Pope Francis: United Nations must help in Venezuela crisis

September 11, 2017 CNA Daily News News Briefs 1 Print

Vatican City, Sep 11, 2017 / 07:46 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Aboard his overnight flight from Colombia to Rome Sunday, Pope Francis touched on the dire political and human rights crisis that continues to unfold in Venezuela, stating that the U.N. needs to be involved in reaching a solution.

“It seems that it’s a very hard thing, and the most painful is the humanitarian problem, the many people who escape or suffer…we must help to resolve it in any way (possible). I think the U.N. must also make itself felt there to help,” the Pope said Sept. 10.

“I think that the Holy See has spoken strongly and clearly,” he said, also mentioning the many times he has spoken about the situation in Venezuela during his Angelus addresses.

Journalists also asked Pope Francis about President Nicolás Maduro’s conflicting rhetoric, in particular his claim to be “with” Pope Francis, while at the same time speaking out violently against the bishops.

About this, Francis replied: “What President Maduro says, he can explain. I don’t know what he has in his mind…”

The Pope also mentioned the extensive work of the Holy See to promote dialogue in the country, including the agreement to send a group of four ex-presidents as facilitators in a meeting between the Venezuelan government and the opposition Oct. 30, 2016.

The group was made up of former Colombian president Ernesto Samper Pizano, the secretary general of UNASUR (the Union of South American Nations); José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero of Spain; Martín Torrijos of Panama; and Leonel Fernández of the Dominican Republic.

The Vatican also sent Archbishop Claudio Maria Celli to participate as a nuncio of the Holy See.

Pope Francis said that after “speaking with the people,” the Holy See has also spoken to Venezuela in a private manner, possibly referring to a private meeting that occurred between him and President Maduro at the Vatican last October.

The Pope spoke aboard the papal plane Sunday evening on the return flight from Colombia. He visited the country Sept. 6-11 to promote peace and reconciliation in the country, which has suffered from the violence of a decades-long civil war.

In the 40-minute long conference, the Pope also spoke about Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), corruption, climate change, and whether Colombia could provide a model of the peace process for other countries.

Venezuela is in the midst of escalating protests and violence, as President Nicolás Maduro has suppressed opposition and democracy activists, and moved to seize legislative power in the country.

The results of a July 30 election convened by Maduro have been dismissed as illegitimate by the United States and several other nations, and a burgeoning economic crisis has led to widespread chaos.

The country was on Pope Francis’ mind throughout his visit to Colombia, beginning with the flight over the nation. As his plane took off for Bogota, he greeted journalists, telling them they were going to fly over Venezuela and asking them “to pray so there can be dialogue, that there will be stability, with dialogue with everyone.”

In his Angelus address on Sunday, the Pope again assured those present of his prayers for the countries of Latin America, particularly Venezuela, expressing his closeness to the nation and those from the nation who have been welcomed into Colombia.

“From this city, known as the seat of human rights, I appeal for the rejection of all violence in political life and for a solution to the current grave crisis, which affects everyone, particularly the poorest and most disadvantaged of society,” he said.

He also met briefly with five bishops from Venezuela present in Colombia for his visit, welcoming them to the sacristy after celebrating Mass in Bogota Sept. 7.

Among the prelates Francis met were Cardenal Jorge Urosa, Archbishop of Caracas; Cardenal Baltazar Porras, Archbishop of Mérida; Jesús González de Zárate, Auxiliary Bishop of Caracas; Bishop Mario Moronta of San Cristóbal; and Bishop José Luis Azuaje of Barinas, who is also President of the Latin American branch of Cáritas.

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Cardinal Farrell reiterates support for ‘Amoris laetitia’

January 29, 2019 CNA Daily News 4

Vatican City, Jan 29, 2019 / 07:00 pm (CNA).- In a recent interview, Cardinal Kevin Farrell offered his view of criticisms of the apostolic exhortation on love in the family, Amoris laetitia.

“There is nothing in ‘Amoris Laetitia’ that is contrary to the Gospel. What does Francis do? He goes to the gospel. Look at every chapter, its straight out of one of the gospels or the letters of St Paul,” Farrell asserted in an interview with Christopher Lamb of The Tablet, a weekly British magazine, published Jan. 23.

Excerpts of the interview were published Jan. 25.

Farrell, prefect of the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life, also touched on his association with Archbishop Theodore McCarrick while the two were in the Archdiocese of Washington; opposition to Pope Francis; and the sexual abuse crisis.

Lamb wrote that Farrell’s tasks as prefect include “the implementation of Amoris Laetitia.”

“From what I see from information that is coming to us from the conferences of bishops and lay groups involved in marriage and family life in different parts of the world, [Amoris laetitia] is very well received, overwhelmingly well received,” Farrell stated.

He did acknowledge that “there are some elements in the United States, on the continent of Africa, and some here in Europe – but not very strong” who have not received Amoris laetitia warmly.

“Cardinal Farrell said the teaching is clear: the Pope is opening a way for divorced and remarried Catholics to return to communion following a process of discernment and on a case-by-case basis,” Lamb wrote.

According to Farrell “It’s not just a question of going up to a priest and saying ‘can I receive communion?’ It is a process, a process that could take one year could take two years, could take three years. It depends on the people. Fundamentally, this is about encountering people where they are.”

Farrell told Lamb that those opposed to admitting the divorced-and-remarried to Communion say those people are “outside the Church for ever.”

“There’s no redemption whatsoever? None? You mean to tell me that Christ and Christ’s redemption didn’t work for those people? No.”

The cardinal called opposition to the pope’s policy “an ideological conflict … deep down.”

He discussed “theological courses” offered at the World Meeting of Families, which is organized by his dicastery.

He contrasted a “practical” viewpoint with those of theology and canon law.

“We wanted to ensure that ‘Amoris Laetitia’ was dealt with from a practical point of view, not from a theological-canonical point of view,” Farrell stated. “And, therefore, I didn’t include any courses on Canon Law. None.”

The cardinal characterized opposition to Pope Francis as “unprecedented” and “vicious”, and claimed that the pope “has put the Church on an evangelical road” based on the Gospel.

He also said that “it’s so important that lay people take responsibility for the Church, and for the future of the Church.”

Discussing the sexual abuse crisis, he focused on the meeting being held at the Vatican next month among presidents of bishops’ conferences, saying, “My hope is that there would be a clear vision of where we are going in the future,” while managing expectations for the summit: “expectations for the meeting are being created that can’t humanly be met”.

“Instead of passing the problem to Rome, I think bishops need to take responsibility for the situation in their own nation,” he added.

Farrell also faced questions about his time living with now-disgraced Archbishop Theodore McCarrick.

“I lived in the episcopal residence, where there were six other priests, two bishops. Did I ever know? No. Did I ever suspect? No. Did he ever abuse any seminarian in Washington? No. I never went anywhere with him. I was the Vicar-General, I was the one stuck in the offices all the time, dealing with all the problems. The archbishop of the diocese is out and about. He’s in Rome, he’s in Latin America, all over the world.”

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