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Francis hopes Ireland visit will bring unity, reconciliation

August 21, 2018 CNA Daily News 0

Vatican City, Aug 21, 2018 / 12:20 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis said in a video message to the Irish people Tuesday he hopes his visit will bring about unity and reconciliation among Christians in the country.

“Although the specific reason for my visit to Ireland is the World Meeting of Families, I would like it to embrace all members of the Irish family,” he said Aug. 21.

“In particular, I pray that it will serve to increase unity and reconciliation among all the faithful of Christ, as a sign of that lasting peace which is God’s dream for the whole human family.”

The pope will travel to Dublin Aug. 25-26 for the conclusion of the World Meeting of Families. In his message, Francis said he was looking forward to being in Ireland again. In 1980, while a priest, Pope Francis spent two months in the country to try to improve his English.

Mostly speaking in Italian, Francis added in English: “I’m excited to think I’ll come back to Ireland!”

The World Meeting of Families is “a celebration of the beauty of God’s plan for the family” and “an opportunity for families from all over the world to meet and support each other in living their special vocation,” he said.

You all know that families today face many challenges, he stated, and voiced his hope that the meeting will be a source of encouragement to families around the world – especially those present in Dublin.

“May we remember the essential place of the family in the life of society and in building a better future for young people,” he said.

The pope also thanked everyone for their work in preparation of his visit and asked for prayers for the meeting to be a moment of “joy and serenity.”

“From my heart, I give you my blessing,” he said, adding in English, “God bless you all. The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.”

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Pope likely to meet with abuse victims in Dublin

August 21, 2018 CNA Daily News 0

Vatican City, Aug 21, 2018 / 08:21 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis is likely to meet with victims of clerical sexual abuse later this week, a papal spokesman announced on Tuesday. The proposed meeting would take place as part of the Holy Father&rsquo… […]

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Pope names long-time Vatican diplomat as deputy of Secretariat of State

August 15, 2018 CNA Daily News 0

Vatican City, Aug 15, 2018 / 04:21 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis Wednesday named Archbishop Edgar Pena Parra, a member of the Vatican diplomatic corp for over 25 years, the ‘sostituto,’ or ‘substitute,’ of the Secretariat of State.

Apostolic nuncio to Mozambique since 2015, Pena will start in the position of substitute Oct. 15, according to a Vatican statement Aug. 15.

Pena, 58, began diplomatic service to the Holy See on April 1, 1993, and has served in Kenya, Yugoslavia, the United Nations Office in Geneva, and in apostolic nunciatures in South Africa, Honduras, and Mexico. He was nuncio to Pakistan from 2001 to 2014.

Born in Maracaibo, Venezuela, he was ordained a priest in 1985, and made a bishop in 2011. He studied canon law and speaks Spanish, Italian, English, French, Portuguese and Serbo-Croatian.

Pena takes over the position from Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu, who resigned June 29 in anticipation of beginning his assignment as prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints later this summer.

Becciu, 70, who was elevated to the cardinalate June 28, served in the Secretariat of State, under both Benedict XVI and Pope Francis, beginning in 2011. He will start at the congregation for saints Aug. 31.

It is yet unknown if Pena will join Pope Francis as part of the papal entourage on his trip to Dublin Aug. 25-26.

The Secretariat of State is the central governing office of the Catholic Church and the department of the Roman Curia which works most closely with the pope.

Since the publication of Pastor Bonus, Pope John Paul II’s 1988 apostolic constitution which introduced a reform of the Roman Curia, the Secretariat of State has been divided into two sections: the Section for General Affairs and the Section for Relations with States.

The substitute, who must be a bishop, acts as head of the Section for General Affairs, which is responsible for the everyday affairs and service of the pope, including overseeing the facilitation of appointments within the Roman Curia, the duties and activity of representatives of the Holy See, and the concerns of embassies accredited to the Holy See.

Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher is the secretary for Relations with States, often described as the Vatican’s “foreign minister.”

As of November 2017, Pope Francis established a third section of the Secretariat, specifically to oversee the Vatican’s diplomatic corps, stationed around the world.

Archbishop Jan Romeo Pawlowski is at the helm of the third section, called the “Section for Diplomatic Staff.” Previously apostolic nuncio to Gabon, in 2015 Pawlowski was appointed head of the Office for Pontifical Representations, a sort of human resources office within the Secretariat of State.

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