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Diligo Eclesium My Dear Brothers and Sisters, The purpose of the Path to Rome Conferences is: The Glory of Almighty God The Father, His Only Begotten Son, True God equal to the Father, made man, Jesus Christ, Savior of mankind, Who together with the Father spirates the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Most Holy Trinity. The theme of the 2004 Path to Rome International Conference is “Tu es Petrus.” The Path to Rome International Conference Series intones a special and providential harmony with the Magisterial Declaration Dominus Jesus in contemplating the Mystery of the Church, and particularly in reaffirming Her “Unicity and Unity” (DJ IV), in union with the only begotten Son made man. “Indeed, Jesus Christ continues his presence and his work of salvation in the Church and by means of the Church (cf. Col 1:24-27), which is His body (cf. 1 Cor 12:12-13, 27; Col 1:18). And thus, just as the head and members of a living body, though not identical, are inseparable, so too Christ and the Church can neither be confused or separated, and constitute a single ‘whole Christ’. …Just as there is one Christ, so there exists a single body of Christ, a single Bride of Christ: ‘a single Catholic and apostolic Church’” (DJ IV 16). The Path to Rome Conferences are purposely organized with the intention set above so that all glory will be given to God and only God, that nothing may deviate to any personal glory. The speakers, outstanding people with a great love for Jesus Christ, Our Lord and God, and for His Church, have been carefully chosen. They shine as great testimonies of the power of God and, like Mary, with their words, with their actions and with their attitudes they also say, “The Almighty has done great things in me and Holy is His Name.” (Lk 1:49) Because of the great danger there is in confusing the glory of God with the glory of self, we carefully avoided anybody who might fall into any kind of ego trip. When these things are confused there is always damage to the Church. “For the Kingdom, the Power and the Glory are Yours”, Lord, “now and forever.” (From the Holy Mass). “Through Him, with Him, in Him, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all glory and honor is Yours Almighty Father, forever and ever.” (From the Holy Mass) “Not to us, Lord, not to us, but to Thy Name be the Glory!” (Ps. 115:1) The human ego, the best ally of the devil, also causes very serious, damaging divisions in the Church, starting in small local groups and spreading like a plague throughout the entire world. The Holy Father has recently said that “nationalism” is diabolical, and the same can be said of any division. This does not mean that all of us have to do or be exactly the same. Each one has his own charism, but not in opposition. There is no division in the Spirit (cf. I Cor. 12:4). History repeats itself. When England broke off from Rome through the illegal decree of Henry VIII, most people were Catholic. A very small fraction were Protestants. But the Catholics were highly disorganized, and many times fighting each other. The Protestants were highly organized and collaborated with each other, being united not by a common doctrine, but by a common action against the Catholic Church. And so they got hold of power and authority. The result is that the vast English-speaking world, with so many countries, is now fragmented into twenty-six thousand Protestant sects. This Conference fervently and very strongly promotes the unity of all Christians, and especially the unity of those who confess themselves to be faithful followers of the Vicar of Christ, the Pope and the Church, because the enemy, Lucifer, knows how to divide and conquer by many ingenious and deviated ways, creating conflicts between us, promoting pettiness and personalistic tendencies and ideas, and thus tearing at the mantle of the Church. Therefore, so much of the energy and vitality of the Church is wasted instead of being used for the building up of the Body of Christ. The Patron of the Conference Series, the former Anglican Bishop of London, Rt. Rev. and Rt. Hon. Msgr. Graham Leonard, has published a very meaningful pamphlet of a talk he gave when he was still officially a Protestant, entitled “The Tyranny of Subjectivism.” For this reason we also avoided inviting people who, confessing themselves to be faithful followers of the Church, nevertheless create divisions among the faithful followers. The biggest danger to the Church is not in Her outside enemies but in the lack of unity among those who otherwise confess themselves to be faithful followers of the Vicar of Christ. This serious sin terribly weakens the Church. “If you go on biting and tearing one another to pieces, take care! You will end up in mutual destruction.” (Gal. 5:15) The purpose of the Conference is not to debate any particular issue in the Church, for this is a gathering of exceptional personalities, in faith and in intellect, who give their complete adherence to the Church. In this Conference there are no “ifs” or “buts” or “maybes,” but a total loyalty to the Church. But this is not a blind loyalty. This is not an emotional Conference with emphasis on feelings. The faith of the speakers is not a faith of feelings but of grace profoundly based on the intellectual study of the history of the Church, of Her dogmas and of Her morals. The purpose of the Conference is to prove that the Church is alive and well and that the great luminaries of this century, as has happened in the previous twenty centuries, have joined and loved the Catholic Church wholeheartedly. The spirit and aim of the Path to Rome series is aptly summed up by the following words of the conclusion of the Declaration Dominus Jesus: “The revelation of Christ will continue to be ‘the true lodestar’ in history for all humanity: ‘The truth, which is Christ, imposes itself as an all-embracing authority’. The Christian mystery, in fact, overcomes all barriers of time and space, and accomplishes the unity of the human family: ‘From their different locations and traditions all are called in Christ to share in the unity of the family of God’s children... Jesus destroys the walls of division and creates unity in a new and unsurpassed way through our sharing in His mystery.’ This unity is so deep that the Church can say with Saint Paul: ‘You are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are saints and members of the household of God (Eph 2:19).’” Let us make our own the following prayer from the Liturgy of the Hours (taken from February 22, the Feast of the Chair of St. Peter): “All-powerful Father, You have built Your Church on the rock of St. Peter’s confession of Faith. May nothing divide or weaken our unity in faith and love. Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever.” May Mary, the Virgin Mother who profoundly dislikes divisions among Her children, pray for this Path to Rome Conference Series and may we continually invoke her under the title Mother of Unity. |