Cardinal Lazzaro You Heung-sik, prefect of the Dicastery for the Clergy, celebrated Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica for Korean Catholics before the statue of St. Andrew Kim Tae-gŏn was blessed by Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, archpriest of St. Peter’s Basilica, on Sept. 16, 2023. / Daniel Ibanez/CNA
CNA Newsroom, Apr 13, 2025 / 14:50 pm (CNA).
The Vatican’s Dicastery for the Clergy issued a decree updating the Church’s norms governing Mass intentions and stipends, emphasizing both proper spiritual understanding and practical solutions for modern pastoral challenges.
Pope Francis approved the document — published so far only in Italian — on Palm Sunday, April 13. It will take effect on Easter Sunday, April 20, 2025.
The decree, which replaces the 1991 instructionMos Iugiter, maintains Canon 945 of the Code of Canon Law, affirming that priests may receive offerings for celebrating Mass according to specific intentions, while introducing significant provisions for “collective intentions.”
According to the updated norms, bishops’ conferences or provincial councils may now permit priests to accept multiple offerings from different donors for a single Mass with a “collective intention,” but only when all donors have been explicitly informed and freely consented.
“Such consent of the donors can never be presumed,” the document states firmly.
“In the absence of explicit consent, it is always presumed that consent has not been given.”
The decree also reaffirms that offerings for Mass intentions must never be treated as commercial transactions, noting that such practices would constitute simony — the forbidden buying or selling of spiritual things.
Cardinal Lazzaro You Heung-sik, prefect of the Dicastery for the Clergy, explained that the new regulations came after “profound consideration” and extensive consultation with bishops, clergy, and faithful worldwide.
The document addresses the growing challenge of clergy shortages in many regions, making it difficult to fulfill all requested Mass intentions while preserving their spiritual significance.
Bishops are instructed to properly educate clergy and faithful about these regulations and maintain accurate records of Masses, intentions, and offerings. The decree emphasizes that priests should celebrate Mass for the intentions of the faithful, “especially the poorest, even without receiving any offering.”
The norms also prohibit substituting promised Masses with simple mentions during liturgies, categorizing such practices as “gravely illicit.”
A notable pastoral provision allows diocesan bishops to redirect surplus Mass intentions to parishes or mission territories in need, promoting solidarity within the universal Church.
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Pope Francis opens the Holy Door in L’Aquila, Italy on Aug. 28, 2022. / Daniel Ibanez/CNA
Rome Newsroom, Aug 28, 2022 / 04:15 am (CNA).
Pope Francis became the first pope in 728 years to open the Holy Door of a 13th-century basilica in L’Aquila, Italy on Sunday.
During a visit to the Italian city located about 70 miles northeast of Rome on Aug. 28, the pope participated in a centuries-old tradition, the Celestinian Forgiveness, known in Italian as the Perdonanza Celestiniana.
The opening of the Holy Door marked a key moment in the annual celebration established by Pope Celestine V in 1294.
“For centuries L’Aquila has kept alive the gift that Pope Celestine V left it. It is the privilege of reminding everyone that with mercy, and only with it, the life of every man and woman can be lived with joy,” Pope Francis said in his homily during Mass at L’Aquila’s Basilica of Santa Maria di Collemaggio.
“To be forgiven is to experience here and now what comes closest to the resurrection. Forgiveness is passing from death to life, from the experience of anguish and guilt to that of freedom and joy. May this church always be a place where we can be reconciled, and experience that grace that puts us back on our feet and gives us another chance,” he said.
Pope Francis began the day trip at 7:50 a.m. traveling by helicopter from the Vatican to L’Aquila. He visited the city’s cathedral, which is still being rebuilt after it was badly damaged during a 2019 earthquake in which more than 300 people died.
The pope wore a hard hat while touring the reconstruction area of the damaged church. He spoke to family members of earthquake victims in the town square in front of the cathedral, where local prisoners were also present in the crowd. People cheered and waved Vatican flags as Pope Francis greeted them from a wheelchair.
Pope Francis wore a hard hat while visiting the L’Aquila cathedral, which was damaged by a 2019 earthquake. Vatican Media
Pope Francis said: “First of all I thank you for your witness of faith: despite the pain and loss, which belong to our faith as pilgrims, you have fixed your gaze on Christ, crucified and risen, who with his love redeemed the nonsense of pain and death.”
“And Jesus has placed you back in the arms of the Father, who does not let a tear fall in vain, not even one, but gathers them all in his merciful heart,” he added.
After speaking to the families of the victims, Pope Francis traveled in the popemobile to L’Aquila’s Basilica of Santa Maria di Collemaggio, where he celebrated an outdoor Mass, recited the Angelus, and opened the Holy Door.
In his brief Angelus message, the pope offered a prayer for the people of Pakistan, where flash floods have killed more than 1,000 people and displaced thousands more.
Pope Francis also asked for the intercession of the Virgin Mary to obtain “forgiveness and peace for the whole world,” mentioning Ukraine and all other places suffering from war.
Pope Francis prayed for peace in his Angelus address following Mass in L’Aquila, Italy. Pope Francis prayed for peace in his Angelus address following Mass in L’Aquila, Italy.
During his visit to L’Aquila, the pope said that he wanted the central Italian city to become a “capital of forgiveness, peace, and reconciliation.”
“This is how peace is built through forgiveness received and given,” he said.
L’Aquila is the burial place of Pope Celestine V, who led the Catholic Church for just five months before his resignation on Dec. 13, 1294. The pope, who was canonized in 1313, is buried in L’Aquila’s Basilica of Santa Maria di Collemaggio.
In the spring, the Vatican’s announcement that Pope Francis would visit L’Aquila prompted unsourced speculation that the trip could be the prelude to the 85-year-old pope’s resignation.
When Benedict XVI became the first pope to resign in almost 600 years in 2013, Vatican-watchers recalled that he had visited the tomb of Celestine V years earlier. During his trip on April 28, 2009, he left his pallium — the white wool vestment given to metropolitan archbishops — on the tomb. In hindsight, commentators suggested that Benedict was indicating his intention to resign.
In his homily in L’Aquila, Pope Francis praised Pope Celestine V for his humility and courage.
Mentioning Dante Alighieri’s description of Celestine as the man of “the great refusal,” Pope Francis underlined that Celestine should not be remembered as a man of “no” — for resigning the papacy — but as a man of “yes.”
Pope Francis said: “Indeed, there is no other way to accomplish God’s will than by assuming the strength of the humble, there is no other way. Precisely because they are so, the humble appear weak and losers in the eyes of men, but in reality they are the true winners, for they are the only ones who trust completely in the Lord and know his will.”
At the end of the Mass, the crowd prayed the Litany of Saints and watched as Pope Francis made history when he opened the basilica’s Holy Door. According to Cardinal Giuseppe Petrocchi of L’Aquila, Pope Francis is the first pope to open the Holy Door in 728 years.
Visiting cardinals have opened the Holy Door for the Celestinian Forgiveness in past years, after a reading of the bull of forgiveness by the local mayor. Celestine donated the papal bull to L’Aquila, where it is kept in an armored chapel in the tower of the town hall.
The bull of forgiveness drawn up by Celestine V offered a plenary indulgence to all who, having confessed and repented of their sins, go to the Basilica of Santa Maria di Collemaggio from Vespers on Aug. 28 to sunset on Aug. 29. A plenary indulgence is a grace granted by the Catholic Church through the merits of Jesus Christ, Mary, and all the saints to remove the temporal punishment due to sin.
Celestine’s indulgence was exceptional at the time, given it was available to anyone, regardless of status or wealth, and cost nothing except personal repentance at a time when indulgences were often tied to almsgiving.
Pope Francis prays at the tomb of Pope Celestine V in L’Aquila, Italy. Vatican Media
After opening the Holy Door, Pope Francis was wheeled through the basilica to the tomb of Pope Celestine V, where he spent a moment in silent prayer before the relics of his papal predecessor who was declared a saint in 1313.
“In the spirit of the world, which is dominated by pride, today’s Word of God invites us to be humble and meek. Humility does not consist in the devaluation of self, but rather in that healthy realism that makes us recognize our potential and also our miseries,” Pope Francis said.
“Starting precisely from our miseries, humility causes us to look away from ourselves and turn our gaze to God, the One who can do everything and also obtains for us what we cannot have on our own. ‘Everything is possible for those who believe (Mark 9:23).'”
Vatican City, Mar 8, 2020 / 12:00 pm (CNA).- Pope Francis issued a plea to the international community to halt the violence and mounting death toll in the Syrian civil war, now in its ninth year.
Speaking on Sunday during the recitation of the Angelus, the pope said that he had “great apprehension for the inhumane situation of these defenseless people, among whom so many are children whose lives are at risk.”
Since December, Russian and government forces have launched a series of sustained attacks on opposition towns and cities, bringing a new spike in the violence and accompanying humanitarian crisis.
The pope called on the faithful to “come together to express their solidarity with the Syrian people,” especially “those who live in Idlib, and in Northwest Syria.”
The northwestern city of Idlib has been the focus of sustained attacked from forces loyal to President Bashar al Assad. Fighting in the region has displaced nearly 1 million people from their homes since December last year.
Turkish-backed rebels have opposed the Syrian government’s offensive in the province, which is the country’s last rebel-held territory. A cease-fire in the province signed by the leaders of Russia and Turkey went into effect March 6.
On Sunday, Francis asked the international community to make the suffering of the Syrian people a “priority in respect to every other interest,” and insisted the world cannot “look away from this humanitarian crisis.”
The pope led the Sunday Angelus prayer from the library of the Apostolic Palace, via video link, instead from the balcony overlooking St. Peter’s Square. The decision for the pope not to appear in person was taken as Italy and Vatican City worked to respond to the spread of the coronavirus.
Despite the decision, pilgrims still gathered in the square for the prayers, including some holding signs and banners in support of the victims of violence in Syria.
On Saturday, the Vatican also announced that the pope would be saying his daily Mass in the Domus Santa Marta in private, without members of the faithful attending as guests, for at least the next week, and the Wednesday general audience would also be given via video.
The Italian government imposed a strict quarantine March 8 for northern and central regions of Italy, including Milan and Venice.
Most of the 5,883 people who have contracted Covid-19 in Italy have been in the northern regions of the country. The Italian Ministry of Health reported 76 confirmed cases in Rome’s Lazio region on the evening of March 7.
With 233 coronavirus-related deaths in Italy in two weeks — 85 of which have occurred in the past two days — Italy has had the most Covid-19 mortalities outside of China.
Italy’s museums, archaeological sites, concerts, and movie theaters have all been closed until April 3, the Italian Minister of Tourism said March 8. All schools and universities will also remain closed throughout the country until March 15.
Pope Francis also said Sunday that he is “close in prayer to people suffering from the current coronavirus epidemic.”
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