Pope Francis visits Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI at the Mater Ecclesiae monastery in Vatican City to exchange Christmas greetings Dec. 23, 2013. / Vatican Media
St. Louis, Mo., Nov 28, 2022 / 16:30 pm (CNA).
In a recent interview Pope Francis sai… […]
Breaking News / CNA
Boston, Mass., Nov 28, 2022 / 16:00 pm (CNA).
St. Peter Catholic Church in Covington, Louisiana, says its community has been “rocked” by news of a double homicide that local police announced Monday morning, amid an unconfirm… […]
Sanctuary of the Miraculous Medal in Monte Sião, Brazil / Credit: Facebook Sanctuary of the Miraculous Medal
CNA Newsroom, Nov 28, 2022 / 14:30 pm (CNA).
The town of Monte Sião in southern Minas Gerais state in Brazil can be considered a land o… […]
Father Ivan Levystky (left) and Father Bohdan Geleta (right) / Credit: Donetsk Bishop’s Exarchy
CNA Newsroom, Nov 28, 2022 / 13:30 pm (CNA).
The Russian National Guard occupying the coastal city of Berdyansk, Ukraine, last week captured two priests of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church and accused them of having committed “subversive” and “guerrilla” activities.
Redemptorist priests Father Hieromonk Ivan Levystky, abbot of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary church, and Father Bohdan Geleta, who also serves at the church, were accused of allegedly possessing weapons, ammunition, and books on Ukrainian history that were in a parish building.
The Donetsk Exarchate denied the accusations, calling the detention “unfounded and illegal,” and demanded the prompt release of the clerics.
“From the beginning of the large-scale war of the Russian troops on the territory of Ukraine until the day of their arrest, the activities of both priests did not go beyond the scope of their pastoral duties,” a Nov. 25 statement from the exarchate affirmed.
“At the time of the search of the church and the adjacent rectory and premises of the parish, both priests were already under arrest; that is, they could not control these premises and the actions of the Russian National Guard in any way,” the statement pointed out.
“They cannot bear any responsibility for the weapons and ammunition allegedly found in those places. This is clear slander and a false accusation,” the local Church stressed.
The Donetsk Exarchate said that the behavior of the Russian local authorities toward the Ukrainian clergy “can only have one assessment: complete disregard for the fundamental principles of human rights.”
“Only because of their loyalty to God and the Church [have] the aforementioned ‘accusations’” been leveled against the priests, the exarchate said.
“Considering the above,” the exarchate said, “we demand the prompt release from custody and imprisonment of our priests, as well as ensuring their unhindered legal service to the spiritual needs of the faithful of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church who live in Berdyansk.”
“We ask for the maximum dissemination of information in order to free the captive fathers. We appeal to the authorities and all people of goodwill with a request to join the cause for the release of priests, as well as for increased prayer in this regard. Merciful God, hear our prayers!” the Donetsk Exarchate’s statement concluded.
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
Pope Francis meets a group of women at the end of his weekly general audience at the Paul VI hall in the Vatican on March 2, 2022. / Photo by VINCENZO PINTO/AFP via Getty Images
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Nov 28, 2022 / 12:30 pm (CNA).
In an in… […]
Pilgrims from China greets Pope Francis during his general weekly audience in St. Peter’s Square on May 22, 2019, at the Vatican. / Photo by Alessandra Benedetti – Corbis/Corbis News
Rome Newsroom, Nov 28, 2022 / 09:30 am (CNA).
In a new interview with America Magazine, Pope Francis said the Vatican-China deal has had both failures and successes, but he “cannot find another way” to carry out diplomacy.
The pope spoke about the Vatican-China deal with America Magazine on Nov. 22, two days before the Nov. 24 installation ceremony of Bishop John Peng Weizhao, which the Vatican said “did not occur in accordance with … what was stipulated” in the renewed provisional agreement.
A Nov. 26 statement said that “the Holy See noted with surprise and regret” that Peng had been installed as an “auxiliary bishop of Jiangxi,” a diocese that is not recognized by the Vatican.
In the America Magazine interview, published Nov. 28, Pope Francis emphasized dialogue “up to the point that is possible.”
“Dialogue is the way of the best diplomacy,” he said. “With China I have opted for the way of dialogue. It is slow, it has its failures, it has its successes, but I cannot find another way.”
He added that the Chinese people have great wisdom and deserve his respect and admiration.
“I take off my hat to them,” Francis continued. “And for this reason I try to dialogue, because it is not that we are going to conquer people. No! There are Christians there. They have to be cared for, so that they may be good Chinese and good Christians.”
Peng’s installation ceremony took place one month after the Vatican renewed its provisional deal with Beijing on the appointment of Catholic bishops for an additional two years.
The most recent appointment of a bishop in China, Archbishop Cui Qingqi, took place more than one year ago on Sept. 8, 2021.
Since the China deal entered into force in October 2018, only six bishops have been appointed, two of whom were already in talks for nomination before the deal’s signing.
Meanwhile, as many as one-third of China’s Catholic dioceses may be without a bishop.
There are 66 bishops in China, according to a report by Bishop Shen Bin of Haiman, who co-leads the Chinese Council of Bishops — a body that supports the Patriotic Association and is not recognized by the Holy See.
The Holy See divides China into 20 archdioceses, 85 dioceses, and 34 apostolic prefectures (Beijing subdivides the country into 98 dioceses).
The boundaries of the “Diocese of Jiangxi,” where Bishop Peng was installed this month, were drawn by Chinese authorities without Vatican approval.
“The Holy See hopes that similar episodes will not be repeated, remains awaiting appropriate communications on the matter from the authorities, and reaffirms its full readiness to continue the respectful dialogue concerning all matters of common interest,” the Vatican said Nov. 26.
Pope Francis meets with the United States bishops at St. Matthew’s Cathedral in Washington, D.C., Sept. 23, 2015. / L’Osservatore Romano.
Rome Newsroom, Nov 28, 2022 / 08:01 am (CNA).
Pope Francis has emphasized the difference between bishops’ conferences and bishops in a new interview with America Magazine.
“The bishops’ conference is there to bring together the bishops, to work together, to discuss issues, to make pastoral plans. But each bishop is a pastor,” the pope said in a lengthy interview conducted at his Vatican home on Nov. 22 and published Nov. 28.
“Let us not dissolve the power of the bishop by reducing it to the power of the bishops’ conference.”
The conversation with the Jesuit publication covered a wide range of topics, including the role of bishops, racism, polarization, sexual abuse, the Vatican-China deal, and whether he has any regrets from his time as pope.
In the interview, Pope Francis was told about a 2021 America Magazine survey that found that Catholics in the United States consider the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to be the least trustworthy out of the groups listed — 20% of U.S. Catholics surveyed found the USCCB to be “very trustworthy.”
Francis was asked: “How can the U.S. Catholic bishops regain the trust of American Catholics?”
“The question is good because it speaks about the bishops,” he responded. “But I think it is misleading to speak of the relationship between Catholics and the bishops’ conference. The bishops’ conference is not the pastor; the pastor is the bishop. So one runs the risk of diminishing the authority of the bishop when you look only to the bishops’ conference.”
“Jesus did not create bishops’ conferences,” he added. “Jesus created bishops, and each bishop is pastor of his people.”
Pope Francis said the emphasis should be on whether a bishop has a good relationship with his people, not on administration.
He gave the example of Bishop Mark Seitz of El Paso, Texas: “I do not know if he is conservative, or if he is progressive, if he is of the right or of the left, but he is a good pastor.”
In the U.S., the pope said, there are ‘some good bishops who are more on the right, some good bishops who are more on the left, but they are more bishops than ideologues; they are more pastors than ideologues. That is the key.”
“The grace of Jesus Christ is in the relationship between the bishop and his people, his diocese,” he said.
A bishops’ conference, instead, is an organization meant to “assist and unite.”
Pope Francis was also asked whether the USCCB should prioritize the fight against abortion over other issues.
To which he said: “this is a problem the bishops’ conference has to resolve within itself.”
The pope pointed out that the activity of a bishops’ conference is on the organizational level, and in history, conferences have at times gotten things wrong.
“In other words, let this be clear: A bishops’ conference has, ordinarily, to give its opinion on faith and traditions, but above all on diocesan administration and so on,” he said, again emphasizing the sacramental nature of the pastoral relationship of a bishop to his diocese and its people.
“And this cannot be delegated to the bishops’ conference,” he added. “The conference helps to organize meetings, and these are very important; but for a bishop, [being] pastor is most important.”
In the interview, Pope Francis also denounced polarization as “not Catholic,” and said the Catholic way of dealing with sin is “not puritanical” but puts saints and sinners together.
He also said in the U.S., where there is a Catholicism particular to that country, something he called “normal,” “you also have some ideological Catholic groups.”
On the topic of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church, Pope Francis was asked about the apparent lack of transparency when it comes to accusations against bishops, compared with the handling of accusations against priests.
The pope called for “equal transparency” going forward, adding that “if there is less transparency, it is a mistake.”
To a question about Black Catholics, Francis said he is “aware of their suffering, that he loves them very much, and that they should resist and not walk away” from the Catholic Church.
“Racism is an intolerable sin against God,” he added. “The Church, the pastors and laypeople must continue fighting to eradicate it and for a more just world.”
Asked if he has any regrets, or if he would change anything he has done in nearly 10 years as pope, Francis said in English, as he laughed, that he would change “all! All!”
“However, I did what the Holy Spirit was telling me I had to do. And when I did not do it, I made a mistake,” he added.
On his seeming constant joyfulness, the pope said he is not “always like that,” except when he is with people.
“I would not say that I am happy because I am healthy, or because I eat well, or because I sleep well, or because I pray a great deal,” he explained. “I am happy because I feel happy, God makes me happy. I don’t have anything to blame on the Lord, not even when bad things happen to me. Nothing.”
He said the Lord has guided him through both good and difficult moments, “but there is always the assurance that one does not walk alone.”
“One has one’s faults,” he said, “also one’s sins; I go to confession every 15 days — I do not know, that is just how I am.”
The installation ceremony of Bishop John Peng Weizhao in Nanchang, China, on Nov. 24, 2022. / Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association
Rome Newsroom, Nov 28, 2022 / 07:55 am (CNA).
The agreement between China and the Holy See on the appointment o… […]
null / Lisa Missenda / Shutterstock
Denver, Colo., Nov 28, 2022 / 06:36 am (CNA).
The First Sunday of Advent 2022 is Nov. 27, exactly four weeks before the Sunday of Christmas this year, and while the Church provides this time to allow you to b… […]
Cardinal Richard Kuuia Baawobr. / Credit: Missionaries of Africa.
Rome Newsroom, Nov 28, 2022 / 04:31 am (CNA).
Cardinal Richard Kuuia Baawobr, bishop of Wa, Ghana, died in Rome on Sunday evening at the age of 63.The cardinal had been hospitali… […]
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