St. Marie de la Croix
Canonized by Pope Benedict on Oct 11, the foundress of the Little Sisters of the Poor, lived a truly inspiring life of humility and dedication.
Jeanne was a poor fisherman’s daughter, born at Cancale in Brittany on October 25, 1792, during the French Revolution. Her parish priest, who had conformed to the Revolutionary regime, left the village within a few years. Women kept the faith alive through private instruction. They defiantly continued their pilgrimages to pray for the safety of their men at sea. After Napoleon made peace with the Church in 1802, Mass returned and Jeanne was able to receive the sacraments.
Jeanne’s father drowned before she was four years old. Her mother scrabbled hard to keep her four children alive. Breton women were famously hardy and used to giving each other mutual support. Jeanne did her part by watching cows, spinning, and knitting. By age 15, she went out to work as a kitchen maid at a country estate. The kindly lady of the manor took Jeanne along when distributing food to the poor. This apprenticeship in discreet giving would prove invaluable to her in later years. read more
Pope Pius XII Archives
As a long time student of 20th century German history I especially look forward to the opening of the Pope Pius XII archives. The slandering of this good man’s name by recent “popular” novels does in no way represent reality and hopefully these files will provide further vindication.
According to the prefect of the Vatican Secret Archives, the documents from Pope Pius XII’s pontificate might be catalogued and ready for researchers in five years.
There are some 16 million documents from the 1939-1958 pontificate. They have generated great interest due to the polemics surrounding Pius XII’s aid to Jews during the Nazi era. read more
2. March 2010
Church Offers “Maternal Friendship” to the Gypsies
The Church has promised to reach out more to the Gypsy populations of the world, 9-12 million of who live in Europe. The sufferings of the nomadic Gypsy populations is well known, Pope Paul VI in 1965
“Here [in the Church] you are warmly welcome, here you are awaited, greeted, celebrated. […] In the Church you are not on the margins, but, in some respects, you are the center, you are the heart. You are in the heart of the Church, [that] loves the poor, the suffering, the lowest, the disinherited, and the abandoned.”
Archbishop Vegliò suggested this visit “made manifest to them the solicitude of the Church,” and this effort was continued by Pope John Paul II. The prelate particularly noted the Polish Pope’s request for forgiveness “for the sins committed by the sons of the Church in the past; sins that continue, unfortunately, to cast their shadow also over the present.” read more
Pope Invited to Galicia for “Jacobeo” Holy Year
The Apostle James the Greater (in Spanish, Santiago) is the patron of Spain. Tradition holds that he evangelized Spain, and his tomb is located in the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, which is the destination of the historic and popular pilgrimage route El Camino de Santiago de Compostela (The Way of St. James).
The apostle’s feastday is July 25, and a holy year is celebrated each year that the feast falls on a Sunday, which happens 14 times every century.
This year’s celebration, which began Dec. 31 and will last through to the end of 2010, will be the second “Jacobeo” Holy Year of the third millennium. The next holy year will take place in 2021. read more
More Dangers of IVF Treatment
Researchers in Denmark have shown there is an increase in stillborn children and IVF treatment for infertility. Proving further that reproductive technologies are not only harmful to embryos, but also to full term children.
The researchers studied more than 20,000 pregnancies and found that out of every 1,000 women who conceive with IVF (in vitro fertilization) and ICSI (intracytoplasmic sperm injection), 16.2 give birth to a dead child whereas for fertile women who do not conceive with artificial fertilization, the risk is reduced to 3.7. read more
Since Europe and the World are at the Olympics
European HRC and Italian Crucifixes
Thankfully, the European Human Rights Court has decided to limit its jurisdiction over member nations’ cultures and traditions. While this does not over turn the already egregious ruling given last fall banning crucifixes in public areas in Italy it does give hope for a positive ruling on the pending appeals. Stay tuned for updates.
Strasbourg, France, Feb 22, 2010 / 12:20 pm (CNA).- During meetings last week in Switzerland, 47 countries represented in the Council of Europe adopted a declaration regarding the scope of jurisdiction of the European Human Rights Court in Strasbourg, France. The new policy limits the court’s decisions concerning traditions and national culture in member countries, which extends to the prohibition of crucifixes in Italian public institutions. (read more)
Pope in the News
Pope to Malta on 1950th Anniversary of St. Paul’s Visit
From April 17th through the 18th, 2010, Benedict XVI will travel to Malta. The pastoral visit will mark the 1950th anniversary of St. Paul’s shipwreck on the island, which, according to tradition, took place in the year 60 during the apostle’s trip to Rome. (read more)
Pope Sends Condolences to Portugese Flood Victims
VATICAN CITY, 23 FEB 2010 (VIS) – Benedict XVI has sent a telegram, through Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone S.D.B., to Bishop Antonio Jose Cavaco Carrilho of Funchal, on the Portuguese island of Madeira, for the storms and flooding that affected the island on Saturday, causing the deaths of forty-two people and vast material damage.
In the telegram the Holy Father gives assurances of his closeness to the people, and entrusts the victims to the mercy of God. At the same time, he calls for consolation and assistance to be offered to victims’ families, the injured and the homeless, and praises the efforts of rescuers and aid workers. (from VIS-Press)
John Paul II One Miracle Away
La PAZ, Bolivia (CNA) – Archbishop of Krakow, Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, who was John Paul II´s personal secretary for 40 years, told participants at a Colombian conference that the late-Pope’s beatification process “is practically finished.”
In Colombia, where Cardinal Dziwisz traveled to participate in a conference on the legacy of John Paul II, the cardinal remarked that the beatification process of the pilgrim Pope “is practically finished.” (read more)
St. Anthony and the Princess
2o0,000 Pilgrims in 80 Hours for St. Anthony of Padua
Some 200,000 people took advantage of the special showing of St. Anthony’s relics that occurred at the basilica in Padua last week.
“What is amazing is that all those people — it was an interminable procession — had the clear perception not of being before someone who was dead, a skeleton or some bones, but before a person who is, and who is alive,” the vicar-general of the Diocese of Padua, Monsignor Paolo Doni told Vatican Radio. (read more)
A True Princess for Our Little Ones to Admire to be Beatified Oct. 17th
Camilla da Varano (1458-1524) was born to Giulio Cesare, the prince of Camerino. She spent her youth enjoying social life, studying Latin, law, painting and horseback, and basking in the surroundings of a sumptuous palace.
In her autobiography, Camilla recounts that when she was 9 years old she heard a homily on Good Friday in which Brother Domenico da Leonessa asked those present to shed at least one tear every Friday out of love for Jesus. She took it as a vow to follow all her life.
Early in her youth she intuited a vocation to the religious life, but it was hard for her to accept. Once she decided to abandon herself into God’s hands and saw clearly that he was calling her, her father opposed the decision, wishing her to marry. She succeeded in overcoming the obstacles to her vocation and at 23, entered the convent of St. Clare in Urbino. (read more)
And so it begins…
Lucia Europa is a blog concerned with the current events and history of the Catholic Church in Europe. It is my hope that through this blog we will yet again see the light of Catholicism shining strongly in Europe.
Lucia Europa 