Irish Ambassador Appointed to Holy See

See http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2014/11/12/irish_ambassador_to_holy_see_speaks_to_vatican_radio_/1110899

Pro-Family Catholics Reject Pro-Gay Synod Mid-Way Report, Calling It 'a Betrayal’

Voice of the Family October 13, 2014:

An international coalition of pro-family groups has rejected the mid-way report of the Extraordinary Synod on the Family, calling it “a betrayal”.

Voice of the Family http://voiceofthefamily.info responded to the report (relatio post disceptationem), published this morning and presented by Cardinal Péter Erdő (See “Synod on Family: Midterm report presented, 2015 Synod announced“, Vatican Radio, 13 October) The report has been welcomed ecstatically by liberal Catholic commentators.

John Smeaton, co-founder of Voice of the Family, said:

“Those who are controlling the Synod have betrayed Catholic parents worldwide. We believe that the Synod’s mid-way report is one of the worst official documents drafted in Church history.

“Thankfully the report is a preliminary report for discussion, rather than a definitive proposal. It is essential that the voices of those lay faithful who sincerely live out Catholic teaching are also taken into account. Catholic families are clinging to Christ’s teaching on marriage and chastity by their finger-tips.”

Patrick Buckley, Voice of the Family’s Irish representative, said:

“The Synod’s mid-way report represents an attack on marriage and the family. For example, the report in effect gives a tacit approval of adulterous relationships, thereby contradicting the Sixth Commandment and the words of Our Lord Jesus Christ on the indissolubility of marriage.

“The report undermines the Church’s definitive teaching against contraception, by using the coded language of ‘underlin[ing] the need to respect the dignity of the person in the moral evaluation of the methods of birth control”. This language is the code of those who wish to reduce the Church’s doctrines to a mere guide, thus leaving couples free to choose contraception in so-called ‘conscience’.

“The report accepts wrongly that there is a value in the homosexual orientation. This contradicts the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith’s 1986 Letter on the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons:

“Although the particular inclination of the homosexual person is not a sin, it is a more or less strong tendency ordered toward an intrinsic moral evil; and thus the inclination itself must be seen as an objective disorder.”

Maria Madise, Voice of the Family’s coordinator, said:

“What will Catholics parents now have to tell their children about contraception, cohabiting with partners or living homosexual lifestyles? Will those parents now have to tell their children that the Vatican teaches that there are positive and constructive aspects to these mortal sins? This approach destroys grace in souls.

“It would be a false mercy to give Holy Communion to people who do not repent of their mortal sins against Christ’s teachings on sexual purity. Real mercy consists of offering people a clean conscience via the Sacrament of Confession and thus union with God.

“Many of those who claim to speak in the name of the universal Church have failed to teach the faithful. This failure has created unprecedented difficulties for families. No responsibility is taken for this failure in this disastrous mid-way report.”

“The Synod’s mid-way report will increase the incidence of faithful Catholics being labelled as ‘pharisees’, simply for upholding Catholic teaching on sexual purity.”

John Smeaton concluded:

“We urge Catholics not to be complacent or give in to a false sense of obedience, in the face of attacks on the fundamental principles of the natural law. Catholics are morally obliged to oppose the course being taken within the Synod.”

Here is the part of the Synod Mid-Way Report titled: Welcoming Homosexual Persons.

     50.        Homosexuals have gifts and qualities to offer to the Christian community: are we capable of welcoming these people, guaranteeing to them a fraternal space in our communities? Often they wish to encounter a Church that offers them a welcoming home. Are our communities capable of providing that, accepting and valuing their sexual orientation, without compromising Catholic doctrine on the family and matrimony?

     51.        The question of homosexuality leads to a serious reflection on how to elaborate realistic paths of affective growth and human and evangelical maturity integrating the sexual dimension: it appears therefore as an important educative challenge. The Church furthermore affirms that unions between people of the same sex cannot be considered on the same footing as matrimony between man and woman. Nor is it acceptable that pressure be brought to bear on pastors or that international bodies make financial aid dependent on the introduction of regulations inspired by gender ideology.

     52.        Without denying the moral problems connected to homosexual unions it has to be noted that there are cases in which mutual aid to the point of sacrifice constitutes a precious support in the life of the partners. Furthermore, the Church pays special attention to the children who live with couples of the same sex, emphasizing that the needs and rights of the little ones must always be given priority.

To see the entire Vatican Document click here: http://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2014/10/13/0751/03037.html

Synod's Mid-Term Report "Lacks a Solid Foundation in the Sacred Scriptures and the Magisterium"

Catholic World Report October 14, 2014:

Yesterday's presentation of the mid-term report (Relatio post disceptationem) of the Extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the Family was met with a remarkable level of interest among both Catholic and non-Catholic media outlets. The Vatican Radio site, in its introduction to the document, stated in part:

In the mid-term report the Synod Fathers speak of how it's the task of the Church to recognize those seeds of the Word that have spread beyond its visible and sacramental boundaries.  They appeal to the "law of graduality," as a reflection of the way God reached out to humanity and led His people forward step by step.

Reaction to the report ranged from positive declarations of "a shift in tone toward gays and divorce" (New York Times) to more pessimistic assessments. Mary Jo Anderson, reporting for Catholic World Report from Rome, remarked, "The Extraordinary Synod on the Family is at its midpoint and certain degrees of separation are clear: There is a divorce over divorce, remarriage, and Communion."

Cardinal Raymond Burke, prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura and a contributor with four other cardinals (and four additional scholars) to the new book, Remaining in the Truth of Christ: Marriage and Communion in the Catholic Church (Ignatius Press), has expressed concern over several aspects of the Synod, including the push for changes in the handling of Communion for divorced and remarried Catholics and the way that information about the Synod is being, in his words, "manipulated."

Cardinal Burke responded late yesterday to questions from Carl E. Olson, editor of Catholic World Report, about his concerns, his view of the mid-term report, and why he thinks a statement from Pope Francis is "long overdue."

CWR: In what way is information about what is happening in the Synod being either manipulated or only partially reported and made public?

Cardinal Burke: The interventions of the individual Synod Fathers are not made available to the public, as has been the case in the past. All of the information regarding the Synod is controlled by the General Secretariat of the Synod which clearly has favored from the beginning the positions expressed in the Relatio post disceptationem of yesterday morning.

While the individual interventions of the Synod Fathers are not published, yesterday’s Relatio, which is merely a discussion document, was published immediately and, I am told, even broadcast live. You do not have to be a rocket scientist to see the approach at work, which is certainly not of the Church.

CWR: How is that reflected in the Synod's midterm document, released yesterday, which is being criticised by many for its appeal to a so-called "law of graduality”?

Cardinal Burke: While the document in question (Relatio post disceptationem) purports to report only the discussion which took place among the Synod Fathers, it, in fact, advances positions which many Synod Fathers do not accept and, I would say, as faithful shepherds of the flock cannot accept. Clearly, the response to the document in the discussion which immediately followed its presentation manifested that a great number of the Synod Fathers found it objectionable.

The document lacks a solid foundation in the Sacred Scriptures and the Magisterium. In a matter on which the Church has a very rich and clear teaching, it gives the impression of inventing a totally new, what one Synod Father called “revolutionary,”teaching on marriage and the family. It invokes repeatedly and in a confused manner principles which are not defined, for example, the law of graduality.

CWR: How important is it, do you think, that Pope Francis make a statement soon in order to address the growing sense—among many in the media and in the pews—that the Church is on the cusp of changing her teaching on various essential points regarding marriage, “remarriage,” reception of Communion, and even the place of “unions” among homosexuals?

Cardinal Burke: In my judgment, such a statement is long overdue. The debate on these questions has been going forward now for almost nine months, especially in the secular media but also through the speeches and interviews of Cardinal Walter Kasper and others who support his position.

The faithful and their good shepherds are looking to the Vicar of Christ for the confirmation of the Catholic faith and practice regarding marriage which is the first cell of the life of the Church.

Ireland appoints a woman as its new resident ambassador to the Holy See

From http://vaticaninsider.lastampa.it/en/world-news/detail/articolo/33939/

The Irish Government has appointed Ms. Emma Madigan, a career diplomat as its new resident ambassador to the Holy See. 

The decision was taken today at the Cabinet meeting in Dublin, May 6, and confirmed by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), which said the new Ambassador will have a particular mandate to ‘follow the activities of the Holy See on the development and human rights front’.  The DFA, in a statement, said that Pope Francis, since his election in March 2013, has “become a leading global advocate for action to address hunger and poverty and for the respect of human rights”.

Ms. Madigan, at the time of her appointment was assistant-chief of protocol at the Department of Foreign Affairs. She has served in the Irish diplomatic service for the past 14 years, including as Vice Consul in New York, Private Secretary to the Secretary General and Deputy Director of Europe and United Nations Coordination Section. Recently she played a key role in organizing the first ever State visit to Britain by an Irish Head of State when President Michael D. Higgins met Queen Elizabeth II.

She has a degree in History and Italian as well as a Masters in European Studies from UCD, all of which will serve her well in her new mission.  It is her first appointment as Head of Mission, and she will be the first resident Irish ambassador since November 2011 when the Government closed the Irish Embassy to the Holy See. The last resident ambassador was Noel Fahey, who retired from the post and the diplomatic service in the summer of 2011.

Ms. Madigan takes over from David Cooney, who served as non-resident ambassador in these past years, while also acting as Secretary General at the Department for Foreign Affairs.  Cooney played an important role in the reopening of the Embassy and the restoration of a resident ambassador. 

The new Ambassador’s appointment comes just over a week after the Irish Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Enda Kenny came to the Vatican for the canonization of John XXIII and John Paul II.  At the end of that ceremony on April 27, the Taoiseach met Pope Francis and invited him to visit Ireland.  

Kenny’s visit opened a new chapter in Ireland’s relations with the Holy See because as head of the Irish Government, he had harshly attacked the Vatican in the Irish parliament, July 2011, for its handling of numerous cases of abuse of children by priests and religious in the country, and for not cooperating with State investigations into these.  In November of that same year the Government closed its embassy to the Holy See as a cost-saving move, it said.

 In January of this year, however, the Government reversed that decision and announced that the Embassy would be reopened, though downsized, with a resident ambassador.  The DFA then said the re-opened Embassy will “enable Ireland to engage directly with the leadership of Pope Francis on the issues of poverty eradication, hunger and human rights”.

It has not yet been announced where the new embassy will be housed since the former Embassy to the Holy See on Rome’s Janiculum Hill now serves as Ireland’s Embassy to Italy. The Department for Foreign Affairs said the new Embassy will be a “modest”, one-person operation, and will re-open this summer.

Irish Government to reopen Vatican Embassy

From http://www.rte.ie/news/2014/0121/499194-vatican-embassy/

The Government is to re-open an embassy in the Vatican more than two years after it was closed for cost reasons.

It will be a scaled-back "one-person" mission focusing on development aid and it will be located in new premises in the Vatican.

There was controversy in late 2011 when the Government decided to close the mission on cost grounds.

The Italian embassy was then transferred to the Villa Spada, which had housed the Vatican embassy.

The Department of Foreign Affairs said the return of the embassy in the Vatican will "enable Ireland to engage directly with the leadership of Pope Francis on the issues of poverty eradication, hunger and human rights".

Apostolic Nuncio to Ireland Archbishop Charles Brown said: "I am very pleased by the announcement of the Irish Government regarding the reopening of a residential Embassy of Ireland to the Holy See, and the appointment of a resident Ambassador. "

He said: "It is an excellent decision for the people of Ireland and will be beneficial to Ireland in making its distinctive and important contribution to international relations."

Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin welcomed the announcement and said the Vatican is an important place of "interchange on questions of global development".

He said that a resident Irish ambassador will enhance relations between the Vatican and Ireland.

Chairman of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade Pat Breen said the embassy will provide a vital link between Ireland and the Vatican and the move was a "sensible resolution" to the issue.

Pope Benedict defrocked 400 priests in 2 years

See http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2014/01/17/22340073-pope-benedict-defrocked-400-priests-in-2-years-report?lite

Pope abolishes honorary title of monsignor for diocesan priests under the age of 65

See http://vaticaninsider.lastampa.it/en/the-vatican/detail/articolo/31027/

Pope Francis calls for power to move away from Vatican

See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-25102720

Vatican to put St Peter’s relics on display for first time

From http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2013/11/11/vatican-to-put-st-peters-relics-on-display-for-first-time/

For the first time, the bones traditionally believed to be the relics of St Peter the Apostle will be on public display for veneration.
Archbishop Rino Fisichella, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelisation, said the veneration of the relics at the Vatican was a fitting way to conclude the Year of Faith on November 24.
Writing in the Vatican newspaper, the archbishop, whose office organised many of the Year of Faith events, said millions of pilgrims marked the Year of Faith by making a pilgrimage to St Peter’s tomb and renewing their profession of faith there.
“The culminating sign” of the year, he said, “will be the exposition for the first time of the relics traditionally recognized as those of the apostle who gave his life for the Lord here.”
The bones were discovered during excavations of the necropolis under St Peter’s Basilica in the 1940s near a monument erected in the fourth century to honor St Peter.
No pope has ever declared the bones to be authentic. However, after scientific tests were conducted on the bones in the 1950s and 60s, Pope Paul VI said in 1968 that the “relics” of St Peter had been “identified in a way which we can hold to be convincing”.

Vatican: 100,000 attend Syria peace vigil

From http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_VATICAN_SYRIA?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-09-07-17-17-36

VATICAN CITY (AP) -- Tens of thousands of people filled St. Peter's Square for a four-hour Syria peace vigil late Saturday, answering Pope Francis' call for a grassroots cry for peace that was echoed by Christians and non-Christians alike in Syria and in vigils around the world.

The Vatican estimated about 100,000 took part in the Rome event, making it one of the largest rallies in the West against proposed U.S.-led military action against the Syrian regime following the Aug. 21 chemical weapons attack near Damascus.

Francis spent most of the vigil in silent prayer, but during his speech he issued a heartfelt plea for peace, denouncing those who are "captivated by the idols of dominion and power" and destroy God's creation through war.

"This evening, I ask the Lord that we Christians, and our brothers and sisters of other religions and every man and woman of good will, cry out forcefully: Violence and war are never the way to peace!" he said.

"May the noise of weapons cease!" he said. "War always marks the failure of peace, it is always a defeat for humanity."

In Damascus, a few dozen Syrian Christians attended a service in the al-Zaytoun Church, joining Francis' invitation for a global participation in the day of fasting and prayer and to oppose outside military intervention in the conflict.

Greek Catholic Patriarch Gregorios III Laham of Antioch and All East presided, saying most countries supported a political solution to the crisis in Syria and few wanted military action. "This is the start of the victory," he told the Damascus faithful. "No to war. Yes for peace."

In Washington, at least 150 protesters picketed in front of the White House and marched to Capitol Hill to voice their opposition to a U.S. military strike in Syria. Anti-war protests were also held in other U.S. cities, including one in New York City's Times Squares and a prayer vigil in Boston that echoed Saturday's massive gathering at the Vatican.

Medea Benjamin, a founder of the anti-war group Code Pink, said a cross-section of Americans, many of whom disagree on a variety of issues, are united against military intervention.

"We have suddenly found ourselves united as Americans, overwhelmingly saying we will not let you drag us into another war," Benjamin shouted into a megaphone in front of the White House.

Francis announced the day of fasting and prayer Sept. 1, alarmed at the acceleration of U.S. threats to strike Syria after the chemical weapons attack.

Since then, the Vatican has ramped up its peace message, summoning ambassadors for a briefing by the Holy See foreign minister this week. Francis appealed directly to world powers at the Group of 20 meeting in Russia, urging them to abandon the "futile pursuit" of a military solution in Syria and work instead for a negotiated settlement.

Bishops around the world joined Francis in the daylong fast and organized similar vigils in their home dioceses. In Francis' native Argentina, human rights and religious groups held a vigil in Buenos Aires' Plaza de Mayo and in cities across the country. Vatican Radio reported similar initiatives were taking place throughout Italy, in Cuba and elsewhere. Even the grand mufti of Damascus, who thanked the pope for his initiative in a letter earlier this week, invited Muslims to join the fast in solidarity.

Vatican officials have stressed that Saturday's event was religious, not political. But the gathering nevertheless took on the air of an anti-war rally, with protesters holding up Syrian flags and banners in the square reading "Don't attack Syria" and "Obama you don't have a dream, you have a nightmare." A few rainbow "Peace" flags fluttered in the breeze.

But by the time the vigil got underway, the posters and flags had mainly disappeared as a more religious tone took over, with leaders from a variety of Christian and non-Christian denominations joining cardinals, politicians and ordinary folk for the evening of prayer, hymns and meditation.

"This is already a success, the fact that all of us are here, Hindus, Christians, Buddhists, atheists," a Hindu believer named Anata said. Pilgrims "made an effort to fast, not to do many things, and come here from all over Italy and Europe. This is already a success."

The pope entered the square from the basilica steps, foregoing his usual high-spirited drive through in his open car - an indication of the sobriety of the evening, which capped a day of fasting for the pontiff.

The 76-year-old pope held up well throughout the four hours - lasting longer than many who by the vigil's 11 p.m. conclusion had already gone home. He thanked those who had stayed to the end for their company, and wished them a good night's sleep.

The peace vigil marked something of a novelty for the Vatican: Nothing of its kind has ever taken place in St. Peter's Square, though popes past have participated in daylong peace prayers in places like Assisi, known for its peace-loving native son and the pope's namesake, St. Francis.

That's not to say popes haven't taken vigorous anti-war positions in the past: Pope Paul VI famously uttered the words "War never again, never again war" at the United Nations in 1965 as the Vietnam War raged, a refrain that has been repeated by every pope since. Pope John Paul II sent an envoy to President George W. Bush on the eve of the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq urging him to stand down - to no avail.

Francis has condemned the use of chemical weapons in Syria, but has been careful not to lay blame on any one side, exhorting world leaders instead to focus on the plight of Syrian civilians and the need in general to end the violence.

Other church officials, both at the Vatican and in dioceses, have been more pointed in their criticism of any internationalization of the conflict, saying U.S.-French military strikes will only exacerbate the situation for civilians, particularly Christian minorities.

ENCYCLICAL LETTER LUMEN FIDEI

Full text at http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/francesco/encyclicals/documents/papa-francesco_20130629_enciclica-lumen-fidei_en.html

Benedict XVI joins Pope Francis in consecrating Vatican to St Michael Archangel

From http://en.radiovaticana.va/articolo.asp?c=707709

(Vatican Radio) To the joy of Vatican City State workers, Friday morning Pope Francis was joined by Pope emeritus Benedict XVI in the gardens for a ceremony during which the Holy Father blessed a statue of St Michael Archangel, at the same time consecrating the Vatican to the Archangel’s protection.

Following a brief ceremony, Pope Francis addressed those present noting how St. Michael defends the People of God from its enemy par excellence, the devil. He said even if the devil attempts to disfigure the face of the Archangel and thus the face of humanity, St Michael wins, because God acts in him and is stronger:
"In the Vatican Gardens there are several works of art. But this, which has now been added, takes on particular importance, in its location as well as the meaning it expresses. In fact it is not just celebratory work but an invitation to reflection and prayer, that fits well into the Year of Faith. Michael - which means "Who is like God" - is the champion of the primacy of God, of His transcendence and power. Michael struggles to restore divine justice and defends the People of God from his enemies, above all by the enemy par excellence, the devil. And St. Michael wins because in him, there is He God who acts. This sculpture reminds us then that evil is overcome, the accuser is unmasked, his head crushed, because salvation was accomplished once and for all in the blood of Christ. Though the devil always tries to disfigure the face of the Archangel and that of humanity, God is stronger, it is His victory and His salvation that is offered to all men. We are not alone on the journey or in the trials of life, we are accompanied and supported by the Angels of God, who offer, so to speak, their wings to help us overcome so many dangers, in order to fly high compared to those realities that can weigh down our lives or drag us down. In consecrating Vatican City State to St. Michael the Archangel, I ask him to defend us from the evil one and banish him. "

"We also consecrate Vatican City State in St. Joseph, guardian of Jesus, the guardian of the Holy Family. May his presence make us stronger and more courageous in making space for God in our lives to always defeat evil with good. We ask Him to protect, take care of us, so that a life of grace grows stronger in each of us every day. "

Text from page http://en.radiovaticana.va/articolo.asp?c=707709
of the Vatican Radio website

Traditionalists indicate definitive break with Catholic Church

Vatican City, Jun 27, 2013 (CNA).

On the 25th anniversary of the illicit ordination of four bishops by traditionalist Bishop Marcel Lefebvre, the Society of Saint Pius X indicated a definitive break of talks with the Catholic Church.
In a statement June 27, three of the four bishops originally ordained by Lefebvre expressed “their filial gratitude towards their venerable founder who, after so many years spent serving the Church and the Sovereign Pontiff, so as to safeguard the Faith and the Catholic priesthood, did not hesitate to suffer the unjust accusation of disobedience.”

The document – titled “Declaration on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the episcopal consecrations (30th June 1988 – 27th June 2013)” – is signed by Bishops Bernard Fellay, Bernard Tissier de Mallerais and Alfonso de Galarreta.

Bishop Richard Williamson, also ordained by Lefebvre, was expelled last year from the society.

The group was founded in 1970 by the French native Archbishop Lefebvre in response to errors he believed had crept into the Catholic Church following the Second Vatican Council, which took place from 1962-1965.

Interpretation and legacy of the Second Vatican Council was a major stumbling block for the society in their ongoing negotiations with the Vatican aimed at healing their 24-year rift.

The society has also had a strained relationship with the Church since its founder ordained four bishops against the will of Pope John Paul II in 1988.

In their statement Thursday, the group contradicted now-retired Pope Benedict XVI's stance on Vatican II. The letter made explicit reference to the “hermeneutic of continuity,” rejecting the interpretive lens by which Benedict XVI saw the conciliar documents in light of the Church's tradition.

The bishops say that the documents themselves have grave errors and that they cannot be interpreted without clashing with tradition.

The “cause of the grave errors which are in the process of demolishing the Church does not reside in a bad interpretation of the conciliar texts – a 'hermeneutic of rupture' which would be opposed to a 'hermeneutic of reform in continuity,'” they wrote, “but truly in the texts themselves, by virtue of the unheard of choice made by Vatican II.”

The group also claims that the Second Vatican Council “inaugurated a new type of magisterium, hitherto unheard of in the Church, without roots in Tradition; a magisterium resolved to reconcile Catholic doctrine with liberal ideas; a magisterium imbued with the modernist ideas of subjectivism, of immanentism and of perpetual evolution.”

The document argues that “the reign of Christ is no longer the preoccupation of the ecclesiastical authorities,” and that the liberal spirit in the Church is manifested “in religious liberty, ecumenism, collegiality and the New Mass.”

Because of religious liberty, they claim,  the Church is being “shamefully guided by human prudence and with such self-doubt that she asks nothing other from the State than that which the Masonic Lodges wish to concede to her: the common law in the midst of, and on the same level as, other religions which she no longer dares call false.”

Because of inter-religious dialogue, “the truth about the one true Church is silenced,” they also say; while the spirit of collegiality “represents the destruction of authority and in consequence the ruin of Christian institutions: families, seminaries, religious institutes.”

The Lefebvrist bishops save their harshest criticism to the Novus Ordo Mass, promulgated in 1969 by Pope Paul VI. “This Mass is penetrated with an ecumenical and Protestant spirit, democratic and humanist, which empties out the sacrifice of the Cross.”

The traditionalist bishops announce that, in practice, the dialogue with the Vatican is over and that from now on, they will wait “either when Rome returns to Tradition and to the Faith of all time – which would re-establish order in the Church.”

Or, “when she explicitly acknowledges our right to profess integrally the Faith and to reject the errors which oppose it, with the right and the duty for us to oppose publicly the errors and the proponents of these errors, whoever they may be – which would allow the beginning of a re-establishing of order.”

Meanwhile “we persevere in the defense of Catholic Tradition and our hope remains entire,” the statement concludes.

Vatican sources say second miracle approved for John Paul II

See http://www.gazzettadelsud.it/news/english/50846/Vatican-sources-say-second-miracle-approved-for-John-Paul-II.html

Pope Francis welcomes Benedict back to Vatican

Vatican City, May 2, 2013 (CNA/EWTN News).

Benedict XVI has returned to the Vatican after moving to the papal summer household outside of Rome to not interfere with the papal election.

“He is now pleased to return to the Vatican, where he intends to devote himself, as he announced on Feb. 11, to the service of the Church in prayer,” said a Vatican statement released on May 2.

The former Pope was picked up by helicopter at 4:30 p.m. from the grounds of Castel Gandolfo, the papal summer residence that is located on the edge of a volcanic crater lake, about 15 miles southeast of Rome.

He had been living in the house for two months as a temporary arrangement since he resigned on February 28.

“The former Pope is happy to return to the Vatican because that is the normal situation for him,” said Father Federico Lombardi, the director of the Holy See’s press office.

“He will live a normal life, I believe that he can walk and also receive visitors and so on, but that depends on him and how he wants to live his life,” Fr. Lombardi told Vatican Radio.

Benedict XVI arrived at around 4:45 p.m. at the Vatican’s heliport and was greeted by Vatican staff and authorities including Cardinal Angelo Sodano, Dean of the College of Cardinals, and Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Secretary of State.

Also in attendance were Cardinal Giuseppe Bertello, the President of the Vatican City State Governorate; Archbishop Angelo Becciu, deputy of the Secretariat of State; Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, who is the State Secretariat’s chief of relations with States; and Bishop Giuseppe Sciacca, the secretary for the Vatican City State government.

From the heliport, Benedict XVI took a car to his permanent home, the Mater Ecclesiae monastery, where Pope Francis met him.

After their greeting, the two walked into the chapel of the monastery for a short moment of prayer.

The monastery is located within the Vatican gardens and is a 10-minute walk from the Saint Martha residence where Pope Francis lives.

Renovations to the monastery, which began in Nov. 2012, were recently completed and involved replacing old windows, fixing a problem with humidity in the basement and making repairs to a rooftop terrace.

“It is small but has been well prepared,” Fr. Lombardi commented.

“There is, for example, a study room and a small library and there is also a room for when his brother, Monsignor Georg Ratzinger, comes to visit,” he said.

The monastery also includes a chapel and a choir room.

Benedict XVI will live alongside five other people, including his secretary, Archbishop Georg Gänswein, and the four Memores Domini who lived with him at the Pontifical Household throughout his pontificate.

The Memores Domini are members of a lay association whose members practice obedience, poverty and chastity, and live in a climate of silence and common prayer.

As for the former pontiff’s health, Fr. Lombardi said he is healthy and there is no reason for any “special concern.”

“He is not a young man, he is old and strength slowly goes backwards, but there is no specific illness,” said the Vatican spokesman.

Pope Francis to canonise 800 Italians slain during historic siege

From http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2013/04/30/pope-francis-to-canonise-800-italians-slain-during-historic-siege/

Pope Francis is preparing to canonise an estimated 800 Italian laymen killed by Ottoman soldiers in the 15th century. The canonisation service will be on May 12 in St Peter’s Square and it will be the first carried out by the Pontiff since he was elected in early March.
The killing of the martyrs by Ottoman troops, who launched a weeks-long siege of Otranto, a small port town at the most eastern tip of southern Italy, took place in 1480.
When Otranto residents refused to surrender to the Ottoman army, the soldiers were ordered to massacre all males over the age of 15. Many were ordered to convert to Islam or die, but Blessed Antonio Primaldo, a tailor, spoke on the prisoners’ behalf. “We believe in Jesus Christ, Son of God, and for Jesus Christ we are ready to die,” he said, according to Blessed John Paul II, who visited Otranto in 1980 for the 500th anniversary of the martyrs’ deaths.
Primaldo inspired all the other townspeople to take courage, the late Pope said, and to say: “We will all die for Jesus Christ; we willingly die so as to not renounce his holy faith.” There were not “deluded” or “outdated,” Blessed John Paul continued, but “authentic, strong, decisive, consistent men” who loved their city, their families and their faith.
The skulls and other relics of the martyrs currently adorn the walls around the altar of Otranto Cathedral as a memorial to their sacrifice. According to the archdiocese’s website, popular tradition holds that when the soldiers beheaded Primaldo, his body remained standing even as the combatants tried to push him over. Legend has it that the decapitated man stood until the very last prisoner was killed, at which point Primaldo’s body collapsed next to his dead comrades.
In 1771, the Church recognised the validity of the local veneration of Primaldo and his companions and allowed them to be called Blessed. In 2007, retired Pope Benedict XVI formally recognised their martyrdom and, in 2012, he recognised a miracle attributed to their intercession. Martyrs do not need a miracle attributed to their intercession in order to be beatified. However, miracles must be recognised by the Vatican in order for them to become saints.
The miracle involved the late-Poor Clare Sister Francesca Levote. She was suffering from a serious form of cancer but was healed after a pilgrimage to pray before the martyrs’ relics in Otranto in 1980, a few months before Pope John Paul’s visit in October. She died in February 2012 at the age of 85.
In a letter published in December 2012, Archbishop Donato Negro of Otranto said that the martydom of the townnsfolk must represent a “purification of the memory of the Catholic Church and a rooting out of every possible lingering resentment, rancor, resentful policies, every eventual temptation toward hatred and violence, and every presumptuous attitude of religious superiority, religious arrogance, moral and cultural pride.”
Remembering Christian martyrs is an occasion to examine one’s own life and make sure it corresponds with the Gospel call to love and forgive, he added.

Ratzinger's health gives cause for concern

From http://vaticaninsider.lastampa.it/en/the-vatican/detail/articolo/papa-el-papa-pope-ratzinger-bergoglio-24004/

Giacomo Galeazzi vatican city

Concern has spread about Ratzinger's apparently rapidly deteriorating health. “Benedict XVI is not suffering from any specific chronic illness; his health problems are purely to do with old age,” the director of the Holy See Press Office, Fr. Federico Lombardi stressed. His statement, released to Catholic news agency Aci Prensa, came in response to rumours that have been circulating in the Spanish press about the Pope Emeritus suffering a serious illness. In recent pictures Ratzinger appears visibly thinner and physically weaker.

According to information from within the Curia, Pope Francis was apparently also told about his predecessor's health conditions, by Georg Gaenswein, who reassured him. Benedict's increased general fragility is apparently not due to any specific illnesses, recent routine medical check ups confirm. Physical and nervous deterioration are normal consequences of the stressful period that ensued Ratzinger's resignation as Pope. He does not need to be hospitalised for the time being and as scheduled, the former Pope is to return to the Vatican next month, to enter the monastery that has been prepared for him, in the Vatican gardens.

Spanish journalist Paloma Gomez Borrer, the Pope Emeritus' health has allegedly deteriorated significantly in this recent period. Meanwhile, Francis continues to show great consideration for his predecessor as he prepares to make changes to the Church's leadership. He is considering a number of candidates for the position of Secretary of State, but it is likely he will choose an Italian. Cardinal Fernando Filoni was Benedict XVI's favourite for this role, although he was always fervently opposed to Bertone's substitution during the Vatileaks storm. Ratzinger had apparently considered the current prefect of the all-powerful Propaganda Fide dicastery and previously (from June 2007 to May 2011) substitute for General Affairs in the Secretariat of State, as a possible candidate for the position of Secretary of State.

The Pope Emeritus expressed this preference during his historic meeting with the new Pope on Saturday 23 March at the papal residence at Castel Gandolfo. Filoni, 67, has frontline international experience in very difficult situations given the role he held as Apostolic Nuncio to Iraq during the Iraq war and then as Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines. Time will tell whether Bergoglio will take his predecessor's choice into account. As photographs attest, Benedict XVI handed a hefty pack of documents and two sealed envelopes to Francis which were clearly to do with his papal ministry.
Bergoglio himself wanted the pictures of the box on the table to be taken: a symbol of the handover of the Church's leadership from one Pope to another. Ratzinger's word means a great deal to Francis. And he is naturally also concerned about his predecessor's health.

Pope Francis to be invited to visit Ireland

From http://www.rte.ie/news/2013/0314/376592-pope-inaugural-mass/

 

Cardinal Seán Brady has said he believes that Pope Francis will continue the policy of Pope Benedict and Pope John Paul to address clerical child sex abuse in Ireland.
He said that policy was to face the facts of what happened, take care of the victims, ensure that it does not happen again and do justice to all.
Cardinal Brady said that Pope Francis would be invited to Ireland.
Last night thousands of people gathered in St Peter's Square to witness the announcement of the new Pope.
This morning, Pope Francis quietly left the Vatican to pray for guidance at a Rome basilica.
The pope went to the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, the oldest church in the world dedicated to the Madonna, where he prayed before a famous icon of the Madonna called the Salus Populi Romani, or Protectress of the Roman People.
"He spoke to us cordially like a father," said Fr Ludovico Melo, a priest who prayed with the Pope.
"We were given ten minutes' advance notice that the pope was coming."
The first South American pontiff and the first non-European pope in 1,300 years, Pope Francis is also bishop of Rome.
In his first words on Wednesday night he made clear that he would take that part of his role seriously and made good on the promise by visiting one of the capital's most important churches.

Later today, he is due to go to the papal summer retreat at Castel Gandolfo, south of Rome, to meet Emeritus Pope Benedict.
A spokesman said he had also travelled to the church-owned residence he has been in for most of his visit to Rome, collected his bags, paid his bill and thanked the staff before returning to the papal apartments.
A Vatican spokesman also clarified that the pope chose the name Francis after Francis of Assisi rather than St Francis Xavier, the renowned Jesuit missionary.
Earlier, it was announced that Pope Francis' inaugural mass will be celebrated next Tuesday in the Vatican.
His inauguration on the Feast of Saint Joseph is expected to attract religious and civic leaders from around the world, including President Michael D Higgins.
Minister for Finance Michael Noonan will represent the Government at the ceremony.
A Government spokesman said Minister Noonan would be accompanying the President because Taoiseach Enda Kenny had a long-standing arrangement to visit the United States over the coming week.
A leading Peruvian cleric, Monsignor Miguel Irizarto, remarked that the Argentine Pope's election showed that old patterns have been reversed and the Americas, Africa and Asia must now teach Christianity to Europe.
Fr Tony Flannery, the silenced founding member of the Association of Catholic Priests in Ireland, hailed the election of what he called "a total outsider" from the developing world.
In a message to the new Pope last night, President Higgins said his election would bring great joy to the people of Argentina, as well as to the Jesuit community across the world.
Offering his congratulations, the Taoiseach said Pope Francis had the best wishes of all Irish people, of all traditions.
Argentina's President Christina Fernandez de Kirchner wished her fellow countryman a "fruitful pastoral mission" and expressed the hope that he will work toward justice, equality and peace for all.
US President Barack Obama offered warm wishes to the Pope and said the selection speaks to the strength and vitality of the Americas.
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he looked forward to cooperation under Pope Francis' wise leadership.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the hopes of "millions of believers in Germany and the world, now rest with the new Pope", while EU President Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission head José Manuel Barroso urged the pontiff to try to bring the world's people and religions closer together.
Bergoglio is the first Jesuit to become pope
Cardinal Bergoglio was born into a family of seven, his father an Italian immigrant railway worker and his mother a housewife.
He became a priest at 32, nearly a decade after losing a lung due to respiratory illness and quitting his chemistry studies.
Despite his late start, he was leading the local Jesuit community within four years.
Cardinal Bergoglio has a reputation as someone willing to challenge powerful interests and has had a sometimes difficult relationship with Ms Fernandez and her late husband and predecessor, Nestor Kirchner.
Displaying his conservative orthodoxy, he has spoken out strongly against gay marriage, denouncing it in 2010 as "an attempt to destroy God's plan," and is expected to pursue the uncompromising moral teachings of Benedict XVI and John Paul II.
Cardinal Bergoglio is the first Jesuit to become pope. The order was founded in the 16th Century to serve the papacy and is best known for its work in education and for the intellectual prowess of its members.
At a dinner after his election Pope Francis said: "May God forgive you," raising loud laughter from the cardinals, according to New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Pat Kenny, Jesuit Priest Fr Kevin O'Higgins described Pope Francis in his early days as Archbishop of Buenos Aires.
He said: "Bergoglio, as he was then, would have been seen as certainly theologically conservative, somewhat cautious, but then I think, especially as Archbishop of Buenos Aires, surprised a lot of people by becoming very outspoken on social justice issues."
Fr O'Higgins said he had "a huge amount of contact with the poorest of the poor. He'd have public masses, for example, in Buenos Aires, often spontaneously, within a public square for beggars, prostitutes in the streets".
Announcement captures TV viewers
A peak audience of 992,000 people watched RTÉ’s Six One News last night as the historical events in Rome unfolded live.
An average of over 723,000 people watched the entire programme, with an audience share of 52%.
The peak audience figure is the highest for a news programme since the State of the Nation speech by Taoiseach Enda Kenny in December 2011.

Argentinian Jorge Mario Bergoglio elected Pope, to be called Pope Francis

From http://www.rte.ie/news/2013/0313/376399-cardinals-to-resume-conclave-in-vatican/

Argentinian Jorge Bergoglio has been elected Pope, the first ever from the Americas and the first from outside Europe in more than a millennium.
He chose the name Pope Francis.
After announcing "Habemus Papum" - "We have a pope" - a cardinal standing on the balcony of St Peter's Basilica revealed the identity of the new pontiff, using his Latin name.
Bergoglio had reportedly finished second in the 2005 conclave that produced Benedict XVI, who last month became the first pope to resign in 600 years.
The 76-year-old archbishop of Buenos Aires has spent nearly his entire career at home in Argentina.

Black smoke emerging from Sistine Chapel indicates no pope chosen after first vote

From http://www.rte.ie/news/2013/0312/376196-cardinals-conclave/

 

Black smoke rose from the Vatican's Sistine Chapel this evening, signalling that cardinals have not elected a new pope in the first vote of their secret conclave.
The black smoke was seen by thousands of visitors to St Peter's Square.
It means the 115 cardinals will hold a new round of voting tomorrow morning.
They will remain sequestered behind the Vatican's mediaeval walls until they elect a successor to Pope Benedict, who abdicated last month.
The cardinals will hold four ballots a day from tomorrow until one man has won a two-thirds majority - or 77 votes.
When the cardinals agree on a pontiff, white smoke will rise from the makeshift chimney on the chapel roof and the bells of St Peter's basilica will peal.
Earlier, the cardinals filed into the chapel praying for divine guidance in their choice of a man to succeed Pope Benedict at one of the most difficult times in the history of the Catholic Church.
With the Latin command, "Extra Omnes" (Everyone Out), the master of ceremonies ordered all those not involved in the secret ballot to leave the chapel.
The doors were then shut. A few assistants are allowed to stay inside to help but must leave each time the cardinals vote.

A mass to mark the opening of the conclave took place at St Peter's Basilica this morning.
Dean of the College of Cardinals Angelo Sodano was the main celebrant and thanked Benedict XVI for a "brilliant pontificate".
His words were followed by a spontaneous burst of applause from the cardinals present and the congregation.
Cardinal Sodano said he wanted to renew the gratitude of the church to Benedict and prayed that through the conclave, God would "grant another good shepherd to the church".
The cardinal said it was important that the church worked "together to build upon the unity of this whole church".
There were prayers in Swahili and Portuguese and a reading in English.
Cardinals moved into Casa Santa Marta, a Vatican hotel, this morning where they will reside and eat until a new pope is elected.
The average length of the last nine conclaves was just over three days and none went on for more than five days.
As in medieval times, the cardinals are banned from communicating with the outside world.
The Vatican has also taken high-tech measures to ensure secrecy in the 21st century, including electronic jamming devices to prevent eavesdropping.
The cardinals will emerge from their seclusion only when they have chosen the 266th pontiff in the 2,000-year-history of the church.
Vatican insiders say Italy's Angelo Scola and Brazil's Odilo Scherer have emerged as the men to beat.
The former would bring the papacy back to Italy for the first time in 35 years, while the latter would be the first non-European pope in 1,300 years.
However, a host of other candidates from numerous nations have also been mentioned, including US cardinals Timothy Dolan and Sean O'Malley, Canada's Marc Ouellet and Argentina's Leonardo Sandri.
Pope Benedict XVI abdicated last month saying he was not strong enough to confront the church's woes of sex abuse scandals, bureaucratic infighting, financial difficulties and the rise of secularism.