Conference May 18: " SUDAN TOWARD THE FUTURE"

 

Il  9 Luglio 2011 rappresentanti di Stato e di chiesa sono convenuti da tutto il mondo a Juba per celebrare l’Indipendenza della 54° Nazione Africana, la Repubblica del Sud Sudan. Dopo il referendum dello scorso gennaio, che ha avuto un voto pressochè unanime, nasce così un nuovo Stato libero e genuinamente africano con tutta la sua freschezza, rischio e povertà. Il Sudan di oggi, paese molto inquieto, grande come il Quebec e l’Ontario messi insieme, confina a sud col Kenia e l’Uganda, a ovest col Congo, la Repubblica Centrafricana, Darfur e il Ciad, a nord con la Libia e l’Egitto e ad est con l’Etiopia e l’ Eritrea, bisogna ricordarlo, è reduce da un’ aggressiva presenza al nord di una minoranza musulmana che si è avvalsa del potere statale, economico e militare per imporre per anni “la conformità” tramite il Corano e la lingua araba. Il sud ribellatosi sin dal principio a questa monocultura fu dichiarato “ribelle” e “terrorista”: in 20 anni di guerra civile ci sono stati 2 milioni di morti, e altri 5 milioni sono stati costretti a migrare in altri paesi.

Cosa riserba il futuro ora a questo Paese? A questa domanda ha cercato di rispondere l’UCEMI alcune settimane fa invitando Padre Michael Schultheis, il missionario gesuita che opera in Africa da oltre 40 anni nel settore dell’istruzione secondaria con la conferenza  “ Sudan verso il futuro” tenutasi presso i missionari della consolata. Da anni– ha detto in apertura Padre Michael - la chiesa vive con il popolo sofferente del Sudan, con i suoi eroi e con una guerra interminabile, auspicando la nascita del nuovo Paese e di un popolo con la sua nuova identità. La chiesa continuerà la sua presenza, decisa a fare i primi passi a fianco del popolo del Sud Sudan nella ricerca del suo sviluppo. “D’altra parte” ha chiesto con convinzione al pubblico presente: “In una società post-conflittuale, quando molte delle infrastrutture sono state distrutte, chi aiuta a ricostruire le relazioni sociali?”.

I missionari italiani, soprattutto i Comboniani, ha detto Padre Michael Schultheis, hanno molto a che fare con la storia del  Sudan degli ultimi 100 anni, e anche con quella del nord-est del Monzambico dove oltre ad aver stabilito la chiesa locale continuano a garantire l’istruzione della popolazione. Negli anni 60- ha sottolineato - anche per i missionari la vita diventò difficile e molti missionari italiani vennero espulsi: il lato positivo fù però che ciò permise alla chiesa locale, attraverso i catechisti, di avere una propria connotazione indigena. Ha parlato dei suoi amici: P. Kizito Sesana, P. Cirillo, Franco Ponzi; del nord particolarmente asciutto, degli allagamenti occasionali del Nilo, del ritrovamento dei molti simboli dei primi cristiani (croci, riti funerari, templi), dei Nuba e dei guerrieri di cui si parla anche negli Atti degli Apostoli... ma soprattutto dell’ Università Cattolica, un’idea di cui si ricominciò a parlare nel 2003, in occasione della visita di papa Giovanni Paolo II in Sudan e che dopo gli accordi di pace del 2005, nel 2007 vide finalmente l’inizio e attualizzazione, al nord , come al sud del Paese, con le facoltà di ingegneria, di economia, di agricoltura e di Formazione didattica. È stata la volta poi del Dott.Abate Wori Abate, il primo rifugiato Sudanese in Canada oltre che esperto della comunità sudanese, che nella sua toccante relazione, ha voluto raccontare la sua vicissitudine personale. Il sud Sudan, ha detto fra l’altro, è passato attraverso un mucchio di difficoltà e destabilizzazione e senza i missionari non ci sarebbe stata istruzione in sud Sudan.

Il sud Sudan ha di fronte un cammino arduo da affrontare – ha detto- avendo ancora l’80 % della popolazione analfabeta, ma l’Università dà un segno di speranza e persone come P. Michael, piantando questo seme di speranza fa sì che questa nuova nazione possa mettere le radici guardando al futuro positivamente. P. Marco Bagnarol, responsabile del settore informativo della Consolata, ha infine parlato dei suoi 7 anni in Uganda, dei suoi contatti col campo profughi Sudanese, e del senso africano del “presto”, di quell’indipendenza che si apettava già 17 anni fa e che giunge ora.

Tra il pubblico erano presenti tra gli altri anche Thomas Taban persona di rilievo della chiesa Sudanese di Toronto, Mary Beny del movimento femminile Sudanese, Jenny Cafiso direttrice insieme ad altri componenti della Canadian Jesuit International, P. Claudio Piccinini insieme a tutto lo staff di Radio Teopoli, P. Vitaliano Papais per l’ Italian Pastoral Commission, e Giuseppe Carraro in rappresentanza del Comitato che ha raccolto tra la comunità italiana un significativo contributo offerto per la nuova Università di Agricoltura in Juba, un gesto di solidarietà e un auspicio di prosperità e benessere per  una terra fino ad ora troppo violentata. Il progetto della università e’ un investimento della comunità cattolica italiana di Toronto per camminare a fianco di questo popolo, formando I responsabili del nuovo Sud Sudan, perché proprio mentre in Libia, in Costa d’Avorio e altrove le armi risuonano violente e la morte semina distruzione, l’evento storico che il referendum ha sancito e che ora si sta realizzando segni un nuovo modo di vivere e di fare la storia nell’Africa contemporanea.

Sadly the TCDSB Approves the Government Equity Strategy

The Toronto Catholic District School Board approved the equity and inclusive education policy at their May 19 board meeting. There were many Catholic parents present at the meeting who were against the policy. A number of concerned individuals presented  thoughtful, respectful, well-informed, caring and convincing arguments trying to persuade the trustees to reject the policy. 

The trustees will vote on a number of proposed amendments to the policy at their June meeting. Some of the trustees wanted the board's legal counsel to assess the proposed changes. Why many of the trustees were so ready to take advice from board counsel

 should raise questions of objectivity and representative competency.

It was made very clear at the meeting that the board bureaucrats wanted the policy to pass. At one point the board lawyer tried to force the vote with the suggestion that the board could once more fall under government control. However, nobody advised the trustees that they had every right to reject the policy. The Catholic school board already has the best equity policy, better than any provincial government can mandate: the Ten Commandments. Catholic teaching gives teachers a solid moral approach to combat discrimination of every kind in all schools; provincial legislation is totally unnecessary.

The central unresolved issue is whether Catholic denominational rights and Catholic teaching will be compromised with the new policy. Catholic parents have every reason to fear that groups can try to use the policy to undermine the teaching of the Catholic Church. When to final vote was finally taken, the policy passed by a 7-4 margin.

Catholic parents should be proud of the input by trustees Angela Kennedy and John Del Grande in defense of the faith. They made several attempts throughout the meeting to protect Catholic teaching. Angela Kennedy proposed to amend the draft policy and remove any reference to the Ontario Human Rights Code. She wanted to change the wording so to that the board's denominational rights "take precedence over human rights protection." 

John Del Grande put forward an amendment to make sure “a Catholic teacher will provide classroom instruction that doesn't contradict the teachings of the Catholic Church." These amendments and others will be voted upon at the board's June 16 meeting.





There were parents at the meeting who were concerned that the policy’s position on same-sex attractions is completely at odds with the teaching of the Catholic Church. 

Trustees were presented with a 2,700-signature petition asking them to reject the policy. The worry of many

 parents are the unanswered questions:  Why has every (one still has to decide) catholic board in the province so readily accepted a policy that has the real potential to dismantle Catholic teaching on human ethics and sexuality? and why is our school board so willing to follow  them thereby disregarding Catholic teaching on morality and placing the very existence of our separate Catholic schools at risk ?   In the end, however, on May 19, neither the large petition nor their legal right to speak up and vote for Catholic education, made any difference to the majority of the trustees. Do these trustees really know what’s at stake here? and the implication of their vote?

If we don’t agree with the equity policy, what can we do now that it’s passed in principle? Catholic parents should attend the June meeting in greater numbers. Contact the trustees and thank those who voted against the policy and urge those who voted in favor to at least support the amendments that protect Catholic teaching. There is also a solid legal case against the policy by lawyer Geoffrey F. Cauchi and posted by LifeSiteNews. 

It is hard to understand why OECTA (the teacher's union) president James Ryan is pleased with the board's vote. He also points out that the policy has the support of the Assembly of Catholic Bishops of Ontario and he says that he  believes the Toronto Catholic District School Board should be in line with all the other Catholic boards in Ontario that have already approved the equity policy in an effort to create bullying free school environments. 

Keep in mind that every policy decision in not cast in stone. The battle may be lost, but the spiritual war is long from over. Catholics do have denominational rights and moral rights. There a need to remind trustees they are responsible to the voters, to Catholic teaching and to God. They are not accountable to board directors, union leaders, superintendents, educational officers and any other hired legal advisor.

Have a great weekend every one. Let's keep praying.

Lou and Michelle

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«Nessun bambino nasce omofobo»

TORONTO - «Nessun bambino nasce omofobo. L’istruzione deve essere la chiave per fermare l’omofobia».
Nella Giornata internazionale contro l’omofobia e la transfobia che si è svolta ieri in tutto il mondo il presidente della Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) parla del ruolo degli insegnanti e del coinvolgimento degli studenti, della scuola e dei membri della comunità per far fronte a un fenomeno sempre più diffuso.
«La scuola ricopre un ruolo fondamentale nella sensibilizzazione degli studenti - spiega Hammond - L’istruzione può contribuire a far scomparire e a sradicare quei miti negativi che ruotano intorno all’omofobia e alla discriminazione di cui gay, lesbiche e transessuali sono vittime ogni giorno. Non solo gli insegnanti coinvolgono gli studenti in discussioni inerenti a questo tema ma devono intervenire vietando commenti omofobi e discriminatori. In quanto educatori e persone che fanno parte di una società non dovremmo tollerare espressioni razziste o omofobe».
Non sono solo gli studenti che hanno bisogno di uno spazio al sicuro dove imparare, ricorda Hammond. «Anche gli insegnanti omosessuali e transessuali hanno bisogno di un luogo dove l’omofobia non sia né tollerata né permessa. In quanto organizzazione che rappresenta gli insegnanti delle scuole elementari di tutto l’Ontario dobbiamo continuare a procurare informazioni ai nostri membri su omosessuali. Hanno il diritto a un ambiente professionale e produttivo».
E gli insegnanti rappresentano il buon esempio da seguire, quindi. «Il concetto di diversità e rispetto per gli altri - aggiunge Hammond - rientra nei comportamenti acquisiti e gli educatori devono fungere da modello in classe e nella comunità scolastica». Nessuno nasce omofobo, ricorda il presidente della ETFO. Società, famiglia e scuola diventano così i tre denominatori comuni nella lotta contro l’omofobia.
«Nel periodo dello sviluppo e della socializzazione del bambino le paure, le ansie di genitori nei confronti di gay, lesbiche e transessuali si riflettono su di lui. Paure che vengono a volte rinforzate dalla società. A tutto questo si aggiunge una mancanza di informazioni accurate sugli omosessuali, sui loro diritti e sulla loro funzione all’interno della società».

La famiglia ha un compito fondamentale. «Molto dipende da come i genitori, in quanto adulti, trattano questo tipo di argomento e da come reagiscono davanti a certi comportamenti omofobi». Reazione che viene, quindi, assorbita dal bambino.
L’ETFO, che comprende 76mila insegnanti e professionisti delle scuole elementari pubbliche nella provincia, mette a disposizione degli studenti diversi materiali e risorse. Oltre alla campagna “Positive Space and Positive Place” anche “Free from Fears”, una delle numerose iniziative che mirano a un mondo libero dalle paure e che rientrano nella “Equity and Inclusive Education Strategy” introdotta nel 2009 dal ministero dell’Istruzione. «Attraverso discussioni sull’omofobia e sulla diversità la scuola coinvolge gli studenti a seconda delle fasce di età. È una sorta di approccio investigativo».
Risale a pochi giorni fa uno studio dell’università di Winnipeg condotto dalla professoressa Catherine Taylor su 3.700 studenti canadesi tra il dicembre del 2007 e il giugno 2009. Secondo il sondaggio i commenti omofobi sono parte integrante e ormai accettata nella comunità scolastica. Alcune espressione vengono addirittura pronunciate dagli insegnanti.
“Gli LGBTQ (la sigla che racchiude gay, lesbiche, bisessuali, queer e trans, ndr) - si legge nello studio - sono esposti a un linguaggio che insulta la loro dignità durante la loro esperienza scolastica. I giovani che hanno familiari LGBTQ continuano a vedere i propri cari denigrati”.
«I risultati confermano ciò che avviene ogni giorno - commenta Hammond - Il 14 per cento degli studenti, uno su sette, si è detto “non esclusivamente eterosessuale”. Il 70 per cento ha sentito pronunciare espressioni come “sei così gay” ogni giorno a scuola e il 48 per cento ha sentito parole come “faggot”, “lezbo” e “dyke”. Il 10 per cento dei LGBTQ ha sentito commenti omofobi dagli insegnanti. Questo è inaccettabile».
Hammond ha parlato con vittime di omofobia in più occasioni. «Anche all’interno della mia famiglia ho un fratello gay e una sorella lesbica. So molto bene cosa significhi lottare ogni giorno contro le discriminazioni per il rispetto della loro identità. Mio fratello fu picchiato da tre individui quando era nel Grade 8. Erano gli inizi degli anni Settanta quando l’omofobia era più sentita».

La Giornata internazionale contro l’omofobia - che ha come obiettivo quello di promuovere e coordinare eventi internazionali di sensibilizzazione e prevenzione per contrastare un fenomeno in aumento - fu creata in Canada per la prima volta nel 2003 da un’organizzazione quebecchese, la Fondation Emergence. Il Canada è stato tra i primi Paesi a riconoscere e ad accettare la comunità lesbica e gay, ma secondo Hammond «c’è ancora tanto da fare».
«Abbiamo fatto grandi progressi soprattutto negli ultimi dieci anni. Anche l’ETFO ha sempre difeso e protetto i nostri membri LGBTQ, ma c’è ancora tanto da fare».
«Tutti i board e le scuole - conclude il presidente della ETFO - hanno il dovere di creare e sostenere un clima positivo che promuova equità e rispetto per la diversità. Questo permetterà di creare un’atmosfera positiva e soprattutto una cultura di rispetto e tolleranza per l’intera comunità scolastica».
È alle vittime di omofobia che Hammond rivolge un pensiero particolare. «Non tacete davanti a episodi di intolleranza. Denunciate. Avete il diritto di vivere nella società e di essere rispettati e protetti come individui».

Di SIMONA GIACOBBI

Defend Catholic Education

The Background

I am a retired teacher with the Toronto Catholic District School Board, (TCDSB). I have taught in three high schools as well as teaching students under the care of the Catholic Children's Aid Society. I never thought for a moment during my entire career that I would find myself in the position of having to defend the Catholic faith and religious freedom in Canada.

Currently, schools in the province of Ontario are in the process of implementing the Ministry of Education's Equity and Inclusive Policy.

The first consultation meeting for the TCDSB took place at St. Mary's School on April 18, 2011. On April 27, 2011 a second meeting took place with parents, students and board administrators at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic School. There was a pretense of giving those who attended a chance to voice their concerns and to suggest changes. However, both meetings were orchestrated to manufacture consent in favour of the policy. The trustees are scheduled to vote on this important issue on May 19, 2011.

Meanwhile, the Assembly of Catholic Bishops of Ontario Bishops and the Ontario Catholic School Trustees' Association have already agreed to permit the province’s publicly funded Catholic schools to set up a network of clubs to deal with bullying as it relates to sexual orientation.

What is the Argument?

In the Toronto Catholic District School Board's guideline called, "The Catholic Vision of Equity and Inclusivity", under the section titled, "Laws and Interpreting Principles" we find this statement: "In fact in some areas, such as pastoral care of persons dealing with same-sex attractions, long before the government became involved, the bishops of Ontario led the way in setting out a holistic approach rooted in the Gospel, in the virtue of chastity which alone brings true freedom, and in a sensitive respect for the individual."

The problem is how can you ask students to practice chastity if you're going to let them set up “gay” alliances whose very existence says that what they are doing is normal, inclusive and equitable? As a teacher and parent, I believe the students are being morally misled. If we love our students, we need to tell them that homosexual acts are morally against the teaching of the Church. We need to share with them the Church's teaching about human love and the dignity of the human person. We need to have the moral courage to tell them that while in high school they are too young to be experimenting with sex. We need to humble ourselves and pray with them and for them for God's grace. How are school administrators going to protect students with various sexual orientations? An orientation is not like a person's gender that can easily be identified.

The Catholic Church

Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, permanent representative of the Holy See to the United Nations, in his address at the 16th Session of the Human Rights Council on "Sexual Orientation" said this: "Human sexuality, like any voluntary activity, possesses a moral dimension: It is an activity which puts the individual will at the service of a finality; it is not an 'identity.' In other words, it comes from the action and not from the being, even though some tendencies or “sexual orientations” may have deep roots in the personality. Denying the moral dimension of sexuality leads to denying the freedom of the person in this matter, and ultimately undermines his/her ontological (state of existence) dignity." In every school, there should be respect for all students because we are all made in God's image.

In an Advent Mass Homily to the faculty and students of the Roman states universities, on Dec. 10, 2002, Blessed John Paul II makes this morally instructive statement: "I remember my own experience of the university. From daily contact with students and professors I learned that it is essential to provide an integral formation that will prepare young people for life: an education that educates them to assume their role in the family and in society with responsibility and with not just a professional, but also a human and spiritual competence."

Gay alliances

“Gay alliances” are another way of over-sexualizing and distorting sexual relations for young students. There is no need for this kind of sexual exploitation of the young and innocent. Discrimination based solely on sexuality or focusing on sexual orientation is to demean the human person and reduce students to an activity, a feeling or a thing.

Part four of the TCDSB guideline asks this question: "Is there an increase in harassment of this type (bullying or harassment of gay students) in Catholic schools?" The answer given in the document is: "we are not aware of an increase in harassment of this type, but any type of bullying or harassment in Catholic schools will not be tolerated." So why is the TCDSB and the trustees specifically addressing bullying related to sexual orientation if, by their own admission, they have not seen an increase in such behaviour? Their own evidence would seem to indicate that there is no need to start these support groups in schools. Why not combat all forms of bullying without distinctions? Through baptism, Christians are already called to love God and every neighbour.

The Conclusion

I want to conclude, since we are dealing with young students, by quoting from the recently published YOUCAT: Youth Catechism of the Catholic Church. This Catechism book will be given to every participant attending this year's World Youth Day to be held in Madrid. The text is structured in a Question and Answer format.

Question 65 states: "What about people who feel they are homosexual?" Here's the answer: "The Church believes that, in the order of creation, men and women are designed to need each other's complementary traits and to enter into a mutual relationship so as to give life to children. That is why homosexual practices cannot be approved by the Church. Christians owe all persons respect and love, regardless of their sexual orientation, because all people are respected and loved by God."

As Catholic teachers, administrators and parents we must pray for the moral responsibility and courage to teach this. No provincial government is qualified to do this. The state ought to protect not take away religious freedom from its citizens.

Personal example

Let me also share a personal example with you. When I taught students in the alternative program with the Catholic Children's Aid Society, I'll never forget the day a student came to class and announced out loud, saying he was "gay". After constant arguments and even a fight, it took several weeks to bring that class back to "normal".

The new student got a lot of attention and most of it was negative. Both myself and the youth worker encouraged the entire class to respect and to give everyone a safe learning space. At one point, the new student wanted to go out on a date. According to him, he had met this other gay person on the Internet. He believed what he had been told at face value. We needed to explain that the information on the Internet is not always true....lots of room for counselling here.

Both the youth worker and myself decided to try get this student to focus more on his education and less on his sexuality and dating. It was a difficult process, but within months and with much support, he began to be more interested in his school work and hardly talked about his sexuality. It soon was no longer the issue in our class. Six months later he returned to a regular school.

I'm not saying that this is the answer in all cases, but I do want to say that educators, parents and students need to primarily focus on education and not sexuality. Once students know that you care for them, they will trust that you truly have their well being at heart and they will respond with the appropriate behaviour.

Another consideration

The denominational nature of the Catholic School System is never to be considered an issue of discrimination of any kind. This denominational right is protected in law by the British North America Act (Constitution Act 1867) section 93 and also in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (April 17, 1982) section 29.

Why have Catholic boards and trustees across the province been so reluctant to defend this right? It is the Catholic community that has been lied to and bullied into implementing the policy. There is no moral, but also no legal reason for accepting the Equity and Inclusivity policy.

Lastly, whether we call them equity groups or gay alliances the message will certainly be confusing to the average student. Who will protect the majority of students? This is why as a Catholic teacher and parent I feel compelled to speak up for Catholic education. I hope and pray that on May 19, 2011 our Toronto Catholic school trustees vote to amend the Equity policy to truly reflect Catholic teaching.

Even better, they have a constitutional right to reject this policy completely. Our students, our children, need our prayers and our guidance for their sake and the sake of Catholic education in Ontario.

Posted by Lou Iacobelli

SOGNANDO LUI ( DREAMING OF HIM) : June 12 in St. Peter, a celebrative concert in honour of Blessed Pope John Paul II.

On Sunday, June 12 at 4:00 pm in St. Peter’s Church in Woodbridge, we will have the opportunity to attend a memorable concert to celebrate and honour Pope John Paul II’s Beatification, which took place on the Sunday of the Divine Mercy of this year.

Only six years after his death, John Paul II has been hastened to beatification due to the saintly  nature of his life, his death and after his death.

To celebrate this event, we will have for the first time in Canada an international guest singer from the famous La Fenice Theatre in Venice, Italy: soprano Michiko Hayashi. This well-known singer was invited by UCEMI to perform live for the Toronto audience a selection of songs from her recent CD “Sognando Lui”, with original music and lyrics written in honour of Blessed John Paul II and composed by Giovannina Menin.

These beautiful songs, accompanied by electronic music, communicate true faith and their lyrical texts are splendidly interpreted by the powerful voice of Michiko. It will surely touch all listeners, causing them to soar in a heavenly dream.

Those who love beautiful music will be happy to know that the great artist from Venice will be performing with Coro San Marco Giuseppe Verdi’s “La Vergine degli Angeli”, Mozart’s “Laudate Dominum”, and with tenor Michael Nasato “Ave Maria”, an original composition by Italian Canadian musician Giampietro Posocco, who will be at the concert accompanying his composition on the trumpet.

There will also be local talents, like Alesandra Trimelliti, who will perform Gospel music in English.

 The concert will conclude with a grand finale, where all the performers and the audience will join in singing “Va Pensiero” as a seal of our spiritual journey towards our Heavenly Home.

Light refreshments will follow the concert for those who wish to stay and meet artist Michiko and have her sign her CD they’ve purchased.

The concert will be filled with emotional moments.

It will be opened by Rev. Thomas Rosica, who personally knew Blessed John Paul II very well, as he organized his visit to Toronto in 2002.

Rev. Rosica was the national director of World Youth Day that year.

This event will be a memorable afternoon, with the presence of an exceptional guest and many talents who have come together to celebrate. It is an event that celebrates our spirituality, our recent history, and it is well suited for families, and in a special way for those young people who are ready to celebrate World Youth Day in Spain — the very event that was initiated and instituted by Blessed John Paul II.

Tickets are $15. We recommend you purchase them ahead of time through your own parish office, or by calling St. Peter’s Church at (905) 851-3600,

or UCEMI at (416) 785-4311 ext. 230.

PADRE BRESSANI: l’apostolo della modernità che viveva tra gli Huroni.

TORONTO - Annoiato dalle derive della letteratura contemporanea, il professor Francesco Guardiani ha ripescato dal “secolo guasto” un piccolo capolavoro di “modernità tipografica” e lo ha restituito ai lettori di oggi in una veste più accessibile (con note a piè di pagina, traduzioni dal latino delle numerose citazioni bibliche, molti ritocchi interpuntivi, segmentazione dei paragrafi etc.). Si tratta della Breve relatione di padre Francesco G. Bressani, il missionario gesuita sbarcato in Canada nel 1642 per recarsi nella Missione degli Huroni, poi catturato e torturato dagli Irochesi. Una storia di eroismo e al contempo di grande umanità, che si è svolta non lontano da Toronto, nell’attuale Midland, quando il Canada era un Paese dove non si poteva “andare con altre barche che di scorza”, “senza grano né vino necessarij per il santo officio della Messa” e senza un albergo “nello spatio di più di 700 miglia”.
Il libro si può leggere come documento storico-antropologico, come testo devozionale o come repertorio d’avventure, ma su ogni chiave di lettura emerge «l’attualità inossidabile del messaggio di fratellanza di Bressani». Il professor Guardiani, un “libridinoso” che insegna letteratura all’Università di Toronto, profondo conoscitore (ed estimatore) del ’600, esperto di Mastriani, ha riesumato l’opera dagli scaffali della Toronto Reference Library.  Guardiani, che ha avuto come maestri Northrop Frye e Marshall McLuhan, ha riconosciuto nell’impostazione programmatica dell’opera e nella prosa piana del Bressani «l’inizio di nuova cultura che porterà ai trionfi della modernità, all’individualismo e alle prime forme di democrazia moderna». È per questo che secondo lui padre Bressani è stato un apostolo della modernità e che la Breve relatione «costituisce una tessera importante del mosaico sociale che è il milieu culturale, non solo italiano ma europeo, intorno alla metà del Seicento». Secolo appestato, “guasto e corrotto”? De Sanctis si è sbagliato. «Marino, Galileo, Campanella, Bacon, Shakespeare, Lope de Vega, insomma le colonne portanti della cultura moderna, sono nati nella stessa decade e anche se non comunicano hanno gli stessi miti di riferimento, perché dove è arrivata la stampa sono arrivati gli stessi effetti. Sono i campioni di quella che McLuhan definisce la cultura dell’uomo tipografico - spiega Guardiani, che da tanti anni insegna anche un corso intitolato “Dal manoscritto alla stampa. Dalla stampa ai computer” - Insomma la letteratura a cavallo fra ’500 e ’600 presenta un “modo nuovo” di rappresentazione, per dirla con Frye, legato alle imprese di eroi fondativi di una nuova civiltà». Da qui il passo verso i gesuiti è breve. «Nel ’600 si assiste alla nascita di una dimensione evangelica, direi quasi di proto marxismo, di emancipazione delle masse. E nei primi gesuiti, dalla fondazione dell’ordine nel 1534 alla sua abolizione nel 1773, la dimensione emancipativa è molto evidente - spiega Guardiani - Il loro scopo era prima di tutto quello di dare una dimensione umana attraverso la cultura e solo dopo si interessavano all’evangelizzazione». I gesuiti, per esempio, imparavano la lingua autoctona dei popoli con i quali entravano a contatto e insegnavano loro a leggere e a scrivere. Anche Bressani quando parla della missione “stentatissima e temeraria” degli Huroni si sofferma su “le gran difficoltà d’impararne la lingua” “con la H che gli Italiani difficilmente pronuntiarebbero”.

«I primi gesuiti sono personaggi straordinari, forti, generosi, estremamente colti, l’antitesi di quello che diventeranno nell’800 quando l’ordine viene rifondato». A partire dal primo missionario Francesco Saverio, morto tentando di portare il Vangelo in Cina nel 1552, anno di nascita di un altro grande gesuita, Matteo Ricci, che compì l’impresa trentadue anni dopo. «Sono fra i protagonisti assoluti dell’epoca - dice Guardiani - eppure è da considerarsi un lusso che siano citati nelle appendici di storia della letteratura. Le lettere di Francesco Saverio, che parlano delle sue peripezie dall’India al Madagascar al Giappone, sono un libro d’avventure che raccontano di luoghi esotici dove c’è un’umanità con cui dialogare, non da ammaestrare». Sicuramente Bressani aveva letto queste storie e ne era rimasto talmente affascinato che già a 14 anni scrive al preposito generale dell’ordine, Muzio Vitelleschi, chiedendo di essere mandato in missione nelle Indie del Nord America, le più pericolose. Ma passano quattordici anni prima che si compia il “Santo viaggio” e che Bressani, ordinato sacerdote nel 1637 a 25 anni, sbarchi a “Kebek”.
La storia della missione degli Huroni, durata più di sedici anni, è quella di un “fallimento”: Bressani verrà catturato dagli Irochesi, torturato, riscattato dagli olandesi e riportato in Francia nel ’44, da dove riparte sempre alla volta del Canada l’anno successivo. Resterà nella missione di Sainte Marie fino al maggio del 1649 quando gli Huroni vengono attaccati degli Irochesi e fuggono dando fuoco al villaggio dei gesuiti. Inizia una lunga marcia verso Québec, che lascerà pochi superstiti. I padri Jean Brébeuf e Gabriel Lalemant vengono catturati e uccisi, diventando i martiri di Midland. L’epopea dei missionari in Canada, però, non finisce qui, ma qui finisce quella di Bressani, che lascia definitivamente il Paese il 2 novembre dell’anno successivo. Torna in Italia con le mani tutte rovinate dalle torture e diventa predicatore, offrendo un’appassionata testimonianza oculare dei martiri dei gesuiti.
La sua Breve relatione vede la luce a Macerata nel 1653. Quattro anni dopo viene pubblicata anche la carta geografica della “Nuova Francia”, che non aveva fatto in tempo ad inserire nella stampa del testo, e che Guardiani ha riprodotto in scala in appendice al libro. Oltre ad essere «la più bella ed accurata carta del Canada del suo tempo», è anche la riprova che Bressani, missionario, scienziato, astronomo e cartografo, domina a pieno gli strumenti messi a disposizione dalla Galassia Gutenberg e che la sua opera risponde a «un’urgente e moderna istanza di conoscenza», esempio «della nuova cultura europea omogenizzata dalla stampa».
Di LETIZIA TESI

The meaning of John Paul’s beatification

On Sunday, in a formal, public ceremony before hundreds of thousands of people in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Benedict XVI has proclaimed “blessed” Karol Wojtyla — Pope John Paul II.  For beatification, the Vatican requires proof of a miracle attributed to the candidate’s intercession, unless the candidate was martyred for his or her faith.

In the case of Pope John Paul II, the miracle accepted and confirmed was that of the healing from Parkinson’s disease of a 48-year-old French nun.  The second miracle — the one needed for canonization — must take place after the beatification ceremony and is seen as God’s final seal of approval on the church’s declaration of holiness. That a person is declared “blessed” is not a statement about perfection.  It does not mean that the person was without imperfection, blindness, deafness or sin. Nor is it a 360-degree evaluation of the pontificate or of the Vatican. Beatification and canonization are about personal holiness.

From his childhood, Wojtyla faced hardships that tested his faith and trust in God. He lost his mother when he was nine  years old and three years later lost his only brother to scarlet fever. His father died when Karol was 20. His vocation was slowly confirmed during the dramatic events and years of the Second World War. As a young man, Karol was an actor with a local theater group and a robust athlete who loved the mountains and lakes, and an accomplished poet.

He knew the hardship of labour as he cut stones at a rock quarry. He also assisted his friends in smuggling Jews to safety during he Holocaust.

Wojtyla was ordained priest in 1946, as Poland’s new communist regime imposed severe restrictions on the Catholic Church. After two years of study in Rome, he returned to Poland in 1948 and worked as a young pastor. From the beginning, he focused much of his attention on young people, especially university students.  World Youth Days were not invented by Pope John Paul II but by the young priest, Fr. Karol Wojtyla, who always made room for young men and women in his life and ministry. In 1958, at age 38, he was named an auxiliary bishop of Poland, becoming Poland’s youngest bishop in history. Named archbishop of Krakow in 1964, Wojtyla played a key role in the Second Vatican Council, helping to draft texts on religious liberty and the Church in the modern world.

During the final years of his pontificate, John Paul II brought suffering back into the realm of the expected in human life.  Rather than hide his infirmities, as most public figures do, Pope John Paul II let the whole world see what he went through. The very visible suffering brought on by Parkinson’s disease, severe arthritis and numerous intestinal ailments became part of the pope’s spiritual pilgrimage.  Everyone could see that his spirituality gave him an inner strength — with which one can also overcome fear, even the fear of death.  His struggle with the physical effects of aging was also a valuable lesson to a society that finds it hard to accept growing older, and a culture that sees no redemption in suffering.

In the final act of his life, before the television cameras of the world, the athlete was immobilized, the distinctive, booming voice silenced, and the hand that produced voluminous encyclicals no longer able to write. Many saw the pope’s suffering as something like the agony of Jesus himself. Several hours before his death, Pope John Paul’s last audible words were: “Let me go to the house of the Father.” In the intimate setting of prayer, as Mass was celebrated at the foot of his bed and the throngs of faithful sang below in St. Peter’s Square, he died at 9:37 p.m. on April 2 while hundreds of thousands of people kept vigil for days in the piazza below the windows of the papal apartments.

Through his public passion, suffering and death, he showed the world the suffering face of Jesus in a remarkable way.

At his funeral mass on April 8, 2005, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, his closest associate at the Vatican told the world that the Holy Father was “watching us and blessing us from the window of the Father’s House.” When the throngs of people began chanting “Santo Subito” at the end of the Pope’s funeral mass on April 8, 2005, what were they really chanting?  They were crying out that in Karol Wojtyla, they saw someone who lived with God and lived with us. He was a sinner who experienced God’s mercy and forgiveness. He was the prophetic teacher who preached the word in season and out of season.

He took the message of the Gospel and the story of the Church away from the home office on the Tiber to the farthest corners of the earth through his visits to 129 countries in the 26 years of his pontificate. He taught us not to be afraid. He showed us how to live, how to love, how to forgive and how to die. He taught us how to embrace the cross in the most excruciating moments of life, knowing that the cross was not God’s final answer.

Throughout his ministry, and especially during his entire pontificate, Pope John Paul II preached God’s mercy, wrote about it, and most of all lived it.  He offered forgiveness to the man who was destined to kill him in St. Peter’s Square.  The Pope who witnessed the scandal of divisions among Christians and the atrocities against the Jewish people as he grew up did everything in his power to heal the wounds caused by the historic conflicts between Catholics and other Christian churches, and especially with the Jewish people.  His pontificate was filled with reminders that the saints extend to each other and to us a hand to guide us on the path of holiness.

It is no coincidence, then, that his Beatification ceremony took place on May 1, the Second Sunday of Easter that is also known throughout the world as Divine Mercy Sunday, a feast the John Paul II, himself, established in the year 2000.  Where hatred and the thirst for revenge dominate, where war brings suffering and death to the innocent, abuse has destroyed countless innocent lives, the grace of mercy is needed in order to settle human minds and hearts and to bring about healing and peace. Wherever respect for human life and human dignity are lacking, there is need of God’s merciful love.  Mercy is needed to insure that every injustice in the world will come to an end. The message of mercy is that God loves us – all of us – no matter how great our sins.  God’s mercy is greater than our sins, so that we will call upon Him with trust, receive His mercy, and let it flow through us to others.  Essentially, mercy means the understanding of weakness, the capacity to forgive.

In Blessed John Paul II, the Church offers us not a model pope but a model Christian, one who mirrored inner holiness in the real world, and who, through words and example, challenged people to believe, to hope, to forgive and to love. As Canadians, let us recall with gratitude the stirring words that Blessed John Paul II spoke to hundreds of thousands of young people at the concluding mass of World Youth Day 2002 at Downsview Park in Toronto.

“At difficult moments in the Church’s life, the pursuit of holiness becomes even more urgent. And holiness is not a question of age; it is a matter of living in the Holy Spirit.”

“Do not let that hope die. Stake your lives on it. We are not the sum of our weaknesses and failures; we are the sum of the Father’s love for us and our real capacity to become the image of his Son.”

We need those words now more than ever.

Father Thomas Rosica

Thomas Rosica is the CEO Salt + Light Catholic Media Foundation and Television Network. He served as the national director and CEO of World Youth Day 2002 and the Papal Visit of Pope John Paul II to Canada