"The Lord's year of favour" - November 22, 2020 - January 1, 2022 - Communication Bulletin: The Passionist Jubilee. Nº6. Jubilaeum.cp - PASSIOCHRISTI
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November 22, 2020 - January 1, 2022
“The Lord’s
year of favour”
Communication Bulletin: The Passionist Jubilee. Nº6. Jubilaeum.cp
te
a multi-
colored
faith event
Fr. Joachim Rego cp
[Superior General]
Dear Friends: We are all so grateful for the regular information,
updates and quality resources which the Jubilee Commission has
been communicating with us all through the Jubilee Bulletin.
In a few days’ time, the Jubilee Year (declared by Pope Francis) com-
memorating the 300th anniversary of the Congregation’s founda-
tion will officially begin with the opening of the Holy Door in the
Basilica of SS. John and Paul, Rome and the celebration of the in-
augural Mass presided by the Vatican Secretary of State: Cardinal
Pietro Parolin.
As you are already aware, there have had to be many changes and
re-adjustments to the original-
ly planned events to take place in
Rome due to the intervention of the
Covid-19 pandemic. While most of
these events have been re-sched-
uled into the following year, we
live in hope of their realization, as
we are living in very uncertain and
unpredictable times.
Jubilaeum Communication Bulletin: The Passionist Jubilee Year 2020 N06 3
0
More than just the production of memorabilia to mark this auspi-
cious event, I know that you are all making great efforts to reflec-
tively and meaningfully celebrate this Jubilee of the Congregation
on the local level, in your local entities. And so it should be! The
Congregation, while having it’s historical origins in Italy, is now
blessed and enriched with faces, nationalities, cul-
tures and customs from over 60 nations. And so, I “May the Passion
thank you for what you have planned and all you of Jesus Christ
are doing to celebrate this Jubilee with your specif- be always in our
ic colours, symbols and music – but, remembering hearts.”
that this is primarily an event of faith which must
turn our minds and hearts with gratitude to God for His blessings,
with a prayerful stance of listening to the Spirit now, and with a
hopeful trust to walk with confidence into God’s future.
As we are about to begin this Jubilee Year, I encourage you in the
communities, parishes, retreat/spiritual centres and households to
pray the Jubilee Prayer each day, so that this graced event from
which flows God’s life, will be constantly in our minds and hearts
as an opportunity to be received.
“It’s really St. Paul of the Cross!”
The Tricentennial Jubilee has given us a new image
of St. Paul of the Cross. It is an icon of the Founder,
located in the chapel of the Retreat House of Sts.
John and Paul, commissioned by Fr. Vito Patera, re-
treat director, in memory of his recently deceased
mother.
The iconographer is Antonio De Benedictis, a well-
known iconographer in Rome. The new icon re-
ceived immediate approval. “It’s St. Paul!” many
commented when they saw it. In fact, the image is
a close-up of his face, which emerges full of light
from the gold background, and has the appearance
that somehow reproduces the now traditional im-
ages based on the portrait of artist Giandomenico
della Porta (1773) that is located in the choir of Sts.
John and Paul.
Fr. Vito has been Director of the retreat house of
Sts. John and Paul for 14 years, working contin-
uously throughout the year. Obviously the retreat house had to close
due to the Covid-19 pandemic for almost 4 months, during which time
he worked continuously to repair, clean, and enhance the house and in
particular make the necessary preparations to ensure safe distancing,
sanitizing of hands, etc...
The house resumed activity in mid-July and has practically returned to
full operation, while complying with Italian government’s restrictions.
04 Jubilaeum Communication Bulletin: The Passionist Jubilee Year 2020 N06
Jesus’ proclamation of the call themselves Christians, who
Lord’s year of favour, or Jubi- live a secure and comfortable
lee, in Luke’s Gospel (4:18-19), life in first world countries, lis-
calls for a reversal of fortunes for ten to Jesus’ proclamation at the
the poor, the captives, the blind synagogue in Nazareth thinking
and the downtrodden. This is a that the poor will be elevated to a
message consistent with oth- better standard of living, but that
er proclamations of Jesus found this will not affect them in any
in Luke’s Gospels regarding the way. In fact, they can further
coming of the Kingdom of God. abdicate responsibili-
But such a reversal of fortunes
for the disenfranchised implies
a reversal of fortunes for those “The Lord’s
at the other end of the spectrum. year of
We see this pattern in Luke’s ver- favour”
sion of the Beatitudes (6: 20-26),
in Luke’s Magnificat (1:46-55), and
the parable of the rich man and
be
Lazarus (16:19-31).
ca
There is a saying that goes, “be
careful what you wish for.” There
are unforseen consequences for
those at the other end of the food
chain. The world’s resources are
finite, yet even now all the hun-
re
gry can be fed, the naked clothed,
the poor given a more secure liv-
ing. All this is possible if we share
our resources – if the ‘haves’
have less so that the ‘have-nots’
can have. I fear that those who
fulwhat y Fr. Ray Sánchez cp
(SPIR)
Jubilaeum Communication Bulletin: The Passionist Jubilee Year 2020 N06 05
being allowed to celebrate pub- once the pandemic is brought
lic masses, parish missions, and under control.
retreats. The risks of going to a
doctor’s surgery has meant put- A prosperous farmer rushed
ting such visits on hold unless into his house and cried out to
absolutely necessary. All this has his wife in an anguished voice,
given me a small taste of what “Rebecca, I have just heard a ter-
the majority of the world’s popu- rible rumour that is spreading
lation deal with everyday. through town like wildfire – the
Messiah has come!” After think-
But it has also made our society ing about what her husband had
more conscious of the homeless just said, Rebecca replied, “What
and the health risks they have – is so terrible about that? Why are
that if we don’t shelter them then you so upset?”
they can fall victim to COVID-19
and this in turn can worsen local “I’m upset because after years
outbreaks. It has made us more of sweat and toil we have finally
conscious of how much we took found prosperity. We have a thou-
for granted the noise from jet air- sand head of cattle, our barns are
ty for the marginalized because craft flying overhead, along with full to overflowing, and all our
God will pick up the tab. the pollution they contributed to trees are heavily laden with fruit.
the environment. We’ve seen the What if the Messiah tells us to
The gift for me of the pandem- photos of the waterways of Ven- give it all away and follow him?”
ic has been to open my eyes to ice cleared up so that dolphins
how comfortable we can get as could be seen swimming there, “Calm down. We Jews have en-
religious, living a lifestyle that and of the air clearing over cit- dured great suffering and hard-
includes ease of travel, ready ac- ies in China so that the people ship down through the ages. We
cess to medical treatment, reg- could see the sky again after so have been enslaved by Egyptians,
ular meals at restaurants, and a long. These lessons have taught exiled by the Babylonians, slaugh-
secure financial base. The pan- us how interconnected we all are tered by the Romans, herded into
demic has forced us to give it all and everything is. It has shown ghettoes by Christians. We have
up, and I have found not only that us that, if we can shift our vision endured the Holocaust and the
it is easy to do so, but that it has to seeing ourselves as part of a vengeance of the Arab world, and
enhanced our community life. global village, we have the power yet we have survived. Just have
Instead of going out for meals, to bring about a world that cap- faith, my dear husband. When
we’ve had to stay home, cook for tures something of the vision of the Messiah comes, we will find a
ourselves, regularly eat at home Jesus’ Jubilee. way to deal with him.”
together, and share the house-
hold chores. The travel restric- Unfortunately, we probably won’t
tions have saved us money in take up this invitation to change.
petrol or flights, which have bal- We will easily and speedily return
anced the loss of income with not to previous patterns of behaviour
t you wish for
08 Jubilaeum Communication Bulletin: The Passionist Jubilee Year 2020 N06
FIRST
COMPANIONS
of the The renewal of religious life must be accomplished
first
with the involvement of every member of the in-
stitute. When the Second Vatican Council imposed
this process, we were all taken by surprise, and the
reactions ranged between enthusiasm and fear. Al-
lowing everyone, not only the usual superiors to
hour
participate at Chapters, to get our hands on texts
that were revered and venerated by generations
concerning traditions that were unchanged over
the centuries sounded like a harbinger of doom.
After more than fifty years, we are all aware of the
co-responsibility that governs us at
Fr. Gabriele Cingolani cp various levels of our existence, from belonging to
civil society to being baptized in the Church. The
(MAPRAES)
collegial rhythm of the Church’s journey imposed
by Pope Francis makes it clear that involvement is
essential to every human way of life. The theology
of consecrated life has made it clear that a charism
has a participatory dimension which, in addition
to its foundational dimension, is essential for those
who envision a new form of life. Everyone who is
chosen is called to be a personal reflection of the
Spirit for the good of the entire entity. In our time,
this aspect has become indispensable; but it has
always been operative in the dynamic of the Spirit.
This was obvious at the beginning of our Congre-
gation, in the interplay that existed between Paul of
the Cross and his “first companions”.
In first place was Paul’s brother John Baptist.
Everything pertaining to him has been lost--
writings, words, even his body after death; yet
everything that is said about Paul must be also
be said in proportion about him. A man of silence,
whose presence next to his brother was a guaran-
Jubilaeum Communication Bulletin: The Passionist Jubilee Year 2020 N06 0 9
tee of success. Constant traveling companions, they Tommaso Struzzieri joined the Congregation, and
were together during the first turbulent experienc- immediately after the approval of 1741, he was like
es of the charism, on missions, during bureaucrat- a double locomotive next to the Founder. He was
ic appointments, and without ever claiming merit. native of the city of Senigallia in the Le Marche re-
Without him Paul could not have realized his pro- gion of Italy. He graduated from the La Sapienza
ject. For thirty-five years, from priestly ordination to University of Rome and he was already a priest and
death, he was Paul’s spiritual director. He died at the notable preacher when, at the age of thirty-seven,
age of seventy-- ten years before the death of his he went to pray in a Roman church and met Paul.
brother. At his death, Paul felt a tremor of disorien- The meeting was like a bolt of lightning. He joined
tation. When Paul left for Rome by himself in 1721, Paul on Monte Argentario in 1745 and remained his
when he experienced his first failure, John Baptist right-hand man for twenty years, placing at the
had warned him-- “Without me you won’t be able to service of the Congregation his legal and manage-
persevere,” as if to say, you won’t be able to accom- rial skills that were necessary for the beginnings
plish anything. He left an imprint on the charism of of the Institute that were threatened by various
his unshakable perseverance in faith, in the silence obstacles. The retreats that were founded south of
of fraternal communion that went far beyond that Rome were the fruits of his missionary and organ-
of a blood relationship. izational abilities. He was a preacher and trained
the young Passionists in mission preaching skills.
Fulgenzio Pastorelli joined Paul’s adventure in He was the first Provincial and Procurator General.
1733, following a mission Paul preached in Tuscany. However, this type of person could not go unno-
He was the first assimilator of the charism which ticed by the hierarchical Church. He became the
he immediately transmitted as the first master of first Passionist bishop, initially in the Italian city of
novices. He embraced the austere lifestyle to the Amelia, and then in the city of Todi. The early geo-
point of exaggeration, which to Paul’s consterna- graphical expansion, missionary structuring and
tion, he could not moderate. Eventually he ruined cultural solidity of the Congregation was due in
his health. He adhered to the ideal and he appro- large part to his efforts.
priated it, thus confirming its validity as a means of
human and eternal salvation. He was an authentic Giammaria Cioni was a native of the city of Bagni
extension of the Danei brothers in community and di Lucca. He assimilated the charism directly from
mission. the Founder and promoted it by faithfully living and
transmitting it. At a notably young age he succeed-
Giuseppe Pitruzzello, known among us as “Broth- ed Fulgenzio Pastorelli as a master of novices. He
er Joe”, was the first to persevere in the implemen- was also a Superior and spiritual director. Through-
tation of the charism without exercising clerical out his life he held positions in the government of
ministries. He was known for his humility, industri- the Congregation, first alongside Paul, then with his
ousness, simplicity, and gifts of mystical oration. His successor Giambattista Gorresio, eventually suc-
mantra was that poverty and humility are the bel- ceeding him as Superior General. The Founder en-
lows of God’s love. He resolved all the organizational trusted him with the most delicate tasks. After the
problems of community. When he died in 1768, for death of Paul’s brother John Baptist, Paul chose him
Paul it was like losing a pillar of the building. as his spiritual director, confessor, confidant, and
an intimate confidant as his physical strength de-
Marcaurelio Pastorelli was a native of Nice clined. He sensed the validity and historical impor-
(France). Before entering the Passionist Congrega- tance of the charism, which can be seen in his work
tion, he was a religious and master of the novices of of the “Annali” that recorded the beginnings of the
the French Institute of the Priests of Christian Doc- Congregation. Even today they are of inestimable
trine. He was profoundly inspired during a mission value. Paul wanted him next to him at the moment
that Paul preached in Civitavecchia in 1742. John of his death so that he could “close his eyes”.
Baptist advised him not to change religious insti-
tutes, but Paul offered him criteria for discernment There are other companions of the Founder who are
that helped him to decide peacefully. Subsequently, similarly noteworthy figures from the beginning of
he appointed him master of Passionist novices and our history, but space only allows this limited list.
students. He developed a formation program for the However, there is one question that cannot be omit-
new Congregation, whose influence continued for ted. If each of them left an imprint on the charism
centuries. He was also a missionary, Provincial and entrusted to them by the Spirit for the enrichment
General Consultor. He was a model of adaptation to of all, what contribution, at least what trace, will
God’s plan, even amid troubling situations. each of us leave on the charism?
10 Jubilaeum Communication Bulletin: The Passionist Jubilee Year 2020 N06
Passio THE JUBILEE
news
EVENTS IN ROME
22 November 2020
At 10:30 AM: opening of the Holy
Door, followed by the Eucharistic
concelebration with Card. Pietro
THE JUBILEE REPRODUCTIONS OF THE Parolin, Vatican Secretary of State,
MEDALS JUBILEE ICON ON WOOD as the principal concelebrant.
AND ON CARDBOARD Due to anti-COVID capacity restric-
Even though our Jubilee will
be somewhat low-keyed and tions, physical presence in the Ba-
Reproductions of the Jubilee Icon are
austere it was decided that we silica will be limited. However, the
available in several formats.
could not do without a com- ceremony will be re-transmitted
memorative medal. Fr. Massimo On wood in two sizes via streaming.
Parisi willingly responded and Format 17,2 x 14 (open);
accepted the honor and respon- 8 x 14 (closed) 9-18 August 2021
sibility of the enterprise. Here Cost: Euro 6,00 Meeting of young Passionist reli-
are the three medals-- bronze, gious.
silver and gold. The design is Format 30,4 x 25 (open);
classic and therefore always 15 x 24 (closed) 21-24 September 2021
current. The front: linear, illu- Cost: Euro 13,00 International Congress “The wis-
minated, one would say, by the dom of the Cross in a pluralistic
On cardboard
beautiful face in bas-relief of the world” (Lateran University)
Format 18,5 x 15 (with
Founder; the back: an adapta- the logo and the Jubilee prayers
tion of the Jubilee logo. The text: 18-22 October 2021
in Italian, English, Spanish)
in Latin, so as to be acceptable Meeting of Passionist bishops
Cost Euro 0,30
to everyone. Someone com- during the General Synod of the
mented that the three metals, Holy cards of the Founder Congregation, including the com-
gold, silver and bronze, repre- Size: 6.5cm x 12.3cm. munal celebration of the feast of St.
sent the three centuries of life of with the Jubilee prayer. Paul of the Cross.
the Congregation: gold the first Cost Euro 0,03
century of life, silver the second, 01-22 November 2021
and bronze our century. In fact, Meeting of Passionist formators
To order
all three centuries are golden. jubilaeumcp2020@passiochristi.org
If there were any doubt about 01 January 2022
*Plus shipping fees
our century, this would be the Conclusion of the Jubilee
motive for celebrating a Jubilee/
Holy Year-- to turn it all into
bright gold. In fact, the Postu-
lator had envisioned three gold
medals-- one for each century
of the Congregation's life!
Cost Medal
Gold Euro 80,00
Silver: Euro 30,00
Bronze: Euro 20,00
Size Medal: ø 5,5 cm/2.16 inches
To order
post.g@passiochristi.org
The General Postulation Office
Piazza Ss. Giovanni e Paolo, 13
00184 RomaAIROLA (BN)
Indulgence where he died (October 18, 1775) 16-18 November
Where? When? and where his sacred remains
reside.
NAPOLI
19-24 November:
EVERY DAY ONE DAY MONDRAGONE (CE)
of the Jubilee year in the fol- 4 occasions of choice during 25-27 November
lowing locations associated the Jubilee year in all Passio- CASAMICCIOLA (NA)
with the presence of St. Paul of nist monasteries and conven- 28-29 November
the Cross: ts. During Chapters, Assemblies, ITRI-CIVITA (LT)
Congresses of the Congregation, 30 November-2 December
Ovada (AL), visiting the Foun- Passionist Educational meetings,
der's birthplace; SORA (FR)
retreats preached in our retreat
3-5 December
centers or preached by Passio-
The monastery of the Pre- nists, as well as at meetings of CECCANO (FR)
sentation of the B.M.V, on spiritual, theological, or pastoral 6-8 December
Monte Argentario, the first re- formation. PALIANO (FR)
treat founded by St. Paul of the 9-11 December
Cross, where he lived from 1727
to 1744; How? CASALOTTI, ROME
12-14 December
One of the following ways
The monastery of Sant’An- 1. Repentance for one's sins with sacra-
gelo of Vetralla (VT), founded mental confession, Eucharistic com-
PORTUGAL
by St. Paul, where he lived from munion, prayer according to the Pope's BARROSELAS
1744 to 1770; intentions; 15-17 December
FEIRA
2. Repentance for one's sins, medi-
The monastery/basilica of tation/prayer for a reasonable time
18-20 December
Sts. John and Paul, Rome, before the sacred remains of St. Paul BARREIRO (LISBOA)
where the Founder lived the of the Cross in Rome, to be concluded 21-22 December
last two years of his life and with the recitation of our Father, of the
Creed, of a prayer to Jesus Crucified, to
the Blessed Virgin Mary and to St. Paul ANGOLA
of the Cross. CALUMBO
23-26 December
3. The elderly and the sick and those
who for serious reasons cannot leave UIGÉ
their house can receive the indulgence 27-30 December
if they are repentant of all sin and have
the intention of fulfilling, as soon as
possible, the three usual conditions and JANUARY - JUNE 2021
the desire to participate in the Jubilee PASSIONIST OF AFRICA
celebrations, offering to God their pra- CONFIGURATION (CPA)
yers, sufferings, and the hardships of CONGO, TANZANIA,
their lives. BOTSWANA, ZAMBIA,
SOUTH AFRICA, KENYA
AND MOZAMBIQUE.
icon&relic
itinerary JULY - DECEMBER 2021
ASIA - PACIFIC
(MAPRAES) CONFIGURATION
ITALY (PASPAC)
PALERMO AUSTRALIA, NEW
31 October-5 November ZEALAND, PAPUA
BORGETTO NEW GUINEA, THE
ROMITELLO (PA) PHILIPPINES, KOREA,
6-8 November CHINA , INDONESIA,
MASCALUCIA (CT) JAPAN, INDIA, VIETNAM.
9-13 November
FORINO (AV) ROME CLOSING
14-15 November 1 January 2022www.jubilaeumcp.org
jubilaeumcp2020@passiochristi.org
redactio@jubilaeumcp.org
Supplemento a L’eco di san Gabriele n. 11. novembre 2020,
spedizione in abbonamento post. -45%, art.2, comma 20c, legge 662/96.
Reg.Trib. Teramo 22.04.1960. Direttore: Ciro BenedettiniYou can also read
