Tuesday, April 1, 2014

They will be canonized

At 11:30am yesterday, in the John Paul II Hall at the Holy See's Press Office, there was a press conference held to present the outline of preparation for the canonization of Blessed John XXIII and Blessed John Paul II which will take place on April 27 of this year.

Participating in this morning's press conference were His Eminence, Agostino Vallini, Cardinal Vicar of His Holiness for the Diocese of Rome; Monsignor Guido Dellavite, Secretary General of the Diocesan Curia of Bergamo; Monsignor Walter Insero, Office Manager for Social Communications for the Vicariate of Rome; and Father Federico Lombardi, SJ, Director of the Holy See's Press Office.


Information provided by Monsignor Guido Dellavite
Secretary General of the Diocesan Curia of Bergamo

Diocese of Bergamo
The legacy of Pope John is charity: the Pope's caress

The diocese of Bergamo is preparing to ensure that the canonization, a moment of grace, has repercussions in ordinary life so that everyone is motivated to focus, each according to his or her own life, to recognize the gifts of charity and solidarity made visible through small gestures in a context that is becoming increasingly complex.

Our point of departure is Pope Francis' Message for Lent, which focuses on three kinds of poverty: material, spiritual and cultural.  Bishop Francesco Beschi echoed this triple-faceted attention when he asked: What can the Church of Bergamo do to place itself in the wake of John's teaching?  The answer has taken the form of The Signs of Work: signs of attention, charity, human development and education as paths of solidarity which have implications in the ordinary lives of people.


The first group of contributions concern structural work.  We have developed an international project for Haiti, with a contribution of 800,000 Euros (after the delivery of a school to be dedicated to Pope John, which will ensure the support of the school for the next three years).  We have a European project which involves support for a parish in Shengjin in the diocese of Lezhë in Albania (600 000 Euros) through the construction of a church and a pastoral centre.  We also have an in house project in Bergamo, which involves the work of transforming disused barracks to create a place of welcome for the poorest of our population (about 600 000 Euros have been set aside for this project and a further 300 000 Euros per year for it's management and upkeep).

The second part of the project is dedicated to paying particular attention to families who are in crisis.  On one hand, this project will increase by 600 000 Euaros, the fund for working families in order to continue the work that was begun a few years ago, with an invitation which was sent to our priests, asking them to contribute monthly to this cause, as well as offerings which will be gathered from the parish communities on April 27.  On the other hand, we are creating a new fund for family homes, to support families who are having difficulty maintaining their homes: the financial coverage for this is in the amount of 3 million Euros over two years, the proceeds realized from the sale of diocesan properties.

The third part is dedicated to the world of culture in order to help the youth aged 18 to 35 years to become citizens of the world by supporting choices for life in service to those who are poor and most in need and offering scholarships for pre- and post-doctoral studies toward research projects promoted by the Pope John XXIII Foundation around the major themes proposed by the polyhedral figure of Pope John XXIII.

He told the Bishop of Bergamo, His Excellency, Francesco Beschi: The ongoing commitments of our diocese of Bergamo are born in the shared desire to manifest a great, significant and concrete closeness to many situations of suffering, above all as a result of difficulties with work and with housing, which are indeed essential.  We must invest substantial resources in these fields because they are signs of hope.  There is a climate of fatigue and despair.  We must therefore introduce shared efforts which are aimed at tearing away this lethargy. Our objective is to awaken new hopes born of an openness of heart on the part of many.  The gift of Canonization must have consequences that people can identify concretely in terms of hope.

Not all of this will be achieved by admittedly substantial resources we have invested, however our wish is that this work might allow at least the possibility of perceiving the fact that through solidarity and united efforts, not only can we face crisis, but it is indeed possible to overcome it.  Therefore the quality of style is what we want to demonstrate.  A big house because we all have a house.  We are opening one of our houses so that people can continue to live in their houses.  This is a gift offered through a choice for poverty; this is why we will ask our priests on Holy Thursday to offer a month's salary, to overcome their own desires in order to generate new life: this is the grain of wheat that is able to generate new grain.

All this commitment is not aimed at its own good: my desire is that all if this might help us to grow in our awareness of our duty to help one another: enough with egotism and selfishness!  The possibility that all of us might be attentive to the needs of others, even that we might renounce something, cannot but help promote the growth of hope and the certainty of a better life.

We have established a busy calendar of events, both ecclesiastical and civil, pastoral and cultural, which will conclude on October 11 (the date of the liturgical Memorial, of Blessed memory, of the opening of the Council) with the consecration of the church in the new city hospital, dedicated to Pope John.

The next significant event will be the memory of the Encyclical Pacem in terris on April 12.  The Ambassadors of the countries in which the illustrious Archbishop Angelo Roncalli exercised his diplomatic mission (Bulgaria, Turkey, Greece and France) have all been invited. The inaugural commemorative lecture has been entrusted to Jacques Delors, President emeritus of the European Commission, and other presenters have also been invited, including Maria Romana De Gasperi.  The profile of this initiative is according to the imagining and dreams of Pope John XXIII: a man rooted in his homeland, but with his regard focused outward, toward the entire world, inhabited by men of faith and of the Church.

A picture, painted by Angelo Capelli, shows the two canonized Popes, John XXIII and John Paul II, clinging to the one cross of Christ, symbolically represented today in the Papal crosier which was actually the pastoral staff carried by Pope Paul VI.  It represents the passing on of the witness of apostolic succession, and the memory of the road that has been paved by the Second Vatican Council.  May this image and invocation be displayed in every house as a blessing for families and a prayer for those who are sick.


Celebrating the Canonizations in Rome

On Saturday, April 26, pilgrims from Bergamo will participate in a prayer vigil in the Basilica of Saint John Lateran where the young Roncali would visit as a seminarian at the Pontifical Roman Seminary, and which served as his Papal Cathedral while he served as Bishop of Rome.  For further information about this vigil, consult the website of the Diocese of Bergamo.

On Tuesday, April 22, beginning at 8:30pm in the Basilica of Saint John Lateran, there will be a gathering of young people in preparation for the Canonization, presided over by His Eminence, Agostino Cardinal Vallini, Vicar of His Holiness for the Diocese of Rome.  This gathering will include the participation of the postulators: Monsignor Slavomir Oder (Postulator for the cause of Blessed John Paul II) and Father Giovangiuseppe Califano, Postulator General OFM (Postulator for the cause of Blessed John XXIII.  A catechesis by Father Fabio Rosini, Director of Vocations for the Vicariate of Rome, will follow the interventions.

On Saturday evening, April 26, beginning at 9:00pm there will be a White night of prayer.  Churches in the centre of Rome will be open for prayer and confession.  An outline is being prepared by the Office of Liturgy for the Vicariate of Rome, for a Vigil of prayer including biblical passages and texts from the writings of the two Popes as guides for meditation and prayer.  The Vigil will be animated in various languages at different locations:

In the Church of Sant'Agnese in Agone a Piazza Navona
Via di Santa Maria dell'Anima, 30/a
Polish

In the church of San Marco al Campidoglio
Piazza San Marco, 48
Italian and English

In the church of Sant'Anastasia
Piazza di Sant'Anastasia
Portuguese

In the church of Santissimo Nome di Gesù all’Argentina
Piazza del Gesù
Italian and Spanish

In the church of Santa Maria in Vallicella
Via del Governo Vecchio, 134
Italian

In the church of San Giovanni dei Fiorentini
Via Acciaioli, 2
Italian

In the church of San Andrea della Valle
Piazza Vidoni, 6
French

In the church of San Bartolomeo all'Isola Tiberina
Isola Tiberina, 22
Italian and Arabic

In the church of Sant'Ignazio di Loyola in Campo Marzio
Via del Caravita, 8/a
Italian

Chiesa delle Santissimi Stimmate
Largo delle Stimmate, 1
Italian

Chiesa dei XII Apostoli
Piazza Santi Apostoli, 51
Italian


In order to facilitate the participation of many of the faithful in the great event of grace for the Church and for the entire world that is the Canonization of Blessed John XXIII and Blessed John Paul II, a comprehensive digital platform has been established, with the goal of providing pilgrims and visitors with the possibility of accessing news, useful information relating to the celebrations and spiritual reflections based on the lives and teachings of the two Popes.

Official website
The portal (which is currently being completed) is intended to record the importance represented by the combination of the two Pope Saints.  It will be accessible in five languages: Italian, English, French, Spanish and Polish.  In the various sections of the website, there will be news, events, an information area for the Press Office, contact information; accompanied by video and images, as well as biographical and spiritual documents which will allow visitors to better understand and appreciate the paths of holiness of John XXIII and John Paul II.

Santo Subito app
The free downloadable app, which will be available in the coming days, will be available for Android or IOS in Italian, English, Spanish and Polish.  It will be practical and easy to use.  The app, called Santo Subito, refers to the fame and sanctity that characterized both John XXIII and John Paul II in this life, and will contain logistical information, access to main news articles concerning the Canonizaton and downloadable material provided for the various liturgical events.

Other existing social media
Official website of the postulator for John Paul II (on Facebook) with information in five languages
Twitter profile with content in five languages
Postulator's Youtube channel

Karol Wojtyla Portal
The portal, organized by the Postulator since 2011 for the Beatification of Karol Wojtyla, illustrates in detail the various steps of the canonization process which led to the recognition of the holiness of Pope John Paul II.  This site is also rich in biographical information and exclusive documents and is available in Italian, English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Polish and Romanian.

The #2Popesaints Project
This project was born of collaboration with a class of students specializing in Communication Science at LUMSA.  Having selected from numerous proposals, a Social Media plan has been developed in order to make known to youth, the teachings and witness of faith provided by these two new Saints.

The Social Media Plan includes:
A fan page: 2popesaints @2popesaints #2popesaints
Themes relating to each of the two Popes will be proposed on the social media platforms every day beginning April 6 until the day of the Canonizations.  All the events will be followed live on all social media platforms.
It will be possible to follow the daily briefings during the week leading up to the Canonizations in hangout.
A QR code is being developed in order to quickly visit the official website:
Rome connecting to the world, and Gemellaggio tra i fedeli ospitati a Roma e i giovani romani.

This Media Plan will allow users to know and to visit the most important sites related to the history of Rome, especially during the time of Pope John XXIII and Pope John Paul II.  Information will also be provided on the Facebook page.

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