Tibetan Buddhist monks, exiled to Choeling monastery in Kathmandu (Nepal) on March 10, pray for world peace, the 61st anniversary of their uprising in Tibet PRAKASH MATHEMA / AFP
The virus and prayer
Do not add anything to the information overkill about the Covid-19. Do not exaggerate anything but minimize nothing. People are dying and many are afraid. However, this week, highlight the state of amazement and helplessness of the religious world in the face of this epidemic crisis.
Precautionary measures everywhere limit de facto the exercise of worship which implies, in essence, a gathering. To speak only of Christianity, the Greek word "ekklesia" - which will give church "- means" assembly ".
Thus of the possible cancellation by the Saudi authorities, of the immense annual pilgrimage to Mecca, which should take place in the middle of the summer, at the end of July, at the beginning of August. The cancellation was announced on March 13 by the President of Senegal, Macky Sall, in Dakar on the basis of an " official communication " which he allegedly received directly from the authorities in Saudi Arabia. To be confirmed, however. In 2019, almost 2.5 million people, often elderly, made the hajj, this pilgrimage which is one of the "pillars" of the Muslim religion.
Thus the ban on the assembly of more than 100 people decided on March 13, 2020 by the French government will make it impossible for many masses, religious assemblies, prayers, all religions combined. The Grand Mosque of Paris announced Friday that it is temporarily closing for this reason.
As such, the Archbishop of Paris decided, in conjunction with the bishops of Île-de-France, the suspension, until further notice, of the Sunday masses in Paris. Never seen.
Rome had nevertheless shown the way. For several weeks, the rule has been even more drastic. May be too much. The vicar of the pope for the diocese of Rome (His assistant for the current management of the diocese of the Italian capital), Cardinal Angelo De Donatis, went so far as to issue, on March 12, a decree ordering the total closure of the churches!
Uproar in the Christian community. He had to reconsider the following day by allowing the faithful to come, at least, to pray. During his private mass, Friday March 13, Pope Francis had this remark: " Draconian measures are not always good ."
Rare image: a completely empty Saint Peter's square in Rome on March 11, 2020. The Vatican city has become the forbidden city ANDREAS SOLARO / AFP
If the places of worship are, for some, closed, can prayer have something against the pandemic? It can be a refuge in distress. Everyone is now praying for the end of the plague. European Catholic bishops have even launched a special prayer for the continent.
Pope Francis also encouraged priests to go to the bedside of the sick. He especially prayed to the Virgin Mary on March 11.
Against all odds, his chaplain, in charge of charity and the poor, the Polish cardinal Krajewski opened wide the doors of the church of which he is titular.
Her name is Santa Maria Immacolata all'Esquilino, near Rome's Termini station. " With full respect for security standards, " he said, " I have the right to guarantee a church open to the poor ." At this moment of " serious difficulty ", the Blessed Sacrament is exposed to it, it is, he assures, a " consolation " offered to all.
But the prize for originality goes this week to the Lebanese Maronite priest, Majdi Allawi. On March 7, he flew over the city of Beirut with a monstrance and the Blessed Sacrament (containing, under a small round window, a consecrated host, Eucharist, " real presence of Christ " for Catholics) in order to bless the inhabitants and implore God to protect them from the coronavirus.
The Maronite priest (an Eastern Christian Church attached to Rome, notably established in Lebanon) Majdi Allawi is about to take off with a monstrance to bless the city of Beirut PATRICK BAZ / AFP
THE SELECTION OF THE WEEK
Towards a Synodal Catholic Church
Pope Francis decided that the theme of the next Roman synod in October 2021 would be ... "synodality"! A synod is a meeting of bishops to deepen for a month in Rome, a particular theme. There were, for example, last fall in the Amazon. Francis had summoned another one to the family at the start of the pontificate.
These bishops, advised by experts, around 300 people, vote on the proposals. They are adopted if they exceed two thirds of the votes. They are then transmitted to the pope who formalizes them, or not. Thus, last January, François did not take up the flagship proposal of the synod on the Amazon which had voted, in October 2019, the possibility of ordaining priests of married men.
What is synodality? It is the oldest form of government in the Christian Church. It consists of making collegial decisions through the synod, an assembly of bishops.
This synodality has been preserved in the Orthodox Church. It was found by the Protestant churches. It was lost in the Catholic Church in favor of decisions, taken pyramidally by the Pope or the Roman Curia, on the old imperial mode.
The “synod hall” at the Vatican in October 2020 during the synod on the Amazon Vatican Media
Vatican Council II (1963 -1965) wanted to bring synodality up to date in the Catholic Church. This has been done with the regular meeting of Roman synods with themes from Paul VI. But this mode of collective decision remains peripheral and does not affect the ordinary mode of management of the Catholic Church.
This is indeed what Pope Francis would like. Without abolishing his power of decision, he hopes, through this coming synod, to inject into the Church a strong dose of synodality in the ordinary life of the Vatican. But also local churches to which he would like to entrust more responsibility through decentralization which is the other aspect of synodality in his mind.
IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER
Pope Francis is getting better, according to French bishops
According to French bishops who spoke with Pope Francis on Monday March 9, the latter seems out of his "cold" which has prevented him, according to the Vatican, from appearing in public for more than two weeks.
German church leader wants deacons
The new president, elected last week, of the German bishops, Archbishop Georg Bätzing, will not have waited long to publicly confirm his desire for reform.
In an interview granted on March 8 to German radio WRD5, he announced that the request - under " special permission" - to be able to order deacon women, will be one of the files presented in Rome after of the Synod of the German Church in progress. " We cannot wait ," he said, " women must have the same rights " in the Church.
LAST BUT NOT LEAST
This is not a dangerous new virus but a little paradise in the Marcinian ocean - stock.adobe.com
My crushes
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A very relevant analysis by the Canadian-born philosopher Aline Lizotte, on the Jean Vanier affair, entitled "From the glory of Bernini to the underground of shame"
A very thorough investigation by our colleague from the newspaper Le Monde on the same subject , entitled "the black secrets of Jean Vanier".
Shock
Friday, March 13, in the midst of a crisis of announcements relating to the coronavirus and in particular on the consequences for the Church of the ban on gatherings of more than 100 people, the conference of bishops of France published, as if on the sly, nine recommendations for the ... municipal elections! Incomprehensible choice of calendar and timing: we couldn't do better for this rare episcopal political message to go completely unnoticed ...
