Pope Francis

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http://aleteia.org/2016/07/03/francis-benedict-xvis-resignation-was-an-act-of-government/?utm_medium=aleteia_en&utm_source=Twitter&utm_campaign=english_page&utm_term=Autofeed#link_time=1467572519

Francis: Benedict XVI’s resignation was an act of government
Vatican Insider July 3, 2016

“His resignation had nothing to do with personal issues. It was an act of government. His last act of government.” Pope Francis said this in an interview with Argentinian newspaper La Nación, on 28 June this year and published in the Sunday 3 July issue.

The interview, which was conducted by Joaquín Morales Solá, focuses a great deal on Argentinian affairs: the Pope’s alleged clashes with President Macri, the question of the rejected funds which the government wished to give the Scholas Ocurrentes foundation and the presence in Argentina of people who are considered to be the Pope’s “spokesmen” when they are actually not.

 The interview also contains some references to Benedict XVI. “He has trouble getting around but his brain and memory are functioning perfectly,” Francis said on the very day he celebrated his predecessor’s 65th anniversary of ordination to the priesthood. “He was a revolutionary,” Francis continued, referring to Ratzinger. “In the meeting with cardinals, shortly before the 2013 Conclave, he told us that one of us was going to be Pope and that he did not know who. His generosity was unique. His resignation brought to light all of the Church’s problems. His resignation had nothing to do with personal issues. It was an act of government. His last act of government.”
 

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http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2016/07/04/pope_francis_to_visit_assisi_for_franciscan_anniversary/1242010

Pope Francis to visit Assisi for important Franciscan anniversary
04/07/2016 17:25

(Vatican Radio) The Franciscans and the Bishop of the Italian hill town of Assisi, Domenico Sorrentino announced on Monday that Pope Francis will visit the Umbrian village on Thursday August 4th. During the afternoon visit to the Porziuncola inside the Basilica of St Mary of the Angels, the Pope will officially mark the 8th centenary of the event known as the “Pardon of Assisi.”

The papal trip to Assisi is being described as a private pilgrimage to the tiny chapel which St Francis built and where he founded the Franciscan order at the beginning of the 13th century.
 
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/friar-lauds-indulgence-as-a-way-to-connect-with-st-francis/


Porziuncola located within the Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli near Assisi, Italy. Credit: emmav674 via Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0).

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http://www.ncregister.com/blog/edward-pentin/fr.-lombardi-special-vatican-administrator-for-medjugorje-premature

Fr. Lombardi: Reports of Vatican Administrator for Medjugorje 'Premature'
by Edward Pentin 
07/04/2016

The Vatican has said reports that Pope Francis is to soon name a special administrator for Medjugorje are “premature”, but it is a hypothesis among others currently under consideration.

In a note to journalists today, Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said “in recent days rumors have been circulating about the possible appointment of an apostolic administrator for the Medjugorje shrine”, one which would “report directly to the Holy See.”

Such a possibility is a “hypothetical subject for study among others,” Father Lombardi said, but added “there has still been no decision” about it “and so it is premature to speak of it as a direction already taken, or as an imminent decision”.
 

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https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2016/07/04/prosecutors-roll-recommended-sentences-vatileaks-2-0-trial/

Prosecutors roll out recommended sentences in ‘Vatileaks 2.0’ trial
July 4, 2016

 
According to a statement on Monday from the Vatican spokesman, Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, the two prosecutors in the case, Giampiero Milano and Roberto Zannotti, believe that Italian laywoman and PR expert Francesca Chaouqui was the “inspirer and responsible party for the contested conduct,” and are recommending she face a prison sentence of three years and nine months.

That’s the harshest recommendation for any of the five defendants. Under a law approved by Pope Francis regarding the leaking of secret documents, the defendants theoretically could have faced up to eight years behind bars.

For Spanish Monsignor Angel Lucio Vallejo Balda, the former secretary of the commission, the prosecutors are recommending three years and one month of prison time.

For Italian layman Nicola Maio, Vallejo Balda’s assistant - who, according to prosecutors, had a “limited role in the affair” - the recommendation is one year and nine months.

Prosecutors also recommended distinguishing between the two journalists who published the documents, Gianluigi Nuzzi and Emiliano Fittipaldi. In essence, they’re suggesting that Fittipalid be acquitted for “absence of proof,” while Nuzzi be given a suspended sentence of one year.
 
On Tuesday, the Vatican court will hear presentations by attorneys for the defendants. Monday’s statement did not indicate when the court plans to reach a decision about guilt or innocence and which sentences, if any, to impose.

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https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/vatican-liturgy-chief-asks-all-priests-and-bishops-to-face-east-for-mass-fa

Tue Jul 5, 2016 - 8:01 pm EST
Vatican Liturgy Chief asks all priests and bishops to face east for Mass, faithful to kneel for Communion

LONDON, July 5, 2016 (LifeSiteNews) – Speaking at a conference on the liturgy in London yesterday, Cardinal Robert Sarah, the highest authority on the topic in the Catholic Church under Pope Francis, asked all bishops and priests to adopt the ancient posture in the Mass where the priest faces the tabernacle along with the congregation, rather than facing the people. He asked that the posture be adopted by Advent of this year, which begins November 27. During the same talk, Cardinal Sarah encouraged all Catholics to receive Communion kneeling. During the talk, the Vatican’s liturgy chief revealed that Pope Francis had asked him to “continue the liturgical work Pope Benedict began.”

The announcement was immediately recognized by Catholic Herald deputy editor Dan Hitchens as “the biggest liturgical announcement since Benedict XVI’s 2007 motu proprio Summorum Pontificum gave greater freedom for priests to celebrate the Traditional Latin Mass.”

Vatican watchers are particularly stunned that Pope Francis, who is regarded by many as a liberal, has encouraged a more traditional approach to liturgy. Yet Cardinal Sarah said, “Our Holy Father Pope Francis has the greatest respect for the liturgical vision and measures of Pope Benedict.”
 

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http://www.catholicnews.com/services/englishnews/2016/pope-meets-parents-of-us-student-found-dead-in-rome.cfm

Pope meets parents of U.S. student found dead in Rome
By Carol Glatz   Catholic News Service
7.6.2016 3:37 PM ET

CNS/L'Osservatore Romano
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Meeting the grieving parents of a U.S. student who was found dead in Rome, Pope Francis mourned the death of the teenager, who had been set to begin a study-abroad program.

Beau Solomon, 19, was found dead in the Tiber River July 4 after friends reported last seeing him early July 1.

The pope met with Nick and Jodi Solomon, members of St. John the Evangelist Parish in Spring Green, Wisconsin, July 6, in a private audience. He expressed his "deepest sympathy and compassion" as well as his closeness to them in his prayers "for the young man who died so tragically," according to a Vatican press release.

The student from the University of Wisconsin-Madison had arrived in Rome June 30 to study at John Cabot University. However, he disappeared less than 24 hours later after spending the evening with friends at a Rome pub, according to the Associated Press.

More than $1,000 had been charged to the student's credit card after his disappearance, AP reported.

Italian police were investigating the cause and circumstances of his death and arrested a homeless man in connection with the case.
 

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http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-affirms-fourth-world-movements-work-to-end-po

Pope affirms 'Fourth World' movement's work to end poverty
2016-07-06 Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis met on Wednesday with a large group of French pilgrims, including very poor and homeless people supported by the Sappel community. The group of 200 pilgrims from the Lyon region of France is marking the upcoming one hundredth anniversary of the birth of Fr Joseph Wresinski who founded the ATD Fourth World international movement working for the eradication of chronic poverty across the globe.

In his words to the group, the Pope stressed the important witness that this pilgrimage provides of walking together and supporting each other. He told his guests how welcome they were in the Vatican and reminded them that Jesus came to share in their condition of poverty and rejection by the people of his day.

Quoting the words of Fr Wresinski, Pope Francis said ‘You are in the heart of the Church’ because Jesus always gave priority to the poor and suffering. You help us to encounter Jesus, he said, not through words, but through the witness of your lives and by reminding us that we are all children of God the Father.
 

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http://www.ncregister.com/blog/edward-pentin/vatileaks-ii-verdict-expected-thursday-july-7

'Vatileaks II' Verdict Expected Thursday July 7
by Edward Pentin 
07/06/2016

Vatican judges are expected to rule on ‘Vatileaks 2’ Thursday afternoon after three final days of hearings in which lawyers for the prosecution and the defense presented their closing statements.
 

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http://www.thetablet.co.uk/news/5814/0/vatileaks-female-defendant-and-priest-sentenced-while-journalists-acquitted

Vatileaks: Female defendant and priest sentenced while journalists acquitted
07 July 2016 | by Christopher Lamb   


The five defendants were being tried under a new law created by Pope Francis to criminalise leaking

The woman at the centre of the Vatileaks trial was today given a ten-month suspended sentence while her priest accomplice is facing 18 months in prison.

Francesca Chaouqui, who has recently given birth, and Mgr Angelo Lucio Vallejo Balda had both been accused with three others of leaking and disseminating sensitive financial documents of the Holy See.

Earlier Chaouqui had been described as the “instigator” behind the leak of sensitive financial documents, with prosecutors recommending she be given a sentence of 3 years and nine months. But today judges in a Vatican court gave her a suspended sentence leaving Mgr Lucio Vallejo Balda as the only one of the accused serving time in prison for the offences.

The trial lasted eight months. The other three defendants who were acquitted were journalists Gianluigi Nuzzi and Emiliano Fittipaldi and Mgr Balda's secretary, Nicola Maio. The Vatican has faced widespread criticism for prosecuting journalists.

The five defendants were being tried under a new law created by Pope Francis to criminalise leaking which carries a maximum eight-year prison sentence. He was conscious of the damage done to Benedict XVI’s papacy by the first Vatileaks scandal where his butler revealed confidential papers from inside the apostolic palace.
 
http://www.catholicnews.com/services/englishnews/2016/vatileaks-citing-freedom-of-press-vatican-court-acquits-journalists.cfm
'VatiLeaks': Citing freedom of press, Vatican court acquits journalists
By Junno Arocho Esteves Catholic News Service
7.7.2016 12:55 PM ET

CNS/Paul Haring

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http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2016/07/07/fr_lombardi_briefs_journalists_on_vatileaks_2_trial/1242775

Fr Lombardi briefs journalists on 'Vatileaks 2' trial
07/07/2016 20:02

(Vatican Radio) Father Federico Lombardi, Director of the Vatican Press Office, briefed journalists after the reading of the verdicts in the so-called ‘Vatileaks 2’ trial.

Father Lombardi explained that the trial had to take place because a Law was promulgated in 2013 specifically to contrast the illegal leaking of documents and information.

The proceedings, he continued, had to go ahead in order to give tangible evidence of the firm decision within the Holy See to put an end to all tensions and controversial discussions surrounding internal Vatican matters that too often – in recent times - have stemmed from the leaking of confidential information to the media and have resulted in ambiguous and negative contexts.

“To be able to understand and evaluate the diverse aspects of this situation”, the right thing to do – Lombardi said - was to courageously tackle the issue and understand which was the effective responsibility of the journalists notwithstanding predictable polemical comments regarding press freedom issues.
 

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http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-sends-message-for-italys-upcoming-eucharistic

Pope sends message for Italy’s upcoming Eucharistic Congress
2016-07-07 Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis encouraged everyone to visit the Blessed Sacrament every day, if possible, in a message for of the upcoming Eucharistic Congress in Genoa, Italy.

“On this happy occasion which is offered to us, I encourage all the Faithful to always honor the most blessed Eucharist,” the Pope said in the message, which was addressed to the president of the Italian Bishop’s Conference, Cardinal Agnelo Bagnasco.

Citing the Second Vatican Council document Sacrosantum Concilium, the Pope referred to the Eucharist as “a sacrament of love, a sign of unity, a bond of charity,” and he called the faithful to be nourished by it “in order to be fraternally united among themselves, and cooperate in the building of the Church and the good of the world.”
 

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http://www.catholicnews.com/services/englishnews/2016/amoris-laetitia-at-three-months-communion-question-still-debated.cfm

'Amoris Laetitia' at three months: Communion question still debated
By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service
7.7.2016 9:07 AM ET

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Three months after the publication of Pope Francis' exhortation on marriage and family, bishops and bishops' conferences around the world are studying practical ways to apply it. Some still disagree on what exactly the pope meant.

In the first week of July, Philadelphia Archbishop Charles J. Chaput's pastoral guidelines for implementing the exhortation's teaching in his archdiocese went into effect; an Italian blog published reflections on the document by Cardinal Ennio Antonelli, former president of the Pontifical Council for the Family; and La Civilta Cattolica, an Italian Jesuit journal, released a long interview with Cardinal Christoph Schonborn of Vienna, the theologian Pope Francis chose to present the document to the press.
 

http://www.laciviltacattolica.it/articoli_download/extra/INTERVISTA%20SCHONBORN%20INGLESE.pdf
EXCERPT FROM
CONVERSATION WITH CARDINAL
SCHÖNBORN ABOUT AMORIS LAETITIA
Antonio Spadaro S.J.

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http://www.catholicnews.com/services/englishnews/2016/pope-taps-chicago-archbishop-as-member-of-congregation-for-bishops.cfm

Pope taps Chicago archbishop as member of Congregation for Bishops
By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service
7.7.2016 11:51 AM ET

CNS photo/Karen Callaway, Catholic New World
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis has named Chicago Archbishop Blase J. Cupich a member of the Congregation for Bishops, the office that advises the pope on the nomination of bishops around the world.

Archbishop Cupich, 67, takes the place left vacant by U.S. Cardinal William J. Levada, who turned 80 in mid-June and automatically ceded his membership.

The congregation is led by Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet, its prefect. Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl of Washington also serves as a member.
 
https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/pope-names-chicagos-abp.-cupich-to-key-role-in-picking-future-u.s.-bishops
Thu Jul 7, 2016 - 10:58 am EST
Pope names left-wing Archbishop Cupich to key role in picking future U.S. bishops

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http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-invites-argentinians-to-dare-to-dream-on-200t

Pope invites Argentinians to dare to dream on 200th anniversary
2016-07-09 Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has sent a letter to the President of the Argentinian Episcopal Conference on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the country's independence. In the letter he invites people in his homeland to "dare to dream".

On the 9th of July 1816 Argentina declared independence from its then ruler Spain. To mark this major event in the country’s history Pope Francis has sent a letter to the President of the Argentinian Episcopal Conference, José María Arancedo, in which he addresses those in authority and the Argentinian people on the occasion of his homeland’s bicentennial celebrations.

In the letter the Pope says he desires “that this celebration will make us stronger in the path taken by our ancestors two hundred years ago,” and invites the people of the country “not to sell the Motherland” and to resist “all forms of colonisation”.
 

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http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-motu-proprio-on-administration-and-vigilance

Pope: Motu Proprio on administration and vigilance of Vatican patrimony
2016-07-09 Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has approved a new ‘Motu Proprio’ which defines the relationship between the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See and the Secretariat for the Economy.

The ‘Motu Proprio’ that regards competencies in economic and financial matters spells out the clear and unequivocal distinction between control and vigilance, on the one hand, and administration of goods, on the other. 

Please find below the official translation of the press release regarding the ‘Motu Proprio’:
 

http://www.lastampa.it/2016/07/09/vaticaninsider/eng/the-vatican/vatican-apsa-is-to-go-back-to-managing-all-assets-pell-is-in-charge-of-vigilance-JEVjx2S0Mnq0E4tTXNFlDN/pagina.html
Vatican: APSA is to go back to managing all assets. Pell is in charge of vigilance
09/07/2016

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Photo at the link

http://www.lastampa.it/2016/07/09/vaticaninsider/eng/the-vatican/francis-appoints-female-to-academy-of-social-sciences-DJb0LHjFJgxT6rFu89LewK/pagina.html

Francis appoints female to Academy of Social Sciences
09/07/2016

Pope Francis has appointed a woman to join the staff of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences. The woman in question is Ana Marta González, a Spanish moral Philosophy professor who lectures at the University of Navarra in Pamplona. In today’s Bulletin, the Vatican informed that Gregory Reighberg, director of the Research School University of Oslo, has also been appointed as ordinary member of the Academy.
 

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http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-reflects-on-parable-of-good-samaritan-at-ange

Pope reflects on parable of Good Samaritan at Angelus
2016-07-10 Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) At the Angelus on Sunday, Pope Francis reflected on the parable of the Good Samaritan.

This parable, the Pope said, in a simple, yet stimulating way, “indicates a style of life, in which the centre of gravity is not ourselves, but others.” Like the doctor of the law in the day’s Gospel, we might ask ourselves, “Who is my neighbour? Is it my friends, my parents, my fellow countrymen, my co-religionists?”

Jesus does not answer the question directly, but instead tells of the Good Samaritan, a man who did not observe the true religion, but who nonetheless helped the poor, abandoned victim of robbers – in contrast to the priest and the Levite who simply passed him by. This story, the Pope said, completely reverses our perspective. It is not up to us, he said, to try to categorize people, to see if they count as our neighbours. Rather, the decision to be, or not be a neighbour, depends on us. “It depends on me,” Pope Francis said, “it depends on me to be or not be a neighbour to the person I meet who has need of my help, even if he is a stranger, or even hostile.”
 

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http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2016/07/10/pope_francis_prays_for_seafarers_and_fishermen_on_sea_sunday/1243281

Pope Francis prays for seafarers and fishermen on Sea Sunday
10/07/2016 12:19

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis at the Angelus took note of the observance of Sea Sunday, which takes place each year on the second Sunday of July. On Sea Sunday, the Catholic Church, along with other churches and ecclesial communities, remembers seafarers and prays for them, their families and those who support them.
 

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http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2016/07/11/vatican_press_spokesman_retires,_us_journalist_appointed/1243418

Director of Vatican Press Office Fr. Lombardi retires, American journalist appointed
11/07/2016 13:15

(Vatican Radio)  Fr. Federico Lombardi sj is stepping down after ten years as Director of the Holy See’s Press Office. Fr. Lombardi, who also served as Director of Programs and later, Director General of Vatican Radio from1991 to February 2016, will be replaced by 56 year old American journalist Greg Burke, currently Vice Director of the Vatican Press Office.  Fr. Lombardi, who turns 74 in August, was also Director General of Vatican television (CTV) from November 2005- January 2013.

40 year old Spanish journalist from Madrid, Paloma García Ovejero will be the first woman to hold the position of the Press Office’s Vice Director when she takes over from Burke.
 
http://www.thetablet.co.uk/news/5822/0/former-fox-news-correspondent-to-head-up-vatican-press-office
Former Fox News correspondent to head up Vatican press office
11 July 2016 | by Catholic News Service ,  Sean Smith   

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http://www.ncregister.com/blog/edward-pentin/catholic-scholars-appeal-to-pope-francis-to-repudiate-errors-in-amoris-laet

Catholic Scholars Appeal to Pope Francis to Repudiate ‘Errors’ in Amoris Laetitia
by Edward Pentin  07/11/2016

A group of Catholic scholars, prelates and clergy have sent an appeal to the College of Cardinals asking that they petition Pope Francis to “repudiate” what they see as “erroneous propositions” contained in Amoris Laetitia.

In a statement released today, the 45 signatories of the appeal say Amoris Laetitia — the Pope’s post-synodal apostolic exhortation (summary document) on the recent Synod on the Family that was published in April — contains “a number of statements that can be understood in a sense that is contrary to Catholic faith and morals.”

The 13 page document, translated into six languages and sent to Cardinal Angelo Sodano, dean of the College of Cardinals as well as 218 individual cardinals and patriarchs, quotes 19 passages in the exhortation which “seem to conflict with Catholic doctrines”.