Month: September 2017

Vatican City, Sep 13, 2017 / 11:25 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Just one day after being released from 18 months of captivity, Indian priest Fr. Tom Uzhunnalil shared an emotional meeting with Pope Francis, saying that throughout his time as a prisoner, he offered his suffering for the Pope and the Church.

According to a Sept. 13 article published in the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano, the encounter took place at the Pope’s residence in the Vatican’s St Martha guesthouse immediately after the general audience on Wednesday.

Photos of the encounter show an emotional scene as Fr. Uzhunnalil bends down to kiss the Pope’s feet, after which the Pope tenderly gives the priest his blessing.

While Fr. Uzhunnalil appeared with an overgrown beard in the majority of photos published during his time in captivity, today’s pictures show him clean-shaven and dressed in clerics.

According to L’Osservatore Romano, Fr. Uzhunnalil thanked the Pope, saying “(I) prayed for you every day, offering my suffering for your mission and for the good of the Church.” These words, the newspaper reports, moved the Pope to tears.

A Salesian missionary, Fr. Uzhunnalil first garnered the world’s attention when he was kidnapped March 4, 2016, during an attack on a Missionaries of Charity home in Aden, Yemen, that left 16 people dead, including four Sisters.

His international profile grew when rumors spread that he was to be crucified on Good Friday, which were later discredited. After that, numerous photos and videos were released depicting Fr. Uzhunnalil, thin and with an overgrown beard, pleading for help and for his release, saying that his health was deteriorating and he was in need of hospitalization.

In comments to L’Osservatore Romano, Fr. Uzhunnalil said he couldn’t celebrate Mass while in captivity, but “every day inside, in my heart, I repeated the words of the celebration.”

The priest remarked that he would continue to pray “for all those who were beside me spiritually,” and offered a special word of remembrance for the 16 people who died during the attack in which he was kidnapped.

He also offered thanks to the government of Oman, in particular Sultan Qaboos bin Said al Said, and to the Holy See for their role in brokering his release.

On his part, Pope Francis embraced Fr. Uzhunnalil and told him that he would continue to pray for him, as he had every day while the priest was imprisoned. Visibly moved, the Pope then gave the priest his blessing, L’Osservatore Romano reported.

Accompanying Fr. Uzhunnalil was Cardinal Oswald Gracias, Archbishop of Bombay and a member of the Pope’s Council of Cardinal advisers.

In comments to L’Osservatore Romano, the cardinal said that after this “terrible experience, the essential message that Tom is about to convey is that ‘Jesus is great and loves us.’”

He recalled the words of the priest, who after being released said, “Truly, every day I felt Jesus next to me, I always knew and felt in my heart that I was not alone.”

In a Sept. 13 letter, Fr. Ángel Fernández Artime, Major Rector of the Salesian order, said Fr. Uzhunnalil arrived to their community around 6 p.m. Sept. 12, having flown to Rome directly from the Muscat airport in Oman.

He said Fr. Uzhunnalil will stay with them for a few days in order to ensure that he has medical treatment and time to rest, and also “to be able to embrace him in the name of all brother Salesians and the entire Salesian family.”

Artime said that while they were aware that discussions were underway with the priest’s kidnappers, the community did not know that Fr. Uzhunnalil had been freed until he was already on his way to Rome.

He stressed that “the Salesian Congregation was not asked for any ransom payment,” and said they are unaware of any payment that may have been made to ensure Fr. Uzhunnalil’s release.

The rector offered his thanks to the various parties involved in securing Fr. Uzhunnalil’s release, as well as all those who kept the priest in their prayers.

Fr. Uzhunnalil’s freedom, he said, “is a motivation to continue to respond in the future with utmost fidelity and authenticity to the call and to the charism he has entrusted to us, and to which Fr. Tom has given his life: the announcement of Jesus and his Gospel, preaching to young boys, girls and youth throughout the world, among them, the poor and abandoned.”

In a separate article published on the Salesian Information Agency, it was noted that after his arrival, one of Fr. Uzhunnalil’s first requests was to pray in the Salesian community’s chapel in the Vatican, and to celebrate Mass.

Due to the necessity of immediate medical examinations, he was not able to celebrate Mass right away, but he asked if he could go to confession before the medical staff arrived, since he not had the opportunity while in captivity.

The article says Fr. Tom was treated to a traditional Indian meal later that night. In sharing his experience with the community, the priest said he never once felt that his life was in danger, and that at one point, his captors provided medicine for his diabetes.

No official date was given for when Fr. Uzhunnalil will return to India, however, he is expected to go back to Kerala within a few days.

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Vatican City, Sep 13, 2017 / 09:30 am (CNA/EWTN News).- One of the key talking points in the latest round of meetings for the Pope’s Council of Cardinals was the selection of personnel in the Roman Curia, with an emphasis on making it more international with a higher number of young people and women.

The cardinals gathered for the 21st time in the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace from Sept 11-13 to discuss the ongoing reform of the Roman Curia.

Commonly referred to as the “C9,” the group was established by Pope Francis after his election in 2013 to advise him in matters of Church governance and reform.

Each one of the nine members of the group was present for this week’s meetings, apart from Cardinal Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya of Kinshasa, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Cardinal George Pell, Prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy, who is currently on leave while facing abuse charges in Australia.

In comments to journalists during a Sept. 13 press briefing, Vatican spokesman Greg Burke said that as of now, no one is stepping in for Cardinal Pell during his leave, and that Cardinal Reinhard Marx, Coordinator of the Council for the Economy, is holding down the fort.

Pope Francis himself was absent for the first day of meetings due to his recent trip to Colombia, but was present for the rest of the sessions apart from Wednesday morning, when he was at the weekly general audience.

In addition to reviewing the status of previous proposals given to the Pope regarding the reform of the Curia, members also took time for a special reflection on past speeches Francis has given on the topic.

Texts examined in the previous round of meetings, which took place in June, included proposals for the dicasteries for Interreligious Dialogue, Eastern Churches, Legislative Texts, and the three courts of the Roman Curia: the Apostolic Penitentiary, the Apostolic Signatura, and the Roman Rota.

Led by Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga of Honduras, the reflection focused primarily on the speeches given by the Pope during his annual Christmas audiences with the Roman Curia, the consistories of February and October 2015, and his speech for the 50th anniversary of the Synod of Bishops in 2015.

In his comments to the press, Burke said specific themes discussed by the cardinals were the role of the Curia as “an instrument of evangelization and service for the Pope and the local Churches,” decentralization, the role of apostolic nunciatures and the “selection and competence” of curial personnel.

Specifically, Burke said four points were brought up in regards to Curia personnel. Namely, that the Curia be “less clerical, more international” and that there is “an increase in young people and women” among their ranks.

The role of young people, laity and women is something Pope Francis has emphasized strongly throughout his pontificate, as is the need for a more international Church that is less “Euro-centric.”

In fact, the laity, youth and the role of women were the three key points Francis brought up to the bishops of Latin America in his audience with CELAM during his visit to Colombia, in which he said these three categories are the faces of hope on the continent.

They also seem to be the faces of his vision for the Church and, more specifically, for those who work in the Roman Curia.

In his speech to the Curia Dec. 22, 2016, which is among the texts reflected on by the C9, Pope Francis said that when it comes to Curial officials, “in addition to priests and consecrated persons, the catholicity of the Church must be reflected in the hiring of personnel from throughout the world.”

This “catholicity” must also be reflected in the presence of “permanent deacons and lay faithful carefully selected on the basis of their unexceptionable spiritual and moral life and their professional competence,” he said.

In this view, “it is fitting to provide for the hiring of greater numbers of the lay faithful, especially in those dicasteries where they can be more competent than clerics or consecrated persons.”

He also stressed that “of great importance is an enhanced role for women and lay people in the life of the Church and their integration into roles of leadership in the dicasteries, with particular attention to multiculturalism.”

In addition to Curial personnel, the cardinals also discussed Pope Francis’ recent Motu Proprio “Magnum Principium,” which have more power to local bishops in the translation and approval of liturgical texts, and it’s implications for the Congregation of Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.

Archbishop Rino Fisichella, Prefect of the Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization, also addressed the group, speaking Tuesday about updates in his dicastery.

Later this afternoon, Cardinal Fernando Filoni, Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, will address the group on the latest work of the diastery, also known as “Propaganda Fide,” which was a focus of June’s meetings.

The cardinals also re-read the statutes of the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life, which was announced by the Pope in 2015 and established in 2016, and is headed by Cardinal Kevin Farrell.

Cardinal Farrell also made an appearance at the C9 meetings, and gave his fellow prelates an update on the dicastery’s work. Cardinal Sean O’Malley also briefed the group on the most recent work of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, which he was tapped to lead in 2014.

O’Malley is slated to meet with the Pope individually later this afternoon. In response to journalists, Burke said the meeting would naturally involve the commission’s work, but would touch on other topics, though he did no elaborate which.

The Council of Cardinals’ next round of meetings is set to take place from Dec. 11-13 in the Vatican.

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Vatican City, Sep 13, 2017 / 09:00 am (CNA/EWTN News).- On Wendesday Pope Francis recalled his recent visit to Colombia, saying the desire for peace in the country is proof that the violence of their past doesn’t have the last word, but rather, the love and mercy of Christ.

“Colombia, like most Latin American countries, is a country in which the Christian roots are strong,” the Pope said in his Sept. 13 general audience.

“And if this fact makes the pain due to the tragedy of the war that has torn it apart even more acute, at the same time it constitutes the guarantee of peace, the solid foundation of it’s reconstruction, the lifeblood of it’s invincible hope,” he said.

Given it’s recent bloody past, Francis said “it’s evident that the Evil One wanted to divide the people in order to destroy the work of God, but it is equally evident that love of Christ and his infinite mercy is stronger than sin and death.”

The Pope spoke to pilgrims present at his general audience, which took place just two days after he returned from his Sept. 6-11 visit to Colombia.

The visit, which marked Francis’ third tour of South America since his election in 2013, took him to a total of four cities, including Bogotá, Villavicencio, Medellín and Cartagena.

In his audience address, the Pope said that while in Colombia, he felt a strong continuity with Bl. Paul VI and St. John Paul II, who visited the country in 1968 and 1986, respectively. He described it as “a continuity strongly animated by the Spirit, which guides the people of God on the streets of history.”

Pointing to the theme of the trip, “Let us take the first step,” he said it refers to the process of reconciliation Colombia is going through after more than 50 years of conflict between the government and guerrilla and paramilitary groups.

Colombia, he said, is trying “to go out of a half century of internal conflict, which has sown suffering and enmities, causing many wounds that are difficult to heal.”

However, he said that “with the help of God the path is now underway,” adding that during his visit he wanted to “bless the effort of that people, confirm them in faith and in hope, and receive their testimony, which is a richness for my ministry and for the entire Church.”

“This visit was intended to bring the blessing of Christ, the blessing of the Church, to the desire for life and peace which overflows from the heart of that nation,” he said.

Francis then recounted the different stages of his visit to Colombia, recalling how in Bogotá he was able to see this desire in the eyes of the “thousands and thousands of children, teenagers and young people” who came to meet him at the Apostolic Nunciature, where he stayed during his visit.

He also noted that he was able to meet the bishops of Colombia and all of Latin America, and gave thanks “that I could embrace them and for having given them my pastoral encouragement for their mission in service to the sacramental Church of Christ.”

Then in Villavicencio, the day was dedicated to reconciliation, and included a large gathering for national reconciliation and a Mass in which the Pope beatified the two modern martyrs Bishop Jesús Emilio Jaramillo Monsalve and Fr. María Ramírez Ramos.

The two martyrs, he said, was a reminder “that peace is founded also and above all on the blood of the many witnesses of love, truth, justice and even the true and real martyrs killed for the faith, like the two mentioned.”

Listening to their biographies “was moving to tears: tears of pain and joy together,” he said. And in front of their relics and their faces “the holy people of God felt their own identity strongly, with pain, thinking of the many, too many, victims, and with joy, for the mercy of God extending toward those who fear him.”

Then in Medellín, the perspective for the day was that of “Christian life as discipleship: vocation and mission,” Francis said.

“When Christians commit themselves until the end in the journey following Jesus Christ, becoming true salt, light and leaven in the world, and the fruits are seen abundantly,” he said, explaining that one of these fruits was the children’s home he visited for youth who have lost their families due to violence or poverty.  

Finally, the Pope drew attention to his visit to Cartagena, where St. Peter Claver lived. The saint, who was referenced in many of Francis’ speeches during the trip, was an “apostle of the slaves,” he said.

St. Peter Claver and St. Maria Bernarda Bütler, a missionary in Colombia, “gave their lives for the poor and marginalized, and so revealed the path to true revolution; evangelical, not ideological, which truly frees people and society from the slavery of yesterday and, unfortunately, today,” he said.

In this sense, “taking the first step” means above all “drawing near, bending down, touching the flesh of the wounded and abandoned brother,” the Pope said. “And in doing it with Christ, the Lord became a salve for us. Thanks to him there is hope, because he is mercy and peace.”

Pope Francis closed his address by entrusting Colombia to the care and intercession of Our Lady of  Chiquinquirá, whose statue he venerated in the cathedral of  Bogotá.

“With the help of Mary, each Colombian can everyday take the first step toward their brother and sister, and so build together, day by day, peace and love, in justice and in truth.”

After his audience, Pope Francis greeted individuals and groups of pilgrims from different countries around the world, including former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who became Catholic in 2007 and has established several foundations and non-profit organizations based on faith and global advancement.

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