Francis (2022)

A thread to note and to comment on anything connected with the Holy Father, Pope Francis.

Pope Francis’ action-packed agenda for 2022 (America Magazine)

Pope Francis plans to publish a constitution to reform the Roman Curia, appoint several senior Vatican officials, hold a consistory to create new cardinals, celebrate the 10th World Meeting of Families in Rome and, depending on the Covid-19 situation, visit countries in the Middle East, Asia, Africa and Europe—all in 2022. The pope, who celebrated his 85th birthday on Dec. 17, is clearly not planning to slow down. The pope is in good health, and his plans for 2022 indicate that he is carrying out his duties as pontiff with as much vigor as ever; there appears to be no resignation or conclave on the horizon. As Indian Cardinal Oswald Gracias told America, Francis’ attitude towards his papacy can be summed up as: “The Lord has chosen me, the Lord will protect me as long as he wants. I’m doing my best, and when he wants, he takes me away”...

Pope calls for end to violence against women in new year message (Guardian)

Pope Francis has used his new year’s message to call for an end to violence against women, saying it was an insult to God...

Pope at Angelus: May Mary inspire harmony in our hearts and world (Vatican News)

Mary's presentation of Jesus gives us "a wonderful message" that "God is near, within our reach," the Pope said, not in order to be feared but with the "frailness of someone who asks to be loved." He added that God shared in our human condition to be with us as one of us, "born little and in need so that no one would ever again be ashamed," and to draw ever nearer to us, excluding no one, making us all brothers and sisters...

Pope at Angelus: Be open to God who loves to dwell among us (Vatican News)

At the first Sunday Angelus of the New Year, Pope Francis encourages us to invite Jesus into our lives, especially the difficult areas where we struggle, since "God loves to dwell among us"...

One of my favourite gospel quotes, "The Word became flesh, he lived among us" (John 1:14), or as some scripture scholars tell us, "he pitched his tent amongst us". The joy and mystery of the incarnation.

Pandemic brings 'difficult times' but focus on the good, Pope says in New Year's message (CBC)

In his New Year's Day wishes to the world, Pope Francis encouraged people to focus on the good that unites them and decried violence against women, while acknowledging that the COVID-19 pandemic has left many scared and struggling amid economic inequality. "We are still living in uncertain and difficult times due to the pandemic," Francis said on Saturday. "Many are frightened about the future and burdened by social problems, personal problems, dangers stemming from the ecological crisis, injustices and by global economic imbalances"... Peace, the Pope said, "demands concrete actions. It is built by being attentive to the least, by promoting justice, with the courage to forgive, thus extinguishing the fire of hatred." Francis also championed embracing a positive attitude, "one that always sees, in the church as well as in society, not the evil which divides us but the good that unites us"...

I'm struck by that last phrase, embracing a positive attitude "that always sees, in the church as well as in society, not the evil which divides us but the good that unites us". We might do well to practice that attitide in this LT Catholic Tradition group, where too often we see division rather than unity.

Visiting the Sick a Christian Imperative: Pope Francis Ahead of the World Day of the Sick

In a message ahead of the World Day of the Sick, Pope Francis reminded Catholics that caring for the ill and infirm is not the calling of a few, but part of every Christian’s mission to show mercy...

Pope Francis’ January 2022 Prayer Intention is for Victims of Religious Persecution

For the first month of 2022, Pope Francis has asked Catholics to pray for those facing religious discrimination and persecution. In a video appeal released Jan. 4, the pope called religious persecution “inhuman” and “insane.” “Let us pray that those who suffer discrimination and suffer religious persecution may find in the societies in which they live the rights and dignity that comes from being brothers and sisters,” he said...

The pope's uphill battle to reform the Roman Curia (Crux)

A look at the last two centuries explains why reforming the Vatican is so complicated...

"I continue to dream of a completely missionary Church": Pope Francis

Writing in his World Mission Day message, released on Jan. 6, the Solemnity of the Epiphany, the pope called for renewed efforts to spread the Gospel. “Dear brothers and sisters, I continue to dream of a completely missionary Church, and a new era of missionary activity among Christian communities,” he wrote... This year’s theme is “You shall be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8). The pope described Christ’s words in the Acts of the Apostles as “the heart of Jesus’ teaching to the disciples”...

And probably no coincidence that the Holy Father released this message to coincide with the anniversary of the founding of Propaganda Fides.

On the Feast of the Epiphany 400 Years Ago, the Vatican Founded Propaganda Fide

On the feast of the Epiphany 400 years ago, Pope Gregory XV founded a Vatican congregation dedicated to spreading the Gospel: Propaganda Fide...

Both from ACI Africa

I think the Pope also had modern day narcissism in mind when noticing that couples today have two pets instead of children....JMJ....

Maybe This year Francis will repudiate his accord with China and recognize the 11 million real Roman Catholics he threw under the bus including Jimmy Lai....JMJ....

At Baptism Mass Pope recalls importance of preserving Christian identity (Vatican News)

In the Sistine Chapel Pope Francis baptizes sixteen infants during the Mass for the Solemnity of the Baptism of the Lord, recalling the responsibility of all to help them preserve their Christian identity throughout their lives...

Francis reassigns Vatican doctrinal official, signaling other likely changes (NCR)

Pope Francis on Jan. 10 named the secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith as the head of an Italian diocese, signaling a potential organizational overhaul of one of the Vatican's most important offices in the near future... Later this year, Francis is expected to approve and release a much-anticipated new apostolic constitution, which will reorganize the Vatican's central bureaucracy and likely provide the occasion for a changing of the guard in many of the Roman curial departments. The new constitution is expected to result in the creation of a new Dicastery for Evangelization, which will be given priority over the once all-powerful doctrinal office...

Edited to add: Pope slips out of Vatican to visit record shop, gets CD (AP)

Pope Francis grew up listening to the opera on the radio, is a fan of Argentine tango and thinks Mozart “lifts you to God.” But it still came as a something of a shock to see the 85-year-old pontiff coming out of a downtown Rome record shop late Tuesday with a CD in hand. He had made an unannounced visit that was caught on camera by a Vatican reporter who happened to be nearby... Francis had slipped inside and stayed for about 12 minutes, chatting with the owners, Martinez-Brocal reported. They then recounted what had transpired: It turns out the former Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was a customer during his visits to Rome, and had promised them he’d come visit when he met with them at the Vatican. Francis, an Argentine whose love of tango and milonga is well known, didn’t buy anything. But the shop owners gave him a CD of classical music...

Why hasn't the Vatican expressed any concern or focused any media attention on the brutal clampdowns, surveillance, control, and repression of Chinese citizens especially Catholics? Why has the Pope not spoken about the recent disturbances in Hong Kong and the arrest of it's Catholic leaders? Why is His Holiness not defending free speech, or the rights of Catholics within China. Could the answer be in the largely secret agreement that Roman Catholic priests be advised to join the "state authorized catholic church" ?

Pope Francis removes from Vatican doctrine office archbishop who is believed to have banned same-sex blessings (America Magazine)

Pope Francis took the first step Monday to reorganize the Vatican’s powerful doctrine office, removing the No. 2 official widely believed responsible for a controversial document barring blessings for same-sex couples because God “cannot bless sin”... He was widely seen as being behind the March 2021 document that outraged the gay community, which Francis has made pains to welcome into the church fold.The document declared that the Catholic Church won’t bless same-sex unions because God “cannot bless sin.” The document said Francis had been informed of the document and “gave his assent” to its publication, but Francis was apparently taken by surprise by its impact...

" The other day I spoke about the demographic winter there is now adays, in which we see that people do not want to have children or just one and no more, and many, many couples do not have children because they do not want to, or they just have one-but they have two dogs, two cats, yes dogs and cats take the place of children." Let us join with the Holy Father in asking the intercession of St Joseph to awaken consciences toward an openness to life and to promote the dignity of the person....JMJ....

Pope: "I miss being able to roam the streets like I did in Buenos Aires" (Vatican News)

"What I miss most in this Diocese is not being able to 'wander the streets,' as I did in Buenos Aires, walking from one parish to another." Pope Francis made this remark in a letter to Spanish journalist Javier Martínez Brocal, the director of the Rome-based news website Rome Reports...

"We must not lose our sense of humor": Pope to Journalist Who Caught Him Leaving Store (ACI Africa)

Pope Francis revealed that he had attempted to keep his visit secret, joking that, “one cannot deny that it was a ‘terrible fate’ that, after taking all precautions, there was a journalist waiting for someone at the cab stop.” He continued, “We must not lose our sense of humor,” and thanked the journalist “for fulfilling your vocation, even if it means giving the Pope a hard time”...

"The Lord wants us to trust one another": Pope Francis (ACI Africa)

Pope Francis said on Tuesday that God wants Christians to trust one another, “despite the errors of the past and our mutual wounds,” as he marked the end of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity... “On our journey of fellowship, may we never fail to hear {Jesus’} words of encouragement: ‘Do not be afraid’ (Matthew 28:5.10),” he said. “Let us not fear to put our brothers and sisters ahead of our own fears! The Lord wants us to trust one another and to journey together, despite our failings and our sins, despite the errors of the past and our mutual wounds”...

Ubi solitudinem faciunt pacem appellant....JMJ....

I’m a ‘traditional’ Catholic. That’s exactly why I love Pope Francis (and am baffled by his critics) (America Magazine)

I am the kind of Catholic who is supposed to be a Pope Francis foe. I think the felt-banner Catholicism of the 1970s was a disaster, discarding much of the patrimony of the church while ignoring the letter and the spirit of the Second Vatican Council. I do not think the church should “get with the times”; the church is the expert in humanity and divinity. I firmly believe that we are not to conform to the times but to renew the church by returning to the sources of our faith: the tradition as transmitted by the magisterium and the whole people of God. And for these reasons, I support Pope Francis.

Pope Francis confounds our expectations because our expectations tend to be shaped by the world... Far more painful for me has been the response to Francis from many of my fellow traditionally minded Catholics... The good news, according to them, was that Pope Francis will die soon enough. This fits a pattern of discussion by Francis’ critics expressed in the snide use of the name “Bergoglio,” the negative hermeneutic applied to what Pope Francis says, and the disregard of papal initiatives that would in other circumstances make traditionalists cheer—the celebration of Dante, the elevation of St. Irenaeus as a doctor of the church, the institution of the Year of St. Joseph. Having myself learned how important it is to be committed to the papacy from Catholic traditionalists, I find it dizzying and dispiriting to hear the vitriol launched at our current pontiff...

Both critics and supporters fail to see the traditionalism of Francis. Let me highlight three forms of his traditionalism. First, to actually be a traditional Catholic means supporting and carrying out the reforms of Vatican II. Francis guards this tradition from those of us who think Vatican II is optional or regrettable...

Second, one of the tasks of the pope is to send missionaries out to the world... the essence of the Gospel is spreading the Gospel. For Francis, the inner life of the church is going to those outside of the church. What are we to do? Invite them into the church, for it is within that we fully encounter Christ. This might not sound all that new, but then Francis is pretty traditional.

Third, at the heart of Francis’ traditionalism are the images I used in opening this essay: a pope asking for prayer, a pope offering prayer. This is the lex orandi of Francis’ papacy, the law of prayer that shapes his ministry and teaching. In his annual “Urbi et Orbi” address, Francis calls us to “prayer and quiet service.” He reminds us to be confident in these, “our victorious weapons.” In the face of a global pandemic, Francis has the confidence that prayer and works of mercy are the paths to victory. This confidence is essential to the Petrine office...

When Francis speaks Ex Cathedra I listen when he speaks on faith and morals I pray for him, My problem with him and I suppose about any body is their preferences....JMJ....

Pope Francis Tells Religious Sisters to Fight Back When Mistreated by "men of the Church" (ACI Africa)

Pope Francis told religious sisters’ to fight back when they are treated unfairly or “reduced to servitude” by men of the Church. “I encourage all consecrated women to discern and choose what is best for their mission in the face of the world’s challenges that we’re experiencing,” Pope Francis said in a video message on Feb. 1. “I invite them to fight when, in some cases, they are treated unfairly, even within the Church; when they serve so much that they are reduced to servitude —at times, by men of the Church,” the pope said. Pope Francis has asked Catholics to pray in a particular way in the month of February for religious sisters and consecrated women. In his video message, the pope did not provide any more context for his comments on the mistreatment of religious sisters.

A book published in November 2021 in Italian entitled “The Veil of Silence: Abuses, Violence, Frustrations in Women's Religious Life” by Salvatore Cernuzio, a journalist for the Vatican’s news service, detailed the experience of religious sisters who recounted “abuse of power” within the convent – including a situation in which a sister’s report that a priest had attempted to molest her was brushed aside by a mother superior. The pope mentioned in a speech in December that he had received a copy of the book by Cernuzio on “the everyday abuses that hurt the strength of the vocation”...

I agree nuns should fight fight back all three of them that I have seen in the last decade. I wish he would stand up to real persecution going on in China and Islamic states....JMJ....

>19 brone: all three of them

Sorry, all three of what/whom? It's not clear to me what you mean.

Underground channels of human rights advocacy say Vatican appointed Bishop Zhang Weizhu, 7 priests and a number of others arrested last May have not been heard from, you may remember me mentioning them a while ago. Not one word from Bergoglio, Parolin, Roache, or the head of the Euroweenie bishops who the other day made the earth shaking statement that "the doctrine on homosexuality must be changed". All of them united under the hijacked rainbow. They deny the faithful in China are being persecuted, Bergoglio's last words to the Chinese people "pray for your civic leaders" how encouraging....JMJ....

>20 John5918: Nuns! I take it you have no problem with my last sentence.

>21 brone:

Has it become normal to refer to the Holy Father by his surname? I don't recall seeing Pope Pius XII regularly referred to as Pacelli, John Paul II as Wojtyła, nor indeed that great (and only) English pope Adrian IV as Breakspear, although there is a brewery with that name, and I believe the founder was distantly related to the former Holy Father.

>22 brone:

Nuns. Have you only seen three nuns in the last ten years? What a sheltered life you lead! I've met hundreds. I got a phone call only yesterday from a mother superior to talk about the murder of two of her nuns last year, who were executed by armed men in military uniform.

And yes, I have no problem with calls to oppose oppression and persecution in any form. However, without wishing to go off topic too much, my own experience of advocacy for peace and human rights over the last quarter century has shown me that the methods used may vary in different circumstances. Sometimes behind-the-scenes diplomacy is more appropriate and effective than outright public condemnation. However I'm no expert on China so I don't know what the pope's strategy is in this case. His response to oppression and injustice in South Sudan was not harsh public criticism, but rather to invite the offending leaders to Rome for a spiritual retreat during which he kissed their feet. The Church's approach to injustice and conflict must be (and under this pope is) radically different to that of politicians and social scientists.

It might also be worth noting that confrontational statements seem to be politically and culturally popular in the Global North, whereas in the Global South a more relational approach is often used. I recall that when Blair and Bush were publicly and harshly condemning Mugabe for his actions in Zimbabwe, they also criticised Thabo Mbeki for his softly-softly approach. Mbeki's response was basically that while what Mugabe was doing was wrong, South Africa as a neighbour had to remain in relationship with Zimbabwe for good or ill. In fact his approach was no less effective than that of the UK and the USA who were sniping ineffectually at Mugabe from far away, and was probably more effective. The Global South is also more attuned to restorative justice as opposed to retributive justice. Rather than trying to prove someone's guilt, they look for ways to restore a broken relationship and bring the most benefit to the community. Again, I make no judgement on whether the Holy Father's approach is working, as I'm no expert on China, but I would not dismiss it out of hand without knowing more about his intentions.

Respond to Conflict "with the sign of fraternity": Pope Francis (ACI Africa)

Pope Francis on Friday encouraged people of all religious faiths to combat the world’s darkness and conflict with signs of fraternity. “Let us counter the many threatening signs, times of darkness, and mindsets of conflict with the sign of fraternity that, in accepting others and respecting their identity, invites them to a shared journey,” the pope said on Feb. 4... Pope Francis said: “Fraternity is one of the fundamental and universal values that ought to undergird relationships between peoples, so that the suffering or disadvantaged do not feel excluded and forgotten, but accepted and supported as part of the one human family... We all live under the same heaven and, in the name of God, we who are his creatures must acknowledge that we are brothers and sisters. As believers from different religious traditions, we have a role to play,” he said. “What is that role? To help our brothers and sisters raise their eyes and their prayers to heaven”...

>25 John5918: Does not mention Jesus once, sounds more like Voltere and Rousseau the a Pope.

>21 brone:

What's a "Euroweenie bishop", incidentally? I've only just noticed that one.

Sheltered yep, so was John The Baptist, Anthony of Egypt, The Desert Fathers, latter day monks who keep silent and don't fill our head with ambiguities and destruction of our Traditions....AMDG.....

>27 John5918: Really for someone so unsheltered you gutta get out more...AMDG....

>28 brone: latter day monks who keep silent and don't fill our head with ambiguities and destruction

Yes, indeed, I think that's a good example of what I was explaining in >24 John5918:. There are times when public statements are effective, and times when other methods may be more appropriate. One might consider Pope Pius XII. He has been widely criticised for failing to publicly speak up against the Nazis, but I think historians now have a more nuanced view of his actions, and it is clear that the Vatican helped many Jews and other oppressed people to escape from Nazi persecution. I make no judgement on whether he was right or wrong (or both), and his stance will continue to attract controversy, but he faced a dilemma and no doubt steered the course that he prayerfully discerned to be the most appropriate in the circumstances.

The progressive elite evolutionists all most likely won't admit it but nonetheless claim that immutable truths do not exist because they are evolutionists and evolution implies continuous change. They also believe all world religions are true because of some vague divine spark infused in them. Disagree with them and you become a simple little conservative Christian (Neanderthal), racist, close minded, uncharitable, political, Sheltered,I am told you should really leave this site and go where you belong. The big shot calling the shots here does not want to hear dissent or to listen to anyone who might attempt a difinitive explanation of true mystery and smear those with arrogance when we speak with clarity God's answers to fundamental questions our culture raises....JMJ....

>33 brone:

Might I just point out that >31 John5918: has nothing to do with not wanting to hear dissent nor disagreement, and nobody is suggesting that you leave this site. It's simply that in the Catholic Tradition group one would expect the disagreement and dissent to be expressed charitably without resorting to disrespectful, inflammatory and offensive comments and politically partisan labels, slogans and insults. It would be good to hear rational arguments. But if you want to post those sort of comments, you don't need to leave the site to do so as you are perfectly free to post them in the Pro and Con group.

Don’t "remain barricaded in the sacristy": Pope Francis to Priests (ACI Africa)

Pope Francis encouraged priests on Monday not to “remain barricaded in the sacristy” as the world is “waiting for the Gospel”... "we need to open up, to expand the horizon of ministry to the dimensions of the world, to reach out to every child, whom God wishes to embrace with his love.” The pope went on: “Please, let us not remain barricaded in the sacristy and cultivate small closed groups where we can snuggle up and be comfortable. There is a world waiting for the Gospel and the Lord desires His shepherds to be conformed to Him, carrying in their hearts and on their shoulders the expectations and burdens of the flock. Open, compassionate, merciful hearts”...

Archbishop of Canterbury: South Sudan trip with Pope Francis may happen in coming months (NCR)

Pope Francis and Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby may undertake their much anticipated, but delayed joint trip to South Sudan in "the next few months" to encourage peace in a country still recovering from a bloody civil war and a humanitarian crisis. "God willing, sometime in the next few months, perhaps year, we will go and see them in Juba, not in Rome, and see what progress can be made," said the head of the global Anglican Communion on Feb. 6, referring to South Sudan's leaders. "That is history," said Welby of the likely trip that will mark the first time the two ecumenical leaders have traveled together in such a capacity. Francis and Welby had sought to visit the war-torn country in 2017, although the country's violent conflict and deteriorating conditions had foiled those plans. During his Feb. 6 remarks at an arts festival in Belfast, Ireland, Welby recalled a 2019 retreat at the Vatican where Francis met together with both the South Sudanese president and the country's rebel leadership. Following an address, which Welby recalled as "utterly beautiful," Francis — in a surprise gesture — knelt down and kissed the feet of the 5-member leadership delegation from South Sudan, begging both the president and the rebel leadership not to return to civil war. "I could see tears running down their faces," Welbly recalled. "Tears were running down every face there, including the BBC cameraman”...

Joe Biden,joined the pope and Ahmad ah Tayeb the most famous Sunni cleric in the muslim world known for his anti Jewish views and also his belief that a husband may spank a disobedient spouse "as long as no bones are broken or organs harmed" how thoughtful of the great sheik. Anyway these three are calling for greater global cooperation on the Virus, and you guessed it climate change. Comforting to know that these guys are worrying about the polar Ice cap, Do you think they might have some thing to say about China unleashing this virus on the world in the first place? Don't hold your breadth....AMDG....

Human Trafficking has Created "an open wound on the body of Christ": Pope Francis (ACI Africa)

Pope Francis said on Tuesday that the suffering caused by human trafficking is “an open wound on the body of Christ.” “Human trafficking is violence. The violence suffered by every woman and every girl is an open wound on the body of Christ, on the body of all humanity; it is a deep wound that affects every one of us too,” the pope said in a video message released on Feb. 8. The pope condemned both the human trafficking of laborers and sex trafficking, which he said relegates women and girls to “dispensers of pleasure” and “proposes yet again a model of relationships marked by the power of the male gender over the female.” “The organization of societies worldwide is still far from reflecting clearly the fact that women have the same dignity and identical rights as men,” he said. Pope Francis added that both men and women can and must fight to ensure that the dignity of every person is recognized with “special attention to those whose fundamental rights have been violated”...

Pope Francis may visit South Sudan in “next few months” (Sudan Tribune)

Pope Francis may undertake his much anticipated, but delayed trip to South Sudan in “the next few months”, Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury announced on February 6. The visit, where Welby is expected to accompany the Pope, is to encourage peace in a country recovering from a civil war and humanitarian crisis...

The Dying Need Palliative Care, Not Euthanasia or Assisted Suicide: Pope Francis (ACI Africa)

Pope Francis said on Wednesday that the dying need palliative care, not euthanasia or assisted suicide... He expressed gratitude for palliative care, which seeks to improve the quality of life of people suffering from severe illnesses. “However, we must be careful not to confuse this help with unacceptable drifts towards euthanasia,” he said. “We must accompany people towards death, but not provoke death or facilitate assisted suicide”...

Pope: ‘Wild world needs to be more Christian and humane’ (Vatican News)

Pope Francis congratulates the Better World Movement on its 70th anniversary, and calls for Christians to help make the world more humane and peaceful... Pope Francis congratulates the Better World Movement on its 70th anniversary, and calls for Christians to help make the world more humane and peaceful... “Above all, I encourage you to work for justice, for children and the elderly, and for peace. This is a better world, which we want to be a world of peace”... The Movement for a Better World was founded by Fr. Riccardo Lombardi, SJ, at the request of Pope Pius XII... laid out a series of Exercises for a Better World, mirroring those of St. Ignatius of Loyola, and envisioned the organization more as a dynamism engaged with the Church and the world than as an organization...

Pope Francis Recalls Powerful Message from His Predecessor, Pius XII, 70 Years Later (ACI Africa)

In a video message on Thursday, Pope Francis encouraged Christians to stay committed to making the world a more just and peaceful place, as his predecessor Pius XII urged 70 years ago...

I applaud Pope Francis on his stand for life and also the EU Bishops stand for life on France's proposed abortion initiative....JMJ....

Pope at Angelus: Jesus’ disciples are poor and happy (Vatican News)

In his Sunday Angelus address, Pope Francis reflects on the Christian identity encapsulated in the Beatitudes, and says Jesus’ disciples are blessed because they are poor...

Accept the "Paradox of the Beatitudes": Pope Francis at the Sunday Angelus (ACI Africa)

Pope Francis spoke on the paradox of the Beatitudes in his Sunday Angelus address on Feb. 13, saying that the defining characteristic of a disciple of Jesus is joy. “Indeed, the Beatitudes define the identity of the disciple of Jesus,” said Pope Francis to a crowd gathered in St. Peter’s Square. “That might sound strange, almost incomprehensible to those who are not disciples, but if we ask ourselves what the disciple of Jesus is like, the answer is precisely in the beatitudes.” Pope Francis noted that Jesus told his people “that they are blessed and they are poor; indeed, that they are blessed because they are poor.” The disciples, “do not find their joy in money, power, or other material goods,” said the pope, but rather in “the gifts they receive every day from God: life, creation, brothers and sisters, and so on”...

"Let us think about those who have denied the faith, who are apostates, who are the persecutors of the church, who have denied their baptism: Are these also at home? Yes these too, even the blasphemers, everyone we are brothers. This is the Communion of Saints. The communion of saints holds together the community of believers on earth and in heaven" Pope Francis Feb2022. This is what evolution of doctrine comes to muddled to say the least. Progressives love inclusiveness and this covers all bases....JMJ....

>42 brone:

Doesn't sound "progressive" or "muddled". Sounds pretty orthodox to me. We are a church of sinners, not only the righteous.

Pope Francis Changes Structure of Vatican Doctrinal Office in Latest Roman Curia Reform (ACI Africa)

Pope Francis on Monday reorganized the internal structure of the Vatican’s doctrine office into two sections — the latest step in his ongoing reform of the Roman Curia. In a letter issued motu proprio (of his own accord) on Feb. 14, Pope Francis centralized the tasks of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith into a doctrinal section and a disciplinary section. The department previously had a third section, which dealt with marriage cases. With the motu proprio, titled Fidem servare, the responsibilities of the marriage office will be moved under the doctrinal section. The restructuring goes into effect immediately. In his apostolic letter, Pope Francis stated that the changes to the CDF’s organization have been made “in view of the experience gained during this time by the Congregation in various areas of work, and the need to give it an approach more suited to the fulfillment of the functions proper to it”...

Pope Francis transfers responsibilities to bishops (Vatican News)

With a new motu proprio published on Tuesday, Pope Francis has modified canon law for both the Latin Church and the Eastern Churches, changing the areas of competence for various bodies within the universal Church. Specifically, with the Apostolic Letter Assegnare alcune competenze (“Assigning certain competencies,” taken from the opening words, or incipit” of the document), Pope Francis transfers certain responsibilities from the Vatican to local bishops...

The full text can be found here. Click on the "Traduzione in lingua inglese" link for the English translation, "APOSTOLIC LETTER ISSUED “MOTU PROPRIO” BY THE SUPREME PONTIFF FRANCIS COMPETENTIAS QUASDAM DECERNERE INTRODUCING CHANGES TO SOME NORMS OF THE CODE OF CANON LAW AND THE CODE OF CANONS OF THE EASTERN CHURCHES". It doesn't look as if it contains anything particularly controversial or of real daily concern to ordinary lay Catholics.

Pope Francis Seeks "healthy decentralization" with New Changes to Canon Law (ACI Africa)

Pope Francis unveiled new changes to Church law in an apostolic letter published Tuesday, saying that he was seeking to promote “a healthy decentralization” in the Church. In the letter issued motu proprio (“on his own impulse”) on Feb. 15, the pope said that his intention with the changes was to “foster a sense of collegiality and pastoral responsibility” on the part of bishops, local bishops’ conferences, and major superiors religious communities, as well as to “support the principles of rationality, effectiveness, and efficiency”...

Pope calls priests to draw near to God, bishop, priests, and people (Vatican News)

Pope Francis drew on over fifty years of his own priesthood in an address aimed at helping today’s priests “experience the peace and fruitfulness that the Spirit desires to bestow.” His reflections came in an address to the International Theological Symposium, promoted by the Congregation of Bishops, which opened on Thursday morning. The Holy Father addressed his remarks not only to those priests “who, by their life and witness, showed me from my earliest years what it means to reflect the face of the Good Shepherd,” but also “to those brother priests” that he has had to accompany “because they had lost the flame of their first love,” priests whose “ministry had become barren, repetitive, and meaningless.” In a time of “epochal change,” he said, priests must learn to respond to the challenge not by retreating into the past, seeking “a sort of protection from risks”; nor by an “exaggerated optimism” that ignores the difficulties of change.” Instead, he said, “I prefer the response born of a trusting acceptance of reality, anchored in the wise and living Tradition of the Church, which enables us to ‘put out into the deep’ without fear.” All vocations, including the vocation to the priesthood, require trusting discernment to determine where God is leading us, the Pope said. Faced with the many questions and temptations of our age, Pope Francis said he wanted to focus on what is “decisive” for the life of a priest today, “the attitudes that sustain us as priests.” He focused on “four pillars of our priestly life,” which he described as “four forms of closeness”: closeness to God, to the bishop, to fellow priests, and to the People of God...

Pope Francis opens Vatican priesthood conference by upholding celibacy as a 'gift' (NCR)

Pope Francis on Feb. 17 kicked off a much anticipated three-day Vatican conference on the future of the Catholic priesthood by upholding clerical celibacy as a "gift" that should be lived out through "healthy relationships." "Celibacy is a gift that the Latin Church preserves, yet it is a gift that, to be lived as a means of sanctification, calls for healthy relationships, relationships of true esteem and true goodness that are deeply rooted in Christ," Francis told some 400 Catholic bishops, priests and theologians attending the Feb. 17-19 conference in Rome. The pope's remarks come at a time when some leading European bishops have signaled their willingness to relax the church's celibacy requirements for priests. "I would also add that when priestly fraternity thrives and bonds of true friendship exist, it likewise becomes possible to experience with greater serenity the life of celibacy," said the pope. "Without friends and without prayer, celibacy can become an unbearable burden and a counter-witness to the very beauty of the priesthood"...

The pope has issued more EO's the both Benedict and JPll. On Feb 2, The pope claimed Blasphemers as included in the communion of saints, I wonder has he enrolled the "catholics for choice" who desecrated the shrine of the Immaculate Conception on Jan 20 while 5,000 legitimate members of the Communion of Saints were inside praying for an end to the genocide of Abortion....JMJ....

Turning Other Cheek “action of those who have greater inner strength”: Pope Francis (ACI Africa)

To love one’s enemies and to turn the other cheek seems impossible, but Jesus Christ’s love gives Christians this strength that can save even those who hate them, Pope Francis said Sunday. “Turning the other cheek is not the loser’s fallback, but the action of those who have greater inner strength,” the pope told crowds in St. Peter’s Square gathered for the Angelus Feb. 20. “Turning the other cheek is to overcome evil with good, which opens a breach in the heart of the enemy, unmasking the absurdity of his hatred. And this attitude, this turning the other cheek, is not dictated by calculation or hatred, but by love.” “Dear brothers and sisters, it is the gratuitous and undeserved love that we receive from Jesus that generates in the heart a way of acting similar to his, which rejects all revenge,” Pope Francis said...

Growing up in me old parish the men were all veterans of Normandy, the Bulge, Iwo Jima and Guam, the priests were their chaplains, in a I suppose an irreverent way they explained what Jesus said when he turned the other cheek was "is that your best shot" These guys liked Jesus and were faithful to him till death....JMJ....

>50 brone:

Yes, I think that's the experience of our post-war generation. Like you, all the adults I knew when I was growing up had experienced war first hand, and most of the men (and some of the women) had served in the armed forces - my parents, teachers, relatives, neighbours, etc - and many of the public personalities that I was familiar with - politicians, actors, comedians, etc. I personally have lived through more than twenty years of war, often in the front line, often under fire, although thank God my work and my service did not involve active participation in violence, and the experience has gradually led me to a greater understanding of the evil of violence. Throughout history Christians have compromised on some of the more radical and difficult teachings of Jesus, and his attitude towards violence is one of them. Currently the Catholic Nonviolence Initiative is trying to interrogate our understanding of those difficult teachings. As St Paul reminds us, "the wisdom of the world is folly to God" (1 Cor 3:19) and "God's folly is wiser than human wisdom, and God's weakness is stronger than human strength" (1 Cor 1:25). It seems that when it comes to violence, many Christians choose the wisdom and strength of the world rather than the folly and weakness of Christ.

Pope Francis Appeals for End to "tragic" Ukraine Conflict

Pope Francis appealed on Sunday for an end to the Ukraine conflict. In his first direct public comments since the Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, the pope called for humanitarian corridors to be opened to allow Ukrainians to flee the intense fighting. “In recent days we have been shaken by something tragic: war. Time and again we have prayed that this road would not be taken. And let us not stop talking; indeed, let us pray to God more intensely”...

Pope Francis Expresses Sorrow in Phone Call to Ukrainian President Zelenskyy

Pope Francis on Saturday expressed his sorrow about the situation in Ukraine in a phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. According to the Ukrainian Embassy to the Holy See, Pope Francis had a conversation with Zelenskyy by phone on Feb. 26. “The Holy Father expressed his deepest sorrow for the tragic events taking place in our country,” the embassy wrote...

"I'll do everything I can" to Help End Conflict: Pope Francis to Ukrainian Catholic Leader

Pope Francis told the leader of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church on Friday that he would do everything he can to help end the Ukraine conflict. The pope called Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, who is based in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, in the late afternoon on Feb. 25, according to the Secretariat of the Major Archbishop in Rome. “During the phone call, Pope Francis was concerned about the situation in the city of Kyiv and in general throughout Ukraine. Pope Francis told His Beatitude: ‘I will do everything I can,’” the secretariat said...

All from ACI Africa

Church Leaders in South Africa Support Pope Francis Offer to Mediate Russia-Ukraine War (ACI Africa)

Church leaders in South Africa have expressed their “full support” for Pope Francis’ offer to arbitrate for an end to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In a Tuesday, March 1 statement addressed to Pope Francis, members of the South African Council of Churches (SACC) pray that the Holy Father be considered “the trusted broker” by both Ukraine and Russia. “We write to express the full support and encouragement of our churches in South Africa for the divinely inspired and most holy initiative of His Holiness to offer to mediate on an urgent basis, a peace settlement that will guarantee lasting peace between Moscow and Kyiv,” SACC leadership says. Officials of the organization that includes members of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SACBC) say the Holy Father’s offer “is an expression of the nearness of God to human suffering, for indeed violence begets more violence in a spiral that leaves untold suffering and devastation.” They say Pope Francis' offer to broker a round of talks “is God’s answer to the prayer behind our call in South Africa for a high-level peace initiative to bring about a ceasefire and dialogue, which we believe needs to be undergirded by the spirit of what we refer to in South Africa as ubuntu”...

Pope to visit Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan (Vatican News)

The Holy See Press Office on Thursday announced that Pope Francis will be travelling to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)and South Sudan in July, having accepted invitations from the relative Heads of States and Bishops. Pope Francis will therefore be visiting Kinshasa and Goma in DRC from 2 to 5 July, before travelling to Juba, in South Sudan, from 5 to 7 July 2022...

Pope Francis has often expressed his closeness to the people of the DRC, victims of violence, health issues, and political instability... Pope Francis will be the first Pope to visit the Democratic Republic of Congo...

Pope Francis has been tireless in pushing for peace in the world’s newest nation. In April 2019, He invited South Sudan's leaders to the Vatican for an Easter summit, stunning onlookers when he knelt down and kissed their feet in a humble plea for peace... Pope Francis will be the first Pope to travel to South Sudan.

In Peurto Ricco, Bergoglio fires Bishop Daniel Torres without formal proceedings, for opposition to the jab mandate, Torres has been a good and faithful defender of life and freedom for 12 years....JMJ....

>55 brone:

When you say "Bergoglio", I presume you are referring to the Holy Father who is more correctly referred to as Pope Francis?

On a more positive and lifegiving note, Pope Francis Wants 2023 World Youth Day in Lisbon to be an "event with life" (ACI Africa)

Given the many challenges the world is facing, next year’s World Youth Day should be a gathering filled with life and strength, Pope Francis told the Portugal event’s organizers. “In the midst of all these crises, you have to prepare and help so that the August 2023 event is a young event, a fresh event, an event with life, an event with strength, a creative event,” the pope said... “Do not live on the returns, on what has been done in the other meetings,” he said. “You have to create the meeting. If you are not creative, if you are not poets, this meeting will not work, it will not be original, it will be a photocopy of other meetings.” Francis cited Bl. Carlo Acutis. “As the young Italian blessed said: each of us has to be original, not a photocopy”...

Archbishop of Laplata (emeritus) is quoted as saying " Progressivism imposed by the Holy See advances relentlessly, without caring that it makes victims of men of God whose actions lead the Church to flourish". He also said, " the current Church is no longer concerned with Christ's mandate to evangelize, but with only imposing 'new paradigms' The case of Monsignor Torrez the Church works in reverse of what its mission should be"....JMJ....

>57 brone:

Presumably you're referring to articles such as this: Retired archbishop calls Pope Francis' Traditional Latin Mass restrictions 'a regrettable step backwards' (CNA)? Yes, a retired archbishop disagrees with the Holy Father on a particular governance issue, while at the same time noting, "the reasonableness of requiring an acceptance of the validity of Vatican II, the liturgical reform, and the magisterium".

I can't find the quote about "Christ's mandate to evangelize" in that article, but perhaps I'm missing something, or if it is elsewhere, perhaps you could supply us with a reference? It seems a strange thing for the retired archbishop to say when his successor has chosen Pope Francis' Apostolic Exhortation on the Proclamation of the Gospel Evangelii gaudium, which is all about Christ's mandate to evangelise, as the programme for his archdiocese.

Pope Francis “is coming as the father of a big family”: Catholic Archbishop in DR Congo (ACI Africa)

Pope Francis will be visiting the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) “as the father of a big family”, the Catholic Archbishop of the country’s Bukavu Archdiocese has said. Archbishop François-Xavier Maroy Rusengo who was addressing journalists Wednesday, March 9 spoke about Papal visit that has been scheduled for July this year. “The Pope is coming as the father of a big family. The first thing is to comfort the people of God, Catholics in particular and the Congolese people in general on the consolidation of faith in Jesus Christ,” Archbishop Maroy told journalists about the two-African-nation Papal trip that is to begin in DRC, and end in South Sudan. The Local Ordinary of DRC’s Bukavu Archdiocese who had been participating in a preparatory meeting with the Governor of North Kivu Province, Lieutenant-General Constant Ndima, further said, “The Pope is coming to implore divine mercy so that the Congolese people may be reconciled with God, with themselves and with each other.” “Pope Francis will touch the hearts of the Congolese people and make them understand that there is no interest in living through useless confrontations, useless conflicts, but we must build a single people, the people of God in the true sense of the word”...

Progresssives rarely talk about Mandates, Abortion, Or Bishops sexual Abuse in Argentina, A nun of the Little Sisters of the Sacred Heart. A former high ranking US army surgeon working now in the poorest sections of the Swamp DC has had her license suspended be cause of religious objections to the Vaccine. Not a word from cupcake Gregory....AMDG....

>60 brone: cupcake

I eventually looked up cupcake, as it's not a word I'm familiar with. I discovered it's a small sponge cake which in Britain we call a fairy cake. A tasty treat. I assumed then that your slang label "cupcake" might be akin to our British English use of "fruit cake" to describe someone who is eccentric or a bit crazy. However when I looked further online into slang dictionaries, I discovered that "cupcake" is a pejorative term used against homosexuals. Do you really think it is appropriate on a Catholic thread to use such insults against a cardinal of the Church, or indeed against any human being?

has had her license suspended be cause of religious objections to the Vaccine

There are no "religious objections to the vaccine" on the part of the Catholic Church, as has been made clear very publicly by both popes and by numerous bishops' conferences and individual bishops. If someone objects to the vaccine that is a personal position which, as Pope Francis and others have pointed out, should be considered very carefully by the individual in the light of Catholic Social Teaching on one's responsibility toward the common good.

Cupcake as far as American Slang goes is new what You imply is not, its a nick name given to Cupich of Chicago by his own priests....Cupcakes are not the real thing, not a big ole chocolate cake, kids like em, the slang fruitcake means the same here, these guys ain't fruitcakes they know what they are doing...Col. DD Byrne MD Sister of the Sacred Heart objection to the vaccine is a personal conscience choice,her choice, St Theresa of Avila, Catherine of Sienna, Edith Stein all were women who didn't jump through a hoop every time Rome spoke. Progressives as I say hate to ta;k about Abortion much less aborted fetus tissue which is the crux of this matter, Oh they say that aborted fetus happened so long ago look at the benefits now from that research. Margaret Sanger, Nazi Eugenic programs, are they all really in the past or has this evil always been present and now when we fight it even in a small way we are canceled, And please stop looking for a ( whats that word you love to use pejorative } hate crime every time I disagree with you or you with me. Your like His Holiness Francis l I agree with youse guys most of the time but Us Yanks we ain't used to socialists yet give us another year or two....JMJ....

The Saints Show Us How to Live in Communion With the Church: Pope Francis (ACI Africa)

Pope Francis reminded Jesuits and other religious orders on Saturday that their vocation is grounded in communion with the Catholic Church... “The saints we commemorate today were pillars of communion,” he said. “They remind us that, for all our differences of character and viewpoint, we have been called to be together. If we will be forever united in heaven, why not begin here?”...

" and I would like to emphasize something. Jesus does not converse with the devil; He never conversed with the devil. Either he banished him, when he healed the possessed, or in this case, when he has to respond so with the Word of God, never his own word, cling to the word of God like Jesus". What is this priest saying here is this his pericope on (luke 4:1-13) when he has to respond does so with the word of God not his own, I assume the Pope has read Jn 1 where it says, " and the Word was God, and then say " cling to the Word of God like Jesus, Once again the Pope gets lost in translation, bad sermon writers.this angelus talk on the firstSunday of lent says to me that the pope is making a huge embarrassing blunder or some other implicit reasoning. Can some progressive spin this for me. ....AMDG....

“In the name of God, I ask you: stop this massacre” in Ukraine: Pope Francis (ACI Africa)

Pope Francis on Sunday called for an end to the “harrowing war” in Ukraine, condemning in particular the “barbarism” of Russia’s reported attacks last week on civilians— including pregnant women and children— in the eastern city of Mariupol. “With an aching heart I add my voice to that of the common people, who implore the end of the war,” the pope said March 13, addressing the crowd gathered in St. Peter’s Square in Rome following the Angelus, a Marian prayer. "In the name of God, listen to the cry of those who suffer, and put an end to the bombings and the attacks! Let there be real and decisive focus on the negotiations, and let the humanitarian corridors be effective and safe. In the name of God, I ask you: stop this massacre!”...

Pope Francis Meets Bishop-elect for South Sudan's Rumbek Diocese at Vatican (ACI Africa)

On Monday, Pope Francis met the South Sudan bishop-elect whose consecration was postponed last year after he was shot in the legs shortly after his nomination to lead Rumbek diocese. Bishop-elect Christian Carlassare had a private meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican, 11 days before his episcopal consecration, scheduled for March 25... Carlassare, a member of the Comboni Missionaries, was shot in both legs in April 2021, just over a month after Pope Francis named him bishop of Rumbek, filling a vacancy that had lasted for almost a decade... He was shot during the early hours of April 26, 2021, when two armed men fired multiple bullets at his door, gaining access to his room in a block that houses priests serving at the Diocese of Rumbek’s Holy Family Cathedral... In June 2021, police in South Sudan’s Lakes State arrested a second person suspected of involvement in the shooting. The arrest brought the number of those detained concerning the incident to six, among them Father John Mathiang, who served as Rumbek’s diocesan coordinator...

Pope Francis to Consecrate Russia and Ukraine to Immaculate Heart of Mary (ACI Africa)

Pope Francis will consecrate Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, the Vatican announced on Tuesday. The Holy See press office said on March 15: “On Friday, March 25, during the Celebration of Penance at which he will preside at 5 p.m. in St. Peter’s Basilica, Pope Francis will consecrate Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.” “The same act, on the same day, will be carried out in Fatima by His Eminence Cardinal Krajewski, Apostolic Almoner, as envoy of the Holy Father.” Cardinal Konrad Krajewski was one of two papal envoys sent to Ukraine last week in an expression of the pope’s concern for the war-torn country’s population. March 25 was the day in 1984 that Pope John Paul II consecrated Russia and the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. It is also the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord...

Pope to Russian Patriarch: 'Church uses language of Jesus, not of politics' (Vatican News)

“There was a time, even in our Churches, when people spoke of a holy war or a just war. Today we cannot speak in this manner. A Christian awareness of the importance of peace has developed."

“Wars are always unjust, since it is the people of God who pay. Our hearts cannot but weep before the children and women killed, along with all the victims of war. War is never the way. The Spirit that unites us asks us as shepherds to help the peoples who suffer from war.”

“We exhort all Christians and all believers of God to pray fervently to the providential Creator of the world to protect His creation from destruction and not permit a new world war. In order to ensure a solid and enduring peace, specific efforts must be undertaken to rediscover the common values uniting us, based on the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Pope Francis in video conference with Russian Patriarch Kirill rejects religious defense of invasion (NCR)

Pope Francis on March 16 spoke by video conference with Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill, a key backer of Russian President Vladimir Putin's war against Ukraine. In the call, the two religious leaders pledged their respective commitments to securing peace. A Vatican communique stated that Francis rejected the justifications for the invasion as a "holy war," saying "today we cannot speak like this." "Christian awareness of the importance of peace has developed," said Francis. In recent weeks, Kirill has previously used religious language to justify his support for Russia's military aggression. According to the Vatican statement, the conversation focused "on the war in Ukraine and the role of Christians and their pastors in doing everything possible for peace to prevail"... "Those who pay the bill for the war are the people, it is the Russian soldiers and it is the people who are bombed and die," the pope continued. "The Church must not use the language of politics, but the language of Jesus." “Wars are always unjust. Because the one who pays is the people of God," Francis continued. "Our hearts cannot help but cry in front of the children, the women killed, all the victims of the war. War is never the way. The Spirit that unites us asks us as pastors to help the peoples who suffer from war"...

Let me emphasise that one little statement: “Wars are always unjust".

CCC 2309....JMJ....

Here's more spam for you to ignore. Your pacifist friends aren't doing much good. Can they read the CCC? Can you?

>71 brone:

Thanks for drawing attention to the clause in the Catechism of the Catholic Church on the "just war doctrine", which every Catholic should read rigorously and fully in the current climate.

CCC 2309: The strict conditions for legitimate defense by military force require rigorous consideration. The gravity of such a decision makes it subject to rigorous conditions of moral legitimacy. At one and the same time:

- the damage inflicted by the aggressor on the nation or community of nations must be lasting, grave, and certain;
- all other means of putting an end to it must have been shown to be impractical or ineffective;
- there must be serious prospects of success;
- the use of arms must not produce evils and disorders graver than the evil to be eliminated. The power of modern means of destruction weighs very heavily in evaluating this condition.

These are the traditional elements enumerated in what is called the "just war" doctrine. The evaluation of these conditions for moral legitimacy belongs to the prudential judgment of those who have responsibility for the common good.

It's also worth looking at ##500 and 501 of the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, which repeats the criteria from the Catechism, but includes further reflections, pointing out that "the mere fact that war has unfortunately broken out {does not} mean that all is fair between the warring parties", and that "exercising the right of self-defence must respect 'the traditional limits of necessity and proportionality'".

As you're probably aware, the Church's teaching has evolved on this over the millennia. In the early church, Christians took Jesus' message and example of nonviolence very seriously, and refused to serve in the military. Gradually, as they read the "signs of the times" (to use language popularised nearly two millennia later by Gaudium et spes), "Thou shalt not kill" became, "You can kill under certain circumstances", eg capital punishment, self defence, and what came to be known as a "just war". St Thomas Aquinas was arguably the initiator of modern Catholic "just war" doctrine (in his Summa. Theologiae II—II, question 40), which eventually developed to include a number of criteria; as well as the four listed above, it is generally considered that there must be a "just cause" and a legitimate authority to wage war.

Many people, including Catholics, seem to be unaware of all the criteria and look only at the "just cause" criterion. There are many "just causes" in the world which one might fight over, but the other criteria are equally important. Pope John Paul II criticised the 2003 US invasion of Iraq on the grounds that it was not the last resort; all other options had not been exhausted: ''War cannot be decided upon, even when it is a matter of ensuring the common good, except as the very last option, and in accordance with very strict conditions, without ignoring the consequences for the civilian population both during and after the military operations.''* With hindsight it's now clear that a number of other criteria were also not satisfied in that war. Since Pope John XXIII's Pacem in terris, once again reading the "signs of the times", there has been a trajectory in papal teaching to emphasise the last of the four points mentioned in the catechism, namely, "the use of arms must not produce evils and disorders graver than the evil to be eliminated. The power of modern means of destruction weighs very heavily in evaluating this condition." While there may still be a "just war" in theory, in practice it is very difficult for a modern war to satisfy the condition that "the use of arms must not produce evils and disorders graver than the evil to be eliminated". For several years now there has been a Catholic Nonviolence Initiative, initiated by the Vatican's Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development under Cardinal Turkson along with Pax Christi International, which brings together a large number of bishops, theologians, academics, peace practitioners and, most important, people who have experienced and are suffering from wars and violence, precisely to help "those who have responsibility for the common good" to exercise "prudential judgment", as demanded by the Catechism.

Incidentally there has also been a trajectory of papal teaching on the death penalty. While it had been permitted (and indeed utilised) by the Church for centuries, Pope John Paul II’s 1995 encyclical Evangelium vitae condemned capital punishment except “in cases of absolute necessity” which he said were “very rare, if not practically non-existent.” He called for its abolition just four years later. In Fratelli tutti, Pope Francis teaches, "There can be no stepping back from this position. Today we state clearly that 'the death penalty is inadmissible' and the Church is firmly committed to calling for its abolition worldwide." John Paul II's phrase “very rare, if not practically non-existent" could also be applied to current thinking on the possibility of a "just war".

* https://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/14/world/threats-responses-vatican-pope-voices-o...

>72 eschator83:

I'm not sure what you're referring to. Can you clarify?

Pope Francis: After a Nuclear War, Humanity Would Have to "start from scratch" (ACI Africa)

Pope Francis said Wednesday that the image of Noah’s flood is “gaining ground in our subconscious” as the world considers the possibility of a nuclear war “that will extinguish us.” “Our imagination appears increasingly concentrated on the representation of a final catastrophe that will extinguish us — what may happen with a possible nuclear war,” Pope Francis said March 16. “The ‘day after’ — if there will still be days and human beings — we will have to start again from scratch”... Pope Francis said at the end of the general audience that he wanted everyone to pray together in the pain of the war, asking the Lord for forgiveness and peace...

Joseph Ratziger stated that there is legitimate diversity of opinion among Catholics regarding war and Capitol Punishment. Good Catholics should not make the mistake of thinking there is not....AMDG....

These declarations by the pope do not bind in any manner, the consciences of the faithful who are rather obliged to adhere to Scripture,Tradition, and the Magisterium. The pope's off the cuff remarks, civil union, just war, comments are a source of sadness and concern that the private opinions of this pope which are reported with emphasis by the press do not correspond to the constant teaching of the Church and add a totally false impression that the Catholic Church has had a change of course....JMJ....

>75 brone:, >76 brone:

Indeed there is legitimate diversity of opinion amongst Catholics on many matters, but the catechism and compendium as well as the teaching of all popes at least since John XXIII and including Benedict XVI represents a trajectory on both "just war" and capital punishment and should not be lightly set aside. There is no "constant teaching of the Church" on "just war"; there is an evolution from the early Church which was a pacifist Church following the radical teaching of Jesus, through Augustine who, in the days when kings were believed to be anointed by God, taught that it could be legitimate for a king to wage war, through Aquinas who taught that war is sinful but it might not be sinful if waged by a legitimate authority, has a just cause, and has the right intentions, up to the current doctrine set out in the catechism and compendium. Please note very carefully that the doctrine as expressed in the catechism includes the words "the use of arms must not produce evils and disorders graver than the evil to be eliminated. The power of modern means of destruction weighs very heavily in evaluating this condition" and "The evaluation of these conditions for moral legitimacy belongs to the prudential judgment of those who have responsibility for the common good." I would suggest that the pope is certainly one of "those who have responsibility for the common good" and that he is using his "prudential judgment", in accordance with the doctrine, in continuity with his predecessors, and in the light of the "signs of the times". His words should not be lightly dismissed.

The pope's remarks on war and the death penalty are not "off the cuff" - read for example his message for the 2017 World Day of Peace, which was the result of a great deal of work by the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, as indeed all papal teaching is the result of behind the scenes work by the Vatican with bishops, theologians and other experts - and a process of prayer and discernment with the Holy Spirit. Read John Paul II's Evangelium vitae and indeed John XXIII's Pacem in terris. Read Fratelli tutti. Do you really think these are "off the cuff remarks" and "private opinions"?

Since this conversation has been spurred by the war in Ukraine, could you perhaps let us know where precisely you are exercising your "legitimate diversity of opinion" to disagree with the way the pope has interpreted Catholic doctrine with regard to that war so far?

Pope Francis denounces ‘abuse of power’ in Russia-Ukraine war (Guardian)

Pope Francis has denounced the “perverse abuse of power” on display in Russia’s war in Ukraine and called for aid to Ukrainians, whom he said had been attacked in their “identity, history and tradition” and were “defending their land”. Francis’s comments, in a message to a gathering of European Catholic representatives on Friday, were some of his strongest yet in asserting Ukraine’s right to exist as a sovereign state and to defend itself against Russia’s invasion. They came days after he told the head of the Russian Orthodox church, Patriarch Kirill, that the concept of a “just war” was obsolete since wars were never justifiable and pastors must preach peace, not politics...

The Holy Father has just released a new Apostolic Constitution, Praedicate Evangelium ("Preach the Gospel"), reorganising the Vatican with a focus on evangelisation and roles for laypeople. I've opened a new LT thread on it here, so please post anything related to it on that thread and hopefully we'll have a fruitful conversation.

The Ambassador to Nicaragua from the Holy See was told to pack up his bags and hit the high road by St Daniel Ortega the soviet trained,liberation theology espousing thug running Nicaragua. there are rumors that the archbishop was secretly helping political prisoners in Nicaragua's inhuman gulags, civil and religious leftists have long supported this monster for the repressive regime he created under cover of the merger of Marxism and Christianity....JMJ....

>80 brone:

It's always difficult to hold a conversation when you don't cite any reference, but are you speaking about the story in the two articles below? I think it might have been more appropriately posted in the "Current Catholic Issues" thread than the "Francis" one, but that's by the by.

It seems Archbishop Sommertag and the local Church are being faithful to the social teaching of the Church in their support for democracy in Nicaragua, and of course that has the support of the Holy Father and the Vatican. I'm very interested to hear that the nuncio "was secretly helping political prisoners" - can you cite a reference where you heard these "rumours" so I can read more?

You are however in error in describing President Daniel Ortega as a saint, I think. Apart from anything else, the Church does not canonise people until they are dead.

Vatican protests ouster of papal nuncio in Nicaragua (La Croix International)

The Vatican has expressed surprise and regret over Nicaragua's recent expulsion of Archbishop Waldemar Sommertag, apostolic nuncio to the Central American country. The Holy See said in a communique published on March 12 that the decision of President Daniel Ortega's government to expel the papal diplomat was "unjustified"... Sommertag had been critical of the Central American country's slide away from democracy...

Vatican protests ouster of papal nuncio in Nicaragua (Reuters)

The Vatican on Saturday protested to Nicaragua over the effective expulsion of its ambassador to Managua, saying the unilateral action was unjustified and incomprehensible. Archbishop Waldemar Sommertag, who was ambassador since 2018, had to leave the country suddenly this week after the government of President Daniel Ortega withdrew its diplomatic approval of the envoy... Sommertag, a 54-year-old Pole, has openly supported the local Church in its position defending democracy in the country....

Lest anyone still thinks the Holy Father's remarks are "off the cuff", he has now repeated them in a formal address to to participants in an international pontifical conference on education for democracy:

ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS TO PARTICIPANTS IN THE INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS PROMOTED BY THE PONTIFICAL FOUNDATION GRAVISSIMUM EDUCATIONIS

A war is always - always! - the defeat of humanity, always. We, the educated, who work in education, are defeated by this war, because on another side we are responsible. There is no such thing as a just war: they do not exist!...

Also in a recent Angelus address:

Unfortunately, the violent aggression against Ukraine does not stop, a senseless massacre where every day there is a repetition of slaughter and atrocities. There is no justification for this! I plead with all those involved in the international community to truly commit to ending this abhorrent war... All this is inhuman! Indeed, it is also sacrilegious because it goes against the sacredness of human life, especially against defenseless human life, which must be respected and protected, not eliminated, and this comes before any strategy! Let us not forget it is inhuman and sacrilegious cruelty!... I also think of the apostolic nuncio... Archbishop Visvaldas Kulbokas, who since the beginning of the war has stayed in Kyiv together with his collaborators and who with his presence brings me close every day to the martyred Ukrainian people. Let us be close to this people, let us embrace them with affection, with concrete commitment and prayer. And please, let us not get used to war and violence! Let us not tire of welcoming them with generosity as we are doing now not only during the emergency, but also in the weeks and months to come. As you know at first, we do all we can to welcome everyone, but then we can get used to it, and our hearts cool a bit, and we forget about it...

Another nuncio who is doing the right think (cf >80 brone:), showing solidarity with the poor and oppressed as our Catholic Social Teaching demands, at no little risk to his own life.

Let me draw attention to an important resource, Advancing Nonviolence and Just Peace in the Church and the World (Pax Christi International, 2020), which gathers material from the Catholic Nonviolence Initiative, including the two conferences held in Rome in 2016 and 2019 under the auspices of the Vatican's Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development and Pax Christi International, as well as from working groups which continued the reflections after the conferences. The book can be ordered here, in hard copy or e-book. Full disclosure: I'm one of the participants in the process.

There's a review and critique of the book: Collinge, William J. (2022) "Review of Advancing Nonviolence and Just Peace in the Church and the World," The Journal of Social Encounters: Vol. 6: Iss. 1, 169-172. Link

From the review:

The goal of the initiative is “that the Catholic Church... will lead the world away from perpetual violence and war by... developing and promoting nonviolent practices and strategies”...

the book consists of four parts. Part I sounds the initial call for a “return to Gospel nonviolence” and briefly describes the work of the Catholic Nonviolence Initiative... Part II, which occupies almost half the volume, explores the biblical and theological foundations of nonviolence... The heart of Part II—really of the entire book—is a treatment of the Gospel narratives of Jesus... Jesus teaches nonviolence and lives nonviolently; there are no exceptions to this. He teaches and lives that way because that is the way God is... Christology is treated in “Towards a Theology of Nonviolence”... the longest section of the book, which reviews, besides Christology, the theological topics of creation and anthropology, pneumatology, and ecclesiology, with nonviolence as the interpretive key... Part III, “The Practice and Power of Nonviolence,” develops numerous examples of successful nonviolent movements, mostly faith-based and mostly twentieth-century. It draws on the work of Erica Chenoweth and Maria Stephan (both of whom are contributors to the volume) to argue that nonviolent resistance is more successful than violent resistance... Part IV, “Embracing Nonviolence,” draws theoretical and practical conclusions. It begins with a critique of the just-war theory. Among the deficiencies of just-war theory are that it too often serves to license rather than prevent violence; it diverts attention to violence, away from the transformation of conflict into sustainable peace; it fails to contribute to the formation of peacemakers; and, most important, it is contrary “to Jesus’s call to love the way he loved us”... The authors propose, in its place, “a moral framework for nonviolence and just peace”... as more inkeeping with the teaching and action of Jesus and better respecting “the sacred dignity of all people and creation”...

There's a study guide to the book available free here.

There are also a couple of relevant threads on this LT Catholic Tradition group: Catholic Nonviolence Initiative and Catholic Social Teaching

Full text of Pope Francis’ consecration of Ukraine and Russia to Immaculate Heart of Mary (America Magazine)

Full text is at the link above. It begins:

O Mary, Mother of God and our mother, in this time of trial we turn to you. As our mother, you love us and know us: No concern of our hearts is hidden from you. Mother of mercy, how often we have experienced your watchful care and your peaceful presence! You never cease to guide us to Jesus, the prince of peace. Yet we have strayed from that path of peace. We have forgotten the lesson learned from the tragedies of the last century, the sacrifice of the millions who fell in two world wars. We have disregarded the commitments we made as a community of nations. We have betrayed peoples’ dreams of peace and the hopes of the young. We grew sick with greed, we thought only of our own nations and their interests, we grew indifferent and caught up in our selfish needs and concerns. We chose to ignore God, to be satisfied with our illusions, to grow arrogant and aggressive, to suppress innocent lives and to stockpile weapons. We stopped being our neighbor’s keepers and stewards of our common home. We have ravaged the garden of the earth with war, and by our sins we have broken the heart of our heavenly Father, who desires us to be brothers and sisters. We grew indifferent to everyone and everything except ourselves. Now with shame we cry out: Forgive us, Lord!...

Let’s Learn to Rejoice Like the Father of the Prodigal Son, Pope Francis says (ACI Africa)

Jesus Christ’s Parable of the Prodigal Son is a lesson about forgiveness, rejoicing, and how to show a true welcome to those struggling with their sins, Pope Francis said before the Angelus on Sunday. The parable “leads us to God’s heart who always forgives compassionately and tenderly,” the pope said March 27. “Always, God always forgives. We are the ones who get tired of asking for forgiveness, but he always forgives”...

Francis's swat teams in action in Europe, The Benedictine Monastry of Santa Caterina in Perugia Italy was closed after a visitation of the Vatican vac mandate hounds, the enclosed community was functioning spiritually, economically, and liturgically, their offense they object to mandates. In the heart of London yds away from the martyrdom of 105 Catholics, the Tyburn nuns founded in 1898 and arguably one of the most successful orders today on vocations, are facing the same shut down as their sisters in Italy seems we cant do anything right in the west as far as Francis is concerned....JMJ....

>86 brone:

Once again it would be very useful to read the sources that you use for this. Thanks to another LT member, I am aware of an article on CNA, Will an Italian convent be closed for opposition to COVID-19 vaccines?. It's a catchy headline, but it appears to be based only on the opinion of the head of the convent. The convent has not been closed, and the archdiocese says it knows nothing about the convent’s possible closure, and that nothing could be known for certain “about the imminent closure of the monastery, much less on the fact that the reason for a possible closure is due to the non-vaccination of the nuns present there against COVID-19”. The archdiocese stressed that it “never intervened on the internal issues of the monastery and not even on issues relating to the vaccination of the nuns” and denied “journalistic insinuations” that the nuns were being transferred because they refused to undergo vaccination. The CNA article also points out that the 2016 apostolic constitution Vultum Dei quaerere encourages small monasteries to close or federate, so this is part of the dynamic.

As for Tyburn, I've found two articles, Vatican investigates complaints about Tyburn nun (Tablet) and Westminster reports Tyburn Nuns to Vatican over refusal to accept jabs against coronavirus (Catholic Herald). It seems the issue is not simply that nuns have refused to be vaccinated but that the mother superior is actively and publicly propagating disinformation and fake news about the vaccine. Despite being an enclosed order, she addressed a public rally and is disseminating material containing false information. The convent is not "facing the same shut down", it is facing a potential investigation. They were referred to Rome by the archdiocese because the order is a Congregation of Pontifical Right over which diocesan authorities have no jurisdiction: "As Tyburn is directly under the Congregation for Consecrated Life, the authority on this goes back to Rome”. It was not the archdiocese nor the Vatican which began proceedings, it was the result of complaints which the archdiocese received and which therefore had to be investigated. And it is not something that has suddenly been sprung on the sisters - there has been a long process of dialogue between the convent and the archdiocese.

Thanks for raising the issue, but it is important to look at the context and not to jump too quickly to conclusions.

Incidentally, "Francis's swat teams" and "Vatican vac mandate hounds" are meaningless and pejorative terms. Please try to post charitably and accurately without using politically loaded pejoratives.

Pope says increasing military budgets and imposing sanctions is not a solution to war (CNN)

Pope Francis has issued strong criticism against countries for increasing military spending as Russia’s onslaught of Ukraine continues, branding it “madness”... the Pope blamed the “shameful” war in Ukraine on the “old logic of power that still dominates the so-called geopolitics.” He dismissed sanctions and weapons as a solution to the conflict and said the world should redesign its way of governing so that it is not subject to “economic-technocratic-military power.” “It is now clear that good politics cannot come from the culture of power understood as domination and oppression, but only from a culture of care, care for the person and their dignity and care for our common home,” he said. “The real answer ... is not other weapons, other sanctions, other political-military alliances, but another approach, a different way of governing the now globalized world — not showing the teeth, as now — one way different than set international relations. The model of treatment is already in place, thank God, but unfortunately it is still subject to that of the economic-technocratic-military power," the Pope said...

Is a great shift in the human journey at hand? (Pace e Bene)

The brutal aggression raining down on the Ukrainian people, but also on the peoples of Myanmar, Yemen, Ethiopia, and many other places, sets before us a stark choice: Will we face a future of accelerating catastrophe—or a once-and-for-all turn toward a global culture of practical, durable, and nonviolent peace?... Pope Francis may have made a landmark contribution to this critically necessary shift with four simple words: “Wars are always unjust”... Then the pope proclaimed a first principle superseding all the criteria that have been used by the Catholic Church and other traditions to justify war. Why are wars always unjust? Because, he said, “it is the people of God who pay”... Since the beginning of his papacy, Pope Francis has gradually been removing the justifications for war... Until this week, though, Pope Francis had not declared all war unjust. Now he has done so...

Just war theology remains enshrined in the Catholic Catechism. Perhaps the pope’s firm declaration this week will open the possibility of an historic shift there. But we can expect that Pope Francis will not simply remove reliance on “just war” without an embrace of the positive alternative that offers a more faithful and effective way forward: Gospel Nonviolence and Just Peace, in keeping with all the ways over his papacy he has been increasingly calling the Church back to Jesus’ way of nonviolence and peace. Such a direction could open the possibility of a new embrace of the nonviolence of Jesus at every level of the Church. But it could also mean the long-term work of building a new, nonviolent order... By declaring “wars are always unjust” this week, Pope Francis is inviting each of us to embark on the spiritual and concrete path of building together a more practical, durable, and nonviolent peace...

"There are even deniers in the college of cardinals" I wonder if Bergoglio will take away their red hats its easy to pick on ladies in cloister, and a single bishop in Puerto Rico....JMJ.... PS it aint politics or uncharitable its calling out the bully....

>89 brone:

If you believe there is bullying going on please "call it out" constructively, charitably and accurately, not using pejoratives nor meaningless politically-loaded labels. It is normal and respectful to refer to the pope by his papal name or title, not by his surname. Could you give us some idea who is the "single bishop in Puerto Rico"? Please note also that most of the world does not consider public health measures to be "bullying". I didn't see any accusations of bullying during the last ebola outbreak when people with high temperatures were forcibly quarantined at airports, and I'm still waiting to see any over the "vaccine passports" (aka yellow fever vaccination certificates) which people have been forced to carry for at least the last fifty years to travel in many parts of the world where yellow fever is a public health threat. I now have two vaccination certificates, one for yellow fever and one for COVID, and I certainly don't feel I was bullied. I do feel that, apart from protecting myself, I'm doing my bit to promote the common good, to protect others more vulnerable than me, as the pope, the gospels and Catholic Social Teaching have recommended, to say nothing of scientists and health professionals. The "victims" here are not the minority who for whatever reasons have exercised their right to choose not to be vaccinated; the true victims are the people who have died of COVID, and the people with other treatable ailments who are dying because our hospitals are overwhelmed with unvaccinated COVID cases. Rights come with responsibilities, and choices come with consequences. If I refuse the yellow fever vaccination, I can't travel outside the country where I currently live. If I refuse the COVID vaccination, there are also some restrictions on what I can do, in order to protect others. That's not bullying.

Pope meets Canada Indigenous groups seeking apology for abuse of children (Guardian)

Pope Francis has heard first-hand the horrors of abuse committed at church-run residential schools in Canada, as Indigenous delegations pressed him for an apology. Indigenous survivors are visiting the Vatican this week for meetings with the pope about the scandal that has rocked the Catholic church. More than 1,300 unmarked graves have been discovered since last May at church-run schools attended by Canada’s Indigenous children as part of a government policy of forced assimilation...

Canada police renew effort to arrest ‘devil priest’ for alleged abuse of Inuit children (Guardian)

The case against Johannes Rivoire, who victims say has evaded justice for decades, received renewed focus this week when Canada’s Inuit leader requested the pope personally intervene during a visit to the Vatican by a delegation of Indigenous groups. Meeting privately with Pope Francis on Monday, Natan Obed, head of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, asked that Rivoire return to Canada to “stand trial for the harms he has done”. Obed called on the pope to use his “influence with the relevant authorities” to have Rivoire extradited, or for the priest to be tried in France... Rivoire, a priest with the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, worked in several Arctic communities in the 1960s and 70s before returning to France in 1993...

Pope Francis: "Rhetoric of inclusion’ Not Enough to Forge a "culture of social tenderness" (ACI Africa)

Pope Francis said on Wednesday that the “rhetoric of inclusion” alone is not enough to forge a true “culture of social tenderness.” In his general audience address on March 30, the pope described “inclusion” as “the ritual formula of every politically correct discourse.” But he said that invoking “inclusion” did not guarantee a “real correction” of the tendency to marginalize society’s frailest members. “Certainly, the rhetoric of inclusion is the ritual formula of every politically correct discourse. But it still does not bring about a real correction of the practices of normal co-existence: a culture of social tenderness struggles to grow,” he said...

Pope: 'Armida Barelli bore witness to synthesis of Word and Life' (Vatican News)

In the preface to a new biography of Venerable Armida Barelli, Pope Francis describes the pioneering laywoman as a witness “to the connection between what is heard and what is lived”... During Armida's life, at the end of the 19th and the first half of the 20th century, women were largely faced with a choice between two alternatives: becoming a wife and mother or embracing religious life. Armida chose a third way: the lay apostolate...

Pope Francis Intends to Bridge Reconciliation Gap in South Sudan, Says Apostolic Nuncio on the Upcoming Visit (AMECEA)

As the people of South Sudan awaits for Pope Francis’ visit in three months’ time, the Apostolic Nuncio to the country has described the Holy Father’s gesture as a means by which he purposes to bridge the reconciliation gap that has existed in the country for years... He narrates that since the beginning of his Pontificate in 2013, the Pope has always desired to visit South Sudan. According to the Vatican diplomat, South Sudan has not yet experienced peace which they have yearned for over the years: “Reconciliation has not happened between the warrying parties,” he said...

Pope apologizes to Indigenous people of Canada for ‘deplorable’ abuses (Guardian)

Pontiff said he felt ‘sorrow and shame’ for ‘the lack of respect’ at Catholic-run schools...

Pope Francis says visit to Kyiv ‘on the table’ and implicitly criticises Putin (Guardian)

Pope Francis has said he is considering visiting the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, and implicitly criticised Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, over the invasion of Ukraine. The head of the Catholic church was invited by Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, and the city’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko, along with Ukrainian religious leaders... asked by a reporter on the plane taking him from Rome to Malta on Saturday whether he was considering the invitation, Francis said: “Yes, it is on the table.” He gave no further details. Later, in a hard-hitting speech in the island’s presidential palace, the pope said: “From the east of Europe, from the land of the sunrise, the dark shadows of war have now spread. We had thought that invasions of other countries, savage street fighting and atomic threats were grim memories of a distant past. “However, the icy winds of war, which bring only death, destruction and hatred in their wake, have swept down powerfully upon the lives of many people and affected us all. Once again, some potentate, sadly caught up in anachronistic claims of nationalist interests, is provoking and fomenting conflicts, whereas ordinary people sense the need to build a future that will either be shared, or not be at all,” he said, without mentioning Putin by name...

Pope Francis Says Papal Visit to Ukraine’s Capital, Kyiv, is “on the table” (ACI Africa)

Pope Francis on Saturday said a papal visit to Kyiv is "on the table," raising the possibility of a dramatic escalation of the Holy See's diplomatic and spiritual efforts to bring about an end to the fighting that has raged in Ukraine since Russia invaded the country on Feb. 24. The pope has spoken out repeatedly for peace in Ukraine in his general audiences and Angelus addresses since the violence began. On the papal flight en route to Malta, the pope was asked if he was considering accepting an invitation from authorities in Kyiv to visit the besieged Ukrainian capital, a trip that the apostolic nuncio in Ukraine has said is logistically possible, if unlikely given the dangers associated with any public gatherings in the city. “Yes, it's on the table,” Pope Francis responded, according to NBC News correspondent, Claudio Lavanga...

Pope Francis Laments "sacrilegious war" in Ukraine as He Prays Angelus in Malta (ACI Africa)

Pope Francis lamented the “sacrilegious war” in Ukraine as he prayed the Angelus in Malta on Sunday. Speaking immediately after celebrating an outdoor Mass in the Maltese capital, Valletta, on April 3, the pope urged Catholics to pray for people aiding the suffering following the full-scale Russian invasion. “May the Lord accompany you, and Our Lady keep you,” he said. “Let us now pray to her for peace, as we think of the humanitarian tragedy unfolding in war-torn Ukraine, still under the bombardment of this sacrilegious war. May we be tireless in praying and in offering assistance to those who suffer”...

Pope Francis Appoints Ghanaian Cardinal New Chancellor of Pontifical Academy of Sciences (ACI Africa)

Pope Francis on Monday appointed Cardinal Peter Turkson as the new chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences... The pope accepted Turkson’s resignation as prefect of the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development last December. Turkson served as the archbishop of Cape Coast, Ghana, before he was called to Rome in 2009 to be president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. The 73-year-old cardinal, who speaks six languages, became the first president of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development in 2016 after his pontifical council was merged into the new body along with three others...

Bishop Carlassare: Pope's visit will give impulse to peace efforts in South Sudan (Vatican News)

The bishop of the diocese of Rumbek expresses joy for the forthcoming July visit of Pope Francis to the East African country, saying that "it will be of great encouragement also for the local Church engaged in the long process of reconciliation"...

Pope Francis: Priests must bear witness to Christ’s forgiveness (Vatican News)

Pope Francis greets seminarians of the Pontifical German College, and urges priests to witness to the forgiveness and joy which Christ offers us...

Pope calls for Easter truce in Palm Sunday Vatican service (Guardian)

“Put the weapons down! Let an Easter truce start. But not to rearm and resume combat but a truce to reach peace through real negotiations open to some sacrifices for the good of the people,” the pope said. “In fact, what kind of victory would be one that plants a flag on a heap of rubble?”...

My attention was recently drawn to the teaching of the Church on papal statements. There have been suggestions in this group that statements by the Holy Father are just "off the cuff" "personal opinions" which the faithful don't have to take very seriously. That view would seem to be erroneous.

Bishops, teaching in communion with the Roman Pontiff, are to be respected by all as witnesses to divine and Catholic truth. In matters of faith and morals, the bishops speak in the name of Christ and the faithful are to accept their teaching and adhere to it with a religious assent. This religious submission of mind and will must be shown in a special way to the authentic magisterium of the Roman Pontiff, even when he is not speaking ex cathedra; that is, it must be shown in such a way that his supreme magisterium is acknowledged with reverence, the judgments made by him are sincerely adhered to, according to his manifest mind and will. His mind and will in the matter may be known either from the character of the documents, from his frequent repetition of the same doctrine, or from his manner of speaking. Although the individual bishops do not enjoy the prerogative of infallibility, they nevertheless proclaim Christ's doctrine infallibly whenever, even though dispersed through the world, but still maintaining the bond of communion among themselves and with the successor of Peter, and authentically teaching matters of faith and morals, they are in agreement on one position as definitively to be held. This is even more clearly verified when, gathered together in an ecumenical council, they are teachers and judges of faith and morals for the universal Church, whose definitions must be adhered to with the submission of faith.

(Lumen gentium, 25)

"Speak out forcefully" against "abominable actions" in Ukraine: Pope Francis to Pilgrims (ACI Africa)

Pope Francis on Tuesday sent a message to participants in an interreligious pilgrimage of solidarity with Ukraine... “I thank you for the initiative of this moment of prayer and fraternity between followers of the different religions, which contributes to strengthening the sense of responsibility of believers before a war that contradicts all those efforts made in past decades to build a world with fewer weapons and greater peace,” Pope Francis said... “the present moment leaves us deeply troubled, because it is marked by the forces of evil... The suffering inflicted on so many frail and defenseless persons,” he continued, “the many civilians massacred and the innocent victims among the young; the desperate plight of women and children ... All this troubles our consciences and obliges us not to keep silent, not to remain indifferent before the violence of Cain and the cry of Abel, but instead to speak out forcefully in order to demand, in the name of God, the end of these abominable actions”...

“Remember Pope Francis’ Kiss” Campaign to Foster Peace, Stability in South Sudan

A campaign dubbed “remember Pope Francis' Kiss for Peace” that was recently launched in South Sudan aims at challenging political leaders in the East-Central African nation to foster “peace and stability”... On Sunday, April 10, members of the Community Empowerment for Progress Organization (CEPO) launched a campaign to recall the 11 April 2019 dramatic gesture when Pope Francis knelt and kissed the feet of President Salva Kiir and opposition leader Dr. Riek Machar among others. This was after a spiritual retreat that brought together the South Sudanese President, the opposition leader, Dr. Machar, and the widow of South Sudanese leader John Garang, Rebecca Nyandeng De Mabior, among other political and religious leaders from South Sudan. Reflections during the retreat had focused on the national anthem of South Sudan under the guidance of Archbishop John Baptist Odama of Uganda’s Gulu Archdiocese, and Jesuit Fr. Agbonkhianmeghe Orobator who was at the helm of the Conference of Major Superiors of Africa and Madagascar. In a Monday, April 11 report by Juba Monitor, the Executive of CEPO says the “remember Pope Francis' Kiss for Peace” campaign seeks to encourage South Sudanese leaders to translate “Pope Francis kiss” into real peace.

“This offers an opportunity for calling our leader to take primary responsibility of making peace and stability prevail in the country,” Edmond Yakani has been quoted as saying in the report. The CEPO official notes that “citizens of South Sudan have suffered a lot from violence. It is time for the citizens to feel peace and stability through the kiss of His Holiness Pope Francis.” Three years since Pope Francis showed the dramatic gesture of humility by kneeling and kissing the feet of South Sudan leaders, the East-Central African nation is yet to achieve true peace, CEPO official says. During the 11 April 2019 encounter at the Vatican, the Holy Father pleaded with President Kiir, rebel leader Machar, and other political leaders present to cultivate peace saying, “I am asking you as a brother to stay in peace. I am asking you with my heart, let us go forward. There will be many problems but they will not overcome us. Resolve your problems.” In the April 11 report, the Executive of CEPO regrets the fact that the unprecedented gesture and appeal of Pope Francis has not yet influenced the South Sudan political leaders to restore peace and stability in South Sudan. “Our assessment of His Holiness' kiss on our leaders’ feet is, our leaders have not honored the gesture of His Holiness Pope Francis on their feet”...

The Holy Father is scheduled to arrive in South Sudan on July 5 in his two-African-nation ecumenical trip that is to begin in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on July 2. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, and the Moderator of the Church of Scotland, are reportedly expected to join Pope Francis for the South Sudan ecumenical visit...

Pope Francis Scheduled to Wash Feet of 12 Prisoners on Holy Thursday 2022

On Holy Thursday, Pope Francis will celebrate Mass at a prison outside of Rome, where he will wash the feet of 12 prisoners... With the private Mass, Pope Francis continues a custom he started in 2013, shortly after becoming pope, of celebrating the Holy Thursday liturgy in a prison or juvenile detention center...

Both from ACI Africa

In Urbi et Orbi Blessing 2022, Pope Francis Laments "Easter of War" (ACI Africa)

In his Urbi et Orbi blessing on Easter 2022, Pope Francis lamented an “Easter of War” as he prayed for peace in Ukraine and around the world...

Pope Francis: "Come out of the tomb of fear" (ACI Africa)

Fear is like a tomb that can “bury us,” Pope Francis said Monday, but the Risen Lord’s words to the women who were the first to announce his resurrection apply to us, as well: “Be not afraid.” Jesus knows that “our fears are our daily enemies” and that “our fears hide from the great fear, that of death: fear of fading away, or losing loved ones, of being sick, of not being able to cope further,” the pope said. But Easter marks the day that Jesus conquered death, he added, “so no one else can tell us in a more convincing way: ‘Do not be afraid’”...

To Discard the Elderly "is a grave sin": Pope Francis (ACI Africa)

To not honor the elderly as God commands, and to treat them as something to discard, “is a grave sin,” Pope Francis said on Wednesday. During his weekly meeting with the public in St. Peter’s Square on April 20, the pope said “this commandment to honor the elderly gives us a blessing.” “Please, care for old people,” he urged, “because they are the presence of history, the presence of the family. And it is thanks to them we are here. Please, do not leave them alone.” Honoring the elderly is a form of love, giving life not only to those honored, but to those doing the honoring, he said...

As I am now classed amongst the "elderly", I can only agree with him wholeheartedly! But his message will be well-received in Africa, where there is still great respect for the elders. I know many Africans who have been shocked when they have travelled to the Global North and seen how the elderly are (mis-)treated and neglected there.

In my "global north" part of the world the elderly live
quite well...JMJ...

>106 brone:

Well, those with money may live quite well, but in my experience broadly speaking the culture in Europe and north America does not value, honour and care for the elderly.

Catholic Education Vital in "an age awash in information": Pope Francis (ACI Africa)

Pope Francis has said that Catholic education and formation are more important than ever in “an age awash in information often transmitted without wisdom or critical sense.” “As educators, you are called to nurture the desire for truth, goodness and beauty that lies in the heart of each individual, so that all may learn how to love life and be open to the fullness of life,” Pope Francis wrote in a message delivered to a delegation from English-speaking Catholic universities on April 20. “Catholic education is also evangelization: bearing witness to the joy of the Gospel and its power to renew our communities and provide hope and strength in facing wisely the challenges of the present time,” he said...

well these people are retired bus drivers, cops, fireman, factory workers what you seem to be implying is that the sons and daughters of these people discard them in my experience they don't...PS it is reported that 18,000 people a day a overwhelming our north global country so that maybe they won't have to grow old in their south global catholic countries....AMDG....

Has the Vatican turned a blind eye to repression of real Catholics in China? Francis recently supported the decision by the CCP to appoint three new bishops, meanwhile six elderly real Roman Catholic Bishops languish in "black jails", Father Vincent Wu a priest from Hong Kong reports that the old faith is dying in Chine because of the non-support from Rome blaming the infamous secretive accord signed by Francis. meanwhile the chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, Argentinian bishop Sorondo, has recently said that communist China is the best model for living out Catholic social teaching today....AMDG....

Pope Francis’ Agenda Canceled for Needed "medical checkups", Vatican Says (ACI Africa)

Pope Francis’ agenda was cleared on Friday for needed medical checkups, a Vatican spokesperson said. Francis, who is 85 years old, has been suffering from pain in his right knee, causing him to take smaller roles in some Vatican liturgies and to remain seated more often... The pope’s movements have been visibly more limited since the start of the year...

"The Lord is not looking for perfect Christians": Pope Francis (ACI Africa)

Jesus’ merciful words to a doubting St. Thomas reminds us that the Lord does not expect us to be “perfect Christians,” Pope Francis said Sunday. Instead, Jesus wants us “to seek him, to call on him, or even, like Thomas, to protest, bringing him our needs and our unbelief,” the pope said...

Be kind to your mother-in-law, the victim of ‘cliches’, urges Pope (Guardian)

Pope Francis has urged Catholics to honour the elderly and take care of family bonds, also taking the opportunity to return to the thorny subject of mothers-in-law. Devoting his general audience in St Peter’s Square on Wednesday to the relationship between generations, the Argentine pontiff made a long digression on the “mythical character” of the mother-in-law and said they were often the victim of “cliches”...

"The doctor has told me not to walk": Pope Francis (ACI Africa)

Pope Francis said on Saturday that he continues to have problems with his leg, for which his doctor has ordered him not to walk. “There is a problem: this leg is not good, it does not work, and the doctor has told me not to walk. I like to go... but this time I have to obey the doctor,” he said in a meeting with a Catholic pilgrimage group from Slovakia on April 30. At the end of his speech in the Vatican's Paul VI Hall, the pope said he would not be able to walk to greet the Slovakian pilgrims. “For this I will ask you for the sacrifice of going up the stairs and I will greet you from here, sitting,” he stated. “It is a humiliation, but I offer it for your country.” Pope Francis has been suffering from an inflamed ligament in his right knee, causing pain when he walks. During the last several weeks, he has canceled meetings and opted to spend more time seated during public audiences or Masses...

Let us pray for his recovery.

Pope Francis Weeps at Ukraine Suffering, Calls for Daily Rosary for Peace (ACI Africa)

Pope Francis has again lamented the suffering caused by the invasion of Ukraine and encouraged the faithful to pray a rosary every day for peace. Speaking to the crowd in St. Peter’s Square after the May 1 Regina Caeli prayers, the pope said his thoughts went immediately to the city of Mariupol, the “city of Mary” which has been “barbarously bombed and destroyed.” “I suffer and weep, thinking of the suffering of the Ukrainian people and in particular of the weakest, the elderly and children,” he said. “There are even terrible reports of children being expelled and deported.” He again called for safe humanitarian corridors for those trapped in the city, now largely under Russian control. Pope Francis said he wondered whether peace really is being sought amid “a macabre regression of humanity.” He asked if everything possible is being done to “silence the weapons,” Vatican News reports...

Our Lady of Fatima pray for us....JMJ....

Pope: May the study of the liturgy lead to greater ecclesial unity (Vatican News)

Pope Francis addresses members of the Pontifical Liturgical Institute of Sant'Anselmo and stresses the importance of the study of the liturgy leading to greater ecclesial unity... Pope Francis went on to note three dimensions that emerge clearly from the Council’s drive for the renewal of liturgical life. These are: active and fruitful participation in the liturgy; ecclesial communion animated by the celebration of the Eucharist and the Sacraments of the Church; and the impetus to the evangelising mission from the liturgical life that involves all the baptised...

Pope Francis: "It’s not possible to worship God while making the liturgy a battleground" (ACI Africa)

Pope Francis said Saturday that the liturgy should not be “a battleground” for “outdated issues.” “I emphasize again that the liturgical life, and the study of it, should lead to greater Church unity, not division. When the liturgical life is a bit like a banner of division, there is the stench of the devil in there, the deceiver,” Pope Francis said at the Vatican on April 7. “It’s not possible to worship God while making the liturgy a battleground for issues that are not essential, indeed, outdated issues, and to take sides starting with the liturgy, with ideologies that divide the Church”...

Pope Francis recalled reforms made when he was a child by Pope Pius XII, particularly when Pius XII reduced the fasting requirement before receiving holy Communion and reintroduced the Easter Vigil. “All of these things scandalized closed-minded people. It happens also today,” he said. “Indeed, such closed-minded people use liturgical frameworks to defend their views. Using the liturgy: this is the drama we are experiencing in ecclesial groups that are distancing themselves from the Church, questioning the Council, the authority of the bishops ... in order to preserve tradition. And the liturgy is used for that”...

South Sudan Trip a "pilgrimage of peace", Pope Francis and Archbishop of Canterbury Say (ACI Africa)

Pope Francis has said that he is looking forward to visiting South Sudan this summer together with the archbishop of Canterbury and the moderator of the Church of Scotland in a “pilgrimage of peace.” In a joint-statement published by the Vatican on May 7, the archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, and the moderator of the Church of Scotland, Jim Wallace, joined the pope in urging leaders in South Sudan to follow the “way of forgiveness and freedom.” “In this Easter season, we write to share with you our joy as we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who shows us that a new way is possible: a way of forgiveness and freedom, which enables us humbly to see God in each other, even in our enemies,” the statement said...

All very ecumenical i'm sure, since I was told a few posts ago there aint many communists around since the cold war. I got to thinking of that taboo subject here "Perscution of Roman Catholics in China". The current pope has made an accord with atheists I guess thats what we should call them cuz ya caint call them communists, Cardinal Zen, together with many confessors of the faith, for almost 75 years since the founding of bleep China have suffered unrelenting persecution of the Roman Catholic Church, Zen understands the truth expressed by the great Cardinal Kung, when brought before a mob in Shanghai in exchange for his freedom and offered leadership of the fake catholic patriotic church which the current pontiff supports, Kung said." I am a Roman Catholic Bishop. If I denounce the Holy Father not only would I not be a bishop, Iwould not even be a Catholic, You can cut of my head until then I will do my duty, How times change the pope disregards the real catholics in favor of the fake ones....JMJ....

>119 brone:

Not really sure what you are saying. There are no taboo subjects here. You are welcome to post news about the persecution of Catholics in China.

Yes, it's all very ecumenical. The churches in Sudan and South Sudan have worked closely together for the last fifty or sixty years as a survival mechanism in the face of persecution of Christians by successive Islamist regimes. They are still working together in South Sudan in the face of oppression from a non-Muslim government with a Catholic president and a Presbyterian vice-president - I was facilitating a meeting of the council of churches just a couple of weeks ago, reviewing the churches' own peace programme.The three largest churches are the Catholics, Anglicans and Presbyterians, so it's quite natural that the global leaders of those three churches should visit the country together, just as together they held a spiritual retreat for the South Sudanese leaders a couple of years ago, hosted by the Holy Father in Rome, but organised jointly by the three of them. That retreat was led by two prominent African Catholic churchmen, a Ugandan archbishop and a Jesuit priest from Nigeria.

the pope disregards the real catholics in favor of the fake ones

I think that's rather offensive towards the Catholics of South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo whom the pope is visiting in July. Are they not "real Catholics"? Are they "fake ones"? I can assure you they have suffered for their faith and produced many martyrs. Who would you classify as the "real Catholics"?

Pope: Be inspired by 'great champion’ Fr. Matteo Ricci (Vatican News)

Pope Francis invites college students and professors from the University of Macerata to look to the Macerata-born Jesuit missionary Fr Matteo Ricci who dedicated his life to mission, dialogue, and education in China. The Pope also recalls the wisdom of St. John Henry Newman and suggests investing in education is the best way for a country to invest in its future...

Pope Francis on gay Catholics: God 'does not disown any of his children' (NCR)

Pope Francis in a new interview on LGBT Catholics said God "does not disown any of his children" and that a church that is "selective" about its membership more resembles a "sect" than what the Gospel commands... "And 'the style' of God is 'closeness, mercy and tenderness.' Along this path you will find God"... When asked "What do you say to an LGBT Catholic who has experienced rejection from the church?" the pope replied that "I would have them recognize it not as 'the rejection of the church,' but instead of 'people in the church.' " "The church is a mother and calls together all her children," he continued. "Take for example the parable of those invited to the feast: 'the just, the sinners, the rich and the poor, etc.' {Matthew 22:1-15; Luke 14:15-24}. A 'selective' church, one of 'pure blood,' is not Holy Mother Church, but rather a sect"...

Edited to add: Pope decries divisions caused by old-school liturgy fans (Crux)

Pope Francis on Saturday blasted Catholics who, hewing to old-school versions of liturgy like the Latin Mass, have made an ideological battleground of the issue, decrying what he described as devil-inspired divisiveness in the church. Francis pressed his papacy’s battle against traditionalists, whose prominent members include some ultra-conservative cardinals. They have resisted restrictions, imposed last year by the Vatican, on celebrations of the old Mass in Latin in St. Peter’s Basilica and, more generally, for years have disparaged the modernizing reforms of the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s... Francis said it’s not possible to worship God while using the liturgy as a “battleground” for nonessential questions that divide the church... “I underline again that liturgical life, and the study of it, must lead to greater ecclesial unity, not to division,” the pope told the institute’s participants. “When liturgical life is a bit of a banner for division, there is the odor of the devil being inside there, the deceiver.” “It’s not possible to render worship to God and at the same time make a battleground of liturgy for questions that aren’t essential,” Francis added...

Your presumption is disturbing, Im sure the Sudanese Catholics are awsome I am very proud and worried about our African Catholics especially in Nigeria who are under terrible persecution. The fake catholics i'm referring to are the chinese patriotic catholic church you know the ones PF made a deal with....JMJ....

I was going to post these two articles in the "Current Catholic Issues" thread, but since they refer directly to >123 brone: I'll post them here.

Hong Kong: Vatican ‘concerned’ over arrest of Cardinal Joseph Zen (Guardian)

The Vatican has voiced concern after Hong Kong’s national security police arrested 90-year-old Cardinal Joseph Zen, one of Asia’s most senior and outspoken Catholic clerics. Zen, a former bishop of Hong Kong, was arrested along with the singer and actor Denise Ho, the lawyer Margaret Ng, and the scholar Hui Po-keung. “The Holy See has learnt the news of Cardinal Zen’s arrest with concern and is following the development of the situation very closely,” the Vatican said in a statement. Local reports earlier suggested the arrests were related to their roles as trustees of the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund, which provided legal aid and other financial help to people who took part in the 2019 pro-democracy protests that were quashed by security forces...

Hong Kong cardinal Joseph Zen arrested under China's security law (BBC)

One of the Catholic Church's most senior members has been arrested in Hong Kong for breaking China's national security law, police have confirmed. Cardinal Joseph Zen, 90, is one of four people detained for being associated with a now-defunct organisation that helped protesters in financial need. The others are a Cantopop singer and actor Denise Ho, ex-legislator Margaret Ng, and academic Dr Hui Po Keung. They are accused of colluding with foreign forces. If found guilty, they could face life in prison. Human Rights Watch called it a "shocking new low for Hong Kong"...

Cardinal: Pope's wheelchair use an example to older adults (NCR)

Pope Francis' willingness to work despite knee pain that has made walking nearly impossible shows other older adults that they have wisdom and experience to offer younger generations, a top Vatican cardinal said Tuesday. Cardinal Kevin Farrell offered the assessment as he introduced Francis' message for World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly. In the message released Tuesday, the 85-year-old pope urged older people to consider advanced age a blessing. Francis is struggling to cope with strained ligaments in his right knee that have greatly limited his mobility. Last week, he was seen in public for the first time using a wheelchair. He recently said he can no longer walk and must rest his knee on doctors' orders...

Pope Francis Invites Grandparents to Join a "spiritual and non-violent revolution" (ACI Africa)

Pope Francis invited grandparents and the elderly on Tuesday to join a “spiritual and non-violent revolution.” In his message for the second World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly, issued on May 10, the pope urged seniors not to despair at their frailty but to embrace “a new mission” of caring for others in a world torn apart by conflict... “This would be our own contribution to the revolution of tenderness, a spiritual and non-violent revolution in which I encourage you, dear grandparents and elderly persons, to take an active role”...

Pope Francis’ advice on retirement: Leave ‘a legacy of good, rather than just goods’ (CNA)

Pope Francis offered advice on Wednesday about how to live in retirement fruitfully by leaving “a legacy of good, rather than just goods.” Speaking during his general audience on May 11, the pope said that retirement can be a “time to leave a good legacy of wisdom, tenderness, and gifts for the family and the community.” “When we think of an inheritance, at times we think of goods, and not of the goodness that is done in old age, and that has been sown. That goodness is the best legacy we can leave,” he said in St. Peter’s Square. The pope commented that true heroism was not only found in great events of history, but also in the “love poured out in a difficult family and on behalf of a threatened community”...

Pope Francis Meets Wives of Ukrainian Soldiers Fighting to Defend Mariupol (ACI Africa)

Pope Francis met on Wednesday morning with the wives of two Ukrainian soldiers who are currently fighting to defend the besieged city of Mariupol. After his general audience on May 11, the pope held the hands of the Ukrainian women, Kateryna Prokopenko, 27, and Yulya Fedosiuk, 29. Prokopenko is married to Ukrainian Lt. Col. Denis Prokopenko, the man currently leading the Ukrainian last stand to defend the Azovstal steel plant in the port city of Mariupol. “You are our last hope. We hope that you can save their lives. Please don’t let them die,” Kateryna Prokopenko can be heard telling Pope Francis in a short video of their five-minute meeting...

Is Ukraine’s War Just? The Pope Hasn’t Said (WSJ)

Since Russia invaded Ukraine in late February, Pope Francis has made clear that he condemns the “violent aggression against Ukraine” and sympathizes with “victims whose innocent blood cries out to heaven.” But the pope has also raised questions about whether he thinks the Ukrainians have a right to defend themselves through the use of arms. He has on several occasions said that weapons aren’t the solution to the war; called it madness for countries to increase their military spending in response to Russia’s aggression; and spoken against the increased use of sanctions in response to the invasion. He has twice cited Mahatma Gandhi’s advocacy of nonviolent resistance, and said emphatically that there is no such thing as a “just war”...

This last one is behind a pay wall. I've read a pdf of the full article, but I have no idea how to post it.

What does group admin hides message mean?

>126 brone:

It means that the message is hidden but there is a button called (show) which people can click if they wish to read the message.

Migrants and Refugees Have "enormous potential" to Help Society: Pope Francis (ACI Africa)

Pope Francis said Thursday that migrants and refugees have “enormous potential” to help society if they are given a chance. In his message for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees, issued May 12, the pope said history showed that new arrivals played a “fundamental role” in social and economic growth. “This continues to be true in our own day. Their work, their youth, their enthusiasm, and their willingness to sacrifice enrich the communities that receive them,” he wrote. “Yet this contribution could be all the greater were it optimized and supported by carefully developed programs and initiatives. Enormous potential exists, ready to be harnessed, if only it is given a chance”...

>124 John5918:

Cardinal Zen arrested in Hong Kong, Holy See expresses concern (Vatican news)

Cardinal Joseph Zen was detained in Hong Kong on Wednesday by the police force set up to oversee national security, and charged with “collusion with foreign forces” in connection with his role as administrator of the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund. The director of the Vatican Press Office says the Holy See is closely following developments in the situation...

We all know That Cardinal Zen has been a champion for human rights, and has been silenced by this pope, In 2020 he came to see the pope about appionting a bishop of Hong Kong "that the people will trust" PF refused to see him. Zen also ia an outspoken critic of Traditiones Custodia. The Vatican's mute response is we are "concerned" The response is insulting not to condemn the outrage of snatching a Roman Catholic Cardinal Archbishop off the street and humiliate him on video,is an out rage, I have said all along in these posts "who are these guys advising this pope" PS "admin" you can hide this post but like I said in my opening sentence "we all know" AMDG....

>130 brone:

"We all know" is usually a coded phrase meaning "actually we all don't know". The best way to ensure that we all know is to post links, as I have done in the case of Cardinal Zen, so that we can all read about it and then we will all know.

Pope to Anglican-Catholic Dialogue Commission: 'Unity prevails over conflict' (Vatican News)

Pope Francis encourages the Anglican Communion to contribute to the Catholic Church’s synodal process, and looks ahead to his “pilgrimage of peace” to South Sudan in July in the company of the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Moderator of the Church of Scotland...

Pope Francis to visit Canada in July (Vatican News)

Pope Francis will be traveling to Canada from 24 – 30 July, and will visit the cities of Edmonton, Québec and Iqaluit...

We all know about the persecution in Africa, murders,rape, kidnappings, child trafficing; maybe all don't know because the Vatican is silent about atrocities commited by muslims, where is the outrage about a female Christian student, beaten to a pulp, stoned and set her body ablaze with tires. This is how the BBC reported this atrocity, "a student lost her life on a college campus in Sokoto". Nothing from the Holy See well at least they are disturbed about the Outrage in China, but speak out against Islamic Fanaticism, that aint happening....JMJ....

>133 brone:

The Catholic bishop of the diocese where it took place has condemned it in very strong terms: Stoning, Murder of Nigerian Christian Student “criminal, law must take its cause”: Bishop (ACI Africa). Human rights abuses, war crimes and other terrible atrocities are taking place all over the world virtually every minute of the day. If the Holy Father were to issue a statement about every single one of them I don't suppose he'd have time for anything else at all. Fortunately within the Catholic Church we have subsidiarity - things are done at the most appropriate level, in this case the diocesan bishop. Certain cases are escalated up to the pope, but they can't all be pushed to him.

Pope Francis: To be a teacher is to live a mission (Vatican News)

we cannot be content with "teaching" Jesus if we do not bear witness to Him... He explained that “we transmit to others what we are inside. It is not enough to fill one's head with ideas, that is not educating; to educate is to transmit life.” “To be a teacher is to live a mission,” he said...

How about just one token protest against Islamic and Chinese Brutalities....JMJ....

Maybe he can say something about this current outrage seeing that all the subsidiaries are in jail or have dissappeared. Ten priests were abducted from the undergroung real Catholic Church of the community of Baoding, Fr Chen Hechao, Fr Ji Fu Hou, Fr Mal Gana, Fr Vang Gaunglin, Fr Hang ManCana, FrYang Jianwel, Fr Zhang Chunguang, Fr Zhang Zhenguan, Fr Yin Zhenguan, Fr Yin Shuangel, Fr Zhang Shough, Their Bishop James su Zhimin has been in prison for twenty- five years. These priests have been outspoken about PF's accord with the Godless communists, their pilgramage sites, their churches and elegant crosses have been desecrated for their refusal to be sinicrenized or as professional catholics like to call it inculturated....JMJ....

>137 brone:

You really have no idea what you are talking about when you liken inculturation to "desecration" or "syncretisation" (I presume that's what you mean by "sinicrenized"). Making cheap jibes at the Church will not help any oppressed people in China. And what do you mean by "professional Catholics"? Are you once again creating an artificial division within the Church? My friend, we are all Catholics. Don't try to divide us. Your negativity is rather sad. "Like new saints, let's live God's dream joyfully"! And in this LT Catholic Tradition group, let's at least try for the "many small acts of daily love". ( >139 John5918: )

Pope at Canonization: Like new saints, let's live God's dream joyfully

During the canonization Mass, Pope Francis proclaims ten new saints in St. Peter's Square. In his homily, he reminds the faithful to recognize how God loves us unconditionally and how the path to holiness is "so simple" and requires seeing Jesus in others... At the beginning of the liturgical celebration, the Pope proclaimed ten new saints: Titus Brandsma; Lazzarus Devasahayam; César de Bus; Luigi Maria Palazzolo; Giustino Maria Russolillo; Charles de Foucauld; Maria Rivier; Maria Francesca of Jesus Rubatto; Maria of Jesus Santocanale; Maria Domenica Mantovani...

De Foucauld: Total surrender to God and universal fraternity

Fr. Charles de Foucauld (1858-1916). His life was one marked by transformation: he served as a soldier, then an explorer, had a conversion experience and became a monk, and finally a desert hermit, serving most of his years among the Tuareg people of Algeria. De Foucauld is considered to be one of the pioneers of interreligious dialogue. He witnessed to his faith above all through his quiet example, without words, of trying to live it through deep prayer and friendship and service to the people he came to know. His life and faith witness could easily make him a model for "human fraternity" that Pope Francis has so often mentioned in his writings and talks...

Pope encourages French youth to build on the heritage of holiness

Pope Francis meets with young pilgrims from the French town of Viviers, the hometown of Charles de Foucauld and Marie Rivier who will be canonized on Sunday, and invites young people to build on their heritage of holiness...

All the above from Vatican News.

Pope rallies from knee pain to proclaim 10 new saints (AP)

Pope Francis created 10 new saints on Sunday, rallying from knee pain that has forced him to use a wheelchair to preside over the first canonization ceremony at the Vatican in over two years. Francis stood for a long period at the start to greet priests concelebrating the Mass, presided over the nearly two-hour ceremony and then stood and walked for a good 15 minutes after it ended to greet dozens of cardinals and bishops. Vatican cameras lingered on the scene as if to showcase the pope’s mobility and refute speculation about his health and the future of his pontificate... Francis told the crowd of more than 45,000 that the 10 embodied holiness in everyday life, and said the church needs to embrace this idea rather than an unattainable ideal of personal achievement. “Holiness does not consist of a few heroic gestures, but of many small acts of daily love,” he said...

Sinicization or sinofication is what I meant but it still means inculturation one is communist the other socialist, Chinese are the desecrators not me and people that tap dance around the real meat of the post, the priests being abducted and spires, crosses and domes all over china being demolished, someone speaking out about these social injustices and acussed of being divisive and negative and ignorant well dude get used to it or is objection to Official Church silence on these persecutions too much sand in the sand box...JMJ...

>140 brone:

Ah, my apologies, I thought you meant syncretisation but I understand now. I've just googled and found "sinicization, sinofication, sinification, or sinonization" all mean "the process by which non-Chinese societies come under the influence of Chinese culture, particularly the culture, language, societal norms, and ethnic identity of the Han people" and "may refer to processes or policies of acculturation, assimilation, or cultural imperialism of norms from China on neighboring East Asian societies, or on minority ethnic groups within China". It would be very misleading to apply that term to the theology of inculturation, I feel. I have no idea what you mean by "one is communist the other socialist", as that has nothing to do with inculturation and not really with sinicisation either - Chinese culture predates both communism and socialism (as well as Christianity) by several thousand years. Chinese culture is different from the political ideology of the current Chinese government.

As I have said before, you're welcome to draw attention to the persecution of Christians in China and the arrest of Cardinal Zen, and even to question why the Vatican hasn't been more outspoken. I don't know the answer to that question, although somewhere in this or a parallel thread I did try to give some of my own experience of the complexities of doing effective advocacy for human rights and the difficult balancing act which it sometimes entails. You're welcome to question the official silence, but it would be good to do it charitably without casting pejorative and disparaging innuendos against the Holy Father or anyone else. I try to assume the best, not the worst, of my fellow human beings until proven otherwise, and even then, they are still all my sisters and brothers.

My reference to division and negativity was connected to the use of the term "professional Catholics". Why try to divide the Church? Who are these supposed "professional Catholics" and what does the term mean to you? You also haven't explained the term "tap dancing". Does it mean people who try to handle complex issues rather than dealing with things simplisticly? People who try to find out what is really going on, facts, history, the complexity of Church teaching, setting things into a broader context, trying to be accurate in the use of language and concepts? Or does it simply mean people who disagree with you? Are these not rather pejorative and uncharitable terms?

Edited to add: After posting the above I went down for breakfast and spent some time working on a manuscript I am editing for a small Catholic publishing house in Nairobi. It's written by a Rwandan priest who, as a young boy, survived the genocide in 1994 even though virtually his whole family was slaughtered around him, and went on to become both a pastor and a theologian. A couple of things I read in his manuscript this morning really struck me as being relevant to our conversation.

He speaks of how it is important for bishops and theologians to work under the presumption that each desires the good of the Church and "presumes the good will of the other. Difficult as it may be, each must learn to recognise the one God who is acting in the other"¹. I think this applies to any conversation between Catholics, including ours, and mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa when I have fallen short of that aspiration.

On inculturation, he references Gaudium et spes, that theologians are entrusted with the task of bringing the Christian faith to dialogue with culture in a way that stimulates and deepens that faith (cf #62), "so that revealed truth can always be more deeply penetrated, better understood and set forth to greater advantage" (#44). People's cultures, histories and experiences carry within them new challenges to which theologians must offer scrutiny and reflection, and thus be able to present the Word of God in a way that is comprehensible to their contemporaries. "{T}heologians in every age have the task of helping the believing community to articulate the truths of Christian faith in relation to the intellectual, cultural, social and political situations in which the church finds herself"². I think that's a competent one-paragraph summary of inculturation, although of course volumes have been written exploring the topic further.

1. Mary Ann Donovan, "The Vocation of the Theologian", Theological Studies 65 (2004), 3-22 at 20.

2. Robert A Krieg, Catholic Theologians in Nazi Germany, (New York: Continuum, 2004), 171.

Paul must have been known as the " bad newsman" because, he dared to diagree with and criticize the original Twelve and Peter, their leader; and James the brother of the Lord, who presided over the Church in Jerusalem. He called Peter a hypocrite, one of those " who maintained a petense" and " did not tap dance to the clearly marked meaning of revelation" (Gal 2.13-14) he even defended himself against "a party of Peter" in corinth (1 Cor 1.12). He thought Peter was misled by James (Gal 2.12) he even goes as far a refering to them as "apparent pillars" of the Church in Jeruselam....JMJ....

>142 brone:

Indeed. A disagreement on doctrine which was talked through and prayed about until the Spirit guided the nascent Church to discern the way forward, which involved adapting the previous teaching to take account of the culture of the new non-Jewish Christians. Inculturation, one might say. I don't know which translation of Galatians you are using though. I'm using a Catholic bible, the New Jerusalem, and it doesn't seem to mention tap dancing. As for 1 Corinthians 1:12, yes, Paul is very critical of people who set up divisions within the Church.

Pope's recipe to heal his painful knee? A shot of tequila (NCR)

Doctors have prescribed a wheelchair, cane and physical therapy to help heal Pope Francis' bad knee. He has other ideas. According to a viral video of the pope at the end of a recent audience, Francis quipped that what he really needs for the pain is a shot of tequila...

Pope Francis “is St. Peter coming to us, to confirm us in the faith”: Bishop in DR Congo

The Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Kikwit in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has expressed joy as the Central African nation awaits the visit of Pope Francis, noting that the visit signifies the coming of St. Peter “to confirm us in the faith”... “When news of the Pope’s visit was made public, we were thrilled. This is Saint Peter coming to us. He comes as a shepherd, to confirm us in the faith, and we feel very blessed by his visit”...

Nuncio to South Sudan Says Planned Ecumenical Visit “a moment of grace for all of us”

The representative of the Holy Father in South Sudan has said that the planned ecumenical visit to the East-Central African nation is “a moment of grace” for the people of God in the country... The Holy Father is to realize the South Sudan trip along with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, and the Moderator of the Church of Scotland, Jim Wallace... Pope Francis will become the first Pope to visit South Sudan, the world’s newest nation that gained independence from the Republic of the Sudan on 9 July 2011...

Both from ACI Africa

Translations are so much more enjoyable than the oringinals, because they contain many things the originals leave out, I bet you did'nt know that the tGalations were great tap dancers. A lot of interpolation going on these days. All these different " catholic interpretations" translated at a cost of diminished accuracy in some other aspect. Adapting we might say, fidelity is not a coherent strategy of translation but a boast. I as you probably have guessed use the Bhp Chanoller first published by the English College at Douay, A.D. 1609....JMJ.... Please keep this a secret PF might ban it if he found out people might still have a copy of Douay-Rheims.

>146 brone:

Like you, I grew up with the Douay translation of the bible, complete with notes by Bishop Challoner. I still have my late mother's 1956 edition of it. It contains some beautiful and inspiring language, as does the King James version so beloved by Anglicans. Both are well worth reading for enjoyment, inspiration and prayer, as well as to give one a historical perspective of what past Christians were basing themselves on, but I think it would be unwise to ignore the advances which have been made in translation and understanding in the last five hundred years. I very much doubt that the newer translations have "diminished accuracy". Some might say they have diminished beauty, but beauty is subjective, in the eye of the beholder - personally I think the Jerusalem bible is more beautiful than the New Jerusalem which superseded it. Presumably you wouldn't want your doctor to be relying on medical science from half a millennium ago, and I think the same should be true of the science involved in translation, linguistics, literary criticism, exegesis, etc, particularly for a text so important to us as the bible.

Actually I didn't know that "the Galatians were great tap dancers". Can you give a reference for that so we can all read about it? I've just skimmed through Galatians in the Douay bible and I still don't see "tap dancing", although there is a reference to "revellings" (Gal 5:21). Both Wikipedia and the Encyclopaedia Britannica suggest that tap dancing has its roots in the fusion of various ethnic percussive dances, primarily African traditional dances and Scottish, Irish, and English clog dancing, hornpipes, and jigs in the 19th century CE, but I'm prepared to be persuaded that they're out by two millennia and a couple of continents.

I presume PF refers to Pope Francis? Why do you think he would want to ban a version of the bible? I rather doubt it.

Pope: St. Charles de Foucauld shared essence and universality of faith (Vatican News)

Pope Francis meets with men and women inspired by the charism of St. Charles de Foucauld, and praises the new Saint’s focus on the love of Christ for all people...

Pope authorizes non-clerics to be Major Superiors in certain cases (Vatican News)

With a rescript promulgated on Wednesday, Pope Francis grants the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life faculties to allow non-clerics to serve as “major superiors” in religious communities...

Religious brothers can be superiors of orders with priests, pope says (NCR)

Granting an exception to canon law, Pope Francis said the Vatican office that deals with religious orders can permit men's communities that are made up of both priests and brothers to choose one of the brothers to be a provincial superior or even the superior general. A rescript from the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life published by the Vatican May 18 said the approval for appointing or electing a brother to head a "clerical institute" would be given "discretionally and in individual cases"...

Pope Francis Coming to “comfort all victims of insecurity”: Catholic Bishop in DR Congo (ACI Africa)

The Bishop of Butembo-Beni Diocese in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has said the planned pastoral visit to the country will “comfort all victims of insecurity”...

Although some of our misunderstandings come from my neigh(bour)hood, as you take tap dancing literally it seems, (yet you might have your tongue in cheek also I'm not sure) Tap dancing, clog dancing, line dancing, square dancing, ballroom dancing still exists in America, crotch grabbing gansta dancing is all you see now on videos. Anyway " tapdancing" ='s avoiding the issues, skirting the truth. and example Paul says that one of the twelve ate with the gentiles I think it was James, but tap danced around the issue when with the circumsized....JMJ....

>149 brone:

Ah, thank you. Yes, I was aware that you were not using "tap dancing" literally, but I had no idea what you were referring to. On more than one occasion I believe I asked you to clarify but you declined. Finally we get an answer, or in fact two answers, as I don't believe "avoiding the issues" is the same as "skirting the truth". But neither do I believe that I was "skirting the truth" or "avoiding the issues" in the cases where you have suggested I was "tap dancing". I think it would be more accurate to say I was disagreeing with you, setting the issues in a broader context, mentioning (or requesting) facts, giving a fuller picture of Church teaching, addressing complexity, etc.

A real honest to goodnes, dog and pony show you might say....AMDG.....

Pope Francis “confirmed that he is coming” Despite Knee Pain: Cardinal in DR Congo (ACI Africa)

Pope Francis is expected to visit the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in July despite his health challenges, especially the pain in his knee, the Cardinal in the Central African nation has said... “Pope Francis confirmed that he is coming. Unless there are new developments,” Cardinal Ambongo has been quoted as saying... “I came back from Rome last week. We had the meeting of the council of cardinals with the Pope for three days. I saw that he was suffering a lot with his knee. He has a problem that complicates his mobility a bit.” The Cardinal further says, “The upcoming visit was also discussed during the meeting of the Council of Cardinals.” “We talked a little, but he personally is a good Jesuit who has a sense of work, a sense of duty; his knee pain does not enter into his current vision in terms of modifying or not modifying his program”... “Naturally, we take into account his current health in these preparations”...

Catholic Bishop Explains Prayer Formulated for Papal Ecumenical Visit to South Sudan (ACI Africa)

Bishop Mathew Remijo Adam has explained the content of the common prayer, which members of the Sudan Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SCBC) formulated, in preparation for the Papal ecumenical visit...

Heavenly Father,
You sent your Son Jesus Christ as our Shepherd and the Holy Spirit to make us one
Bless, guide and protect your Servant Pope Francis As he comes on his Apostolic visit to our Land
Look with favor upon us, your Church in South Sudan and Sudan as we prepare to receive the Holy Father
Send your Holy Spirit upon Bishops, Priests, Religious and the entire People of God to continue the work of renewal in our countries
Grant our leaders, wisdom and understanding to lead your people in the ways of justice, peace and reconciliation
May the visit of the Holy Father strengthen hope and unity among our people
St. Josephine Bakhita Pray for us
St. Daniel Comboni Pray for us
Mary Queen of Africa Pray for us

Hail Mary ... Glory be...

>151 brone:

Is that your way of saying that you disagree?

How can you disagree with a victim.

>154 brone:

I don't understand your response.

Missionary Priest in South Sudan Lauds “ecumenical approach” of Planned Papal Trip (ACI Africa)

A Catholic Missionary Priest serving in South Sudan has lauded the “ecumenical approach” of the planned pastoral trip of Pope Francis, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, and the Moderator of the Church of Scotland, Jim Wallace to the East-Central African nation... “It’s a huge occasion for the rejoicing of Bishops, Priests, and Laity. The ecumenical approach makes South Sudan’s Christian witness, desire, and mandate for peace stronger”... “This ecumenical visit makes it unique even in terms of Africa, which the Holy Father has called a pilgrimage of peace. It promotes peace and reconciliation because it involves the three top religious leaders”...

Catholic Schools Should Not be Christian in Name Only: Pope Francis (ACI Africa)

Pope Francis said Saturday that Catholic schools should not be Christian in name only, but in fact. Speaking to the De La Salle Christian Brothers, the pope underlined that Christians educators must first of all be witnesses to the Gospel. “The Christian educator, in the school of Christ, is first of all a witness, and he is a teacher to the extent that he is a witness,” Pope Francis said on May 21. “And above all I pray for you, that you may be brothers not only in name, but in fact. And for your schools to be Christian not in name, but in fact,” he said...

Pope Francis approves canonization of two Blesseds (Vatican News)

In decrees approved on Saturday, Pope Francis approves the canonization of Blessed Giovanni Battista Scalabrini and Blessed Artemide Zatti; recognizes a miracle attributed to Spanish laywoman Maria de la Concepción Barrecheguren y García; and recognizes the heroic virtues of seven Servants of God... Pope Francis will convene a consistory to canonize Bishop Giovanni Battista Scalabrini, raising to the altars a bishop already recognized throughout the world as a patron of migrants. Scalabrini, who served as Bishop of Piacenza, Italy, in the 19th century, is the founder of the Congregations of the Missionaries of St Charles, which have as a special charism the mission of serving migrants...

Pope expresses closeness to pastors and faithful in China (Vatican News)

At the end of the Regina Coeli, Pope Francis recalls the memory of the Blessed Virgin Mary Help of Christians, inviting the Church to unite in prayer with Chinese Catholics...

Finally, the Pope expressed his gratitude to those participating in Italy's national Scegliamo la vita (Let’s Choose Life) event taking place yesterday. "I thank you for your dedication in promoting life and defending conscientious objection, which there are often attempts to limit," concluding, "let us remember that life is a gift from God! It is always sacred and inviolable, and we cannot silence the voice of conscience."

In wake of Pelosi communion ban, pope backs pro-life demonstration in Italy (Crux)

Two days after Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone announced that U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was barred from receiving communion in San Francisco over her support for abortion rights, Pope Francis offered support to a pro-life demonstration, saying that life is a gift from God. On Sunday, Francis thanked those who took part in Scegliamo la Vita (Let’s Choose Life), Saturday’s march and pro-life demonstration in Rome, applauding participants for “your commitment in favor of life and in defense of conscientious objection, the exercise of which is often attempted to be restricted.” The pope said that “unfortunately,” in recent years “there has been a shift in the common mentality, and today we are increasingly inclined to think that life is an asset at our total disposal, which we can choose to manipulate, give birth to or let die as we please, as the exclusive outcome of an individual choice.” “Let us remember that life is a gift from God,” he said. “It is always sacred and inviolable, and we cannot silence the voice of conscience”...

During his remarks Sunday, Pope Francis also referred to China, which on Tuesday celebrates its patroness, Mary Help of Christians, who’s particularly dear to Catholics. Speaking days after the arrest and subsequent release on bail of Cardinal Joseph Zen, bishop emeritus of Hong Kong, the pontiff said that he wanted to express his “spiritual closeness” to all Chinese Catholics ahead of the Marian feast. “I am attentively and actively following the often-complex life and situations of the faithful and pastors, and I pray every day for them,” he said..

Less than a year after he strengthened the Code of Canon law's section on crimes, Pope Francis has issued an Apostolic Letter ( in my little guy in the pew reasoning, that disagreeing with an Apostolic letter you must really be grounded in the deposit of faith) a Moto proprio on his own initiative that alters the wording of a canon us Americans might say an executive order, as a result of the change, members of religious institutes who sexually abuse minors and other vulnerable persons, or who commit canonical offenses related to child pornography, will no longer be automatically dismissed from their religious orders. The spin of course will be the due course argument. I guess suspected perverts in the secular state get no such protection. Now the little guy in the pew reads this and thinks this papacy is filled with "you must" followed by " oh wait we will think of something else" How ambigous and who are the advisors....AMDG....

>158 brone:

Could you name the motu proprio, and give a link to where this topic is mentioned, so that the rest of us know what we are talking about?

"Due course", or "due process", is not "spin". It's one of the cornerstones of a just and democratic society. You're quite critical of the pope for not doing more to support Cardinal Pell when he was accused of sexually abusing a minor, but you want members of religious orders to be "automatically dismissed"? It was the very due process that you dismiss as "spin" which eventually led to Pell being acquitted.

Pope Francis Has Asked Catholics to Say This Prayer May 24: Our Lady, Help of Christians (ACI Africa)

In 2007 Pope Benedict XVI proclaimed May 24, the feast of Our Lady, Help of Christians, to be a World Day of Prayer for the Church in China, which venerates the Blessed Virgin Mary under that title as the country's patroness. This year, Pope Francis has asked Catholics to join him in praying for the faithful in China. “This coming Tuesday is the Memorial of the Blessed Virgin, Mary Help of Christians, particularly dear to Catholics in China who venerate Mary, Help of Christians as their Patroness in the Shrine of Sheshan in Shanghai, in many churches throughout the country, and in their homes,” Pope Francis said on May 22. “This happy occasion offers me the opportunity to assure them once again of my spiritual closeness. I am attentively and actively following the often complex life and situations of the faithful and pastors, and I pray every day for them,” he said. The pope continued, “I invite all of you to unite yourselves in this prayer so that the Church in China, in freedom and tranquility, might live in effective communion with the universal Church, and might exercise its mission of proclaiming the Gospel to everyone, and thus offer a positive contribution to the spiritual and material progress of society, as well.” In response, the Catholic humanitarian organization Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) and other human rights groups have also called for prayer. Adding to the urgency for prayer this year are reports that Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, the 90-year-old retired bishop of Hong Kong who is an outspoken support of the pro-democracy movement there, is expected to return to court on Tuesday in connection with his May 11 arrest for allegedly violating China’s national security law...

"Ours is age of fake news, collective superstitions, pseudo-scientific truths": Pope

ope Francis said on Wednesday that Catholics today are living in an “age of fake news, collective superstitions, and pseudo-scientific truths.”

Reflecting on the Book of Ecclesiastes at his general audience on May 25, the pope suggested that the 21st century was marked not only by scientific knowledge but also what he called a “cultured witchcraft.” “It is no coincidence that ours is the age of fake news, collective superstitions, and pseudo-scientific truths,” he said. Speaking off the cuff, he went on: “It’s curious: in this culture of knowledge, of knowing everything, even of the precision of knowledge, a lot of witchcraft has spread, but cultured witchcraft.” “It is witchcraft with a certain culture but that leads you to a life of superstition: on the one hand, to go forward with intelligence in knowing things down to the roots; on the other hand, the soul that needs something else and takes the path of superstitions, and ends up in witchcraft.” The pope used the Italian word “stregoneria,” which can be translated as “witchcraft,” “sorcery,” or “black magic.”

Catholic Bishop in DR Congo Calls for Prayers, Unity in Preparation for Papal Visit

The Catholic Bishop of Goma Diocese in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has called on the people of God in his Episcopal See to intensify prayers and remain united as the Central African nation prepares for the pastoral visit of Pope Francis. In a Monday, May 23 statement, Bishop Willy Ngumbi Ngengele urges Catholics to be “merciful and not dwell on the shortcomings we have observed, but to be motivated by the desire to overcome them in order to prepare for the meeting with the Successor of Peter, who is coming as a messenger of peace.” “I urge you to unite forces more in Christ for an effective communion and participation as we prepare for the Pope’s visit,” Bishop Ngumbi says. The Burundian-born member of the Missionaries of Africa (White Fathers) adds, “May we find in you our Oneness, without straying from the path of truth and justice, moving forward together towards eternal life”...

Both from ACI Africa

New from Pope Francis, Against War: The Courage to Build Peace (Catholic Peacebuilding Network)

Contro la guerra: il coraggio di costruire la pace (Against War: The Courage to Build Peace) is a new book that collects Pope Francis's thoughts and teachings on war and peace. It is currently available in Italian only, but Communion and Liberation offers a translated excerpt of the introduction. On May 2, at Universitá LUMSA in Rome, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin presented the new book and offered his own remarks in which he called for a "new Helsinki Conference" to help end the violence in Ukraine.

Communion and Liberation's English translation of the introduction:

A year ago, on my pilgrimage to tormented Iraq, I was able to touch the disaster cause by war, fratricidal violence and terrorism with my own hands; I saw the rubble of homes and the wounds of hearts, but also seeds of hope for rebirth. Never would I have imagined then that one year later a conflict would break out in Europe. From the beginning of my service as bishop of Rome I have spoken of World War III, saying that we are already living it, though still in pieces. Those pieces have become bigger and bigger, merged together.... So many wars are going on in the world right now, causing immense pain, innocent victims, especially children. These are wars that cause the flight of millions of people, forced to leave their land, their homes, their destroyed cities to save their lives. These are the many forgotten wars that reappear from time to time before our inattentive eyes.

These wars seemed "distant" to us until now when, almost suddenly, war has broken out near us. Ukraine has been attacked and invaded. Unfortunately, many innocent civilians, women, children and the elderly have been affected by the conflict, forced to live in shelters dug into the ground to escape the bombs, with families divided because husbands, fathers, grandfathers have been left behind to fight whilst wives, mothers and grandmothers seek refuge after long journeys of hope and cross the border seeking refuge in other countries that receive them with open hearts.

In front of the heart-breaking images that we see each day, in front of the cry of children and women, we can only scream: "Stop!". War is not the solution, war is madness, war is a monster, war is a cancer that feeds on itself, engulfing everything! What's more, war is a sacrilege that wreaks havoc on what is most precious on our earth, human life, the innocence of the little ones, the beauty of creation.

Yes, war is a sacrilege! I cannot fail to recall Saint John XXIII’s plea in 1962 in which he asked the powerful men and women of his time to stop the escalation of the war that could have dragged the world into the abyss of nuclear conflict. I cannot forget the forcefulness with which Saint Paul VI, speaking in 1965 at the United Nations General Assembly, said: "Never again war! Never again war!". Or, again, the many appeals for peace made by Saint John Paul II, who in 1991 called war "an adventure without return."

What we are witnessing is yet another barbarity and we, unfortunately, have a short memory. Yes, because if we had memory, we would remember what our grandparents and parents told us, and we would feel the need for peace just as our lungs need oxygen. If we had memory, we would not spend tens, hundreds of billions of dollars on rearmament, to equip ourselves with increasingly sophisticated weapons, to increase the market and the traffic of weapons that end up killing children, women, the elderly: 1,981 billion dollars per year, according to calculations by a leading research center in Stockholm. This represents a dramatic increase of 2.6% during the second year of the pandemic, when all our efforts should have been focused on global health and on saving lives from the virus.

If we had memory, we would know that war, before it reaches the front lines, must be stopped in our hearts.

Pope: Pray for peace and move forward together in solidarity (Vatican News)

In a message to participants at the 102nd Katholikentag (Catholic Days) event in Stuttgart, Germany, Pope Francis warmly greets them and calls on them to pray for peace and know that "only together do we move forward" so that everyone's life will become richer and more beautiful...

Months ago I mentioned Francis's Africa problem when I mentioned the Axing of Cardinal Peter H. Appiah Turkson, After "by the way" Cardinal Blaze " " Cupich conducted an audit on Turkson's shop, that must have been a doozy, Hence Francis's Africa problem, the short of it is that Africa has not danced the dance (Tap) some would have us believe. African prelates like Bishop Fuanya of Cameroon is qouted as saying his problem is that young people are bursting his churches. This African prelate says his success comes from confident preaching with insistence on the Church's Traditional teachings as "evangelical selling points" this does'nt sit well with Rome where Christianity as a social and cultural force appears to be on its last legs, Anyway Turkson's departure was six monthes ago now we get that the bureauracy isn't big enough for to allow representation by country, but no representation from a whole continent, Like I said before Dear Mrs Farrell bless her Irish heart with the birth of Brian and Kevin has given more to the Roman Curia than the whole continent of Africa.....JMJ.....

>164 brone:

Cardinal Turkson was not "axed", he completed his five-year term leading the then newly created Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, and was appointed as chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences. The establishment of the new dicastery in 2016 was a tough task, and it wouldn't surprise me in the least if the good cardinal wasn't relieved to be able to hand it over to someone else to take it forwards.

I don't think Francis has an "Africa problem". On the contrary, it is, as I keep telling people, and as you yourself say giving the example of Cameroon, a continent where the Church is vibrant and growing. Any pope would be happy about that, and no doubt Francis is happy with the "confident preaching" of Bishop Fuanya. As a bishop from the Global South himself, I think Francis understands the dynamic, but also recognises the differences and is not trying to impose a single model on the whole Church. As far as I can recall he has visited Central African Republic, Egypt, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique and Uganda, and is about to go to DRC and South Sudan, almost 20% of all his international pastoral visits. He has created African cardinals, and many new bishops.

I don't know where you get the idea that in Rome "Christianity as a social and cultural force appears to be on its last legs". I would say quite the opposite is true, that Francis' papacy has been a boost for Christianity worldwide, not just in Rome.

I don't know who "Dear Mrs Farrell" is, but your statement that one woman has done more for the Curia than the whole continent of Africa appears to be very dismissive of a whole continent and its nearly 240 million Catholics. It's not the first time. Can't you make any argument without needing to disparage somebody?

Edited to add: Pope Francis Names 21 New Cardinals, Including Two from Africa (ACI Africa)

Pope Francis has said that he will create 21 new Cardinals, including two Bishops from Africa, one from Nigeria and the other from Ghana... Bishop Peter Okpaleke of Nigeria’s Ekwulobia Diocese, and Bishop Richard Kuuia Baawobr of Wa Diocese in Ghana are the two newly named Cardinals from Africa. The list of the new Cardinals includes eight from Europe, six from Asia, four from Central and Latin America, and one from North America. Five of the newly named Cardinals are over the age of 80...

Mrs Farrell is the mother of Bishop Kevin and Brian who work in the curia therefore Mrs Farrell has more representatives in Rome than all of Africa. Re-reading my post I correct my self and substitute Christendom. Christendom is an economic and social system inspired by Christianity, just look at the symptoms, breakup of the family. divorce ,abortion, immorality and general dishonesty, there have been 22 civilizations that have decayed and vanished from the beginning of recorded history, 19 of them from within, there are two forms of barbarians loose today active and pasive. Passive wish to destroy us from within Passive, those from without active. We don't see the decline we just get used to it....JMJ....

>166 brone:

There are a lot of Africans working in the Vatican in different positions, just not as heads of dicasteries.

Christendom. That's an interesting term. I doubt whether there has ever been an economic and social system that has truly been inspired by Christianity, certainly not western capitalism, nor the ideological communism found in eastern Europe and China. Catholic Social Teaching gives pointers as to what it should look like - the common good, the preferential option for the poor, the dignity of the human person, peace, good governance, participation, subsidiarity, care for creation, etc - and few societies have ever come close. But yes, empires (or "civilisations") come and go. The British Empire, built on slavery, exploitation, racism and violence, began to peter out soon after World War II, although Boris Johnson and his ilk like to pretend that it still exists. The USA didn't have an empire as such, but I would say US hegemony is also on the wane as China's international influence waxes.

An end-of-summer Consistory that looks to the world (Vatican News)

As Pope Francis announces he will preside at the eighth consistory for the creation of Cardinals, we take a look at the 21 men chosen to wear the red hat and where they come from...

East Timor cardinal-elect 'almost fainted' when he heard Pope Francis had chosen him (CNA)

The newest — and first — cardinal-elect of the island nation of East Timor says he was completely surprised by his appointment by Pope Francis over the weekend. “When I heard this news, I was so shocked I almost fainted,” Archbishop Dom Virgilio do Carmo da Silva told reporters May 30. "I never dreamed of this and I never looked for it”...

Pope Francis names Cardinal Cupich a member of Vatican Congregation for Divine Worship (Vatican News)

Pope Francis on Wednesday named Cardinal Blase Cupich as a member of the Vatican’s Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments... Other churchmen named as members of the congregation include the Irish-American Cardinal Kevin Farrell, prefect of the Dicastery for the Laity, the Family, and Life, and the Bronx-born Archbishop Augustine Di Noia, adjunct secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Di Noia also welcomed the publication of Traditionis custodes, saying in a 2021 interview with the Catholic News Service that “the TLM (Traditional Latin Mass) movement has hijacked the initiatives of St. John Paul II and Benedict XVI to its own ends.” Other members of the Congregation include Cardinal Mario Grech, Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops, Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, Burmese Cardinal Charles Maung Bo of Yangon, and Bishop Hugh Gilbert of Aberdeen, president of the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland. Members of Vatican congregations normally have five-year terms...

Guarding "dead traditions" is Dangerous for the Church’s Life: Pope Francis (ACI Africa)

Pope Francis on Wednesday criticized people who “call themselves guardians of traditions, but of dead traditions,” saying that failing to move forward is dangerous for the Church today. Speaking to the organizers of a conference on education on June 1, the pope said that it was vital to make progress by “drawing from the roots.” He said that “there is the fashion — in every age, but in this age in the Church’s life I consider it dangerous — that instead of drawing from the roots in order to move forward — meaning fine traditions — we ‘step back,’ not going up or down, but backward.” “This ‘back-stepping’ makes us a sect; it makes you ‘closed’ and cuts off your horizons. Those people call themselves guardians of traditions, but of dead traditions.” Pope Francis underlined that “the true Catholic Christian and human tradition … grows, progresses.” “Education, for its part, is always rooted in the past, but it does not stop there: it is directed towards ‘forward-looking initiatives,’ where the old and the new converge to create a new humanism,” he said. The pope underlined that true tradition is “what that fifth-century theologian described as a constant growth: throughout history, tradition grows, progresses: ut annis consolidetur, dilatetur tempore, sublimetur aetate.” The pope was referring to St. Vincent of Lerins, who wrote about the development of Church teaching, saying that it “is solidified over the years, extended with time, and refined with age.” Pope Francis has invoked this quotation numerous times since his election in 2013, including in a letter on Amoris laetitia in 2018...

Pope Francis at Rosary for peace: Prayer can save the world (Vatican News)

Pope Francis on Tuesday invoked the intercession of the Virgin Mary, Queen of Peace, to grant humanity the gift of peace. Speaking on Sunday, the Pope invited the faithful across the globe to join him in praying the Rosary on the last day of the Marian month of May, as wars continue to afflict humanity with death, suffering and destruction. The prayer vigil, which took place in the Papal Basilica of St. Mary Major, included the participation of people affected or displaced by war, of migrants and refugees. There was a Ukrainian family, representing all the families experiencing the violence and abuse of war; military chaplains, for those who bring hope and comfort to afflicted populations; a male and a female volunteer, for all those who continue to carry out their service on behalf of others even in situations of great danger and precariousness; a Syrian family and a Venezuelan family, representing the many people who continue to suffer unjustly as a result of conflict; some refugees, giving a face and a voice to the millions who have been forced to leave their homes and have found welcomed in other countries as they try are to rebuild their lives...

Bishop Robert McElroy bishop of a suffragan diocese of LA will be elevated to the Red Hat while the (almost conservative) Metropolitan Archbishop Gomez is overlooked as well as the Archbishop of San Francisco who never will get the red hat from Francis .....AMDG.....

>171 brone:

Yes, this pope seems to be deliberately choosing cardinals from places which have not previously had them. A way of achieving a broader representation of the Church in the College of Cardinals. A good thing, I would say - look at the reaction in East Timor (>169 John5918:).

I was in Uganda in 1976 when they got their first ever cardinal, Cardinal Emmanuel Nsubuga, and I was in the congregation at the Shrine of the Uganda Martyrs when he presided at a public mass on the feast of the martyrs (3rd June) having just returned from being made cardinal in Rome a few days earlier. There was a huge and joyful turnout to celebrate this new recognition of the Ugandan Church. I never met the good cardinal, but his successor, Cardinal Emmanuel Wamala, was my parish priest when I was a young volunteer teacher in a rural Ugandan school. Both very good men.

Pope Francis yesterday address at the Vatican used some interesting new catchy phrases such as "prophecy of communion" never heard that one, "creative fidelity", this one either, how bout "culture of providence" sounds like a city in Rhode Island, "sterile Nostalgia" translation He hates conservatives its in most of his adresses these days, "dream of God" I suppose you can, I prefer praying to him. All this somehow ties into the "miracle of the sharing" of the 5,0000.Now wait a minute wasn't it yesterday the Miracle of the Multification of the loaves and fishes, I didn't know you can down grade a miracle. So I went to my Douay-Rheims and Xed out (Mt 14: 15-21; 15: 32 -38; Mk 6 : 34-45 ; Lk 9: 12-17; Jn 6: 5-16. I do give the Holy Father credit though, he did not deny he just downgraded it to an earthy sharing experience, seriously what is the justification for denying the miraculous Multification of the loaves .....JMJ.....

>173 brone:

It really would be helpful if you could give us a link so we can all read exactly what the Holy Father said yesterday without having to spend time googling it. You must have read it somewhere, so why not just copy and paste that link for us? I don't think I will ever understand your reluctance to share with us more details about the things that you obviously feel strongly about.

Many bible stories can be understood at multiple levels. One of the many lessons learned from the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes is that if we share, there is enough for everybody. That's not a new insight invented by Pope Francis, nor a "downgrading" of the bible story, it's something that's been around for as long as I can remember, as has the slogan "There is enough for everybody's need but not for one person's greed". I think of an 86-year old emeritus bishop friend of mine who has a poster with those words prominently displayed in his dining room in his peace village deep in the South Sudanese bush. He was a bishop long before Pope Francis was on the scene.

Sorry you feel the need to deface your bible. I would hate to deface my own copy of the Douay-Rheims bible.

He hates conservatives

I very much doubt whether Pope Francis "hates" anybody. Don't confuse disagreement with hate. Or are you projecting? Because "culture warriors" appear to hate those with whom they disagree, it doesn't mean that the targets of their hate reciprocate it. "But I say this to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you" (Matthew 5:44). We're Catholics; love and forgiveness are part of our being, even though we often fall short. In the parable of the lost sheep (Matthew 18:10-14, Luke 15:3-7), the good shepherd does not hate the lost sheep, nor does he blame it for straying, nor does he set conditions for feeding it, but out of love for all his sheep he goes and rescues it.

>172 John5918: And let me today wish everybody a happy feast day of the Uganda martyrs, a group of 22 Catholics and 23 Anglicans who were executed by the king between 1885 and 1887 for refusing to denounce Christianity, many of them burned alive. Separately he had earlier assassinated Anglican bishop James Hannington, and a number of Muslims were also murdered. Many modern day Ugandan and indeed other African Christians proudly bear the names of some of the martyrs, with Charles Lwanga and Kizito being prominent. In 1986 I became the first headmaster of a new Catholic secondary (high) school in southern Sudan named after St Charles Lwanga.

47-year-old Consolata Missionary Bishop in Mongolia to Become the Youngest Cardinal (ACI Africa)

A Consolata missionary Bishop who has ministered in the East Asian nation of Mongolia for nearly 20 years will soon become the world’s youngest cardinal. At 47 years old, Bishop Giorgio Marengo is the same age that Karol Wojtyła was when Paul VI announced that he had been selected to join the College of Cardinals... “This is a huge surprise for me,” Marengo told Vatican News the day after the pope’s announcement. “For me, living this new vocation will mean continuing on the path of littleness, humility and dialogue,” he said... After a meeting with the pontiff, Marengo said that Pope Francis was “very interested in the … the Church in Mongolia and of the Mongolian people in general.” “We know how much the pope cares about the entire Church, even those areas where there are not large numbers, indeed precisely where the Church is more in the minority," he said... "I believe being a bishop in Mongolia is very similar to the episcopal ministry of the early Church," Marengo said. "The Church is a very small reality, it is a minority but there is this group of Mongolian faithful who have chosen, with great courage and also a sense of responsibility, to follow the Lord and become part of the Catholic Church"...

The current Cardinal Blaze Cupich the designated head of the CDW,I read,is in full support of the 2030 agenda. The pope also supports (for years) The United Nations Sustainable development goals, which calls for "Universal Access" to "sexual and reproductivehealth "rights". Needless to say this raises eyebrows within the Vatican itself....JMJ....

an exhumation and illumination about two priests of the Chaldean rite is shedding light on the massacre of 250,000 thousand Christians on the plains of Mesopotama in 1915-15 Among the two priests about 40 are part of the "great cause" enough testimony has been gathered that they were murdered for the faith and died heroically this issue raised its head again after another policy of extermination by the Islamic State, known as the "Caldean Martyers....JMJ....

>176 brone:

Despite what culture warriors would have us believe, "sexual and reproductive health" is not only about abortion. Pregnant women, mothers in childbirth, and young babies are still dying in huge numbers in many parts of the world due to lack of adequate health care. Many women are subjected to female genital mutilation, which leaves them with huge problems related to sexual intercourse, pregnancy and childbirth. There are a whole load of things that can go wrong with the uro-genital system which need treating. HIV/AIDS is still an issue in poorer countries with weak health care systems. So yes, universal access to health care, including sexual and reproductive health, is something that we should be supporting.

>177 brone:

I think the world is becoming increasingly aware of the genocide against Armenians during World War I, but this one that you mention, which Wikipedia tells me is usually referred to as Sayfo, is far less well known. Thanks for reminding us. If there were Christian martyrs, then putting them forward for canonisation can only be a good thing, particularly as genocide is still a threat in our troubled and violent world. The first great genocide of the twentieth century was by German colonial forces against the Namaqua and Herero people in what is now Namibia. Sadly there have been too many other genocides since then.

I'm not clear what is the "great cause" to which you are referring. Can you enlighten me?

Pope Francis sends greetings on Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee (Vatican News)

Pope Francis sends a telegramme expressing his prayers and good wishes for Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II, on the occasion of her Platinum Jubilee...

Pope Francis: The Church is a ‘caravan of brothers’ on a journey (and, one hopes, sisters) (Vatican News)

The Pope greets a Pan-Orthodox delegation of priests and monks of the Oriental Autocephalous Churches on Friday, reflecting on the Solemnity of Pentecost and “the full unity to which we aspire”...

Are you open to peace? Pope makes invitation for Sacred Heart (Aleteia)

Pope Francis on June 1, 2022, noted that this month is traditionally dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus... The Sacred Heart is “source of love and peace,” he said. “Open yourselves to this love and take it ‘to the ends of the earth,’ giving testimony of the goodness and mercy that flow from the Heart of Jesus,” the Pope invited...

On Pentecost, Pope Francis explained how to recognize the Holy Spirit’s voice (CNA)

On the Solemnity of Pentecost, Pope Francis offered advice on how to distinguish the voice of the Holy Spirit from “the voice of the spirit of evil.” Speaking from a wheelchair in front of the main altar of St. Peter’s Basilica, the pope provided several examples of how to recognize the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, who “at every crossroads in our lives suggests to us the best path to follow”...

Pentecost 2022: Full text of Pope Francis’ homily (CNA)

In the final words of the Gospel we have just heard, Jesus says something that can offer us hope and make us think. He tells his disciples: “The Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all I have said to you (Jn 14:26). “Everything,” “all” – these words are striking; they make us wonder: how does the Spirit give this new and full understanding to those who receive him? It is not about quantity, or an academic question: God does not want to make us encyclopedias or polymaths. No. It is a question of quality, perspective, perception. The Spirit makes us see everything in a new way, with the eyes of Jesus. I would put it this way: in the great journey of life, the Spirit teaches us where to begin, what paths to take, and how to walk...

Pope to Sicilian priests: ‘Embrace bitterness with tenderness' (Vatican News)

Pope Francis meets with the Bishops and priests of the Italian island of Sicily, and urges them to draw near and show tenderness to the many Sicilians who taste bitterness and disappointment due to a lack of employment opportunities...

Remember your last days and set enmity aside (Vatican News)

This phrase from the Bible, is taken from the Book of Sirach. The Pope recalled it during one of his Angelus addresses and it seems ever more relevant today, in the face of the words of hatred that we hear, and in the face of the risk of a widening war in Ukraine. Indifference to hatred endangers humanity resulting in so many victims of forgotten wars in the world...

Pope gives F-word cancer campaigners VIP treatment at audience (Reuters)

The F-word made its debut on T-shirts at a papal general audience on Wednesday and a laughing Pope Francis gave members of the choir wearing them VIP treatment. About 30 Italians wearing red T-shirts bearing the words "Fuck Cancer Choir" sat in a front section at the audience in St. Peter's Square and later sang for the pope...

Appointment of Cardinals Is Personal for Francis — Were John Paul II and Benedict XVI Any Different? (National Catholic Register)

While his predecessors maintained a more ‘institutional’ approach to the creation of cardinals, Francis has chosen prelates who represent the margins, geographic and theological...

Pope Francis Thanks Army Brigade for Protecting Pilgrims to the Vatican (ACI Africa)

Pope Francis on Saturday thanked an Italian army brigade for one year of service protecting pilgrims to Rome and the Vatican from attack. “With every exit and return to the Vatican, on apostolic trips, visits to some parish or community, I see you and give thanks to God for your dedication and presence, a garrison of security,” the pope said to military personnel on June 11 at the Vatican...

Pope Francis tells priests to stop wearing ‘grandma’s lace’ at Mass (Crux)

Pope Francis told a group of priests that he doesn’t want to see “grandma’s lace” when Mass is celebrated, saying that although “paying homage” to grandmothers is good, “it is better to celebrate the Holy Mother Church.” Speaking to the priests and bishops of the Italian island of Sicily, known for its natural beauty but also for being a place where mafia dons have long appropriated both the symbols of Catholicism and ties to ecclesiastical elites to reinforce a grip on power, Francis asked about how the Second Vatican Council had been embraced by the local church. It is something that “worries me quite a bit,” he said. “Popular piety is a great treasure, and we must guard it, accompany it so that it is not lost,” he said. “Also educate it,” and “free it from all superstitious gestures and take the substance it has inside”...

And it seems he is not alone in questioning some forms of clerical dress.

French Archbishop Orders Seminarians to Stop Wearing Cassocks (National Catholic Register)

Mentioning his questioning of some of them wearing cassocks and surplices at a student Confirmation a few days earlier, the prelate stated that he told them he “did not wish that the seminarians display themselves in a too clerical way.” Indeed, in his view, the image they project in this way is not “adjusted” to their unordained status of lay faithful. He also justified his stance by the claim that “the priority of a young person in formation for the ministerial priesthood is to grow and strengthen his relationship with Christ in humility and truth, without seeking to enter into a character,” and that “he must allow pastoral charity to grow in him and make himself accessible to all {...} before worrying about displaying a very marked identity.” Therefore, the letter represented an occasion to set the seminarians’ dress code for the diocese in the future: “The wearing of the cassock is not permitted in the seminary; that is the law in force. I therefore ask that this law be applied outside the seminary in the diocese of Toulouse, including for deacons,” he specified, adding that from the time of admission to the seminary, it is possible to wear a “distinctive sign” such as “a Roman collar or a simple cross”...

Can't resist mentioning that England cricket fans are currently celebrating a different pope, after Ollie Pope hit a fine and potentially match-saving century against New Zealand at Trent Bridge yesterday!

>182 John5918: On a similar note: https://www.librarything.com/topic/342293 first made me think: Hey, shouldn't that be either Bruce Wayne or Clark Kent :-)

VIP treatment for the f bomb, ridicule for the cassock, very progressive....AMDG....

Catholic Women in Southern Africa Seeking Access to Papal Encyclicals, Pastoral Letters (ACI Africa)

Members of Catholic Women Associations in the Inter-Regional Meeting of Bishops of Southern Africa (IMBISA) are asking the leadership of the Episcopal Conferences in the region to work toward improving access to “Pope’s encyclicals or pastoral letters”... many parishioners are not aware of the existence of Papal documents...

This thirst by ordinary grassroots Catholics for access to papal teachings is in marked contrast to those in Europe and north America who ignore or deride the pope's words.

Get of your high hoss what do you know of what goes on in the average US Catholic parish....AMDG.....

>186 brone:

I'm not referring to "average" Catholics, who I believe generally do support the pope. But I hear derision and criticism of papal teaching from you and a small number of other Catholics in parts of Europe and north America. In the parallel thread on the Synod on Synodality I've posted very positive articles about it from Africa, yet this is a papal initiative which you appear to disparage. You have often posted that there is no need to be guided by papal teaching which is not ex cathedra, and have dismissed it as his personal opinion and "off the cuff remarks". Perhaps that disparaging attitude comes only from the "elite Catholics" whom you often complain about, and not "average" US Catholics?

Pope Francis says traditionalist Catholics are ‘gagging’ the reforms of Vatican II (America Magazine)

Pope Francis has complained that traditionalist Catholics, particularly in the United States, are “gagging” the church’s modernizing reforms and insisted that there was no turning back... “Restorationism has come to gag the council,” he said, adding that he knew some priests for whom the 16th century Council of Trent was more memorable than the 20th century Vatican II... “It is also true that it takes a century for a council to take root. We still have forty years to make it take root, then!”...

The pope also spoke with the editors of the Jesuit journals about resistance to the Society of Jesus’ response to Vatican II. “You were not yet born, but I witnessed in 1974 the ordeal of Father General Pedro Arrupe during the 32nd General Congregation,” Pope Francis said, referring to the Jesuits’ meeting that focused the order on social justice. “At that time there was a conservative reaction to block the prophetic voice of Arrupe,” the pope said. He recounted how one Spanish Jesuit told him, “The happiest day of my life will be when I see them {Pedro Arrupe and Jean-Yves Calves, S.J., an expert in Marxism} hanging from the gallows in St. Peter’s Square.” The pope continued, “Why am I telling you this story? To make you understand what the post-conciliar period was like. This is happening again, especially with the traditionalists”...

Pope: ‘War cannot be reduced to distinction between good guys and bad guys’ (Vatican News)

Pope Francis grants an interview to the Jesuit review ‘La Civiltà Cattolica’, and shares his thoughts on the war in Ukraine, Germany's synodal path, and signs of fresh life in the Church...

Derision of the pope I don't think so, derision of the advice he is getting maybe, His quips to aesthetic journalists on airplanes, his bringing in of idols to the Vatican gardens, i disagree with yep I do but,when he teaches on faith and morals I'm all on board. You fail to mention another of his peculiar quips to La Civillita Cattolica, In America there are many restorationists and those who can't abide by Vat II, Again I ask who are his advisors or maybe its him many from his part of the world are anti Yanqui. The fact is that there are about 70million Catholics in the US with a tiny fraction opposed to Francis. Again who is he listening to Cupich, Tobin, McCarrick, Gregory, McEroy, Certainly not Cardinal Burke, Cordlione, Strickland, or priests from American small towns and the heartland.... Really Francis " gagging reforms" next we will have sedevacantists running amuck....JMJ....

Knee pain places unusual limits on Francis, a pope used to being a 'street priest' (NCR)

A pope is always well, goes an old Vatican joke, until he dies."But that was only true until television cameras arrived," says Villanova University church historian Massimo Faggioli. "Now it is more complicated." And complicated also seems to be an apt description of recent months for Pope Francis, who recently had to postpone plans to travel to Congo and South Sudan in early July due to problems with his knee. In February, Francis began a new series of reflections on old age during his weekly general audiences, a subject matter that has brought a sharp focus on his own physical limitations that has ushered in a new phase of his papacy. The 85-year-old pope has acknowledged this directly, telling the audience gathered for his Wednesday general audience on June 15 that the elderly "cannot do the same as what we did when we were young." "The body has a different rhythm, and we have to listen to the body and accept limits. We all have them," he continued. "Even I have to go with the cane now"...

Pope Francis plans to remain pope 'for as long as God allows it,' bishops say (NCR)

While concerns regarding Pope Francis' health have fueled rumors he might soon resign, Brazilian bishops told Vatican media outlets on June 20 that the pope intends to continue in his role as head of the Catholic Church "for as long as God allows it." Archbishop Roque Paloschi of Porto Velho said the pope reassured him during a visit at the Vatican on Monday that despite the many challenges the pope faces, resigning "does not cross his mind"...

Catholic Marriage Is a Gift, Not a Formality, Pope Francis Says at World Meeting of Families 2022 Opening (National Catholic Register)

“Marriage is not a formality to be fulfilled. You don’t get married to be Catholic ‘with the label,’ to obey a rule, or because the Church says so, or to throw a party,” the Pope said at the opening event of the World Meeting of Families on June 22. “You get married,” he continued, “because you want to base your marriage on the love of Christ, which is as firm as a rock.” “We can say that when a man and a woman fall in love, God offers them a gift: marriage. A wonderful gift, which has in it the power of divine love: strong, enduring, faithful, able to recover after any failure or fragility,” Francis said...

Pope: 'The drama of Cain and Abel unfolding in Ukraine' (Vatican News)

Pope Francis addresses representatives of ROACO, a church organization providing aid and assistance to Christians across the Middle East, and invites them to not stop praying, fasting, helping, and working so that the paths of peace may find space in the jungle of conflicts...

Pope Francis discusses ‘survival of Christians in the Middle East’ with Melkite bishops (Vatican News)

Pope Francis discussed the "survival of Christians in the Middle East" with Catholic bishops from Syria and Lebanon at the Vatican on Monday...

Pope: 'Never forget plight of Syria and Christians in Middle East' (Vatican News)

Pope Francis greets members of the Synod of Bishops of the Greek Melkite Catholic Church, and urges them to seek to unite Christians in the Middle East, and to always beware of destructive "chatter"...

Nigeria: Pope prays for victims of Catholic church attack in Ondo (Vatican News)

Pope Francis expresses his closeness to the Bishop and faithful of the Diocese of Ondo where a deadly attack on Pentecost Sunday claimed the lives of 50 Catholic faithful...

Vatican and local Catholic bishop respond to Pentecost Sunday church massacre in Nigeria (CNA)

The Vatican and a local Catholic bishop responded on Sunday to an attack on a church in Nigeria in which at least 50 people are believed to have been killed...

Pope Francis: Church must communicate faith with 'theology that is alive' (Vatican News)

Pope Francis reflected on the mission of schools of theology and the role of theological journals on Friday, in a printed address handed out to members of the editorial board of La Scuola Cattolica during an audience on the occasion of the theological journal's 150th anniversary... The Pope emphasized the importance of interpreting the faith for the modern world, making it accessible to people in every age “in the dynamism of tradition”... Pope Francis stressed, secondly, the necessity of good formation for the renewal and future of vocations... Finally, the Pope said that evangelization – which is never proselytism – is at the heart of the ecclesial service of formators. He described evangelization as “an attraction to Christ, fostering an encounter with Him who changes your life, who makes you happy, and makes you, each day, a new creature and a visible sign of His love”...

Pope at Angelus: Respond to opposition with firm decision to do good (Vatican News)

At the Angelus on Sunday, Pope Francis calls the faithful to follow Jesus, who did not respond to opposition with anger and bitterness, but instead made a “resolute decision” to continue on to Jerusalem, knowing that rejection and death awaited Him there...

A very good piece of advice, based on the teaching and actions of Jesus. There's far too much anger and bitterness in the world from people who don't get what they want.

Pope Francis Says His Mobility Has Improved, He Has "been able to walk for three days" (ACI Africa)

The Vatican has released a video of Pope Francis telling a group of bishops from Brazil this week that his mobility has improved. “I have been able to walk for three days,” the pope said with a wave... Pope Francis has said that he began medical treatment for a knee injury the first week of May. He has postponed two international trips to Lebanon and South Sudan due to his health...

Pope Francis Announces Appointment of Women to Committee Selecting New Bishops (ACI Africa)

Pope Francis has said he would announce the appointment of two women to the Vatican committee that elects bishops. In comments to Reuters published Wednesday, the pope said “two women will be appointed for the first time in the committee to elect bishops in the Congregation for Bishops"...

A long overdue move.

For most of the 20th century, Catholics in Eastern Europe stood up to the two great regimes of the century, Communism, and Fascism bringing with them brutal persecutions, such persecutions have brought us untold number of saints into the Church, Some including the great Marion saint Maximillian Kolbe, Edith Stein, Jerzy Popieluszko, JPII. Now the Eastern Church pushes back against the third great regime of our day: Progressiveness. promotion of atheism, destruction of the family, and rule by "experts". While in the west the church supports unnatural "marriage", they get away with promotion of same sex unions with out even a fraction of criticism from Francis that he levies at "American restorationists". The Pope's cold shoulder towards Eastern European Churches is evident in his appointing only one bishop to the red hat. Francis has rightly voiced support for the Ukraine yet has twice now denied the red hat to the Metropolitan Archbishop of Kyiv who now uses his cathedral of the Ressurection as a bomb shelter....JMJ....

>194 brone:

Once again you have omitted to post a link and to give credit to the people who actually wrote and published what you have just quoted. I've found it at Crisis Magazine, "A Voice for the Faithful Catholic Laity". That's plagiarism, which is generally frowned upon. It is also very unfair to the author, who has put some effort into writing it and deserves recognition, and to the publisher who may well raise income to support their publication through advertising which depends on how many people click on their website, but even if not, they at least deserve visibility and recognition. But you really don't care about them, do you?

But on to something more wholesome.

Pope Francis reflects on his personal life in a podcast (Vatican News)

The conversation focused on more personal questions about the Pope: his spiritual life, his time away from his native Argentina - not current affairs. As many of these topics are dealt with in other media, he preferred to speak about topics “of the simpler life,” addressing “questions that I often ask myself, because when you know someone, you know how he lived, you know how he prayed", said the former spokesman in the presentation of his podcast. "Many times he would tell you, when faced with a problem: 'Well, let me pray about it and then I'll answer you,'" Fr. Marcó said...

Measures against Sexual Abuse in the Church "irreversible": Pope Francis (ACI Africa)

Pope Francis has said the Catholic Church will continue implementing measures against clerical sexual abuse, even if there may be reluctance or pushback or in some places. In comments to Reuters published Friday, the pope said there was “resistance, but with each new step there is growing awareness that this is the way to go.” Pope Francis said the “Church started zero tolerance slowly and moved forward. And I think the direction taken on this is irreversible”...

Rather Than “pointing fingers at others”, Pray to See as God Sees Them: Pope Francis (ACI Africa)

Pray for the grace to see and treat others with the compassion of God, Pope Francis said on Sunday...

Good advice for all of us - there's a fair bit of finger pointing in this LT Catholic Tradition group.

I have told you more than once "it's all over the internet" implication it's not mine. There is no malice in my posts, once I think I told you to get off your high hoss but we all cllimb on that beast bye+bye....JMJ....

The history of the church after all is the history of councils and controversies. A pope is responsible for for safeguarding Catholic Doctrine, his power to chage it is debatable. (Some words mine some not) .....JMJ.....

>199 brone:

Just for the record, it's not "all over the internet". Some things that you post I can find by googling. Others I can't. Why are you so reluctant to share with us? Presumably it's something you're interested in, even something that you would like to promote, so why so reticent? No high horses here, just a genuine desire to understand what you post, and a frustration that you are not prepared to help us to understand it. Why bother posting it, in that case? If you just want to post culture war slogans with no serious conversation, then Pro and Con is a more appropriate group for that sort of agenda.

>200 brone:

Yes, a pope is responsible for safeguarding Catholic doctrine. I think that's why Francis is at pains to point out that Sacrosanctum concilium, for example, is a part of Catholic doctrine, a dogmatic constitution, no less, and indeed all the teaching of Vatican II is Catholic doctrine.

We agree there is no question about the magisterial quality, youse guys have been eulogizing it for 60 years, we get it, we agree so stop wasting your time and ours, no one denies it. There are no new dogmas proclaimed in VatII. If it has some dogmatic value it does so indirectly in passages where it refers back to previously defined Dogmas. Its Magisterium, in short, as has been said over and over again to anyone who has ears to hear it, it is a solemn and supreme Magisterium, we get it ,we believe it, give it a rest....AMDG....some mine some not

>202 brone:

Who is "youse guys"? You mean the Church has been teaching it for years? Well, that's hardly surprising. You can't have it both ways. Either you want the pope to safeguard Catholic teaching, which is what he is doing, or you want to "give it a rest".

Culture slogans must be some lefty Euro term, I never heard it mentioned here....AMDG....

Any way the Pope in another of his "of the cuff" was asked about the devout catholic president. Should he receive communion. that's up to his bishop was the reply. On the other hand the devout catholic speaker of the house receives communion at a Papal Mass last week after her bishop told her she couldn't....JMJ....

youse guys is slang

>206 brone: youse guys is slang

Yes, actually I knew that. But to whom does it refer? Are you setting up some sort of division again - "youse guys" implies that there is also "us guys", "them" and "us"? We're talking about the teaching of the Church, which is being safeguarded by the Holy Father, and you refer to it as the teaching of "youse guys", implying that it has nothing to do with you. Are you not one of these guys, ie a member of the Church?

>205 brone:

You don't cite a reference so I don't know which "Papal Mass" the speaker of your house participated in, nor where it was. But presumably if it was a Papal Mass then it came under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Rome, not the Bishop of whichever diocese she hails from. The Archbishop of Washington DC, where she lives and works much of the time, also has no problem with her or the president receiving communion.

>202 brone:

Just a further query on this post. I'm pleased to hear you saying so clearly and unequivocally that you accept the teaching of Vatican II. As the Holy Father has said, it would be amazing if any faithful Catholic were to reject this "solemn and supreme Magisterium", to use your own words. But if you accept the teaching of the Church as expressed in Vatican II, why do you appear to reject its reform of the liturgy and insist on continuing to use a defunct rite? And your statement "If it has some dogmatic value..." does seem rather less than certain. Surely there is no "if" about the teaching of an ecumenical council, the ordinary and infallible magisterium of the Church expressed by all the bishops of the world with the Holy Father, cum Petro et sub Petro?

The definition of a conserveative is to conserve a better definition for youse guys (just kidding) change but do it slowly. The Novos Odo Mass I have no problem with as long as it is sacred I attend it 3 or 4 times a week, We have four priests and each one is holier than the other, Pastor from Haiti, rectors from India and the other two from "us guys" Kidding again....AMDG....

>210 brone:

Well, we have no disagreement then. I also like the mass to be sacred, and I think we have often agreed in the past that there is some appalling liturgy taking place (just as there was also some appalling liturgy pre-Vatican II). The solution is to improve the liturgy, and this is one of the points that Francis makes in Desiderio Desideravi: "I want the beauty of the Christian celebration and its necessary consequences for the life of the church not to be spoiled by a superficial and foreshortened understanding of its value or, worse yet, by its being exploited in service of some ideological vision, no matter what the hue". He criticises "imaginative — sometimes wild — creativity without rules" and "individuals in the Church" who "add or subtract from the Mass", reminding us that “'innovations' needed to grow 'organically' from the previous Missal", where "adjustments were made with the authority of the bishops, and changes were only made with careful research". I repeat that I believe better liturgical education for bishops, priests and laity is part of the solution.

Preparing for the Pope: First Nations, city, police rush to prepare for Edmonton papal visit (CBC)

With Pope Francis set to visit the Edmonton region in less than two weeks, preparations are ramping up for the first visit from the pontiff in nearly 40 years... The city is not in charge of any of the events planned for the July 24-27 papal visit, but spokesperson Carol Hurst said it will provide in-kind support that will cover many of the costs... The Pope... is expected to make an apology to Indigenous people for harm caused to them by the Roman Catholic Church... The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops has taken the lead on plans for the visit, but the Confederacy of Treaty Six First Nations is also helping with co-ordination... it's been challenging as they've tried to ensure that ceremonies and other elements important to First Nations are incorporated into the events...

Pope Francis Tells Religious Congregations to Take a “zero tolerance” Approach to Abuse (ACI Africa)

In a meeting with three male religious congregations on Thursday, Pope Francis emphasized the importance of taking a “zero tolerance” approach to abuse. “One of the problems, we know, that often exists, is the problem of abuse. Please, remember this well: zero tolerance on abuse of minors or disabled people, zero tolerance,” he said in the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace July 14. “Please do not hide this reality,” Francis urged. “We are religious, we are priests to bring people to Jesus, not to ‘consume’ people with our concupiscence.” He said: “And the abuser destroys, ‘consumes’ so to speak, the abused with his concupiscence. Zero tolerance. Do not be ashamed to denounce, ‘This one did this, that one did that…’” “I accompany you, you are a sinner, you are a sick person, but I have to protect others,” the pope said, acting out a conversation with an abuser. “Please I ask you this, zero tolerance,” he repeated. “You don’t solve this with a transfer. ‘Ah, from this continent I send him to the other continent…’ No”...

>204 brone:

I'm coming back to this post of yours as I'm currently reading the papers from an international interfaith conference on Fratelli tutti which was held last year. My attention was drawn to a quote from the encyclical, which I think sums up the problem with some of the exchanges in this LT group:

Dialogue is often confused with something quite different: the feverish exchange of opinions on social networks, frequently based on media information that is not always reliable. These exchanges are merely parallel monologues. They may attract some attention by their sharp and aggressive tone. But monologues engage no one, and their content is frequently self-serving and contradictory (FT 200)

I would wish that we could move beyond "parallel monologues" and try to engage in real dialogue about the Catholic Tradition which we love.

Pope Francis saddened by death of atheist journalist whose claims sparked Vatican denials (Catholic News Agency)

Pope Francis has expressed deep affection for an atheist journalist whose claims, based on encounters with the Holy Father, have repeatedly sparked corrections and denials by the Vatican. Eugenio Scalfari, a towering figure in the world of Italian journalism, passed away at 98 years of age this week. The self-proclaimed atheist was the founder and former editor of Italian leftist newspaper La Repubblica. In a statement by the Director of the Holy See Press Office, Matteo Bruni, the Vatican said Pope Francis had learned “with sorrow of the passing of his friend.” Pope Francis “cherishes with affection the memory of the meetings — and the deep conversations on the ultimate questions of humankind — that he had with him over the years, and he entrusts his soul to the Lord in prayer, so that He may receive him and console those who were close to him,” Vatican news reported. Scalfari’s claims that Pope Francis had denied, in personal encounters, the reality of hell and the divinity of Jesus, amongst other things, made headlines around the world...

We have more in common than you think, you and Francis just don't like or maybe understand Americans, the Archbishop of Kansas City said as much the other day, thing is you will deny it but we know its not easy to understand us. Parallel monologues ketchy phrase that one. I believe it was St Phillip Neri and St Catherine supported two opposing popes. We are just on different paths to the same home. The one thing in common in Africa as in North America is that we still recognize Him in the breaking of the Bread....JMJ....

Pope Francis cancels trip to Congo on his doctors advice, His "penitenial trip" to the first world nation of Canada is a go. Reports are that he will apologize to the indigenous people for alleged crimes committed in Roman Catholic orphanages, while in Africa real horrendous crimes of Murder, Rape, Human Trafficking are happening today in northern Nigeria and other places in Africa He gives lip service to. His more important issues such as the eradication of the TLM, His promotion of Lgbtq+and climate change propaganda, The socialists who run Canada will welcome his agenda with open arms, mean while its left to humble bishops and priests in Africa to speak out in place of the Global yawn of the Vatican Hierarchy....JMJ....

>217 brone:

Nice to hear that you are now a medical expert. If you have followed events, the pope's knee is getting better, which presumably explains why he is now able gradually to resume normal duties. Disabled facilities for someone with mobility problems are also much better in Canada than in South Sudan and DRC.

As a matter of interest, I think you'll find that the crimes committed in Catholic orphanages in Canada (and elsewhere) are not "alleged" - there is plenty of good evidence that they were actually committed.

I find it very interesting that you use the pope's illness as an excuse to attack him. That says a lot more about you than it does about the Holy Father. I can assure you from first hand knowledge that this is not the attitude of the bishops and people of South Sudan, whom you try to coopt into your bizarre agenda. They are very grateful to the pope (and the other two global Christian leaders who will be part of what is described as an ecumenical pilgrimage) for their support and accompaniment over a period of years. Successive Archbishops of Canterbury have been visiting South Sudan for many years and speaking out about the "horrendous crimes of Murder, Rape, Human Trafficking" to which you refer. Pope Francis became directly involved several years ago when he invited a delegation of South Sudanese church leaders to meet him in Rome. That was followed by the ecumenical spiritual retreat in the Vatican in which he famously kissed the feet of the leaders of the warring factions and begged them to make peace. The pope and the other two global Christian leaders then promised to visit South Sudan. The visit was delayed by COVID and now by the pope's illness, but it should not be seen as a one-off time-constrained event, rather as part of an ongoing process which is still ongoing. The recent visit by the Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Parolin is part of that process, and he delivered a powerful message which I have referenced in the Catholic Nonviolence thread. The bishops and people of South Sudan continue to be encouraged by the Holy Father's accompaniment of them, they are continuing with activities which are part of the process with or without the pope's physical presence, and they are looking forward with joy and expectation to the actual visit whenever it does take place. They, the people who are actually living amidst the horrors that you describe from your armchair, do not share your curmudgeonly negativity and would be horrified to hear that they are being coopted into your attacks on the Holy Father. Please do not use the suffering of others to prop up your own narrative.

'We have more in common than you think, you and Francis just don't like or maybe understand Americans, the Archbishop of Kansas City said as much the other day, thing is you will deny it but we know its not easy to understand us."

Ah, 'American Exceptionalism'.

Every Catholic is a member of the body of Christ, and whether you like it or not, either you are a member of the body of Christ, or you are not. Americans are not 'special' except in their own eyes.

https://slate.com/human-interest/2015/09/pope-francis-in-america-there-are-three...

>219 MsMixte:

Thanks, MsMixte. It is nice to have some evidence-based research rather than rumours and sound bites. That's a very interesting article.

Meanwhile: Pope: Canada trip ‘pilgrimage of penance’ for Indigenous abuses (Al Jazeera)

Pope Francis has said an upcoming visit to Canada will be a “pilgrimage of penance” that he hopes will help to heal wounds left in Indigenous communities by Roman Catholic priests and nuns who ran abusive residential schools that sought to forcibly assimilate children. During the July 24 to July 30 trip, Francis is set to make good on a promise to apologise to victims on their home territory for the church’s role in the state-sanctioned schools, which aimed to erase Indigenous cultures, ripping about 150,000 First Nations, Inuit and Metis children from their homes, and subjecting some to abuse, rape and malnutrition in what a Canadian Truth and Reconciliation Commission dubbed in 2015 “cultural genocide”. “Unfortunately in Canada many Christians, including some members of religious orders, contributed to the policies of cultural assimilation that in the past gravely damaged native populations in various ways,” Francis said at his weekly address to people in St Peter’s Square on Sunday...

>220 John5918: It's an older article, but I think highly relevant even now.

At Christmas time, I see so many people emphasizing that 'Jesus is the reason for the season', but they are the same people who ignore what Jesus taught--love God, but also love your neighbour as you love yourself.

Anyone can call themselves a Christian, but that does not mean they follow the teachings of Christ.

>221 MsMixte:

Indeed. And as that articles says, people pick and choose the bits of Catholicism that they wish to follow. A few years ago it was common for a certain type of Catholic to disparagingly label the rest of us as "cafeteria Catholics", implying that we just pick and choose as one would from a buffet in a cafe. But as the article points out, these days there is a great tendency in some quarters to ignore Catholic Social Doctrine and just champion certain issues such as abortion (in isolation, not as part of a consistent ethic of life), or hankering after a defunct liturgical rite. We human beings are an odd lot!

>219 MsMixte:

I'm currently proofreading a book on the history of the Church in Kenya, and I came across a relevant quote attributed to the founder of Opus Dei, "There is only one race, the race of the children of God". That's us, all of humanity, without distinction or division.

Pope Francis Lauds Nairobi Congress on Theology as “a sign of an outgoing African Church” (ACI Africa)

Pope Francis has expressed his delight about the ongoing second biannual Pan-African Catholic Congress on Theology, Society, and Pastoral Life, which members of the Pan-African Catholic Theology and Pastoral Network (PACTPAN) organized in Nairobi, Kenya. The vision of PACTPAN is to “bridge the gap between pastoral practice and multi-disciplinary scholarly work on the African continent by collaboratively listening to both God and our people, in order to inspire hope and transformational faith and promote and curate best practices for the betterment of Church and society.” In a video recording played to the participants Tuesday, July 19, the first of the four-day Congress, the Holy Father said that the coming together of theologians from across Africa is “a sign of the outgoing African Church”. “Coming together to discern what God is telling us today, not only to meet challenging needs with certainty, but also to make African dreams come true (social, cultural, ecological and ecclesial dreams) is already a sign of an outgoing African Church,” Pope Francis said in his video message published by the Holy See Press Office on July 19. He described the Congress that is taking place at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA) as “a sign of hope that theologians, laity, Priests, men and women religious, Bishops have taken the initiative to walk together” to promote the Church in Africa...

Pope praises outgoing African Church discerning what God is telling us today (Vatican News)

Pope Francis prays that the Holy Spirit might inspire the Pan-African Catholic Theological & Pastoral Network, and calls this week's gathering of theologians, religious men and woman, laypeople and bishops in Nairobi to "discern what God is telling us today" a "sign of hope." Coming together to discern what God is telling us today is already a sign of an outgoing African Church, Pope Francis says...

Alberta seeing high demand for Pope Francis’ public events (Global News)

Alberta is seeing high demand for Pope Francis’ appearances in the Edmonton area, which start in less than a week. The Pope is set to arrive in Edmonton on Sunday to a brief ceremony at the airport...

Meanwhile south of the border the devout catholic in another exec order is mandating that all hospitals provide abortion "care" if they except tax payer money including Catholic Hospitals joe is just doing what Francis says he must follow his own conscience....AMDG....

>223 John5918:

And that is how it should be.

>225 brone:

You don't seem to understand that it is impossible for us to have a conversation if we have no idea what you are talking about. Which country? Can we read something which tells us exactly what is happening? Who is Joe?

Pope Francis set to embark for Canada, on a one-of-a-kind papal visit (NCR)

When pope touches down in Edmonton, the first hands he shakes will be those of Indigenous people...

Pope Francis Warns of Toxicity in Social Media, Calls for Inclusion in Digital Space (ACI Africa)

Pope Francis has called on Catholics to counter toxicity in social media, and to engage in dialogue and education to help deal with “lies and misinformation.” In a message published by the Holy See on July 18, the Holy Father also called for the inclusion of currently excluded communities into “the digital space”...

Bishop Cautions Catholic Communicators in Africa against “disinformation ecosystem” (ACI Africa)

Catholic communicators in Africa have a duty to resist the influence of the contemporary propaganda networks that deliberately spread false information, the President of the Pan African Episcopal Committee for Social Communications (CEPACS) has said... “The great task for the Catholic communicator today is to resist the influence of our contemporary, powerful disinformation ecosystem which accommodates thousands of ‘trolls’ involved in so-called ‘creative media work’, the type that does not mind manipulating or falsifying facts and data to achieve goals,” Bishop Badejo said... Catholic communicators, Bishop Badejo said, “must rather act as a catalyst which raises and focuses attention on pastoral and social issues of justice, reconciliation, human development and other themes of importance to the mission of the Church”...

Your such a grouch....JMJ.... The Vatican press office states today that the "Synodal Way" in Germany does not have the power to oblige the Bishops and the faithful to adopt new ways of governance and new approaches to doctrine and morals, sounds like they let a conservative out of the closet....AMDG,,,,

>230 John5918: Thank you. I, for one, would like to learn more on how the Catholic Church is working to help improve the lives of people all over the world, but it is disheartening to see people, even here, working against being inclusive and worse yet, actively seeking to tear down bridges, rather than building pathways to better understanding.

>231 brone: Your such a grouch

It would be nice if you would address the issues rather than resorting to ad hominem attacks. The latter usually means that the attacker doesn't actually have any cogent thoughts on the issue. Is it "grouchy" to agree with the Holy Father and the bishops that there is toxicity and fake news on social media and that we should take steps to avoid being drawn into it? Is it "grouchy" to suggest that we cite references, which is actually pretty much the norm in other groups on LT, even the notorious Pro and Con group? Why are you so reluctant to do so? A mature and cooperative response would be something like, "Thank you. I hadn't thought of it like that. I see what you mean. I'll try to post links in future".

Yes, there are issues concerning the German Synodal Way (and it would have been nice if you had given us a link to where you read this, to save us spending time googling it). Listening to the people naturally throws up issues which the Church has to deal with, and will deal with, as it always has done. I've no idea what you mean by "they let a conservative out of the closet". The institutional Church is by its nature conservative (small "c") and takes a long time to deal with new ideas.

>232 MsMixte:

Thank you. Let's try to continue to post interesting and wholesome news, and to have positive conversations to help us to understand each other and the Church, even if there are disruptions from those who seek to divide the Church.

Pope Francis to visit Canada in ‘pilgrimage of penance’ over church-run schools (Guardian)

Pope Francis will spend the next week on a “pilgrimage of penance” in Canada, meeting with Indigenous leaders and residential school survivors as he looks to atone for the church’s grim legacy in the country...

Vatican says they’re gifts; Indigenous groups want them back (AP)

The Vatican Museums are home to some of the most magnificent artworks in the world, from Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel to ancient Egyptian antiquities and a pavilion full of papal chariots. But one of the museum’s least-visited collections is becoming its most contested before Pope Francis’ trip to Canada. The Vatican’s Anima Mundi Ethnological Museum, located near the food court and right before the main exit, houses tens of thousands of artifacts and art made by Indigenous peoples from around the world, much of it sent to Rome by Catholic missionaries for a 1925 exhibition in the Vatican gardens. The Vatican says the feathered headdresses, carved walrus tusks, masks and embroidered animal skins were gifts to Pope Pius XI, who wanted to celebrate the Church’s global reach, its missionaries and the lives of the Indigenous peoples they evangelized. But Indigenous groups from Canada, who were shown a few items in the collection when they traveled to the Vatican last spring to meet with Francis, question how some of the works were actually acquired and wonder what else may be in storage after decades of not being on public display...

Pope Francis has made College of Cardinals ‘less European,’ analysis shows (CNA)

Pope Francis’ picks for the College of Cardinals have made the body “less European,” giving a greater voice to developing nations in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, a new analysis shows. The Pew Research Center report focused on the 83 cardinals appointed by the Argentinian pope now under the age of 80 who are eligible to vote in a papal conclave. Those appointees, 16 of whom won’t be installed until Aug. 27, currently make up a majority (63%) of the 132 voting-age cardinals... once the latest batch of appointees is installed, Europe will have seen its share shrink to 40%, down from 52% in 2013 when Francis was elected. Meanwhile, other parts of the world have gained ground, led by the Asia-Pacific region, whose overall representation of voting-age cardinals has risen from 9% in 2013 to 17% in 2022, the analysis shows. Sub-Saharan Africa is on the upswing, as well, rising from 9% to 12%. Latin America and the Caribbean has had a more modest gain, rising from 16% to 18%...

>231 brone:

Is this the story you were referring to but omitted to cite? Holy See: Germany's synodal path cannot make doctrinal decisions (Vatican News)

The Holy See intervenes on the German "Synodal Path" in a statement issued early Thursday afternoon, on 21 July. "In order to protect the freedom of the People of God and the exercise of the episcopal ministry, it seems necessary to clarify that the 'Synodal Path' in Germany does not have the faculty to oblige bishops and the faithful to assume new forms of governance and new approaches to doctrine and morals. It would not be lawful to initiate in the dioceses, prior to an agreed understanding at the level of the universal Church, new official structures or doctrines, which would represent a wound to ecclesial communion and a threat to the unity of the Church." The statement goes on to cite the words of Pope Francis contained in his Letter to the Pilgrim People of God in Germany, "the universal Church lives in and of the particular Churches, just as the particular Churches live and flourish in and from the universal Church. If they find themselves separated from the entire ecclesial body, they weaken, rot and die. Hence the need always to ensure that communion with the whole body of the Church." "Therefore," the statement concludes, "it is hoped that the proposals of then path of the Particular Churches in Germany will converge into the synodal path being taken by the universal Church, for mutual enrichment and a witness to that unity by which the body of the Church manifests its fidelity to Christ the Lord.”

So, the Vatican has clarified the situation, and you can stop worrying about it.

Edited to add: A working translation of the full text of the Vatican statement can be found here, although I don't think the full text adds much to the key points quoted in the Vatican News article.

Just over half way through the year and more than 230 posts. Time to start a new thread for posts about Pope Francis.

Please post at https://www.librarything.com/topic/343110