Pope Francis

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http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/10/24/pope_mass_enter_into_the_mystery_of_jesus/1344844

Pope Mass: Enter into the mystery of Jesus
24/10/2017 11:58

Pope during Mass at the Casa Santa Marta - AP
(Vatican Radio) The centre of the mystery of Jesus Christ is that he "loved me" and "gave himself" up to death, for me.

Those were the Pope’s words at Mass at Casa Santa Marta on Tuesday morning, which he said was a meditation on the Passion of the Lord, the Via Crucis. It is good to go to Mass, pray, to be good Christians, continued Pope Francis, but the central question is whether you have entered the mystery of Jesus Christ.

His homily began with the First Reading from the Letter to the Romans, in which Saint Paul uses  sin, disobedience, grace, forgiveness, to try to "bring us to understand something." Behind all this, there is the story of salvation. Therefore, since there are not enough words to explain Christ, Paul "drives us", because we fall in the midst of the mystery of Christ, "explained the Pope. These contrasts, therefore, are merely steps in the journey to fall into the mystery of Christ, which is not easy to understand. To understand "who is Jesus Christ for you," "for me," "for us," the Pope commented, is to fall into this mystery.
 

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http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/10/25/pope_at_general_audience_%e2%80%98he_who_knows_jesus_will_never_des/1345064

Pope at General Audience: ‘he who knows Jesus will never despair’
25/10/2017 12:46

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has told the faithful never to despair, as the Lord’s grace is always present to those who put their trust in him.

The Pope’s was speaking to the faithful at the Wednesday General Audience, during which he continued his catechesis on Christian hope.

Pope Francis greeted the crowds in St. Peter’s square telling them that this is the last catechesis on the subject of Christian hope, which has accompanied us since the beginning of the liturgical year.

 And so, he said: “I will end by talking about heaven, as the goal of our hope”.

Paradise

"Paradise" the Pope said is one of the last words spoken by Jesus on the cross when he addresses the good thief.
 
https://zenit.org/articles/popes-general-audience-on-heaven-the-goal-of-our-hope/
Pope’s General Audience: Heaven, Goal of Our Hope 
God is Father, and He waits for our Return up to the End
October 25, 2017

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szX5wmUyGQ0
2017.10.25 - General Audience 

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http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/10/26/pope_at_daily_mass_easy-going_christians_dont_exist/1345300

Pope at daily Mass: Easy-going Christians don't exist
26/10/2017 12:45

(Vatican Radio) “Jesus calls us to change our lives, to change paths, calls us to conversion.” And this means fighting against evil, even in our own hearts, “a struggle that does not give you ease, but gives you peace.” That was the message of Pope Francis in his reflection during the morning Mass at Casa Santa Marta. Inspired by the day’s Gospel, Pope Francis explained that this is the “fire” that Jesus sets on earth – a fire, he said, that calls for change:

“Changing our way of thinking, changing our way of feeling. Your heart, which was worldly, pagan, now becomes Christian with the strength of Christ: to change, this is conversion. And changing your manner of acting: your works must change.”

It is, he continued, a conversion that “involves everything, body and soul, everything.” Pope Francis emphasized:
 

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http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/10/26/pope_francis_receives_church_of_scotland_delegation/1345288

Pope Francis receives Church of Scotland delegation
26/10/2017 12:21

Pope Francis - AFP
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Thursday addressed representatives from the Church of Scotland telling them that the mutual purification of memory is one of the most significant fruits of our common ecumenical journey.

In his remarks to representatives of the Church of Scotland on Thursday, Pope Francis recalled that their meeting was taking place during the fifth centenary of the Reformation, which the Holy Father himself joined in commemorating last year in Lund, Sweden.

Fraternity

The Pope then gave thanks to the Lord for was he called “the great gift of being able to live this year in true fraternity, no longer as adversaries, after long centuries of estrangement and conflict.”

He went on to say that,  “this has been possible, with God’s grace, by the ecumenical journey that has enabled us to grow in mutual understanding, trust and cooperation.
 

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http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/10/26/pope_francis_speaks_with_iss_commander_and_crew/1345298

Pope Francis speaks with ISS commander and crew
26/10/2017 11:03

Pope Francis communicating by live audiovisual connection with the crew of Mission 53 on board the International Space Station - ANSA
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis spoke via satellite link with the crew of the International Space Station on Thursday. Astronaut Randolph Bresnik of the US commands the current, 53rd ISS expedition, which has a complement of 5 mission specialists: Italian astronaut Paolo Nespoli; Russian astronauts Sergey Ryanzansky and Alexander Misurkin; and US astronauts Joe Acaba and Mark Vande Hei.

The video link-up lasted about 20 minutes, with the Holy Father speaking to the astronauts from the "auletta" of the Paul VI Hall, in the presence of the President of the Italian Space Agency (ASA), Roberto Battiston, and the Director of Earth Observation Programmes of the European Space Agency (ESA), Josef Aschbacher
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uK-7g3vWXpQ
2017.10.26 From Vatican City: Link-up with the International Space Station  

https://zenit.org/articles/popes-conversation-with-astronauts/
Pope’s Conversation with Astronauts 
Live Link with International Space Station
October 26, 2017

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http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/10/27/pope_and_anglican_leader_appeal_for_peace_in_south_sudan/1345634

Pope and Anglican leader appeal for peace in South Sudan
27/10/2017 18:53

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis met on Friday with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, together with the new director of Rome’s Anglican Centre, Archbishop Bernard Ntahoturi of Burundi. Following their half hour encounter in the Apostolic Palace, the two Anglican archbishops and their wives joined the pope for lunch in his Santa Marta residence to continue the conversation.

On Thursday, the Anglican leader presided at Vespers at Rome’s Caravita church for the installation of Archbishop Bernard Ntahoturi as his official representative to the Holy See. The Vatican’s foreign minister, Archbishop Paul Gallagher, who previously served as nuncio in Burundi, preached the homily, stressing that ecumenical engagement is a moral imperative for all Christians.
 

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 http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/10/28/eu_parliament_vp_on_europe_and_dialogue/1345775

EU Parliament VP on Europe and dialogue
28/10/2017 16:22

Participants attending COMECE Rethinking Europe meeting in the Vatican - RV
(Vatican Radio) Political and religious leaders have gathered in the Vatican this weekend to participate in an dialogue on Europe.

The three day event entitled “Rethinking Europe” has been organised by COMECE, the Brussels-based Commission of the Bishops' Conferences of the European Community.

Apart from the discussion, there is also a papal audience on Saturday afternoon with the Holy Father, while on Sunday 29th participants will attend Mass in St Peter’s Basilica.

One of the participants attending the meeting is the first Vice President of the European Parliament, Mairead McGuinness, whose role also includes responsibility for Article 17 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU (TFEU) introduced by the Treaty of Lisbon, which provides for the first time, a legal basis for an open, transparent and regular dialogue between the EU institutions and churches, religious associations, and philosophical and non-confessional organisations.

Before being received in private audience with Pope Francis on Saturday, Mairead McGuinness spoke to Lydia O’Kane about the meeting and the importance of engaging with religious communities.
 

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https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/pope-to-european-civil-and-church-leaders-men-and-women-are-different-69971

Pope on Christians' contribution to the future of Europe
28/10/2017 17:53

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Saturday addressed the participants of a conference, sponsored by the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Community (COMECE), on the theme of "(Re)Thinking Europe — A Christian Contribution to the Future of the European Project."

“It is significant,” the Pope said, “that this meeting was intended above all as a dialogue, pursued in a spirit of openness and freedom, for the sake of mutual enrichment.” Speaking of a “Christian contribution” to the future of the continent, he said, means “to consider our task, as Christians today, in these lands which have been so richly shaped by the faith down the centuries.”

Beginning with the figure of St Benedict, the patron of Europe, the Holy Father focused especially on two main contributions that Christians have made to Europe, and can make for the future. The first, “and perhaps the greatest” contribution Christians can make to Europe is "to remind her that she is not a mass of statistics or institutions, but is made up of people.” The second contribution is related to the first: “To acknowledge that others are persons means to value what unites us to them. To be a person connects us with others; it makes us a community.” The second contribution, then, is "to help recover the sense of belonging to a community.”

It is within the family, “the primordial community,” that we are first able to come to an understanding of unity in diversity. The family, the Pope said, “is the harmonious union of the differences between man and woman, which becomes stronger and more authentic to the extent that it is fruitful, capable of opening itself to life and to others.” The wider civic community is similar, in that it is able to flourish when it is open to the “differences and gifts” of every person within the community.
 
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/pope-to-european-civil-and-church-leaders-men-and-women-are-different-69971
Pope to European civil and Church leaders: men and women are different

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jODydFd8JpI
2017.10.28 - Conference on the future of the European Project "(Re)Thinking Europe" 

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http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/10/29/pope_at_angelus_love_is_gods_dream_for_man/1345861

Pope at Angelus: Love is God's dream for man
29/10/2017 12:59

(Vatican Radio) Thousands of people joined Pope Francis in St Peter’s Square on Sunday, for the weekly recitation of the Angelus. With the sun peeking out through slightly overcast skies, the Holy Father spoke on the Gospel reading for the Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time. In the day’s Gospel, Jesus is asked, “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?”

Pope Francis noted that the question was “insidious,” because there were more than six hundred precepts in the Old Testament. But, he said, “Jesus answers without hesitation: ‘You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind’; and He adds, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’.”

This response, the Pope continued, is not obvious, because in some ways, the Ten Commandments, given directly by God to Moses, were the most important, because they were conditions of the covenant between God and His people. But, the Pope said, Jesus wants to make us understand that without love of God and of our neighbour, there can be no true fidelity to the covenant.
 
https://zenit.org/articles/angelus-address-on-the-great-commandment/
Angelus Address: On the Great Commandment 
‘You Shall Love the Lord your God with All your Heart, and with All your Soul, and with All your Mind and Your Neighbor as Yourself’
October 29, 2017

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQnghLby23U
2017.10.29 - Angelus Domini

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http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/10/30/pope_francis_a_good_shepherd_is_always_close_to_his_people/1345966

Pope Francis: a good shepherd is always close to his people
30/10/2017 13:33

(Vatican Radio) A good shepherd is always close to his people, while a bad priest is only interested in power and money. That was Pope Francis’ message at the Santa Marta Mass on Monday, as he reflected on the Gospel reading for the day.

In the reading from St Luke’s Gospel, Jesus is in the synagogue where he meets a woman who has been crippled for years and is unable to stand up straight. The pope notes how Luke uses five verbs to describe Jesus’ actions as the good shepherd who is always close to his people. Jesus saw, he called her, he spoke to her, he laid his hands on her and he cured her.

Bad priests interested in power and money

But the doctors of the Law, the Pharisees and Sadducees, those who are very distant from their people, rebuke him continuously. These were not good shepherds, the pope explained, as they were closed within their own world and not interested in their people. Or perhaps, he added, they were only interested in them when the service was over and they wanted to see how much money had been collected.
 

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http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/10/31/pope_francis_santa_marta_courage_kingdom_of_god/1346146

Pope Francis: ‎Courage is needed for the Kingdom of God to grow
31/10/2017 14:11

To help the Kingdom of God grow, courage is needed to sow the mustard seed and mix the yeast, in the face of many who prefer a “pastoral care of conservation” without dirtying their hands.  Pope Francis made the point in his homily at Mass, Tuesday morning, in the chapel of the Vatican’s Casa Santa Marta.  The Pope took his cue from Luke’s Gospel where Jesus compares the Kingdom of God to a mustard seed and yeast, which though small, "have a power within” to grow. 

Suffering to glory

In his Letter to the Romans, the Pope said, St. Paul speaks about the many anxieties of life that are nothing compared to the glory that awaits us.  Commenting on the struggle between suffering and glory, the Pope said, in our sufferings there is in fact “an ardent expectation” for a “great revelation of the Kingdom of God".  It is an expectation that belongs not only to us but also to creation,  that is frail like us whoa are yearning for the “revelation of the children of God".  This inner strength that leads us to hope for the fullness of the Kingdom of God, the Pope pointed out, is the Holy Spirit.
 

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http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/10/31/catholics,_lutherans_mark_500th_anniversary_of_reformation/1346149

Catholics and Lutherans mark 500th anniversary of Reformation
31/10/2017 13:37

Pope Francis, flanked by the president and secretary general of the Lutheran World Federation, lead a joint commemoration of the Reformation in October 2016 - AP
(Vatican Radio) October 31st 2017 marks the 500th anniversary of the day on which German theologian Martin Luther published his 95 theses, setting in motion the events of the Protestant Reformation.

To mark the occasion, the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and the Lutheran World Federation on Tuesday issued a joint statement, giving thanks for the spiritual and theological gifts received through the Reformation and recalling the commemorative events that have taken place over the past year.

Exactly one year ago, Pope Francis travelled to the Swedish cities of Lund and Malmo to take part in a joint commemoration of the Reformation alongside leaders of the Lutheran World Federation. A moving liturgy in the ancient Lund cathedral and a joyful celebration of young people in Malmo arena focused on asking forgiveness for the sins of past centuries, while also celebrating the progress of the last fifty years and pledging to step up joint efforts in the service of those most in need.

Commitment to continue the ecumenical journey

One year on, today’s statement recalls those historic events, in particular the commitment by Pope Francis and former LWF president Bishop Munib Younan to continue the ecumenical journey.

The statement says the shared journey of the past fifty years has resulted in “the removal of prejudices, the increase of mutual understanding and the identification of decisive theological agreements”.

While Catholics and Lutherans can still not share at the Eucharistic table, the two Churches acknowledge their “joint pastoral responsibility to respond to the spiritual thirst and hunger of our people to be one in Christ “.

New insights into Reformation

Commemorating the Reformation together in many countries around the world, the statement says, has allowed Lutherans and Catholics new insights into events of the 16th century which led to their separation. Noting the theological progress that was made through the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification, the statement says growing communion and shared service are a sign of hope for the world of today to overcome divisions and fragmentation.

The statement concludes with a commitment to continue the journey towards unity, guided by God’s Spirit, in the knowledge that “what we have in common is far more than that which still divides us”.

Please find the full statement below:
 

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https://zenit.org/articles/two-new-vatican-postage-stamps/

Two New Vatican Postage Stamps 
Celebrate St Francis de Sales, Mark 500th Anniversary Reformation
October 31, 2017

The Vatican will issue two new postage stamps on November 23, 2017, the Holy See Press Office announced October 31, 2017.

A 2.55-euro stamp celebrates the 450th Anniversary of the birth of Saint Francis de Sales.  A 1.00-euro stamp marks the October 31, 2017, 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation.
 

It was October 31, 1517, when Martin Luther, an Augustinian friar and theologian, put up his 95 theses on the door of the church in Wittenberg. Last year, on the occasion of his journey to Sweden for the Joint Catholic-Lutheran Commemoration of the Reformation, Pope Francis expressed his gratitude to God for the opportunity to remember such an important event “with a renewed spirit and in the recognition that Christian unity is a priority, because we realize that much more unites us than separates us.”

A joint statement that was signed during the visit noted in the past “that Lutherans and Catholics have wounded the visible unity of the Church. Theological differences were accompanied by prejudice and conflicts, and religion was instrumentalized for political ends. Our common faith in Jesus Christ and our baptism demand of us a daily conversion, by which we cast off the historical disagreements and conflicts that impede the ministry of reconciliation.”

“All of us are well aware”, Pope Francis affirmed on another occasion, “that the past cannot be changed. Yet today…it is possible to engage in a purification of memory”, without “resentment” that “distorts”.

The postage stamp issued by the Philatelic Office for the occasion depicts in the foreground Jesus crucified and in the background a golden and timeless view of the city of Wittenberg. With a penitential disposition, kneeling respectively on the left and right of the cross, Martin Luther holds the Bible, source and destination of his doctrine, while Philipp Melanchthon, theologian and friend of Martin Luther, one of the main protagonists of the reform, holds in hand the Augsburg Confession (Confessio Augustana), the first official public presentation of the principles of Protestantism written by him.

The Vatican’s Philatelic and Numismatic Office is responsible for issuing Vatican postal stamps and euro coins.  The office was established in 1929, issuing its first stamps that year featuring the image of Pope Pius XI.

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http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/11/01/pope_angelus_celebrating_the_saints_who_transmit_the_light_/1346374

Pope Angelus: Celebrating the Saints who transmit the light of God
01/11/2017 13:47

Pope Francis during the Angelus - ANSA
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis during the Angelus on Wednesday marked the feast of All Saints, telling the faithful in St Peter’s Square that it was a celebration of the many simple and hidden people who help God to push the world forward.

“Saints are not perfect models, but people marked by God. We can compare them to church stained-glass windows, which bring light into different shades of color.”

Those were Pope Francis’ words on Wednesday on the Solemnity of All Saints, during his Angelus address from St Peter’s Square.

The Pope explained that “Saints are our brothers and sisters who have received the light of God in their hearts and have transmitted it to the world, each according to their own "tonality". This is the purpose of life, continued Pope Francis, to pass on the light of God; and also the purpose of our lives....”

Referring to Wednesday’s Gospel reading, the Holy Father said, “Jesus speaks to his own, to all of us, saying "Blessed".

“Whoever is with Jesus is blessed, he is happy, noted the Pope, adding that happiness is not in having something or becoming someone, “no, the real happiness is to be with the Lord and to live for love, he said.”
 
https://zenit.org/articles/angelus-address-solemnity-of-all-saints/
Angelus Address: Solemnity of All Saints 
November 1, 2017

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oo-Zcg9nomc
2017.11.01 - Angelus Domini 

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http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/11/01/pope_francis_prays_for_recent_terror_victims/1346310

Pope Francis prays for terror attack victims
01/11/2017 12:21

Pope Francis during the Angelus in St Peter's Sqaure on the feast of All Saints - AFP

All Saints on Wednesday, expressed his deep sorrow following recent terrorist attacks in Somalia, Afghanistan and on Tuesday in New York.

Speaking from the window of his studio in the Apostolic Palace, the Holy Father deplored such acts of violence, adding, “I pray for the deceased, for the wounded and their family members. We ask the Lord to convert the hearts of terrorists and free the world from hatred and homicidal folly that abuses the name of God spreading death.”
 

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http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/11/02/pope_francis_warns_warmongers_the_only_fruit_of_war_is_deat/1346568

Pope Francis warns warmongers: the only fruit of war is death
02/11/2017 16:37

Pope Francis at the Nettuno US War Cemetery and Memorial - EPA
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis celebrated the Feast of All Souls Day on Thursday commemorating all those who have died in war, reminding humanity not to forget past lessons and warning that the only fruit yielded by conflict is death.

His words of warning and his powerful condemnation of warmongers came during his homily at the Sicily-Rome American War Cemetery some 50 kilometers south of Rome.

Taking the occasion to reiterate his deep conviction that “wars produce nothing more than cemeteries and death” the Pope said he chose to visit a war cemetery as a sign “in a moment when our humanity seems not to have learned the lesson, or doesn't want to learn it.”

The Nettuno US War Cemetery and Memorial is the final resting place for thousands of men who died during military operations carried out to liberate Italy –  from Sicily to Rome – from Nazi Germany.  Its chapel contains a list of the 3095 missing.

Pope Francis arrived at the War Cemetery early in the afternoon so that he could spend time reflecting and paying his personal respects to the 7,860 – mostly young – soldiers who gave their lives in the name of freedom and respect for humanity.

Walking in poignant silence between the rows and rows of tombstones, Pope Francis bowed to read some of the names and dates inscribed in the white marble: stark reminders of the fact – as he stated during his homily – that the only fruit of war is death.

Please God: no more war
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HysibOLisJY
2017.11.02 - Holy Mass for all the victims of war 
Streamed live 9 hours ago
INTERNATIONAL SOUND - Pope Francis celebrates Holy Mass for all the victims of war, on the day of the Commemoration of the Dead

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http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/11/02/pope_visits_ardeatine_caves_to_pray_at_war_victims_memorial/1346596

Pope visits Ardeatine caves to pray at war victims' memorial
02/11/2017 17:36

Pope Francis leaves white roses on the Ardeatine caves memorial to those massacred by German troops in March 1944 - AFP
(Vatican Radio) After celebrating Mass to mark All Souls Day at the Nettuno American War Cemetery on Thursday, Pope Francis travelled to the Ardeatine Caves where he spent time in prayer at the memorial to victims of a Second World War massacre.

The Ardeatine caves, or Fosse Ardeatine as they’re called in Italian, are located on the south-eastern outskirts of Rome, on the site of a disused volcanic ash quarry.

It was there on March 24th 1944 that German occupying troops carried out a massacre of 335 Italian men of all ages and backgrounds. They were shot at close range, in retaliation for a partisan attack in the city centre the previous day that had killed 33 German policemen.

Reprisal killings
 
http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/11/02/pope’s_prayer_at_ardeatine_caves/1346608
Pope’s prayer at Ardeatine Caves
02/11/2017 18:35

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CblL5HkUkhE
2017.11.02 - Prayer at Memorial of the Ardeatine Caves  
Streamed live 7 hours ago
INTERNATIONAL SOUND - Pope Francis stops to pray for the victims of the Ardeatine Caves massacre of March 24 1944

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A link to the letter is provided in the article.

https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2017/11/01/ex-bishops-doctrine-chief-says-darkness-coming-light-francis/

Ex-bishops’ doctrine chief says darkness coming to light under Francis
November 1, 2017

A 2015 image of Capuchin Father Thomas Weinandy. (Credit: Youtube capture.)

A former chief of staff for the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Doctrine, and a current member of the Vatican’s International Theological Commission, has written Pope Francis to say that his pontificate “has given those who hold harmful theological and pastoral views the license and confidence to come into the light and expose their previously hidden darkness,” which, one day, will have to be corrected.

While expressing loyalty to Francis as the “Vicar of Christ on earth, the shepherd of his flock,” Capuchin Father Thomas Weinandy nevertheless charges that the pope is:

◦Fostering “chronic confusion.”
◦“Demeaning” the importance of doctrine.
◦Appointing bishops who “scandalize” believers with dubious “teaching and pastoral practice.”
◦Giving prelates who object the impression they’ll be “marginalized or worse” if they speak out.
◦Causing faithful Catholics to “lose confidence in their supreme shepherd.”

“In recognizing this darkness, the Church will humbly need to renew itself, and so continue to grow in holiness,” Weinandy wrote in the letter, which is dated July 31, the feast of St. Ignatius Loyola, founder of the pope’s Jesuit order
 

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https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/breaking-u.s.-bishops-ask-theologian-to-resign-after-letter-criticizing-pop

Wed Nov 1, 2017 - 5:27 pm EST
U.S. bishops ask theologian to resign after letter criticizing Pope

 
Because of the letter, “the USCCB asked him to resign from his current position as consultant to the bishops, and he has submitted his resignation,” Catholic World Report (CWR) revealed.

“In making such a request, the USCCB, it would appear, reinforces Fr. Weinandy’s very point about fearfulness and lack of transparency” in the Church, CWR noted.
 

http://www.catholicworldreport.com/2017/11/01/fr-thomas-g-weinandy-explains-his-critical-letter-to-pope-francis/
Fr. Thomas G. Weinandy explains his critical letter to Pope Francis
November 1, 2017

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https://www.ncronline.org/news/vatican/us-cardinal-asserts-unity-pope-after-former-doctrine-chief-questions-francis

US cardinal asserts unity with pope after former doctrine chief questions Francis
Nov 2, 2017

After releasing a statement questioning the teachings of Pope Francis, the former head of the U.S. bishops' doctrine committee has resigned as a consultant to the bishops and the president of the U.S. bishops' conference has released a statement asserting the conference is "in strong unity with and loyalty to the Holy Father."
 
By late afternoon on Nov. 1, James Rogers, chief communications officer for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, released a statement announcing that Weinandy had "resigned, effective immediately, from his position as consultant to the USCCB Committee on Doctrine."

Several minutes later Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, president of the U.S. bishops' conference, issued his own statement saying that "the publication of [Weinandy's] letter to Pope Francis gives us an opportunity to reflect on the nature of dialogue within the Church."
 
The full text of the statement from Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, President of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, follows:

“The departure today of Fr. Thomas Weinandy, O.F.M., Cap., as a consultant to the Committee on Doctrine and the publication of his letter to Pope Francis gives us an opportunity to reflect on the nature of dialogue within the Church. Throughout the history of the Church, ministers, theologians and the laity all have debated and have held personal opinions on a variety of theological and pastoral issues. In more recent times, these debates have made their way into the popular press. That is to be expected and is often good. However, these reports are often expressed in terms of opposition, as political – conservative vs. liberal, left vs. right, pre-Vatican II vs Vatican II. These distinctions are not always very helpful.

Christian charity needs to be exercised by all involved. In saying this, we all must acknowledge that legitimate differences exist, and that it is the work of the Church, the entire body of Christ, to work towards an ever-growing understanding of God’s truth.

As Bishops, we recognize the need for honest and humble discussions around theological and pastoral issues. We must always keep in mind St. Ignatius of Loyola’s "presupposition" to his Spiritual Exercises: "…that it should be presumed that every good Christian ought to be more eager to put a good interpretation on a neighbor’s statement than to condemn it." This presupposition should be afforded all the more to the teaching of Our Holy Father.

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops is a collegial body of bishops working towards that goal. As Pastors and Teachers of the Faith, therefore, let me assert that we always stand in strong unity with and loyalty to the Holy Father, Pope Francis, who "is the perpetual and visible source and foundation of the unity both of the bishops and of the whole company of the faithful" (LG, no. 23)."