Genoa, Italy, Sep 21, 2016 / 12:08 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The Eucharist is the source of mercy and the beating heart of the Church, Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco of Genoa has said.
He was appointed Pope Francis’ special envoy for the Italian National Eucharistic Congress, held in Genoa Sept. 15-18.
“I would say that this congress is the response to a world order without God. It is also a testimony – for the city of Genoa and for the country - that living a good and peaceful life is really possible when we are on Jesus’ side,” Cardinal Bagnasco told CNA.
The Archbishop of Genoa is also president of the Italian bishops' conference. His envoy role was unusual, as for the first time since the Second Vatican Council, the Pope did not attend a Eucharistic Congress held in Italy.
From all over Italy, 900 delegates and bishops gathered for the congress, the theme of which was “Eucharist as the source of mission.”
“This congress renewed the love for Jesus in the Eucharist,” said Cardinal Bagnasco. “The Eucharist is the beating heart of the Church and of the People of God. Charity, missions, and works of mercy are born out of the Eucharist.”
Referring to the “world order without God,” Cardinal Bagnasco reiterated what he said Aug. 10, during the homily for the feast of St. Laurence, to whom the Genoa cathedral is dedicated.
In that homily, the cardinal noted that “even today, Christians experience martyrdom,” not only in the bloody, “classical” way, but also in new forms, “refined, but not less cruel; legalized, but not less unjust.”
He pointed his finger at a Europe that considers Christianity as “divisive” and at the world that “in the name of values like equality, tolerance and rights” claims to “marginalize Christianity” and establish “a world order without God.”
The cardinal told CNA that the euthanasia recently performed on a minor in Belgium – a terminally ill boy of 17 years – is “definitely one of the outcomes of a world order without God.”
“Only without God do we reach this point, as we have no more criteria for love and for living together, for loving others. Without God, we do not follow the rationale of love, but we rather follow the different rationale of effectiveness and of wellbeing at all costs.”
Article Archive
What is the 'beating heart' of the Church? The Eucharist
Related Articles • More Articles
Chuck Robbins, the chief executive of the multinational digital communications conglomerate Cisco, signs the Rome Call for AI Ethics, a document by the Pontifical Academy for Life, on April 24, 2024, at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican MediaRome Newsroom, Apr 24, 2024 / 11:06 am (CNA).The CEO of Cisco Systems signed the Vatican's artificial intelligence ethics pledge on Wednesday, becoming the latest technology giant to join the Church's call for ethical and responsible use of AI.Chuck Robbins, the chief executive of the multinational digital communications conglomerate, met privately with Pope Francis on April 24 before signing the Rome Call for AI Ethics, a document by the Pontifical Academy for Life. Pope Francis meets with Chuck Robbins, the chief executive of multinational digital communications conglomerate Cisco, on April 24, 2024, at the Vatican. Credit: Vatican MediaThe document, first published by the pontifical academy in February 2020, has previously been signed ...
null / Credit: Brian A Jackson / ShutterstockCNA Staff, Apr 24, 2024 / 13:35 pm (CNA).Catholics Charities Corporation in Ohio was found partially negligent this week in the 2017 death of a 5-year-old boy who was being supervised by one of the organization's caseworkers at the time he died.A jury in Cuyahoga County ruled in the wrongful death suit that the Catholic charity group was 8% responsible for Jordan Rodriguez's September 2017 death, local media reported. Rodriguez's body was discovered buried in his mother's backyard three months after he died.The boy's mother and her boyfriend earlier pleaded guilty to several charges stemming from his death, including involuntary manslaughter. Jordan was developmentally disabled and incapable of speaking.In the civil wrongful death trial this week, Catholic Charities Corporation was ordered to pay $960,000 into Jordan Rodriguez's estate. Several ...
null / ShutterstockCNA Staff, Apr 24, 2024 / 14:15 pm (CNA).As euthanasia and assisted suicide are legalized in more jurisdictions throughout the U.S. and the rest of the world, one Catholic-focused ministry is promoting end-of-life resources that the group's founder says will help Catholics finish their earthly journeys while remaining faithful.Aging with Dignity, a nonprofit that for years has been promoting end-of-life support in line with Church teaching, announced this month the release of "Finishing Life Faithfully," a booklet that "makes complex end-of-life decisions easier." The materials address "basic questions" on how to approach end-of-life topics such as pain management, feeding tubes, and other matters surrounding death.The document "summarizes the Catholic Church's guidance on end-of-life decision-making and the ethical considerations involved and helps patients and families better understand these teachings and follow them," the group said this month.Jim Towey, ...