Vatican City, Sep 23, 2016 / 11:03 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Changes to the regulations for confirming alleged miracles during the causes of saints aim to preserve the scientific rigor of the examination and maintain its distinction from matters of theology, it was announced Friday. The changes, which were approved by Pope Francis Aug. 24, were announced by the Vatican Sept. 23. They concern the professional secrecy of the proceedings regarding presumed miracles and hold that a supermajority of two-thirds (five out of seven, or four out of six) of the votes from members of the Medical Board must be positive for the cause to continue to the next step. Previously, only a simple majority of medical experts acknowleding a supernatural healing was required. The changes also stipulate that the medical experts will receive their remuneration only through bank transfer – not cash. “The purpose of the Regulation can be none other than the good of the Causes, which can never neglect the historical and scientific truth of the alleged miracles,” Archbishop Marcello Bartolucci, Secretary of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, wrote regarding the changes. “Just as it is necessary for the legal checks to be complete, convergent and reliable, it is also necessary that their study be performed with serenity, objectivity and sure competence by highly specialised medical experts.” “This Regulation obviously concerns only the good functioning of the Medical Board, whose task appears increasingly delicate, demanding and, thanks be to God, appreciated both inside and outside the Church.” Archbishop Bartolucci added, “Always the Church is convinced that miracles of the saints is the 'finger of God,' which ratifies, so to say, the human judgement of their holiness of life.” “This vision is part of the mind of the Church and has been repeatedly reaffirmed by the ordinary magisterium to the pronouncements of Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis. It is historically certain that miracles are always a decisive argument for the canonization of Servants of God,” he stated. The new wording is based on the regulations approved by Blessed Paul VI in 1976. The drafting of the new regulations was done by a special commission which began its work in September 2015. Besides the new requirements of a qualified majority and professional secrecy on the part of those involved, the president of the Medical Board is limited to one term and one reappointment (a total of 10 years in the position). Nor can a case be re-examined more than three times, and when a re-examination is made, there must be a nine persons on the Medical Board. Also, it is now the Under-Secretary of the Council who will undertake the functions previously under the rapporteur, who had been responsible for reporting on the proceedings of the meetings. In addition to the changes introduced, there were also adjustments made to procedural language. Since the 12th and 13th centuries the Church has continually revised the regulations under which a miracle is confirmed in cases of causes for beatification or canonization. The 1917 Code of Canon Law established access of the miracle to theologians only after the alleged miracle had been studied and verified by two expert doctors, aside from issues of philosophical and religious consideration. “And even today it is so: the scientific aspect remains distinct from the theological,” Archbishop Bartolucci affirmed. “Miracles are not marginal events of the Gospel or the causes of saints. Jesus proclaimed the Kingdom of God in word and with 'messianic signs,' that he worked to make clear his identity and credibility to its mission and also to anticipate the final news of the redeemed world,” Archbishop Bartolucci said. “The same is true for saints,” he said. “Miracles, that they receive through their intercession, are a sign of God's presence in history and, at the same time, are the confirmation of their former high holiness, expressed first of all in the exercise of heroic Christian virtues or martyrdom.” Read more

Vatican City, Sep 22, 2016 / 05:05 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Emphasizing the importance of respect for human dignity, Pope Francis told journalists Thursday that their profession can never be used as a destructive weapon, nor should it be used to nourish fear. “Certainly criticism is legitimate, and, I would add, necessary, just as is the denunciation of evil, but this must always be done respecting the other, his life, and his affect. Journalism cannot become a 'weapon of destruction' of persons or even nations,” the Pope said Sept. 22 at the Vatican's Clementine Hall. “Neither must it nourish fear in front of changes or phenomena such as migration forced by war or by hunger.” He was meeting with Italy's National Council of the Order of Journalists, and he commented that “there are few professions which have such influence on society as does journalism. The journalist has a role of great importance, and at the same time a great responsibility. In a certain sense you write the ‘first draft of history' … introducing persons to the meaning of events.” While acknowledging the increased role of digital media, which has come at the expense of print journalism and television, the Pope said that “journalists, when they are professional, remain a key pillar, a crucial element for the vitality of a free and pluralistic society.” Pope Francis reflected on how journalism “can serve for the betterment of the society in which we live,” noting that it is indispensable for everyone “to stop and reflect on what we are doing and how we are doing it … even in the professional life there is a need for this, a bit of time to pause and reflect. Certainly, this is not easy in the realm of journalism, a profession which lives on continuous deadlines and 'expiration dates'. But, at least for a brief moment, let us reflect a bit on the reality of journalism.” He highlighted loving the truth, living with professionalism, and respecting human dignity as the three key elements in practicing a journalism which serves society. “To love the truth means not only to affirm, but to live the truth, to bear witness to it in one’s work. To live and work, then, with coherence in respect to the words that are used for an article in the paper or a television service. The question here is not one of being or not being a believer. The question here is being or not being honest with oneself and with others,” he said. Francis called relationship “the heart of every communication,” noting that “no relationship can stand and endure over time if it is based on dishonesty. I realize that in journalism today – an uninterrupted flow of events recounted 24 hours a day, 7 days a week – it’s not always easy to arrive to the truth, or at least get close to it. Not everything in life is black or white. Even in journalism, one needs to know how to discern between the shades of gray in the events you are called to cover.” “Political debates, and even many conflicts, are rarely the result of a distinct, clear dynamic in which it is possible to recognise precisely and unequivocally who is wrong and who is right.” He said that “comparison and conflict are, indeed, born precisely from this difficulty of synthesis between different positions. This is the difficult and at the same time necessary work – we could also say mission – of a journalist: to arrive as close as possible to the truth of the facts and never to say or write what one knows, in their conscience, is not true.” Turning to his second point, living with professionalism, Pope Francis said this means, “beyond what we can find written in the codes of ethics, to understand, to internalize the profound sense of one’s work.” “From this arises the necessity of not submitting one’s profession to the logic of partisan interests, be they economic or political.” The Pope said that “the task of journalism – dare I say, its vocation – is therefore to nurture the social dimension of man, favouring the building of true citizenship.” Working with professionalism “means not only responding to the preoccupations, while legitimate, of one class, but keeping at heart one of the pillars in the structure of a democratic society,” he said. “We should always reflect that, throughout history, dictatorships – of every orientation and type – have always sought not only to take control of means of communication, but even to impose new rules on the profession of journalism.” Finally, Pope Francis noted that respect for human dignity is of particular importance in journalism because “even behind the simple account of an event there are feelings, emotions, and, ultimately, the lives of persons.” He recalled how he often speaks of gossip as a “terrorism” which kills with the tongue. “If this applies to individuals, with family or at work, it applies all the more to journalists, because their voice reaches everyone, and this is a very powerful weapon.” “Journalism must always respect the dignity of the person. An article is published today and tomorrow it is replaced with another, but the life of a person unjustly defamed can be destroyed forever.” He added that criticism and the denunciation of evil can be legitimate and, indeed, necessary, but always within a framework of respect for the person. Neither may journalism “nourish fear in front of changes or phenomena like migration forced by the war or by hunger,” Pope Francis exhorted. The Pope concluded, saying, “I hope that more and more journalism everywhere is a tool of construction, a factor for the common good, an accelerator of processes of reconciliation; that it may know how to reject the temptation of stirring up confrontation, with language that fans the flames of division, instead favoring the culture of encounter.” Read more