Vatican

Vatican City, Jun 15, 2017 / 12:30 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The Vatican section on Migrants and Refugees met this week with Church leaders from around the world to hear about the challenges of migration faced in different parts of the world and to work on the Church’s contribution to a UN global compact on the topic.

According to a press statement ahead of the event, the private meetings, held June 12-13 in the Vatican, included some 40 leaders “directly involved in the protection of migrants and refugees’ rights and in the fight against human trafficking.”

This session “is the first time that our new Migrants and Refugees section has had the chance to consult with leaders of the Church throughout the world, from all the different continents, from the various major bishops’ conferences, and from some national conferences,” Fr. Michael Czerny told CNA June 13.

“So we’ve had our first chance to take a look at the world situation of refugees and migrants through the eyes of those who are most concerned in the Church.”

Jesuit Fr. Michael Czerny is secretary of the new Dicastery for the Promotion of Integral Human Development, which went into effect Jan. 1, 2017, and includes a special section on migrants and refugees currently headed by the Pope himself.

The meetings provided the opportunity for collaboration, and to hear and learn from different perspectives. “I think we’re united in our common care, our common concern, but we’re just as anxious to hear what the different situations are in reality,” he said.

“For example, there were moments when we were concerned about how migrants were arriving, and there were bishops saying, yes, but why aren’t you asking why they are leaving? It’s not that one is the right question, and the other is the wrong, but from different points of view, different questions are vital.”

Another aim of the session was to begin the process of creating a working document for the Church’s participation in the United Nations global compact on migration, which will be the first agreement negotiated between governments covering all dimensions of international migration.

The UN process began in April 2017 and will conclude with an intergovernmental conference on international migration at the end of 2018 with the intention of adoption the compact.

“These points that we’ve discussed for two days,” Fr. Czerny said, “are the points that we will be urging upon the governments of the world, and upon the United Nations, so that the compact on migrants will be as open, as dignified, as effective, as possible.”

Among the points discussed are pastoral issues concerning migrants, refugees, displaced persons, asylum seekers and victims of trafficking. In addition to the UN project, they will likely be shared as well in departmental publications and messages of the Holy Father, he said.

This meeting was important, Fr. Czerny continued, because the Church “cares very deeply about those who are forced to flee, whatever the reason, and for those who are victims of human trafficking.”

“And if we can help in some way or another, that these people have an easier time of it, that they have less suffering, or encounter fewer obstacles, that they are safe and secure and can live their lives happily and productively – that’s bringing the Gospel, that’s bringing the Good News to people, and we’re happy to do that.”

[…]

Vatican City, Jun 14, 2017 / 06:31 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis and the Council of Cardinals held their 20th round of meetings in Rome this week, continuing their work on reform of the Roman Curia, including the discussion of ways the Curia can be… […]

Vatican City, Jun 14, 2017 / 03:47 am (CNA/EWTN News).- On Wednesday, Pope Francis said that God’s love isn’t something we earn or deserve by our good works, but that it is free and unconditional – no matter what.

“God’s first step towards us is that of an anticipated and unconditional love. God loves first,” Pope Francis said June 14.

“God does not love us because there is some reason that causes love. God loves us because He Himself is love, and love tends to spread and give by its nature. God does not even tie his benevolence to our conversion: if anything this is a consequence of God’s love.”

“Saint Paul says it perfectly,” he continued: “‘God demonstrates his love for us in the fact that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us’ (Rm 5:8).”

“None of us can live without love,” the Pope said, but to believe that love is earned is to fall into a type of slavery. “Perhaps much of the anguish of contemporary man comes from this: to believe that unless we are strong, attractive and beautiful, then no one will take care of us.”

“Behind such seemingly inexplicable behavior arises a question,” he continued: “is it possible that I do not deserve to be called by name? That is, to be loved?”

Pope Francis reflected on this question during the general audience Wednesday, considering what it is like when we do not recognize that we are loved and cherished by God or the people around us, especially as children.

“Many people today,” he said, “look for visibility only to fill an inner void: as if we were people eternally in need of confirmation. But, imagine it, a world where everyone begs for reasons to attract the attention of others, and no one is willing to love one another for free?”

“Imagine a world like this: a world without the freedom to love! It looks like a humane world, but in reality it is a living hell.”

How much selfish and narcissistic behavior comes about because of this loneliness? he asked. When a child is not loved or does not feel loved, he said, this is when in adolescence they can start to act out, or even become violent. Behind this behavior “is often a heart that has not been recognized.”

What can we do to help people know they are loved by God? Francis said that when love is given and received freely between people, even in just a simple look or smile, this is what transforms sadness and loneliness into happiness and joy.

An exchange of glance, of smiles, has the power to open those closed in sadness, he said. By looking someone in the eyes, we can open the doors of someone’s heart.

“What can make us happy if not the experience of love given and received?” he said,

Just like in the story of the Prodigal Son, fathers and mothers are often one of the greatest examples of a Christ-like love on earth, the Pope pointed out, explaining how he has known many mothers with children in prison, who continue day after day to visit them, never ceasing “to suffer for her child.”

Parents love their children even when they are sinners and “God does the same thing with us: we are his beloved children! But is it possible God has some children he does not love? No. We are all God’s beloved children.”

“In Him, in Christ Jesus, we have been loved, beloved, desired. There is Someone who has engraved in us a primordial beauty, that no sin, no wrong choice will ever erase completely.”

Because of the heat, Pope Francis began the audience by stopping to greet the sick and their families in the Pope Paul VI hall, where they could watch and hear the audience on screens, but inside the air-conditioned building.

“But we all remain together connected by the Holy Spirit, who is the one who always creates unity,” he said.

Concluding, Francis asked the crowd: “What is the medicine to change the heart of a person who is not happy?” “Love!” the crowd responded. “Stronger!” he said. “Love!” they shouted louder. “Very good, very good, everyone,” the Pope said smiling.

[…]

Vatican City, Jun 13, 2017 / 02:09 pm (CNA).- Philosopher Nigel Biggar, who backs legal abortion, is among the 45 new appointments to the Pontifical Academy for Life, according to a statement on the Vatican website.
 
Biggar, the Regius Professor … […]

Vatican City, Jun 13, 2017 / 02:08 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- On Tuesday the Vatican announced that Carl A. Anderson, Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus, has been appointed by Pope Francis as a member of the Pontifical Academy for Life.

“I am honored to have been appointed to the Pontifical Academy for Life by Pope Francis. The issue of the sanctity of life has been a priority for the Knights of Columbus, and for me personally,” Anderson said in a statement June 13.

Anderson said that in their work they have taken Pope Francis’ words in Laudato si’ and Evangelii gaudium as a guide, that “among the vulnerable for whom the Church wishes to care with particular love and concern are unborn children, the most defenseless and innocent among us.”

“I look forward to working with Pope Francis and the Pontifical Academy for Life in supporting an authentic human ecology and building a culture of life based on a proper understanding of the right to life and the dignity of each person,” he concluded.

The Statues of the Pontifical Academy for Life, revised every five years, were last revised Nov. 5, 2016, leading to the Pope’s usual review and confirmation of current members, as well as new appointments.

As head of the Knights of Columbus, Anderson is the chief executive officer and chairman of the board. He was elected supreme knight in 2000, and earlier served as supreme secretary and state deputy of the District of Columbia.

He was first appointed to the Pontifical Academy for Life in 1998 by St. John Paul II.

The Knights of Columbus, a Catholic fraternal order, was founded in New Haven, Conn., in 1882 by Venerable Michael J. McGivney, a parish priest. It has 1.8 million members worldwide who perform volunteer service and advance the order’s key principles of charity, unity, fraternity and patriotism.

The Pontifical Academy for Life is a team of scientists and ethicists representing different branches of biomedical sciences who are appointed by the Holy Father to work with Vatican dicasteries to discuss issues related to science and the protection of the dignity of human life.

In total, Pope Francis has either appointed or confirmed 50 members to the Academy.

Those also from the U.S. are: John M. Haas, president of the National Catholic Bioethics Center in Philadelphia; Kathleen M. Foley, M.D., attending neurologist in the Pain and Palliative Care Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and professor of neurology, neuroscience, and clinical pharmacology at Weill Cornell Medicine of Cornell University; Ignatius John Keown, professor of Christian ethics at Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.; and Daniel Sulmasy, professor of bioethics at Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.

Other lay members named to the Academy are: Etsuko Akiba; Niggel Biggar; Francesco D’Agostino; Bruno Dallapiccola; Jokin de Irala Estevez; Mounir Abdel Messih Shehata Farag; Rodrigo Guerre Lopez; Alicja Grzeskowiak; Mohamed Haddad; Kostantinos Kornarakis; Katarina Le Blanc; Alain F. G. Lejeune; Jean-Marie Le Mene; Mónica Lopex Barahona; Ivan Luts; Manfred Lutz; Anne-Marie Pelletier; Adrian Messina; Alejandro César Serani Merlo; Avraham Steinberg; Jaroslav Sturma; William F. Sullivan; Fernando Szlajen; Marie-Jo Thiel; Angelo Vescovi; Alberto Villani; Shinya Yamanaka; and René Zamora Marin.

Clergy named are: Archbishop Anthony Colin Fisher of Sydney (Australia); Fr. Aníbal Gil Lopes; Bishop Daniel Nlandu Mayi of Matadi (Democratic Republic of the Congo); Mons. Luño Ángel Rodriguez; Bishop Noël Simard of Valleyfield (Canada); Mons. Jacques Koudoubi Simpore; Fr. Tomi Thomas; Bishop Alberto German Bochatey, auxiliary bishop of La Plata (Argentina); Fr. Maurizio Chiodi; Archbishop Fernando Natalio Chomali Garib of Concepcion (Chile); Fr. Roberto Colombo; and Cardinal Willem Jacobus Eijk of Utrecht (Netherlands).

The Pope has also named and confirmed five honorary members of the Academy: Cardinal Carlo Caffarra, archbishop emeritus of Bologna, past president of the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family; Bishop lgnacio Carrasco de Paula, president emeritus of the Pontifical Academy for Life (Spain); Birthe Lejeune, vice president of the Jéróme Lejeune Foundation, Paris; widow of the first president of the Pontifical Academy for Life, the Servant of God Jérôme Lejeune; Cardinal Elio Sgreccia, president emeritus of the Pontifical Academy for Life; President of the International Federation of Centers and Institutes of Bioethics of the Personalist School, President of the Ut Vitam Habeant Foundation (Vatican City); and Juan de Dios Vial Correa, president emeritus of the Pontifical Academy for Life and rector emeritus of the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago de Chile (Chile).

[…]

Vatican City, Jun 13, 2017 / 06:08 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The last meeting of the head of dicasteries of the Roman Curia took place last May 29. Among other issues, the meeting discussed the possibility of priests being incardinated directly into ecclesial movements rather than into a diocese.

 
Pope Francis made the issue a central topic of his regular meeting with the head of dicasteries, though these kind of meetings usually deal with topics related to the government and the organization of the Roman Curia.

Via “incardination,” a member of the clergy is placed under the jurisdiction of a bishop or, in the case of a religious, an ecclesiastical superior.

Aside from dioceses and religious institutes, only personal prelatures and ordinariates can incardinate priests.

Some ecclesial movements have been asking for some time to have priests directly incardinated.

The request of the movements is based on the fact that there are priests whose vocation is born and nurtured within a specific ecclesial movement.

According to their argument, these priests should not be bound to a diocese, and should be free to live their vocation within the movement, moving from place to place according to the needs or the requests of their particular movement.

Under the current situation, bishops and the priests of movements who are under their jurisdiction have had to find a balance between the movement’s charism and the needs of the diocese.

During the May 29 meeting, Pope Francis largely listened, and did not express an opinion. However, his thought may be deduced from his recent words in other contexts.
 
At a meeting on April 27 with Catholic Action – a movement founded in Italy 150 years ago – the Pope
said the movement’s charism is “profoundly incarnate in the here and now of every diocesan Church,” and that it “takes on true vigour by responding to, and making its own, the pastoral outreach of each diocesan Church.”

“Nor can you be like those groups that are so universal that they are not based anywhere, answer to no one, and are always on the lookout for what they suits them wherever they go,” he told them.

Pope Francis reiterated the importance of dioceses a month later, during his May 27 visit to Genoa.

Speaking with the clergy and religious of the city, Pope Francis underscored the importance for charisms of staying attached to the concrete realities of a diocese or project.

While a congregation might be “universal” in the sense that it has houses throughout the world, the “concreteness” of involvement in the diocese helps give the order “roots,” allowing it to remain and also to grow as they see different needs come up, he reflected.
 
The incardination of priests to movements would have a significant impact on such groups as the Focolare Movement, Communion and Liberation, Cançao Nova, or Shalom.
 
Some have speculated that the Neocatecumenal Way might also benefit from the possibility of incardinating its own priests.
 
The incardination problem in fact leaves open several questions: if a priest is directly incardinated in the movement, will he refer to a bishop or to the leader of the movement? And what happens if the leader is a lay person?
 
Cardinal Gerhard Müller, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, said at a book presentation June 1 that the incardination issue “is not about building parallel Churches. It is rather a matter of working together. We are called to a further reflection, being very careful not to lose the Church’s sacramental structure.”
 
Cardinal Müller hinted at the possibility of a communion of movements. The need, however, is to make it evident that priests are of the Church and not of the movements. Otherwise, the same movements risk to remain closed to the universal Church.
 
Referring to the possibility of a community of movements, Cardinal Müller talked about charismatic movements, which “can enrich the Church with their spirituality, with the tradition of the territories they live in, with choosing a certain spirituality. This spirituality must anyway favor the Church. It must not be stuck in the temptation to stay within a group, to build a too much enclosed and selective identity. Masses are not private. They must be open to all Catholics.”

[…]

Vatican City, Jun 13, 2017 / 04:35 am (CNA/EWTN News).- In his message for the first World Day of the Poor, Pope Francis said that the suffering and broken bodies of the poor are where we encounter the body of Christ – and to know Christ we must … […]

Vatican City, Jun 13, 2017 / 12:04 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis sent a letter last week to the Latin American Parliament as they discuss migration in the region, encouraging governments to protect all who reside in their territory regardless of their origin.

“As members of a large family, we must work to place the ‘person’ at the centre; this is not a mere number or an abstract entity but a brother or sister who needs our help and a friendly hand,” the Pope wrote in his June 7 letter to the Latin American Parliament, which is holding its 33rd General Assembly.

The assembly of representatives from 23 Latin American and Caribbean countries is meeting to discuss migration in the region and international responses.

Francis offered his congratulations to the parliament “on this initiative that aims to help and make life more dignified for those who, having a homeland, regrettably do not find in their countries adequate conditions of security and subsistence” and are forced to flee.

The Pope’s message highlighted three themes: reality, dialogue, and commitment. He explained how each of these can be oriented toward developing effective humanitarian aid for migrant peoples.

Speaking about his first chosen word, “reality,” Francis emphasized knowing the causes of migration.

“This requires not only analysis of this situation from ‘the study desk,’” he said, “but also in contact with people, that is to say with real faces.” He warned against an “aseptic analysis” which “produces sterile measurements,” instead encouraging the parliament to pursue “a relationship with a person in the flesh helps us to perceive the deep scars that he carries with him, caused by the reason, or unreason, of migration.”

Francis expressed hope that the assembly would produce “valid responses for migrants and host countries,” as well as security which is based in reality.

“Dialogue is indispensable in this work,” Francis explained. “One cannot work in isolation; we all need each other.”

He condemned the “throwaway culture,” calling instead for member nations to work for approaches which welcome migrants fairly and efficiently. He emphasized the need for unity in dialogue, saying that attaining “a consensus between the parties is a ‘craft;’ a meticulous, almost imperceptible task but essential for shaping agreements and regulations.”

“Dialogue is essential to foster solidarity with those who have been deprived of their fundamental rights,” Francis said.

Speaking on commitment, the Pope cautioned against spending too much energy “on the detailed analysis and the debate of ideas,” saying instead that a solution must be sought.

“Latin America and the Caribbean have an important international role and the opportunity to become key players in this complex situation,” he said.

He emphasized the need for mid-term as well as long-term planning so that aid can extend beyond emergency responses. This, he said, will allow for migrants’ integration into their new nations and, assistance in the lands they fled.

Francis called special attention to the needs of children in this struggle, recalling their “right to be children,” and once more spoke out against human trafficking, which he described as a “scourge.”

He acknowledged the enormity of the work, saying that “we need men and women of good will who, with their concrete commitment, can respond to this ‘cry.’”

“I urge national governments to assume their responsibilities to all those residing in their territory,” the Pope said, “and I reiterate the commitment of the Catholic Church, through the presence of the local and regional Churches, to responding to this wound.”

In closing, Pope Francis encouraged the assembly in their work on this crisis, and prayed for the intercession of the Holy Virgin, recalling the Holy Family’s flight to Egypt. He asked for the prayers of the assembly, and asked God to bless them.

[…]

Vatican City, Jun 12, 2017 / 04:03 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- In order to foster collegiality, Pope Francis has added to the usual schedule of bishops’ ad limina visit to Rome: one additional meeting with the heads of the Vatican dicasteries.

The ad limina apostolorum – “to the tomb of the apostles” – visits are the meetings that groups of bishops from each ecclesiastical region in the world have with the Pope every five years. In such occasions they also visit and celebrate Mass at the tombs of St. Peter and St. Paul.
 
Before meeting the Pope, the bishops from a particular country or region visit all the dicasteries Vatican dicasteries and can schedule personal meetings with the head of each dicastery to discuss particular matters.

During such visits, bishops’ conferences prepare exhaustive reports for each dicastery, describing the status of the Church in the country or region.
 
Before Pope Francis, the meeting of the bishops with the Pope included an exchange of speeches: the president of the bishops’ conference delivered a speech to describe the state of the region, and the Pope delivered a speech in his turn which provided pastoral recommendations and priorities.
 
After the exchange of speeches, the Pope held a short conversation with each bishop individually.
 
But since the beginning of his pontificate, Pope Francis chose the format of an open conversation with the whole group of bishops. All of them are allowed to ask questions, and the Pope responds off the cuff.
 
The Pope also prepared a formal speech, a copy of which was provided to each bishop.
 
With time, even the delivery of the papal speech fell into disuse. Now, no official papal text is prepared and therefore the press only knows of the matters discussed during the visit from the bishops who attended it.
 
Pope Francis has made an additional, recent change: the bishops have now a meeting presided over by Pope Francis with many heads of the Vatican dicasteries.

Not all the heads of Vatican dicasteries take part in the meeting, but only those whose dicasteries are in some way related to pastoral care or some of the main issues at stake in the ecclesiastical region visiting Rome.

Bishop Thomas Dowd, auxiliary bishop of Montreal, told CNA that “for the first time with our group, the Pope met twice with the bishops: before in a meeting with several heads of the Vatican dicasteries, and after for the usual exchange of opinions, which lasted about two hours.”

Bishop Dowd described it as a working meeting which included representatives from the Secretariat of State, the Congregation for Clergy, the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization, and the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life.

Thanks to provided translation, the Pope, prefect, and bishops of Quebec had “an open exchange of opinions about the Church in the region and its needs. We got advice from the Curia. We gave our input to them, the Curia officials gave their input to us.”

Bishop Dowd added that “the Pope listened to us, and we had coffee together at the end.”

The auxiliary bishop of Montreal recounted: “The Pope basically said: ‘We want to hear from you about what is your situation. Tell us your experience’. The various dicasteries had prepared remarks based on the reports that we sent in advance to the ad limina visit.”

He added that, as the discussion went on, “some of the dicasteries read the texts they prepared, but most of them did not read the texts, but reacted to the experiences raised during the open discussion.”

During the meeting, Pope Francis listened attentively to all the discussions. He spoke at the end, to summarize the discussions and provide an overall reaction.

The bishops of Peru followed next in May, with the same new extra meeting.
 
Archbishop José Antonio Eguren Anselmi of Piura told CNA that the double meeting, first with the heads of the dicasteries and then only with the bishops “gives great attention to the local Churches, since we have the possibility to spend at least four hours with the Pope.”

[…]

Vatican City, Jun 12, 2017 / 12:14 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Consolation is never self-reliant, Pope Francis said during Mass on Monday, noting it is only possible to receive the Lord’s encouragement through another.

“No one can console himself, no one – and whoever tries to do it ends up looking into the mirror – staring into the mirror and trying to ‘make oneself up,’” said the Pope during his June 12 Mass at the chapel of the Vatican’s Casa Santa Marta.

“The experience of consolation, which is a spiritual experience, always needs ‘someone else’ in order to be full.”

He reflected on the day’s readings, in which Saint Paul described the need for the Lord’s consolation in his second letter to the Corinthians, and the Beatitudes in the Gospel of Matthew.

He said the “doctors of the law” will not have true consolation because they are the ones who console themselves. “One ‘consoles’ with these closed things that do not let one grow,” he said, “and the air that one breathes is that narcissistic air of self-reference.”

This narcissism never allows for growth or a view of the entire picture, he explained.

Pope Francis said consolation is always from the Lord, and is a two-fold process: receiving a gift and serving others. He said “consolation is a state of transition from the gift received to the service given.”  

Consolation must begin with a recognition of one’s own need, he said, explaining that “only then does the Lord come console us, and give us the mission to console others. It is not easy to have one’s heart open to receive the gift and to serve.”

He said an open heart is a happy one because it relies on the Lord, and he reflected on the receptive spirit described in Beatitudes.

“The poor: the heart is opened with an attitude of poverty, of poverty of spirit; those who know how to cry, the meek ones, the meekness of heart; those hungry for justice who fight for justice; those who are merciful, who have mercy on others; the pure of heart; peace-makers and those who are persecuted for justice, for love of righteousness.”

“Thus is the heart opened and [then] the Lord comes with the gift of consolation and the mission of consoling others,” Francis stated.

The Pope contrasted it to the men with closed hearts, who find themselves sufficient: “those who do not need to cry because they feel they are in the right.” He said these men do not understand meekness, mercy, or forgiveness, and in turn they cannot serve others in the same way.

He asked his audience to reflect on how open their hearts are to be able to ask for consolation and then to pass it on to their neighbors.

Ending with words of encouragement, he said the Lord always aims to console us and “asks us to open the doors of our hearts even only just a little bit.”

[…]