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Osservatore Romano in English Friday February 27, 2015 Congregation for the Causes of Saints St Gregory of Narek will be proclaimed Doctor of the Church On Saturday, 21 February, the Holy Father received …More
Osservatore Romano in English Friday February 27, 2015

Congregation for the Causes of Saints
St Gregory of Narek will be
proclaimed Doctor of the Church
On Saturday, 21 February, the
Holy Father received in private
audience Cardinal Angelo Amato,
SDB, Prefect of the Congregation
for the Causes of Saints.
During the meeting the Holy
Father confirmed the proposal
by the Plenary Session of the
cardinal and bishops, members
of the Congregation for the
Causes of Saints to confer the
title of Doctor of the Universal
Church on Gregory of Narek,
Armenian poet and monk, born
c. 950 in Andzevatsik (then Armenia,
now Turkey) and died c.
1005 in Narek (then Armenia,
now Turkey).
An ecumenism of blood
The power of the name
Lenten Spiritual Exercises in Ariccia
Learning from Elijah
On Sunday, 22 February,
Pope Francis went to Ariccia
to participate in Spiritual
Exercises for Lent at
the House of the Divin
Maestro of the Pauline
Fathers. During the week,
the Preacher, Carmelite Fr
Bruno Secondin, presented
a pastoral reading of the
Prophet Elijah’s theme of
“Servants and Prophets of
the Living God”.
The next day, 23 February,
they focused on Elijah’s
“school of mercy” and
following his example of
leading a “life on the peri-
PAGE 5
At the Angelus
Into the desert
Interview with Cardinal Dew
We have something to say
NICOLA GORI ON PA G E 3
Cristo and St Mina (Coptic icon, 6th century)
MANUEL NIN
One afternoon, strolling through
Rome, I was searching for a flower
vender. I have always loved the cactus,
that lovely sober plant; adapted
to an ascetic life in the desert. This
plant is austere even in its flowering,
which is few and far between but
whose flowers are uniquely beautiful.
The search led me to a florist
from Middle East. A tattoo on the
back of his hand caught my attention;
It was a small cross. So I asked
him if he was Christian. He told me
he was an Orthodox Copt and his
name was Shenute.
After the martyrdom of 21 Copts
in Libya, the Pope has once again
raised his voice to proclaim, almost
as it were a profession of faith, the
ecumenism of blood: “They said
only: ‘Jesus help me’. They were assassinated
for the sole fact of being
Christian”. In this way Francis has
again set forth the path of Christians
of different confessions, not
centred around one bread and one
chalice but on blood poured out for
Christ, in order to bear witness to
the one Lord.
The Pope recalled that the only
words on the martyrs’ lips, at the
moment of their witness, were “Jesus
help me”. These words echo the
prayer that stands at the heart of
many traditions, a prayer that has
been repeated ceaselessly through
the centuries and is continued by
Christian men and women, nuns
and monks, pilgrims and martyrs:
“Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God,
have mercy on me a sinner”.
A news agency posting listed the
names of the Coptic martyrs in
Libya: Milad, Youssif, Kirillos,
Tawadros, Giorgios, Bishoi among
many others. These are all names of
holy martyrs and bishops in the
early Coptic Church. And they are
names of the Coptic Church today,
and now names of the martyrology
of blood shared by all Christian
Churches, the heritage, strength and
pride of all Christians. Reading the
Synaxaria and martyrologies of different
Christian traditions, let us remember
that the holy martyrs of the
first centuries are a patrimony common
to all the Christians without
distinction.
And new martyrs like these, from
Iraq and from Syria, to Egypt and
to Libya, from Asia to Africa, write
their names with blood in the Synaxarium
and martyrology of all who
invoke the name of the Lord Jesus
Christ, the life and salvation of martyrs.
A few days after the attack in
Libya, having finished Lenten Matins
at the Greek College, I went to
find that florist Shenute to tell him
that I was close to him in spirit.
Sharing with him the ecumenism of
blood, I gave him the words of
Pope Francis: “blood is one” and “it
bears witness to Christ”.
The Coptic Church, which from
the second century on gave life to a
treasure of Christian literature, expressed
in an ancient language of
Egypt, now Christian: Coptic,
spoken today by millions of Christians
in Egypt, Orthodox and Catholic.
Throughout the centuries up to
our day they have used that tongue
to praise the Lord. The Coptic
Church, born and raised hand in
hand with the monks and ascetics,
in the wake of Anthony, Pachomius,
Shenute. And in the wake of so
many martyrs: men, women and
children in Egypt and Libya. Helpless
men and women, armed only
with power of the name of Jesus.
To the Bishops of Ukraine
Seeking viable peace
PAGE 9
Thirtieth anniversary of World Youth Day
Be brave adventurers
The Holy Father’s message for World Youth Day, which will be celebrated
at the diocesan level on Palm Sunday. It is the second of the three
messages dedicated to the Beatitudes, which will aid in preparing for the
international WYD in Poland 2016.
PAGE 6/7
To the people of Calabria
Jesus or evil
PAGE 12
phery”, after a Eucharistic celebration on the theme: “Go East, hide yourself
and return to your roots”.
Fr Secondin continued his reflection Tuesday, 24, reflecting on the life
of Elijah and called those on retreat to guard their souls with humility
against fear and the weariness of priestly life. On Wednesday, he warned
against spiritual “hiding” which is often masked by some kind of exterior
religiosity, devoid of the courage that comes with