Tag: Christianity

Nearly three dozen Christians have lost their lives in the Gaza Strip since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war last October, a Christian aid group in the region said this week.

Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), a charity organization whose roots stretch back to the end of the Second World War, said in a release that “a total of 30 Christians have died since the conflict began.” The number comes from the Project Development Office of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem.

The dead include “17 victims of the strike on the Greek Orthodox parish compound in October 2023 as well as the two women killed by snipers in the Catholic parish of the Holy Family,” ACN said. Nearly a dozen more “have died from chronic illness that could not be adequately treated,” the group said.

Several children were killed in the strike on the Greek Orthodox church in October. The deaths of the two women from the sniper attack, meanwhile, were met with global outrage, including from Pope Francis.

Though attributed to Israeli snipers, the Israel Defense Forces repeatedly denied culpability for the women’s deaths.

In addition to the threat of violent conflict, a humanitarian crisis in the region has persisted over the course of the war.

“Lack of fuel and electricity means that pumps no longer work, so the residents have to extract water manually from the wells,” ACN said. Meanwhile, “medical care has also reached critical levels” and even basic tasks such as charging cellphones have become difficult.

ACN said it has worked with the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem to “provide medicine and food as well as fund some medical procedures” for those caught in the conflict. Yet “the mass destruction of houses and infrastructure makes the future of the Christians in the region uncertain,” the group said.

“They say that 62% of the houses have been totally destroyed and that reconstruction will last until 2093 according to some international and United Nations agencies active on the ground,” a project partner told ACN.

“With all of this, one has to ask what future is there for Christians in this country? What is going to happen?” the project partner continued. “Nobody knows. Please, pray for us, do not forget the suffering of the Christians in this part of the world.”

Nearly 30,000 people total have reportedly died in Gaza since the war began after Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7 of last year.

The terrorist group killed more than 1,000 in its initial incursion and took several hundred hostages. Israel quickly declared war, launching a full-scale bombardment with the explicit goal of destroying Hamas.

    

This icon of the Mother of God was in a church in the Orthodox Theological Seminary at the Romanian Sokolsky Monastery. In February 1854, it gained renown for the remarkable miracle of shedding tears.

Following the Liturgy served on February 1 in the seminary church, a frightened member of the clerical staff ran up to Hieromonk Isaiah, the ecclesiarch, and said that the icon of the Mother of God was weeping. Several of those serving immediately ran to the church. There they all clearly witnessed, still wet, tears running down from the eyes of the Mother of God.

Bishop Philaret Skriban, the seminary rector, also witnessed this miracle. He removed the icon of the Mother of God from its frame, carefully examined it, used a towel to wipe off the tracks of the tears, and put the icon back in its place. Then, after directing everyone to leave the church, he looked around throughout the church, and then locked it up.

Several hours later, the seminary professors and instructors accompanied their rector into the church for Vespers, and all were amazed to see the same miraculous flowing of tears from the eyes of the Theotokos depicted on the Icon. The seminary rector immediately served a Moleben and Akathist to the Mother of God.

Soon, all of Romania learned of this miraculous event, and people from all parts of the country began to arrive at the Sokolsky Monastery to bow down before the newly revealed miraculous Icon of the Theotokos. The marvelous flowing of tears sometimes happened every day, and sometimes two, three, or four days apart. As a result, many people were able to see at first hand the actual miracle of weeping and could personally bear witness to it. Those who did not see the actual miracle could bear witness to it by seeing the tracks of the dried tears on the surface of the icon.

Yet, there were those who doubted…

The Weeping Icon of the Mother of God appeared during the Crimean War. Because of that war, the Principality of Moldavia was occupied by Austrian troops. Their commanding officer, General Paar, sent a staff officer to the Sokolsky Monastery with instructions to carefully investigate the reported miracle and to give a report of his results.

The colonel obeyed the orders. In the Monastery, he made a thorough examination of the Weeping Icon of the Mother of God. At the time, it was not weeping. Finding nothing out of the ordinary, he put the icon back into its frame. Then he took a lighted candle, and with the help of the candle made a careful examination of the face of the Mother of God. Suddenly two little diamond-bright tears shone in the eyes of the Mother of God, and tears began to flow. The officer recoiled in terror, and exclaimed, “It’s weeping! That is a great miracle! Fathers, pray to God!”

The colonel reported what had transpired to his commanding officer. His report on the miraculous flowing of tears from the icon is of unquestionable importance, for he had come to Sokolsky Monastery without any faith in the possibility of such a miracle, but he left with faith, convinced that it was an indisputable fact.

This was not the only evidence that a true miracle had taken place. There were many other eyewitness accounts, including accounts by individuals whose sincerity there would be no reason to question.

The account provided by Bishop Melchizedek of Romania merits particular attention. He was one of the first to be an eyewitness to this miracle, and at the time was a professor at the seminary in the Sokolsky Monastery. Reminiscing thirty-five years later about seeing tears pour from the eyes of the Mother of God, this elder said that for a long time he pondered the question: What do these tears of the Mother of God signify? He became convinced that in times past there had also been such icons, which from time-to-time wept tears, and that similar events always presaged difficult trials for the Christ’s Church and for the homeland.

History supported this elder’s conclusion. Soon after the miraculous shedding of tears, the Moldavian Principalities were subjected to severe trials. The Sokolsky Monastery also suffered great difficulty. It was as important to Romanians as the St. Sergius Lavra is the Russian people. Romania’s great religious and educational center was destroyed. The seminary was moved to Jassy, and the local instructors and monastics were dispersed. Thus, where the glorious historical seminary had stood, serving for almost a century as a nursery for religious education, there remained only a single, small, elementary school.

Kiev, February 14, 2024

Photo: spzh.media     

Yesterday, February 13, a Kiev court set bail and imposed restrictive measures on a monk of the Kiev Caves Lavra who has become the State Security Service’s (SBU) latest target.

Though the prosecutor asked for a bail of $13,110 (500,000 hryvnia) for Archdeacon Pavel (Muzychko), the judge set it at $3,175 (21,000 hryvnia). He also ruled that he must wear an ankle bracelet, reports the Union of Orthodox Journalists, whose correspondent was present in court.

Fr. Pavel must also hand over his passport throughout the pre-trial investigation until April 9, not leave Kiev without official permission, not contact any witnesses in the criminal case, and be ready to come to court whenever called.

On Friday, February 9, SBU officers conducted a search at the Lavra, after which Hierodeacon Pavel, known as one of the most vocal defenders of the Lavra from amongst the brethren, was taken away for questioning.

Fr. Pavel was then informed that he is under investigation for “organizing provocations in the Kiev Caves Lavra.” The SBU also claims that he “acted in favor of the aggressor country” by allegedly praising the Russian military and trying to discredit the Ukrainian army.

According to the investigation Fr. Pavel is one of the closest associates of the Lavra abbot, His Eminence Metropolitan Pavel of Vyshgorod, who has been a target of the SBU Lavra abbot given 2 months of house arrest for criticizing Constantinople and schismatics, supposedly supporting war (+VIDEO)His Eminence Metropolitan Pavel of Vyshgorod, abbot of the persecuted Kiev Caves Lavra, was sentenced yesterday to 60 days of house arrest in a village near Kiev with an ankle bracelet for speaking out against the Patriarchate of Constantinople and the schismatic “Orthodox Church of Ukraine.”

“>since last April. He is also forced to wear an ankle bracelet and several months in house arrest away from his monastery home or Abbot of Kiev Caves Lavra released after months of house arrest and detentionFinally, after months of being unjustly held under round-the-clock house arrest and then in a detention center, the abbot of the Kiev Caves Lavra has been released on bail.”>in a pre-trial detention center.

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Sometimes we make prayer more complicated than it should be. That great master of prayer, St. Francis de Sales, described prayer as a conversation or better, a dialogue.

In his “Introduction to the Devout Life” he writes: “It is good to use dialogue and talk to Our Lord and also to the Angels, to people who are represented in biblical mysteries, to the saints and even to ourselves, to our hearts, to sinners and even to insensible creatures, as we see in David and other saints in their meditations and prayers.”

A dialogue most appropriate for Lent would be to talk to the angel who comforted Jesus in his agony in Gethsemane.

This scene, which we remember in the first Sorrowful Mystery, is wholly scriptural, although we only find it in St. Luke’s Gospel. Jesus, we are told, knelt down and prayed,

“Father if thou art willing, remove this cup from me; nevertheless not my will but thine be done. And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down upon the ground” (Luke 22:43–44).

The classical technique for meditating on such a Scripture is to put oneself in the scene as a spectator, to witness Jesus’ heartfelt prayer, to feel the pain of body and soul illustrated with his sweat made blood, and to see the angel with him.

De Sales’ words about colloquy encourage us to address not only the Lord in our dialogue, but also the “angel from heaven” sent to comfort the Savior. By our prayer, we become not just spectators of the scene, but interlocutors.

We find two prayers to this angel in the old Raccolta (“Collection”), a book containing prayers and pious devotions for which indulgences are attached.

One is very short, a cry of pain, which St. Pope Pius X recommended in a rescript in his own hand: “O holy Angel who strengthened Jesus Christ Our Lord, come and strengthen us.”

I know many people who, in their suffering, are in their own Gethsemane. This prayer helps one to identify with Jesus on the eve of his sacrifice and humbly ask for aid.

St. Luke says the angel “strengthened Jesus.” Angels are personal beings, so we can ask for the Lord’s help through the intercession of the spiritual being given that special mission to be with Jesus in his suffering humanity.

The second prayer to the angel of Gethsemane is longer and is more like a conversation with the angel. My version is in updated language:

“I greet you, holy Angel who comforted my Jesus in his agony, and with you I praise the most Holy Trinity for having chosen you from among all the holy angels to console and strengthen him who is the consolation and strength of all who are suffering.

“By that honor you received and the obedience, humility, and love with which you assisted the Sacred Humanity of Jesus, my Savior, as He fainted with sadness contemplating the sins of the world, and especially my sins, I beg you to pray that I may have perfect sorrow for my sins. Strengthen me in the afflictions that overwhelm me now and in all the other trials to come my way, especially in my own final agony.”

The second prayer implies a dialogue in which we celebrate with the angel his mission to Gethsemane. (Angels do not have gender, but possessive pronouns are necessary in English, hence “his”).

Asking for the angel’s help, the petitioner attempts to understand the angelic psychology, “by that honor which you received.” Our side of the conversation continues acknowledging the reason that Jesus was in agony: his apprehension of the weight of our sins that he was to carry.

St. John Henry Newman has a wonderful meditation on Jesus contemplating the ugliness of the sin of the whole world which he took on himself. That point of meditation makes us think that part of that ugliness was made by our personal sins.

The sins of the whole world included our own sins. We were there in the garden, represented by our sins which made Jesus sweat blood. Thus, we ask the angel to pray that we have a true repentance of our sins.

Then we pray to the angel for strength: What you did for the Sacred Humanity of Jesus, please do for us, by the grace of God.

In hospital rooms and funeral parlors, in nursing homes and hospice care, in the many lonely places of the human heart, the shadows of the olive trees in the moonlight of Gethsemane are present. The prayer to the angel who came to comfort Jesus, asking for consolation in imitation of Jesus, is a perfect example of the kind of colloquy de Sales recommended.

It was customary when the Raccolta was printed to assign a numerical value of “indulgenced” days to the prayers and devotions.

As Catholics, we believe an indulgence is a shortening of the “temporal punishment” that we deserve for our sins, a penalty that still must be paid, even though we have repented our sins and been forgiven in confession. It is about purification.

Assigning a value of days was a metaphor of justice and proportion. These two prayers were granted 300 days and 500 days indulgence, respectively, amounts which now the Church calls simply, a “partial” indulgence. It is the Church’s way of saying that all prayer is fruitful for purifying our souls and helping us to make up for our past sins.

Who would not be blessed (purified) by having a “moment” of conversation with an angel?    

Prague, February 14, 2024

Photo: orthodoxianewsagency.gr     

Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Bukoba and Western Tanzania of the Patriarchate of Alexandria recently paid a visit to the Archdiocese of Prague of the Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia as a sign of gratitude.

The Czech-Slovak Church had financed the construction of a primary school at the Church of the Holy Cross in the Kyerwa District of the Kagera Region, reports the Orthodoxia News Agency, and Met. Chrysostomos traveled to the Czech Republic in order to personally thank Archbishop Michael of Prague, Bishop Isaiah of Šumperk, and other friends of the Tanzanian mission.

Photo: orthodoxianewsagency.gr The Orthodox of the Czech Republic got acquainted with the mission in Tanzania through the Orthodox Brotherhood of Foreign Missions of Thessaloniki, which mediated the creation of this project.

During his stay in Prague, Met. Chrysostomos visited the historic Church of Sts. Cyril and Methodios and met with members of the local Greek community, conveying the blessing of Patriarch Theodoros of Alexandria to all.

“The visit was a pilgrimage and a plea to the great missionaries and illuminators of the Slavs, Sts. Cyril and Methodios, to bless the new mission for the illumination of our African brothers,” said Met. Chrysostomos.

As is the case throughout much of Africa, mass Baptisms are a regular occurrence in the Diocese of Bukoba. Most recently, Dozens united to Christ in mass Baptism in TanzaniaThe feast of the Baptism of Christ was blessed this year with the Baptism of dozens of new Orthodox Christians in the Patriarchate of Alexandria’s Diocese of Bukoba.

“>60 people were baptized on the feast of Theophany.

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Sts. Cyril and Methodius were brothers, born in Thessalonica in 827 and 826. Although their family was prestigious, Cyril and Methodius renounced their wealth and status, choosing instead to be ordained as priests.

They moved to a monastery on the Bosporus, which is now known as the Istanbul strait separating Europe and Asia. Authorities from the Khazar Empire sent to Constantinople for a Christian missionary. Cyril was selected, and his brother went with him. They both learned the Khazar language, and converted many.

From Khazar, the brothers went to Moravia, working as missionaries and preaching in the local dialect. In order to do this, they adapted the Greek alphabet into a script to translate the Slavonic language. This became the “Cyrillic” alphabet, which was used to translate the Bible and liturgical books. It is also the primary means of written language for many countries, including modern day Russia.

Cyril and Methodius spent four years in Moravia and had great success converting and preaching to the people. Pope Adrian II greatly approved of their methods, and ordained them bishops. Cyril died in Rome in 869.

After Cyril’s death, the pope appointed Methodius archbishop of a new archdiocese in Moravia, independent of the German church. This angered the Germans, who had Methodius imprisoned and deposed for three years.

Once he was freed by the new pope, John VIII, Methodius continued to evangelize, expanding his work to include modern day Poland. Eventually, he translated the entire Bible into the language now known as Church Slavonic. Methodius died on April 6, 885.

Sts. Cyril and Methodius are known as the “Apostles of the Slavs” for their tireless work spreading the Gospel throughout Eastern Europe.

In light of the recent commemoration of St. Isaac the Syrian the Bishop of Nineveh, we offer a small episode from the life of “My First Meeting with Elder Paisios”He told me, “You are related to us.” I said to him, “Geronda, are you from Cyprus?” He replied, “You’re slow-witted.”

“>Elder Paisios, who particularly revered this saint and was very upset with the fact that modern-day theologians identified him as a follower of Nestorian heresy

    

One day, the Elder, sitting on a stone ledge near the monastery of Stavronikita, had a conversation with some pilgrims. One of them, a graduate of the school of theology, claimed that St. Isaac the Syrian the Bishop of NinevehSaint Isaac the Syrian, Bishop of Ninevah, lived during the sixth century. He and his brother entered the monastery of Mar Matthew near Ninevah and received the monastic tonsure.

“>Abba Isaac the Syrian was a Nestorian, and he kept repeating his view that was so commonly accepted in the West.

The Elder Paisios tried to convince the theologian that Abba Isaac the Syrian was not only Orthodox, but also a saint, and his ascetic words were filled with great grace and power. But the elder’s attempts turned out to be futile—the “theologian” stubbornly stood his ground. The elder retreated to his cell in distress and immersed himself in prayer.

St. Isaac the Syrian When he had walked just a little distance from the monastery and reached a large sycamore tree, in his own words, he “experienced an event”, which he declined to describe in greater detail. According to one testimony, the elder had a vision: he saw the venerable monastic fathers passing in front of him. One of the venerable saints stopped in front of the Elder and said, “I am Isaac the Syrian. I am really and truly Orthodox. Indeed, the area where I served as bishop fell into the Nestorian heresy, but I fought against it.” We are unable to confirm the truthfulness of this vision or to reject it. At any rate, beyond a doubt, the event the Elder had witnessed was of supernatural origin. This event clearly and precisely informed the Elder of the Orthodoxy and holiness of Abba Isaac.

The book by St. Isaac lay at the head of the Elder’s bed. He would read this book all the time, and for six years, it would be his only spiritual reading. He used to read a single phrase from the book only to repeat it in his mind throughout the day, “working” at it actively and in depth, in his own words, just like “the cattle that chews their cud.” The Elder would hand out excerpts from St. Isaac’s writing as a blessing to his visitors in his desire to encourage people to read his works. The Elder believed that the study of the ascetic writings by Abba Isaac is “greatly beneficial since it allows us to grasp the most profound meaning of life. And if a person who believes in God, has complexes of any kind, either large or small, it will help him be rid of them. Abba Isaac’s book contains a great number of spiritual ‘vitamins’, and owing to them, it transforms the soul.”¹

The elder also advised the laity to read Abba Isaac, but in small bites in order to digest what they have just read. The elder said that Abba Isaac’s book is identical in value to the entire library of the Holy Fathers.

Elder Paisios wrote in his book by Abba Isaac under the icon of the saint that shows him holding a pen: “Abba, give me your pen so that I can underline every single word in your book!” With this, the elder meant to say that this book is of such great value that every word in it is worth underlining.

The Elder not only read the sayings of Abba Isaac, but he also held him in great awe and revered him as a saint. The icon of St. Isaac the Syrian was one of the very few icons placed on the tiny altar table in his Panaguda cell. Because of his love and reverence for the saint, the Elder gave his name to one of the monks when he tonsured him into the Great Schema. The Elder celebrated the memory of St. Isaac on September 28. He saw to it that all the fathers from his inner circle celebrated a general All-Night Vigil on this day. During one of these vigils, the Elder was seen surrounded by the Light of Tabor, exalted and in a transformed state.

Page from the Menaion autographed by Elder Paisios: “The 28th day of this same month is the commemoration day of our Venerable Father Ephraim the Syrian and Isaac the Great Hesychast, who were treated so unfairly.”   

Before the Fathers began to commemorate the memory of the saint on September 28, the Elder had signed the following in his Menaion on January 28 (on this day the memory of St. Isaac the Syrian is commemorated, together with that of St. Ephraim the Syrian): “The 28th day of this month is the commemoration day of our Venerable Father Ephraim the Syrian, as well as Isaac the Great Hesychast, who were treated so unfairly.”

From: Hieromonk Isaac. Life of the Elder Paisios of the Holy Mountain (Moscow: Holy Mountain, 2006), 243–245.

Traveling with your now-adult son while helping him drive the official pace car of the State of California, a U-Haul truck packed with all earthly belongings, and heading east, was a whole new experience for me. 

I have flown over the continental United States and beyond many times, but I had never driven further than the eastern border of Arizona. Because our son was moving 2,000 miles away and needed to get to his new home in Nashville, Tennessee, on a tight schedule, I volunteered to co-pilot.

Now, driving across the middle part of the North American continent in the midst of winter was not my idea of a fun road trip, and was the cause of some sleepless nights leading up to our departure, as well as every night of the journey itself. The Weather Channel was must-see TV every night and the number of Hail Marys said was dictated by the predicted precipitation and wind velocity for the next day’s journey. We were lucky or blessed — the worst we could complain about was leaving Dallas, Texas, in the early morning hours on our next leg of the journey and being met with 29-degree weather and 50 mph winds.

God does some of his best work on a road trip like this. We saw so much beautiful country and incredible bounty in the 2,000 miles we traveled, not to mention the majestic Mississippi River. And we were blessed again with more overt God moments, like the one on our first day: We had reached Tucson, Arizona, my son had pre-booked hotels for the entire trip and on this leg, he had chosen a casino. (The God moment wasn’t me drawing to an inside straight and breaking the bank.)

It was Saturday and I was already worrying about where to find a Mass and still keep to our tight schedule. Then, off in the distance, I saw the setting sun shining on a large white structure in the middle of a desert. It was almost glowing, and I could not make out what it was for a time until I saw the sign — not from above, but from the Arizona Highway Department. It read “San Xavier Del Bac Mission, Next Right.”

We followed the sign, which was also the same off ramp for our hotel. We found a beautiful, white-washed colonial mission church basically in the middle of nowhere. According to the tourist information signage, it was the oldest intact European structure in Arizona. It was founded in 1692 but modernized in 1792. My kind of place. 

Our timing during the life of this road trip proved to be sometimes peccable, but on this day it could not have been more perfect. San Xavier had a vigil Mass, and we had time to check into our hotel and make it back in plenty of time to attend.

Like every mission church I have ever been in, the thick-as-an-elephant walls were painted in a variety of faded sacred motifs with Native influences, and there was that permanently dank and dusty smell. But the narrow church was packed with Massgoers and the Franciscan priest who celebrated seemed out of central casting.

Finding this diamond in the desert allowed my son and I to stay on schedule and get to Tennessee, but more importantly, it represented one of those moments of grace and pause when for a brief time I could forget I was traveling by land vehicle through a continent not always friendly to such means of conveyance during winter.

We managed to dodge snowstorms, dangerously high winds, and a tornado warning, and arrived at our destination in one piece. It was what I, living in the here and now of the 21st century, was praying for inside that church founded in the 17th century.

I was praying for something else upon arrival. I felt a little guilty to make my praying all about me during this trip, but seeing one of my children truly make a life of his own is difficult.

We got to Tennessee by moving van the same day my wife arrived by air. She and my son hit the ground running, going to the grocery store, furniture store, and home goods store over the next two days, turning his house into a home. 

Probably a coping mechanism to deal with the fact my son has a home, and it is not under my roof, I started googling “Catholic churches near me.” With all the subtlety of a ball-peen hammer, I casually suggested to my son there seemed to be a church not too far from his house. He responded that the parish I mentioned was not the one he had already looked up. Another sign, but this one not from the Arizona Department of Highways.

Both the Italian archbishop who heads the Pontifical Academy for Life, and an Ango-Italian economist who serves on it, struck back on Monday at critics who claim their statements and views are at odds with traditional Catholic doctrine on sexual morality.

Mariana Mazzucato, a Rome-born economist who’s served as an advisor to the UN, the World Health Organization, and the governments of both Scotland and South Africa, urged people to focus on her academic work, which she insisted have nothing to do with abortion or even religion.

Italian Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, the academy’s president, likewise brushed off criticism of his views on matters such as contraception, insisting that the academy’s role should be to promote academic reflection and discussion.

Both Mazzucato and Paglia spoke at a Feb. 12 press conference on the academy’s Feb. 12-14 general assembly, which holds the theme, “Human. Meaning and Challenges.”

Mazzucato’s appointment to the academy in October 2022 generated controversy among pro-life activists because of social media postings earlier that year criticizing a decision of the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that legalized abortion in America.

Several Catholic entities, including the World Federation of Catholic Medical Associations (FIAMC) voiced concern over Mazzucato’s appointment, maintaining that it was inappropriate for someone who publicly expressed pro-choice views to belong to a Vatican entity tasked with promoting the Church’s moral stance on life issues.

“I’m an academic, I’m an economist, I’ve never written an op-ed, a blog, a journal article or a book that has had even the word ‘abortion’ or ‘religion’ in it,” she said, saying that she has only engaged the issues in passing.

Mazzucato noted that she once retweeted a comic she believed illustrated hypocrisy surrounding abortion debates, and “the fact that a retweet in an academic conference like this is highlighted by a journalist who should be interacting with what we’ve just said, and what our expertise is, and what we will be talking about in this conference, I find that sad.”

This week’s conference is designed to address global issues related to climate change, bioethics, the risk of new pandemics, and new emerging and converging technologies, such as artificial intelligence.

Mazzucato said she believes Pope Francis gave her the “huge honor” of being part of the academy because her work as a professor and a researcher, as well as her engagement with policy makers.

“It’s all about redesigning the economy so that it’s good for humanity, it’s good for people all over the world, not just in the global north,” she said.

Throughout the world, Mazzucato said, “about 4.5 billion people, more than half of the world population, lack full access to essential health services; over 2 billion people are still without access to safely managed water, and one child under five dies every 80 seconds from diseases caused by polluted water; and climate change is on the course to cause 80 million excess deaths by the end of this century due to rising temperatures due to greenhouse gas emissions.”

“Wouldn’t it be great if your paper, and all papers and all journalists in the world had real curiosity to talk to biologists, physicists, poets, economists, with urgency and said what will you do, how will you help us, not asking an economist what she thinks about abortion,” she said.

Noting that she had four children in five years, Mazzucato she doesn’t think about issues such as abortion regularly, and that her work is focused on how to make life on earth “the best it can possibly be for the most people in the world, and I’m inspired by this pope because that’s what he talks about day in and day out.”

At the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic in March 2020, Pope Francis praised Mazzucato’s 2018 book, The Value of Everything: Making and Taking in the Global Economy, saying her vision for the economy “can help to think about the future.”

Mazzucato’s role is far from the only source of controversy surrounding the Pontifical Academy for Life.

In the summer of 2022, another front opened with the publication of a text titled Theological Ethics of Life. Scripture, Tradition, Practical Challenges, which is a collection of papers delivered during a conference sponsored by the academy in the previous year.

Critics took issue with contributions from some theologians arguing for a distinction between moral norms, such as the Church’s condemnation of artificial birth control, and the pastoral application of those norms in concrete circumstances, basically suggesting that in some limited circumstances, couples might be justified in choosing contraception.

A similar case was made on artificial reproduction, drawing sharp criticism from theologians and even other academy members who argued that these positions were incompatible with the academy’s mandate.

The academy drew further criticism when in August of that year, two months prior to Mazzucato’s appointment, the academy’s official Twitter account dispatched a tweet arguing that St. Pope Paul VI’s 1968 encyclical Humanae Vitae – which reinforced the Church’s teachings on marriage and upheld its condemnation of artificial contraception – was not covered by the doctrine of papal infallibility, meaning it can be subject to change.

The academy defended this position amid a wave of backlash, particularly on social media, but its response and the tweet containing it were later deleted.

Previously led by conservative Italian Cardinal Elio Sgreccia, the academy under Paglia has shifted toward a more progressive, pastorally oriented line in keeping with Pope Francis’s vision and priorities, meaning most of its critics come from the Catholic right.

Questioned about a statement he apparently made during the 2022 uproar over Humanae Vitae speculating that either Pope Francis or a future pope would issue a new encyclical on contraception, Paglia said this was not an accurate representation of his position.

“I don’t believe I said it as you did,” he said, referring to the journalist who asked the question.

Paglia noted that on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of Humanae Vitae, Pope Francis had said that “it’s good to reflect on these topics,” inviting theologians to continue deepening in their reflection and analysis.

He pointed a new text published by the academy titled, “The Joy of Life,” which is the base text that the controversial volume Theological Ethics of Life is based on.

This new text, Paglia said, “attempts to recharge the teaching of ethics and morality inside the history and development of the Church’s traditions, because this has happened continuously” throughout the Church’s existence, he said.

Noting that popes have held different positions on moral issues over the centuries, Paglia said he believes the Church’s moral teachings “require continual reflection.”

“In fact, it doesn’t just involve resolving certain questions. The problem is understanding in a more clear, passionate, and stronger way the behavior in respect to the inspirations of scripture in tradition and also the magisterium,” he said.

Paglia praised Paul VI’s emphasis on generativity in Humanae Vitae, which he said was such a strong concept at the time that it was eventually no longer a source of theological, philosophical and scientific discussion and reflection.

This lack of ongoing reflection and discussion, he said, “caused problems, such as demographic problems, fewer children and more elderly.”

“For this reason, the ethical problem is not solvable like in the 800s on singular cases, there is need for a new vision that accompanies people’s lives,” he said.

In a speech Monday inaugurating the assembly, Pope Francis said reflection on “what is distinctive about the human being” is a topic of “utmost importance” in the modern world, especially amid the rise of new technologies and broad experimentation with their potential uses.

He said scientific and technological progress must be situated within a broader “horizon of meaning” and condemned attempts at human reproduction through technology, likening this approach to the folly of the Tower of Babel in the Bible.

When it comes to technology, human creativity and responsibility must go hand in hand, he said, and praised the academy’s efforts to promote dialogue and a cross-disciplinary exchange of ideas on these topics.

Two items came across my radar screen this week, as we commence the holy season of Lent. The first was a short video of a disco rave that took place (I’m not making this up) in Canterbury Cathedral in England. The clip showed hundreds of young people gyrating to throbbing dance music, cups of beer in their raised hands, as lights flashed all around them. You could plainly see above them the gorgeously decorated ceiling of the cathedral and receding into the background the hauntingly beautiful gothic nave. Having visited Canterbury Cathedral a number of times, I knew that not at all far from where this nightclub scene was playing out was the site where St. Thomas Becket was murdered by agents of King Henry II in 1170. In other words, the present-day managers of the cathedral felt it was just fine that very near the place where one of England’s greatest saints gave his life for the faith a disco should break out. The dean of the cathedral, Dr. David Monteith, said, “Whether people choose to come to Canterbury Cathedral primarily as worshippers, sightseers, or attendees at our events—which include classical concerts, light and sound installations, and craft workshops—it’s always joyous to see them discover this incredible place anew and on their own terms.” For Pete’s sake . . .

The whole point, of course, is that cathedrals are not meant to be experienced “on our terms.” They are meant to draw us out of ourselves into the contemplation of a higher world. They are designed to disorient us and to compel us to see things differently. When we allow a disco celebration to take place inside a sacred space, we, quite literally, desecrate the place, we render it un-holy, for “holy” means “set apart.” The thousands upon thousands of pilgrims who came to the Canterbury Cathedral over the centuries to visit the tomb of St. Thomas Becket were seeking access to the mystical dimension that lies beyond this world. They came from the ordinary realm of shopping, farming, entertainment, and family, and they knew that they would return to that realm after their pilgrimage. But they also knew that the church was something else, something strange and alluring, and they most certainly did not want it transformed into farm fields or village streets or a bawdy dance hall.

St. John of Damascus said that prayer is “raising the mind and the heart to God,” and the Church teaches that Lent is, par excellence, a time of prayer. So let us, during this holy season, cultivate “cathedral space” in our lives; please let us not permit the secular and the ordinary to dominate that space.

The second item that I chanced upon was an advertisement in a Catholic Church for Ash Wednesday. Next to a symbol representing ashes in the sign of the cross, it said, “Ashes say you belong.” Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m sure those who put up that ad had nothing but good intentions, and there is certainly nothing in the world wrong with making people feel welcome. But once again, for Pete’s sake . . . When the priest or minister applies the ashes to someone’s forehead, he says either “Remember you are dust and to dust you shall return” or “Repent and believe the Good News.” In other words, the ashes are not meant as a sign of welcome. They are meant to be the starkest possible reminder that we will die and that our bodies, even if they are young and beautiful, will inevitably return to the dirt of the earth and that we are sinners who have rebelled against God and who need to radically turn our lives around. In a word, the ashes are dark, alarming, somber—and meant to be so.

The Church in which I came of age—which is to say, the Church of the immediate postconciliar period—was, if I can put it this way, relentlessly positive. Joy, peace, God’s love and forgiveness, the goodness of all things, eternal life—these were what we exclusively talked about, sang about, insisted upon. And all of those are indeed central to the Bible and the great spiritual tradition. But so are suffering, loss, God’s judgment and demand, the fallenness of the world, deep and painful resistance to God, etc. I would challenge you to read any two pages of the Bible, Old Testament or New, and not encounter this darker side of our religion. Lent is a privileged time during the liturgical year when we are encouraged to come to grips with our sin, our mortality, our moral frailty, and our need for forgiveness. I guess I found that advertisement so off-putting because it obfuscated the message of Lent and interfered with the proper spiritual dynamic of the season. Not everything has to be chirpy and upbeat in the religious order. In point of fact, I believe that one reason so many have opted out of the Church is that our presentation of the faith has become superficial, unreal, nicey-nicey.

So, as we enter into these forty days, I say, “Let Lent be Lent!”