Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) – It was in thanksgiving to God for the beatification of a former pupil of Propaganda Fide and the successful outcome of the apostolic visit of Pope Benedict XVI in the UK that Cardinal Ivan Dias, Prefect the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, presided over a Solemn Mass this morning in the Chapel of the Magi in the Propaganda Fide headquarters in thanksgiving for the beatification of John Henry Newman (1801-1890). In that same Chapel, Newman was ordained a Catholic priest on May 30, 1847, feast of the Holy Trinity. In the chapel on the second floor of the building, now called “The Newman Chapel” and recently restored, he celebrated his first mass. Cardinal Dias recalled how the “Collegio Urbano,” then located in the Propaganda Fide building, hosted Newman among its seminarians from around the world for over a year, and this “also makes us so proud.” After the Gospel was read, the homily delivered by Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday, September 19 in Birmingham, during the celebration of the beatification, was read aloud. Concelebrating with Cardinal Dias were some bishops who attended the Seminar organized by the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, which just ended, officers of the Missionary Congregation, the President and Secretaries General of the Pontifical Mission Societies, the priests of the Secretariat and the Propaganda Fide family. The religious and laity working in the Missionary Congregation were also present. (SL) (Agenzia Fides 20/9/2010)
