Pope Francis

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https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2018-05/pope-angelus-catechesis-feast-holy-trinity.html#.WwrEfhz6-5A.twitter

Pope at Angelus: 'celebrate the God of Love on the feast of the Most Holy Trinity'
27 May 2018, 13:33

Pilgrims gathered in St. Peter's Square for the Sunday Angelus  (ANSA)
Pope Francis on Sunday described the feast of the Most Holy Trinity as an occasion to celebrate God’s love for all of us.
By Linda Bordoni

Speaking to the faithful in St. Peter’s Square for the Angelus Prayer, Pope Francis remarked on the Feast we celebrate on the Sunday after Pentecost saying it calls us spread God’s love throughout the world.

He said that the Feast of the Most Holy Trinity highlights the mystery of God, Jesus Christ, who is One in the communion of three Persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
 
https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2018-05/pope-angelus-appeal-prayers-peace-africa.html
Pope Francis asks for prayers for peace in Africa
27 May 2018, 12:43

https://zenit.org/articles/angelus-address-on-the-feast-of-the-most-holy-trinity-2/
Angelus Address: On the Feast of the Most Holy Trinity 
May 27, 2018 14:28

Video at the link below--
https://www.youtube.com/user/vatican

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https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope-francis/mass-casa-santa-marta/2018-05/pope-francis-mass-santa-marta-joy.html

Pope Francis: 'Joy is the air Christians breathe'
28 May 2018, 12:15

Pope Francis celebrates Mass at Casa Santa Marta  (Vatican Media)
Referring to the passage from the Gospel of Mark, Pope Francis reproposes the theme of being men and women bearing joy in his homily on Monday at Casa Santa Marta.
By Sr Bernadette Mary Reis, fsp

Referring to the rich young man who sadly walks away from Jesus because he cannot renounce his possessions, Pope Francis said that Christians cannot be like that.

Joy is the Christians’ breath

It is “joy that Christians breath”, he said. Christians express themselves joyfully. Joy cannot be purchased or forced. “No”, the Pope said, “it is a fruit of the Holy Spirit. The one who puts joy in our hearts is the Holy Spirit”.
 

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https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2018-05/pope-francis-catholic-doctors-life.html

Pope urges respect for moral norms regarding human life
28 May 2018, 13:59

Pope Francis on Monday addressed representatives of the World Federation of the Catholic Medical Associations (FIAMC) ahead of their 25th world congress in the Croatian capital Zagreb.
By Robin Gomes

Pope Francis on Monday encouraged Catholic doctors to continue being faithful and consistent in their commitment to spread and implement the pro-life teaching of the Church, so that nothing goes against human life in its concrete existence, no matter how weak,  defenceless, undeveloped or less advanced it may be.

He made the exhortation to some 22 representatives of the World Federation of the Catholic Medical Associations (FIAMC) ahead of their 25th world congress in the Croatian capital Zagreb.    “Sanctity Of Life and the Medical Profession from ‘Humanae Vitae’ to ‘Laudato Si’”, is the theme of the May 30-June 2 congress.
 

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Video at the link

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2018-05/pope-appeal-pontifical-mission-societies.html

Pope Francis appeals for Pontifical Mission Societies
28 May 2018, 11:04

As the General Assembly of the Pontifical Mission Societies gets underway on May 28th, Pope Francis appeals for spiritual and financial support for the Societies’ important work of providing aid to local Churches.
By Devin Watkins

Pope Francis released a video message on Monday appealing for Christians around the world to support the important work of the Pontifical Mission Societies.

Holy Spirit is principle agent of evangelization

“Prayer is the first “missionary work” – the first! – that every Christian can and must do,” he said.

He said spiritual support is the most effective way to aid the missions, “even if this cannot be measured.”

“The principal agent of evangelization is the Holy Spirit. And we are called to collaborate with Him.”

The Pope said the Mission Societies are important “because we must pray for missionaries and for the evangelizing action of the Church.”
 

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https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope-francis/mass-casa-santa-marta/2018-05/pope-mass-santa-marta-worldly.html

Pope at Mass: Reject worldly patterns of behaviour that take away our freedom
29 May 2018, 14:27

2018-05-29 Messa Santa Marta  (Vatican Media)
Pope Francis warns Christians against remaining attached to worldly ways of thinking and behaviour at his homily during Mass celebrated on Tuesday at the Vatican’s Santa Marta residence.
By Susy Hodges

Taking his inspiration from the day’s reading from the First Letter of Peter that urges Christians to be holy in every aspect of their conduct, the Pope’s homily reflected on that call to holiness and the importance of moving away from our worldly way of thinking and behaviour that formerly enslaved us.

“And the call to holiness, which is the normal call, is our call to live as a Christian, namely living as a Christian is the same as saying 'living as a saint'. Many times we think of holiness as something extraordinary, like having visions or lofty prayers ... or some think that being holy means having a face like that in a cameo  ... no. Being holy is something else. It is to proceed along this path that the Lord tells us about holiness. And what is it, to proceed along the path of holiness? Peter says it: "Put all your hope in that grace that will be given to you when Jesus Christ manifests Himself".
 

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https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2018-05/pope-general-audience-confirmation-anointing-summary.html
Pope reflects on Confirmation, General Audience: English summary
30 May 2018, 09:33

Pope Francis greets pilgrims in St Peter's Square before the weekly General Audience  (Vatican Media)

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2018-05/pope-general-audience-catechesis-confirmation.html
Pope at General Audience: ‘let yourselves be shaped by the Spirit'
30 May 2018, 12:26

Pope Francis dedicated his catechesis on Wednesday to the Sacrament of Confirmation and thanked a group of athletes from the Korean peninsula for their message of peace.
By Linda Bordoni

Pope Francis has reminded believers that Confirmation is an “undeserved gift” to be welcomed with gratitude, safeguarded with care and lived with docility allowing oneself to be shaped and moulded iby the Spirit n order to ‘reflect’ the light of Christ in today’s world.

Speaking to the pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square for the Wednesday General Audience, the Pope continued his series of reflections on the Sacrament of Confirmation.
 
Video at the link below--
https://www.youtube.com/user/vatican

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https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2018/05/29/vatican-releases-summer-schedule-of-major-papal-events/

Vatican releases summer schedule of major papal events
Carol Glatz   May 29, 2018

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis will create 14 new cardinals during a late afternoon consistory June 28, not June 29 as he had announced originally.

The date change was included in the schedule of papal liturgies through August, which was released by the Vatican May 29.

The schedule also confirmed that Pope Francis will celebrate the feast of the Body and Blood of Christ June 3, not in Rome as has been the tradition since 1979, but in the seaside town of Ostia, about 16 miles west of Rome. The evening Mass outside St. Monica Church will be followed by a Corpus Christi procession to the Church of Our Lady of Bonaria.

Ostia was where St. Monica, the mother of St. Augustine, died in 387 on a journey back to Africa after St. Augustine’s conversion to Christianity. The ancient city’s name is related to the Latin word for “mouth” because it was a port area at the mouth of the Tiber River. In modern Italian, “ostia” is the word for the eucharistic host.

During his pontificate, Blessed Paul VI celebrated the feast day in various neighborhoods in and around Rome, including in Ostia in 1968. St. John Paul II fixed the celebration at St. John Lateran, the cathedral of the Diocese of Rome, followed by a Corpus Christi procession to the Basilica of St. Mary Major.

Covering the months of June, July and August, the pope’s liturgical schedule included:
 
- An “ecumenical pilgrimage” to Geneva June 21.

- The creation of new cardinals June 28 in St. Peter’s Basilica.

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https://zenit.org/articles/pope-to-visit-sicily-in-september/

Pope to Visit Sicily in September 
May 29, 2018 09:42•Deborah Castellano Lubov•Pope and Holy See
 
Pope Francis will make a pastoral visit to the Dioceses of Piazza Armerina and Palermo on September 15, on the occasion of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the death of Blessed Pino Puglisi.

This was announced in a communiqué from the Prefecture of the Papal Household on May 26, 2018. During the visit, Francis will have lunch with detainees and immigrants.

The program of the Pope’s day trip, published by the Vatican on May 28, explained that the Pontiff will go first to the Diocese of Piazza Armerina, an area located in the center of Sicily, suffering economic difficulties and problems linked to immigration. Then, he will go to the Diocese of Palermo, diocese of Sicilian priest Pino Puglisi, who was murdered by the Mafia in front of his house — piazza Anita Garibaldi, in the Brancaccio district –, on September 15, 1993, his 56th birthday.

***PROGRAM:
 

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https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/cdf-prefect-that-only-men-can-be-priests-is-definitive-29051

CDF prefect: That only men can be priests is 'definitive'
By Hannah Brockhaus

Vatican City, May 30, 2018 / 08:31 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The teaching of the Catholic Church on the impossibility of ordaining women to the priesthood, now or in the future, is clear – and to sow confusion by suggesting otherwise is a serious matter, wrote the Vatican’s top authority on doctrine.

In a May 29 article in Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano, Cardinal-elect Luis Ladaria, head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, wrote that “Christ wanted to give this sacrament [of holy orders] to the twelve apostles, all men, who, in turn, transmitted it to other men.”

“The Church has always recognized herself bound by this decision of the Lord, which excludes that the ministerial priesthood can be validly conferred on women.”

Taking this into account, as well as Pope St. John Paul II’s 1994 apostolic letter “Ordinatio sacerdotalis,” which states that all Catholics must “definitively” follow this teaching, Ladaria said, “it is a matter of serious concern to see the emergence in some countries of voices that question the finality of this doctrine.”

To argue that the Church’s prohibition on women priests has not been defined “ex cathedra” and that a pope or council could change the teaching in the future “creates serious confusion among the faithful,” and undermines the authority of the magisterium, he said.

Ladaria spelled out several reasons why the Catholic Church cannot ordain women to the priesthood, the first being that it is part of the substance of the sacrament of holy orders that the person receiving ordination be a man. And the Church cannot change this substance because the sacraments, as instituted by Christ, are the foundation of the Church.
 

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https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/pope-sends-investigators-to-osorno-in-latest-move-on-chilean-abuse-crisis-46976

Pope sends investigators to Osorno in latest move on Chilean abuse crisis

Vatican City, May 31, 2018 / 07:21 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The Vatican announced Thursday that to help with the process of healing in Chile, Pope Francis will send Archbishop Charles Scicluna and Msgr. Jordi Bertomeu to the Diocese of Osorno, and will issue a pastoral letter on the nation's abuse crisis.

A May 31 statement from Vatican spokesman Greg Burke said in order to “advance the process of healing and reparation for victims of abuse” in Chile, Maltese Archbishop Charles Scicluna and Msgr. Jordi Bertomeu of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith will travel to Osorno in the coming days.

The Diocese of Osorno has been in the international spotlight the past few years after the controversial appointment of Bishop Juan Barros in 2015, who has been accused of covering up the crimes of his longtime friend Fr. Fernando Karadima, one of Chile's most notorious abusers.
 
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/pope-francis-ashamed-the-church-didnt-listen-to-chilean-abuse-victims-87919
Pope Francis 'ashamed' the Church didn't listen to Chilean abuse victims

Vatican City, May 31, 2018 / 12:05 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- In a letter to Catholics in Chile on Thursday, Pope Francis said he is ashamed of the Church's failure to listen to victims, and urged all the baptized to make a commitment to ending the culture of abuse and cover-up.

“Here resides one of our main faults and omissions: not knowing how to listen to victims,” the pope said in his May 31 letter.

Because of this inability to listen, “partial conclusions were drawn, which lacked crucial elements for a healthy and clear discernment,” he said, adding that “with shame I must say that we did not know how to listen and react in time.”
 

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https://zenit.org/articles/vatican-confirms-pope-francis-to-receive-5-priests-who-were-victims-of-abuse-in-chile/

Vatican Confirms: Pope Francis to Receive 5 Priests Who Were Victims of Abuse in Chile 
May 31, 2018 14:33•Deborah Castellano Lubov 

The Vatican has confirmed that from June 1-3, 2018, the Holy Father will receive a second group of victims of the Reverend Fernando Karadima and his followers, of the parish of the Sacred Heart of Providencia (“El Bosque”).

In the declaration issued today, May 31, 2018, by Director of the Holy See Press Office, Greg Burke, stated: “This coming weekend, as planned [announced in a May 22, 2018 statement], the Holy Father will host a group of Chilean priests at Casa Santa Marta.”
 

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https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2018-05/pope-francis-corpus-christi-ostia.html

Pope to lead Corpus Christi procession in Ostia
31 May 2018, 16:52

The Eucharist in a monstrance for public worship.
After a Holy Mass in the evening on June 3 in the square in front of St. Monica parish in Ostia, Pope Francis will lead a Eucharist procession to the nearby parish of Our Lady of Bonaria.
By Robin Gomes

For the first time since 1982, a Pope will not preside over the Eucharistic procession in Rome on the Solemnity of Corpus Christi or the Body of Christ this year.

Instead, Pope Francis will travel on Sunday to the sea-side city of Ostia, some 25 km from Rome, where he will celebrate the feast.

Corpus Christi celebrates the belief in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist - His body and blood.

According to a communique from the Vatican’s Prefecture of the Papal Household on April 28, the Pope will celebrate Holy Mass in the evening on June 3 in the square in front of the church of St. Monica parish.

After Mass, the Eucharistic procession with the Blessed Sacrament will start from St. Monica and conclude near the parish of Our Lady of Bonaria with the Eucharistic benediction by the Holy Father.
 

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https://cnstopstories.com/2018/05/31/pope-names-apostolic-visitor-to-medjugorje/

Pope names apostolic visitor to Medjugorje
Posted on May 31, 2018
By Junno Arocho Esteves
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis has named as apostolic visitor to Medjugorje the Polish archbishop he had initially sent to the town as his personal envoy to study the pastoral needs of the townspeople and of the thousands of pilgrims who flock to the site of the alleged Marian apparitions.

The pope appointed Archbishop Henryk Hoser, the retired archbishop of Warsaw-Praga, Poland, to be apostolic visitor to Medjugorje, Bosnia-Herzegovina, for an indefinite period, the Vatican announced May 31.

“The mission of the apostolic visitor has the aim of assuring a stable and continuous accompaniment of the parish community of Medjugorje and of the faithful who go there in pilgrimage, whose needs require special attention,” the Vatican announcement said.

Greg Burke, director of the Vatican press office, told journalists that Archbishop Hoser “will reside in Medjugorje” and that his mission does not involve investigating the authenticity of the alleged apparitions.

Archbishop Hoser’s mission “is strictly pastoral and not doctrinal,” Burke said.

The Polish archbishop was appointed in February 2017 as the pope’s special envoy to study the pastoral situation in Medjugorje.
 
   

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https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope-francis/mass-casa-santa-marta/2018-06/pope-santa-marta-homily-devil-persecution.html#.WxEsIEZVcHY.twitter

Pope Francis at Mass: the Devil is behind every persecution
01 June 2018, 12:53

Pope Francis celebrates Mass at Casa Santa Marta  (Vatican Media)
During his homily at Mass on Friday, Pope Francis reflected on how the Devil is the cause of all forms of persecution: from cultural colonization to war, hunger, and slavery.

Today, said Pope Francis, we are not only witnessing the persecution of Christians, but of every man and woman, "through cultural colonization, war, hunger, and slavery". But the Lord gives us the grace to fight back and to restore the image and likeness of God that is within us.

Persecution is part of Christian life

In the first reading, St Peter refers specifically to how the persecution of Christians "broke out…like fire". Pope Francis explained how such persecution is "part of Christian life"…

“Persecution is rather like the ‘air’ that Christians breathe even today. Because even today there are many martyrs, many people who are persecuted for their love of Christ. There are many countries where Christians have no rights. If you wear a cross, you go to jail. And there are people in jail. There are people condemned to death today simply because they are Christians. The number of people killed is higher than the number of early martyrs. It’s higher! But this doesn’t make news. Television newscasts and newspapers don’t cover these things. Meanwhile Christians are being persecuted”.
 

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https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2018-06/pope-francis-audience-pms-mission-renewal.html

Pope urges evangelical renewal of Church’s missionary commitment
01 June 2018, 14:14

Pope Francis on Friday met the national directors of the Pontifical Missionary Societies (PMS) who are holding their annual general assembly, May 28 – June 2, just outside Rome.
By Robin Gomes

Pope Francis on Friday called for the renewal of the Church’s missionary commitment which he said consists in growth in personal holiness and spiritual creativity in openness to the promptings of the Holy Spirit.

Pope Francis made the remark during an encounter with the national directors of the four Pontifical Missionary Societies (PMS) who are holding their annual general assembly, May 28 – June 2.

The PMS include the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, the Society of St. Peter the Apostle, the Holy Childhood Association and the Pontifical Missionary Union (PMU) of Priests and Religious, and operate under the Vatican Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.
 

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https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2018-06/pope-russian-orthodox-patriarchate-moscow-audience.html

Pope to Russian Orthodox delegation: 'Path of unity leads to peace'
02 June 2018, 12:02

Pope Francis greets a delegation from the Patriarchate of Moscow
Pope Francis receives in audience a Delegation of the Russian Orthodox Patriarchate of Moscow and says he is praying for unity.
By Linda Bordoni

Pope Francis on Wednesday received a delegation from the Russian Orthodox Patriarchate in Moscow and expressed hope for full Christian unity, saying it is the path to peace.

Expressing his wish to follow “the path of unity”, the Pope said unity is the only path of fruitful promise, whilst “the path of division leads to war and destruction”.

He expressed his commitment never to allow an attitude of division to spring from the Catholic Church, and calling the Orthodox Patriarch Kirill his “dear brother” he said: “In Moscow, Russia, there is only one Patriarchate: yours. We will not have another.”
 

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https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2018-06/pope-francis-italy-dystrophy.html#.WxJ-htV4vzs.twitter

Pope meets Italian Union for the Fight against Muscular Dystrophy
02 June 2018, 11:57

Pope Francis meeting members of the Italian Union for the Fight against Muscular Dystrophy in the Vatican, June2 2018. 
Pope Francis on Friday met some 1,500 members of the Italian Union for the Fight against Muscular Dystrophy and commended their precious work which he said, helps contribute to humanization that makes society more attentive to the dignity of man and to his multiple expectations.
By Robin Gomes

Pope Francis on Saturday received in audience members of the Italian Union for the Fight against Muscular Dystrophy and encouraged them to “become more and more witnesses of solidarity and evangelical charity” to those suffering from neuromuscular diseases.

Hope for the sick

“For them you are like rays of hope, which relieve moments of loneliness and discouragement and encourage us to face the disease with confidence and serenity,” the Pope told the group of some 1.500.

“Physical rehabilitation,” the Pope pointed out, “can and must be accompanied by spiritual rehabilitation, made primarily of gestures of proximity, in order to fight not only against physical pain, but also against the moral suffering of abandonment or isolation.”
 

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https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/pope-francis-begins-meetings-with-chilean-clerical-abuse-victims-79074

Pope Francis begins meetings with Chilean clerical abuse victims
By Hannah Brockhaus

Vatican City, Jun 2, 2018 / 07:15 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis begins his second set of meetings with victims of Fr. Fernando Karadima, a Chilean priest who committed sexual abuse, as well as abuse of power and conscience, at the Vatican Saturday afternoon.

At 4:00 p.m. June 2, according to the Holy See press office, Pope Francis will say Mass with the group of priests, who are guests at the Vatican's Santa Marta guesthouse June 1-3.

The scheduled group and individual meetings with the pope will begin following the Mass.

The group of nine includes five priests who were victims of abuse of power, conscience, and sexuality; two priests who have been assisting the victims; and two lay people.

The reason the meeting was called by Pope Francis, the Holy See press office stated, "is to deepen the reality experienced by a part of the faithful and the Chilean clergy."

"With the help of these five priests, the Pope seeks to remedy the internal rupture of the community. In this way we can begin to rebuild a healthy relationship between the faithful and their pastors, once everyone becomes aware of their wounds."
 

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https://zenit.org/articles/sports-can-open-the-way-to-christ-says-pope-francis/

‘Sports Can Open the Way to Christ,’ Says Pope Francis 
Pope Sends Letter to Cardinal Farrell on New Document on Sport
June 01, 2018 15:00•Deborah Castellano Lubov•Culture & Society
 
“Sports can open the way to Christ in those places or environments where, for different reasons, it is not possible to announce Him directly; and people, with their witness of joy, practicing a sport as a community, can be messengers of the Good News.”

Pope Francis stressed this to Cardinal Kevin Farrell, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Laity, the Family and Life, which June 1, 2018, published a new document entitled “Giving the Best of Yourself. On the Christian Perspective of Sport and of the Human Person.”

Cardinal Farrell was sent the following letter from the Holy Father, thanking him for the dicastery’s having prepared such a document “with the aim of highlighting the role of the Church in the sports world and how sports can be an instrument of encounter, formation, mission, and sanctification.”

Sports, the Pope stressed, is a meeting place where people of all levels and social conditions come together to reach a common aim.
 
***
On ZENIT:

The Document: https://zenit.org/articles/giving-the-best-of-yourself-the-vaticans-new-document-on-sport/

Pope’s Letter to Cardinal Farrell: https://zenit.org/articles/popes-letter-to-cardinal-farrell-on-new-document-on-sport/

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https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/popes-personal-theologian-to-head-major-argentine-archdiocese-96622

Pope's personal theologian to head major Argentine archdiocese

Archbishop Victor Manuel Fernandez. Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNA.
By Hannah Brockhaus

La Plata, Argentina, Jun 2, 2018 / 11:09 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis has appointed his personal theologian and ghostwriter Archbishop Victor Manuel Fernandez to head the Argentinian Archdiocese of La Plata, the Holy See’s press office announced Saturday.

Fernandez, 55, replaces Archbishop Héctor Aguer, who turned 75 in May, the age at which diocesan bishops are required to submit letters of resignation to the pope.

Fernandez was replaced as rector of the Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina in April after serving in the position since 2011, and university officials told CNA at the time Fernandez was hoping to be named Archbishop of La Plata, considered to be the second most important Argentinian archdiocese, after Buenos Aires.

The archbishop is a controversial figure in the Church in Argentina, because of some of the publications of his past, and because of his open claim that he can interpret Pope Francis at almost every turn, CNA’s executive director Alejandro Bermudez said in an April 2018 analysis for Catholic News Agency.