The Pittsburgh Oratory

The following is a message sent on behalf of Pope Benedict XVI, by Angelo Cardinal Sodano to the 2006 Oratorian Congress held at the end of September in Rome. Thanks to Miss Claire Godt for the translation from the Italian original.

 

SECRETARY OF STATE

To the Reverend Father

Eduardo Aldo Cerrato, C. O.

Procurator General

Of the Confederation of the Oratory of St. Philip Neri

ROME

  

From the Vatican, 8 September 2006

Reverend Father,

On the occasion of the General Congress of this Institute, the Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI is glad to extend to all those who take part the expression of his spiritual solidarity, and he assures you of his prayers for the work you are undertaking.

At the last Congress, in the Jubilee Year 2000, the servant of God John Paul II defined the way that the Oratory carries out its missionary work very well when he called it the task of “speaking to the heart of man” in order to “lead him to an encounter with Jesus Christ, the Way, the Truth and the Life,” really present in the Church and “contemporary” with every human being. St. Philip Neri followed this method during his lifetime with great apostolic inventiveness, helping young people and adults to discover the beauty of divine love. With his mysterious presence, in fact, Christ takes hold of us to make us his own and to assimilate us to himself. This is the marvel that the Christian mystery brings about. It is a truth to be accepted in its entirety, without compromises, a truth that flees from facile accommodation with the spirit of the world. Only thus is it possible to understand and transmit adequately to others the idea, so dear to St. Philip Neri, of freedom, and love and joy, expressed by the admirable phrase codified by your tradition: “In veritate liberi, in caritate servi, in omnibus laeti” (in the truth to be free, in charity servants, in all things joyful).

With this teaching in mind, the present General Congress takes as its subject the initial and continuing formation of the members of the Congregations of the Oratory, based on the documents of the Magisterium and of your traditions. In order to carry this out, once you have approved the Ratio formationis (Rule for Formation), your intention is to entrust it to each separate Domus sui iuris (independent house) of your Confederation, as the authoritative reference for your common work of instruction and evangelization. The Confederation will continue to act to further communication and unity, urging all to walk in the way of St. Philip Neri, who loved to say: “Anyone who wants something other than Christ does not know what he wants; anyone who does anything for a reason other than Christ does not know what he is doing.”

His Holiness takes this opportunity to remind us all that the most eloquent commentary on the Constitutions and the Ratio formationis is given by the example of numerous disciples of St. Philip who lived in various times and places, particularly St. Luigi Scrosoppi, the Blesseds Sebastiano Valfré, Giovenale Ancina, Antonio Grassi, José Vaz and the Venerable John Henry Cardinal Newman, a model of fruitful intellectual apostolate in the via Oratorii (Way of the Oratory). A special mention must be reserved for the Venerable Cesare Baronio, an illustrious member of the Oratory and distinguished man of the Church, the fourth centenary of whose death you are presently preparing to celebrate. With keen intuition, St. Philip induced this disciple and first successor to dedicate himself to the study of the history of the Church. The thorough investigations which he conducted based on original documents gave rise to substantial later works, received with acclaim by the world of scholarship. Among his writings we should mention particularly the Annales Ecclesiastici (Ecclesiastical Annals), an expression of fervid love for the mystical Body of Christ and of impassioned dedication to the mission of the Church. Brought up in the school of St. Philip in humility and in the spirit of prayer, of charity and of apostolic zeal, Cardinal Baronio manifested in the course of his entire existence a constant striving toward that “oboedientia et pax” (obedience and peace) which appears as the motto on his shield and which, some centuries later, the Blessed John XXIII, his devoted admirer, took as his own.

Following in this path, Pope Benedict XVI invites the spiritual sons of St. Philip to persevere in their journey, always drawing the light and energy necessary for their formation from the genuine wellsprings of the Oratorian movement. “Attendite ad petram ubi excisi estis”—“Look to the rock from which you were hewn” (Is 51:1) is the admonition which Cesare Baronio gave the first Fathers of the Oratory, exhorting them not to forget the lesson of Father Philip. The admonition remains valid today. The return to the origins constitutes for everyone a valid impetus to proclaim without ceasing the gospel of joy and of love, as did the Founder together with his first followers.

This is the wish that the Supreme Pontiff formulates for the Confederation of the Oratory, while at the same time he invokes upon the work of the General Congress the maternal assistance of Mary Most Holy, of St. Philip and of all saints. He assures you all of a special place in his prayers, and he sends you, Reverend Father, all who participate in this Congress, and the entire Oratorian family his heartfelt and affectionate Apostolic Blessing.

Most happily I unite my own cordial greeting to that of the Holy Father, and offer you my great esteem,

Yours devoted in the Lord,

+Angelo Card. Sodano

Secretary of State

Posted in Confederation, Oratorian Documents