The Catholic Weekly 17 May 2020

15 17, May, 2020 catholicweekly.com.au WORLD PANDEMIC RESTRICTIONS have upset plans for pilgrim- ages and major public Mass- es celebrating the 100th anni- versary of the birth of St John Paul II. But it hasn’t stopped book launches and an online film première about the life and legacy of Karol Wojtyla, who was born on 18 May 1920, in Wadowice, Poland. Spanish filmmakers were releasing a new documentary, Wojtyla: The Investigation , on 8 May and Mario Enzler, a for- mer Swiss Guard now living in the US, has a book out by Newman House Press titled, I Served a Saint , reflecting on his service at the Vatican from 1989 to 1993. While many people will be able to look back and remem- ber key events, iconic images and inspirational teachings from St John Paul’s life and pontificate, the Vatican pub- lishing house has released a book aimed specifically at the countless young people, “who still know very little or even nothing” about the saint, who died 15 years ago, said Ales- sandro Gisotti. “We thought it would be wonderful with a very sim- ple, very slick volume ... to be a gift, especially for the younger generation,” Gisotti, the vice-editorial director of ¾ ¾ Carol Glatz The cover of a new volume commemorating the 100th anniversary of the birth of St. John Paul II. PHOTO: CNS PHOTO/VATICAN MEDIA Vatican media, said in an on- line interview. Titled A Cele- bration: In Words and Images of St John Paul , the 128-page book will also be published in English by Paulist Press. Pope Francis, who wrote the book’s preface, called his predecessor “a great witness of faith, a great man of prayer” and a “trustworthy guide for the church at a time of great change.” “So many times over the course of my life as a priest and bishop, I looked at him and prayed for the gift of be- ing faithful to the Gospel as he himself gave witness to,” Pope Francis wrote. His 84 years of life and 27-year-long pontificate left a “living legacy” to the church today, the pope wrote. Gisotti said that Pope Fran- cis wants people “to celebrate John Paul, but not in a self-ref- erential way, that is, with just something commemorative, but to tap into the wellspring of this extraordinary man, priest, bishop and pope.” What people risk forget- ting, Pope Francis said, is how much St John Paul suffered: losing his mother, father, sis- ter and brother all by the time he was 21; living through the Nazi occupation then Stalin- ist persecution in his coun- try; multiple assassination attempts; and the debilitating effects of Parkinson’s disease. Despite all that pain, he showed the world his strength rooted in faith, “his smile, the joy, being happy along the road of life despite the diffi- culties,” Gisotti said. St John Paul trusted completely in God and, Pope Francis wrote, the hardships strengthened an already deep faith he re- ceived from his mother and father, whose sainthood cause was to begin on 7 May. Pope Francis wrote that the message St John Paul gave to young people during his life- time needs to resound among young people today: “Do not be afraid. Open wide the doors for Christ.” Everything he did by teach- ing and living the faith con- cretely and resolutely at every moment in life, “this is why it was right to remember on the 100th anniversary of his birth this great holy witness of faith that God gave his church and humanity,” the pope wrote. Well before the outbreak of the coronavirus across the world, many cities, parishes and groups had planned ma- jor public events, pilgrimages and Masses to celebrate the Polish pope. Poland’s bishops have now asked priests to celebrate a Mass of thanksgiving for the life and pontificate of St John Paul May 17 – a Sunday – and on 18 May. Spanish filmmakers de- cided to hold the première of Wojtyla: The Investigation , on- line to a global audience on 8 May. - CNS BISHOP KEVIN Rhoades of Fort Wayne-South Bend, in the US state of Indiana, and five other bishops have con- cluded that alleged appari- tions of Our Lady of America – said to have taken place more than six decades ago – were not of supernatural origin. While private devotion in- spired by reports of the appa- ritions could continue with- out harm to the faith, Bishop Rhoades said, it would not be appropriate for any sort of public devotion. “Imust come to the conclu- sion that the visions and reve- lations themselves cannot be said to be of supernatural or- igin in the sense of objective occurrences,” Bishop Rhoad- es said in a final document known as a singular decree, adding that he “cannot ap- prove or support public devo- tion or cult.” The investigation ¾ ¾ Greg Erlandson Marian ‘apparitions’ not supernatural St. Francis of Assisi/Our Lady of the Angels Parish in Chicago. PHOTO: CNS PHOTO/KAREN CALLAWAY, CATHOLIC NEWWORLD So many times over the course of my life as a priest and bish- op, I looked at him and prayed for the gift of being faithful to the Gospel as he him- self gavewitness to ...” Pope Francis concerned numerous appari- tions reported by Sister Mary Ephrem Neuzil, a Sister of the Most Precious Blood of Je- sus of Dayton, Ohio, between 1956 and 1959. At the time, it was reported that Mary had appeared to Sister Neuzil and had identified herself as Our Lady of America. Sister Neuzil died in 2000. Both before and after the re- ported apparitions, she said she had other communica- tions or locutions from Mary that took place in several di- oceses. Concurring with the con- clusion reached by Bishop Rhoades were five other bish- ops from the dioceses where Sister Neuzil had stayed dur- ing this period. In an interview with Catho- lic News Service , Bishop Rhoades said he had agreed to a request by the other five bishops to forma commission of six theologians and canon- ists to investigate the appari- tions. He was chosen as the lead bishop of the commission be- cause the alleged apparitions began in Rome City, Indiana, which is in his diocese. He described the commis- sion as “a very balanced group that was open to the possibil- ity that the apparitions were authentic.” But after what he said was a year of study of the vast doc- umentation of the case, all members of the commission concluded that the appari- tions were not supernatural in origin. In an explanatory docu- ment called Statement Re- garding the Devotion to Our Lady of America and signed by all six bishops, they said that Sister Neuzil appeared to have been “honest, morally upright, psychologically bal- anced, devoted to religious life and without guile.” They also said there were spiritual fruits that came from the devotion, although none warranted certification as mi- raculous. The bishops said there was not any doctrinal error in the revelations, though the report added that a claim regarding St Joseph as a “co-redeemer” with Christ “must be seen as an error.” - CNS In brief Millennial cause advances Dioceses merged Landgrab condemned POPE FRANCIS ad- vanced the sainthood causes of one woman and four men, including an Italian millennial who dedicated his brief life to spreading faith and hap- piness to his peers. The pope signed the decrees on 5 May. The pope recognised the heroic virtue of Mat- teo Farina, a 19-year-old who, while seemingly living a normal life for a person his age, dedicated himself to helping others after being inspired by a dream of St Pio of Piet- relcina at the age of nine. Despite being diagnosed with cancer at the age of 13, Farina continued to write and speak about the importance of being happy and holding on to faith. He died in 2009. THE LONG-ANTICIPAT- ED merger of two Cana- dian dioceses has been officially approved by the Vatican and, as of 6 May, the new Archdi- ocese of Ottawa-Corn- wall is now officially rec- ognised by the Catholic Church. Archbishop Ter- rence Prendergast main- tains his leadership of the church in Ottawa and is now the first archbishop of the new Archdiocese of Ottawa-Cornwall. MOVING FORWARD with an Israeli plan to uni- laterally annex West Bank land could mean the end to the already languishing Palestinian-Israeli peace talks, said the heads of the Holy Land churches. “An array of plans for Is- rael to unilaterally annex West Bank land, backed mainly by right-wing fac- tions, raises serious and catastrophic questions about the feasibility of any peaceful agreement to end the decades-long conflict, one that contin- ues to cost many innocent lives as part of a vicious cycle of human tragedy and injustice,” the church leaders said. Israeli Defence Min- ister Naftali Bennett has approved a construction project that would see 7,000 new housing units built in the West Bank Is- raeli settlement of Efrat. His proposal could be put to the government as soon as 1 July. - CNS Some JPII plans go ahead Not even the pandemic has stopped celebrations of saint