CARMELITE CONVENT OF SEOUL
Seoul, South Korea

Growth of vocations in Korea

Seoul, 26 July 2007

Dear Mr. Giulio Andreotti,
Pax et bonum!
We are the Korean (South) Seoul Carmelite Sisters monastery. The Seoul Carmel monastery is the first Korean contemplative religious community established by Air Carmel, France in 1940. In the last 67 years or so, four monasteries were built and these formed the Corner Stone of eight monasteries over the nationwide dioceses now.
We celebrate that the Seoul Carmelite monastery is the first contemplative order in the history of Korean churches to send missionaries to Cambodia. We are also in preparation for founding a new monastery in Dongdoocheon of the Uijeougbu diocese celebrating the 67th anniversary.
Korea is still cut in halves; South and North ever since the Korean war in 1950. The new monastery will be founded in Dongdoocheon where we believe the most ideal place for the mission in North Korea and Korean reunification to be.
Even though we are facing so many difficulties in preparing the new monastery establishment because of Korean economic stagnation, we truthfully believe that God will lead us as we are seeing the number of vocations increasing despite the contemporary phenomenon of the decreasing number of vocations over the world.
It is a blessing from our Lord Jesus that construction of the new monastery began in June. It seems to be going well without troubles. We now aim at completion of the construction next year.
For this aim, we are making strenuous efforts on collection contributions, and many brothers and sisters help us. We will never be able to complete this task without prayers.
We, therefore, humbly ask if you could kindly give your prayers for our new monastery.
May the peace and blessings of God always be with you.
Yours sincerely in Our Lord Jesus Christ,

sister Mary OCD, Prioress


POOR CLARES OF THE CONVENT OF MONTECASTRILLI
Montecastrilli, Italy

Thanks for the offerings

Montecastrilli, 2 April 2007

Very Dear Senator Giulio Andreotti, Director of the magazine 30Giorni,
May the Lord grant you peace! May He grant you and all your dear ones the abundance of His Holy Spirit.
We take the occasion also to thank you for having published our request for aid for the restoration works to our convent, as a result of which some people have demonstrated sensitivity by sending us some offerings. We would want to thank them personally but not having their addresses we kindly ask you to do so in our name, again through the magazine 30Giorni.
May the Lord Jesus fill them with abundant blessings and grant peace and serenity to their families.
To you and all we assure our remembrance in prayer.

Sister Chiara Isabella Ramoni


DOMINICAN SISTERS OF THE SANTA CROCE CONVENT
Florence, Italy

Chi prega si salva is beautiful, useful, practical

Florence, 18 April 2007

Dear Mr. Senator,
For some time I wanted to write to you in order to thank you for the beautiful and wonderful magazine 30Giorni directed by you. We find it very interesting because it is rich in religious and cultural discussions, and double our thanks for the booklet Chi prega si salva, very beautiful, useful and practical. We offer our daily prayer so that the Lord renders your work and dedication fruitful, and grants you also much joy and satisfaction for the good you do to us cloistered nuns.
We also thank your collaborators and greet you in Christ.

Sister Antonina Di Pace OP, for the Community


TRAPPIST NUNS OF THE SANTA MARÍA DE LA PAZ CONVENT
San Pedro de Lóvago, Nicaragua

Chi prega si salva for our poor ones

San Pedro de Lóvago, 23 July 2007

Dear Senator Giulio,
I hope you are well and can enjoy in abundance the grace of the Lord and the joy of loving and doing good to all. I am the same Trappist sister of the Convent of Hinojo, in Argentina, who thanked you for having received in gift the magazine 30Giorni and many enclosures such as Quien reza se salva. I am here in Nicaragua where, as I told you, we have a foundation already for six years now. You cannot imagine the poverty of this country, nor is it easy to describe it. Through the goodness of the Lord a functional house has been constructed, basic and also beautiful in its simplicity. In the novitiate there are already three young Nicaraguan people and we await another two or three. The contemplative life seems very well received. The poverty of material goods always opens the heart more to heavenly things and the religiosity of this people is alive and expressive. I go to the kernel of the issue, which is the reason why I write you. I asked myself if you would not still be so generous – I am convinced that you will certainly be – as to give to this convent also the subscription to the magazine 30Giorni and some copies of the precious booklet Quien reza se salva for our poor ones. I ask a special favor: all that you wish to send us, please send by mail to this address: Mother Stella Maris Venezia, Monasterio Santa María de la Paz, Apartado 36, Santo Tomás (Chontales), Nicaragua.
I greet you very cordially, thanking you in anticipation and assure you of the communion of prayer in the love of the Lord of all of us.

Sister Franca and Sisters


AuGUSTINIAN NUNS Of The SANTA MARÍA MAGDALENA CONVENT
Barcelona, Spain

Our prayer ascends to Heaven

Barcelona, 8 August 2007

Dear Senator Giulio Andreotti,
Already for a year now we receive the magazine 30Días and we are extremely grateful to you for it; you do not know the good it does us, other than bringing us up to date, from the Christian point of view, with what is happening throughout the world. We do not know how to thank you, thus our prayer ascends to Heaven for all your necessities and intentions and so that the good God accompanies you at every moment.
There is another reason also for our letter, to ask you to send twenty copies of the booklet Quien reza se salva to us, in order to be able to distribute it to the persons who come to our convent.
I ask if we can pay by way of cash on delivery, since this would be by far the easiest way for us.
In love and prayer,

sister Teresa Bastarrica OSA, Prioress


POOR CLARES OF THE DE LA PURÍSIMA CONCEPCIÓN CONVENT
Villaviciosa (Asturias), Spain

The facts of the world become prayer

Villaviciosa, 29 July 2007

Dear Mr. Giulio Andreotti,
We wish you peace and well-being.
For a long time we receive your magazine free of charge and punctually.
It was a surprise to us that such a complete magazine, in which news of the Church and the world is dealt with, should arrive to us contemplatives. Without doubt, this gesture, is in itself, an acknowledgment of the value of prayer and its influence in our history.
While many mass media organs present events in partial form or under the veil of political and economic interests, 30Días shows the other face to readers, that which is hidden, and offers just and illuminating judgments.
For us it is a window opened on the world to know it, love it and to be «auxiliaries and sustainers of the members of the Church» as Saint Clare says to her daughters.
You offer us the possibility of making of the facts of history with which we become acquainted a prayer that we elevate to the Lord.
May He continue to bless and help you in the distribution and the support of this magazine that does so much good.
Sincerely yours in Christ,

sister María Esther Martínez OSC


CARMELITE NUNS OF THE MOUNT CARMEL CONVENT
Baghmugalia (Bhopal), India

Thanks for this precious gift

Bhopal, 10 August 2007
Dear Mr. Senator,
I am here to express my gratitude to you for having sent us the precious gift of the magazine 30Giorni.
I have received the review three times and also the booklet Chi prega si salva. When they saw the magazine the other nuns asked if it would be possible to receive it in English rather than in Italian. This magazine keeps me informed about the things that happen in the world and the Church.
I thank you again and remember you in my prayer.

Sister Rose Thomas Koolipurackal


DISCALCED CARMELITE NUNS OF THE TRE MADONNE CONVENT
Rome, Italy

We would like other copies of the booklet on the apostles

Rome, 6 September 2007

Dear Editorial Staff,
We are a community of discalced Carmelite nuns, subscribers to your magazine 30Giorni: we would like to have two further copies of the supplement to number 6 of 2007, Ne scelse dodici: dove sono sepolti gli apostoli di Gesù e alcuni loro amici, by Lorenzo Bianchi. We would be grateful if you could tell us what to do in order to have them or if you could send them to us, indicating the respective amount. Thanks for everything. Compliments and good work!

Sister Maria Carmela Lante, Prioress


CAPUCHIN POOR CLARES OF THE SANT’ APOLLINARE IN VECLO CONVENT
Ravenna, Italy

A booklet that makes us love our apostles

Ravenna, 19 August 2007

Dear Director Mr. Giulio Andreotti,
Our gratitude is infinite for the magazine that comes to us punctually and now we want to thank you very much for the supplement to number 6 of 30Giorni, Ne scelse dodici. This precious booklet will certainly be a most useful instrument to make us know and love our apostles more and more. Thank you sincerely for your thoughtfulness toward us, for your attention. In exchange we offer night and day much prayer and ask the Most High Lord, Father of mercies, to guide you, illuminate you and to always support you on your daily path. Thanks always for everything. May the Lord bless you.

The Capuchin Poor Clares, Mother and the Sisters

When Pius XII said: «The sin of the century is the loss of the sense of sin», perhaps he could not have imagined the ultimate consequence, expressed by Benedict XVI during his pilgrimage to Austria in these words: «Relativism relativizes everything and in the end good and evil are no longer distinguishable».
Also because of this there is a non-Catholic way of repeating the phrase of Bernanos “everything is grace” that does not recognize the infinite distance between grace and mortal sin. Jesus says: «Everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin» (Jn 8, 34). Good is not born of sin. Sin leads to vice.
The Catholic way of repeating “everything is grace” simply means to suggest that the Lord can bring good also out of evil, as the tears of Peter, after the betrayal, testify. Tears that flow not from the betrayal, but because the Lord, also after the betrayal, looks at Peter.
The Lord Himself has given the remedy to His Church for the relativism that does not distinguish good from evil: the sacrament of Confession. On condition that one confesses well. As the Catechism teaches. «Because God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble» (1Pt 5, 5).

What damage does mortal sin cause to the soul?
1. Mortal sin deprives the soul of grace and of its friendship with God; 2. It makes it lose paradise; 3. It deprives the soul of its acquired merits, and renders it incapable of acquiring more; 4. It makes the soul slave of Satan; 5. It makes the soul deserving of hell, and also of punishment in this life.
What are the chief qualities of a good confession?
The chief qualities of a good confession are five: it must be humble, complete, sincere, prudent and brief.
Is it a grievous offence willfully to conceal a mortal sin in confession, through shame or some other motive?
It is a grievous offence willfully to conceal a mortal sin in confession, through shame or some other motive, because we thereby profane the Sacrament and are guilty of a very grave sacrilege.


The dogmas of the Council of Carthage

«Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures» (1Cor 15, 3)

Canon 7. Item placuit, ut quicumque dixerit, in oratione dominica ideo dicere sanctos: «Dimitte nobis debita nostra» [Mt 6, 12], ut non pro seipsis hoc dicant, quia non est iam necessaria ista petitio, sed pro aliis qui sunt in suo populo peccatores, et ideo non dicere unumquemque sanctorum: «Dimitte mihi debita mea», sed «Dimitte nobis debita nostra«, ut hoc pro aliis potius quam pro se iustus petere intellegatur, anathema sit. Sanctus enim et iustus erat Apostolus Iacobus, cum dicebat: «In multis enim offendimus omnes» [Jas 3, 2]. Nam quare additum est «omnes», nisi ut ista sententia conveniret et Psalm [143, 2], ubi legitur: «Ne intres in iudicium cum servo tuo, quia non iustificabitur in conspectu tuo omnis vivens»? Et in oratione sapientissimi Salomonis: «Non est homo qui non peccavit» [1Kings 8, 46]. Et in libro sancti Iob: «In manu omnis hominis signat, ut sciat omnis homo infirmitatem suam» [Job 37, 7]. Unde etiam Daniel sanctus et iustus, cum in oratione pluraliter diceret: «Peccavimus, iniquitatem fecimus» [Dan 9, 5, 15], et cetera quae ibi veraciter et humiliter confitetur: ne putaretur, quemadmodum quidam sentiunt, hoc non de suis, sed de populi sui potius dixisse peccatis, postea dixit: «Cum [...] orarem et confiterer peccata mea et peccata populi mei» [Dan 9, 20] Domino Deo meo, noluit dicere «peccata nostra», sed peccata populi sui dixit et sua, quoniam futuros istos, qui tam male intellegerent, tamquam propheta praevidit.

It has likewise been decided [by the bishops] that whoever says that forthis reason the saints say in the Lord's prayer: «Forgive us our debts» [Mt 6, 12], that they say this not for themselves, because that petition is not now necessary for them, but for others who are sinners among the people, and that on this account each one of the saints does not say: «Forgive me my debts», but, «Forgive us our debts»; so that the just man is understood to seek this for others rather than for himself, let him be anathema. For the Apostle James was holy and just, when he said: «For in many things we all offend» [Jas 3, 2]. For why was «all» (omnes) added, unless that this meaning was proper and in the Psalm where one reads: «Enter not into judgment with thy servant, because no (ne omnes) living person shall be justified in thy sight» [Ps 142, 2]. And in the prayer of wisest Solomon: «There is not a man who has not sinned» [1Kings 8, 46]. And in the book of holy Job: «In the hand of every (omnis) man he signs, so that every (omnis) man may know his infirmity» [Job 37, 7]. Hence also holy and just Daniel, when he spoke in the plural in his prayer: «We have sinned, we have done evil» [Dan 9, 5, 15], and the rest which he there truly and humbly confesses, lest it should be thought, as certain ones do think, that he said this not about his own sins, but rather about the sins of his people, declared afterwards: «When...I prayed and confessed my sins and the sins of my people» [Dan 9, 20] to the Lord my God; he did not wish to say «our sins», but he said the sins of his people and his own sins, since as a prophet he foresaw there would be those who would thus misunderstand.

Canon 8. Item placuit, ut quicumque ipsa verba dominicae orationis, ubi dicimus: «Dimitte nobis debita nostra» [Mt 6, 12], ita volunt a sanctis dici, ut humiliter, non veraciter hoc dicatur, anathema sit. Quis enim ferat orantem et non hominibus, sed ipsi Domino mentientem, qui labiis sibi dicit dimitti velle, et corde dicit, quae sibi dimittantur, debita non habere?

It has likewise been decided [by the bishops] that whoever wishes that the words themselves of the Lord's prayer, where we say: «Forgive us our debts» [Mt 6, 12] be said by the saints so as to be spoken humbly, not truthfully, let him be anathema. For who would tolerate one praying and lying, not to men, but to the Lord himself, who says with his lips that he wishes to be forgiven, and in his heart holds that he does not have debts to be forgiven?

PIME MISSIONARIES
Fujieda, Japan

The Japanese Church is changing

Fujieda, 5 August 2007

Dear Mr. Andreotti,
I think you are in good health; may the Lord long preserve it.
I decided to write to you, excuse me, because of necessity. A friend of yours, at least he said so, Father Cesare Gentili, told me something, enthusiastic naturally, about you.
I have been in Japan for forty-two years and the Japanese Church is changing, moved or forced by the Holy Spirit. After all, the Church is His. A tide of Filipinos and Peruvians, Argentines and Brazilians has invaded Japan, and therefore our Church also, bringing, along with many problems, a new surge of growth and of Catholicity.
The number of the foreign Catholics has by now exceeded the number of local Catholics. The Japanese Christians are aware of this reality and receive it as a grace. And I, who am Italian, must, willingly, create a new image for myself... that of polyglot. I am managing... in compensation I make the Holy Spirit work a little more.
I come to the reason for this letter. The booklet Chi prega si salva in English, Spanish, Portuguese. I would have need, please, of at least fifty copies in every language. I wish you every good.
Ad invicem in Domino,

don Giuseppe Piazzini

P.S. Naturally heartfelt thanks for the magazine!


ARCHdiocese OF KUCHING
Sarawak, Malaysia

Five hundred copies of Who prays is saved

Sarawak, 16 July 2007

Dear Sir,
I would like to place an order of 500 copies of Who prays is saved for the Archdiocese of Kuching.
I will pay by bank draft but would like to know in whose favour it is to be issued.
Thank you.
With best wishes,
Yours sincerely,

archbishop John Ha


DIOCESE OF SAINT BERNARD
San Bernardo, Chile

A co-edition of Chi prega si salva

San Bernardo, 28 August 2007

Dear Senator Andreotti,
Along with this letter I send you attachments of some exemplars of Quien reza se salva in the publication that 30Giorni and the Ediciones Obispado de San Bernardo have co-edited. We have printed 50 thousand copies and the price is 0,50 euro so as to to be able to make them arrive to thousands of people, throughout the forty parishes of our diocese and the many sister dioceses who have requested it.
I thank you deeply for the gesture of generosity of 30Giorni and of its staff for having shared such a splendid project. It is having a great spiritual effect and is helping many to return to pray with the prayers of always.
May the Lord and the Mother of God bless you and all your collaborators.

Juan Ignacio González Errázuriz,
bishop of Saint Bernardo


CENTRE DE FORMATION DES CATÉCHISTES “MONSEIGNEUR PIERRE LECLERC”
Ntoninba, Mali

Chi prega si salva and saves the world

Ntoninba, 26 July 2007

Dear Director of 30Jours,
I am an Italian missionary, belonging to the Society of the Missionaries of Africa, called the White Fathers. I have the joy of having already passed forty years of my priestly life as a missionary in Mali, in the diocese of Bamako. By now for fifteen years I find myself – through obedience – director of this Center for the formation of the catechists of the dioceses that speak the Bambara language.
I came upon your beautiful booklet Qui prie sauve son âme.
Could I have at least a hundred copies, in French naturally? I am thinking of our catechists, of the Christian students and also of the prisoners, since by now for more than ten years I dedicate a day in the week to visiting the prisoners of the central prison of the capital Bamako.
A small suggestion. In a next edition it would be good to change the title and complete it: Qui prie sauve son âme et sauve le monde.
Tell me also how to send the amount due in the invoice to you. Thanks.
In Christ Jesus,

father Arvedo Godina


sons of Divine providence MISSIONARIES
Itapipoca, Brazil

I would like to receive Chi prega si salva

Itapipoca, 27 July 2007

Dear Senator,
I thank you most sincerely for the magazine 30Giorni which through your goodness I receive punctually. It would be my great wish to receive the booklet Chi prega si salva, in small format, in the Italian edition. I would not know how to pay for it now but I assure you that next year, when I come to Italy to visit my family, I will pass by Rome to absolve my debt.
Thanks,

father Enrico Zardoni


COMBONi MISSIONARIES
Khartoum, Sudan

I consider the magazine important also for the seminary

Khartoum, 6 September 2007

Dear Director Giulio Andreotti,
I am a Comboni missionary who teaches at the National Theological Seminary of Khartoum.
I have had the opportunity of knowing your goodness and generosity through your magazine, which I consider very important also from the formative point of view, both for the seminarians, and the staff of the seminary.
If I am not too bold in my request, I would ask for five monthly copies of 30Giorni in the English language (one copy per class and another for the staff).
With profound thanks and in communion of prayer and mission,

father Salvatore Coppo

PUBLISHING HOUSE OF THE DIOCESE OF COIMBRA
Coimbra, Portugal

We would like to publish in Portugal Ne scelse dodici [He chose twelve]

Coimbra, 14 August 2007

Dear Editorial Staff,
We are interested in publishing in Portugal your book Ne scelse dodici, by Lorenzo Bianchi. We ask you to let us know if the rights are free and what the conditions are for making an edition of two or three thousand copies with the same editorial characteristics.
In expectation of your reply, we send our best wishes.
Our publishing house belongs to the Church of Coimbra.

Father Valentim Marques


“SAN TITO” FOUNDATION OF HISTORICAL STUDIES OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN CRETE
Iraklion, Crete, Greece

Extraordinary information on the tombs of the apostles

Iraklion, 20 August 2007

Dear Senator,
The June 2007 number has made us doubly happy because, as well as its exceptional content, you have also given us the supplement Ne scelse dodici, from which we have gathered extraordinary information on the tombs of the apostles. We thank you simcerely.
Our Institute would like to ask you to grant permission to translate into Greek and distribute, at our expense, the said supplement. Five thousand copies will be distributed free in the Catholic parishes of Greece but also among the Orthodox who so desire. The edition will be similar to the Italian one and it will be made clear that the author’s rights belong to your magazine.
Hoping to have a reply soon, our hope is to prepare everything for next Christmas.
In the meantime we express all our heartfelt thanks.
Yours sincerely.

Father Petros Roussos OFMCAP,
Vicar General of the diocese of Crete