Template talk:LIBERA NOS

The Pact of the Catacombs

The Pact of the Catacombs is an agreement signed by 42[1] bishops of the Catholic Church at a meeting following Mass in the Catacombs of Domitilla near Rome on the evening of 16 November 1965, three weeks before the close of the Second Vatican Council. They pledged to live like the poorest of their parishioners and adopt a lifestyle free of attachment to ordinary possessions. The Pact said they would "try to live according to the ordinary manner of our people in all that concerns housing, food, means of transport.... We renounce forever the appearance and the substance of wealth, especially in clothing ... and symbols made of precious metals." More than 500 bishops added their signatures in the next few months. Laying the theological foundation for the Pact, Cardinal Giacomo Lercaro, Archbishop of Bologna, in December 1962 addressed the Council at length on the centrality of poverty. He held, according to one summary of his views, that "the question of the church of the poor ... should be the general and synthesizing subject of the whole Council."

Hélder Câmara, Archbishop of Olinda e Recife, Brazil, was the moving force behind the Pact itself. Others included the Brazilians Bishop Antônio Batista Fragoso of Crateús and Bishop Jose Maria Pires of Araçuaí; Bishop Manuel Larraín Errázuriz of Talca, Chile; Bishop Marcos Gregorio McGrath of Santiago de Veraguas, Panama; and Bishop Leonidas Proaño of Riobamba, Ecuador.[4] Bishop Charles-Marie Himmer (1902-1994) of Tournai, Belgium, presided at the Mass.[3] The only North American among the first to sign was Bishop Gerard-Marie Coderre of Saint-Jean-de-Quebec.

Francis met with Luigi Bettazzi, who was Auxiliary Bishop of Bologna under Lercaro as the last survivor of the original signors. Luigi says it included an implicit criticism of capitalism. But did it?

The document itself was lost and became associated with liberation theology. A reproduction in Latin may exist but how faithful to the original was it?

In September 2017 Francis began his speech with words reminiscent of the Pact: "It is a consolation to be with those who carry on the apostolate of the Church; religious men seeking to bear witness against worldliness."

While Christ's kingdom being a not a part of the world and rooted in pure religion not spotted by the world provides for the poor through charity a lone, rejecting all forms of socialism.

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Did Bishop John William Comber, M.M. sign the pact?

John William Comber, M.M. (March 12, 1906 – March 27, 1998) was an American-born Catholic missionary and bishop.

John Comber was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts to Thomas F. and Nora (Higgins) Comber. He was educated at St. Mary’s Grade School in Lawrence and St. John’s Preparatory School in Danvers, Massachusetts. He studied at Boston College for two years after which he entered Maryknoll Seminary in Ossining, New York. Comber earned a Bachelor of Sacred Theology at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.[1] He was ordained a priest on February 1, 1931.[2] Priesthood

After his ordination Comber spent eleven years in the Maryknoll Mission at Fushun, China.[1] He learned to speak and write Mandarin fluently. After the outbreak of World War II Comber and his two sisters, Sr. Rita Clare, M.M., and Sr. Francis Helena, S.N.D. who were also missionaries in Japanese controlled territories, were interned by the Japanese military. They were among the second exchange of nationals repatriated to the United States in December 1943. After a period of recuperation, Comber was assigned to teach Mission Sociology at Maryknoll Seminary in January 1944 and five months later he became the school's rector. During his time as rector, 416 Maryknollers were ordained priests.[1] In 1953 he was assigned to the mission field in Peru, where he learned Spanish. The following year he was appointed Group Superior for the new Maryknoll Mission in Chile.

Comber was chosen as a delegate to the Fourth General Chapter of Maryknoll. On August 6, 1956 he was elected as the Fourth Superior General of the Society. During his ten years in office, Maryknoll experienced a period of rapid growth. They realized their largest number of members and mission commitments.[1] While remaining as Superior General, Pope John XXIII appointed him as the Titular Bishop of Foratiana on January 23, 1959. Episcopacy

John Comber was consecrated a bishop on April 9, 1959 in Queen of Apostles Chapel at Maryknoll Seminary by Cardinal Francis Spellman of New York. The principal co-consecrators were Bishops Raymond Lane, M.M., Comber's predecessor as Superior General, and Martin McNamara of Joliet in Illinois.[3] Comber attended all four sessions of the Second Vatican Council. After the Council he was appointed as a member of the Post-Conciliar Commission on Missions. After his term as Superior General he served as an Auxiliary Bishop in the Archdiocese of New York. Cardinal Spellman appointed him the pastor of the Church of the Transfiguration in Lower Manhattan in 1967. He retired after two years and moved to the Maryknoll Development House on East 39th Street. Later that year he moved to St. Agnes Rectory in Midtown Manhattan. He served as auxiliary bishop until his resignation was accepted by Pope Paul VI on January 12, 1976.

Later life and death As his health declined Comber moved to the St. Teresa Residence in Ossining where he remained until his death. He died on March 27, 1998 at the age of 92. His funeral Mass was celebrated in the Queen of Apostles Chapel on April 1, 1998 by New York Auxiliary Bishop Patrick Sheridan. He was buried in the Maryknoll Center Cemetery.[1

23 Jan 1959 52.8 Appointed Titular Bishop of Foratiana 9 Apr 1959 53.0 Ordained Bishop Titular Bishop of Foratiana 7 Aug 1966 60.4 Resigned Superior General of Catholic Foreign Mission Society of America 27 Mar 1998 92.0 Died Superior General Emeritus of Catholic Foreign Mission Society of America