Vatican Radio REPORT
Participants at the Congress of the World Conference of Secular Institutes have
wrapped up a meeting that not only looked ahead with a renewed Executive Council
and President, it also looked back at the past 60 years or so of the
Conference's history.That is, since Pope Pius XII in 1947 promulgated the Apostolic Constitution that gave a theological and juridical basis to an experience that matured in the previous decades and recognized in Secular Institutes one of the innumerable gifts with which the Holy Spirit accompanies the Church on her journey and renews her down through all the ages.
As noted in the address of Pope Benedict XVI to the International Symposium of of Secular Institutes in 2007: "That juridical act was not the goal but rather the starting point of a process that aimed to outline a new form of consecration: the consecration of faithful lay people and diocesan priests, called to live with Gospel radicalism precisely that secularity in which they are immersed by virtue of their state of life or pastoral ministry".
And Pope Benedict also sent his greetings and his encouragement to the just ended Assisi Conference which saw the participation of some 190 Secular Institures from all over the world.
Shared from Radio Vaticana
TWO PRIESTS WILL BE AVAILABLE TO ATTEND VISITORS TO THE VATICAN MUSEUMS
Vatican City, 26 July 2012 (VIS) - Beginning in the month of August, two priests will be assigned to attend to visitors to the Vatican Museums. They will be available to dialogue with the visitors and to offer them, should they wish, spiritual advice and assistance.
As Bishop Giuseppe Sciacca, secretary general of the Governorate of Vatican City State, explains in an article in the "Osservatore Romano" newspaper, "there is nothing institutional or pretentious about the initiative. The priests will simply be on hand with a table and two chairs at two strategic points on the normal itinerary visitors follow, and anyone who wishes may approach them to exchange a few words, or to reflect together".
"The Vatican Museums", Bishop Sciacca goes on, "are an 'unicum' among the world's great cultural institutions. They are a precious casket in which, thanks to their wisdom and love of 'beauty', the Roman Pontiffs have gathered together what are perhaps the most exalted works that human genius has produced over the course of the centuries. ... And the Museums are not afraid to show that they, in fact, represent a way through which the good news of God-made-man can be announced to the world". The Museums "welcome everyone, whatever their beliefs or origins, while reminding each of them - through a statue, a piece of gold, a painting or a fresco - of the goal for which we were created".
OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS
Vatican City, 26 July 2012 (VIS) - The Holy Father appointed Msgr. Paul Pallath as head of the office dealing with procedures for dispensation from unconsummated marriage and causes for the nullity of priestly ordination, at the Tribunal of the Roman Rota.
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