Vatican City, Dec 7, 2014 / 11:04 am (CNA/EWTN News).- In an interview with the Argentine daily “La Nacion” published Sunday, Pope Francis spoke on a variety of topics, giving specific attention to the ongoing reform of the Roman Curia, and some of the resistance he’s facing. “I am not worried. It all seems normal to me; if there were no difference of opinions, that wouldn't be normal,” the Pope told Elisabetta Piqué in an interview published in La Nacion Dec. 7. “Resistance is now evident. And that is a good sign for me, getting the resistance out into the open, no stealthy mumbling when there is disagreement. It's healthy to get things out into the open, it's very healthy.” With topics ranging from his health to future travels and birthday plans, the Roman Pontiff spent most of the 50 minute interview talking about his plan of reform for the Roman Curia, which he said will be an ongoing process that extends beyond the projected finish date of 2015. The Bishop of Rome revealed that he had no expectations regarding the “cleansing process” of the Curia before starting, because “I expected to go back to Buenos Aires.” “After that, well, I don´t know. You see, God is good to me, he's bestowed on me a healthy dose of unawareness. I just do what I have to do.” Pope Francis responded to the fact that nearly 21 months after he was elected to as Bishop of Rome, differing opinions are beginning to surface more clearly regarding some of the changes he is implementing. However, the Roman Pontiff said that facing resistance isn’t something to be afraid of, because “to me, resistance means different points of view, not something dirty.” Resistance, he said, “is connected to some decisions I may occasionally take, I will concede that. Of course, some decisions are more of the economic type, and others are more pastoral.” The Roman Pontiff also addressed comments suggesting that the “honeymoon is over” due to divisions that surfaced during the Synod on the Family held in October, saying that the issue was not so much the Pope as it was differing pastoral positions. This is evident and can be clearly seen by looking at the widespread enthusiasm with which his final speech was accepted, he said. In regards to media buzz during the synod due to comments by Cardinal Raymond Burke suggesting that the Church is like “a ship without a rudder,” the Pope said that “those expressions strike me as odd.” “I am not aware of anybody using them. The media quote them,” he said, admitting that “until I can ask the people involved ‘have you said this?’ I will have brotherly doubts.” The Bishop of Rome also addressed the appointment of Cardinal Burke as Patron of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, following his six years serving as prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura. Announced shortly after the synod, the decision has drawn speculation from all sides, with many contributing the move to the cardinal’s comments during the synod as well as his staunchly conservative viewpoints on Church doctrine. Pope Francis said that sometime before the synod Cardinal Burke had asked what he would be doing, since his position as prefect of the Signatura was not confirmed. The Roman Pontiff responded by asking for some time while the Council of Nine cardinals assisting him in Church reform thought about their legal restructuring. “I told him nothing had been done about it yet and that it was being considered. After that the issue of the Order of Malta cropped up and we needed a smart American who would know how to get around and I thought of him for that position,” the Pope said. “I suggested this to him long before the synod,” he continued, explaining that he wanted the announcement to be made after the synod was over so that the cardinal could participate in the discussions. As chaplain of Malta Cardinal Burke would not have been able to be present, he explained. “He thanked me in very good terms and accepted my offer, I even think he liked it. Because he is a man that gets around a lot, he does a lot of travelling and would surely be busy there. It is therefore not true that I removed him because of how he had behaved in the synod.” The Roman Pontiff also spoke of the continuing reform of the Roman Curia, saying that it’s a slow process and “We're tackling it little by little.” Pope Francis referred to the restructuring of the Institute for Religious Works, also called the Vatican Bank. He said that it is “operating beautifully” and that they did “quite a good job there.” He revealed that when he was elected Pope he had been planning to retire, and that once he moved to the Vatican he had to start his plans again from scratch, and that everything was new for him. “From the start I said to myself: ‘Jorge, don't change, just keep on being yourself, because to change at your age would be to make a fool of yourself.’” “That´s why I've always kept on doing what I used to do in Buenos Aires. Perhaps even making my old mistakes. But I prefer it like this, to be myself.” In wake of many people's concern regarding the Roman Pontiff’s various health scares during his first year as Bishop of Rome, as well as comments that he made on his flight back from South Korea in August about “going to the Father´s house,” the Pope said that he’s in a normal condition for his age. “I do have some aches and pains, and at my age ailments don't go unnoticed. But I am in God´s hands, up to now I have been able to work steadily.” The Roman Pontiff also talked about his future travels, revealing that he will not travel to Argentina in for the Eucharistic Congress in Tucumán in 2016 because it falls too close to World Youth Day, which is being held in Poland. However, he did reveal that he plans to visit three other Latin American countries in 2015, which he declined to name, as well as a trip to Africa. Read more

Vatican City, Dec 7, 2014 / 08:04 am (CNA/EWTN News).- In his Angelus address on Sunday, Pope Francis asked that during Advent the faithful prepare for the Lord’s coming by being open to God’s consolation, which we must receive personally b... Read more

Vatican City, Dec 7, 2014 / 06:03 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pursuing interreligious dialogue and opening hearts and minds to others are the way to face troubled times, stressed participants in the Third Catholic-Muslim Summit held this week in Rome. “Our meeting here, I would think, is a sign of hope for our troubled world. It is a message to all humanity, especially to us, the members of the great family of Abraham – the Jews, the Christians, and the Muslims,” said Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, following the conclusion of the Dec. 2-4 meeting, which was themed “Christians and Muslims: Believers living in Society.” In addition to Cardinal Tauran, the principal leaders of the summit included Prince Hassan bin Talal of Jordan; Mostafa Mohaghegh Damad, an ayatollah and director of Islamic Studies at Iran's Academy of Sciences; and John Bryson Chane, an Episcopalian bishop. Chane stressed that “Christianity and Islam have at this moment in time a great opportunity to work together effectively with governments and civil societies currently in turmoil.” “They can begin to re-shape a culture of peace in a world too much torn apart by sectarian violence and political pilfering. Christianity and Islam can and must be the bridge builders of the 21st century,” he concluded. Prince Hassan bin Talal said “the schisms in the world today have become so numerous, the inequities and inequalities so stark, that a universal respect for human dignity must once again be brought back to the consciousness of the international community. Now, more than at any other time, an ethic of human solidarity and a new international order are required.” All of the participants agree that now it is the time for a renewed Christian and Muslim dialogue, starting from mutual acceptance and in order to find a common path. Cardinal Tauran underscored that “one of the important bases for the acceptance of the other and therefore for social peace is to be aware of the unity of the human family. It is one in its origin: God; one in its end: God; one in its fundamental needs: air, water, food, dress, shelter, etc. The human aspects of our life are one: joy, sorrow, hope, despair, fear, etc.” “Having all this in common, the legitimate differences – ethnicity, religion, culture, political choices – should not be a reason for refusing the other, ignoring him or her, marginalizing, persecuting, or even eliminating him or her, as is unfortunately the case in our days, especially in Iraq and in Syria, and in particular towards the Christians and Yazidis,” Cardinal Tauran maintained. Abraham Skorka, a rabbi and a friend of Pope Francis, took part in the summit, saying that “in the 20th century were consummated horrible crimes in the name of new anthropomorphic religions. Nazism and Stalinism killed millions of human beings on the altar of their fanatic and insane beliefs.” From the 1970s on, he then stressed, “many went back to the old religions,” but “their returning was not to the pureness and spiritual depth, but to their extreme and aggressive aspects.” “As tolerance and acceptance of the other was not in the vocabulary of the anthropocentric religions, some new expressions of the renewed traditional religions do not know about the other, in his right to be different,” he concluded. The Christian-Muslim Summit is a gathering of Christian and Muslim leaders from around the world and experts from both religious traditions who come together for purposes of interreligious and intercultural relationship building and to address issues of conflict that exist between religions and nations. Pope Francis met the summit participants Dec. 3, reminding them that dialogue is “the path to peace. Pope Francis also thanked the summit for their work on the path to dialogue, since “this helps us to strengthen our fraternity.” The fourth summit is expected to be held in Iran. Read more

Vatican City, Dec 6, 2014 / 09:36 am (CNA/EWTN News).- In a video message delivered to the displaced Iraqi Christians on Saturday, Pope Francis decried the suffering experienced by those persecuted for their faith, while expressing his gratitude for their witness. “I thank you for the witness you give,” he said Dec. 6. “There is great suffering in your witness. Thank you!” Cardinal Philippe Barbarin of Lyon brought the video message to Erbil, where tens of thousands of Christians displaced from Mosul and the Nineveh plains have taken refuge after having been driven from their homes by the Islamic State. Nearly 2 million people have been internally displaced since the militant Sunni Islamist group began its offensive throughout northern Iraq this summer. The archbishop, along with 100 faithful from Lyon, arrived in Erbil Dec. 5 for a two-day visit. “I think of the tears, the sorrows of the mothers with their children, of the elderly and the displaced, of the the wounded,” who are victims “of every kind of violence,” the Pope said. Pope Francis repeated his concern expressed during his recent visit to Turkey for those who “still suffer, inhuman violence due to their ethnic religious identity” at the hands of extremist and fundamentalist groups. Christians and Yazidis, among others, “are forcibly expelled from their houses, have had to abandon everything to save their own lives and not renounce the faith.” As religious leaders, Pope Francis stressed, “we have the obligation to condemn all violations against dignity and human rights!” St. Therese of Lisieux, the Pope reflected, compared both herself and the Church to a reed which bends in the wind and the storm, but does not break. “You are, in this moment, this reed,” the Pope said. “You bend with pain, but you have the strength to carry your faith forward,” thereby giving witness. “You are God's reeds today! The reeds which bend over in this ferocious wind, but then rise up!” Pope Francis expressed his gratitude, praying to the Holy Spirit “who makes everything new, giving each and every one of you strength and resistance.” Pope Francis called for “a major international convergence” to resolve “the conflicts which stain your countries of origin with blood, to oppose other causes which force people to leave their homeland, and to promote conditions whereby they can remain or return.” “Dear brothers and sisters, you are in my heart, in my prayers,” as well as that of “the whole Christian community,” said the Pope to the people from Mosul. He has asked the faithful to pray to Our Lady for the suffering Christians in Iraq on Dec. 8, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. “She is mother, who protects you.” “Your resistance is martyrdom,” he said, “dew which bares fruit.” Pope Francis concluded his message by asking for prayers. Read more

Vatican City, Dec 6, 2014 / 04:01 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Papal preacher Father Raniero Cantalamessa gave his first advent homily to Pope Francis, touching on the biblical meaning of the word peace – both as a gift from God and a longing of the human heart. “The theme this time will be peace. But peace in the biblical meaning, which is much, much more profound than the peace in political spheres,” Fr. Cantalamessa O.F.M. Cap., told CNA. He said that his reflections will go beyond the external sense of peace and into the “peace of God: as a gift of God, as a duty, as a task to accomplish, and peace as inner peace, peace of the heart.” As preacher to the Papal Household, Fr. Cantalamessa gives a meditation to the Pope, cardinals and members of the Roman Curia every Friday morning in Lent and Advent. He was named papal preacher by St. John Paul II in 1980, and was confirmed by both Benedict XVI and now Pope Francis. Fr. Cantalamessa said the three talks he will give will focus on peace as God's gift, peace as a duty and task to work for, and inner peace as a fruit of the Holy Spirit. In his first advent homily, given in the Redemptoris Mater chapel of the Vatican's Apostolic Palace on Dec. 5, the papal preacher opened by drawing attention the human longing for peace. “If one could hear the loudest cry that is in the heart of billions of people, one would hear, in all the languages of the world, only one word: peace!” he said, explaining that this is the reason he chose to dedicate this year's advent reflections to the topic. When we think of peace, we often think of it in a horizontal sense as peace between peoples, religions, social classes and races, he observed. However the most essential form of peace is the vertical peace between God and humanity. God promises to give man peace, Fr. Cantalamessa said. Even after Adam and Eve rebelled against him, God does not abandon them but rather forms a new plan for mankind's salvation which can be traced through the different covenants he makes throughout salvation history. “These covenants, as opposed to human ones, are always covenants of peace, never of war against enemies,” he said, pointing to the promises God made to both individual persons, such as Moses, Abraham and Noah, as well as with nations, like Israel. All of the promises God makes to these people and nations point to Jesus, the preacher noted, who says himself that he came in order to bring God's peace: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.” He said that the restored peace between heaven and earth comes through Christ's sacrifice on the cross, adding that one can't fully understand the “radical” change that took place in man’s relation with God unless we understand Christ’s death. “There had to be someone who united in himself he who had to fight and he who could win, and this is what happened with Christ, God and man.” Jesus' death on the Cross, the preacher noted, “is the moment in which the Redeemer carries out the work of redemption, destroying sin and gaining victory over Satan.” Fr. Cantalamess continued, saying that the peace Christ won for us on the cross becomes active in each one of us through the Holy Spirit, who was given to Mary and the Apostles at Pentecost, after Jesus’ death. “In reality, peace does come from the cross of Christ, but it is not born from it…The ultimate source of peace is the Trinity,” the preacher observed, explaining that like love, peace requires more than one person to exist. So when Jesus tell his apostles to “receive the Holy Spirit,” in reality he is communicating to them “the peace of God, which passes all understanding,” he said. This peace that we receive as a gift from God, primarily in our baptism, must change our relationship with God little by little so that each of us may be reconciled with him, Fr. Cantalamessa noted. “One of the causes, perhaps the principal one, of modern man’s alienation from religion and from the faith is the distorted image that he has of God,” the priest said, observing that this is also the cause of Christians who live without joy, as if their faith were more of a duty than a gift. Christians today can frequently associate God with something painful and displeasing, which limits and “mutilates” our individual freedom and development, he said, noting that God can often be seen as “the enemy” of joy. Mercy is another topic that is misunderstood in the Church today, the preacher explained, saying that rather than meaning compassion, the term has become associated with pity. However, the Holy Spirit allows us to look at God with a fresh perspective, Fr. Cantalamessa said. Although this new vision includes seeing God as the God of the law, it first allows us to see him as the God of love and grace. “It makes us discover him as an ally and a friend, as ‘he who did not spare for himself his own Son but gave him up for us all:’ in sum, as a most tender Father.” Through the person of Jesus, who took on the role of a slave, fear has become love, the priest concluded, noting that it is because of this that we are able to be truly reconciled with God. “We leave for our daily work with a question in our mind: What idea of God the Father is in my heart: that of the world or that of Jesus?” Read more

Vatican City, Dec 5, 2014 / 01:07 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- In an address given to theologians, Pope Francis praised the increasing presence of women in the field, saying that their femininity has the capacity to delve deeper into the mystery of Christ. ... Read more

Vatican City, Dec 5, 2014 / 12:09 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- In a recent article for the Catholic Herald, Cardinal George Pell, prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy, shed light on the progress made in the reform of Vatican finances, which he is spearheading. Cardinal Pell wrote in the Dec. 4 article that “three basic principles lay at the heart” of their work of reforming, and that these principles “are not original, and not exactly rocket science.” First, the Vatican “should adopt contemporary international financial standards, much as the rest of the world does”. Second, “Vatican and procedures should be transparent, with financial reporting broadly similar to that of other countries, and the consolidated annual financial statement would be reviewed by one of the Big Four audit firms.” And third, “within the Vatican, there should be something akin to a separation of powers and that within the financial sector there would be multiple sources of authority.” These principles have led to the drafting of a handbook of financial management, which rationalizes the accounting procedure of all the Vatican offices. The training of employees to fill the new accounting procedures has already began, and it is expected that the new procedures will be in effect by January, 2015. “It is important to point out that the Vatican is not broke,” Cardinal Pell wrote. “Apart from the pension fund … the Holy See is paying its way, while possessing substantial assets and investments.” He added that “in fact, we have discovered that the situation is much healthier than it seemed, because some hundreds of millions of euros were tucked away in particular sectional accounts and did not appear on the balance sheet.” While some might take this as a suggestion that Vatican entities held “black funds,” Fr. Federico Lombardi, Holy See press officer, told CNA Dec. 5 that “Cardinal Pell did not speak about illegal, illicit, or badly managed funds,” but rather about “funds that were not in the official balance sheet of the Holy See or of the Vatican City State,” of which “the Secretary for the Economy has been aware in the course of the process of study and revision of Vatican administrations.” “It was known, and even already publicly explained by the Prefecture for the Economic Affairs, that the Holy See / Vatican City State consolidated balance sheet given to the Council of Fifteen Cardinals did not include the overall of the numerous administration linked to the Vatican, but only the main institutions of the Curia and of the State,” Fr. Lombardi added. It is likely that Cardinal Pell was referring to three independent balance sheets which are not included in the general Vatican balance sheet: those of the State Secretariat, of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, and of the Congregation for the Eastern Churches. Cardinal Pell explained that the questions of why Vatican finances had been in a poor state for some time is “one of the first that would come to our minds as English-speakers … but one that might be much lower on the list for people in another culture, such as the Italians,” adding that “those in the Curia were following long-established patterns.” The normalization of Vatican finances was begun in 2010 by Benedict XVI, the cardinal noted, with the establishment of the Financial Information Authority, an agency “dedicated to preventing and eradicating money laundering.” Pope Francis, has continued this process of reforms, Cardinal Pell noted, “which are well under way and already past the point where it would be possible to return to the 'bad old days'. Much remains to be done, but the primary structural reforms are in place.” In several places in the article, Cardinal Pell noted the importance of lay financial experts in the reform process, highlighting its novelty and aid in transparency. In particular, a lay auditor general will be appointed next year. Cardinal Pell also outlined the continuity of the Institute for Religious Works, saying it “will continue to be governed by an expert lay board, set up by a commission of cardinal, but will not technically be the Vatican bank as it deal with money from dioceses, religious orders and Vatican employees.” The Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See, he clarified, will be the Vatican treasury, adding that “it will continue to link up and liaise with central banks.” Investments, Cardinal Pell explained, “will be made through the Vatican Asset Management, controlled by an expert committee, which will offer a range of ethical investment options, with varying degrees of risk and return, to be chosen by individual agencies such as Congregation. Prudence will be the first priority, rather than risky high returns, in order to avoid excessive losses in times of turbulence.” “These reforms are designed to make all Vatican financial agencies boringly successful, so that they do not merit much press attention,” the cardinal concluded. “Donors expect their gifts to be handled efficiently and honestly, so that the best returns are achieved to finance the works of the Church, especially those aimed at preaching the Gospel and helping the poor escape from poverty. A Church for the poor should not be poorly managed.” Read more