Pope Francis to Paris AI Action Summit: ‘Love is worth more than intelligence’

Vatican City, May 16, 2019 / 11:23 am (CNA).- A Vatican court has decided not to initiate canonical charges against a former Vatican official, after an investigation into allegations he made sexual advances toward a woman in the confessional several years ago.

Fr. Hermann Geissler, 53, is a member of Familia spiritualis Opus (FSO), informally known as “Das Werk.”

Geissler’s community announced May 17 that five judges of the Vatican’s supreme tribunal decided this week that Geissler would not be tried for “a delict of solicitation to a sin against the sixth commandment in the context of confession.”

A preliminary investigation into the matter, as specified by canon 1717 of the Code of Canon Law, was carried out by the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura.

Most likely to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest, Pope Francis requested the Signatura undertake the process instead of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which is the Vatican office usually charged with reviewing allegations of this kind.

Geissler, who maintained his innocence throughout the process, stepped down from his position within the CDF Jan. 29, where he had been an official since 1993. From 2009 he had been the head of the congregation’s teaching office.

A statement released Jan. 29 said that Geissler “affirms that the accusation made against him is untrue, and asks that the canonical process already initiated continue. He also reserves the right for possible civil legal action.”

Geissler, an Austrian, is also a prominent scholar of Bl. Cardinal Henry Newman.

The accusations against him became public at the end of September, when a (now-former) member of “Das Werk,” Doris Wagner, claimed in a lengthy piece in the German newspaper DIE ZIET that she had been sexually harassed in the confessional by a member of the religious community she then belonged to, identified in the article as “Hermann G.”

Wagner again spoke of the accusations last November, saying at a conference in Rome that she had received unwanted sexual advances and been “groomed” for sex by “a priest working to this day as capo ufficio at the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith,” according to La Croix International.

The solicitation of a sin against the sixth commandment within the context of confession is considered in the Church law to be a “grave delict,” or offense, for which a priest can be dismissed from the clerical state.

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The mortal remains of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI were moved early in the morning on Jan. 2, 2023, from his former residence in the Vatican’s Mater Ecclesiae Monastery to St. Peter’s Basilica, where the late pope is lying in state through Jan. 4. Thousands waited in line to pay their respects. / Daniel Ibañez / EWTN

Vatican City, Jan 3, 2023 / 01:46 am (CNA).

Following the death of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, these are the details you should know about his funeral in the Vatican.

Benedict XVI passed away on December 31 at 9:34 am (Rome time). As confirmed by his personal secretary Archbishop Georg Ganswein, his last words were “Signore, ti amo !” (Lord, I love you!) And he pronounced them in Italian.

Unlike the death of Saint John Paul II in 2005, the death of the Pope Emeritus was not announced in Saint Peter’s Square nor was there a peal of bells. Confirmation of his death was reported by the director of the Vatican Press Office, Matteo Bruni.

Bruni told reporters that “following the wishes of the Pope Emeritus, the funeral will be held under the sign of simplicity,” stressing that it will be a “solemn but sober funeral.”

“The express request on the part of the emeritus pope is that everything be simple, both with regard to the funeral, as well as the other celebrations and gestures during this time of pain,” he added.

After his death, the remains of Benedict XVI remained in the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery, his place of residence since his resignation in 2013. The small monastery is located in the Vatican Gardens, on a hill behind St. Peter’s Basilica. 

On January 1, 2023, the Holy See released the first images of the body of the Pope Emeritus with a rosary in his hand and lying at the foot of the altar in the monastery’s chapel. The chapel is the same place where, in addition to celebrating Mass, it received public visits from Pope Francis and the new cardinals every time there was a consistory in the Vatican. Since it continues to be Christmas liturgically, the chapel still has a small Christmas tree and a manger.

Next to the remains of Benedict XVI, some kneelers were placed for prayer.

A few hours later dozens of people including cardinals, bishops, priests, Vatican workers, nuns from different congregations and even journalists who cover the activities of the Holy See, were able to enter the monastery to keep vigil and pray with the remains of the Pope before they were transferred to San Peter.

At 7:00 am on January 2, the body of the Pope Emeritus was transferred from the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery to St. Peter’s Basilica to begin the wake and allow thousands of pilgrims to say their last goodbyes. 

The Archpriest of the Basilica, Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, received the remains of Benedict XVI with a liturgical act that lasted about 30 minutes.

Among the attendees were Bishop Georg Ganswein, who was his personal secretary since 2003, and the master of liturgical celebrations, Bishop Diego Ravelli.

From 9:00 am to 7:00 pm the faithful from all over the world were allowed to enter St. Peter’s Basilica to visit the body of Benedict XVI.

It is estimated that at least 65,000 people came to visit the Pope Emeritus on the first day of his wake. 

The remains of Benedict XVI will remain on display in St. Peter’s Basilica until Wednesday, Jan. 4. Visiting hours for Tuesday and Wednesday are from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. (Rome time).

Funeral of Benedict XVI

Pope Francis will preside over the funeral of Benedict XVI on Thursday, January 5 at 9:30 a.m. (Rome time), in St. Peter’s Square.

Two official state delegations, those of Italy and Germany, will attend the funeral of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. 

The President of Italy, Sergio Mattarella, was one of the first to visit the funeral chapel of Pope Benedict XVI. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, accompanied by other officials from her government, also attended on the morning of Monday, January 2, and prayed for several minutes before the remains of the Pope Emeritus.

Many other heads of state will come to pay respects and attend the funeral in an unofficial capacity, including the President of Hungary, Katalin Novak; the President of Poland, Andrzej Duda; King Philip of Belgium; and Queen Sofia of Spain, among others. 

The funeral of Benedict XVI will be held at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, Jan. 5. You can view it live on EWTN here.

This article was originally published by our sister agency, ACI Prensa. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

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Vatican City, Dec 8, 2020 / 06:20 am (CNA).- The Immaculate Conception is “one of the wonders of the story of salvation,” Pope Francis said in his Angelus address Tuesday.

Speaking from a window overlooking St. Peter’s Square Dec. 8, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, the pope encouraged Catholics to entrust themselves to Mary, seeking purity and holiness.

He said: “The uncontaminated beauty of our Mother is incomparable, but at the same time it attracts us. Let us entrust ourselves to her and say ‘no’ to sin and ‘yes’ to Grace once and for all.”

It is customary for the pope to lead the Angelus prayer not only on Sundays, but also on Marian solemnities. In his address, the pope reflected on the meaning of the Immaculate Conception. 

“Today’s liturgical feast celebrates one of the wonders of the story of salvation: the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary. Even she was saved by Christ, but in an extraordinary way, because God wanted that the mother of His Son not be touched by the misery of sin from the moment of her conception,” he said.

“And so, for the entire course of her earthly life, Mary was free from any stain of sin, she was the ‘full of grace’ (Luke 1:28), as the angel called her. She was favored by a singular action of the Holy Spirit so as to always remain in perfect relationship with her Son, Jesus. Rather, she was Jesus’s disciple: His Mother and disciple. But there was no sin in her.”

Citing the hymn that opens St. Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians, the pope said that we too are created by God for the “fullness of holiness” granted to Mary from the beginning. 

“And what Mary had from the beginning will be ours in the end, after we have passed through the purifying ‘bath’ of God’s grace,” he said. 

“What opens the gates of paradise to us is God’s grace, received by us with faithfulness.” 

Yet even the most innocent person is marked by original sin, he said, and therefore must engage in a lifelong struggle against its consequences. Lest we be discouraged, we should remember that the thief who was crucified beside Jesus “is the first person we are sure entered paradise,” the pope noted.

He continued: “But be careful. It does not pay to be clever — to continually postpone a serious evaluation of one’s own life, taking advantage of the Lord’s patience. He is patient. He waits for us, He is always ready to give us grace. We may be able to deceive people, but not God; He knows our hearts better than we ourselves do.” 

“Let us take advantage of the present moment! This, yes, is the Christian sense of seizing the day. To not enjoy life in each passing moment — no, this is the worldly sense. But to seize today, to say ‘no’ to evil and ‘yes’ to God, to open oneself to His grace.”

The pope said that the “journey of conversion” begins with seeking God’s forgiveness in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. We must then seek to repair the harm we have done to others.

“And this, for us, is the path for becoming ‘holy and immaculate,’” he explained. 

After the Angelus, the Holy Father greeted pilgrims in the square below, which was wet following a rainy morning. He singled out an Italian group holding a banner proclaiming “L’Immacolata vincerà” (“The Immaculate will triumph”). The group, inspired by the spirituality of St. Maximilian Kolbe, has brought the banner to St. Peter’s Square for the Angelus since the 1990s. 

“They are great, they are always here!” the pope commented.

He continued: “As you know, this afternoon the traditional veneration of the Immaculate Conception in Piazza di Spagna will not take place, to avoid the risk of a crowd gathering, as disposed by the civil authorities, whom we need to obey.” 

“But this does not keep us from offering our Mother the flowers that she enjoys the most: prayer, penance, a heart open to grace.”

The pope recalled that that morning he had made a private visit to the statue of the Immaculate Conception in Rome’s Piazza di Spagna and then celebrated Mass at the Basilica of St. Mary Major.

“I wish everyone a happy feast day. And, please do not forget to pray for me,” he said.

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