Francis (2021)

Continued from http://www.librarything.com/topic/314976

On Epiphany, pope says church needs healthy dose of ‘theological realism’ (Crux)

Pope Francis during a Mass for the feast of the Epiphany advocated what he called an attitude of “theological realism,” which, he said, fosters trust in God and looks for deeper meaning rather than getting caught up in one’s own problems...

a way of viewing reality “that transcends the visible and makes it possible for us to worship the Lord who is often hidden in everyday situations, in the poor and those on the fringes.” It is a way of seeing things, he said, “that is not impressed by sound and fury, but seeks in every situation the things that truly matter”...

Pope Francis 'astonished' by violent attack on US Capitol (National Catholic Reporter)

Pope Francis says he was left "astonished" by the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol Jan. 6, expressing surprise in his first interview since the riot that such a scene could unfold in a country with a long history of practicing democracy.

"I was astonished because they are people so disciplined in democracy," the pontiff told Italian news channel TgCom24 as part of an interview that will air Jan. 10.

Francis suggests the riot, which led to the deaths of five people, shows "something isn't working … {with} people taking a path against the community, against democracy, against the common good. Thanks be to God that this has burst out and there was a chance to see it well, because now you can try and heal it"...

Pope Francis: Ministries of lector and acolyte to be open to women (Vatican News)

With a Motu proprio released on Monday, Pope Francis established that from now on the ministries of Lector and Acolyte are to be open to women, in a stable and institutionalized form through a specific mandate.

There is nothing new about women proclaiming the Word of God during liturgical celebrations or carrying out a service at the altar as altar servers or as Eucharistic ministers. In many communities throughout the world these practices are already authorized by local bishops.

However, up to this point, this has occurred without a true and proper institutional mandate, as an exception to what Pope St Paul VI had established when, in 1972, even while abolishing the so-called “minor orders”, he decided to maintain that access to these ministries be granted only to men because both were considered to be preparatory to the eventual admission to holy orders.

Now, in the wake of the discernment which has emerged from the last Synods of Bishops, Pope Francis wanted to formalize and institutionalize the presence of women at the altar...

Vatican formalizes ability for women to be lectors, altar servers (Crux)

Pope Francis issued a new law formalizing the ability for women and girls to be lectors and altar servers at Mass on Monday, something which has long been common practice in Western countries such as the United States but had yet to be written formally into law...

As these articles say, this has been common practice for decades, but lex orandi, lex credendi, so I suppose it's always good when the bureaucratic expression of our faith catches up with the actual praxis.

>3 John5918:

Joy, frustration and humor: reactions to Vatican law change on lectors, altar servers (NCR)

In the wake of Pope Francis' announcement Jan. 11 that officially opened altar serving, lectoring and eucharistic ministries to all "lay persons," rather than just men, Catholic organizations and individuals expressed a mix of emotions, including joy, disappointment and a bit of wry humor — or just plain surprise...

Prior to the pope's recent apostolic letter, titled Spiritus Domini, all laypeople could serve temporarily as lectors and acolytes (altar servers and eucharistic ministers), but bishops had the option of restricting such ministries to men. Now, people of any gender can be formally installed in these roles... this step by Pope Francis does send a clear message to more conservative churches that it's time to end gender discrimination among altar servers and lectors... Some Catholics were shocked to find out that women had still been barred from being officially installed as lectors and altar servers even after Vatican II...

For some LGBTQ Catholics, the gender-neutral language of the law change (its use of "lay persons" instead of "lay men and women") was welcome... "Why don't you just put 'person' every time you say 'man' in all the documents — that would solve a lot of problems"...

Pope at Mass: God’s Word a love letter from the One who knows us best (Vatican News)

Pope Francis invites Christians to make time for Sacred Scripture, and emphasizes that God’s Word is one of consolation but also a call to conversion...

Pope says money at root of opposition to annulment reform (NCR)

The potential loss of money and authority are often at the heart of the opposition against reforming the Catholic Church's annulment process, Pope Francis said.

Departing from his prepared remarks during a Jan. 29 meeting with members of the Roman Rota, a tribunal handling mostly marriage cases, the pope said that after implementing reforms that streamlined annulments in 2015, he "received many letters" and encountered "so much resistance."

"Almost all of them were lawyers who were losing clients. And therein lies the problem of money," he said. "In Spain, there is a saying, 'Por la plata baila el mono' — 'Monkeys will dance for money.' It is a saying that is clear."

The pope also said he was saddened to see "resistance in some dioceses by some judicial vicars who with this reform would lose, I don't know, a certain form of power because it became clear that he is not the judge, but the bishop is"...

Pope criticises Catholics who reject Vatican II (Tablet)

Those who reject the teaching of the Second Vatican Council are placing themselves outside the Church, Pope Francis has said. Francis’ remarks are his strongest criticism yet of Catholics who have called Vatican II into question including some “conservative” Catholics who oppose the direction of his pontificate. “Either you are with the Church and therefore you follow the council, or you interpret it in your own away – according to your desire – {and} you do not stand with the Church”...

>7 John5918:

Honestly, why hasn't Francis removed Vigano from his position as a cardinal? He's now agitating explicitly against V2.

I find it interesting how the "conservative" wing who used to accuse the average Catholic of "cafeteria Catholicism" (an accusation which I think was inaccurate) are now doing exactly that on a grand scale.

Indeed. The cafeteria Catholics of days gone by didn't want to eat certain dishes, they didn't try to take over the restaurant.

Francis: 'No concession' to those who deny Vatican II teachings (NCR)

"The council is the magisterium of the church," said the pope. "On this point we must be demanding, severe. The council cannot be negotiated"...

Christianity without liturgy is absent of Christ, pope says (NCR)

The liturgy is not a spectacle to be observed but a prayerful event where Christians encounter Christ's presence in their lives, Pope Francis said. Throughout the Catholic Church's long history, people have been tempted to practice a private or "intimist Christianity" that failed to recognize the importance of the liturgy in spiritual life, the pope said Feb. 3 during his weekly general audience. However, "I would dare say that Christianity without liturgy is a Christianity without Christ"... Continuing his series of talks on prayer, the pope reflected on the significance of the liturgy in Christian life...

Pope Francis: Mass is never just ‘listened to.’ It’s ‘celebrated’ by all the faithful (not just priests) (America Magazine)

The Mass cannot simply be "listened to”: it is also an expression incorrect, “I’m going to listen to Mass”. Mass cannot merely be listened to, as if we were merely spectators of something that slips away without our involvement. The Mass is always celebrated, and not only by the priest who presides over it, but by all Christians who experience it. And the centre is Christ! All of us, in the diversity of gifts and ministries, join in His action, because He, Christ, is the Protagonist of the liturgy...

That the Mass is always celebrated, and not only by the priest who presides over it, but by all Christians who experience it, was being taught in seminaries in the 1970s, although it seems to have been sidelined in the intervening years. Many priests of that generation, if they are not the one presiding at the Eucharist, tend to celebrate mass sitting in the pews with the community rather than dressing up and formally concelebrating. The presiding priest has a key liturgical role, but large numbers of concelebrants just clutter up the sanctuary and draw attention away from the role of the entire community in celebrating the Eucharist.

To understand Pope Francis, you have to know what he actually means by the word ‘fraternity’ (America Magazine)

When Pope Francis uses the word fraternity, the touchstone in his latest social encyclical “Fratelli Tutti,” he means it in the fullest sense of the word... Francis’ understanding of fraternity is of a more practical nature. Although in one aspect fraternity is a “given” due to our common human nature irrespective of country of origin or religion (“Fratelli Tutti,” No. 1), it is also something that is actively wrought as we forge our relationships with others... the extended reflection on the Good Samaritan that runs throughout the second chapter of “Fratelli Tutti.” The crux of that well-known parable is that Jesus turns the scribe’s question on its head. Jesus does not answer the question “Who is my neighbor?” but instead invites the scribe to become a neighbor to the person in need (No. 62)... By understanding ourselves as brothers and sisters we are impelled to practice mercy toward each other, and to build structures that do just this. Now that we know that we are all kin, we cannot just look the other way.

The Pope of Rome, the Grand Imam of Cairo, and the official World Day of Fraternity (Vatican News)

Cardinal Michael Czerny reflects on the significance of the first International Day of Human Fraternity marked on Thursday...

'A door has opened': Pope Francis appoints first woman to senior synod post (Guardian)

Breaking with tradition, Pope Francis has appointed Frenchwoman Nathalie Becquart as an undersecretary of the synod of bishops, the first woman to hold the post and have voting rights... Saturday’s appointment signals the pontiff’s desire “for a greater participation of women in the process of discernment and decision-making in the church”, said Cardinal Mario Grech, the secretary general of the synod. “During the previous synods, the number of women participating as experts and listeners has increased,” he said. “With the nomination of Sister Nathalie Becquart and her possibility of participating in voting, a door has opened”...

Pope Francis: Caring for the sick is not optional (Vatican News)

Pope Francis reflects on Jesus’ ministry of healing...

A message to those who oppose free universal health care, perhaps?

Opposition to Francis rooted in opposition to Vatican II (NCR)

At the end of January, Pope Francis delivered an important address to participants in a meeting of the National Catechetical Office of the Italian Bishops conference. It warrants attention from all the local churches because it shows, I think, why the opposition to Francis is rooted in the desire to put the Vatican II toothpaste back into a pre-conciliar tube.

In the address, the pope presented an understanding of catechesis that is so far from the dry appeals to chapter and verse that tend to characterize a certain kind of apologetical, conservative Christianity. "Thanks to the narration of catechesis, Sacred Scripture becomes the 'environment' in which we feel part of the same salvation history, encountering the first witnesses of faith," Francis said. "Catechesis is taking others by the hand and accompanying them in this history. It inspires up a journey, in which each person finds his or her own rhythm, because Christian life does not even out or standardize, but rather enhances the uniqueness of each child of God"...

The Holy Father quoted his predecessor, St. Pope Paul VI, who in 1971 addressed the first International Catechetical Congress, saying: "It is a task that is constantly being reborn and constantly renewed for catechesis to understand these problems that arise from the heart of man, in order to lead them back to their hidden source: the gift of love that creates and saves." Francis adds, "Therefore, catechesis inspired by the Council is continually listening to the heart of man, always with an attentive ear, always seeking to renew itself."

Renewal is not reinvention. The council did not plop out of the sky. The reforms were built upon the ressourcement, the return to the sources of Christian doctrine, the Scripture first and foremost and secondly the writings of the church fathers. You can spot a follower of the council, irrespective of their ideology, quite easily: They, like those early Christians, display wonderment at the amazing claim at the heart of our faith, the Crucified lives, the tomb is empty. That is why Francis is so appealing, is it not? He talks and acts like one who has believes the tomb is empty.

Francis continues, and I cite this paragraph in its entirety:

This is magisterium: the Council is the magisterium of the Church. Either you are with the Church and therefore you follow the Council, and if you do not follow the Council or you interpret it in your own way, as you wish, you are not with the Church. We must be demanding and strict on this point. The Council should not be negotiated in order to have more of these... No, the Council is as it is. And this problem that we are experiencing, of selectivity with respect to the Council, has been repeated throughout history with other Councils...

Voices of Iraqis awaiting Pope Francis: He comes to say, 'I am with you' (NCR)

Christians across Iraq are eagerly anticipating Pope Francis' planned March 5-8 visit to their country, the pontiff's first sojourn abroad since 2019...

Pope Francis accepts the resignation of Cardinal Sarah as prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship (America Magazine)

Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Cardinal Robert Sarah as prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, but he has not yet named his successor... It came as no surprise in Rome that the pope would replace the cardinal in this key post, which oversees the celebration of the liturgy in the church, soon after Cardinal Sarah had reached the retirement age...

A number of the cardinal’s public statements on the liturgy and other topics reflected a pre-Vatican II traditionalist outlook that at times openly contrasted with the direction given by Pope Francis, who is continuing to implement the teachings of the Second Vatican Council...

Cardinal Sarah steps down from Vatican liturgy post (Tablet)

Cardinal Robert Sarah, the Holy See’s liturgy prefect whose vision of the Church clashed with the one articulated by Pope Francis, is leaving his post...

Pope can’t make ends meet with a ‘no firing’ policy (Crux)

From the beginning, Pope Francis has been committed to financial reform of the Vatican. It was the first study commission he created, it was the first major appointment he made, and it’s been a constant of his papacy over what’s now almost eight years. Yet after all this time, Francis faces the same fundamental dilemma he did at the beginning: There’s no way to cut expenses and increase income, thereby reducing the incentives for suspect maneuvers, without trimming payroll, i.e., firing people – a step this pontiff (like all of his predecessors) has proven extraordinarily reluctant to take...

Pope Francis expects to remain pontiff until his death (Guardian)

Pope Francis expects to die in Rome, still the Catholic pontiff, without returning to spend his final days in his native Argentina, according to a new book titled The Health of Popes... “I will be pope, either active or emeritus, and in Rome. I will not return to Argentina”...

Anonymous bishops take potshots at pope (NCR)

Sometimes that peek requires anonymous sourcing, and we journalists all rely on it. But the ends for which anonymity is used matters. It is one thing to rely on an anonymous source to break a story, and it is another to allow anonymity as a means to assassinate someone's character. Where is the accountability? If someone tells me anonymously that X is going to happen tomorrow and I print it, and X doesn't happen, I am on the hook for having published a false rumor. But casting anonymous aspersions against others offers no built-in mechanism of accountability, not for the sources and not for the writer. It is an approach that is inherently — you might even say intrinsically — sinister...

Pope's prayer intention for March: The sacrament of reconciliation (Vatican News)

Pope Francis' prayer intention for March seeks to highlight the joy that the Sacrament of Reconciliation brings, and reminds us that it’s a loving and merciful encounter between us and God...

It’s a message full of hope, in which he invites us to rediscover the power of personal renewal that the Sacrament of Confession has in our life. “Let us pray that we may experience the Sacrament of Reconciliation with renewed depth, to taste the forgiveness and infinite mercy of God,” Pope Francis asks...

Former pope Benedict says 'fanatical' Catholics still won't believe he's not the pope (Guardian)

Former pope Benedict has chided conservative Roman Catholics who have not accepted his decision to resign, calling them “fanatical” and reminding them there is only one pope and it is Francis. Benedict, now 93, became the first pope in more than 600 years to resign instead of ruling for life, saying he no longer had the strength to govern the 1.3 billion-member church.

Some hardline conservatives unhappy with the more liberal pope Francis have often voiced doubts about whether Benedict stepped down willingly in 2013, even though he has said several times in the past eight years that he did. “It was a difficult decision. But it was a fully conscious choice and I think I did well {to resign},” he told Italy’s Corriere della Sera in an interview published on Monday. “Some of my more fanatical friends are still upset, they have not accepted my choice”...

Of course there's also a small strand of "conservative" Catholics who claim that none of the popes since 1958 have been legitimate - John XXIII, Paul VI, John Paul I, John Paul II, Benedict XVI and Francis - and that Pius XII was the last genuine pope. They've created a conspiracy theory about the 1958 conclave being rigged (by French communists or some similar fantasy) and that someone other than Cardinal Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli was actually elected but was forced to step down (maybe that's where Trump got the idea?) A couple of ex-religious brothers in the USA started a movement called Sedevacante (the Seat {of Peter} is vacant), and I believe it has a few thousand adherents, mostly in the USA (where else?) We have one LT member of the Sedevacante persuasion who has posted regularly in this group in a series of threads entitled "Sedevacante & The One True Catholic Church". I believe we are currently on the ninth incarnation of that thread, although there has been nothing from that poster for several months now - I hope and pray that they are still alive and well in these COVID-infested times. Many of them also believe that the Second Vatican Council is invalid because it took place under an "antipope", choosing to ignore the fact that almost all the bishops who took part in it had been appointed by their hero, Pius XII.

Can you please try to be more positive? Look for accomplishments, good news, wise quotes, uplifting prayers.

>23 John5918:

Thanks. Yes, you're right, it's quite negative that there are Catholics who question the legitimacy of the pope, although perhaps the more positive side of it is that they form a very small minority of Catholics globally. But I think the general trend of the posts on this thread is to focus on "accomplishments, good news, wise quotes and uplifting prayers", from the Holy Father, Pope Francis.

Pope Francis in Iraq: Everything you need to know about the historic trip (America Magazine)

Pope Francis is making history with his trip to Iraq. The apostolic visit will include a number of firsts: the first pope to visit the birthplace of Abraham, the first pope to celebrate Mass in the Chaldean rite and the first papal trip since the beginning of a global pandemic that is very much still ravaging the world...

‘The Iraqi people are waiting for us’: Why Pope Francis is determined to take this historic trip...
Pope Francis’ visit will assure Iraqis they have not been forgotten...
Covid spike and rocket attack complicate Pope Francis’ Iraq trip...
A brief history of the Christian sites Pope Francis will visit in Iraq...

Why Pope Francis chose Cardinal Tobin for Vatican appointment (NCR)

No one should be surprised by the news that Pope Francis named Cardinal Joseph Tobin of Newark, New Jersey, to be a member of the Congregation for Bishops. There are three reasons why the appointment makes perfect sense.

First, from 1991 until 2009, he worked in the curia of the Redemptorists in Rome, initially as general consultor and then for two terms as superior general. In that post, he would have become acquainted with the situation of the church throughout the world in ways few American bishops have...

Second, the Redemptorists are a missionary order and Francis is the fourth pope in a row to be urging the Catholic Church to conceive of itself in missionary terms...

Third, Tobin is not only the kind of leader Francis wants — someone close to the people, not a culture warrior, and with a heart for the poor and the marginalized — he is also genuinely well liked by his brother bishops...

I had the privilege of meeting Tobin at a conference in Rome a couple of years ago, and sitting with him on a drafting committee. He appears to be committed to the Social Doctrine of the Church (Catholic Social Teaching). I also found him to be a humble man who preaches down-to-earth homilies, so it doesn't surprise me that he is well liked.

Pope Francis and top Shia cleric Ali al-Sistani discuss safety of Iraqi Christians (BBC)

Pope Francis has held a symbolic meeting with one of the most powerful figures in Shia Islam on the second day of his landmark trip to Iraq. The office of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, spiritual leader of millions of Shia Muslims, said the talks had emphasised peace...

During talks which lasted around 50 minutes Grand Ayatollah Sistani "affirmed his concern that Christian citizens should live like all Iraqis in peace and security, and with their full constitutional rights". Iraq's Christian minority have been hit by waves of violence since the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq...

'The Church in Iraq is alive': Pope Francis at Mass in Erbil (Vatican News)

At the conclusion of his Apostolic Journey to Iraq, Pope Francis celebrates Sunday Mass with the Iraqi faithful in Erbil’s Franso Hariri Stadium. “Today, I can see at first hand that the Church in Iraq is alive, and that Christ is alive and at work in this, His holy and faithful people”...

Pope Francis visits regions of Iraq once held by Islamic State (BBC)

Pope Francis has visited parts of northern Iraq that were held by Islamic State (IS) militants on the third day of his historic trip to the country. Christians were among those targeted by IS when they seized the region in 2014, carrying out human rights abuses.The Pope prayed among ruined churches in Mosul, the former IS stronghold, before meeting Christians in Qaraqosh. Celebrating Mass at a stadium in Irbil, the last big set piece of his visit, he said Iraq would remain in his heart...

Pope Francis meets Iraq’s Shia leader al-Sistani

Pope Francis has met with Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, one of the most senior leaders in Shia Islam, in Iraq’s holy city of Najaf to deliver a message of peaceful coexistence, urging Muslims to embrace Iraq’s long-beleaguered Christian minority. The historic meeting on Saturday in al-Sistani’s humble home was months in the making, with every detail painstakingly discussed and negotiated between the ayatollah’s office and the Vatican.

After the meeting, al-Sistani office released a statement that said religious authorities have a role in protecting Iraq’s Christians and that the Shia leader “affirmed his concern that Christian citizens should live like all Iraqis in peace and security, and with their full constitutional rights”. The Vatican said Francis thanked al-Sistani and the Shia people for having “raised his voice in defence of the weakest and most persecuted” during some of the most violent times in Iraq’s recent history. He said al-Sistani’s message of peace affirmed “the sacredness of human life and the importance of the unity of the Iraqi people”...

Pope Francis urges Iraq’s Muslims, Christians to unite for peace

Pope Francis has urged Iraq’s Muslim and Christian religious leaders to put aside animosities and work together for peace and unity during an interfaith meeting in the traditional birthplace of the Prophet Abraham, father of their faiths. “This is true religiosity: to worship God and to love our neighbour,” the pontiff told the gathering on Saturday...

Both from Al Jazeera

Pope Francis’ homily on the final day of his historic Iraq visit (America Magazine)

Saint Paul has told us that “Christ is the power and wisdom of God” (1 Cor 1:22-25). Jesus revealed that power and wisdom above all by offering forgiveness and showing mercy...

In the power of the Holy Spirit, he sends us forth, not as proselytizers, but as missionary disciples, men and women called to testify to the life-changing power of the Gospel. The risen Lord makes us instruments of God’s mercy and peace, patient and courageous artisans of a new social order. In this way, by the power of Christ and the Holy Spirit, the prophetic words of the Apostle Paul to the Corinthians are fulfilled: “God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s wisdom is stronger than human strength” (1 Cor 1:25). Christian communities made up of simple and lowly people become a sign of the coming of his kingdom, a kingdom of love, justice and peace...

Baghdad professor: Pope Francis teaches us that change must come from us (Vatican News)

The Holy Father's visit to Iraq, a land which has suffered wars, persecution, terrorism and destruction, for a Baghdad professor is a pure "act of love". Speaking with Vatican News' Massimiliano Menichetti, Anan Alkass Yousif notes that it takes courage to make a journey such as the one the Holy Father is currently making to "the land of Abraham". This courage, she says, "gives us courage", and renews in us "the spirit of love of this country"... This is a message for all Iraqis, she adds: the Pope's trip, despite it's difficulties, will not be in vain. "It will make all the difference, because hearts will be converted and minds will begin to rethink their previous thoughts". But, she concludes, "it must all start from us ... Where there is no peace there is no justice. The change must start from us"...

Francis in Iraq arguably the most emblematic papal trip of all time (Crux)

Every papal trip is, in a sense, an exercise in storytelling. A pope chooses to travel to a given destination in part because he believes it has a story the world needs to hear, and, for a few days, he lends it his spotlight, so the global media pay attention. Pope Francis’s March 5-8 trip to Iraq, currently in its third day, is no exception. Iraq’s story is harrowing, made up of upheaval, violence, and unimaginable human suffering, all of it compounded by global neglect...

Yet one could make the argument that the most important story being told on this trip, at least from a strictly Catholic point of view, isn’t actually about Iraq but about Pope Francis himself. No matter how much longer he remains in office, and despite all the drama we’ve already seen and whatever is yet to come, there will be no better synthesis of who Francis is and what he’s about as pope...

Whatever else Pope Francis is, he’s also a crafty Jesuit politician, and nothing he ever does is without its logic. No doubt the pontiff grasps that in a moment in which other world leaders generally aren’t making high-profile public trips, and in which the global media is starved for good news stories to tell, his presence in Iraq has maximum resonance...

The Vicar of Christ Calls on the Grand Ayatollah (New Yorker)

espite marauding isis fighters and a raging pandemic, Pope Francis made a historic pilgrimage this weekend to Iraq, the birthplace of Abraham, who was the first prophet to embrace belief in a single God, and the patriarch of the world’s three great monotheistic religions—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Vatican News called it the “most difficult and most important journey” of Francis’s eight-year pontificate. It was taxing physically, too. The eighty-four-year-old Pope, hobbled by sciatica, limped badly as Iraqis sang in Aramaic, the language of Christ, and (unmasked) dancers from Iraq’s diverse tribes, religions, and ethnic groups performed along a red carpet. “I am the pastor of people who are suffering,” the Pope told Catholic News Service last month, when asked why he insisted on making the trip. En route to Iraq, Francis told reporters, “This is an emblematic trip, a duty to this land so martyred for so many years.” isis once boasted that it would invade Rome and defeat Christianity. Instead, the Bishop of Rome went to the heart of what had been the Islamic State caliphate...

the Iraqi government ecstatically welcomed the Pontiff. “Muslims are more excited than Christians,” President Barham Salih told me, on the eve of the Pope’s arrival. “It will show that extremists can’t invoke the name of God or Abraham”...

Great post, many thanks, for this and all you do.

Pope: "Charity, love and fraternity are the way forward" (Vatican News)

Speaking to journalists on the flight to Rome, Pope Francis retraces the stages of his historic visit to Iraq: the meeting with "the wise and man of God" Al Sistani, his feelings before the destroyed churches in Mosul, his emotion at the words of the Christian mother who lost her son and forgave his killers, the promise of a trip to Lebanon... Charity, love and fraternity are the way forward...

The symbolic power of the papal visit to Iraq (Washington Post)

Popes have not always yearned for coexistence with the peoples living in what is now Iraq. Around 1263, Pope Urban IV issued a papal bull that cautiously welcomed Hulagu Khan, a Mongol warlord who the pope hoped would convert to Christianity. To the enthusiasm of onlookers in Christendom, Hulagu and his allies had sacked and slaughtered their way through some of the greatest cities of the Islamic world... But on Sunday, on the final full day of a visit to Iraq layered in history and symbolism, Pope Francis arrived in the environs of Mosul as a self-styled “pilgrim for peace,” carrying out the first papal visit to a land teeming with traces of biblical antiquity...

Pope Francis and Islam: three cornerstones of a magisterium (Vatican News)

A common thread links Pope Francis' keynote speeches given in Baku, Cairo and Ur, which indicate the need for an authentic religiosity to worship God and love our brothers and sisters, and a concrete commitment to justice and peace...

Pope Francis: Love at the heart of a good confession (Vatican News)

During the audience, which was held in the Paul VI Hall, the Pope dwelt on three expressions that explain the meaning of the Sacrament of Reconciliation: the first, "abandoning oneself to Love"; the second, "letting oneself be transformed by Love"; and the third: "corresponding to Love"... The first step for a good Confession, he said, “is precisely the act of faith, of abandonment, with which the penitent approaches Mercy”...

Vatican says general absolution still permissible during pandemic (NCR)

Offering general absolution to the faithful without having them personally confess their sins first may still be done in places seeing serious or increasing levels of coronavirus infections, a Vatican official said. While "individual confession remains the ordinary way of celebrating this sacrament," serious situations caused by the pandemic can be considered cases of "grave necessity," which allow for other solutions...

Just a personal note - I have experienced General Absolution on a number of occasions and have found it a meaningful and moving experience.

And another reflection on the papal visit to Iraq, this one from a media outlet in the Global South:

The Pope in Iraq: Fraternity between all faiths (Indian Express)

During his recent visit, the Pope presented a version of Christianity which is more inclusive, non-denominational, non-sectarian and non-Europeanised...

Edited to add another reflection on the Iraq trip:

Pope Francis' pilgrimage to Iraq improves relations with Muslims (NCR)

Despite the naysayers who opposed the pope's visit, Pope Francis' pilgrimage to Iraq (March 5-8) went beyond expectations in achieving the three goals of his trip: showing pastoral solidarity with his suffering Christian flock, calling for peace and reconciliation for the Iraqi people and establishing improved relations between Christians and Muslims...

Inside Iraq, it was harder to find people opposing the papal visit. The government wanted to show, by hosting such a high-profile world leader, that Iraq is safe and open for business. Christians wanted their pastor to comfort them and showcase their great suffering. Muslims wanted him because they see him as someone who respects Islam and promotes reconciliation and peace. Long after the COVID-19 pandemic is forgotten, Christians and Muslims will look back at the papacy of Francis as a turning point in their relationship...

Our very human and evangelical pope (La Croix International)

the first pope ever to call himself Francis has shown over the past eight years that taking this name was indeed a programmatic choice. Even at 84, slowed by the "baggage" of increased physical limitations that come with age, the pope continues to chide the Church, like an Old Testament prophet, to leave the comfort and false security of its anachronistic structures and ways of doing things. Like a teacher in a high school classroom, he has used the pedagogy of repetition to slowly convey his simple, yet radical program of changing the mentality or ethos within the Church. He has tried to liberate Catholics from the clericalists and elitists who don't want anything significant to change that might loosen their control or lessen their influence over the direction of the Church...

Dear Pope Francis: Thank you for 8 years of challenging and healing the church. But women still deserve more (America Magazine)

Thank you for having given yourself completely in these eight years... Thank you for letting yourself be guided by the Holy Spirit, as the Saint of Assisi... Thank you for trying to purify and heal the open sores of the Church, the atrocities of modern abuses and slavery, the violations of the dignity of women and our detachment in living the Gospel daily... Thank you especially for trying to give the Church the feminine face that identifies her by her tenderness, closeness and mercy...

Can I share a dream of mine with you? I dream of a Church that has suitable women as judges in all the courts in which matrimonial cases are processed, in the formation teams of each seminary and for exercising ministries such as listening, spiritual direction, pastoral health care, care for the planet, defence of human rights, etc., for which, by our nature, women are equally or sometimes better prepared than men. Not only consecrated women, but how many lay women in all regions of the globe are ready to serve! And I dream that, during your pontificate, you will inaugurate, together with the Synods of Bishops, a different synod: the synod of the People of God, with proportional representation of the clergy, consecrated men and women, and lay men and women...

Eight years with Pope Francis: The joy of the Gospel for the whole world (Vatican News)

On March 13, 2013, Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected to the Chair of St. Peter. He is the first Jesuit, the first Latin-American Pope, and the first with the name Francis. These eight years of his Pontificate have been marked by initiatives and reforms to engage all Christians in a new missionary impetus with the goal of bringing the love of Jesus to all humanity...

Pope Francis honours Ireland’s Knock Shrine with special status (Vatican News)

The Pope on Friday evening will deliver a special message via video link recognising Knock Shrine as an International Marian and Eucharistic Shrine...

Pope’s message for World Vocations Day: ‘St. Joseph an example of faithful service' (Vatican News)

The Pope held up the husband of the Virgin Mary and foster-father of Jesus as a model for all members of the clergy and religious men and women. He drew heavily on his Apostolic Letter Patris Corde, released on 8 December 2020, which seeks to “increase our love for this great saint.” St. Joseph, said the Pope, is an extraordinary figure, not because of any astonishing charism or special status, but because he accomplished extraordinary acts of service in his daily life. “God looks on the heart,” he said, “and in Saint Joseph He recognized the heart of a father, able to give and generate life in the midst of daily routines.” Vocations, he added, have the same goal of begetting and renewing the lives of others...

Pope Francis calls for clean drinking water and sanitation for all (Vatican News)

Pope Francis called for clean drinking water and sanitation for all on Sunday, remarking on how clean water is something “too many of our brothers and sisters do not have access to”...

Pope Francis: Moral theology must concern reality and people, not just principles (America Magazine)

Pope Francis today called on Catholic moral theologians, missionaries and confessors to follow the example of St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori, the famous moral theologian and founder of the Redemptorists, who showed how “to keep together the demands of the Gospel and human fragility.”

He invited them, following the example of the saint and bishop, “to enter into a living relationship with the members of God’s people and to look at life from their perspective in order to understand the real difficulties they encounter and to help heal their wounds.”

Moral theology, the pope said, cannot be only about principles and formulations, but must respond to the reality of the person in need, “because knowledge of theoretical principles alone, as St. Alphonsus himself reminds us, is not enough to accompany and sustain consciences in discerning the good to be done”...

Pope orders pay cut for cardinals (Tablet)

Pope Francis has ordered a 10 per cent pay cut for cardinals along with a reduction in salaries of senior priests and religious working in the Vatican in order to save jobs of employees as the Covid pandemic hit the Holy See’s income. Francis has insisted he does not want to fire any staff in difficult economic times...

Pope Francis writes to Julian Assange (Rome Reports)

Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks, received a personal message from Pope Francis...

Cardinal, at pope's Good Friday service, decries divisions within church (NCR)

"The most common cause of the bitter divisions among Catholics," the 86-year-old cardinal said, "is not dogma, nor is it the sacraments and ministries — none of the things that by God's singular grace we fully and universally preserve." Instead, he said, "the divisions that polarize Catholics stem from political options that grow into ideologies taking priority over religious and ecclesial considerations and leading to complete abandonment of the value and the duty of obedience in the church."

"This is sin in its primal meaning," said Cantalamessa...

Benedict XVI ‘grateful’ to Pope Francis for year of St. Joseph (Crux)

In a rare new interview with a German newspaper, retired pope Benedict XVI praised his successor’s devotion to St. Joseph and thanked Pope Francis for launching a special year dedicated to his namesake...

Pope decries spending on arms during pandemic in Easter message (Guardian)

Pope Francis has urged countries in his Easter message to speed up the distribution of Covid-19 vaccines, particularly to the world’s poor, and called armed conflict and military spending during a pandemic “scandalous”...

Pope Francis: Too much exclusion for a world in which all are equal (Vatican News)

Pope Francis sends a letter to the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund as they begin their virtual spring meetings. In his letter, the Pope stresses the importance of developing a just and equal society for all...

Pope: “Having received mercy, let us now become merciful” (Vatican News)

On the feast of Divine Mercy on Sunday, Pope Francis urges Christians to open themselves to Christ’s mercy, which He grants through peace, forgiveness, and His wounds. In turn, they are asked to share this mercy with others...

Pope Francis describes the type of priest the world will need after the pandemic (YouTube)

He discussed the priesthood during a meeting with priests from Mexico.

>45 John5918: Is there a consistent logic that you follow in combining some articles in a post, and separating others? Can you comment on why these two are combined? Have you considered it may be confusing to all concerned if people might want to reply to praise one but express concern about another?

>46 eschator83:

Thanks for the question. No, there is no logic. When I log on to LT in the morning if there are two articles which have come to my attention which I want to post, I usually post them in a single post so as not to unduly lengthen the thread. Sorry if you find it confusing, but I think if you reply to a post it would normally be clear to everyone to which article you are referring.

Wasn't sure where to post this one but I think it follows on perhaps from the second article in my >45 John5918:

Vatican to host major conference on the theology of the priesthood in 2022 (America Magazine)

Increasing vocations to the priesthood, improving the way laypeople and priests work together and ensuring that service, not power, motivates the request for ordination are all possible outcomes of a major symposium being planned by the Vatican in February 2022.

“A theological symposium does not claim to offer practical solutions to all the pastoral and missionary problems of the church, but it can help us deepen the foundation of the church’s mission,” said Cardinal Marc Ouellet, prefect of the Congregation for Bishops and the chief organizer of the symposium planned for Feb. 17-19, 2022.

The symposium, “Toward a Fundamental Theology of the Priesthood,” seeks to encourage an understanding of ministerial priesthood that is rooted in the priesthood of all believers conferred at baptism, getting away from the idea of ordained ministry as belonging to “ecclesiastical power,” the cardinal said at a news conference April 12...

God is alive and working in Iraq, pope says to patriarch (Crux)

Pope Francis has sent a letter to Iraqi Chaldean Patriarch Louis Raphael Sako voicing thanks for his visit to Iraq last month and praising the local church for its charitable activities and its role in working to rebuild the country... “I was able to see and touch with my hand how Christ is alive in the church in Iraq, working in his holy and believing people,” the pope said...

Pope approves early ordination for seminarian sick with Leukemia (Vatican News)

A young Nigerian religious, Livinius Nnamani, was ordained a priest on 1 April in Rome, after Pope Francis gave his approval for the seminarian's early ordination. The recently-ordained priest suffers from Leukemia, a cancer of blood cells...

Pope praying for Bishop-elect of South Sudan after shooting attack (Vatican News)

Unknown armed men have shot and wounded the Bishop-elect of South Sudan’s Rumbek Catholic Diocese. The Italian-born Fr. Christian Carlassare, a Comboni Missionary, was attacked on Sunday night in Rumbek. The gunmen went to his residence, shot at his bedroom door till it opened, and when Fr. Carlassare came out, they shot him on both legs...

There have been new developments since that article was written (see below). The police have arrested about a dozen people, including a couple of Catholic priests of the diocese. I know the bishop-elect, of course, and also the arrested priests. Carlassare is a fine young missionary who lived for 15 years in a swamp in the middle of a war zone in one of the most isolated places in the world in a different South Sudanese diocese, where he was much loved. His new diocese is known for inter-clan violence, and the arrests suggest that there is some jealously on the part of the clans of one or two priests who thought they might become bishop. Very sad all round.

South Sudanese Catholic Clerics among a Dozen Arrested Following Bishop-elect’s Shooting (ACI Africa)

>49 John5918:

Priest with Cancer Dies 23 days After his Hospital Room Ordination (ACI Africa)

Fr. Livinius Esomchi Nnamani, who was ordained to the priesthood in his hospital room on Holy Thursday with special permission from Pope Francis, has died of leukemia at the age of 31. The young priest’s funeral was held in Rome on April 26 at the parish of San Giovanni Leonardi. He had dedicated the last 23 days of his life to offering Mass from his hospital bed, a priest who knew him recalled...

Pope Francis at General Audience: Christian meditation “not a withdrawal into ourselves” (ACI Africa)

Pope Francis said Wednesday that Christian meditation is a way of encountering Jesus and not “a withdrawal into ourselves”...

Pope announces ‘envelope culture’ crackdown at Vatican (Guardian)

Vatican employees must not accept any work-related gift worth more than €40 (£34) under new anti-corruption rules announced by Pope Francis.

The limit on the value of gifts is a crackdown on an “envelope culture” at the Vatican in which cardinals, bishops and officials have routinely accepted cash sums and other items from patrons.

The new rules also require cardinals and managers to regularly declare they have no investments in companies whose policies run counter to church doctrine.

“Faithfulness in matters of little consequence is related to faithfulness in more important ones,” the pope wrote in a legal document issued under his personal authority. The new measures were necessary to “prevent and fight, in every sector, conflicts of interest, methods of patronage, and corruption in general”, he said...

Is Pope Francis warning the Roman Curia? (La Croix)

Pope Francis made it clear recently that unless one accepts the magisterial authority of the Second Vatican Council (1962-65), one is not "with the Church". He was speaking to the catechists of Italy, but that part of his message was clearly addressed to a wider audience. The media understood this and gave it widespread coverage. The pope said there could be "no concessions" or "selectivity" and that "we must be demanding and strict on this point". His uncharacteristically stern call for acceptance prompts speculation as to where he has encountered resistance to the Council. It is not among the laity. The many organizations calling for reform that have sprung up around the Catholic world are characterized by a demand for the full and honest implementation of the Council. The outstanding need for Francis' exhortation is located much closer to home: in the Roman bureaucracy. Nowhere have the deliberations of Vatican II encountered more resistance and prejudicial reinterpretation than in the papacy itself.

Nowhere has the lack of respect for the authority of the Council been more apparent than in the actions and inactions of the Roman Curia. Every bureaucracy prioritizes its own power and authority and tries to control or suppress competing power centers. The curia is no exception...

Pope Francis Amends Law to Allow Vatican City Court to Judge Cardinals, Bishops (ACI Africa)

The prior law meant that criminal trials of cardinals and bishops were judged by other cardinals. With the April 30 update, Vatican City judges -- typically lay people -- will be competent to rule on the cases...

Pope Francis Institutes New Ministry of Catechist (ACI Africa)

Pope Francis issued an apostolic letter Tuesday formally instituting the new lay ministry of catechist... The pope said that the institution of the new lay ministry would “emphasize even more the missionary commitment proper to every baptized person, a commitment that must however be carried out in a fully ‘secular’ manner, avoiding any form of clericalization”...

The catechist is the backbone of the Church in Africa, and has been for at least a century, so it's good to see this ministry being formally acknowledged.

>52 John5918: Have you noticed that the Vatican's English version of this is more charitable and less negative than both ACI and the EWTN version. I encourage you to quote the Pope's words (or the VA version) in preference to newspapers/magazines.

>56 eschator83:

Thanks for the comment. I simply draw attention to stories relating to Pope Francis which look interesting, but I don't pretend to provide comprehensive coverage of any of them. I assume that people who are interested can find more information on each story, as you have obviously done in this case. Could you post the link to Vatican News for us?

I'll try. but I'm not very adept at copying and pasting links so it might take a bit of time. A friend posted it to me at another forum. Thanks for your comment about fireman- I've read a lot of your posts over the years- and congratulate you on your consistent effort to share your faith and interests.

I tried posting Vatican news in the search box at upper right and get a pretty sad list of publications. Can you imagine why?
Here's the link to Pope Francis on Meditation 4/28/21:
www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/audiences/2021/documents/papa-francesco 20210428 udienza-generale.html
(I pray) Why won't it go? Back soon.
https_www.vatican.va/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.vatican.va%2Fcontent%2Ffrancesco%2Fen%2Faudiences%2F

>56 eschator83:

Regarding your comment on EWTN, they are of course known to be a very "conservative" Catholic media house, espousing right wing causes, fuelling the US "culture war", and not a great supporter of the current Holy Father. I have known the editor of ACI Africa since long before it was taken over by EWTN (we were missionaries together in South Sudan) so recently I contacted him to ask about editorial independence. He informs me that the EWTN news department, separate from its US TV and radio network, follows modern professional journalistic practices. He assures me that ACI Africa has been encouraged to provide "independent and fearless reporting" and also positive stories about the current Holy Father.

>55 John5918:

People in the Global North may not be familiar with the work of catechists throughout the Global South, so this article may be of interest.

Catechists in Troubled African Countries Paying with Their Lives for Love of Apostolate (ACI Africa)

Catechists serving in a number of African countries experiencing violent conflicts are risking their lives and the lives of their family members to help in evangelization, Catholic pastoral charity organization, Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) International, has established...

Pope Francis queries Vatican media’s ability to reach an audience (Guardian)

Pope Francis has challenged Vatican media employees to justify their continued work, asking them how many people actually consume their news in a critique of the office that costs the Holy See more than all its embassies around the world combined...

Pope Francis kisses Holocaust survivor’s Auschwitz tattoo (Guardian)

Pope Francis has kissed the tattoo of an Auschwitz survivor during an emotional meeting at the Vatican. Lidia Maksymowicz, a Polish citizen who was deported to Auschwitz from her native Belarus before the age of three, showed the pope the number tattooed on her arm by the Nazis, and Francis leaned over and kissed it. Maksymowicz, 81, told Vatican News she did not exchange words with the pope. “We understood each other with a glance,” she said...

The pope's ambitious plan to heal the world and its people (La Croix International)

Francis launches program to put "Laudato si'" into action throughout Church...

There is a thread on Laudato si' in this group at https://www.librarything.com/topic/225701

In case anyone fancies re-reading it, the whole document can be found at https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/encyclicals/documents/papa-francesco...

South Sudan's Catholics still hope for long-delayed papal visit (NCR)

Despite a recent escalation in violence across South Sudan, including a spate of attacks against clergy, Catholic leaders in the country continue to hope that Pope Francis will be able to finally undertake a long-planned voyage there. Jesuit Fr. Augustine Ekeno, who serves at St. Teresa Parish in the Rumbek Diocese, told NCR that the visit, in the works since 2017, would "bring some hope to the people in this country who have suffered for many years and who feel abandoned"... In April 2019, Francis hosted a retreat at the Vatican for South Sudanese President Salva Kiir and several of the opposition leaders, during which the pontiff literally knelt at their feet, begging for them to maintain peace. Although a later January 2020 peace deal seemed to pave the way for the papal visit — potentially to be organized alongside a visit by Archbishop Justin Welby, the leader of the Anglican Communion — the violence has increased over the past year.

This month, attackers stormed the northern village of Dungob Alei, killing 13 people and injuring nearly 10 others. In April, the Catholic bishop-designate of the Rumbek Diocese, Fr. Christian Carlassare, was attacked by assailants who shot him in both legs for no apparent reason. Carlassare, an Italian-born Comboni Missionary, is now recovering at a Kenyan Hospital. In an interview with Italian Catholic channel TV2000, the priest addressed his diocese and called for people there to work on efforts at reconciliation and peace...

The article says the bishop-elect was shot "for no apparent reason". In fact it is widely believed that he was shot by supporters of a diocesan priest who had aspired to be bishop of the diocese, which had been vacant for several years after the death of the former bishop, also a foreign missionary. The priest is under arrest as a suspected accomplice to the shooting.

Marginalizing the poor threatens “the very concept of democracy”: Pope Francis (ACI Africa)

Pope Francis said Monday that “the very concept of democracy is jeopardized” when the poor are marginalized and treated as if they are to blame for their condition... “This is a challenge that governments and world institutions need to take up with a farsighted social model capable of countering the new forms of poverty that are now sweeping the world and will decisively affect coming decades,” he wrote. “If the poor are marginalized, as if they were to blame for their condition, then the very concept of democracy is jeopardized and every social policy will prove bankrupt”...

Witness of Growing Communion Between Christians “a sign of hope”: Pope Francis (ACI Africa)

Pope Francis told a delegation of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople that the witness of growing communion between Christians would be “a sign of hope for many.”

“Dear brothers, has not the time come for giving further impetus to our efforts, with the help of the Spirit, to break down ancient prejudices and definitively overcome harmful rivalries?” the pope said in the meeting with the Orthodox delegation on June 28.

“Without ignoring the differences that need to be resolved through charitable and truthful dialogue, could we not begin a new phase of relations between our Churches, marked by walking more closely together, by desiring to take real steps forward, by becoming more willing to be truly responsible for one another?” he asked...

Pope Francis ‘reacted well’ to intestinal surgery (Guardian)

Pope Francis “reacted well” to planned intestinal surgery on Sunday evening at a Rome hospital, the Vatican has announced. In a statement late in the evening, Matteo Bruni, a Holy See spokesman, said Francis, 84, had general anaesthesia during the surgery necessitated by a stenosis, or narrowing, of the sigmoid portion of the large intestine...

Victor Gaetan has just alerted me to the publication of his new book, God's Diplomats: Pope Francis, Vatican Diplomacy, and America's Armageddon* published by Rowman & Littlefield this month. There's a chapter on South Sudan, where Francis has played an active role in peacebuilding, and according to VIctor I am "extensively quoted" in that chapter. I'd be interested to see it, but according to Amazon it's very pricey at USD 49.

* No touchstone yet.

>69 John5918: I just added it. You should fill out the author page some.

>70 2wonderY:

Thanks! The touchstone has now appeared.

Pope Francis Asks Catholics to Pray for Church Reform “in the light of the Gospel” (ACI Africa)

Pope Francis is inviting Catholics around the world to pray this month that the Church receives the grace “to reform herself in the light of the Gospel”...

Speaking in Spanish, the pope said: “The specific vocation of the Church is evangelization, which isn’t proselytism, no. Its vocation is evangelization; even more, the Church’s identity is evangelization”...

He continued: “Let us begin reforming the Church with a reform of ourselves, without prefabricated ideas, without ideological prejudices, without rigidity, but rather by moving forward based on spiritual experience -- an experience of prayer, an experience of charity, an experience of service... I dream of an even more missionary option: one that goes out to meet others without proselytism and that transforms all its structures for the evangelization of today’s world”...

Pope Francis: Crises are signs that church is still alive (America Magazine)

Difficulties and crises within the Catholic Church are not signs of a church in decline but one that is alive and living through challenges, just like men and women today, Pope Francis said. “Let us remember that the church always has difficulties, always is in crisis, because she’s alive. Living things go through crises. Only the dead don’t have crises,” he said...

The church’s call to evangelize and not proselytize, he said, is more than just a vocation; it is a part of the Catholic Church’s identity... “Let us begin reforming the church with a reform of ourselves, without prefabricated ideas, without ideological prejudices, without rigidity, but rather by moving forward based on spiritual experience -- an experience of prayer, an experience of charity, an experience of service,” the pope said. Before reciting his prayer intention, Pope Francis expressed his hope for “an even more missionary option” that “goes out to meet others without proselytism”...

Does Francis believe in hell?

>74 brone:

He probably finds the Vatican bureaucracy to be an experience of hell on earth.

But on a more serious note:

Envelope with Three Bullets Addressed to Pope Francis Intercepted in Milan (National Catholic Register)

An envelope addressed to Pope Francis and containing three bullets was intercepted in Milan late on Sunday night, according to Italian media reports... The newspaper said that the envelope contained three pieces of 9 millimeter ammunition, of the kind used in a Flobert gun, and a message referring to financial operations in the Vatican...

The Head of the Holy Catholic Church has a mail box, He is so isolated from regular mail. This was a message from one of the multitude of isms that so infect our society that petty soon you won't be able to send a Mass Card....JMJ.... Marty

In october Argentinian bishop Gustavo Zanchetta was charged with sexually abusing seminarians. He is charged with "aggravated continuous sexual abuse". Forty witnesses are expected to testify. Z was appointed in 2013 by Francis. In 2015 Z was summoned to Rome to explain how videos of young people engaging in sexual acts happened to be on his cell phone. Francis apparently accepted Z's explanation saying, "he was hacked", Z returned to his ministry in Oran. His Vicar General was having none of this cover up. Z continued his predation. Z finally resigns his ministry citing poor health, a couple of months later Z feeling much better is appointed by Francis to be an assessor in the Treasury and the Vatican bank, yes the same outfit now going through a trial involving a number of priests and one cardinal. By the way how did a person charged with these crimes leave Argentina, Yep you guessed it Vatican intervention. Where you might ask is Z now nobody has the foggiest idea where the Pontiff's Argentine Paisan is. So This story is out there for our enemies to gloat over, Bullets in the mail. The sexual predation of the young continues, pornography, We must pray for the One True Church through the intercessions of Padre Pio, John Vianney, Maximillion Kolbe, St Theresa the little flower, St Peter Damion. Our Lady Of Good Remedy Pray for us..... JMJ.... Marty

Sender of Envelope with Bullets Addressed to Pope Francis Identified, Italian Police Say (ACI Africa)

Italian police announced Monday that the sender of the letter addressed to Pope Francis containing three bullets has been identified. The police have not released the name of the individual, but said Aug. 9 it is a French citizen "already known to Vatican security, with whom the Carabinieri of Milan will now coordinate to evaluate the meaning of the gesture and its possible danger." At the moment, according to the Italian news agency ANSA, "the information that most interests investigators is knowing where he is, because it would raise a different level of alarm to know if he were in France or in St. Peter's Square in Rome"...

Pope Francis Cautions against Misuse of Liturgy that Emphasizes on Ideology (ACI Africa)

“Let us not forget that a faith that is not inculturated is not authentic. For this reason, I invite you to participate in the process that will provide the true sense of a culture that exists in the soul of the people,” Pope Francis said in the video sent on Aug. 13. “When this inculturation does not take place, Christian life, and even more so the consecrated life, ends up with the oddest and most ridiculous Gnostic tendencies. We’ve seen this, for example, in the misuse of the liturgy {where} what is important is ideology rather than the reality of the people. This is not the Gospel”...

The conference focused on inculturation, a concept which John Paul II described as the process by which "the Church makes the Gospel incarnate in different cultures and at the same time introduces peoples, together with their cultures, into her own community."

Pope Francis said that many men and women in religious life can be tempted to focus on the decline in numbers of vocations in their orders. He urged them to “renounce the criterion of numbers... Otherwise it can turn you into fearful disciples, trapped in the past and giving into nostalgia. This nostalgia is fundamentally the siren song of religious life,” Francis said. Instead of focusing on numbers, religious should focus on evangelization and “leave the rest to the Holy Spirit,” the pope said.

“I would like to remind you that joy, the highest expression of life in Christ, is the greatest witness we can offer the holy people of God whom we are called to serve and accompany on their pilgrimage toward the encounter with the Father,” he said. “Peace, joy, and a sense of humor... How sad it is to see consecrated men and women who have no sense of humor, who take everything so seriously … To be with Jesus is to be joyful,” Pope Francis said...

Francis's liturgical directions and policy matters that affect the faith, are not matters of faith themselves. There is no guarantee of infallibility for Francis's policies this in no way implies that his directives are "unimportant" they just are not matters of faith in and of themselves; they can, in fact, be good, bad or indifferent, ....JMJ.... Marty

The Uyghur people are surely not being inculturated they are being murdered, by an atheistic communist program of genocide and experimentation. The Catholic priests ordained apostolicly are in jail or in hiding, Appointed Bishops of the brutal regime have a dialogue with Rome. Is this how we make the Gospel incarnate in different cultures. Has the Church quit the fight against godless communism? The Blood of its martyred priests in Russia, Poland, Czechoslovakia, China, So. East Asia. is eloquent testimony to communism's fear and hatred of them. Communists know that where Catholic charity and teaching get into the same territory as communism, religion wins." Otherwise great errors will be spread throughout the world giving rise to wars and persecutions of the Church" (remember Her) Marty....JMJ....

>81 brone:

Just wondering what practical suggestions you have for the Church to help the Uyghur people? If not dialogue, what are the other options?

When the Holy Father was speaking of inculturation it was in a video message for Latin America. It was not directed at the situation in China.

Pope expresses sadness over murder of two sisters in South Sudan (Vatican News)

The Pope expresed his deep sadness in receiving news of the “brutal attack" on a group of Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus that resulted in the deaths of Sister Mary Abud and Sister Regina Roba. In the telegram, sent through Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State, the Pope offered his “heartfelt condolences” to their families and religious community in the wave of this “senseless act of violence”. He expressed his hope that “their sacrifice will advance the cause of peace, reconciliation and security in the region” and offered prayers for “their eternal rest and the comfort of those who grieve their loss”.

The two sisters were killed following an ambush on the road that connects the South Sudanese capital Juba to Nimule, on the border with Uganda. The nuns, along with some sisters and several faithful, were returning to Juba after participating in the celebration of the centenary of the establishment of the parish of Loa, in the diocese of Torit, where the church is dedicated to Our Lady of the Assumption. They were traveling on a bus that was attacked by armed men. Local sources reported that Sister Mary, Sister Regina and three other people were killed as a result of the assault.

I knew Sr Mary Abud well. RIP.

The pope is expected to attend the “world leaders summit” in the opening days of the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) taking place in Glasgow in November

Pope Francis Not Expected to Offer Public Mass During His November Visit to Scotland (ACI Africa)

“I can confirm that the Scottish bishops are not planning a public Mass with Pope Francis in November,” Peter Kearney, spokesman for the Scottish bishops, told CNA on Aug. 17.

“The pope will visit as a guest of the UK Government who will be responsible for the arrangement details. We understand he will only be a few hours in Scotland to attend the COP26 gathering and expect he will have only a very short part of this time to meet with the Scottish bishops,” he said...

Pope: 'Personal responsibility key to improving post-pandemic world' (Vatican News)

Pope Francis said the pandemic has reminded people of the need for personal responsibility, to which many have given witness in various situations. “Faced with sickness and pain, faced with the emergence of a need, many people unflinchingly said: 'Here I am.'” The Pope added that people are at the heart of society, and that without the person, society is merely a casual aggregation of beings. The end result of this situation would be a society based solely on self-centeredness and greed...

Pope Francis Chooses Fr. Martin (First Things)

a personal letter that Pope Francis had sent to Fr. James Martin, S.J.... Pope Francis wrote in Spanish, and Fr. Martin provided this translation:

" I want to thank you for your pastoral zeal and your ability to be close to people, with the closeness that Jesus had, and which reflects the closeness of God. God’s “style” has three elements: closeness, compassion and tenderness. This is how he comes closer to each one of us. Thinking about your pastoral work, I see that you are continually seeking to imitate this style of God. You are a priest for all, just as God is a Father for all. I pray for you to continue this way, being close, compassionate and with great tenderness. And I pray for your faithful, your “flock” and all those whom the Lord places in your care, so that you protect them, and make them grow in the Love of Our Lord Jesus Christ"...

It’s the kind of thing that clever Jesuits are good at—both saying and not saying something at the same time. Pope Francis offered something relatively neutral to someone who would put it to his own purposes... The pope has an unrivaled reach; his voice literally goes out to the end of the earth, as the psalmist says. Yet there is always a matter of interpretation. How to apply in practice the general vision propounded? The pope cannot address every matter, and everyone wants to claim that the pope is on his side. Favored interpreters give extra guidance. Pope Francis has clearly chosen Fr. Martin for that role, at least in the English-speaking world and in relation to issues of sexuality, which is Fr. Martin’s pastoral focus. Others thus have to take notice, interpreting papal teaching and priorities through the prism of Fr. Martin’s teaching and priorities. The two are not identical, and the Holy Father himself remains far more important, but it is not wrong to understand that Pope Francis sees in Fr. Martin something appealing about what he thinks the Church and the pastoral ministry should be...

Different popes, different interpreters... But I don’t choose who interprets the pope; the pope is free to do that for himself. Pope Francis has chosen Fr. Martin for that role. That’s significant, and bears noting when evaluating the ministry of Fr. Martin—and of Pope Francis.

Pope Francis Meets Nobel Peace Prize Winner Championing Women Rights in Iraq, Afghanistan (ACI Africa)

Pope Francis on Thursday met with Nobel Peace Prize winner Nadia Murad, a human rights advocate who has been speaking out on behalf of women and girls in Iraq and Afghanistan. Murad’s meeting with the pope on Aug. 26 comes as the survivor of ISIS enslavement has expressed concern for the future of Afghan women under Taliban rule. “I know what happens when the world loses sight of women & girls in crises. When it looks away, war is waged on women’s bodies. This must not happen in Afghanistan. The international community must act so that the Taliban doesn’t continue to rob women of their rights & freedoms”...

The private papal audience at the Vatican was Murad’s third meeting with the pope. She also met with Pope Francis in Dec. 2018 shortly after receiving the Nobel Prize for her “efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and armed conflict.” Murad said that she had an “in-depth discussion about the Yazidi community’s experience of genocide” during their last meeting. Pope Francis told journalists in March that he was inspired to travel to Iraq partly by Murad’s memoir, “The Last Girl”...

Islamic State militants captured Murad six years ago after killing six of her brothers, her mother, and more than 600 Yazidis in her Iraqi village. She was enslaved, along with most of the young women in her community, and repeatedly raped by the ISIS fighters. After being sold as a slave multiple times and suffering both sexual and physical abuse, Murad escaped ISIS at the age of 23 after three months of captivity. After relocating to Germany, she used her freedom to become an advocate for Yazidi women who remained in ISIS captivity...

Pope says nurse saved his life, brushes off ‘hurricane’ of resignation rumors (Crux)

Addressing the rumors spread recently by a handful of Italian journalists regarding his resignation, Pope Francis said that whenever a pontiff is sick “there’s a breeze, or a hurricane” regarding a new papal election. Referring to his July colon surgery, he also revealed that “a nurse saved my life”...

Rumors of resignation actual calls for resignation are nothing new these days since they lowered the bar with Benedict, After providing evidence for the wide spread corruption in the hierarchy- corruption claims, Pope Francis knew about and enabled, Archbishop Carlo Vigano has called on Francis to resign: " he must acknowledge his mistake and, must be the first to set a good example for cardinals and bishops who covered up Uncle Ted's abuses and resign along with all of them......JMJ.....Marty

>89 brone: wide spread corruption in the hierarchy- corruption claims, Pope Francis knew about and enabled

That's an interesting claim. I would have said that Pope Francis is trying very hard to reform the corrupt Vatican hierarchy, although it's obviously an uphill struggle in which he needs our prayers.

Pope after operation: 'It never crossed my mind to resign' (Vatican News)

Pope Francis was interviewed by Carlos Herrera on Radio COPE. For the first time, he talks about the July surgery and also discusses Afghanistan, China, euthanasia, and the reform of the Roman Curia...

A couple of interesting quotes from the interview:

But I didn’t invent anything; what I did from the beginning is to try to put into action what we cardinals said in the pre-conclave meetings for the next Pope: the next Pope has to do this, this, this, this. And this is what I started to do. I think there are several things still to be done, but there is nothing invented by me. I am obeying what was set at the time. Maybe some people did not realize what they were saying or thought it was not so serious, but some topics cause pain, it is true. But there is no originality of mine in the plan. And my working roadmap, Evangelii gaudium, is one thing in which I tried to summarize what we cardinals were saying at the time...

I believe that today progress has been made in the consolidation of justice in the Vatican State. During the last three years, progress has been made in such a way that justice has become more independent, with the technical means, even with recorded witness statements, the current technical things, appointments of new judges, of the new public prosecutor’s office... and this has been moving things forward... Let’s hope that these steps we are taking in Vatican justice will help to make these events happen less and less.... Yes, you used the word corruption and, in this case, obviously, at least at first sight, it seems that there is corruption...

>89 brone: to set a good example for cardinals and bishops who covered up Uncle Ted's abuses and resign

I haven't been following the McCarrick case in detail, so I've just looked it up and done a little reading. One can certainly question why it took so long for it to be addressed, but that question can be asked about many cases of historic sexual abuse.

This is what Wikipedia has to say:

The apparent lack of action from the Church hierarchy in this case sparked demands for action against Church leaders believed to be responsible. On October 6, 2018, the Holy See announced that Pope Francis had ordered "a thorough study of the entire documentation present in the Archives of the Dicasteries and Offices of the Holy See regarding the former Cardinal McCarrick, in order to ascertain all the relevant facts, to place them in their historical context and to evaluate them objectively". The resulting report of the Secretariat of State, published in November 2020, stated that Pope John Paul II was made aware of allegations against McCarrick but did not believe them, and that Benedict XVI, in 2005, upon learning of newly surfaced allegations, urgently sought a successor for McCarrick. The report absolved Pope Francis.

Far from implicating Francis, the report absolves him. John Paul II and Benedict XVI appear to share some culpability. I think Francis also has to be given credit for the fact that very senior churchmen such as McCarrick and Pell (subsequently acquitted by the Australian courts) have been held accountable during his papacy.

Interesting that you reference Cardinal Vigano. The report states that during his term as Nuncio in the USA:

Cardinal Ouellet, the new Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops... in 2012... instructed Viganò to take certain steps, including an inquiry with specific diocesan officials and Priest 3, to determine if the allegations were credible. Viganò did not take these steps and therefore never placed himself in the position to ascertain the credibility of Priest 3... Nuncio Viganò first claimed in 2018 that he mentioned McCarrick in meetings with the Holy Father in June and October 2013, but no records support Viganò’s account and evidence as to what he said is sharply disputed... Until 2017, no one – including... Archbishop Viganò – provided Pope Francis with any documentation regarding allegations against McCarrick, including the anonymous letters dating back to the early 1990s or documents related to Priest 1 or Priest 3. Pope Francis had heard only that there had been allegations and rumors related to immoral conduct with adults occurring prior to McCarrick’s appointment to Washington. Believing that the allegations had already been reviewed and rejected by Pope John Paul II, and well aware that McCarrick was active during the papacy of Benedict XVI, Pope Francis did not see the need to alter the approach that had been adopted in prior years...

In June 2017, the Archdiocese of New York learned of the first known allegation of sexual abuse by McCarrick of a victim under 18 years of age, which occurred in the early 1970s. Shortly after the accusation was deemed credible, Pope Francis requested McCarrick’s resignation from the College of Cardinals. Following an administrative penal process by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, McCarrick was found culpable of acts in contravention of the Sixth Commandment of the Decalogue involving both minors and adults, and on that basis was dismissed from the clerical state...

(pp 12-15)

The full report is available here. It makes for sobering reading.

Closeness, compassion, and tenderness James Martin Style, All sorts of heretical quotes and anti church statements are out there in the public domain but just to refresh youse guys on a few of dem, 8/29 Martin asserts chastity is not required of homosexuals claiming chastity has'nt been received by the LBGT community so according to Martin church dogma is dependent on how it is received hmnn. How bout canon 1055 just to start. 8/15/17 on the feast of the Assumption(I wonder how he feels about this dogma) at Fordham U Martin states that catholics should reverence "gay marriage". On 10/2/17 Martin states that young children whose parents claim them to be transgender have a right to catholic education regardless what gender the Baptism certificate says. In early 2017 Pope Francis declared," Gender ideology demonic", Martin rants at those who disagree with his fellow Jeby Greg Boyle as "missionaries of hate". At another "catholic" college Villanova Martin condones homosexuals kissing each other at mass he irreverently states "why not".On 6/16/17 he declares a dissident gay nun should be declared a saint,Martin in a tweet on 9/21/17 supports Dr Shawn Copeland who wrote in her book "on Easter God made Jesus queer' So I guess Martin would support this Blasphemy, Heck next time he lectures at Notra Dame,His theme could be Jesus came out of the the closet not the tomb and claim it as liberation theology....JMJ....Marty

Pope: Euthanasia legislation in Europe is sign of 'throwaway culture' (NCR)

Increasing calls to legalize euthanasia in several European countries, as well as the disregard for vulnerable people and the unborn, are signs of a "throwaway culture" that is gaining ground across the continent, Pope Francis said. "What is (deemed) useless is discarded. Old people are disposable material; they are a nuisance. Not all of them, but of course, in the collective subconscious of the throwaway culture, the old, the terminally ill, and unwanted children, too; they are returned to the sender before they are born," the pope said in an interview... This throwaway culture has marked us. And it marks the young and the old. It has a strong influence on one of the tragedies of today's European culture," he said...

A clear statement from the Vicar of Christ.

Promote a Culture That Prioritizes Human Dignity: Pope Francis (ACI Africa)

Pope Francis said Saturday that politics needs a renewal after the pandemic through the promotion of a culture that prioritizes human dignity.

“The pandemic, with its long aftermath of isolation and 'social hypertension,’ has inevitably also challenged political action itself, politics as we know it,” Pope Francis said on Sept. 4. “It is therefore a question of working simultaneously on two levels: cultural and institutional,” he said... “It is important to promote a ‘culture of faces,’ which places the dignity of the person at the center, a respect for his or her story, especially if they are wounded and marginalized,” he said in an audience with the group at the Vatican. “It is also a ‘culture of encounter’ in which we listen to and welcome our brothers and sisters, with trust in the reserves of good that are in the hearts of the people”...

Sounds like Socialism to me.

>96 brone:

Sounds like a "clear statement from the Vicar of Christ" to me. Respect for the dignity of the human person is a key aspect of Catholic Social Teaching, based on the fact that we are all created in the image and likeness of God. As the old pre-Vatican II Penny Catechism used to say (#3), "To whose image and likeness did God make you? God made me to his own image and likeness."

Edited to add: Your mention of socialism brought to mind a dear old Italian missionary priest whom I wrote about in another thread recently. He was working in Palestine when World War II broke out, and he was interned by the British. Until his dying day he could not understand why they interned him, because, "I was not a fascisti, I was a socialist!"

Pope Francis is preparing a radical reform of the church's power structures (NCR)

In 2001, Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio was a rapporteur for the summit of bishops at the Vatican — and he did not like what he saw. The Catholic Church had adopted a top-to-bottom approach that stripped local churches of any decision-making power, and the synod of bishops was reduced to nothing more than a stamp of approval for prepackaged conclusions made in Rome. When Bergoglio emerged as Pope Francis in the 2013 conclave, the synodal process was high on his list for reform. "There was a cardinal who told us what should be discussed and what should not," Francis said about his experience at the 2001 general synod in an interview with the Argentine newspaper La Nation in 2014. "That will not happen now," he added.

On Oct. 9-10, Francis will inaugurate a three-year preparation process for the 2023 synod, which will focus on reforming the synodal process. The preparation process and the 2023 synod, with the theme "For a synodal church: Communion, participation and mission," have the potential to revolutionize the way decisions are made in the Catholic Church and promote a more decentralized structure of authority... The three-year synodal review process will take place in three phases: a local phase at the diocesan and parish level, a continental phase engaging bishops' conferences around the world and a universal phase, when bishops and lay people will convene in Rome to discuss the findings and topics developed in the first two phases. To coordinate and guide the entire process, Francis created a five-member steering committee flanked by two commissions on methodology and theology...

On Oct 21, 2020 Pope Francis said," what we have to do is support a civil coexistence law, they have a right to be covered legally. I defended this". Did this statement open the doors of traditional Catholic morality to a certain situation ethic. So Francis creates a five member steering committee flanked by couple of commissions on methodology and theology, we can all rest good tonight knowing the Holy Roman Catholic Church will be steered by committees and commissions....JMJ....Marty

>99 brone:

Is that how you interpret it? I would rather say the Holy Roman Catholic Church will be steered by a Synod comprising all the bishops of the world, with the Pope as the first amongst equals, in consultation with the Catholic laity, priests and religious. Looks good to me.

Pope and ecumenical leaders: Caring for God’s creation requires commitment (Vatican News)

In a joint message for the 2021 Season of Creation, Pope Francis, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, and Archbishop Justin Welby of Canterbury stress the importance of cooperation and valuing sustainability over short-term advantages as essential parts of our common response to the threat of climate change and environmental degradation...

Deleted this post and reposted in the new Synod on Synodality thread.

I wish during this season of creation Francis would address the year of destruction of American Catholic churches, 93 catholic churches have been the recent targets of arsonists graffitti artists usually a swaztica numerous statues defaced toppled over gas poured over them and torched. My parish pays armed off duty police officers to protect us during sunday mass. I myself am always armed but only recently have I been armed in church, So John it is quite obvious we are at antipodes on the direction of our church and we both pray the Holy Spirit guides Francis in the coming months and years to the Unity for which Our Blessed Lord prayed....JMJ.... Marty

>101 John5918:

Full statement available here

And a different topic:

Mary Teaches us to Listen to “the voices of the forgotten”: Pope Francis in Message (ACI Africa)

“The true joy that comes from the Lord always gives space to the voices of the forgotten, so that together with them we can build a better future,” Pope Francis said in the message published Sept. 8. “Mary, in the beauty of following the Gospel and in her service to the common good of humanity and the planet, always teaches us to listen to these voices, and she herself becomes the voice of the voiceless.” The pope sent a message to participants in the 25th International Mariological Marian Congress, taking place online on Sept. 8-11. “The mystery enclosed in the person of Mary is the very mystery of the Word of God incarnate,” he said...

Pope: Virgin Mary encapsulates mystery of Incarnate Word of God (Vatican News)

The theme for the event is “Mary between Theologies and Cultures Today: Models, Communications, Perspectives”... Mariology acts as a platform for dialogue between cultures, one which is able to nourish fraternity and peace...

Pope Francis meets Viktor Orban in worldview clash (Star)

The head of 1.3 billion Catholics will have a half-hour meeting with Orban -- accompanied by Hungarian President Janos Ader -- in Budapest's grand Fine Arts Museum, in what could be an awkward brief encounter. On the one side, Orban, a self-styled defender of "Christian Europe" from migration. On the other, Pope Francis, who urges help for the marginalised and those of all religions fleeing war and poverty.

But the approach, eminently Christian according to the pope, has often been met with incomprehension among the faithful, particularly within the ranks of traditionalist Catholics. Over the last few years, there has been no love lost between Orban supporters in Hungary and the leader of the Catholic world...

Incomprehension, particularly within the "ranks" of traditionalist Catholics, funny how Traditional Catholics are more incomprehensible than you woke guys.

>106 brone:

Yes, sweeping generalisations are usually pretty meaningless. When i write it myself as opposed to quoting a news article, I usually put "traditionalist" in inverted commas. All Catholics are traditionalists in the truest sense of the word. Our reliance on both scripture and tradition is one of the defining characteristics of Catholicism as opposed to most flavours of protestantism. I find "woke" to be a meaningless word, usually used as a pejorative.

You are right woke is or can be taken as an insult forgive me for that.....JMJ....Marty

We Need "creativity of the Gospel," Not "a defensive Catholicism": Pope Francis (ACI Africa)

Pope Francis told Slovakia’s Catholics on Monday that the Church should respond to secularization with the “creativity of the Gospel,” not “a defensive Catholicism”...

Pope in Slovakia: Religions must unite in contemplation and action (Vatican News)

Pope Francis urges an ecumenical gathering to resist the temptation of interior slavery with the twin forces of contemplation and action...

The headline about religions uniting in contemplation reminds me of an occasion nearly thirty years ago when I found myself on the fringes of an inter-faith encounter between Buddhist and Benedictine monks. When they talked about theology they found they had nothing in common. When they shared their experiences of contemplation, they found themselves on the same page.

The pope's advice to the Catholics of old Europe (La Croix International)

Pope Francis urges Church leaders on the Old Continent to embrace "freedom" and "creativity", not "hide behind a defensive Catholicism"...

Pope Francis urged priests to limit homilies to 10 minutes in a speech to religious in Slovakia (America Magazine)

Departing from his prepared text, Francis spoke at length about the vital need for pastors to prepare their homilies well and told them to limit homilies to 10 minutes. When he finished speaking on this, they applauded vigorously, but he quipped, “It was the nuns who applauded most because they are the victims of our homilies!”...

I shared this last snippet with a few South Sudanese bishops and priests this morning, and generally they shook their heads in bewilderment and muttered that this only works for Europe, although one senior priest did concede that it might just be possible to reduce one's homily to ten minutes in some circumstances. I used to teach homiletics in the seminary thirty years ago, and I taught that they should preach for a maximum of ten to twelve minutes and only try to make on key point, which the people would then remember, but I have to confess that I failed completely in that regard!

Pope Francis says bishops should be pastors, not politicians in US debate on denying Biden communion over abortion (CNN)

Pope Francis on Wednesday said bishops debating whether to deny communion to public figures who support abortion rights, such as President Joe Biden, should make their decisions from a "pastoral" viewpoint and not a political one. "The problem is not theological, it's pastoral," Francis told reporters while traveling from Slovakia to Rome on Wednesday. "How we bishops deal with this principle. We must be pastors, also with those who are excommunicated. Like God with passion and tenderness. The Bible says so... The pastor knows what to do. In every moment that he leaves the church's pastoral path he immediately becomes a politician"...

Edited to add: Pope: Abortion is murder, the Church must be close and compassionate, not political (Vatican News)

I have never refused the Eucharist to anyone... Communion is not a prize for the perfect - think of Jansenism - Communion is a gift, a present, it is the presence of Jesus in the Church and in the community... The second problem, that of abortion: it's more than a problem, it's homicide, whoever has an abortion, kills. No mincing words... But the problem is not theological, it is pastoral, how we bishops manage this principle pastorally. And if we look at the history of the Church, we will see that every time the bishops have not dealt with a problem as pastors, they have taken sides on a political front... When the Church defends a principle, when it does so in a non-pastoral manner, it takes sides on a political level, and this has always been the case, just look at history. What must the pastor do? Be a pastor, don’t go condemning. Be a pastor, because he is a pastor also for the excommunicated. Pastors with God's style, which is closeness, compassion, and tenderness. The whole Bible says so... But if you go beyond the pastoral dimension of the Church, you become a politician, and you can see this in all the non-pastoral condemnations of the Church... If you say you can give or not give, this is casuistry...

A new outlook on confession, the sacrament of joy (Vatican News)

It is not the sacrament, scarcely frequented these days, that is changing. What the Pope proposes is a completely different outlook on confession, different from the experience of so many Christians and different from a certain historical legacy...

From shame to celebration, from humiliation to joy. This does not come from Pope Francis, but from the Gospel, where we read of the father who anxiously awaits his sinful son, constantly scanning the horizon, and even before the son has time to humble himself by meticulously detailing all his faults, he embraces him, lifts him up and celebrates with him and for him.

Pope to lay associations: Be aware of the Apostolic power you have (Vatican News)

Pope Francis meets with the moderators of associations of the faithful, ecclesial movements and new communities and urges them to stay out on the existential peripheries, warning them of the danger of the desire for power...

Dear Pope Francis, Do you think the Sermon On the Mount took only ten minuets ?...JMJ ....Marty

Pope Francis sends 15,000 ice-creams to prisoners in Rome (Guardian)

Pope Francis sent 15,000 ice-creams to prisoners to help them cool down during what has been one of the hottest summers on record in Italy... In a statement, the Vatican said the pope’s charities office “did not go on holiday” this summer. Instead, Vatican volunteers spent their time “continuing to devote themselves, among other things to two of the seven works of mercy: visiting prisoners and consoling the afflicted”. The donation was among one of several “small evangelical gestures” made during the summer “to help and give hope to thousands of people in Rome’s prisons”, the statement added...

Matthew 25:35-36: "For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you made me welcome, lacking clothes and you clothed me, sick and you visited me, in prison and you came to see me..."

>55 John5918:

Pope Francis Hopes New Ministry of Catechist Will ‘Awaken this Vocation’ (CNA)

The newly instituted ministry of catechist is for lay people who have a particular call to serve the Catholic Church as a teacher of the faith... Pope Francis said on Friday that he instituted the new ministry of catechist with the hope that it would help to “awaken this vocation”... “We must insist on indicating the heart of catechesis: the risen Jesus Christ loves you and never abandons you! We can never tire or feel we are being repetitive about this first proclamation in the various stages of the catechetical process. This is why I instituted the ministry of catechist. They are preparing the rite for the, I quote, ‘creation’ of catechists. So that the Christian community may feel the need to awaken this vocation and to experience the service of some men and women who, living the celebration of the Eucharist, may feel more vividly the passion to transmit the faith as evangelizers”...

Its just not in the dna of an Oblate of the Virgin Mary to give a ten minute sermon, today his message was, We as catholics believe all things depend on His Will, which is the foundation of the Universe and because of which the world endures to the present time....JMJ....Marty

>116 brone:

I think the length of the homily is also culturally-conditioned. Rural Africa is still to a large extent an oral culture and people are accustomed to listening to and taking in long narratives. Homilies regularly last 45 minutes or more; on big occasions a bishop can preach for hours. In the Global North, on the other hand, we hear that people's attention span is getting shorter and shorter. People are used to snappy soundbites, and Tweets which are no more than 140 words. I notice how modern documentaries on TV are much more frenetic and disjointed than the staid but substantial BBC documentaries which I grew up with.

Another factor might be the level of knowledge about the faith. Many people in Africa are newly-evangelised and don't have the deep cultural knowledge of the faith which many of us cradle Catholics from Europe and north America had. Just the other day an African priest told me that he sees every homily as an opportunity to deepen the congregation's level of catechesis, which results in long homilies.

"A lot of people wanted me dead" Is there an implication in this statement, all we ever do is pray for him, As we say in America,Pope up Francis, sounds like whinning to us, JPII and your Boss now they, they wanted dead....JMJ....Marty

>118 brone:

One can never get enough prayers, and being pope is not an easy job, so I'd say keep praying for him. And I don't think asking for prayers is "whining" - I would hope we are all humble enough to recognise our need and to ask others to pray for us.

But talking of America, here's an interesting piece from them: Pope Francis: Rigidity in the church ‘is a sin against the patience of God’

The article is actually about the Synod on Synodality, which has a thread of its own in the LT Catholic Tradition group, but the headline highlights this particular bit:

Francis recalled that the clash of different visions for the church’s future were resolved at the Council of Jerusalem... The council was “a denial of those who pretend to take the place of God, who pretend to model the church on their own cultural, historical convictions,” he said. And it reveals a church that “in words and deeds gives witness to the unconditional love of God”and “expresses its own catholicity.” Francis noted that just as in the early church, in the church today “there can be a rigid way of considering things, that can mortify the patience of God...the God who looks far, the God who has no haste.” Departing from his text, he added, “Rigidity {in the church} is a sin against the patience of God”...

Francis God bless him is a first class grouch.

>120 brone:

Interesting comment (or projection?) He's in good company, anyway, as I suspect a number of the great saints were grouches, beginning with Peter and Paul! But I doubt whether the people who interact with him as a pastor find him grouchy - most of them seem to be inspired and enlivened by him. I suppose a selective reading of news items from afar might portray him as a grouch.

Pope Francis responds to attacks from EWTN, other church critics: ‘They are the work of the devil.’ (America Magazine)

Pope Francis remarked, “There is, for example, a large Catholic television channel that has no hesitation in continually speaking ill of the pope.” He said: “I personally deserve attacks and insults because I am a sinner, but the church does not deserve them. They are the work of the devil. I have also said this to some of them”...

“That is why today we look back to the past: to seek security,” the pope said. “It frightens us to celebrate Mass before the people of God who look us in the face and tell us the truth. It frightens us to go forward in pastoral experiences. I think of the work that was done—Father Spadaro was present—at the Synod on the Family to make it understood that couples in second unions are not already condemned to hell. It frightens us to accompany people with sexual diversity”...

Fr Spadaro is a close confidant of The current Pontiff, no wonder we get the feeling Francis is not to keen on American Catholics (accept maybe on the Sunday they collect Peter's Pence). Fr Spadaro " The Pope of the street does not speak like a priest". "It is for the current Pontiff to adopt a new language and get rid of the old one, because theological language risks becoming a product of the weakness of the Western Logos". Marx would give him a A for that one. Spadaro, "Catholics in America are integralists", surely you jest Father we don't even know what it means, Spadar implies American Catholics assuming he means conservative catholics associate with the wrong kind of Protestants namely Fundamentalists in an "Ecumenism of conflict and hate", they "maintain conflict levels", Fr Spadaro would much rather us spend our time on the "dramatic" change in climate, the crisis in global ecology, " American Catholics have a wrong understanding of natural disasters, dramatic climate change and global economic crisis." He criticises Americans for concentrating on Abortion and same sex marriage and religious education in schools. Spadar's elite bigotry has blackened American Catholics across the world calling us "haters" He has slandered and calumniated American Fundamentalists, calling them "Whites" from the deep south, This coming from a man who has the ear of the Pope,he has been a scribe at the Vatican most of his priestly life. Father you need to get out more.

>123 brone:

Not sure where you get all that from. Is it part of one of the posts above which I have somehow missed? Or is it some other source, in which case could you give us a citation, please, so we can read it in context? Also not sure what any of your post has to do with Marx.

The "weakness of the Western Logos" is an interesting phrase which I haven't come across before, but it does sum up the tendency to view the Logos, who is "Alpha and Omega", who was there from the beginning (cf the start of John's gospel), through a western lens. It's inevitable in a way, given the dominance of western civilisation in the last few hundred years of history, but the fact that the majority of Christians are no longer from the western world (just as in the days of the early Church!) means that we are moving away from westernised Christianity towards a truly global and universal understanding of the Logos, truly catholic (with a small c).

I'd have to see the original in full to understand exactly what the good father is saying about US Catholics. I have lived in the USA, studied at Catholic universities there, and visited regularly pre-COVID, often accompanying a Sudanese Catholic bishop on his rounds, and it does seem to me that the USA is the epicentre of a "culture war" within the Catholic Church which is much less pronounced in most of Europe and almost non-existent in much of the rest of the world. Significant elements within the US Church are very dismissive of the papacy, are resisting various important elements of Catholic doctrine (including some of the teachings of Vatican II and Catholic Social Teaching), are focusing exclusively on a very narrow definition of "pro-life" while ignoring or in some cases actually obstructing other broader pro-life issues, are openly opposing some of the reforms of the liturgy, are making dubious alliances with some extreme right wing evangelical fundamentalist Christian groups, and are indeed acting as "haters" - you only need to look at a few right wing Catholic websites to see the hate speech. I think Jesus called it "calumny" - "Blessed are you when people abuse you and persecute you and speak all kinds of calumny against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven; this is how they persecuted the prophets before you" (Matthew 5:11-12). The pope should indeed be rejoicing if the level of calumny spoken against him is anything to go by!

If Fr Spadaro has suggested that all US Catholics are like this, then obviously he is being careless with his speech, but as I say, I'd need to read more to clarify that. Obviously all US Catholics are not involved. Most of my US Catholic friends, acquaintances and colleagues, which includes a good number of missionary priests, sisters and lay missionaries, international humanitarian workers, academics, and dedicated people working at home for justice, peace and the care of creation, are appalled at what a visible and vocal minority of US Catholics are doing and saying. I seem to recall that around 50% of US Catholics voted for Trump (I may be wrong - maybe someone has the correct figure?), which means that 50% didn't (including just about 100% of my own friends and colleagues), so US Catholics obviously cannot all be lumped together as a single political identity group.

As for Peter's Pence and other fund-raising efforts in the USA, it would seem only natural that Catholics in the world's richest nation should make a substantial financial contribution to our Church. Everybody gives according to their means, and one would not expect an impoverished war-widow in South Sudan to give as much as a middle-class US suburbanite. I've been involved on and off for more than 25 years in fund-raising in the USA for the missions and for Catholic Relief Services, speaking in parishes and other venues, and the generosity of the ordinary Catholic parishioners is extraordinary. Thank you! But "Jesus sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the treasury, and many of the rich put in a great deal. A poor widow came and put in two small coins, the equivalent of a penny. Then he called his disciples and said to them, 'In truth I tell you, this poor widow has put more in than all who have contributed to the treasury; for they have all put in money they could spare, but she in her poverty has put in everything she possessed, all she had to live on'" (Mark 12:41–44; Luke 21:1–4). Thanks also to all those poor South Sudanese widows who have contributed what little they have.

Not to change the subject but let me shoot from the other hip, Every once in a while I am reminded of " Hitler's Pope" in both secular and religious articles how great an achievement, the proof they love to bandy about is the famous picture of Pius XII leaving the German Gov. bldg. showing two German Soldiers at rigid Attention. They all know the picture was taken in 1927 when Germany was a Republic and Hitler was hanging wallpaper in Vienna, Fast forward to Abu Dhabi and here we have Pope Francis hugging an intellectual Muslim who hates jews, I believe Francis names him 4 or 5 times in his Abu Dhabi document. He is even quoted as saying Ahamad Al Tayyeb is an inspiration. Francis main theme in the document is the abolition of the death penalty. Had Francis or his advisors done their homework they might have spotted this telling inspiration quote by Tayyeb, " those who leave Islam must be killed, accept of course women, because it is inconceivable that a women would rebel against her community, Just saying ya cant my this stuff up.

Pope Francis on Monday mentioned "the throw away culture" a culture which leads to "the discarding of children we do not want to welcome, instead the law of abortion sends them to the dispatcher and kills them directly he said. this is "ugly" and it is murder".....JMJ.....Marty God Bless Francis.

The Gov of NY says the vaccine comes from God and she wants apostles to go and "find" the unvaccinated, A couple of days ago she wants all women from Texas to come to NY so they can stiflel that heartbeat, I wonder if she thinks this idea comes from God so she can send her Abortion Apostles to Texas....JMJ....Marty

Pope Francis: My spirituality comes directly from Vatican II (America Magazine)

Pope Francis said the Second Vatican Council so shaped his theological and pastoral vision that perhaps he has not been as explicit as he should have been in highlighting those ties, especially when it comes to his contributions to Catholic social teaching. “In the history of Latin America in which I was immersed, first as a young Jesuit student and then in the exercise of my ministry, we breathed an ecclesial climate that enthusiastically absorbed and made its own the theological, ecclesial and spiritual intuitions of the council and inculturated and implemented them,” he wrote in the preface to a new book. “The council became the horizon of our belief, our language and our praxis, that is, it soon became our ecclesial and pastoral ecosystem,” he said. “Quite simply, the council had entered into our way of being Christians and of being church, and throughout my life, my intuitions, perceptions and spirituality were simply generated by the suggestions of the doctrine of Vatican II”...

That would probably sum up the experience of many (most?) of us who are pre-Vatican II Catholics who welcomed and adopted the evolution of Church teaching that came from Vatican II, which is the authoritative teaching of the Church.

The book is Fraternity: Sign of the Times (no touchstone yet, apparently).

Some interesting comments on Pope Francis from Cardinal Pell here.

Pell said that Francis has the "great gift of empathy and sympathy." When asked to respond on why some conservative Catholics are hostile to Francis, the cardinal said he believes some "wonder just what is being taught" at the moment, although he did not elaborate on specific issues. "Pope Francis has a great gift, like Jesus did, of reaching out to those on the peripheries and sinners," Pell said, "and that can and has confused people."

"But we are where we are," the cardinal added. "The papacy is something, I believe, is willed by Christ and we have to respect the office, reverence the man and obey the papal directions"...

Corruptio optimi pessima The following quote is considered prima facie on the synod maybe Pell can help us unenlightened to stop wondering what is being taught."We must remain open to the surprises the Spirit will certainly prepare for us along the way. Thus dynamism is activated that allows us to begin to reap some of the fruits of synodal conversion, which will be progressive by nature, true and proper conversion is the painful and immensely fruitful passage of leaving one's own culture and religious categories". Help us George cardinal Pell with this gobbbledegook! Cuz we think this is gnosticism in full bloom. Anarchic, transgressive and destructive of human coherence.This aint the Roman Catholicism we wuz taught. That was supernatural and redemptive not theraputic....JMJ....Marty

>130 brone:

Are you suggesting that we should not remain open to the Holy Spirit? And that we will never be surprised by the actions of the Spirit? Were not many of the great reforms within the Church a surprise to those who wanted to remain within their own comfort zone? Didn't many of the great saints, martyrs, missionaries and doctors of the Church leave behind their own cultural and religious categories? Isn't "true and proper conversion", metanoia, always painful? Not sure how you figure that any of that, which is all part of the teaching and Tradition of our Church, is "therapeutic" rather than "supernatural and redemptive", nor how it is "gnosticism in full bloom", but I'd be happy to hear you explain your opinion.

This aint the Roman Catholicism we wuz taught

Indeed it isn't. "When I was a child, I used to talk like a child, and see things as a child does, and think like a child; but now that I have become an adult, I have finished with all childish ways" (1 Corinthians 13:11). A lot of what "we wuz taught" was simplified and simplistic, some of it was plain wrong, and much of it has been further developed as the Church continues to deepen her understanding of the mysteries of our faith. Thank God!

Reminds me a bit of a convert from Anglicanism in the parish I grew up in, who would complain to me (and anyone else he met at the bus stop) about our parish priest, a senior priest with vast pastoral experience, because whenever he went to the priest with a question the priest would encourage and help him to think it through unlike the old canon who had converted him who would give him an instant authoritative unequivocal reply for everything. The Synod encourages us to be part of the discernment process rather than to sit and wait for answers from those who have an inside track - now that really would smack of gnosticism.

Pope, Faith Leaders Issue Carbon Emissions Appeal Ahead of UN Climate Change Conference (ACI Africa)

Pope Francis and religious leaders from across the world appealed on Monday for countries to “achieve net zero carbon emissions as soon as possible.”

They made the appeal on Oct. 4 in a joint message signed in the Vatican’s Hall of Benediction, which was decorated with plants to mark the occasion.

“The world is called to achieve net zero carbon emissions as soon as possible, with wealthier countries taking the lead in reducing their own emissions and in financing emission reductions from poorer nations,” they said in the 2,000-word appeal signed by almost 40 faith leaders.

Pope Francis presented the signed text to Alok Sharma, president of the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 26), and Italy’s foreign minister Luigi Di Maio...

Those present included Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople, the spiritual leader of the world’s Orthodox Christians, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and Sheikh Ahmed el-Tayeb, the grand imam of Al-Azhar...

Same story from Reuters

In the mean time his cdls are giving Communion to non catholic lesbians in Chicago. His bishop in Germany Franz Josef Boch Head of the Synodal path forum said " for us Christ became a human being not a man" inclusive I guess herectical for sure....JMJ....Marty

>133 brone:

Why is it heretical to say that Christ became a human being? Is a man not a human being?

Us Irish always try to answer a question with a question and this is not a tricky one. What do you think is the difference between substance and a person when referring to human beings? Now remember i'm just a street car operator so keep it simple lol....JMJ....Marty

>135 brone:

No worries. I can also ask questions. Using the traditional redemption/salvation narrative, do you think Jesus died on the cross only to save male human beings, or to offer salvation to all human beings?

Has anybody of our Holy Faith ever thought that? Because I said saying Jesus Christ as a human Being is not Catholic teaching you deduce I must be some patriarchal beast. You and I as I said before are at antipodes. If you don't want to answer fine, but implying this male thing is a bit childish. I'll continue to read your posts and if I disagree or expound on another point of view. Then I do it out of love for my church not an ideology....JMJ....Marty

>137 brone:

My apologies, but I understood you to have stated that calling Christ a human being rather than a man is heretical. You declined to explain what you meant, so I asked a further question to try to elucidate and understand your position. I make no deductions about you. I'm simply trying to understand why you think it's heretical to refer to Jesus Christ as a human being instead of a man. In the days when the scriptures and various other Church documents were translated into English the terms "human being" and "man" could be used synonymously. Now common English usage has changed and we tend not to use them as synonyms, but the theological point hasn't changed as far as I can see. If you think it has, I'd be grateful for an explanation.

Edited to add: To use formal logic:

All men are human beings.
Jesus was a man.
Therefore Jesus was a human being.
QED.

Incidentally, this is not such a problem in some other languages. The Arabic translation of the mass and of scripture uses the word insaan, إنسان , which simply means human being.

Pope prays for peace with faith leaders: ‘Demilitarize our hearts!’ (Vatican News)

Pope Francis attends an International Meeting for Peace with leaders of various religions and confessions at Rome's Colosseum, and urges everyone to work toward purifying our hearts so that peace might fill our world...

When Christ assumed a human nature He had no human person. (There is a difference between nature and person. Nature answers the question "What? "What is it?"Person answers the question "Who?" "Who is responsible?" Christ has two natures or principles of operation: divine and human; but only one person, which is the Word of God or Son of God. His Person is divine.

>140 brone:

Yes, indeed, we know all that about two natures, divine and human. Human, not man.

Edited to add: But I think I see now what your issue is, which, to be frank, you were rather unhelpful about when you were asked to clarify. Am I right in thinking that you interpret the cited phrase as denying the twofold nature of Jesus? If so, I think you are reading more into it than I am. I see it simply as a linguistic issue. There was a time when the English language allowed the word "man" to refer to all humans, and many of our liturgical and theological translations reflect that, as in the Nicene Creed, "For us men and for our salvation... and became man". As I understand it, the Latin homo can also mean man or human - "qui propter nos homines... et homo factus est". The substitution of "human" for "man" in contemporary English usage is not intended to and indeed does not change the theological meaning, nor challenge the twofold nature of Jesus.

I'm not reading "more into it" I'm reading Aquinas, Scotus, Arch B Fulton Sheen, Again Church teaching not simply linguistic issues. The Divine Word identified with the Divine Person appropriates to itself human nature, and takes in every respect the place of the human person. In this way the Human nature of Christ, though not a human person loses nothing of the perfection of the perfect man, for the Divine Person supplies the place of the Human....JMJ....Marty

>142 brone:

I'm not denying any of that, simply wondering why if you are happy to say that Christ "loses nothing of the perfection of the perfect man", why you think Christ "loses nothing of the perfection of the perfect human being" is any different theologically?

All Religious Traditions Must Resist "temptation to fundamentalism": Pope Francis (ACI Africa)

Pope Francis asked leaders of world religions to resist “the temptation to fundamentalism” for the sake of peace at an interreligious gathering Thursday in front of the Colosseum.

Peace “summons us to serve the truth and declare what is evil when it is evil, without fear or pretense, even and especially when it is committed by those who profess to follow the same creed as us,” the pope said Oct. 7. “For the sake of peace, please, in every religious tradition let us defuse the temptation to fundamentalism and every tendency to view a brother or sister as an enemy.”

Speaking on a stage together with Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist, and Hindu representatives, Pope Francis appealed for peace amid the world’s current conflicts. "Dear brothers and sisters, as believers it is our responsibility to help eradicate hatred from human hearts and to condemn every form of violence. Let us unambiguously urge that arms be set aside and military spending reduced, in order to provide for humanitarian needs, and that instruments of death be turned into instruments of life,” the pope commented. Fewer arms and more food, less hypocrisy and more transparency, more vaccines distributed fairly and fewer weapons marketed indiscriminately”...The pope called prayer a source of strength that “disarms hate-filled hearts”...

Christ was the perfect man in answer to your question. The German Bishop says he was a human being do you still believe that? As far as Francis exhorting us to resist Fundamentalism I applaud him for that. However when it comes to Luther he praises and may I dare say admires especially Luther's views on marriage....JMJ....

>145 brone:

I just don't understand why you make a difference between saying Christ was the perfect man (given that when it was first said or first translated into English the word "man" was used generically to mean all human beings) and saying Christ was the perfect human being. But clearly we're talking past each other and there's not much point in both of us continually repeating the same things.

Pope at Angelus: Salvation is a gift, not a bargaining chip (Vatican News)

he recollected the encounter between Jesus and a man who “had great possessions” (Mk 10:22), and who went down in history as “the rich young man,” and said that the Gospel of Mark suggests that we can all see ourselves in this man and that his encounter with Jesus allows us to test our faith.

Noting the man’s attitude that shows he lives his religiosity as a duty – something that needs doing in order to obtain salvation – the Pope explained that there is no commercial relationship with God based on a “must-do-obtain” ritual: “It is a question of freedom and love.”

“Here is a first test: what is faith for me? If it is mainly a duty or a bargaining chip, we are off track, because salvation is a gift and not a duty, it is free and cannot be bought,” he said...

According to Francis, when the UN says that homosexuals must be free to express their orientation and women must have the right to Abortion, the world must obey. The church's duty is to make "mother earth" a safer place. The Pope has advocated that we look to these global elite's as expressed in Laudato SI "their is urgent need of a true world political Authority". In America all politics are local Washington is global enough for us, besides what ever happened to the King of Kings....AMDG....Marty

>148 brone:

I've looked that quote up in Laudato Si' in order to find the context - it's #175. If Washington is global enough for you, that's fine, but I think Francis is speaking to the whole world, where "the reduction of pollution and the development of poorer countries and regions" is perhaps given more importance than you would give it from your narrow local perspective. Note also his reflection, "The twenty-first century, while maintaining systems of governance inherited from the past, is witnessing a weakening of the power of nation states, chiefly because the economic and financial sectors, being transnational, tends to prevail over the political. Given this situation, it is essential to devise stronger and more efficiently organized international institutions". He is actually quoting Benedict XVI's Encyclical Letter Caritas in veritate #67 when he mentions "a true world political authority". Benedict is the one who said, "To manage the global economy; to revive economies hit by the crisis; to avoid any deterioration of the present crisis and the greater imbalances that would result; to bring about integral and timely disarmament, food security and peace; to guarantee the protection of the environment and to regulate migration: for all this, there is urgent need of a true world political authority, as my predecessor Blessed John XXIII indicated some years ago”. Here he is referring to yet another pope, St John XXIII, which to my mind reinforces the view that the teaching of the last few popes has generally developed along a consistent trajectory; Francis is not an outlier. It does pay to check the context.

Living with the poor like Jesus: The example of Fr Júlio Lancellotti (Vatican News)

Alongside the poor, as Christ teaches. This is what Father Júlio Lancellotti recalls from his phone call with Pope Francis last year. It’s a mission reflected in the routine of the priest who each day welcomes – in his heart and at the "Centro São Martinho" in Sao Paulo, Brazil – hundreds of people who live on the streets of the largest city in the Latin American country.

"We live beside those people who sleep on the streets of São Paulo. Today there are more than 30,000 homeless people: the number of women and children is increasing. It is a situation, as Pope Francis calls it, of a ‘throw-away' mindset toward the population and especially for the poor, whose last place is the street and who end up surviving in the streets of the city."

With these words, Father Júlio Lancellotti provides a cross-section of the social chaos experienced in Brazil's largest city, where he works to combat hunger. Coordinator of the Pastoral Care of the Street, his mission at 72-years-old is to witness to an "outgoing Church", just as the Pope has requested...

Article on canonisation of Pope John Paul I reposted to the thread Saintly popes?

The Gospel Opens Every Culture to Greater Freedom in Christ: Pope Francis (ACI Africa)

Catholic Church, which embraces all cultures because Christ died for all people. “This is the meaning of calling ourselves Catholics, of speaking of the Catholic Church: it is not a sociological denomination to distinguish us from other Christians. Catholic is an adjective that means ‘universal,’” Pope Francis said...“The Church contains within herself, in her very nature, an openness to all peoples and cultures of all times, because Christ was born, died, and rose for everyone”...

Pope: Christian freedom leads to welcoming people and cultures (Vatican News)

Christian freedom “does not enter into conflict with cultures or with the traditions we have received,” Pope Francis said at Wednesday’s General Audience, “but rather introduces into them a new freedom, a liberating novelty, that of the Gospel”. Continuing his reflection on St Paul’s Letter to the Galatians, Pope Francis explained that Christians, freed from the slavery of sin and death by the passion and resurrection of Jesus, are able to welcome every people and culture, and in turn introduce peoples and cultures to even greater freedom. Not everyone, however, welcomed the “novelty” of evangelical freedom, the Pope said. He noted that Paul’s detractors criticized him for “minimising the demands received from his narrower religious tradition”...

Pope Francis: Evangelization becomes dangerous when the church imposes one culture on a diverse world (America Magazine)

I think this is a report on the same General Audience, but it's behind a pay wall and I've already used my free allowance for this month.

Biden to have audience with Pope Francis during trip to Rome (CNN)

President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden will meet with Pope Francis during their trip to Rome later this month for the G20 conference, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement. "They will discuss working together on efforts grounded in respect for fundamental human dignity, including ending the COVID-19 pandemic, tackling the climate crisis, and caring for the poor," Psaki said in a statement. Biden, a lifelong devout Catholic who attends weekly Mass meeting, will meet the Pope in Vatican City on October 29...

Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi, Gavin Newsom, all devout catholics who attend "weekly mass meetings" who support and protect the "right" of abortion, killing of a child outside of the womb if the child survives the abortion. These devout people have no problem kissing the ring of Peter and discussing carbon footprints of adults not infants. Oh and Francis help us implement the global tax on all working class Catholics. They wouldn't get away with this with XVI or JPII....JMJ....

>155 brone: Francis help us implement the global tax on all working class Catholics

Where does that come from? What global tax? And what particular tax is aimed only at working class Catholics rather then, er, all taxpayers?

I think you'll find that Biden has said very clearly that he is against abortion. Where he perhaps differs from you is whether in a nation which has a clear separation between church and state he, as a civic leader, should seek to impose his religious moral viewpoint on the whole nation. If we lived under a Catholic theocracy, abortion would be forbidden, but we don't. Neither do we live in a Muslim or Jewish or Hindu or Evangelical Protestant theocracy, thank God. We live in pluralistic democratic societies where such issues have to be discussed and approved by the legislature, judiciary and citizenry rather than imposed because of the president's personal religious beliefs. "Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's" (Matthew 22:21).

Joe Biden's purpose at the G20 or G7 or Gwhatever is to propose a 15% minimum global tax on all world corporations This is the brain child of US Fed chairwomen Yellen, Joe is going over to float this baloon with all the climate changers no 1 stop the Vatican. Joe being Joe he never saw a tax he wasn't for. As far as sleepy Joe's abortion record well when he was running in his own districts he was Pro life Personified, Joe is now running at the head of the democratic ticket guess what there is no one in public light who has ever undergone such a dramatic transformation Suddenly Joe says "he supports abortion under any circumstances" but as you say he should not impose his moral viewpoint on a nation, He did not change because of the Catholic Church, as far as I know the church has not changed it's position then was it science nope science has not changed its position on when life begins, it must be Biden who changed and he did it for political reasons, There is a rent in the seamless garment as us "devout" Catholics keep sweeping abortion under the rug....AMDG....

>157 brone: a 15% minimum global tax on all world corporations

A "15% minimum global tax on all world corporations" is not the same as a "global tax on all working class Catholics".

Pope Francis: A Bishop is called to a life of service (Vatican News)

Pope Francis ordains two new bishops during Holy Mass in St Peter’s Basilica on Sunday, telling them their life is one of service and closeness to others... Pope Francis underlined that it was important for bishops to be near to their flock, reminding them, that they too, were "taken from the flock"...

I've had the privilege of working closely with the Catholic bishops of Sudan and South Sudan for nearly forty years, and it has really struck me how so many of them have lived a life "of service and closeness to others" during decades of war and oppression. While not expressly using the term "liberation theology", it was nevertheless implied in their actions, public prayers, pastoral messages, declarations, resolutions and statements as they strove for the holistic liberation of the people. I've seen them living in tents, old shipping containers and small mud and grass houses, sheltering in trenches under aerial bombing, being shot at and shelled, harassed by security services, receiving explicit death threats, risking their lives trying to save the lives of others, pleading with the international community for humanitarian relief for the people, working tirelessly for peace and justice, praying under trees after their churches and cathedrals were destroyed, staying with their people on the ground in the face of danger and hardship. One was shot in the legs just a couple of months ago. Another survived being speared in the arm in his younger days. One died of a heart attack while presiding at mass in his cathedral. Another was held prisoner and mistreated for 100 days. One elderly bishop had to stand up to his neck in the Nile under small arms fire for hours before eventually being able to cross and then walk for several days in the bush before being rescued; with his customary dry wit he later commented, "Good job I had a big breakfast that morning as I had nothing else to eat for days!" Two bishops in their mid-eighties who are officially retired are still working full time at peacebuilding and humanitarian relief and development. Through all this they remained humble, prayerful, gracious, generous, hospitable, accessible to all comers, leading simple lives, and being exemplars to the priests and people they served. Holy men. Deo gratias.

Edited to add: While on the subject of bishops, I recall a South African bishop who made several visits to Sudan (indeed he travelled all over the country and I had the privilege of accompanying him as we visited various parts of the war zone, often having to march long distances through the bush on foot) saying, after seeing the conditions in which our bishops lived, how ashamed he felt of the high living standards of the priests back in his own diocese. Mind you, he himself lived a simple lifestyle in a small bungalow. Two other bishops I've stayed with who also live in small simple bungalows were the Archbishop of Cape Town in South Africa and the Bishop of Geraldton in Australia, but generally if one is to see bishops at their best, I think one needs to look at situations of war, poverty and oppression - Sudan, South Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, South Africa during apartheid, many of the Latin American bishops during the era of right wing dictatorships, etc. Too soon for many of them to have been made saints yet, the notable exception being Oscar Romero, but they are saints whether officially recognised or not.

why not you think these corporations will not pass that tax along let me re-phrase. To everyone then. I notice how you do not acknowledge Biden's what have you done for me lately abortion record. Why just the other day Saint Joe asked the SCOTUS to stop the heart beat law in Texas, Joe thinks having a heart beat for a few days is against the Constitution, Oh well maybe he'll get a tour of the 600million solar power system. As far as your comments on Latin America why is it millions of Latin Americans coming to the systematic racist protestant country like America let us hope they at least leave their liberation theology where it belongs in the jungle. As far as modern So Africa goes well the marxist thugs there are murdering White farmers at an alarming rate shshsh, can't talk about that....JMJ...

>160 brone:

That's a bit of a rant, my friend, isn't it? I think it would help the conversation if you could post rational arguments rather than emotive sound bites.

As for Biden, I think I have stated my position clearly in >156 John5918:. It is not the role of a president in a modern secular pluralistic democracy to impose his religious views on the population. I have lived in a theocracy, in Sudan under an Islamist military dictatorship practising a form of Islamic shari'a. Theocracy is not pretty, whichever brand of religion is imposing its view on everybody.

As far as your comments on Latin America why is it millions of Latin Americans coming to the systematic racist protestant country like America

Desperate refugees of all stripes flee poverty and oppression, and we welcome them, in part because of Matthew 25:35, "I was a stranger and you made me welcome".

let us hope they at least leave their liberation theology where it belongs in the jungle

As far as I know, liberation theology developed mainly in the shanty towns rather than in the jungle. But why are you so against liberation theology? Do you not think that oppressed people should have access to the sort of freedoms which you enjoy in the USA?

As far as modern So Africa goes well the marxist thugs there are murdering White farmers at an alarming rate

Marxist thugs? Where does that come from? Africa is a huge continent with 54 countries and a population of nearly 1.4 billion people. To which part of Africa are you referring? If you're referring to South Africa, a country with about 60 million people, about 4% of Africa's population, yes, it's a violent country as a result of 400 years of racist oppression and it has a far too high murder rate. But the vast majority of the people murdered by criminals, whether Marxist or otherwise (and most of them are otherwise - South Africa is a capitalist economy) are black Africans, not white farmers.

The errors of Liberation Theology have been well documented and censured by the Magesterium. As Francis just recently said "abortion is ugly and is murder". Biden does not support a heartbeat in Texas he supports slaughter of the unborn even if it survives the procedure. Have to agree with you on this one your Holy Father, Come to think of it when he goes to his weekly "mass meeting" I doubt he would say these were his religious views. just ranting away....AMDG....

>164 brone: your Holy Father

Don't you mean our Holy Father?

The errors of Liberation Theology have been well documented and censured by the Magesterium

Certain real or potential "errors" in some expressions of liberation theology have been corrected by the Magisterium, notably by John Paul II, but it's a nuanced critique which falls far short of a blanket condemnation. There is no single "liberation theology" as it is a praxis theology that develops differently in different circumstances. More recent expressions of it are of course guided and informed by the criticisms to which you refer. The preferential option for the poor remains a key part of Catholic Social Teaching, and Oscar Romero remains a saint.

Francis 1, Bishop of Rome, Vicar of Jesus Christ, Successor of the Prince of the Apostles, Sovereign of the State of the Vatican, Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church, Servant of the Servants of God....JMJ...

Pope Francis Wants Seminarians to Read This Letter from a Clerical Abuse Survivor (ACI Africa)

Pope Francis has shared a letter written by a clerical sexual abuse survivor with candidates preparing for the Catholic priesthood...

Pope Francis quote on abortion in June 2018, "The entire world was scandalized over what the Nazis were doing to maintain"purity of Race". Today we do the same thing, but today we do it with White gloves....AMDG....

Pope Francis to visit Canada for indigenous reconciliation (BBC)

Pope Francis has agreed to visit Canada to assist with ongoing reconciliation efforts with indigenous groups, the Vatican said on Wednesday. The trip follows disturbing revelations this spring about the indigenous children who died while attending residential schools. The Catholic Church was essential in the schools' founding and operation. The date of the papal visit has not yet been announced...

Oct 2018 "you cannot .. it is not right to kill a Human being no matter how small it is it is like hiring a hit man" ....Pope Francis....

Pope Francis’ recommendations for Reigniting Spiritual Life after Falling Out of Practice (ACI Africa)

Pope Francis has given Catholics some recommendations for how to reignite their spiritual life after falling out of practice.

“If we lose the thread of the spiritual life, if a thousand problems and thoughts assail us, let us heed Paul’s advice,” he said at his general audience on Wednesday. “Let us place ourselves in front of Christ Crucified, let us begin again from Him. Let us take the Crucifix in our hands, holding it close to our heart. Or we can even take some time in adoration before the Eucharist, where Jesus is Bread broken for us, Crucified, Risen, the power of God who pours out his love into our hearts,” he said. Pope Francis’ live-streamed address in the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall Oct. 27 emphasized that Christ’s death and resurrection is “the center of the salvation and faith”...

Joe blows off Pope Pope blows of joe , Our guy joey can't do anything right, give him time he'll even set the Marxists back a hundred years, it is comforting to know that he is out of the country saving the climate on second thought maybe we are all better when he's playing video games at his beach house protected by a bran new fence....AMDG....

>170 brone:

To be frank I don't really see what that little political rant has to do with the title of this thread, "Francis".

Pope urges 'radical' climate response in exclusive BBC message (BBC)

In a message recorded exclusively for the BBC, Pope Francis has called on world leaders meeting next week at the UN Climate conference in Glasgow to provide "effective responses" to the environment emergency and offer "concrete hope" to future generations... "We can confront these crises by retreating into isolationism, protectionism and exploitation," the pontiff said, "or we can see in them a real chance for change." He evoked the need for "a renewed sense of shared responsibility for our world", adding that "each of us - whoever and wherever we may be - can play our own part in changing our collective response to the unprecedented threat of climate change and the degradation of our common home"... The message is a reminder of the emphasis Francis has placed on environmentalism throughout his pontificate...

'God love ya': Warm relationship between the world's most powerful Catholics on display as Biden and Pope Francis meet (CNN)

The world's most powerful Catholics -- President Joe Biden and Pope Francis -- held 90 minutes of talks Friday in a session that blended the official and personal sides of the most devout US leader in decades. After, Biden said Francis had told him he was pleased he was a "good Catholic," and that he should continue receiving communion, despite opposition from some conservative American bishops over his support for abortion. Even during the most formal of diplomatic occasions, Biden demonstrated an easy familiarity with a pope he has now met four times. "God love ya," he declared as they walked side-by-side through the papal offices, a familiar Biden-ism that was perhaps never more true. The meeting stretched twice as long as the one Biden held with Pope John Paul II as a young senator. While the White House said afterward that topics like climate change and Covid-19 arose, Biden told reporters he discussed "a lot of personal things" with the pontiff. The lengthy meeting, he said, was "wonderful"...

At one point, Biden presented Francis a special coin with a deep personal significance: it bore the insignia of the 261st Signal Brigade, the Delaware National Guard unit in which his late son Beau served as a captain. "I know my son would want me to give it to you," Biden said. In 2015, the Pope privately counseled Biden and members of his family in the months following Beau Biden's death. Biden explained the coins are given to "warriors and leaders," and called Francis "the most significant warrior for peace I've ever met"...

If your conservative its a rant hmn! I'll leave Saint Joe out of this "rant". Let's mention a few other strange bedfellows Francis has appointed. #1 most obvious is Uncle Ted McCarrick (now under pre trial indictment) Benedict booted him out to some monastery in fly over country. Francis must have felt Ted did enough penance and was rehabilitated, Ted now becomes a roving ambassador with the roving eye to totalitarian states, next he becomes the unofficial nuncio usurping the Papal Nuncio in charge of recomending episcopal appointments, to name just a few LGBT friendly Cupich Chicago, LGBGT supporter Tobin Newark, Rainbow flag waving Gregory Washington, Teddys favorite recommendation,Kevin Farrell who lived in the same house as Ted for six years. Kev is now at the Vatican in charge of life and family how comforting. Oh! should we mention Archbishop Paglia now in charge of the (formerly) prestigious JPII institute for Family and Marriage lots of pink slips given there so far under pags, Maybe he will have a new holy card commisioned depicting Jesus in a translucent garment exposing his private parts Jesus's face is the face of the artists hairdresser, Pags himself is depicted wearing his skull cap hugging a nude male,himself half nude and our Lord is blasphemously portrayed holding a net filled with multiple nude homosexuals and prostitutes hauling them up to him, Ya don't believe me,this Blasphemy is painted on his cathedral wall. In all fairness Mr. McCarrick did not recommend Pags. As Pope Francis is fond of saying "everything is connected" He should know he is the one making all the appointments. Does this Rant qualify for your Francis thread?....AMDG....

>174 brone:

And in all things charity*... But to me that does look more like a rant than a rational and constructive criticism of our Church in a conversation on a Catholic Tradition group. But each to their own. I find it sad, but if that is how you see our Church, then at least we know where you stand.

* “In necessariis unitas, in dubiis libertas, in omnibus caritas” translated variously as “in essentials unity, in non-essentials liberty, and in all things charity,” or, “unity in necessary things; liberty in doubtful things; charity in all things.”

I've always liked this quote, particularly the last part, "in all things charity". Recently I looked it up online, and found that while it is often attributed to St Augustine, it doesn't appear in his writings and is likely a much later saying.

Edited to add: And the music which was going through my head as I wrote this, and which I am now listening to on my laptop, is Ubi caritas.

The pope has been given another secular gold star, this time he is recognized as a "moral guide"by the council for inclusive capitalism led by one of the Rothschild clan. this UN org is not for the spread of the devotion to the Immaculate Heart or the Sacred Heart what they spread is climate change and Depopulation. Carlo Maria Vigano said today, "I exhort the faithful, to beseech the Divine Majesty. asking that among the many societies afflicted by the present crisis, the church of Christ maybe the first in which Jesus Christ who today has been replaced by the idols of Globalist ideology returns to rein". Meanwhile in all charity Francis calls St Joe a good catholic and then charitably aligns himself with a Godless UN Org...Traditional Catholic Group,this group as far as I see is on a secular site therefore it seems to me that there might be many non catholic people on this site and they should know that there are other catholic view points than yours, in charity as you say I agree with many of your posts but I think you know that there is a much larger Traditionalist Catholic population out here than you would have us believe, Myself saying that there are Prelates of the Church supporting homosexual agendas and Cardinals painting erotic sexually explicit murals on the walls is considered uncharitable, As Joe Friday used to say "just the facts sir, just the facts......JMJ.....

>176 brone: there is a much larger Traditionalist Catholic population out here than you would have us believe

Actually I don't accept the exclusive use of the term "Traditionalist Catholic" by a small right wing group within the Church. We are all "Traditionalist Catholics" as our faith is built on the Tradition of our Church. One of the hallmarks of the Catholic Church is that we see divine revelation in both scripture and Tradition, unlike many of our protestant sisters and brothers who see it only in scripture. That is "just the facts sir, just the facts".

But even apart from the terminology, I don't like this narrative which somehow divides and separates Catholics. To quote an old cliche, unity is not uniformity - there is room for diversity within a united Church. We are a broad Church, catholic with a small "c" as well as a capital "C", and we are One.

And while you might be right that the group of those in the USA who create division by identifying themselves as "Traditionalist" might be a significant minority, albeit probably more vocal and visible than numerical, I think you'll find that in the parts of the world where most of the Catholics live, that term is not used and there is far less division.

there are Prelates of the Church supporting homosexual agendas and Cardinals painting erotic sexually explicit murals on the walls

That's a very black and white, all or nothing, zero sum, one-sided and un-nuanced narrative that you are creating or propagating. What does "supporting homosexual agendas" actually mean? Giving pastoral care to marginalised Catholics? Treating human beings with dignity? And what are "erotic sexually explicit murals"? Museums and art galleries across the world are full of paintings and statues of nude men and women, and indeed the Vatican itself is full of paintings of infant cherubim and seraphim displaying their genitals, while the central symbol of our faith is a man nailed to a cross nude except for a tiny loincloth. Evil is often in the eye of the beholder, not the hand of the one who paints, sculpts or displays art.

Meeting with Pope Francis leaves a strong impression on Biden: He 'is everything I learned about Catholicism' (CNN)

A visibly moved President Joe Biden on Sunday took the opportunity to reflect on his close relationship with Pope Francis, praising the Catholic leader as "someone who's provided a great solace for my family when my son died... This is a man who has a great empathy. He is a man who understands that part of his Christianity is to reach out and to forgive," Biden told reporters. "And so, I just find my relationship with him one that I personally take great solace in. He is a really, truly genuine decent man"...

Biden said Francis had told him he was pleased he was a "good Catholic," and that he should continue receiving communion, despite opposition from some conservative American bishops over his support for abortion. The meeting stretched twice as long as the one Biden held with Pope John Paul II as a young senator. While the White House said afterward that topics like climate change and Covid-19 arose, Biden told reporters he discussed "a lot of personal things" with the pontiff...

When Biden was elected, he said, the Pope called him "to tell me how much he appreciated the fact that I would focus on the poor and focus on the needs of people are in trouble," adding the Jesuit "is everything I learned about Catholicism, from the time I was a kid going from grade school through high school." The President also acknowledged he was reluctant to divulge too much about his relationship with the pope, telling reporters, "I'm not gonna lie, this is just personal... I don't want to talk more about it, because so much of it is personal," he later added.

I'm struck by his comment about "everything I learned about Catholicism, from the time I was a kid going from grade school through high school." Amidst all the criticism of the Catholic Church, some of which is certainly justified, it's worth remembering the good which many of us learned from our families, teachers, priests and nuns.

Pope Francis is a slap in the face to Catholics everywhere who face social ostracisation as youths and potential job loss as breadwinners for standing their ground on the moral issues that Francis gets to pass on---and those challenges are NOT happening exclusively in the US.

I used to reason and logic and nuisance every bit that came out of this pope's mouth, but I've come to realise that it isn't worth my time, because morally "nuisanced" (i.e., ambiguous) is exactly how Francis fully expects the public to perceive him and, from there, to misunderstand the teachings of the Church. I find him intentionally misleading. And that's my charity, by the way, assuming that Pope Francis is being misinterpreted rather than correctly understood by the secular media.

At this point, whatever Francis says is his own personal opinion; I'm not going to navigate my way through his labyrinth of words.

ETA: And no, I am neither from the US nor do I identify as a Traditionalist, no offense to either group.

>179 Majel-Susan:

Thanks for your opinion. It's an interesting one. The College of Cardinals has elected a Holy Father who is a "slap in the face" to Catholics? I think it just goes to show what different experiences of life and Church we have each been shaped by. Thank God for diversity.

>180 John5918: The College of Cardinals has elected a Holy Father who is a "slap in the face" to Catholics?

Since my statement requires clarification, they elected a successor to Saint Peter whose behaviour and words, or perhaps at times, omissions, regarding primarily abortion and LGBT issues, have been a slap in the face to many Catholics since his papacy. As the Pope, when he speaks in conjunction with the bishops, specifically in his authority as the head of the Church, he speaks with infallibility, but until then he speaks for himself.

I'm assuming that neither you nor I, nor any other Catholic, is going off the far end of the spectrum to say that every single word or action of any pope must be respected simply because he is the pope?

And anyway, while, yes, ideally the cardinals would elect a virtuous man, that is secondary to the main point of filling the Seat of Saint Peter. Cardinals have elected plenty of corrupt popes in the past (to name a few, Paul IV, Benedict IX, John XII). My point is that the pope is merely a vessel and, in himself, has no bearing on the Doctrine of the Church, in the way that the graces the faithful receive at the Mass are regardless of the merits or demerits of the presiding priest. God accomplishes His work through and in spite of human weakness; and the teachings of the Church are safe, not in the hands of men, but of the Holy Spirit.

>181 Majel-Susan:

Thanks for your response. Yes, you're right, of course every Catholic should know that there are particular conditions for the Holy Father to speak infallibly when definitively defining doctrines ex cathedra for the whole Church on faith and morals, and that is something which very rarely happens. However I don't think that means that we should just disrespect and ignore what the leader of the Church says, nor to assume that he speaks only for himself, as much of what he says is the result of wide consultation. The Synod on Synodality, for example, and the recent moto proprio Traditionis Custodes, are both the result of consultation with the bishops, and indeed the Synod is expanding that consultation even more widely. This type of teaching of the popes is consistent, constant, and universal through their various documents. It does not produce new doctrine, but reinforces, reiterates, or restates the consistent teaching of the pope's predecessors and of the bishops united with him around the world. It can also reform some expressions of the faith, as Benedict XVI put it, using a "hermeneutic of continuity" rather than a “hermeneutic of rupture”. Many people have noted a trajectory in the teachings of recent popes, with development and reform but also continuity. Teachings on the death penalty, nuclear weapons and war have all developed along a clear trajectory since John XXIII, for example, while Catholic Social Teaching has also followed a trajectory since Leo XIII.

In recent times we're not looking at corrupt popes, like the ones you mention, but each pope is a product of his own background and brings unique insights from that background to the papacy and to the way he expresses the faith. As you say, each is a "vessel", and that vessel is not one that has only just been launched but one that has completed a journey of many decades before arriving at the papacy. John Paul II spent most of his life under an oppressive communist dictatorship, so naturally much of his teaching reflected that. Benedict XVI was a doctrinalist. Frances is primarily a pastor, and also the first pope for centuries to come from the Global South. Naturally each brings different gifts to the Church, and their different expressions of the faith are both a gift and a challenge to us all. I personally found John Paul II and Benedict XVI to be very challenging, and I can't say I agreed with some of their pronouncements, but I still respect them. They were the ones carrying the burden of responsibility, a very great burden indeed. On the other hand, as a result of my own life experience living in Africa and working with the poorest of the poor in situations of war and oppression, I personally find Francis to be a breath of fresh air (or a breath of the Holy Spirit) in the Church. John XXIII was also a great inspiration for me.

Just as the popes are products of their own life experience, so are we, and our reaction to each pope reflects our own experience. It sounds as if your life experience has led you to feel strongly about abortion and LGBT issues, and you feel "slapped in the face" by Francis. I'm sorry to hear that. I don't think he has tried to change the Church's doctrine on these issues, but he has perhaps focused more on mercy, forgiveness and pastoral care, which are also key elements of our Tradition, rather than on trying to enforce conformity to the law. Many Catholics would have felt slapped in the face by John Paul II's centralising tendencies, or Benedict XVI's legalism, but hopefully would also recognise and respect these popes' other gifts. Likewise Francis. He seems to have found favour with many Catholics, almost certainly the majority, and with many outside the Church, but no doubt there are some people for whom he is very challenging. The Church is not a monolith, particularly as its focus shifts from European and north American cultures to those of Africa, Asia and Latin America. We are a Pilgrim Church, a living journeying developing Church not a dead static one, reading the Signs of the Times (Gaudium et spes) and responding appropriately to them in the light of our Tradition. Challenging? Yes. Change can be painful. Deo gratias.

Pope Francis to COP26: "Now is the time to act, urgently, courageously, and responsibly" (ACI Africa)

Pope Francis told world leaders attending a United Nations climate summit on Tuesday that “now is the time to act, urgently, courageously, and responsibly.” In a message read out at the meeting in Glasgow, Scotland, on Nov. 2, the pope stressed the urgency of efforts to protect the environment. “Now is the time to act, urgently, courageously and responsibly. Not least, to prepare a future in which our human family will be in a position to care for itself and for the natural environment,” he said in the message delivered by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, head of the Holy See delegation to the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26). Pope Francis has sought to galvanize efforts to protect the environment since his election in 2013. He issued the encyclical Laudato si’ in 2015, ahead of the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Paris, which negotiated the Paris Agreement...

"Supreme rule regarding fraternal correction is love": Pope Francis (ACI Africa)

Pope Francis said on Wednesday that fraternal correction must always be guided by love. Speaking at the general audience in the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall on Nov. 3, the pope reflected on the Apostle Paul’s advice to the early Christians to correct others “in a spirit of gentleness”... “The supreme rule regarding fraternal correction is love: to want the good of our brothers and sisters,” the pope said... The pope noted that in Galatians 6:1-2, St. Paul urged Christians to bear each other’s burdens and, when a community member fell, to restore them with gentleness...

He went on: “In effect, when we are tempted to judge others badly, as often happens, we must rather reflect on our own weakness. How easy it is to criticize others! But there are people who seem to have a degree in gossip. Each and every day they criticize others. Take a look at yourself! “It is good to ask ourselves what drives us to correct a brother or a sister, and if we are not in some way co-responsible for their mistake.”

Kenyan-based University VC Says Encounter with Pope Francis on Laudato Si’ “prophetic” (ACI Africa)

The Vice Chancellor (VC) of Kenyan-based Daystar University developed a deep desire to meet Pope Francis when he read about the Holy Father’s approach to the conservation of the earth in his 2015 Encyclical Letter, Laudato Si’. That was just over a year ago. As he reflected on Pope Francis’ description of the earth as “our common home”, Prof. Laban Ayiro told ACI Africa that he prayed with the intention to meet the Holy Father. When his prayers were eventually answered this week, Wednesday, November 3, the Kenyan-born professor spoke to ACI Africa on phone from the Vatican and described the day’s encounter with Pope Francis as “prophetic”...

“My thinking that time was driven by his works on the integrated ecology model for the world, the Laudato Si’ phenomenon. I read his thoughts and his philosophy. And it wasn’t just about the climate. It was about our home, the earth. It touched me that he looked beyond the climate,” he said. The Daystar University VC said that he found it amazing that Pope Francis had derived his thinking about the climate from St. Francis who expressed his devotion to God through his love for God’s creation and who the Catholic Church venerates as the patron saint of animals and the environment. Prof. Ayiro says he found the Holy Father’s understanding of environmental conservation as all-inclusive. Making reference to Pope Francis’ Laudato Si’ that was published 24 May 2015, he says, “It (is) about the totality of the human community on this earth; it is not just about the climate, it’s about vulnerability and poverty; it’s about justice; it’s about family; it’s about sexuality, and the earth.” In Laudato Si’, the Holy Father decries human activities leading to degradation and global warming, and makes recommendations toward environmental protection...

The member of the Pentecostal Assemblies of God (PAG) notes that the Holy Father’s approach to conservation of the environment and the protection of the earth should not just be left to Catholics to practice. “This is not just about Catholics. This is about humanity”...

Daystar is a well-respected protestant university in Kenya, and this is perhaps one of many examples of the increasing influence of the Catholic Church towards other faith communities under Francis' leadership.

Pope Francis names Franciscan sister to No. 2 position in Vatican City State (ACI Africa)

Pope Francis on Thursday appointed Franciscan Sister Raffaella Petrini to the second-ranking position in the government of the Vatican City State. Petrini is the first woman and non-clergy member to be secretary general of the Vatican’s governorate. The appointment makes her one of the highest-ranking women at the Vatican, alongside Sr. Alessandra Smerilli, “ad interim” secretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, and Sr. Natalie Becquart, an under-secretary of the Synod of Bishops...

"Supporting Homosexual Agenda really means". Might this be an example, Bishop Bambera nicknamed bamby by orthodox clergy in Scranton Pa, has allowed his diocese to become a haven for homosexual priests, Wilton Gregory of DC allows Msgr Walter Rossi of the National Shrine a church dedicated to the purity of or lady to remain and studiously ignores any criticism of the louche living gay predator who has a condo on the beach and can often be seen walking on the beach with his priest boy friend not in a Roman Collar but in nice cute speedos, The Church is corrupted with this abuse from the gay mafia and most of them these days are on team Francis....AMDG....

>187 brone: nicknamed bamby by orthodox clergy

I think that counts as the sort of malicious gossip which probably isn't very helpful in a conversation here. And "orthodox" clergy? I take it you mean clergy who don't like that bishop? If I were to repeat all the snide comments about bishops that I have heard from priests who have some issue or other with their bishops I'd be here all day, and probably lay myself open to being sued for slander or libel. Pope Francis has frequently urged us not to indulge in gossip (see earlier posts on this thread).

louche living gay predator who has a condo on the beach

One of the things that struck me when I visited parishes in the USA over the last thirty years was the luxurious, one might almost say louche, lifestyle of many of the diocesan priests of all stripes, and I would say particularly the more right wing ones. I was frankly shocked by their lifestyle and living conditions compared to the clergy I work with in Africa, and indeed many of the ordinary clergy I know in Britain and Ireland. I have met priests in the USA who have condos on the beach and plenty of other luxuries.

What do you mean by "gay predator"? Do you have evidence that this man is preying on people? Do you have evidence even that he is gay? I know many straight Catholic priests who spend a lot of their leisure time together, supporting each other as friends in their celibate lifestyle. And even if he is gay, do you have evidence that he is not celibate?

not in a Roman Collar but in nice cute speedos

Well, what would you expect someone to wear on the beach? Do you think all priests wear Roman collars when they're on the golf course, or playing football, or swimming?

Reminds me of the old joke about the Anglican and Catholic priests who go on holiday together, find themselves on a nudist beach and decide they'd better conform, so they take off their clothes. As they walk along, the Anglican priest sees some of his parishioners approaching and quickly wraps a towel around his waist. A little later, the Catholic priest also sees some of his parishioners, and quickly wraps a towel around his face. After the parishioners have passed, the Anglican asks his Catholic colleague why he wrapped the towel around his face. He replied, "Well, I don't know how your parishioners recognise you, but mine recognise me by my face!"

gay mafia

Could you define this term?

team Francis

You mean they are priests of the Roman Catholic Church? Americanisms such as "team whomever" don't feel very meaningful to me, but if one uses that sort of language, then we are all "team Francis", just as we were all "team Benedict" and before him "team John Paul II". I was following the cricket world cup match between England and South Africa yesterday, and I doubt whether there were any players who would not identify with their captains, as either "team Morgan" or "team Bavuma" respectively. In case you're wondering, South Africa won by 10 runs but England still goes through to the next stage.

Homosexual Agenda, a lot of progressives like to soft shoe their way around these issues, In Winchester NY St Joseph's Catholic Hospital is facing a class action law suit in a dispute over medical coverage for the spouse of the Lesbian employee. The Holy Roman Catholic Church does not ever try to impose its' agenda on others. In this case it is homosexual activists who voluntarily join a Catholic institution and then seek to upend its strictures. Whoever "Jane Roe" is in this case (Why the anonymity). I thought being in the closet was taboo. Is there a bottom line here, I say yes, a Catholic entity not to recognize something that nature never ordained- The union of two people of the same sex as a married couple winds up in court against the church is an agenda brought on by homosexuals......JMJ.....

>189 brone:

Or one could just say it is nobody's "agenda" but simply obedience to the law of the land. The USA is not a theocracy but is a pluralist democracy governed by a secular constitution and laws, not by Catholic doctrine. I think I have mentioned before that I have lived under a theocracy which imposed a form of Islamic shari'a on everyone, whether Muslim, Christian, atheist or follower of African traditional religion. It's not pleasant, I can assure you.

"The Gospel is the most humanizing message known to history": Pope Francis to UNESCO (ACI Africa)

Pope Francis said on Friday that “the Gospel is the most humanizing message known to history.” He made the remark in a video message marking the 75th anniversary of UNESCO, the United Nations’ educational, scientific and cultural organization... “Indeed, the Church is at the service of the Gospel, and the Gospel is the most humanizing message known to history. A message of life, freedom, and hope, which has inspired countless educational initiatives in every age and in every place, and has inspired the scientific and cultural growth of the human family”...

Let us hope His "humaniziing" message gets through to those godless globalists....JMJ....

>192 brone:

Just wondering what and/or whom you mean by "godless globalists"? It would be useful for me to know what we are talking about.

"The Church is not a political organization that has left and right wings": Pope Francis (ACI Africa)

Pope Francis told Vatican journalists on Saturday to remember that the Catholic Church is not a political organization or a multinational company, but that “the Church exists to bring the word of Jesus to the world and to make possible today an encounter with the living Jesus”...

“Please, remember also that the Church is not a political organization with left and right wings, as is the case in parliaments. At times, unfortunately, our considerations are reduced to this, with some root in reality. But no, the Church is not this... It is not a large multinational company headed by managers who study at the table how best to sell their product. The Church does not build itself on the basis of its own project, it does not draw from itself the strength to move forward and it does not live by marketing strategies.” The pope described the Church as “a vehicle” to bring the mercy of Christ to the world. “The Church, composed of men and women who are sinners like everyone else, was born and exists to reflect the light of Another, the light of Jesus, just as the moon does with the sun,” he said...

Thanks be to God!

Refugees are Ending Up in a "desert of humanity": Pope Francis (ACI Africa

Pope Francis has said that refugees forced to flee their homes often end up in a “desert of humanity”...

“The last 40 years of human history have also not been a linear progression: the number of people forced to flee their homelands continues to grow,” he wrote in the letter dated Nov. 7. “Many of you have had to flee from living conditions comparable to those of slavery, where at base is a concept of the human person deprived of his or her dignity and treated as an object... You know how terrible and despicable war can be, you know what it means to live without freedom and rights, you watch helplessly as your land dries up, your water becomes polluted, and you have no other option but to set out towards a safe place where you can realize your dreams and aspirations, where you can use your talents and skills... Unfortunately, in many cases, setting out has not been a true liberation. All too often you come up against a desert of humanity, with an indifference that has become global and that dries up relations between people”...

Justice and Peace Commissions Offer an "indispensable service": Pope Francis (ACI Africa)

Pope Francis said on Wednesday that the justice and peace commissions of the world’s bishops’ conferences offer an “indispensable service.” The pope told a meeting of justice and peace commissions on Nov. 17 that they performed the vital tasks of raising awareness of the Catholic Church’s social doctrine and defending human dignity... “Indeed, they have the task of spreading and making known the Church’s social doctrine, working actively for the protection of the dignity of the human person and his {sic} rights, with a preferential option for the poor and the least... In this way, they contribute to the growth of social, economic and ecological justice, and to the building of peace”...

Let's hope that the word "his" in the penultimate sentence is a product of translation and not the intention of the Holy Father!

"This world will pass away and only love will remain": Pope Francis

When one is faced with an important difficult decision, Pope Francis’ advice is to imagine standing before Christ at the “threshold of eternity” because that is what ultimately matters. Speaking from the window of the Apostolic Palace to pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square below, the pope urged people to reflect on whether their time is spent focusing on things that are transitory or in “the ultimate things that remain.” “Brothers and sisters, let us ask ourselves: what are we investing our lives in? On things that pass, such as money, success, appearance, physical well-being? … When our time comes ... we have to leave everything behind,” Pope Francis said in his Angelus address on Nov. 14. “The Word of God warns us today: This world will pass away and only love will remain,” he said...

Be "tireless builders of hope" amid suffering: Pope Francis on World Day of the Poor

On the World Day of the Poor, Pope Francis urged Christians to be “tireless builders of hope” amid the darkness and suffering in the world. “The World Day of the Poor which we are celebrating, asks us not to turn aside, not to be afraid to look closely at the suffering of those most vulnerable,” Pope Francis said in his homily on Nov. 14. “Let us ask ourselves: what is demanded of us as Christians in the face of this reality? We are required to nurture tomorrow’s hope by healing today’s pain,” he said... Francis emphasized the importance of making “concrete gestures” and drawing close to the poor to “sow hope”...

Both from ACI Africa

The pope said His, how horrible the Jesuits must be dusting of their Roman Collars before they go on camera to protest this latest slip by "his" Holiness Led by James Martin the Jebbies are circling the wagons for the Heresy commited by the Pope, I'm with you on this one Francis....AMDG....

>197 brone:

Yes, an unfortunate slip on his part, although to give him the benefit of the doubt, English is not his first or his main language.

The pope of impossible journeys (La Croix International)

Pope Francis does not hide his desire to travel to countries where everything seems closed to him...

"It sounds crazy, but I feel that he wants to come," said a bishop who ministers in one of the most difficult countries in the world for the Catholic Church. "I have the impression that nothing stops Francis, he is a bit like the pope of impossible journeys," the amazed prelate continued after a recent meeting with the pope...

South Sudan is a case in point. The Holy Father has made it clear that he would like to come and contribute to the resolution of the conflict there, following his moving gesture of kissing the feet of the warring leaders when they came for a retreat with him, the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland at the Vatican a while ago. What is delaying him is not the security situation but the question of timing. While any visit by the Holy Father is a great morale booster and a sign of his solidarity with the Catholics and the suffering poor, it would be a missed opportunity if he were to come at a point when his presence would have no significant impact on the peace process. Unfortunately that point is not visible on the horizon yet.

Pope Francis shares 8 Beatitudes for Bishops, giving a model for the 21st-century pastor (America Magazine)

Pope Francis has given a text called “The Beatitudes of the Bishop” to all the Italian bishops meeting in plenary assembly in Rome. The text offers encouragement and pastoral guidance not only to the Italian bishops but to the more than 5,000 Catholic bishops in the world today... the text had been written by the archbishop of Naples, Domenico Battaglia, who first used it at the ordination of three new bishops for that diocese in a homily on Oct. 31. The pope learned about the text and made it his own by having it printed on a card and giving it to each of the Italian bishops...

It is modeled on the eight beatitudes given by Jesus in the Sermon of the Mount, as recounted in Chapter 5 of the Gospel according to St. Matthew. By giving it such visibility, Francis clearly wishes to provide practical guidance and inspiration to bishops worldwide and to the men who will become bishops in the future...

1. Blessed is the bishop who makes poverty and sharing his lifestyle...
2. Blessed is the bishop who does not fear to water his face with tears...
3. Blessed is the bishop who considers his ministry a service and not a power...
4. Blessed is the bishop who does not close himself in the palaces of government, who does not become a bureaucrat more attentive to statistics than to faces...
5. Blessed is the bishop who has a heart for the misery of the world, who does not fear dirtying his hands with the mud of the human soul in order to find there the gold of God...
6. Blessed is the bishop who wards off duplicity of heart...
7. Blessed is the bishop that works for peace...
8. Blessed is the bishop who for the Gospel does not fear to go against the tide...

Pope: Catholic universities showcase bond between faith and science (ACI Africa)

the Pope said the university’s centenary celebrations offer the possibility to appreciate the Church’s important work of education, which is renewed in each new generation. “The amount and quality of the teachings show the relevance of the Church’s teaching mission, especially her dedication for advanced scientific and professional formation in all areas of knowledge and human efforts,” he wrote, calling it a type of education which “allows young people to let their talents bear fruit and offer their contribution to the common good”...

Pope ensures application of marriage annulment reforms in Italy (Vatican News)

Pope Francis issues Motu Proprio, setting up a new commission to verify and implement new rules for marriage annulment cases in Italian dioceses...

Pope Francis to Pauline Family: Make modern means of communication your “pulpit” (YouTube)

The Pope meets with members of the Pauline Family, who are commemorating 50 years since the death of their founder...

On this one I must declare an interest, as the Pauline Sisters in Nairobi have published my books on the church in Sudan and South Sudan, and I do some part time editing work for them. I find them a vibrant and creative community who do indeed bring modern methods to their traditional ministry of communication.

Francis sent condolences to the families of the murdered men, women and children of the Christmas parade. Thank you Your Holiness. The Vatican news brief called it a crash and a " tragic incident". Mean while our devout Catholic couldn't even use the word Christmas when describing this terrorist attack. The portrait of our lord George was stolen (some say) from CU. Darrell Brooks another career criminal could become another icon at CU...

>203 brone:

Very cryptic stuff. Could you cite a reference to which "devout Catholic" couldn't use the word "Christmas"? Do you not feel it's a trifle odd to be using the term "our lord George" sarcastically or pejoratively as you appear to be doing, and explain what it has to do with this thread on Pope Francis? Darrell Brooks - could you elaborate what he too has to do with a thread about the Holy Father? I find it much easier to hold a meaningful conversation if we're all aware of what we are actually talking about.

His holiness Francis I sent a warm condolence message to the families of the terrorist attack committed in Wisconsin, the Christmas parade (Catholic High School band). This traditional parade was violently scattered by a career criminal out on bail (1000) The media described the murders (8) elderly women and children, 40 in hospital 6 critical as, a crash and tragic incident (communique from the Vatican) various US outlets called it a Suv did it, caused by a domestic disturbance, Joseph Biden Who is called the devout Catholic every time religion pops up, Mentioned the murders using the PC correct term Holiday. No I don't find it odd using small case our lord, capitols would be blasphemy. Darrell Brooks is the alleged perp of the Wisconsin Massacre who therefore is the cause Of the Pope's gracious comments.....AMDG.....

Catholic, Orthodox must make their communion visible, pope says (Crux)

Catholics and Orthodox Christians must increasingly work together where they can, Pope Francis told Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople. “The full unity for which we yearn is, of course, a gift from God, through the grace of the Holy Spirit. May our Lord help us to be ready to embrace this gift through prayer, interior conversion and openness to seeking and offering pardon,” he said in the written message to the Orthodox patriarch...

"It is the Lord Jesus whom we meet in the faces of our marginalized and discarded brothers and sisters, in the migrant who is despised, rejected, put in a cage, but also in the migrant journeying toward hope, toward a better human life. #ApostolicJourney ”

Pope Francis‏Pontifex; December 03, 2021

Pope Francis in Cyprus: We Encounter Jesus in the Faces of Migrants (ACI Africa)

Pope Francis spent time in prayer Friday with migrants on the island of Cyprus, which currently receives more asylum seekers per capita than any other country in the European Union... Pope Francis thanked the young people for sharing their testimonies, which he said were “like a mirror held up to us, to our Christian communities.”

“It is he, the Lord Jesus, whom we encounter in the faces of our marginalized and discarded brothers and sisters. In the face of the migrant who is despised, rejected, put in a cage,” Pope Francis said. “But at the same time — as you said — the face of the migrant journeying to a goal, to a hope, to greater human companionship.” Pope Francis said that he feels that it is his responsibility to help people open their eyes to the sufferings of migrants who are held in camps. "Looking at you, I think of so many who had to go back because they were rejected and ended up in the camps, real camps, where women are sold, men tortured, enslaved," the pope said...

Pope Francis criticises Europe’s divided response to migration crisis (Guardian)

Pope Francis has used a trip to Greece to hit out at Europe for the divisions it has exhibited over migration while also warning against the perils of populism... “The European community, torn by nationalist self-interest, rather than being the engine of solidarity, appears at times blocked and uncoordinated,” he said in an address at Greece’s presidential palace on Saturday. “In the past ideological conflicts prevented the building of bridges between eastern and western Europe; today the issue of migration has led to breaches between south and north as well”...

Pope Francis Calls Migrant Crisis a "shipwreck of civilization" during Refugee Camp Visit (ACI Africa)

From a refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos, Pope Francis decried European indifference to the plight of migrants in the Mediterranean as a "shipwreck of civilization.”

“The Mediterranean, which for millennia has brought different peoples and distant lands together, is now becoming a grim cemetery without tombstones. This great basin of water, the cradle of so many civilizations, now looks like a mirror of death”...

Pope: “The EU document on Christmas is anachronistic” (Vatican News)

During the talk with journalists on board the flight bringing him back to Rome from Greece, Pope Francis spoke of the Apostolic Visit, of migrants, of fraternity with the Orthodox, and of the resignation of Archbishop Aupetit of Paris, a victim “of gossip”...

I think this is the document to which the Holy Father is referring:

EU accused of trying to cancel Christmas! Advice on inclusive language dropped after criticism (Politico)

The European Commission was forced to perform a U-turn Tuesday after its guide to internal communication was accused of trying to cancel Christmas and launching an attack on “common sense.” The 30-page guide on how to use more gender-neutral, LGBTQ+ friendly language in the Commission was unveiled by the equality commissioner, Helena Dalli, in late October...

Pope Francis: the pandemic calls for a culture of care (Vatican News)

n an interview with OSA, an Italian Social and Work Cooperative that provides social and health welfare services, the Pope offers his encouragement for the help it offers to many people living in darkness “to not to feel alone”... Highlighting the capacity and the need for “tenderness”, the Pope says tenderness not only indicates closeness, but through competence it calls for participation in the concrete lives of people. “It is a closeness understood as sharing, proximity, care and love. I hope that the great trial we experienced in the pandemic has made us long for a new closeness among us. A new tenderness”... This, Pope Francis explains, "is a question of humanity". Only when we will go back to caring, above all, for those on the margins, will we give a sign of true change, he adds...

Pope approves updates to norms for dealing with ‘grave crimes’ (Crux)

Pope Francis has given formal approval to a series of updates and modifications that have been made over the years to the norms regarding clerical sexual abuse and other crimes reserved to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. The newest version of the so-called “Norms on the delicts reserved to the Congregation of the Doctrine of Faith” does not introduce any new crimes, but it does seek to improve the procedural norms regarding the penal process and to update those canons connected with the recently revised “Book VI: Penal Sanctions in the Church” that was to go into effect Dec. 8...

Don’t sweat about sins of flesh, says Pope Francis (Times)

Catholics who believe they need to abstain from sex outside marriage or face the fires of hell have been told by Pope Francis it is time to relax and instead worry about more serious sins. In a candid conversation with reporters, Francis claimed people’s bedroom antics were not exactly his priority. “Sins of the flesh are not the most serious,” he said, adding that pride and hatred were “the most serious”...

Dear Holy Father please don't talk to the fake news while flying. AMDG

Dear Francis, Bishop of Rome, do you know whats going on in what some say is the second most venerated church in the west. The wreckovators have envisioned a new cathedral in Paris dedicated to the new idolatry of mother earth this former home of Our Lady will be turned into an experimental showroom featuring a "discovery trail" of course you might have guessed at the end of the disneyesque trek will be an altar to mother earth, let me go out on a limb here and say most if not all your esteemed predecessors would say this is idolatry but who knows with the pachamama thing. One last thing Your holiness guess where the wreckovators are going to make the most radical changes, yup you guessed it the parts of the cathedral that survived the fire, oh well maybe we can authorize this as just another Liturgical Experiment....AMDG....

>214 brone: fake news

Not sure I understand that reference. Are you saying that the news media made it all up, or that they have misquoted him, or what?

What I am saying is every time Francis leaves the earth ambiguity reins what? Is sex outside marriage been downgraded to a venial sin or is it less a mortal sin than pride or hate or finally is it what everyone else believes no big deal relax it ok. JMJ

>217 brone:

Thanks, I understand that you are uncomfortable with ambiguity in our faith, but I still don't understand why you refer to "fake news". Admittedly the Times is a right wing newspaper, but despite that it is usually known for being fairly professional in its reporting.

In a world full of violence, hate, human trafficking, poverty, rape and other forms of sexual assault, torture, climate change, corporate greed, political deceit and a whole lot of other evils, do you not think it is understandable that "people’s bedroom antics were not exactly his priority"? There are some rather greater priorities.

So there were none of these crimes going on before Francis tells some heathen, right, or left wing journalist that we catholics should relax and not worry about promiscuity, he's talking to the choir there, Maybe he should eliminate the 6th commandment seeing that its not his priority, I'd rather he did'nt kiss muslim's feet myself just shows a form of weakness to Islam I know he is being humble and all that but I don't recall Our Lord kissing anyone's feet but his own apostles....JMJ,,,,

>219 brone: So there were none of these crimes going on

Of course there were. The Holy Father is simply speaking about his current priorities. In secular circles governments declare a "war on drugs" or a "war on terror" because those happen to be the priorities of the moment. It doesn't mean that other offences no longer exist, simply that there are particular issues that take priority.

Heathen journalist

Do you actually know the religious persuasion of any of the journalists to whom he spoke? I certainly don't, and it wasn't mentioned in the article. I suspect that many news outlets would actually send their Catholic journalists to such an assignment, partly because they would have a better background understanding of the pope, and partly because they'd probably be clamouring to get the chance to meet him.

Maybe he should eliminate the 6th commandment seeing that its not his priority

Do you think all the commandments have equal priority at any given moment in time? Do you think coveting your neighbour's goods or indeed stealing them is as great an issue as killing someone? They may all be wrong, but preventing them does not necessarily have the same priority. If I see a chap about to kill someone and another who is covetous of his neighbour's goods I'm likely to try to prevent the murder before I take the other to task about his covetousness. It's got nothing to do with "eliminating" commandments.

I'd rather he did'nt kiss muslim's feet myself just shows a form of weakness to Islam

Having worked in the church in a Muslim country under Islamist regimes for many decades this is an issue we have had to reflect greatly on. Yes, you're right that for many Islamists love, humility and service are seen as weakness. On the other hand, for many ordinary devout Muslims these virtues make a very positive impression. And however they are perceived, these virtues are part of who we are. I could give you many real life practical examples.

I know he is being humble and all that but...

That sounds very dismissive of the virtue of humility. " And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God" (Micah 6:8).

Pope Francis evangelizes very differently than US conservatives (NCR)

Here is the specific part of the Holy Father's speech that seemed to show the difference between his approach to evangelization and that found among most conservative U.S. Catholics. Calling an attitude of acceptance essential to evangelization, the pope said such an attitude "does not try to occupy the space and life of others, but to sow the good news in the soil of their lives; it learns to recognize and appreciate the seeds that God already planted in their hearts before we came on the scene. Let us remember that God always precedes us, God always sows before we do. Evangelizing is not about filling an empty container; it is ultimately about bringing to light what God has already begun to accomplish," The pope recalled St. Paul's visit to Athens and what he said at the Areopagus. "He did not tell them: 'You have it all wrong,' or 'Now I will teach you the truth.' Instead, he began by accepting their religious spirit. … He draws from the rich patrimony of the Athenians. The Apostle dignified his hearers and welcomed their religiosity. Even though the streets of Athens were full of idols, which had made him 'deeply distressed,' Paul acknowledged the desire for God hidden in the hearts of those people, and wanted gently to share with them the amazing gift of faith." The pope finished with a phrase he often uses. Speaking of St. Paul, he said: "He did not impose; he proposed." This is the pedagogy of accompaniment. It can scarcely be labeled "heretical" or "confusing," as some conservatives are wont to do. It is rooted in the example of St. Paul...

Pope's closeness to the people affected by floods in South Sudan (Vatican News)

On the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, Monsignor Ionut Paul Strejac, Chargé d'Affaires of the Vatican Nunciature in South Sudan, conveyed Pope Francis' closeness to the struggling nation with a gift of 30,000 US dollars for the people of the Diocese of Malakal. This comes in addition to the 75,000 US dollars already sent by the Pope last October...

I spent several years working in the Diocese of Malakal thirty-odd years ago. It is truly one of the poorest (and largest) dioceses in the world, and currently much of the diocese is under water due to the floods. I bumped into one of the parish priests last month and he told me 80% of his parish is under water.

Avoid "fake Christmas" of Commercialism by Reflecting on God’s Closeness: Pope Francis (ACI Africa)

Pope Francis on Friday encouraged Catholics to celebrate Christmas with a focus on Jesus Christ’s closeness, not on the consumerist, commercial aspects of the holiday. “Let’s not live a fake Christmas, please, a commercial Christmas,” the pope advised Dec. 10. “Let us allow ourselves to be wrapped up in the closeness of God, this closeness which is compassionate, which is tender; wrapped in the Christmas atmosphere that art, music, songs, and traditions bring into the heart”... Francis urged people to not let Christmas “be polluted by consumerism and indifference”... The symbols of Christmas, especially the nativity and Christmas tree, “bring us back to the certainty that fills our hearts with peace, to the joy of the Incarnation,” he said...

Look Out for "self-referential" Founders Who Put Themselves "above the Church": Pope (ACI Africa)

Pope Francis asked Vatican officials on Saturday to look out for “self-referential” founders of Catholic communities who put themselves “above the Church.” The pope told members of the Vatican department that oversees consecrated life on Dec. 11 to focus on “discerning and accompanying,” while carefully scrutinizing leaders. He said: “In discerning and accompanying, there are some considerations that should always be kept in mind. Attention to the founders, who at times tend to be self-referential, to feel that they are the sole custodians or interpreters of the charism, as if they were above the Church.” The pope was speaking to members of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life gathered at the Vatican for a plenary meeting...

While His Holiness is after the self referential (never heard of that one) He should lookout his window and ask what idiot put up that nativity scene...JMJ

>225 brone:

Don't you like it? I think it's rather good. Something a little unusual to European and north American eyes, perhaps, but a reminder that the incarnation of the eternal Logos is for all cultures and all times.

In case anyone is wondering, you can find it here and here.

Looks like shamons , pachamamas, cast right out of a Johnny Depp pirate movie.... Compared to Pags's homoerotic mural and the Blasphemy at the National Cathedral this is just foolishness.... AMDG....

On a more Roman Catholic Theme, Let us pray, "O St Bakhita, assist all those trapped in a state of slavery; intercede with God on their behalf so that they will be released from their chains of captivity. Those whom man enslaves, let God set free....JMJ....

>227 brone:

Naturally you're viewing it through your own cultural lens. No doubt to many other Catholics throughout the world it doesn't look like what you project onto it, but it looks like a nativity scene which brings the birth of Jesus home to them in a way they can identify with. I think it's a little uncharitable to dismiss the cultures of millions of Catholics around the world as "foolishness".

To which "homoerotic mural" and "blasphemy" at which "National Cathedral" are you referring?

>228 brone:

Not really sure what is more of a Roman Catholic theme than the nativity, but thanks for mentioning St Bakhita. Slavery and human trafficking are still a tragic reality in our world, and we do indeed need to pray for an end to this type of exploitation while at the same time we pray for those who still have to endure it. Amen.

"May Our Lady of Guadalupe and St. Juan Diego teach us how to always walk together": Pope (ACI Africa)

Pope Francis prayed on Sunday that Our Lady of Guadalupe and St. Juan Diego would teach Catholics how to “walk together from the peripheries toward the center,” proclaiming the Gospel together in communion with their bishops...

Pope Francis Urges Catholic Jurists to "protect the rights of the weakest" (ACI Africa)

Pope Francis urged Catholic jurists on Friday to safeguard the rights of society’s most vulnerable members. Speaking to representatives of the Union of Italian Catholic Jurists on Dec. 10, the pope said that defending the weak was an urgent task. “Never as in these days, as in these times, have Catholic jurists been called to affirm and protect the rights of the weakest, within an economic and social system that pretends to include diversity but, in reality, systematically excludes those without a voice,” he said. “The rights of workers, migrants, the sick, unborn children, those at the end of their life, and the poorest are ever more frequently neglected and or denied in this throwaway culture. Those who do not have the capacity to spend and to consume seem to be worth nothing... But to deny fundamental rights, to deny the right to a dignified life, to physical, psychological, and spiritual care, to a fair wage, is to deny human dignity”...

>224 John5918:

Pope calls for greater vigilance over new religious communities (Aleteia)

Pope Francis draws attention to the abuse of power, formation of candidates, the status of founders and other issues during a recent Vatican assembly...

Pope Francis then drew up a list of points that require constant vigilance, beginning with the founders themselves, who sometimes “tend to feel that they are the only depositories or interpreters of the charism, as if they were above the Church.” Other areas of attention include: vocation ministry, the formation of candidates, the way authority is exercised, especially the length of mandates, the accumulation of power, and the separation between the internal forum — which is the secret of conscience — and the external forum. The latter is a theme “that concerns me a lot,” said the Pope. The pontiff also called for the prevention of abuse of authority and power...

Argentine bishops want people to hear the pope, not about the pope (Crux)

Even though the papacy isn’t a popularity contest, a pope’s influence in his home country is one way to measure how he’s doing. Alas, when it comes to Pope Francis’s Argentina, things are a bit more complicated: According to the local bishops, Argentines hear about the pope, but they don’t actually hear him...

Speaking about the Synod, which includes a two-year consultation process at a parish, diocesan, national and regional levels before the actual Synod of Bishops on synodality, to be held in Rome in Oct. 2023, {Bishop Oscar Ojea of San Isidro} said that with it, “The Church goes out to listen in a world of deaf ears, in which each group listens to its own discourse. Before the proposal of the Synod there are different reactions and fears.” As president of the Argentine bishops, he said, “I have clearly seen sectors of a secularized mentality, very entrenched in some media outlets, that do not hesitate to use disinformation, slander and defamation to attack the Church, seeking to expel it from the public space”. On the other hand, he argued, “there is a religious fundamentalism that does not respect the freedom of others and feeds forms of intolerance and violence, longing for a church that imposes power.” These two sectors, according to Ojea, have much economic and media power, and in Argentina, they have joined together, “like Pharisees and Sadducees,” to systematically denigrate the church “through the figure of Pope Francis, who has deserved the respect and consideration of most of the peoples of the world, near or far from the church, over these nine years of his pontificate”...

In his own country, the bishop pointed out, these groups have become a major obstacle for Pope Francis to “be read directly” and thus his teachings reach the faithful. Instead, “our people have heard more opinions and qualifications about him than what he expresses through his words and writings”...

It is quite noticeable, not only in Argentina, how much snide criticism of the pope there is, often from Catholics, based on media reports, often media which is either secular or "conservative" or both.

>55 John5918:, >115 John5918:

Vatican Liturgy Office Issues Guidelines for Catechist Ministry (ACI Africa)

The Vatican’s liturgy office on Monday issued a rite and guidelines for the institution of lay catechists in the dioceses of the Catholic Church. Pope Francis created the lay ministry of catechist in May with the release of the motu proprio Antiquum ministerium (“Ancient ministry”), which emphasized the importance of the role of the catechist in history and today for transmitting the Catholic faith...

In a letter to bishops published with the new rite, the Vatican’s liturgy prefect, Archbishop Arthur Roche, explained that catechist is a lay ministry distinct from the ordained priesthood, but that catechists, “by virtue of their Baptism, are called to be co-responsible in the local Church for the proclamation and transmission of the faith, carrying out this role in collaboration with the ordained ministers and under their guidance.”

“The definitive aim of catechesis is to put people not only in touch but in communion, in intimacy, with Jesus Christ: only He can lead us to the love of the Father in the Spirit and make us share in the life of the Holy Trinity,” Roche said, quoting from St. Pope John Paul II’s 1979 apostolic exhortation Catechesi tradendae. The archbishop also explained that the way this role will be carried out may be different in each diocese, depending on the particular needs of the community; the tasks of a catechist in a mission territory will differ from those in an area with a long-standing tradition of the Catholic faith. It is the job of bishops’ conferences, Roche said, “to clarify the description, the role, and the most appropriate forms for the exercise of the ministry of Catechists” in conformity with Pope Francis’ May 11, 2021 motu proprio. The two main categories of tasks for catechists, he said, are catechizing, or teaching the faith, and participating in apostolates...

Who is the Synod directed to and who do they intend to listen to?..... "Snide Criticism", Nah, loyal opposition we call here in the states.....AMDG....

>235 brone: Who is the Synod directed to and who do they intend to listen to?

There's a whole thread on the Synod here. Hopefully you'll find an answer to your question there. Or, in the spirit of listening to what the pope actually says rather than secondhand reports, you could read some of the Synod documents, eg Preparatory Document for the 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, 07.09.2021 and VADEMECUM FOR THE SYNOD ON SYNODALITY. Hope that helps you.

"in the spirit of listening" Progressives love this catch-all buzzword it is implicitly one way,I doubt the concern of Catholics who affirm the teachings of the church as found in the catechism will be given the same prominence as those Catholics who reject the teachings of the church, are they the ones we "listen" to. Let me guess who we will be listening to, Sex, LGBTQect, "global climate death", Transgenderism, lets throw in the race card,marginalized, the peripheries, and lets not forget the uninculturated, from the top down the synod's purpose is to nudge church teaching to be "with the times" or "with the people" gee how innovating we have been hearing this heresy since St Pius X.To me an ignorant sinner the SOS doesn't seem to really have the fullness of the Body of Christ in mind. The keep telling us "we need to "listen" and be welcoming to people who have not felt welcome before youse guys are preaching to the choir there....JMJ....

Speaking of listening The Italian village where the Vatican Christmas tree was cut down was only 140 years old the villagers begged the hatchet men from Rome "woodman spare that tree" not to be, no one from Rome would listen to them and how much that tree meant to them they chopped it down and it now stands with the llamas from Peru in St Peter's Sq. Joyce Kilmer must be turned over in his grave, Ah well do as I say not as I do. ....AMDG.....

>237 brone:

Not really sure what you mean. You use a number of slogans and stereotypes, or perhaps "catch-all buzzwords", to use your own term.

In this instance I'm certainly not asking you to listen to "Catholics who reject the teachings of the church", I'm suggesting you listen to the words of the hierarchy of the Church, and I've given you links to two official Church documents.

the SOS doesn't seem to really have the fullness of the Body of Christ in mind

Interesting opinion, given that the intent of the Synod appears to be to consult "the fullness of the Body of Christ" more comprehensively that previous synods. Whether it will succeed, who knows? It certainly won't be helped by Catholics who snipe at it from the sidelines and refuse to participate.

Sex, LGBTQect, "global climate death", Transgenderism, lets throw in the race card,marginalized, the peripheries, and lets not forget the uninculturated

Any one of those issues would need to be unpacked. All of them are legitimate issues for the Church to reflect on in the light of its doctrine and pastoral practice. "Scrutinising the Signs of the Times" is not a heresy, it is an authoritative teaching from the Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et spes. However it does not necessarily mean the same as being "with the times". The Church is often counter-cultural and prophetic, challenging things which are commonly accepted in societies. The Holy Father has been outspoken on consumerism, individualism, populism, immigration, toxic social media, the culture of death, abortion, war, capital punishment, the climate crisis, and many other issues which challenge the societal status quo.

Is sex not an issue? Family life has always been a key component of Catholic concern and teaching, and as far as I know sex is part of family life. LGBTQ and transgender people? Is it not a concern for the Church how we extend pastoral care to everyone, whoever or whatever they are? Global climate change? Care for creation is one of the elements of Catholic Social Doctrine, as is the preferential option for the poor, which covers the marginalised and people on the periphery. Racism? If we're supposed to love our neighbour as ourselves, are we not to be concerned about systemic and institutional structures which militate against that love, to say nothing of equality and human dignity?

I'm not sure what you mean by "the uninculturated". Catholicism is not an Italian phenomenon, nor a European one, nor a north American one, it is universal (which is what "catholic" means), and especially within the last century or so the heroic missionary efforts of the Church have led to the majority of Catholics in the world no longer being of European culture. How a Church which for centuries was dominated by western culture reflects this new reality is of course a matter for prayer and discernment. As Christianity declines in many of the western nations, the churches of the Global South bring new growth and vitality to the Catholic Church. Deo gratias!

Jimmy Lai 74 yr old billionaire from Hong Kong along with seven others including an octegenarian Catholic lawyer were sent of to jail for lighting candles to commemorate the Tiainmen Sq Massacre. Jimmy with all his dough could have easily escaped but instead chose to face his accusers. Jimmy converted to Catholicism in1997 starting the Catholic Pro Democracy movement. So me a lowly sinner from Fl knows about this, I expect His Holiness has heard to, maybe not, the bottom line is if "Rome has spoken", on this I haven't heard....JMJ

>240 brone:

Thanks, yes, Jimmy Lai's case has received a lot of international visibility. I wasn't aware that he is a Catholic. His pro-democracy stance is a good example of Catholic Social Teaching in action, and lighting candles at a vigil is one of the many tools of nonviolent protest.

You get a B for that post, Jimmy might just be that camel who passes through the eye of the needle, let us pray for Jimmy and all who languish in persecution...JMJ...

Pope to Jesuits in Greece: Humility is true path God offers to religious (Vatican News)

The Civiltà Cattolica newspaper publishes a transcript of Pope Francis’ encounter with Jesuits in Greece earlier this month, during which the Pope spoke about the message God is sending religious orders as vocations diminish and apostolates change...

Pope at 85: Gloves come off as Francis’ reform hits stride (AP)

Pope Francis celebrated his 85th birthday on Friday, a milestone made even more remarkable given the coronavirus pandemic, his summertime intestinal surgery and the weight of history: His predecessor retired at this age and the last pope to have lived any longer was Leo XIII over a century ago. Yet Francis is going strong, recently concluding a whirlwind trip to Cyprus and Greece after his pandemic-defying jaunts this year to Iraq, Slovakia and Hungary. And he shows no sign of slowing down his campaign to make the post-COVID world a more environmentally sustainable, economically just and fraternal place where the poor are prioritized. Francis also has set in motion an unprecedented two-year consultation of rank-and-file Catholics on making the church more attuned to the laity...

But Francis also is beset by problems at home and abroad and is facing a sustained campaign of opposition from the conservative Catholic right. He has responded with the papal equivalent of “no more Mr. Nice Guy.” After spending the first eight years of his papacy gently nudging Catholic hierarchs to embrace financial prudence and responsible governance, Francis took the gloves off this year, and appears poised to keep it that way...

Francis took the gloves off, really? how come his friend, ally ,and high ranking prelate Maradiaga is not in jail.Must be velvet gloves....AMDG....

Happy 85th birthday Pope Francis: "Ad multos annos!" (Vatican News)

Messages of felicitation pour in as the Holy Father turns 85 on Friday. Cardinal Michael Czerny reflects on how some of the issues he champions give us an insight into his personality and in particular on his invitation to passionately engage in the synodal process...

Pope Francis Celebrates His 85th Birthday with Refugees He Helped Bring to Italy (ACI Africa)

On his 85th birthday, Pope Francis welcomed a group of refugees to the Vatican whom he helped to gain asylum in Italy. The refugees arrived in Italy on Dec. 16 after the pope helped to arrange their transfer from Cyprus to Italy during his apostolic trip to Greece and Cyprus earlier this month. According to the Vatican, the group of about ten refugees are being directly supported by Pope Francis, while the Catholic community of Sant’Egidio is providing assistance with integration services. During the meeting in the throne room of the Apostolic Palace, the pope individually greeted the refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Cameroon, Somalia, and Syria and listened to their stories. “You saved us,” one Congolese boy said as he met the pope... Pope Francis often celebrates his birthday by focusing on others...

Pope Francis says domestic violence against women ‘almost satanic’ (Guardian)

Pope Francis has said that men who commit violence against women engage in something that is “almost satanic”. He made the comment – some of the strongest language he has used to condemn such violence – during a programme broadcast on Sunday night on Italy’s TG5 network in which he conversed with three women and a man, all with difficult backgrounds. “The number of women who are beaten and abused in their homes, even by their husbands, is very, very high,” he said in answer to a question by a woman named Giovanna, a victim of domestic violence. “The problem is that, for me, it is almost satanic because it is taking advantage of a person who cannot defend herself, who can only try to block the blows,” he said. “It is humiliating. Very humiliating”...

Let’s Focus on Helping Others This Christmas: Pope Francis (ACI Africa)

“So let us cast away the negative thoughts, the fears that block every impulse and prevent us from moving forward. And then let’s do as Mary did: let’s look around and look for someone to whom we can be of help”...

Pope’s Peace Day message: ‘Everyone has a creative role to play in building peace’ (Vatican News)

Several Vatican officials present Pope Francis’ message for the upcoming World Day of Peace, and recall that peace is the work of every person and that it must be rooted in human dignity and justice...

The full text of the message in eight languages is available here. It begins with the beautiful scriptural quote, “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the messenger who announces peace” (Is 52:7).

In an e-mail (I don't have on online reference), Pax Christi International says:

The message for 2022 emphasises the importance of intergenerational connections for building a world of lasting and just peace, in particular, the importance of education and dialogue between generations... In the message, Pope Francis stresses the need for mutal understanding between generations and meangingful, transformative exchanges. He writes, "Dialogue entails listening to one another, sharing different views, coming to agreement and walking together . . . Great social challenges and peace processes necessarily call for dialogue between the keepers of memory – the elderly – and those who move history forward – the young"... World Day of Peace was first celebrated by Pope Paul VI in 1968 and coincides with the feast of the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God. Popes have used the occasion to send messages to world leaders on issues ranging from human rights, economic development, diplomacy, peace in the Holy Land, and globalisation.

Edited to add: 2022 World Peace Day Message: Pope Francis Calls for Investment in Education, Not Weaponry (ACI Africa)

Pope Francis called for more investment in education and less in weaponry in his 2022 World Peace Day message, released Tuesday. In the message published Dec. 21, the pope said the world had witnessed a “significant reduction” in education funding in recent years, while military spending had soared beyond Cold War levels. “It is high time, then, that governments develop economic policies aimed at inverting the proportion of public funds spent on education and on weaponry,” he wrote in the message, signed on Dec. 8, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception...

In the text, Pope Francis outlined three “paths for building a lasting peace”: promoting dialogue between generations, investing in education, and improving labor conditions. The pope called for a new alliance between the young and elderly to address the problems of isolation and self-absorption heightened by the coronavirus pandemic... “Young people need the wisdom and experience of the elderly, while those who are older need the support, affection, creativity, and dynamism of the young”...

In speech to Curia, pope warns against worldly attachments, including in the liturgy (Crux)

To close a year in which he put limits on the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass, Pope Francis warned against the temptations of pride, spiritual worldliness, and attachment to superficial reassurances, including liturgical preferences... He cautioned, as he has in the past, against the dangers of “a spiritual worldliness” which he said is, like many other temptations, “hard to unmask, for it is concealed by everything that usually reassures us: our role, the liturgy, doctrine, religious devotion”...

Pope to Roman Curia: Humility embraces weakness, leaves space for creativity (Vatican News)

Pope Francis exchanges Christmas greetings with members of the Roman Curia, and urges them to embrace humility like the Child Jesus in order to leave space for creativity, build communion, and keep the Church’s mission focused on Christ...

Pope Francis pleads for humility in pre-Christmas speech to Vatican officials (NCR)

Pope Francis on Dec. 23 told members of the Vatican bureaucracy that their work should be guided by humility and service, not a "spiritual worldliness" masked by liturgy, doctrine and religious devotion. In his annual pre-Christmas address to a room full of men often dubbed as "princes of the church," the pope told the cardinals and bishops who work in the Vatican that it was time to "discard the trappings of our roles, our social recognition and the glitter of this world" and to adopt humility.

In past years, Francis has not hesitated to use his annual speech to lash out at Vatican officials for blocking his reform efforts and to criticize the spiritual "diseases" that he believes hamper their work. In this year's address, however, the pope took on a more pastoral tone, offering a reflection on the Old Testament figure of Naaman, an accomplished military commander who had leprosy. "His armor that had won him renown, in reality covered a frail, wounded and diseased humanity," said Francis. "Sometimes great gifts are the armor that covers great frailties. Naaman came to understand a fundamental truth: we cannot spend our lives hiding behind armor, a role we play, or social recognition."

Christmas, Francis said during the 45-minute address, is a time to "find the courage to take off our armor" ...

Roman Curia Needs "synodal conversion": Pope Francis (ACI Africa)

Pope Francis urged Vatican officials on Thursday to undergo a “synodal conversion.” In his annual pre-Christmas address to members of the Roman Curia on Dec. 23, the pope said that the Holy See’s administrative institutions should be a model for the worldwide Catholic Church...

Abp Gallagher in South Sudan laying the ground for a papal visit (Vatican News)

“There is no perfect time for any such visit,” but it is not excluded that Pope Francis will visit South Sudan next year. This is a wish already expressed several times by the Pope himself and that receives "strong support" so that it can be organized by the authorities. This is according to Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, Vatican Secretary for Relations with States, who made a three-day visit to Juba - from 21 to 23 December - during which he met with local political and religious leaders...

"I am a great believer in Africa. I am optimistic about Africa. I understand the many problems and challenges, but I think, in the end, there is an energy and an optimism. There is talent here which will take the people of Africa forward, including the people of South Sudan,” said Archbishop Gallagher...

"God comes into the world in littleness": Pope Francis in Christmas Homily (ACI Africa)

In his Christmas homily, Pope Francis asked Christians to contemplate that God did not choose to come into the world in grandeur, but as a humble child born into poverty. “Brothers and sisters, standing before the crib, we contemplate what is central, beyond all the lights and decorations ... We contemplate the child. In his littleness, God is completely present,” Pope Francis said on Dec. 24. “Let us be amazed by this scandalous truth. The One who embraces the universe needs to be held in another’s arms. … Infinite love has a miniscule heart that beats softly,” the pope said...

Pope calls for dialogue on world stage in Christmas message (Guardian)

Pope Francis has used his Christmas Day message to call for dialogue on the world stage as he looks to resolve conflicts ranging from family feuds to threats of war. The pontiff listed tensions in several countries in Asia, Europe and Africa as he delivered his Urbi et Orbi address, and called on individuals and world leaders to talk rather than dig in their heels. This aversion to discourse, he said, has been worsened by the Covid-19 pandemic...

Pope at Christmas night Mass: Jesus shows the way from littleness to greatness (Vatican News)

At the Mass during the Night for the Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord, Pope Francis reflects on how God comes into the world in littleness, as a tiny infant, drawing near to us to touch our hearts. The Pope celebrated the Mass in St. Peter's Basilica with a smaller congregation on hand in respect for health-safety rules...

Pope at Urbi et Orbi: Christmas invites us to dialogue, unity, peace (Vatican News)

In his "Urbi et Orbi" Christmas message given at midday in Saint Peter's Square, Pope Francis expressed the joy of this day when God shows us through the birth of Jesus the way of encounter and dialogue so that we might know it and follow it in trust and hope, something needed more than ever in our troubled world...

Pope Francis Urbi et Orbi address: World ignoring huge tragedies (BBC)

Pope Francis has warned that the world is becoming so desensitised to crises and suffering that they are now happening while hardly being noticed. In his annual Christmas Day message, the pontiff pointed to ongoing turmoil in Syria, Yemen and Iraq, as well as in areas of Africa, Europe and Asia. He also said the effects of the pandemic threatened efforts to resolve conflicts on an international level... Thousands of Catholic faithful - wearing face masks amid Covid precautions - watched in St Peter's Square at the Vatican as the Pope delivered his Urbi et Orbi address from the balcony of the Basilica...

Pope Francis’ Christmas Homily for Midnight Mass 2021: Full Text (ACI Africa)

The Desire by Pope Francis to Visit South Sudan Has “great support”: Vatican Official (ACI Africa)

The Vatican Secretary for Relations with States has said that the wish by Pope Francis to visit South Sudan possibly next year has received “great support”. Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher who concluded his three-day visit to South Sudan’s capital, Juba, last Thursday, December 23 said such visit is being discerned, according to a Vatican News report. In the December 24 report, Archbishop Gallagher is quoted as saying, “We believe that there is great support for a visit” by Pope Francis, and adds, “Though like all these things, there is never the perfect time – so we have to move forward in the whole process of discerning”...

A short video compilation: Seven Christmas messages from Pope Francis (YouTube)

Pope’s Letter to Married Couples: the magisterium of a loving father (Vatican News)

On the day following the publication of Pope Francis' “Letter to Married Couples”, the Undersecretary of the Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life reviews the “Amoris Laetitia Family Year” in preparation for the 2022 World Meeting of Families in Rome...

>55 John5918:, >61 John5918: >115 John5918:

Five Things to Know about the New Ministry of Catechist in the Catholic Church (ACI Africa)

Earlier this year, Pope Francis created the instituted ministry of catechist in the Catholic Church... The Vatican issued more guidelines this month, along with a rite of institution for the ministry...

1. What is the instituted ministry of catechist?...
2. But I know catechists, so how is this new?...
3. Who can be this kind of catechist?...
4. What is the rite of institution in the ministry of catechist?...
5. Besides teaching the faith, the Vatican says some instituted catechists can celebrate “minor exorcisms.” What’s that?... a minor or simple exorcism is part of the Rite of Baptism for Children and part of the Order of Christian Initiation for Adults (OCIA)...

We (traditional Catholics) recognize that Francis is the legitimate Pope and that as pope he is our Holy Father who deserves our obedience. Yet we resist all aspects of his work that is contrary to apostolic tradition.....JMJ....

>257 brone:

Just a reminder that there is a new thread on the Holy Father as this one has become very long and slow to load - see the link below.

It's good to know your own position, but I don't think you can speak for all of the "We (traditional Catholics)". You only have to look at the comments on some of the right wing "conservative" "traditionalist" Catholic websites to see that there are many of your fellow travellers who don't grant the pope legitimacy and obedience. And I wonder who you think should determine what "is contrary to apostolic tradition"? The pope, bishops, theologians and the sensus fidei of the universal Church? Or a small group of disaffected Catholics, mainly in the USA, France and UK?

Again Holy Father who are your advisors, Yep Paul got rid of minor orders Ok we have got along with out that tradition. Lay Ministry for some kid to carry the Cross, cruets, ring a bell, really come on your holiness where have you been altar servers have been taught the choreography of the Mass by their older siblings for years. Lectors well are you literate and do you have rudimentary speaking skills bingo go up and do your thing. Ya dont have to muddy those waters. Now catechists your motu propio is really obscure on this one, Is a catechist in Amazonia have some canonical authority in Arizona. The dumbing down of catechesis has been going on in the US for over fifty years, we even gave it a professional name " Religious Education" This dumb down is in no small degree is responsible for the current religious illiteracy and subsequent falling away of Catholics....JMJ....

>259 brone:

Once again, a reminder that there is a new thread on the Holy Father as this one has become very long and slow to load - see the link below.

On catechists, I don't think themotu proprio is unclear at all. Catechists are the backbone of the Church in continents like Africa and South America, and this is a recognition and to some extent regularisation of the outstanding work that they do.

On minor orders and/or lay ministries, it's not clear to me what your point is. As you say, we have always had altar servers and lectors, and bingo, no change, we still do, so I'm not sure how waters are being muddied.