Unless the Ukrainian army’s current counteroffensive ends in clear-cut victory for either Ukraine or Russia—an outcome that seems unlikely at the moment—it is possible, though hardly certain, that conditions then will finally exist for a […]
Cardinal Matteo Zuppi and U.S. President Joe Biden. / Credit: Roberto Serra/Iguana Press/Getty Images and Niall Carson/Pool/Getty Images
Washington D.C., Jul 19, 2023 / 10:07 am (CNA).
Italian Cardinal Matteo Zuppi met with President Joe Biden … […]
President of the Italian Bishops’ Conference Cardinal Matteo Maria Zuppi (center) attends the consistory for the creation of new cardinals at St. Peter’s Basilica on Aug. 27, 2022, in Vatican City. / Photo by Franco Origlia/Getty Images
Rome Newsroom, Jul 17, 2023 / 05:25 am (CNA).
Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, the Italian prelate tasked by Pope Francis to head a peace mission between Ukraine and Russia, is traveling to Washington, D.C. this week, the Vatican announced.
The cardinal’s visit comes only weeks after the Biden administration announced it was sending an additional $800 million in weapons to aid Ukraine’s counteroffensive — including morally problematic “cluster bombs” that have been banned by most countries, including the Holy See.
Zuppi, who has already visited both Ukraine and Russia, will be in the U.S. capital from July 17-19 and will be accompanied by an official from the Vatican’s Secretariat of State.
“The visit will take place in the context of the peace promotion mission in Ukraine and aims to exchange ideas and views on the current tragic situation and to support humanitarian initiatives to alleviate the suffering of the most affected and most fragile people, especially children,” read the Vatican statement announcing Cardinal Zuppi’s visit.
The Vatican has not disclosed with whom Zuppi will meet during his three-day visit.
The United States has been a major provider of military support to Ukraine since the country was invaded by Russia on Feb. 24, 2022. To date, the U.S. has sent $41.3 billion in military aid to the Eastern European country, according to the U.S. Department of Defense.
The latest round of support has drawn criticism from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), as well as bishops conferences from other countries, for its inclusion of cluster bombs in the military package. Cluster bombs present an especially grave threat to civilians given that they impact indiscriminately large areas and often do not explode until long after impact.
One hundred twenty-three countries signed the 2008 Convention on Cluster Bombs, which explicitly bans the use, transfer, production, and stockpiling of the munitions. The U.S., however, along with Russia and Ukraine, are not signatories of the convention.
In a statement following the Biden administration’s announcement, Bishop David Malloy, head of the USCCB’s international justice and peace committee, underscored that the U.S. bishops have long advocated the U.S. government to sign the convention.
“Pope Francis has addressed the conventions on antipersonnel mines and cluster munitions, exhorting all countries to commit to these conventions ‘so that there are no more mine victims,’” Malloy wrote.
“While recognizing Ukraine’s right to self-defense, we must continue to pray for dialogue and peace,” he added. “I join with our Holy Father in supporting and sharing in his moral concern and aspiration.”
Cardinal Zuppi has played a prominent role in promoting peace between Ukraine and Russia since Pope Francis asked him in May to lead a peace mission on behalf of the Vatican. The cardinal, who is the archbishop of Bologna and the president of the Italian bishops’ conference, has strong ties to the influential peace-building community Sant’Egidio, a lay Catholic association that has taken part in peace negotiations in many countries including Mozambique, South Sudan, Congo, Burundi, and the Central African Republic.
As part of his peace mission, he visited Kyiv June 5-6, meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other political and religious leaders. The papal envoy then visited Moscow from June 28-29, a trip that included a meeting with Patriarch Kirill, the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church.
Cardinal Matteo Maria Zuppi, archbishop of Bologna, during a consistory Oct. 5, 2019. / Daniel Ibanez/CNA.
Vatican City, Jun 27, 2023 / 06:00 am (CNA).
The Vatican announced Tuesday that Cardinal Matteo Zuppi will visit Moscow this week as part… […]
Pope Francis’ envoy to Ukraine Cardinal Matteo Zuppi on June 6, 2023, finished a “brief but intense” two-day visit to Kyiv, which included a meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. / Credit: Vatican News/YouTube
CNA Newsroom, Jun 6, 2023 / … […]
Cardinal Matteo Zuppi of Bologna, Italy. / Francesco Pierantoni from Bologna, Italy – Premio Colombe d’oro per la pace via Wikimedia (CC BY 2.0).
Rome Newsroom, Jun 5, 2023 / 07:55 am (CNA).
Cardinal Matteo Zuppi arrived in Kyiv on Monday to ca… […]
Cardinal Matteo Maria Zuppi, archbishop of Bologna, was made a cardinal during the consistory of Oct. 5, 2019. / Daniel Ibanez/CNA.
Rome Newsroom, May 20, 2023 / 11:46 am (CNA).
Cardinal Matteo Zuppi has been asked by Pope Francis to head a pea… […]
Press conference held by the Italian bishops’ conference on Nov. 17, 2022 to present a national report on the protection of minors within Italy’s 226 Catholic dioceses. / YouTube Screenshot
Rome Newsroom, Nov 17, 2022 / 05:40 am (CNA).
Catholic bishops in Italy released a national report on Thursday evaluating the recent implementation of diocesan services to aid victims of abuse across the country.
The report published on Nov. 17 provided data from 90 listening centers and on the establishment of other resources for the protection of minors within Italy’s 226 Catholic dioceses. Its scope was limited to the two-year period from 2020 to 2021, years when lockdowns in Italy restricted movement and in-person gatherings.
The Italian bishops have said that the release of the report represents “the immediate and concrete implementation” of Pope Francis’ call in April for the Protection of Minors to produce an annual report on what the Catholic Church is doing around the world to prevent the abuse of minors and vulnerable adults.
The report found that 70% of dioceses in Italy had set up counseling centers and that nearly 20,000 people participated in diocesan training sessions on child protection in 2020 and 2021.
The data from the diocesan listening centers included 13 reports of sexual harassment, 21 reports of “touching,” 4 reports of pornography, and 9 reports of “sexual relations” across Italy over the two-year period with a total of 89 people who reported the violations.
According to the report, 68 alleged offenders were defined as 30 clerics, 23 laypeople, and 15 religious and the alleged incidents took place mainly at the parish (33%), at the headquarters of a movement or association (21%), or in a seminary (11.9%).
The first national report on the protection of minors in the Catholic Church in Italy was prepared by the Piacenza branch of the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart.
It was released one day ahead of Italy’s National Day of Prayer for Victims and Survivors of Abuse. The Italian bishops established the day of prayer to align with the European Day for the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse established by the Council of ‘Europe on November 18, 2020.
Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, the president of the Italian bishops’ conference, has said that the bishops also plan to issue a separate national report on clerical sex abuse in the country that would cover abuse in the Catholic Church in Italy from the year 2000 to 2021. According to Reuters, Zuppi said that this future report will be carried out “in collaboration with independent research institutes.”
Zuppi said in May that the consequences for bishops found to have covered up abuse would be “very serious.”
President of the Italian Bishops’ Conference Cardinal Matteo Maria Zuppi (center) attends the consistory for the creation of new cardinals at St. Peter’s Basilica on Aug. 27, 2022, in Vatican City. / Photo by Franco Origlia/Getty Images
Rome Newsroom, Oct 31, 2022 / 10:00 am (CNA).
The head of the Italian bishops’ conference, Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, presided over Vespers on Friday for an annual Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) pilgrimage to Rome.
The pilgrimage is named after Pope Benedict XVI’s 2007 apostolic letter Summorum Pontificum, which acknowledged the right of all priests to offer Mass according to the 1962 Roman Missal, which is in Latin.
The Traditional Latin Mass pilgrimage, organized by the People of Summorum Pontificum, is in its 11th year.
In other words, it predates the recent restrictions and changes decreed by Pope Francis, and Zuppi made it clear: There are no special “signs” to be interpreted by his attendance.
Zuppi, 67, said he had received an invitation to participate before he was appointed president of the Italian Bishops’ Conference. He agreed to it, “not thinking there was anything wrong.”
Nonetheless, Zuppi’s participation in the pilgrimage, which brings to Rome thousands of pilgrims who favor the Traditional Latin Mass, had a particular, if not surprising, impact.
The pilgrimage over the years has seen several cardinals and archbishops celebrate for the numerous pilgrims.
Cardinal Antonio Cañizares Llovera celebrated with the pilgrims in 2012 in St. Peter’s Basilica when he was prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship.
Yet, Cañizares — who recently retired as archbishop of Valencia, Spain — was among those who practically applied Pope Francis’ motu proprio Traditionis Custodes to the letter, suspending the celebration of the TLM in his archdiocese.
Traditionis custodes is the July 16, 2021, motu proprio in which Pope Francis placed sweeping restrictions on the celebration of Mass using the 1962 Roman Missal, known variously as the extraordinary form of the Roman Rite, the Tridentine Mass, and the Traditional Latin Mass. (You can read a further explanation of the document here.)
While some bishops, such as Cañizares, applied the restrictions to the letter, Zuppi, in his archdiocese of Bologna, found a pragmatic solution.
The cleric, who has a reputation as the “bicycling cardinal,” also took into account the particular sensitivity of the faithful of the diocese.
In a decree, Zuppi noted that a traditional community had immediately started in Bologna after Summorum Pontificum and that this celebration had already met the requirements of Traditionis Custodes.
So the cardinal decided to keep everything as it was — except to find another non-parish church — allowing the faithful to attend the Traditional Latin Mass.
Indeed, Zuppi emphasized that “the liturgical tradition has given an unmistakable mark to our local Church. It is a garden to be cultivated with renewed love and passion without ever resigning ourselves to weariness and laziness, which — even when they do not degenerate into abuses — end up weakening the formidable strength of the liturgy from which the Church is born and always is built.”
Zuppi’s decision should not come as a surprise, considering that as a bishop, he also accepted invitations to celebrate the TLM.
His participation in this year’s Summorum Pontificum pilgrimage was to be expected.
Recently, Zuppi also visited the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest (ICKSP) in Gricigliano, near Florence.
The ICKSP also celebrates the Traditional Latin Mass, and Zuppi was reportedly impressed by the many seminarians.
While an experienced pastor and much-respected bishop, Zuppi is not considered a “traditionalist” or “conservative” and is known for his active support of the Community of Sant’Egidio.
His tendency to act as a builder of bridges is also noticeable in a fragmented College of Cardinals.
Pope Francis appointed Zuppi as a member of the Dicastery of the Eastern Churches. He is already a member of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development. The archbishop of Bologna, therefore, increases his duties in the Curia, becoming a member of a very important dicastery.
Do all these moves make Zuppi a candidate for the succession of Pope Francis? That is idle speculation. How the cardinal-electors might decide in a possible conclave remains to be seen.
The only tangible fact is that Zuppi does not want to be divisive. Instead, he is building bridges — which might yet prove to be an essential role in a Church marred by tensions and divisions.
null / Edward Pentin.
Rome, Italy, Oct 29, 2022 / 11:00 am (CNA).
The head of the Italian bishops’ conference, Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, presided over Vespers on Friday for an annual Traditional Latin Mass pilgrimage in Rome.The three-day Rome pil… […]
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