Vatican City, Apr 17, 2015 / 03:58 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The Holy See Press Office confirmed today that Pope Francis is considering a possible stop in Cuba as part as his trip to United States, which is scheduled to take place in September.   “The Holy Father has taken into consideration the idea to stop in Cuba as part of his coming voyage to the United States,” an April 17 press release from the Vatican revealed. However, the release clarified that “contact with the authorities of the country is still at a very initial stage, so it is not possible to speak of this stop as having already been decided and that there is an operative project going on.”   Although it's in the preliminary stages, contact with Cuban officials is sure to be strengthened in the coming week with the visit of Cardinal Beniamino Stella, Prefect of the Congregation of the Clergy, who will travel to the country Apr. 22-28 to celebrate the 80th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Cuba and the Holy See.   Cardinal Stella served as papal nuncio to Cuba from 1993-1999, and helped pave the way and organize St. John Paul II’s visit in 1998, which marked the first-ever papal trip to the Caribbean Island.   The cardinal is set to meet with local clergy during his visit, and will celebrate three Masses. He will also encounter the top officials of the Cuban government and of the Communist Party.   His visit may represent a further fostering of the Holy See contribution in Cuba, and could be seen as a sign of the papal effort to help normalize relations between Cuba and the United States. On the eve of the Dec. 17 announcement of the normalization of the diplomatic relations between Cuba and the United States, former Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone traveled to Cuba for a private visit.   In the coming days Archbishop Giorgio Lingua, former papal nuncio to Jordan and Iraq, will take up his post as the new nuncio to Cuba. He was appointed to the position March 17, and one of his main tasks will be to help facilitate talks between U.S. and Cuba.   The possible stop in Cuba this year would fit within the framework of Pope Francis’ efforts in the dialogue, since Washington and Havana are currently in talks to re-establish the diplomatic ties.   If the Cuba visit is made official, it would be the first stop in a week-long papal voyage to the United States. Although the official program for the Pope’s trip to the U.S. has not been released, some appointments have been already been confirmed.   Pope Francis will be the first pope to speak to a joint session of the U.S. Congress in Washington, which is scheduled to take place Sept. 24. On March 18, secretary general of the United Nations Ban Ki Moon made it official that Francis will address the U.N. General Assembly in New York Sept. 25, and then move on to Philadelphia Sep. 26-27 to attend the World Meeting of Families.   The Pope’s appointments in New York are also expected to include a visit to Ground Zero, the site of the terrorist attack on Sept. 11, 2001, that brought down New York City’s twin World Trade Center towers.   In Philadelphia, the two big events the Pope is anticipated to attend are a prayer vigil on the 26th and Sunday Mass on the 27th. The organizational committee for the Pope’s U.S. visit includes: Archbishop Bernardito Auza, Holy See Permanent Observer to the United Nations in New York; Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, papal nuncio to the United States; Cardinal Donald Wuerl, archbishop of Washington; Cardinal Sean Patrick O’Malley, archbishop of Boston; Archbishop Joseph Kurtz of Louisville, also president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops; Cardinal Timothy Dolan, archbishop of New York; Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia; Msgr. Ronny Jenkins, secretary-general at the bishops’ conference, as well as a team of various secretaries and assistants. Read more

Vatican City, Apr 17, 2015 / 12:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Already two years into the reform process of the Roman Curia, progress might seem slow. But cardinals on the Pope's advisory council say efforts – which may soon include new “super” congregations – are moving forward at a normal pace. “Reform will take time,” stressed Honduran Cardinal Oscar Rodríguez Maradiaga April 15. Cardinal Maradiaga is part of the nine-member Council of Cardinal Advisors instituted by Pope Francis shortly after his election, to aid him in governing the Church and to reform the Roman Curia. The Curia is currently ordered by “Pastor bonus,” the apostolic constitution issued by Bl. John Paul II in 1988 which regulates and defines the charges, duties and composition of the offices of the Vatican administration. The Council of Cardinals is now working to prepare a new constitution to govern the body. Cardinal Maradiaga noted that “Pastor bonus” took several years to implement. “We cannot suppose (a new constitution) is going to be accomplished in short time.” The drafting of a new constitution has not yet begun, nor have decisions yet been made about a drafting committee for the document. German Cardinal Reinhard Marx, another member of the advisory council group, told CNA/EWTN News March 24 that “another year may be needed to draft the new constitution.” The next concrete step in the reform process may be establishing a special sub-commission to study how to put into effect the proposals for Curia reform up to this point. The Council of Cardinals met most recently April 13-15. Following that meeting, Father Federico Lombardi, director of the Holy See Press Office, said that most of the gathering has been dedicated “to a reflection on methodology to be put into effect” this year and next. In addition, the cardinals considered earlier comments on Curia reform made during the February consistory, which brought together cardinals from across the globe. More than 60 speeches on the topic of Curia reform were made during that time, Fr. Lombardi said. One area where reform could move forward quickly is in the establishment of two super-Congregations – one for Charity, Justice and Peace, and the other for Laity, Family and Life. These two super-dicasteries would take over the functions and tasks of six current Pontifical Councils, thus streamlining the shape of the Curia. No objections had been raised to this change, which could “take place even before a new Pastoral Constitution is drafted,” Fr. Lombardi said. The committee for communication issued an interim report, which was presented at the February consistory, Fr. Lombardi told journalists. “As the report met the expectations of the cardinals, and was not rejected, it turned into a final report.” Therefore, he said, “it is foreseeable that the Pope will establish a commission in order to concretely think about how to put into effect the Committee for Communication suggestions.” Fr. Lombardi said that Cardinal Sean O'Malley of Boston also put on the table the issue of bishops' accountability in cases of abuse. Cardinal O'Malley chairs the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, a body created during the Curia reform process. He raised the accountability discussion after a meal he had last month with one of the commission's working groups that communicates with victims.   The group asked to meet Cardinal O'Malley in Rome to speak with him about some concerns that followed the appointment of Rev. Juan Barros Madrid as bishop of Osorno, Chile. Protestors had accused Bishop Barros of having covered up sexual abuses committed by Father Fernando Karadima, a priest who had fostered his vocation and been among his close friends decades ago. The civil case against Fr. Karadima was dismissed as being too far in the past. However, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith completed its own investigation in 2011 and declared 84-year-old Fr. Karadima guilty. Bishop Barros, along with a number of other prelates, initially did not believe the accusations. Once the reports were confirmed in 2011, Bishop Barros said he “learned about this situation and its diverse and multiple effects with deep astonishment and pain.” Before his installation, he reiterated in a letter that he had no knowledge of the priest's abuses and neither approved of nor participated in them. “The deep pain that continues to affect the victims for long years profoundly hurts me. And I reiterate along with the whole Church that there is no place in the priesthood for those that commit those abuses,” he added. According to a source in the Commission for the Protection of Minors, they were concerned because “some reports gave the impressions that newly appointed bishop did not take in serious consideration the alleged accusations,” and so they wanted to make sure that “guidelines for bishops accountability” were made clear by the commission. All of these issues will be further discussed in the upcoming meetings of the Council of Cardinals, scheduled June 8-10, September 14-16 and December 10-12. Read more

Vatican City, Apr 16, 2015 / 10:10 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Since Pope Francis won’t make it to California for the canonization of its great evangelizer, he will join a celebration at Rome’s American seminary to honor the soon-to-be saint and encourage devotion to him. The Pope will be the guest of honor at a May 2 day of prayer and reflection on the life of Bl. Junipero Serra, set to be held at the  Pontifical North American College, according to the program sent out with invitations to the event. Francis will be joined by seminarians attending the college, as well as the American cardinals currently residing in Rome. Among them are Cardinals Raymond Leo Burke, James Michael Harvey, James Francis Stafford and Edwin Frederick O'Brien. Cardinal Marc Ouellet will preside over the event as the president of the Vatican’s Commission for Latin America. Archbishop Jose Gomez of Los Angeles will also be there as a representative of the episcopate in California, and Archbishop John Myers will be present as chairman of the board of the NAC. A morning full of talks includes an initial greeting and welcome from North American College rector, Msgr. James Checchio. Capuchin Fr. Vincenzo Criscuolo, OFM Cap. will then speak on the life of the new saint, in particular his “path to holiness.” Fr. Criscuolo is an official in the Vatican’s Congregation for the Causes of Saints and is inspired personally as Bl. Serra himself was to the Franciscan spirituality. Archbishop Gomez will deliver a speech on the religious origins of America and long-time Curia member and layman Guzman Carriquiry will comment on the canonization of Fr. Junipero Serra in light of St. John Paul II’s apostolic exhortation on the Church in the Americas, called “Ecclesia in America.” The supreme knight of the Knights of Colombus, Carl Anderson, will finish with a talk on “Our Lady of Guadalupe, mother and guide of Fra Junipero Serra, Patron of the American Continent.” Once the morning encounter is finished, Pope Francis will celebrate Mass with the seminarians and staff of the NAC, as well as priests from the Casa Santa Maria who study in Rome and priests from the Villa Stritch who work in the Vatican. Lunch will then be served at seminary, however the Pope will not attend. A news conference for the visit is scheduled to take place in the Holy See Press Office on April 20. Pope Francis announced his plan to canonize “the evangelizer of the west” in January while on board Sri Lankan Air Flight UL4111 on the way to Manila. Bl. Serra, a Franciscan priest, lived in what is now California in the 1700s. Born on the Spanish Mediterranean island of Majorca in 1713, he was the missionary who founded the first nine of 21 eventual missions in California. Many of the missions became the centers of major cities like San Diego. Serra worked tirelessly with the Native Americans, and is said to have baptized more than 6,000 people, and confirmed 5,000. He was beatified by St. John Paul II in 1988. Though an official program still has not been announced, Pope Francis is expected to canonize Bl. Serra in the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. in September of this year. Read more

Vatican City, Apr 16, 2015 / 04:15 am (CNA/EWTN News).- In a joint report marking the conclusion of a multi-year mandate for reform, members of the LCWR have agreed to corrections called for by the Vatican, and said they will continue on the path of dialogue. “We are pleased at the completion of the mandate, which involved long and challenging exchanges of our understandings of and perspectives on critical matters of Religious Life and its practice,” Sr. Sharon Holland, IHM, President of LCWR, said in an April 16 press release. Officials of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Archbishop Peter Sartain of Seattle and officers of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) met at the Vatican April 16. Although she was unable to attend the Vatican meeting, Sr. Holland said that “we learned that what we hold in common is much greater than any of our differences.” Cardinal Gerhard Müller, prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, said in the press release that “the Congregation is confident that LCWR has made clear its mission to support its member institutes by fostering a vision of religious life that is centered on the person of Jesus Christ and is rooted in the Tradition of the Church.”   This vision, he said, “makes religious women and men radical witnesses to the Gospel, and, therefore, is essential for the flourishing of religious life in the Church.” Archbishop Sartain, who in 2012 was charged with leading their reform, presented a joint report with members of the LCWR on the implementation of the congregation’s Doctrinal Assessment and Mandate, which was issued in April 2012. The joint report outlines the process in which the implementation of the mandate has been carried out. With the congregation’s acceptance of the joint report, the Vatican’s doctrinal assessment of the LCWR has come to a close. Members of the LCWR leadership met with Pope Francis today at 12:15 p.m., following the official publication of the final report. With some 1,500 members, the LCWR constitutes about 3 percent of the 57,000 women religious in the United States. However, the group says it represents 80 percent of American sisters since its members are leaders of their respective religious communities. In April 2012, the Vatican released the findings of a four year doctrinal assessment of the women's conference, which found a state of doctrinal crisis within the organization, and raised concerns of dissent from Church teaching on topics including homosexuality, the sacramental priesthood and the divinity of Christ. Among the assessment’s key findings were serious theological and doctrinal errors in presentations at the conference's recent annual assemblies. Some presentations depicted a vision of religious life incompatible with the Catholic faith, or attempted to justify dissent from Church doctrine and showed “scant regard for the role of the Magisterium,” the assessment found. At the same time the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith assigned Archbishop Sartain to oversee the conference’s reform, and he was given a mandate of up to five years to help the LCWR review and revise their statues, formation materials, presentations, events and links with affiliated organizations. A key topic the report addressed was the mandate’s call for a careful review of the LCWR’s publications and programs to ensure that they are faithful to Church teachings. The conference said that the nature of their publications is intended to address spiritual matters rather than engage in formal theological inquiry, since their audience extends beyond members of the Catholic Church. However, because of the “vital link between spirituality and theology” as well as the goal to both inspire and grow as women religious, the report consented that all of their publications “need a sound doctrinal foundation.” “To this end, measures are being taken to promote a scholarly rigor that will ensure theological accuracy and help avoid statements that are ambiguous with regard to Church doctrine or could be read as contrary to it,” the report stated. It was also noted that a publications advisory committee has been put into place, and that all manuscripts will be reviewed by “competent theologians, as a means of safeguarding the theological integrity of the Conference.” The choice of assembly topics and speakers – which has been one of the most contested points of the LCWR’s reform mandate – was also addressed in the report. In order to stay faithful to their mission and service in the Church, the selection of discussion topics and speakers will be carried out in “a prayerful, thoughtful and discerning manner,” according to the report. In 2012, the same year the original assessment was released, the conference hosted philosopher Barbara Marx Hubbard, an author and promoter of “Conscious Evolution” as the keynote speaker for their annual general assembly. Since then the concept – which Cardinal Müller cautioned opposes Christian revelation – has been featured heavily in LCWR materials. “When taken unreflectively,” the cardinal said, the fundamentals of Conscious Evolution “lead almost necessarily to fundamental errors regarding the omnipotence of God, the Incarnation of Christ, the reality of original sin, the necessity of salvation and the definitive nature of the salvific action of Christ in the Paschal Mystery.” However, the joint report assures that the LCWR will select speakers and presenters who speak “with integrity and to further the aims and purposes of the conference, which unfold within the wider context of the Church’s faith and mission.” “When a topic explicitly addresses matters of faith, speakers are expected to employ the ecclesial language of faith,” the report reads. “When exploring contemporary issues, particularly those which, while not explicitly theological nevertheless touch upon faith and morals, LCWR expects speakers and presenters to have due regard for the Church’s faith and to pose questions for further reflection in a manner that suggests how faith might shed light on such issues.” The report also announced that they have revised the process for selecting the recipient of their Outstanding Leadership Award, which in 2014 was given to Sister Elizabeth Johnson, C.S.J. – a theologian whom the U.S. bishops have criticized for serious doctrinal errors, including misrepresentations of Church teaching on God. The joint report also recognized the revision of the LCWR’s statues, which have been changed to clarify the conference’s role as “a public juridic person centered on Jesus Christ and faithful to the teachings of the Church.” The revised Statutes were approved Feb. 6, 2015, with an official Decree from the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life. Other topics emphasized in the report were the importance of celebrating the Eucharist and the need to pray the traditional Liturgy of the Hours prayer in religious communities. The centrality of a communal process of contemplative prayer practiced at LCWR Assemblies and other gatherings, the relationship between LCWR and other organizations and the essential understanding of LCWR as an instrument of ecclesial communion were also discussed. The report closes with an expression of gratitude for the “clarifying and fruitful conversation” that has taken place throughout the mandate process. “The very fact of such substantive dialogue between bishops and religious has been a blessing to be appreciated and further encouraged,” it read, and highlighted the commitment of the LCWR leadership to its “crucial role” in serving the conference, as well as bearing witness to the vocation of religious life.   Read more