Bishop Mark Hagemoen transferred to Saskatoon diocese

Santiago, Chile, May 30, 2019 / 02:19 pm (CNA).- Fr. Carlos Eugenio Irarrázaval Errazuriz, who was appointed auxiliary bishop of Santiago this month, has apologized to the Jewish community after having made some controversial statements.

Fr. Irarrázaval, a priest of the Archdiocese of Santiago, was appointed an auxiliary bishop of the same local Church May 22. In an interview with CNN Chile the following day, when asked about the role of women in the Church, he said that “we all have to ensure that they can do what they may want to do. Obviously, Jesus Christ marked out for us certain guidelines, and if we want to be the Church of Jesus Christ, we have to be faithful to Jesus Christ.”

“Jewish culture is a male dominated culture to this day,” he continued. “If you see a Jew walking down the street, the woman goes ten steps behind. But Jesus Christ breaks with that pattern. Jesus Christ converses with women, converses with the adulteress, with the Samaritan woman. Jesus Christ let women care for him.”

“It is true that at the Last Supper there was no woman seated at the table, and we also have to respect that. Jesus Christ made choices and he didn’t do it ideologically,” he said.

On May 28, Fr. Irarrázaval expressed his apologies to the Jewish community during a meeting held at the archdiocesan offices with Jewish representatives.

Also present at the meeting were Bishop Celestino Aós Braco, apostolic administrator of Santiago; Bishop Cristián Carlos Roncagliolo Pacheco, a Santiago auxiliary; Fr. José Manuel Arenas; and the rabbis Alejandro Bloch, Samuel Szteinhendler, and Daniel Zang.

The apologies “were received in a spirit of fraternity by the Jewish religious authorities,” a statement from the Archdiocese of Santiago said.

“The encounter allowed us to establish ties of brotherhood with a view to setting out on a path of working together, inspired by the task that, since the promulgation of the Conciliar Declaration Nostra aetate, we carry forward between Jews and the Catholic Church,” the text added.

“Both communities share a biblical heritage that details the relationship of God with men, we have expressed our will to foster a culture of encounter with the intention and the commitment to work together to promote ethical and moral values that inspire that heritage, thus seeking a greater awareness of the presence of God in the world and in our society,” the statement says.

The meeting participants also agreed to establish a joint forum with a view to realizing a collaborative work, in order to grow in friendship and to deepen knowledge of the two communities.

Fr. Irarrázaval also apologized May 29 for using “expressions which troubled and even pained many people.”

“I would like to sincerely ask forgiveness for the suffering and bewilderment that my statements may have caused,” he said in a letter.

“I am committed with the Lord to work for communion in the Church, knowing that synodally we are all builders – women and men – with the richness of our differences, of a more welcoming and inclusive Church,” he concluded.

Fr. Irarrázaval will be consecrated a bishop July 16.

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The Basilica of Our Lady of Zapopan in Zapopan, Mexico. / Andum via Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Guadalajara, Mexico, Oct 6, 2021 / 14:29 pm (CNA).
A bicycle pilgrimage to the Basilica of Our Lady of Zapopan will be made this week by 100 clerics, th… […]

Bogotá, Colombia, Sep 7, 2017 / 01:29 pm (CNA).- During his flight to Colombia Pope Francis received a white rose from a Colombian journalist, recalling his deep devotion to Saint Therese of Lisieux.

On various occasions, Pope Francis has spoken of his custom of asking favors from the saint, and her responses in his view are little “miracles.”

During the papal trip to Colombia Sept. 6, it was the journalist from Caracol Radio, Cesar Moreno, who gave the white rose to the Holy Father.

“When I gave it to him he said ‘Ah, we begin with dear Saint Therese! We’re getting off to a great start.’ So he liked it a lot and looked very happy. I felt very happy and joyful that I had pleased him,” the journalist told CNA.

Moreno said he had consulted “a couple of Argentine friends who knew Francis” about the devotion to Saint Therese of Lisieux, and they told him of “the significance the white rose has for him in moments of difficulty.”

“When they (difficulties) come up, it is said that the Pope thinks and feels that he can face them,” he added.

Moreno told how his mother is also devoted to Saint Therese of Lisieux and so she helped him prepare the gift: “the white rose, the figurine of Saint Therese of  Jesus with her holy card.”

In 2015, when Pope Francis traveled to the Philippines, he revealed that before every trip or a concern of his, he usually asks for “a rose” from Saint Therese of Lisieux, for whom he has a special devotion.

“When I don’t know how things are going to go, I have the custom of asking Saint Therese of the Child Jesus to take the problem into her hands and that she send me a rose,” the Pope told journalists at the time.

Pope Francis’ Sept. 6-11 trip to Colombia follows apostolic visits by two of his predecessors, Bl. Paul VI and St. John Paul II. During his trip, he plans to meet with bishops from the neighboring country of Venezuela, which is facing widespread chaos over government corruption.

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