Pope Francis in Bulgaria: Peace is a gift and a task

A procession of Council Fathers at the opening of Vatican II, Oct. 11, 1962. / Peter Geymayer via Wikimedia (public domain)

Denver Newsroom, Oct 18, 2022 / 09:00 am (CNA).
Sixty years ago this month, the Second Vatican Council brought together … […]

Vatican City, Aug 28, 2018 / 05:03 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis is personally considering the appeal of Guam Archbishop Anthony Apuron, who was found guilty of certain unspecified accusations back in March.

On Sunday, during the press conference on the papal plane, Pope Francis was asked a question from an Irish journalist seeking for clarification on reports that he was “not favorable” to changing the Vatican tribunal inquiry process in abuse cases.

The question was in response to abuse survivor Marie Collins claiming that Pope Francis was opposed to the creation of a tribunal of inquiry on bishops and their accountability. Earlier in the week, Collins had called for changes to canon law that would permit zero-tolerance policies for those accused of abuse.

Pope Francis said that this was not exactly true, and that it was a complicated issue due to the “different cultures of the bishops that had to be judged.”

As an example of how he was open to changes, he brought up Apuron’s case. Apuron was accused of a multitude of offenses, including raping his nephew in 1989 or 1990. In March, Apuron was found guilty of “certain” charges and sentenced to be removed from office and forbidden from living in the archdiocese. He immediately filed an appeal.

The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith did not state the charges for which the archbishop was found guilty. Sources close to the case told CNA at the time that the archbishop was found guilty of a minority of the allegations leveled against him.

If the archbishop has been found guilty of sexual abuse of minors, the penalty leveled against him is unusual – often a cleric found guilty of such crimes would be “laicized,” or removed from the clerical state, sources said.

Sources also noted that the archbishop has seemingly maintained his ecclesiastical faculties, and though restricted from residence in Guam, is apparently able to exercise ministry as a priest.

One expert suggested to CNA that the five-judge panel may have been divided on the archbishop’s guilt, which could explain the disparity between a guilty verdict and an unusually light sanction.

One source questioned whether pressure to quickly resolve the matter might have influenced the sentence.

The pope explained that in considering Apuron’s appeal, he is bypassing the traditional “giuria”–the council of bishops that make up a tribunal–and will be considering the appeal himself. This is because Apuron’s situation is a “very difficult case.”

Instead, Pope Francis said he “took it upon myself” and created a commission of canonists who will assist him with the case. This group will make a recommendation within the next month, in order for the pontiff to make a judgement.

“It is a complicated case, on one hand, but not difficult because the evidence is clear,” said Pope Francis.

“I cannot pre-judge, I await the report and then I will judge. I say that the evidence is clear because there is this evidence which led the first tribunal to the condemnation.”

After he was found guilty, Apuron released a statement insisting on his innocence and announcing his appeal.

“I have been informed of the conclusion of the first instance canonical trial against me. While I am relieved that the tribunal dismissed the majority of the accusations against me, I have appealed the verdict,” he said.

“God is my witness; I am innocent and I look forward to proving my innocence in the appeals process,” the statement read.

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Vatican City, Feb 14, 2018 / 09:33 am (CNA/EWTN News).- At Mass for Ash Wednesday, Pope Francis invited everyone to live the 40 days of Lent as a time to “pause” from things which keep us from virtue and to return home to the loving and merciful embrace of God the Father.

“Return without fear to those outstretched, eager arms of your Father, who is rich in mercy, who awaits you. Return without fear, for this is the favorable time to come home,” the Pope said Feb. 14.

“[Lent] is the time for allowing one’s heart to be touched…” he continued, explaining how “persisting on the path of evil only gives rise to disappointment and sadness. True life is something quite distinct and our heart indeed knows this. God does not tire, nor will he tire, of holding out his hand.”

Marking the start of the Lenten season Feb. 14, Pope Francis prayed the Stations of the Cross at St. Anselm Church in Rome before processing the short way to the Basilica of Santa Sabina for the celebration of Mass, benediction, and the imposition of ashes.

The traditional procession is composed of cardinals, bishops, priests, the Benedictine monks of St. Anselm, the Dominican friars of Santa Sabina, and lay people. As they make their way between the two churches, they sing the Litany of the Saints.

The practice of beginning the Lenten season of prayer and penance this way was started by Pope John XXIII when he came for the opening of the Pontifical Liturgical Institute in 1961.

In his homily at Mass, Pope Francis criticized distrust, apathy and resignation, stressing that Lent is the ideal time to uproot these and other temptations from our hearts. He listed out different ways we can do this through the actions of pausing, seeing, and returning to the Father.

He offered several suggestions of how to pause, including refraining from showing off, or from an attitude which gives rise to unproductive thoughts and self-pity, and which lead us to forget our call to encounter others and share in their burdens.

He also urged an end to the desire “to control everything, know everything, destroy everything,” which he said stems from a lack of gratitude for our life and what we’ve already been given.

Lent is also a good time for the “creative power of silence” in order to “leave behind the unrest and commotion that fill the soul with bitter feelings which never get us anywhere,” he advised.

“Pause from this compulsion to a fast-paced life that scatters, divides and ultimately destroys time with family, with friends, with children, with grandparents, and time as a gift… time with God,” he stated.

The Pope also called out “haughty looks” and “fleeting and pejorative comments,” and urged a break from words stemming from a lack of “tenderness, compassion and reverence for the encounter with others, particularly those who are vulnerable, hurt and even immersed in sin and error.”
Francis urged people instead to look upon and contemplate those actions which promote faith, hope and charity, and to look upon the faces of the vulnerable and in need, like families who, despite hardship, still strive to make their homes “a school of love.”

He also advised people to see the faces of children and youth, yearning for a future, to see the faces of the elderly reflecting “God’s wisdom at work,” and to see the faces of sick people and their caretakers, whose vulnerability reminds us of the value of every person.

“See the remorseful faces of so many who try to repair their errors and mistakes,” he continued, “and who from their misfortune and suffering fight to transform their situations and move forward.”

Finally, the Pope encouraged everyone to take time during Lent to “see and contemplate the face of Crucified Love.”

“See and contemplate the real face of Christ crucified out of love for everyone, without exception,” he said. “For everyone? Yes, for everyone. To see his face is an invitation filled with hope for this Lenten time, in order to defeat the demons of distrust, apathy and resignation.”

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