themselves indispensable. ... We must be very clear that only the Holy Spirit
is
indispensable in the Church and Jesus is the only Lord. There are no others.
... A
time limit should be established for roles in the Church, which are in reality
a
form of service. An important service carried out by lay leaders is to
facilitate the growth and the spiritual and pastoral maturity of those who will
take their place at the end of their service. It would be opportune for all
roles of service in the Church to have a time limit - there are no lifelong
leaders in the Church".
 The Holy Father asked the members of Renewal in the Holy Spirit to share with
all in the Church the baptism they have received. "It is the most important
service that we can give to all in the Church", he emphasised: "helping the
people of God in their personal encounter with Jesus Christ, Who transforms us
into new men and women, in small groups, humble but effective, because the
Spirit that works within them. Do not focus on large-scale meetings that often
go no further, but instead on the 'artisanal' relationships that derive from
witness, in the family, at work, in social life, in parishes, in prayer groups,
with everyone!".
 Another strong sign of the Spirit in Charismatic Renewal is the search for
unity in the Body of Christ. "You, as Charismatics, have the special grace of
praying and working for Christian unity, so that the current of grace flows
through all Christian Churches. Christian unity is the work of the Holy Spirit
and we must pray together. ... We have all received the same baptism, we all
follow Jesus' path. ... We have all caused these divisions throughout history,
for
different reasons, but not good ones. But now is the time that the Spirit makes
us think that these divisions are a sort of 'counter-witness', and we must do
all we can to walk side by side: spiritual ecumenism, the ecumenism of prayer".
 There is also another form of unity: "the unity of the blood of martyrs, that
makes us one. There is the ecumenism of blood. We know that those who kill
Christians in hatred of Jesus Christ, before killing, do not ask: 'But are you
a
Lutheran, Orthodox, Evangelical, Baptist, Methodist?' They say, 'You are
Christian', and behead them. ... Fifty years ago, Blessed Paul VI, during the
canonisation of the young martyrs of Uganda, referred to the fact that for the
same reason the blood of their Anglican companion catechists had been shed.
They
were Christians, they were martyrs. Forgive me, and do not be scandalised, but
they are our martyrs! Because they gave their lives for Christ, and this is
ecumenism of blood. We must pray in memory of our common martyrs".
 Finally, there is "unity in work with the poor and the needy, who also need
baptism in the Holy Spirit. It would be good to organise seminars on life in
the
Spirit, along with other Christian charismatic entities, for those brothers and
sisters who live on the streets: they too have the Spirit within them that
pushes for someone to throw open the door from outside".
 Before imparting his final blessing, the Pope invited those present to go
forth
and preach the good news of Jesus "to the poor, to the marginalised, the blind,
the sick, the imprisoned, to all men and women. In each one of them there is
the
Spirit, Who wants to be helped to throw open the door so as to be revived. May
the Lord accompany you in this mission, always with the Bible in your hand,
always with the Gospel in your pocket, with the Word of Christ".

___________________________________________________________

 Benedict XVI receives Doctorate honoris causa from the Pontifical University
of
John Paul II and the Musical Academy of Krakow Vatican City, 4 July 2015 (VIS)
-
Pope emeritus Benedict XVI today received a Doctorate honoris causa from the
Pontifical University of John Paul II and the Musical Academy of Krakow,
Poland,
granted by the rectors of both institutions and conferred this morning at
Castel
Gandolfo by Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, archbishop of Krakow and grand
chancellor of the university dedicated to St. John Paul II.
 Benedict XVI received the nomination with a discourse in which he recalled how
St. John Paul II demonstrated by example that "the joy of great religious music
and the role of popular participation in holy liturgy, the solemn joy and
simplicity of the humble celebration of the faith, go hand in hand".
 "In the Vatican Council II Constitution on the liturgy it is written very
clearly: 'The treasure of sacred music is to be preserved and fostered with
great care'. On the other hand, the text highlights, as a fundamental
liturgical
category, the participatio actuosa of all the faithful in holy action. But what
remained peacefully together in the Constitution has often subsequently, in the
reception of the Council, been in a relationship of dramatic tension.
Significant parts of the liturgical movement believed that there would be space
for the great choral works and even orchestral masses only in concert halls,
not
in the liturgy, in which there would have been space only for the hymns and
common prayer of the faithful. On the other hand, there was dismay at the
cultural impoverishment of the Church that would necessarily have resulted. How
could the two aspects be reconciled? These were the questions asked by many of
the faithful, including simple people, not only those with a theological
education".
 "At this point, perhaps it is correct to ask the underlying question: what is
music? Where does it come from and where does it lead? I think there are three
'places' from which music arises. The first wellspring is the experience of
love. When human beings were seized by love, another dimension of being opened
up within them, a new greatness and breadth of reality, driving them to express
themselves in a new way. Poetry, hymn and music in general were born of the
opening up of this new dimension of life. A second origin of music is the
experience of sadness, of being touched by death, by suffering and by the
abysses of existence. In this case too, in the opposite direction, there open
up
new dimensions of life that do not find answers in discourse alone. Finally,
the
third origin of music is the encounter with the divine, which from the
beginning
is part of what defines the human being. ... It may be said that the quality of
music depends on the purity and the greatness of the encounter with the divine,
with the experience of love and pain. The purer and more authentic the
experience, the purer and greater will be the music that emerges and develops
from it".
 "Certainly, western music goes far beyond the religious and ecclesial
environment. However, it finds its deepest source in the liturgy in the
encounter with God. In Bach, for whom the glory of God ultimately represents
the
aim of all music, this is entirely evident. The great and pure response of
western music developed in the encounter with that God Who, in the liturgy,
made
Himself present in us in Jesus Christ. That music, for me, is a demonstration
of
the truth of Christianity. Where this form of response develops, the encounter
with the truth, with the true Creator of the world, takes place. Therefore, the
great religious music is a reality of theological level and lasting meaning for
the faith of all Christianity, even though it is not at all necessary for it to
be performed always and everywhere. On the other hand, it is also clear that it
cannot disappear from the liturgy and its presence can be an entirely special
form of participation in holy celebration and in the mystery of the faith".
 "If we think of the liturgy celebrated by St. John Paul II in all continents,
we see the full breadth of the expressive possibilities of faith in the
liturgical event, and we also see how the great music of the western tradition
is not external to the liturgy, but instead originated and grew within it and
in
this way continually contributes to its formation. We do not know the future of
our culture and of religious music. But one thing is clear: where there takes
place the encounter with the living God Who in Christ comes towards us, there
too develops the response, whose beauty comes from the truth itself", concluded
Benedict XVI.

___________________________________________________________

 Other Pontifical Acts
 Vatican City, 4 July 2015 (VIS) - The Holy Father appointed:
 - Joaquin Hermes Robledo Romero of Carapegua, Paraguay, as bishop of San
Lorenzo (area 1,944, population 823,239, Catholics 813,000, priests 41,
permanent deacons 29, religious 106), Paraguay.
 - Bishop Jean Laffitte, secretary of the Pontifical Council for the Family, as
prelate of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta.

___________________________________________________________

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