Pope Francis

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http://www.thetablet.co.uk/news/1809/0/vatican-condemns-leaking-of-expenses-details-of-pell-s-secretariat-for-the-economy

Vatican condemns leaking of expenses details of Pell’s Secretariat for the Economy
27 February 2015 13:59



Cardinal George Pell, who was given the job last year of overseeing reform of Holy See finances, has met with the first overt resistance from within the Vatican.

The Italian weekly L’Espresso today published leaked details of the expenses of the Secretariat for the Economy, the body created by Pope Francis in February 2014 to bring order and scrutiny to the Holy See’s labyrinthine financial practices, and headed by Cardinal Pell.

L’Espresso reported that the Secretariat had run up around €500,000m in expenses in the first six months of its existence. The total reportedly includes spending on computers and printers, but also a €2,508 bill from Gamarelli, the well known tailor to many of the clergy.

Vatican spokesman Fr Federico Lombardi said leaks were illegal. “Passing confidential documents to the press for polemical ends or to foster conflict is not new, but is always to be strongly condemned, and is illegal,” Fr Lombardi said.
 
The leaks would appear to be aimed at discrediting the reform efforts of Cardinal Pell, in the way that the Vatileaks scandal of 2012 was aimed at discrediting Pope Benedict XVI’s Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone.

The Vatileaks affair laid bare the political intrigue that afflicts the curia, something Francis was elected with a mandate to reform.

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http://www.latimes.com/world/europe/la-fg-vatican-watchdog-spending-20150227-story.html

Vatican watchdog's spending is slammed in magazine report
February 27, 2015, 1:31 PM

The Australian cardinal handpicked by Pope Francis to cut outlays and shed light on the Vatican’s murky finances has been accused of spending about $560,000 in six months by flying business class and using large sums on salaries and office furniture..

The allegations, contained in leaked figures published by Italian magazine L’Espresso on Friday, suggest Cardinal George Pell also spent $2,800 on religious robes at a tailor and about $5,200 on kitchen sink fittings.

Despite Francis’ decision to move into humble dwellings at the Vatican, Pell has spent more than $3,200 a month to rent an office and apartment at an upmarket address where he spent nearly $53,000 on furniture, according to the allegations.

After his move to Rome to spearhead Francis’ mission to free up Vatican funds for the poor, the former archbishop of Sydney said he would try to save the Vatican “millions, if not tens of millions” of dollars a year.

Since then, he has flown business class and paid an assistant he brought from Australia a $16,860-a-month salary, the magazine reported, citing leaked Vatican documents.

Francis, the article added, had challenged Pell on his spending.

The pope appointed Pell last year to head of the newly formed Vatican Secretariat for the Economy, which was given sweeping powers to reform the Holy See’s finances.
 

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http://vaticaninsider.lastampa.it/en/news/detail/articolo/pell-francesco-francisco-francis-39441/

02/28/2015
Secretariat for Economy denies reports of a discussion between Pell and Pope

After yesterday’s statements from Vatican spokesman Fr. Federico Lombardi, the response from the Secretariat for the Economy was just as blunt. Both were in relation to the inquiries published in the latest issue of Italian news magazine L’Espresso, titled “Santa Romana Spesa” (Holy Roman Expenditures), on newsstands yesterday. The statement released by the Vatican’s financial super-dicastery headed by Australian cardinal George Pell, says “reports of a discussion between the Holy Father and Cardinal Pell about expenditure by the Secretariat are completely false,” repeating what Lombardi said about the imminent publication of the Vatican’s financial statements for 2014. The Secretariat’s statement concludes by clarifying that contrary to L’Espresso’s report, the Australian cardinal “does not have a Cappa Magna” (a long and grandiose liturgical mantle).

Recalling the Vatileaks days, the sub-heading of the latest issue of L’Espresso titled “Santa Romana Spesa” (Holy Roman Expenditures), translated from the original Italian, reads: “Struggles breaks out once again in the Curia over control of finances, hospitals and real estate property. Pope Francis’ reforms are at risk. An exclusive inquiry into what is going on inside the Vatican walls”. At the heart of the inquiry, is the Prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy, Australian cardinal George Pell, especially in two of the articles titled respectively: “Peccati cardinali” (Cardinal sins) and “I lussi del moralizzatore” (The luxuries of a moralizer).  A cappa magna was apparently among the cardinal’s expenses. In counterresponse to the Vatican spokesman’s statement, the author of the article, Emiliano Fittipaldi, published a statement on the magazine’s website said “the facts described have not been denied”.
 

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http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-urges-co-ops-to-promote-economy-of-honesty

Pope urges co-ops to promote 'economy of honesty'
2015-02-28 Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) It was another lesson in the economic thought of Pope Francis. In an audience with members of the Confederazione Cooperative Italiane (confederation of Italian co-operatives) on Saturday, Pope Francis gave the 7,000 people present five practical suggestions for their mission in the context of the current “throwaway culture.”

First, the Pope said, co-operatives must continue to be “the motor that uplifts and develops the weakest parts of our local communities and civil society.”

The first priority is to establish new co-operatives, while developing existing ones, so as to create new employment opportunities, especially among youth, he said.

Second, the Pope urged the co-op movement to be a “protagonist” in proposing new welfare solutions, particularly in the area of healthcare.

As a third point, he spoke of the economy and its relationship with social justice and human dignity. Speaking of the need to “globalize solidarity,” he urged the confederation to bring co-operatives to the “existential peripheries” and to continue to be “prophetic” by “inventing new forms of co-operation.”

The Pope spoke of “a certain liberalism,” which “believes it is first necessary to produce wealth—and it does not matter how—to then promote some state redistribution policy.”

Others think it is up to a company to “bestow the crumbs of accumulated wealth” to those in need to then, in turn, “absolve themselves” of “their so-called ‘social responsibility’,” the Pope said.
 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkJeR2KMwYQ
Audience with members of the Italian Cooperative Confraternity -2015.02.28

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http://www.news.va/en/news/evangelical-catholic-relations-common-witness-and

Evangelical-Catholic relations Common witness and friendship
2015-02-27 L’Osservatore Romano

The consultation between the World Evangelical Alliance and the Catholic Church, which began in 2009, hopes to finalize an agreed statement when they meet later this year.

The current round of consultation was planned by Cardinal Walter Kasper, then President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity (pcpcu), Msgr Juan Usma, pcpcu staff member for relations with Evangelicals, and Dr Rolf Hille, Director for Ecumenical Affairs of the World Evangelical Alliance (wea). The wea draws together families of Evangelical Churches and Christians, and estimates that it has connections to approximately 600 million Christians.

Given the number of Catholics and Evangelicals in the world today, this consultation is both urgently important and full of potential. It is the principal way in which Evangelicals and Catholics are in conversation on a global level. National and local dialogues or working relationships also exist in some parts of the world, while relations remain very poor in other places.
 

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http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2015/02/28/pope_appoints_special_envoy_for_st_john_ogilvie_anniversary/1126306

Pope appoints Special Envoy for St John Ogilvie anniversary
28/02/2015 16:23

(Vatican Radio) The Holy See has announced the appointment of Cardinal Cormac Murphy-OConnor, Archbishop Emeritus of Westminster, as Pope Francis’ special envoy to the solemn celebrations in honour of the fourth centenary of the martyrdom of Saint John Ogilvie, SJ. The celebrations are set to take place in Glasgow, Scotland on March 9-10.

Born into a noble Scots Presbyterian family, St John Ogilvie converted to Catholicism, and was ordained a Jesuit priest in France in the year 1610. Although preaching Catholicism and ministering to Catholics had been made illegal in Scotland, Ogilvie returned to his native land in 1613. He was betrayed to the authorities, tortured, and, in 1615, executed for refusing to acknowledge the spiritual supremacy of the King, James VI. Paul VI canonised him in 1976, making John Ogilvie the only Scot since the Reformation to be formally canonised.
 

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http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/the-message-of-jesus-at-the-transfiguration-listen-and-follow-pope-says-62392/

The message of Jesus at the Transfiguration: Listen and follow, Pope says

Vatican City, Mar 1, 2015 / 10:50 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The Transfiguration reveals the glory of Christ and demands a response of listening to and following Jesus, Pope Francis said in his Sunday Angelus address March 1.

Last week the faithful were shown Christ victorious in the desert after enduring temptation from the devil, a reminder of the victory over sin offered to everyone through Christ. Today Jesus reveals the destination of the journey of conversion, which is “participation in the glory of Christ”.

The Transfiguration takes place as Christ is on his way to Jerusalem to fulfill the prophecies through his death on the cross. Jesus takes Peter, James and John away to a high mountain in order to reveal his glory in advance to them, to strengthen them in faith for what is to come – the way of the Cross, Pope Francis said.

“The three disciples are frightened, while a cloud covers and rings out from above…the voice of the Father, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him’” (Mk 9:7), the Holy Father said.

Christ’s glory is revealed because his “full adherence to the will of the Father makes his humanity transparent to the glory of God, who is Love,” the Pope explained.

Moses and Elijah appear next to Christ at the Transfiguration to show he is the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets, that “everything begins and ends in Jesus.”

The invitation at the Transfiguration, for the disciples as well as for the faithful today, is to listen to Jesus and to follow him, laying down our lives as a gift of love for one another in obedience to the will of the Father, the Pope explained.

“The way of Jesus always leads us to happiness, do not forget it!” Pope Francis said. “There will always be a cross in the middle, but at the end… (he) always leads us to happiness.”
 

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http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2015/03/01/pope_angelus_prayers_for_syria,_iraq_and_venezuela/1126384

Pope Angelus: Prayers for Syria, Iraq and Venezuela
01/03/2015 13:10

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis following the recitation of the Marian Prayer on Sunday remembered the people of Syria and Iraq saying “Unfortunately, there is no cessation in the dramatic news about violence, kidnapping and harassment against Christians reaching us from Syria and Iraq.

The Pope went on to say that those facing these situations were not forgotten and prayed that the intolerable brutality of which they are victims would soon be at an end.

The Holy Father reminded the faithful in Saint Peter’s Square that along with members of the Roman Curia, this was the intention he offered at the last Mass of their Spiritual Exercises, which concluded on Friday.

The Pope, at the window of his studio also asked everyone “according to their ability, to work to alleviate the suffering of those who are afflicted, often only because of the faith they profess.
 

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http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-at-santa-marta-judge-not

Pope at Santa Marta: Judge not
2015-03-02 Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) It is easy to judge others, but we can only progress on our Christian journey in life if we are capable of judging ourselves first, said Pope Francis at Monday morning Mass in Casa Santa Marta.

The readings of the day focused on the subject of mercy. The Pope, recalling that "we are all sinners" - not "in theory" but in reality – said that the ability to judge oneself is "a Christian virtue, indeed more than a virtue", it is the first step for those who want to be Christian:

“We are all masters, professors of self-justification: ‘No it wasn’t me, it’s not my fault, maybe yes, but not so much…that’s not the way it is…’. We all have an alibi to explain away our shortcomings, our sins, and we are often to put on a face that says "I do not know," a face that says ‘I didn’t do it, maybe someone else did’ an innocent face. This is no way to lead a Christian life”.

"It’s easier to blame others" - observed the Pope - but "something strange happens if we try to behave differently: "If we begin to look at the things we are capable of doing, at first we “feel bad, we feel disgust ", yet this in turn "gives us peace and makes us healthy”.

Pope Francis continued, “when I feel envy in my heart and I know that this envy is capable of speaking ill of others and morally assassinating them”, this is “the wisdom of judging oneself”. "If we do not learn this first step in life, we will never, never be able to take other steps on the road of our Christian life, of our spiritual life":

“The first step is to judge ourselves.  Without saying anything out loud. Between you and your conscience. Walking down the street, I pass by a prison and say: "Well, they deserve it" - "Yet do you know that if it weren’t for the grace of God you would be there? Did you ever think that you are capable of doing the things that they have done, even worse?” This is what judging yourself means, not hiding from the roots of sin that are in all of us, the many things we are capable of doing, even if we cannot seen them”.
 

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http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-thanks-churches-in-north-africa-for-their-cou

Pope thanks Churches in North Africa for their courage
2015-03-02 Vatican Radio



(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has thanked the Church in Libya and the ecclesial communities in North Africa for their courage and for being a peaceful presence in an area where freedom of conscience is under threat.

The Pope was addressing members of the Episcopal Conference of North African Bishops, CERNA,   who are in the Vatican for their Ad Limina visit.

CERNA gathers prelates from Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya.

“You are one of the peripheries” of the world – Pope Francis said to the Prelates from North Africa - and you are the face and the heart with which God reaches out to the people of this periphery.
 

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http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2015/03/03/pope_at_santa_marta_an_invitation_to_do_good/1126659

Pope at Santa Marta: An invitation to do good
03/03/2015 11:43

(Vatican Radio)  God “generously forgives” those who “learn to do good”, but what he doesn’t forgive is “hypocrisy and fake saints”, said Pope Francis at Mass Tuesday morning in Casa Santa Marta chapel.

Pope Francis said that there has never been any doubts that God prefers “sanctified sinners” – people who, despite their past sins, learn how to do a greater good -- to “fake saints” – people who are more concerned with appearing saintly than doing good.

The Pope was reflecting on the first reading from Isaiah, which he described as an "invitation and an imperative" that comes directly from God: "Cease to do evil, learn to do good" defending orphans and widows, namely "those who no one remembers".  Pope Francis said this category includes the "abandoned elderly", "children who do not go to school", and those "who do not know how to make the sign of the Cross". Essentially it is an invitation to conversion:
 

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http://vaticaninsider.lastampa.it/en/the-vatican/detail/articolo/kurdistan-kurdistan-kurdistan-39487/

03/ 2/2015
Barzani asks Pope to encourage international aid for Kurdistan


(©Afp) Francis with Prime Minister Barzani

In an audience with the Pope this morning, the Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government in Iraqi Kurdistan, Nechirvan Barzani, asked the Holy See to encourage the international community to support the region.

The private meeting lasted a quarter of an hour. The Kurdish leader - accompanied by the deputy prime minister, the religious affairs minister, the head of the Department of Foreign Relations and one woman, the High Representative of the Kurdistan Regional Government in Italy. Mrs. Rezan Kader – was then received by the Holy See’s “foreign affairs minister”, Mgr. Paul Richard Gallagher, and also met the Vice-President of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, Guzman Carriquiry. The Vatican did not issue a statement and Barzani was not received by the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin because the Kurdish leader is not a head of state.
 

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http://www.zenit.org/en/articles/canonization-of-st-therese-s-parents-to-coincide-with-synod-on-the-family

Canonization of St. Therese's Parents to Coincide with Synod on the Family
Rome,  March 03, 2015

Cardinal Angelo Amato, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, informed recently that the parents of Saint Therese of Lisieux – Louis and Zelie Martin --, will be canonized this October, coinciding with the Synod on the Family, which will take place at that time in the Vatican.

“Thanks be to God in October two spouses, parents of Saint Therese of Lisieux, will be canonized,” said the Salesian Cardinal, at a recent meeting organized by the Libreria Editrice Vaticana (LEV) to discuss the topic “Of What Use Are Saints?” stressing the importance of sanctity in the family.

“Saints are not only priests and nuns, but also lay people,” pointed out Cardinal Amato, referring to this exemplary French married couple.
 
Benedict XVI beatified both parents on October 19, 2008. Their canonization will be the first joint canonization of a married couple. Many have proposed their life of daily holiness as a model for our time.

Louis and Zelie Martin are the parents of Saint Therese of Lisieux, Patroness of the Missions and one of the most loved Saints by Pope Francis. St. John Paul II proclaimed her Doctor of the Church in 1997.

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http://vaticaninsider.lastampa.it/en/world-news/detail/articolo/stati-uniti-united-states-estados-unidos-39506/

03/ 3/2015
Pope Appoints Robert W. McElroy, Advocate for the Poor, as bishop of San Diego


Bishop Robert W. Mc Elroy

Pope Francis has made another highly significant appointment in the United States by naming Robert Walter McElroy, 61, as bishop of the diocese of San Diego in California.  Widely recognized as one of the intellectual heavyweights in the American hierarchy and a specialist in the Social Teaching of the Church, he is a pastor who has wholeheartedly embraced the vision and pastoral approach of Pope Francis.

The Vatican announced the appointment at midday (Rome time) March 3. He will be installed as bishop of San Diego on April 15.   At the time of his nomination, McElroy was auxiliary bishop of the archdiocese of San Francisco, a position he held since Benedict XVI assigned him to that post on 6 July 2010.  He succeeds Bishop Cirilo Flores who died from cancer and a stroke last September, just one year after taking over as pastor of this large diocese.
 

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http://ncronline.org/news/vatican/pope-francis-cements-financial-reform-new-laws-creates-vatican-auditor-general

Pope Francis cements financial reform in new laws, creates Vatican auditor general
Mar. 3, 2015

Vatican City --   Ending weeks of speculation that curial officials would stop his reform of the Vatican's scandal-plagued finances, Pope Francis has approved a set of new legislative norms that formalize his moves to bring financial accountability and transparency to the Catholic church's central bureaucracy.
 
The new laws concretize the pope's creation last year of a new central Vatican office with wide control over financial matters, giving that office authority to mandate financial standards for Vatican departments and power to monitor and review the implementation of such standards.

The pope has also created a new position within the Vatican bureaucracy for an auditor general, giving that as-yet unnamed person near-complete authority to investigate irregularities in accounting -- extending even to unannounced on-site investigations of Vatican offices.

Francis made the financial moves in a new series of norms, known together as a motu proprio, that were posted to the Vatican website Tuesday. The norms, which were signed Feb. 22 and went into effect Sunday -- concern three Vatican entities: the Council for the Economy, the Secretariat for the Economy, and the new office of the auditor general.

The pope created the council and the secretariat in February 2014, appointing German Cardinal Reinhard Marx to lead the former and Australian Cardinal George Pell to lead the latter.
 

Another good article on this reform imo.

http://www.cruxnow.com/church/2015/03/03/on-financial-reform-pope-francis-doesnt-blink/
On financial reform, Pope Francis doesn’t blink
By John L. Allen Jr.
Associate editor | March 3, 2015

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http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2015/03/03/pope_francis_to_travel_to_pompeii_and_naples/1126795

Pope Francis to travel to Pompeii and Naples
03/03/2015 16:07

(Vatican Radio) The official programme for Pope Francis’ visit to Pompeii and Naples was published Tuesday by the Vatican Press Office.

The one-day visit scheduled for Saturday, 21 March will begin at 7am in the Vatican where the Pope will board a helicopter that will take him to the Shrine of Pompeii where he will gather in prayer.
 
At 9am Pope Francis is due to arrive in Scampia, an impoverished area close to Naples where he will meet with the community in the John Paul II Square.

Midmorning sees the Pope celebrating Mass in Naples’ central Piazza del Plebiscito.
 

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http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-francis-charism-of-unity-anchored-in-eucharis

Pope Francis: Charism of unity anchored in Eucharist
2015-03-04 Vatican Radio



(Vatican Radio) In the Paul VI Audience Hall before his General Audience on Wednesday, Pope Francis met with the Bishop Friends of the Focolare Movement.

Founded in Italy in 1943 by Chiara Lubich, the Focolare, also known as the Work of Mary, is an ecclesial movement that promotes the ideals of unity and universal brotherhood. Since 1977, a number of Bishops who desired to live out the spirituality of communion promoted by Focolare, have gathered together as the Bishop Friends of the Movement. The Bishop Friends hold regular meetings at international and regional levels.
 

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http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-a-society-that-discards-the-elderly-carries-w

Pope: a society that discards the elderly carries within a deadly virus
2015-03-04 Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) “Where the elderly are not honoured, there is no future for the young”. This was the powerful message delivered by Pope Francis during his catechesis on Wednesday, devoted to the elderly.

Speaking to the crowds gathered in St Peter’s Square for the weekly General Audience the Pope continued in his series of teachings on the family, focusing this time on the role of grandparents

Reflecting on the fact that life expectancy has increased in modern societies, Francis denounced a widespread lack of respect and consideration for the elderly and their dignity.

Recalling the words of Benedict XVI during a visit to an old age home when he said: “The quality of a society, I mean of a civilization, is also judged by how it treats elderly people and by the place it gives them in community life”, Pope Francis reiterated: “It is true, attention for the elderly is what makes the difference within a civilization”.

Nowadays, he said, people tend to live longer, but often our societies not only fail to make room for the elderly, but even consider them a burden.

And recounting an anecdote dating back to when he was Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Pope Francis told of how when visiting an old age home, he stopped to chat to one of the guests and asked her how her children were doing: “Well” answered the old woman. “Do they come to visit you?” he said. “Oh yes, always” she replied. “And when was the last time they came?” he continued. “At Christmas” she said. “It was August… Eight months without a visit from her children – this Pope Francis said is a mortal sin.”
 

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http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-francis-worldliness-blinds-us-to-the-needs-of

Pope Francis: worldliness blinds us to the needs of the poor
2015-03-05 Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) Worldliness darkens the soul, making it unable to see the poor who live next to us with all their wounds: this was the message, in brief, that Pope Francis had for the faithful gathered for Mass in the chapel of the Santa Marta residence in the Vatican on Thursday morning.

Commenting on the parable of the rich man, a man dressed “in purple and fine linen,” who “every day gave lavish banquets,” the Pope said that we never hear ill spoken of this man, we are not told that he was a bad man. In fact, “He was, perhaps, a religious man, in its own way: he prayed, perhaps, a few prayers and two or three times a year definitely went to the temple to make the sacrifices and gave large offerings to the priests, and they – with their clerical pusillanimity – gave him to sit in the place of honor.” They did not notice the poor beggar at his door, Lazarus, hungry, full of sores, which were the evidence of his grave need. Pope Francis went on to describe the situation of the rich man:

“When he went about town, we might imagine his car with tinted windows so as not [to be] seen from without – who knows – but definitely, yes, his soul, the eyes of his soul were darkened so that he could not see out. He saw only into his life, and did not realize what had happened to [himself]. He was not bad: he was sick, sick with worldliness – and worldliness transforms souls  It transforms souls, makes them lose consciousness of reality. Worldly souls live in an artificial world, one of their making. Worldliness anesthetizes the soul. This is why the worldly man was not able to see reality.”

The reality is that many poor people are living right in our midst:
 

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http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-francis-we-must-not-abandon-the-elderly

Pope Francis: We must not abandon the elderly
2015-03-05 Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Thursday addressed members of the Pontifical Academy for Life, who are meeting in Rome for their General Assembly.

In his remarks, the Holy Father spoke about the theme of the Assembly: “Assisting the elderly and palliative care.” Palliative care, he said, “is an expression of the properly human attitude of taking care of one another, especially of those who suffer. It bears witness that the human person is always precious, even if marked by age and sickness.”

Pope Francis also spoke of the duty of honouring the elderly, which he associated with the biblical commandment to honour one’s parents. On the contrary, he said, the Bible has a stern warning for those who neglect or mistreat their parents. This judgement applies today when parents, “having become older and less useful, are marginalized to the point of abandonment.”