News Briefs

Vatican City, Feb 28, 2018 / 08:41 am (CNA/EWTN News).- In their latest round of meetings, Pope Francis’ Council of Cardinals discussed several key topics related to episcopal conferences, the need to lower costs inside the Vatican, and efforts to speed up procedures dealing with cases of abuse.

This week’s meetings took place Feb. 26-28 at the Vatican. All members were present except for Cardinal George Pell, prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy, who is in Australia facing charges of past sexual abuse.

Cardinal Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya of Kinshasa from the Democratic Republic of the Congo arrived late due to weather. As usual, Pope Francis was present for all sessions apart from Wednesday morning, when he holds the weekly general audience.

According to a Feb. 28 Vatican communique, the Council of Cardinals – made up of nine prelates from around the world who advise the Pope on matters of Church governance and reform – focused specifically on the theological statue of episcopal conferences.

The cardinals based their discussion on Evangelii Gaudium 32, which states that “Excessive centralization, rather than proving helpful, complicates the Church’s life and her missionary outreach.”

In this spirit, it was suggested that John Paul II’s 1998 motu propio “Apostolos Suos” on the theological and judicial nature of episcopal conferences be re-read, thinking of “the healthy decentralization” of which Pope Francis often speaks.

Discussion also touched on human resources and keeping an eye on containing costs within the Vatican.

Cardinal Reinhard Marx of Munich spoke on the topic of human resources and presented the ongoing work of the Council for the Economy, which falls under the umbrella of the wider Secretariat for the Economy.

Specifically, the council is currently studying proposals to outline the skills of a “control-room” of-sorts for human resources.

According to the Vatican communique, Marx in his presentation also referred to the “positive progress” being made in the area of presenting the Vatican balance sheets, of maintaining costs and reducing the Holy See’s deficit.

In this regard, he said the council has decided to draw up guidelines for the institutions of the Holy See, aimed at reducing cost.

Archbishop Jan Romeo Pawlowski also spoke during the meeting about the progress of the third department of the Secretariat of State, which is tasked with managing the Pope’s diplomatic corps, who are stationed throughout the world. The department, headed by Pawlowski, is named “Section for the Diplomatic Staff.”

Though he’s not a member of the Pope’s advisory council, Cardinal Peter Turkson, head of the dicastery for Integral Human Development, was also present to give an update on the progress of his office and its activities.

Specific mention was made of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, with the cardinals discussing different options to accelerate the process for handling cases of the sexual abuse of minors that come their way.

Other topics discussed were the Congregations for Oriental Churches and the Evangelization of Peoples.

The next round of meetings for the Council of Cardinals is set to take place in Rome April 23-25.

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Vatican City, Feb 28, 2018 / 05:36 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Bishop George Leo Thomas, who until now has led the Diocese of Helena, will be taking the reins in Las Vegas, bringing with him broad pastoral experience and expertise in psychology, mental health issues, mission work and prison ministry.

In the Feb. 28 announcement from the Vatican, it was noted that Bishop Thomas of will be taking over for Bishop Mons. Joseph Anthony Pepe, who has led the Diocese of Las Vegas since 2001, but is now stepping into retirement.

Thomas, 67, was born May 19, 1950 in Anaconda, Mont. as the second oldest of five children. He was raised in Butte where he attended Catholic school, graduating from Christian Brothers High School in 1968.

He received a degree in literature from Carroll College in 1972 before entering St. Thomas Seminary in Washington as a student with the Archdiocese of Seattle. He obtained a master of divinity degree there before being ordained to the priesthood May 22, 1976 in Seattle.

After his ordination, Thomas served in several parishes, including Holy Family Parish in Kirkland and St. James Cathedral in Seattle, where he had been ordained. He also served as parish administrator for Sacred Heart Parish in Bellevue and Holy Innocents Mission in Duvall.

In addition to his pastoral positions, Thomas was also the prison chaplain for the King County Jail and the Seattle City Jail for 12 years. He was chairman of the board of directors for Catholic Community services for 10 years, and also served as chaplain for the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart in Seattle.

Thomas then entered graduate school at the University of Washington in 1981, where he received a master’s degree in counseling and mental health.

In 1986, he obtained a doctorate in philosophy with an emphasis in Pacific Northwest mission history. His dissertation, titled “Catholics and the Missions of the Pacific Northwest,” was given the university’s Gordan C. Lee award.

A year later, Thomas was appointed chancellor and vicar general for the Archdiocese of Seattle. He held the positions for 17 years before being named apostolic administrator for the diocese in 1997, following the death of Archbishop Thomas Murphy.

Thomas was appointed auxiliary bishop for Seattle two years later in 1999, and in March 2004 was tapped to head the Diocese of Helena.

He speaks Spanish and is also a member of the Bishops for the American College in Louvain and  Native-American Catholics committees for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

[…]

Vatican City, Feb 28, 2018 / 04:41 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis said Wednesday that having Mass centered around the altar in commemoration of Jesus’ sacrifice is meant to remind faithful that the cross is the first Christian altar on which Christ made his own offering.

During the Liturgy of the Eucharist, the Church uses various signs to “continually makes present the sacrifice of the new covenant sealed by Jesus on the cross,” the Pope said Feb. 28, adding that “this was the first Christian altar.”

“When we draw close to the altar during Mass, our memory goes to the altar of the cross where the first sacrifice was made,” he said, and encouraged Catholics to reflect on this when they go to Mass.

Pope Francis spoke to pilgrims attending his general audience, which this week was divided into two areas due to the cold temperatures in Rome – the main group was in the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall, while the overflow watched the audience from inside St. Peter’s Basilica, instead of the square outside, where chairs are still dusted with white from Monday’s rare snowfall.

The Pope focused on the Liturgy of the Eucharist as part of his ongoing catechesis on the Mass, noting how during this part the priest celebrating imitates several gestures that Jesus made during the Last Supper: the presentation of the gifts, the Eucharistic Prayer, the breaking of the bread and Communion.

During the presentation of the gifts, Francis said members of the congregation should bring the bread and wine to the priest, “because they signify the spiritual offering of the Church gathered there for the Eucharist.”

Even if they don’t bring their own bread from home as was the custom in the past, “the rite of the presentation of these gifts preserves their spiritual value and meaning.”

In ordination Masses for priests, the bishop gives the new priest the bread and wine, saying “receive the offering of the holy people for the Eucharistic sacrifice,” which is important to remember, Francis said, because in the bread and wine is offered “the commitment of the faithful to make themselves, obedient to the divine word, a sacrifice pleasing to God the omnipotent Father for the good of all his holy Church.”

“Thus, the lives of the faithful, their suffering, their prayer, their work, are united to those of Christ and to his total offering, and in this way they take on a new value.”

While our own offering is small, “Christ needs this little bit – like what happened in the multiplication of the the bread – to transform it into the Eucharistic gift which nourishes and unites everyone in his body which is the Church,” he said.

In off-the-cuff remarks, the Pope noted that God asks us for little, “but he gives us a lot. In daily life he asks us for good will, for an open heart, he asks us to want to be better, and in giving himself in the Eucharist, he asks us for these symbolic gifts, which then become his body and blood.”

A concrete image of the prayer and offerings made during Mass is the use of incense, he said, noting that the perfumed smoke is symbolic of these gifts rising to heaven.

“By incensing the offerings, the cross, the altar, the priest and the people, the priest visibly manifests the offertory bond that unites all these realities to the sacrifice of Christ,” he said, and told attendees to remember that “the first altar is the cross, and on the altar we bring the small gifts we have.”

Francis then noted that after placing the bread and wine on the altar, the celebrant asks God to accept the gifts that the Church has offered, which signifies “the wonderful exchange between our poverty and his wealth.”

“In the bread and wine we present him with the offering of our lives, so that it is transformed by the Holy Spirit in the sacrifice of Christ and becomes with him one offering pleasing to the Father,” he said.

The gift of self made in the Mass, he said, can help bring light to one’s daily activities and relationships, as well as the suffering and joy that might be encountered. This, he said, will help Christians “to build and earthly city in the light of the Gospel.”

Pope Francis closed his audience urging faithful not to forget the altar in Mass always refers to “the first altar of the cross. And to the altar we bring the little we have in our gifts, the bread and wine, which then becomes the abundance that Jesus gives us.”

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Vatican City, Feb 27, 2018 / 03:22 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- During the penitential season of Lent, Pope Francis pointed to confession as the means to true conversion, saying the faithful should approach the sacrament with trust and confidence.

“The … […]