What happened?
Pope Francis released his third apostolic exhortation, Gaudete et Exsultate (“Rejoice and Be Glad”), in which he aimed to “repropose” the call to holiness in everyday life. The document was widely praised overall, but certain passages provoked controversy – for instance, a section on “New pelagians” condemned a “self-centred and elitist complacency, bereft of true love”, which manifested itself in a “punctilious concern for the Church’s liturgy, doctrine and prestige”.
What commentators are saying
Carl Olson, writing at Catholic World Report, said the exhortation was at its best when summarising the Church’s “meat and potatoes” teaching on holiness, sainthood and spiritual life. “There are hard truths put forward with clarity and brevity,” he said.
But several remarks were puzzling, Olson argued. He pointed to the document’s criticism of modern-day pelagians, who were accused of “obsession with the law”. “The overall impression is that rules, boundaries, limits, dogma … are almost always impediments.” Yet there is a growing sense among Catholics in the West, he said, that some “‘rules and regulations’ … really should hold fast in order for goodness, order, and authentic love to survive”.
Fr Dwight Longenecker had similar concerns. The Church may have “some fussbudget priests” and “stern sourpusses” but, he asked, “so what?” “The Catholic Church is a big family. Surely we have room for the eccentric aunty in her chapel veil [or] the curmudgeonly granddad.”
Sandro Magister, meanwhile, took issue with a passage that said it was “not healthy to love silence while fleeing interaction with others”. This, he wrote, “seems to wipe out two millennia of contemplative monasticism”. JD Flynn, writing for the Catholic News Agency, said the exhortation had given “newfound ammunition” both to the Pope’s critics and defenders. “But all of that misses the point,” he said. “Francis’s exhortation proposes that charity is the heart of holiness.” If Catholics could not discuss it in charity, he argued, “then the need for the document is more profound than most of us care to admit”.
✣Christians leaving Gaza in droves, says priest
What happened?
The number of Christians in the Gaza Strip has fallen from 4,500 to 1,000 in six years, according to the Catholic News Agency. “It’s really a prison,” said Fr Mario da Silva, priest at the area’s only Catholic church. “People don’t have any money.” Many gain temporary visas to leave at Easter or Christmas and never return.
Why was it under-reported
The Palestinian territories are scarcely an overlooked part of the world. But Palestinian Christians are an overlooked part of the story, as with oppressed Christians in so many places, and the Arab Christian population is little understood. The causes of the Christian exodus are not clear. Fr da Silva believes the economic blockade, put in place by Israel and Egypt, is the main reason: people see no future in Gaza. But there is also some evidence of converts from Islam leaving because they were shunned or felt in danger.
What will happen next?
Fr da Silva says the Church is trying to reverse the trend. Helped by 12 religious Sisters – of the Servants of the Lord and the Virgin of Matará, the Missionaries of Charity, and the Sisters of the Rosary – he is stressing the importance of Christians staying in the Holy Land. The Church is also running material assistance projects, including providing work for more than 30 young people. But the economic situation is unlikely to improve for Gaza’s two million residents: Israel has relaxed some restrictions but shows no signs of lifting the blockade.
✣The week ahead
A performance of Sir James MacMillan’s Stabat Mater will be live-streamed from the Sistine Chapel on Sunday. The reworking of the 13th-century hymn will be sung by the British choir The Sixteen and available for a month on the Classic FM website. The event is organised by the Genesis Foundation, which nurtures young artists.
Sunday is the World Day of Prayer for Vocations. Pope Francis will ordain priests at a Mass in St Peter’s Basilica (pictured). In a message for the day the Pope said: “We are not victims of chance … our life [is] the fruit of a divine vocation.”
The shrine of Walsingham will host a national men’s pilgrimage for the first time in modern history on Sunday. There will be speakers, a Mass, a rosary procession and opportunities for Confession. There will also be a visit to the pub for those who wish to stay past 5.30pm. The event is organised by Catholic Man UK, which aims to foster authentic Catholic masculinity.
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