30Giorni in breve

The Grace before meals and hunger in the world
Twenty years from the Day of Prayer for Peace in Assisi
Afganistan, opium and terrorism

POPE

The Grace before meals and hunger in the world

Pope Paul VI signs the Populorum progressio

«In our Christian families one teaches the small children to thank the Lord always, before taking food, with a brief prayer and the sign of the cross. This custom should be preserved or rediscovered, because it teaches not to take for granted the “daily bread”, but to recognize in it a gift of providence». This was the suggestion of the Pope at the Angelus of Sunday 12 November. Afterwards the Pontiff broadened the discourse with a brief reflection on the North-South imbalance: «It is necessary to eliminate the structural causes tied to the system of government of the world economy, that destines the major part of the resources of the planet to a minority of the population. This injustice has been stigmatized on different occasions by my venerated precursors, the servants of God Paul VI and John Paul II. To have an effect on a large scale it is necessary to “convert” the model of global development: by now not only the scandal of hunger, but also the environmental and energy emergencies require it».

THE LAURENTIANUM THEOLOGICAL STUDY OF THE CAPUCHIN FRIARS MINOR - VENICE

Twenty years from the Day of Prayer for Peace in Assisi

John Paul II during the Day of Prayer in Assisi in 1986

On 12 October the solemn inauguration of the academic Year 2006-2007 of the Laurentianum Theological Study of the Capuchin Friars Minor – Venice, took place at the sanctuary of San Leopoldo Mandic in Padua. The inaugural discourse, in the presence of political and academic authorities of the Venice area, was given by Senator Giulio Andreotti. The theme of his inaugural lecture, which was followed by questions from the audience, was the historic day of prayer for peace in Assisi decided on by John Paul II, the twentieth anniversary of which occurs this year.
The Laurentianum Theological Study is an ancient and prestigious cultural institution of the Capuchins: founded in Venice in 1584, it has had illustrious figures in the history of the Church among its pupils, including many bishops and saints, such as, for example, Saint Lorenzo from Brindisi, Doctor of the Church. For 38 years the Study has been affiliated to the Faculty of Theology of the Pontifical Antonianum University in Rome. It is attended by Italian, Hungarian and Angolan Capuchins, by diocesan seminarians and by Benedictine monks.
Precisely because of the Franciscan vocation for inter-religious dialogue and the search for peace among peoples, the inaugural lecture of the academic year was dedicated to the Day of Prayer in Assisi in 1986. It was not by chance that the lecture was entrusted to Andreotti who, in the role of Foreign Minister, was the political interlocutor necessary for the Holy See to prepare and organize the day of prayer in Assisi, at which the representatives of all the major world religions participated: «It meant inviting fifty representatives of the Christian Churches, as well as Catholics, and sixty representatives of the other world religions», the Prefect of the Study, Professor Gianluigi Pasquale OFM recalls, «It was the first time in history that a meeting like this took place and the appeal that was raised from the city of Saint Francis was heard throughout the world: for a whole day the weapons were silent».
In his speech Andreotti recalled how the meeting had been strongly desired and wished by John Paul II, despite the objections and the critical observations that came from many places, even from Catholic circles: «In the face of the recent strategy of terror activated by terrorist groups, some today consider the insight that Pope Wojtyla had for a day of prayer with the other religions to be simplistic and inadequate. But the intentions of the Pontiff and of those who organized the meeting were instead well defined». And he added: «Also at the theological level there was no confusion. It’s enough to read the articles that L’Osservatore Romano devoted to the preparation of the event, among which I would point out that of Don Angelo Scola, now Patriarch of Venice, in which he stresses that in Assisi the representatives of the different religions went there to pray, but that they would never have been able to pray all together being of different faiths». The Patriarch of Venice himself wanted to pass on his congratulations to the Institute: «I compliment you on the themes chosen for the inaugural lecture. Its dramatic actuality reveals the rightness of the choice made at the time by John Paul II and authoritatively confirmed by Benedict XVI. I ask you to offer a friendly greeting to President Andreotti in my name and my wish for all the academic community to work well».

D'ALEMA

Afganistan, opium and terrorism

Massimo D'Alema

«If we don’t fight the drug lords as well as the warlords we will emerge defeated along with the Afghan people. With an opium production that represents the equivalent of 3 and half billion euro yearly, the Taliban have resources to finance terrorism for the next five thousand years». These words of the Foreign Minister Massimo D’Alema were reported by La Repubblica of November 10.