, where the whore sat, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. 16And the ten horns which you saw upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her in fire. 17For God hath put in their hearts to fulfill his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled. 18And the woman which you saw is that great city, which reigned over the kings of the earth.”

The Preacher

 

The Preacher

A Tendo Canada and JMD Publication

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Jorge Mario Bergoglio: Pape et Évêque Emeritus De l’Église Catholique Romaine

14 Thursday Mar 2013

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Jorge Mario Bergoglio

Premier pontife du continent américain, un austère Jésuite argentin, le cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, originaire du Brésil, dans l’un des conclaves les plus rapides de l’histoire, après seulement cinq tours de scrutin, a été élu pape mercredi le 13 mars 2013 sous le signe de la simplicité, devenant ainsi le nouvel évêque de Rome.

Le nouveau pape a déjà un agenda assez chargé.

Mercredi soir, dans un bref discours improvisé, il affirmait que de la chrétienté avait besoin d’une «nouvelle évangélisation».

Aujourd’hui, le pape François 1er (du nom de l’un des saints les plus populaires du catholicisme, Saint-François, le poverello d’Assise, l’homme qui, au treizième siècle, avait voulu réformer l’Église par la simplicité et la pauvreté), avec ses pairs,  les 114 cardinaux qui l’ont élu au plus haut poste administratif de l’Église Catholique Romaine, se retrouvera sous les voûtes de la Chapelle Sixtine peintes par Michel-Ange et évoquant la création du monde et le jugement dernier. La messe d’installation du pontificat, quant à elle, aura lieu mardi, jour dans la basilique Saint-Pierre et de nombreux chefs d’État et de gouvernement y sont attendus.

Les cardinaux ont élu un homme reconnu pour sa simplicité, se tenant loin des luttes de pouvoir, un homme qui souhaite un retour aux origines de l’Église. Lors de sa première apparition publique, il n’a pas été sans rappelé l’humour de Jean Paul II, la bonhomie et l’humilité de Jean XXIII, y compris la tonalité de sa voix.

Selon Antoine-Marie Izoard, le vaticaniste de l’agence I. Media, le cardinal Bergoglio avait refusé son élection en 2005. Le cardinal Bergoglio aurait pleuré il y a 8 ans quand il a constaté qu’il pourrait être élu pape pour remplacer Jean Paul II. À ce moment, jugeant la charge trop lourde, il aurait dit: « non, laissez la charge à Ratzinger, moi je n’en peux pas, je ne le sens pas».

Qui est Jorge Mario Bergoglio ?

L’élection du cardinal argentin Jorge Mario Bergoglio au poste de plus haut fonctionnaire de l’Église Catholique Romaine est inédite: c’est la première fois qu’un pape vient des Amériques. C’est aussi la première fois dans l’histoire du Vatican qu’un pape est issu de la Compagnie de Jésus. Pressenti à ce poste lors du conclave de 2005, après avoir recueilli le plus grand nombre de votes derrière le pape démissionnaire actuel, il se serait montré si effrayé par la perspective de devenir pape qu’il aurait dit : « Laissez-lui le poste », en parlant de Ratzinger.

Âgé de 76 ans, l’archevêque de Buenos Aires et primat d’Argentine est un jésuite austère, considéré comme conservateur en matière de doctrine et progressiste en matière sociale. Humble, discret et modeste, il aime la marche et préfère l’autobus ou le métro aux limousines. Cultivant un profil bas, fuyant toute vie mondaine et toute publicité, Il n’accorde pas d’interviews. Archevêque de Buenos Aires depuis février 1998, le 21 janvier 200, il est le premier jésuite à avoir été nommé, par Jean-Paul II, au poste de primat d’Argentine. Ingénieur chimiste, il est également licencié en philosophie et en théologie. Il maîtrise, outre l’espagnol et l’italien, l’anglais, l’allemand et le français.

Malgré une santé fragile, et vivant avec un seul poumon depuis l’âge de 20 ans, Jorge Mario Bergoglio est un homme de terrain. Il passe ses week-ends à parcourir les paroisses les plus défavorisées et à s’entretenir avec les prêtres des bidonvilles et des prisons. On le dit très attentif aux besoins de ses subordonnés, qui peuvent le joindre à tout moment sur une ligne de téléphone directe.

Issu d’une d’une famille modeste d’immigrés italiens, Jorge Mario Bergoglio est né à Buenos Aires le 17 décembre 1936. C’est à l’âge de 22 ans, que le jeune Jorge décide d’entrer dans les ordres. À 33 ans, il est ordonné prêtre et fait pratiquement tout son sacerdoce à Buenos Aires pour y être nommé évêque en 1992. Il a 36 ans quand il est élu au titre de Provincial, c’est-à-dire au poste de responsable national des jésuites argentins et conservera cette charge pendant six ans.

Jorge Mario Bergoglio est un homme, un personnage énigmatique, fascinant, sujet à controverses et objet de polémiques. Bien qu’il s’oppose fortement à la légalisation de l’avortement, au contrôle des naissances et à l’ordination de femmes, il se veut progressiste en matière d’affaires sociales. En septembre 2012, il sera durement critiqué ses pairs, qualifiant d’hypocrites les prêtres qui refusaient de baptiser les enfants de mères célibataires.

Enfin, le nouveau pape François est un fanatique de football, un grand lecteur de Borges et Dostoïevski et, un amateur d’opéra et de tango.

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The Preacher

 

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The new Roman Catholic Church’s Pope and Rome’s Bishop Emeritus

14 Thursday Mar 2013

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Jorge Mario Bergoglio

On Wednesday March 13, 2013 on the second day of the conclave in Vatican City, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio becomes first Latin American and first Jesuit to lead Catholic Church taking name pope Francis the first.

The 76-year-old from Buenos Aires is the first Jesuit and the first non-European pontiff in nearly 1,300 years. Argentinian Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio has been elected the 266th pope, making him the leader of the 1.2 billion-strong Roman Catholic Church.

The challenges ahead

Francis I succeeds Benedict XVI, who stepped down on February 28. His nomination and the fact that he chose the name Francis may well prove to be indicative of something historical.

With the election of the new pope, the Vatican and the Catholic Roman Church will now faces several key challenges. The new pope’s response to those will give us a significant indication of what Catholics can expect from him as the head of the Roman Catholic Church. One key priority of the new pope will be to reach out to his flock of 1.2 billion followers and rebuilding the relationship between the Vatican and churches around the globe.

Much was written about whether the new pope shall focus on pastoral care or try to reform the Vatican. In reality, he needs to do both and merely 12 hours after his election, the new pope quietly left the Vatican early this morning to pray for guidance as he looks to usher a Roman Catholic Church mired in intrigue and scandal into a new age of simplicity and humility. The first leader of the Roman Catholic Church to come from the Americas also takes the title of bishop of Rome and, in his first words to the crowd in St. Peter’s Square on Wednesday evening he made clear that he would take that part of his role seriously.

Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio’s election has broken Europe’s centuries-old grip on the Roman Catholic Church Papacy; he is also the first to take the name Francis, in honor of the 13th-century Italian saint from Assisi who spurned wealth to pursue a life of poverty. The 266th pontiff in the Church’s 2,000-year history is taking the helm at a time of great crisis. For years now, morale among the faithful followers has been hit by a widespread child sex abuse scandal and in-fighting in the Vatican bureaucracy. When he appeared on the balcony of Saint-Peter’s Basilica yesterday, he urged the huge crowds gathered in the square below to pray for him.

A change of direction

The unexpected election of the new pope is already answering some fundamental questions and announcing some fundamental changes about the direction of the Roman Catholic Church in the coming years.

After more than a millennium of absolute European leadership, the cardinal-electors went to Latin America, to find a new pope, a continent where 42 percent of the world’s Catholics live, and a continent that is more focused on poverty related issues and spiritual values rather than materialism and capitalistic values of the Western world and nations. They also chose a man with long pastoral experience, rather than an academic and Vatican insider. For some, it seems that this pope will be more aware of what life is all about. There will be less rhetorical work and more practical interventions. Jorge Mario Bergoglio was born into a family of seven, from an Italian immigrant family. He became a priest at 32, nearly a decade after losing a lung due to respiratory illness. Despite his late start, in 1936, he was awarded the title of Provincial and was leading the local Jesuit community.

The Jesuit order was founded in the 16th century to serve the papacy and always has been best known for its work in education and for the intellectual prowess of its members. As a Jesuit, Jorge Mario Bergoglio has a reputation as someone never backing up and willing to challenge any powerful interests or ideology. Displaying his conservative orthodoxy, he has often spoken out strongly against gay marriage, abortion and women accessing priesthood.

Before the conclave, the cardinals were divided between the urgency to get the dysfunctional bureaucracy of the Vatican under control or the urgency to revitalize faith across the globe, those who believed the new pontiff must be a strong manager and others who were looking more for a proven pastoral figure. Others believed that the most important factor was the age issue. Jorge Mario Bergoglio is the consensus candidate no one expected. The secret conclave began on Tuesday night March 12 with a first inconclusive ballot. Three more inconclusive ballots were held on Wednesday March 13 before he obtained the required two-thirds majority of 77 votes in the fifth and final vote.

Jorge Mario Bergoglio was a serious rival candidate at the 2005 conclave, but his name had not appeared on lists of possible contenders this time around. Many cardinals had discounted him because of his age. In 2005, he was the runner up, the principal alternative to Joseph Ratzinger his predecessor Benedict XVI, when he told the cardinals:  “Let him have it… I do not want the job”. This time around, not expecting to be elected, after the fact, he told them: “May God forgive you!”

At 76, Jorge Mario Bergoglio is the first Latin American pope, the first Pope Francis and the first Jesuit pope.

For years Jorge Mario Bergoglio was known as a different kind of Latin American bishop, a reserved man of theological sophistication challenging the privileged in the name of the poor and the oppressed. He famously laid aside the material comforts of his office, leaving the archbishop’s mansion empty to live in a simple apartment, cooking his own meals and taking the bus to his meetings.

While it is still too early to tell, how he will he lead the Roman Catholic Church, his first public appearance sent a clear message: on the balcony, facing the crowd, he appeared in the simple papal cassock, declining to wear the accompanying red shoulder cape that his predecessors have always worn. Additionally, he declined to use the term “pope emeritus” referring to him instead as “bishop emeritus,” the bishop of Rome.

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The Preacher

 

A JMD Communications Publication

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