Pope Francis

[grace-land]

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2019-09/pope-francis-sunday-angelus.html

Pope at Angelus: With God, sin does not have the last word
15 September 2019, 12:25

Pope Francis during the Sunday Angelus  (Vatican Media)
At the Angelus in St Peter’s Square on Sunday, Pope Francis says that we must never be afraid, as God has “infinite love for us sinners” and that through His forgiveness, evil can be defeated.
By Francesca Merlo

Before the recitation of the Marian prayer, the Pope recalled the Sunday Gospel, in which Jesus is criticized for being “in the company of tax collectors and sinners”, with the phrase “He welcomes sinners and eats with them”.

The Pontiff commented that this is actually a “great announcement”, because Jesus does exactly that: he “welcomes sinners and eats with them”. This is a phrase, said the Pope, that could be written on the doors of our Churches, as he explained that “at every Mass, in every Church: Jesus is happy to welcome us at his table, where he offers himself to us”.

The parables

Faced with those who criticize him, said the Pope, “the Lord recounts three parables which show his predilection for those who feel far from him”.
 
https://zenit.org/articles/angelus-address-on-gods-infinite-love-for-sinners/
Angelus Address: On God’s Infinite Love for Sinners 
September 15, 2019 16:25•Virginia Forrester

Video, with English commentary, at the link below--
Pope's Angelus of 15 September 2019
https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope-francis/angelus/2019-09/pope-francis-angelus-15-09-19.html#play
or
Pope Francis - Angelus prayer 2019-09-15
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPumqfl-5iQ

[grace-land]

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2019-09/pope-francis-message-participants-world-meeting-for-peace.html

Pope Francis: Do not waste God's gift of peace
15 September 2019, 18:00

Logo of this year's Prayer for Peace meeting: peace with no borders
Pope Francis sends a message to participants of the 33rd Prayer for Peace Meeting: "Peace with no borders", and urges unity and respect, for all peoples and for our common home.
By Francesca Merlo

“It is a source of joy to see that this pilgrimage of peace … has never been interrupted and continues to grow” said Pope Francis. His words came in a message addressed to Cardinal Carlos Osoro Sierra, Archbishop of Madrid, and to the participants of the Prayer for Peace Meeting.

Organised by the Community of Sant’Egidio, the prayer for Peace Meeting was founded 33 years ago and this year takes place in Madrid,  from 15 - 17 September, reflecting on the theme "Peace with no borders".
 
https://zenit.org/articles/exclusive-interview-marco-impagliazzo-on-spirit-of-assisi-that-is-alive-in-madrid/
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: President of the Community of Sant’Egidio, Marco Impagliazzo, on the ‘Spirit of Assisi’ Alive in Madrid 
Tells ZENIT, on the Ground in Spanish Capital, Why “Peace Without Borders” Is Appeal of 300 Religious Leaders Worldwide
September 16, 2019 01:51•Deborah Castellano Lubov

https://zenit.org/articles/interview-metropolitan-hilarion-on-papal-visit-to-russia-we-continue-to-build-on-the-spirit-of-havana-2/
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Metropolitan Hilarion to ZENIT: We Will Continue to Work in the Spirit of Historic Encounter in Havana 
Top Official of Russian Orthodox Church Speaks to ZENIT at Community of Sant’Egidio ‘Spirit of Assisi’ Encounter in Madrid
September 16, 2019 12:22•Deborah Castellano Lubov

[grace-land]

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope-francis/mass-casa-santa-marta/2019-09/pope-francis-santa-marta-mass-pray-for-political-leaders.html

Pope at Mass: Pray for people in government and political leaders
16 September 2019, 12:39

Pope Francis celebrates Mass on Monday  (Vatican Media)
Pope Francis celebrates Mass in the Casa Santa Marta on Monday, for the first time after the summer break, and invites everyone to pray for people in government and political leaders, rather than insulting them.
By Vatican News

Pray for people in government and for politicians, that they “may work for the common good.”

Pope Francis issued that appeal in his homily at Mass on Monday in the Casa Santa Marta.

Prayer

The Pope said St Paul, in his letter to Timothy (1 Tm 2:1-8), calls us to pray for everyone, “for kings and for all in authority” and that it should be done “without anger or argument”. St Paul adds that we do this so “that we may lead a quiet and tranquil life in all devotion and dignity.”

“Paul emphasizes the environment surrounding the believer: prayer. Here he focuses on intercessory prayer: ‘Everyone should pray, for all, so that we may lead a quiet and tranquil life, in dignity and devotion to God.’ Prayer helps make this possible. But there is an emphasis I would like to talk about: ‘For everyone’ and then he adds ‘for kings and for all in authority’. So, he is talking about prayer for people in government, for politicians, and for the people responsible for political institutions, nations, and regions.”

Pray for those with different opinions

Pope Francis went on to say that politicians often receive either “praise from their supporters or insults”.

He added that priests and bishops receive the same treatment. Some people say they will pray for their priest or bishop “only if they are worthy”, and go on to list a litany of “insults and curse words”, said the Pope.

But, he noted, people in authority “have the responsibility to guide their nation”. “How can we leave them alone, without asking God to bless them?” he asked. The Pope said that few people pray for those in government, spending most of their time “insulting them.”

St Paul, said Pope Francis, makes it clear that we must “pray for all of them”.
 

[grace-land]

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2019-09/pope-francis-italian-rai-local-journalists-staff-audience.html

Pope to TV journalists: Local news no less important than national news
16 September 2019, 12:31

Pope Francis receives journalists from Italian RAI television's local news channel 
Pope Francis addresses journalists and technical staff from Italian RAI Television’s local news channel to mark 40 years of its activity. Regional information, he tells them, communicates “the voice of the people”.
By Vatican News

Pope Francis overturned a frequent cliché in the world of journalism when he told local Italian television journalists, producers and technical staff, during an audience in the Vatican, that “local news is no less important than national news”.

The importance of local news

Local news and information, said the Pope, is actually more genuine and authentic because it communicates “the voice of the people”, in all aspects of peoples’ social, cultural and spiritual life.

Local information gives space to local realities and cultures, he said, to news that would not be broadcast otherwise. More than ever, said the Pope, we need news to be communicated completely and thoughtfully, “so as to encourage reflection”.
 

[grace-land]

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2019-09/pope-malta-president-audience-migration.html

Pope and Malta President discuss migration
16 September 2019, 15:02

Pope Francis receives President George Vella on Malta  (Vatican Media)
Pope Francis receives the President of Malta in audience in the Vatican.
By Linda Bordoni

Pope Francis and Maltese President George Vella engaged in “cordial talks and discussed the phenomenon of migration to Europe” during an audience on Monday morning in the Vatican.

According to the Holy See Press Office, the two leaders expressed satisfaction for the good state of relations between Malta and the Holy See, highlighted the importance of religious values in the culture and life of the Maltese people and discussed the contribution of the Catholic Church in the field of education.
 

[grace-land]

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2019-09/protection-minors-church-pontifical-commission-plenary.html

Safeguarding must be imbedded into Church life across the globe
16 September 2019, 17:11

The 11th Ordinary Plenary Assembly of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors concludes in Rome, stressing the need to incorporate the safeguarding of minors into the life of the Church on a global level.
By Vatican News

The Plenary Assembly began its session by listening to a powerful testimony from a Brazilian man, who suffered both clerical abuse and abuse in his family.

Building relations

Before beginning the work of the Plenary Assembly, Commission members participated in meetings aimed at building relations with the various Vatican departments and offices, to facilitate the work of Safeguarding at all levels within the Church.

According to a press release issued at the conclusion of the Assembly, there is a continuing need for the culture and mission of Safeguarding to be systemically embedded into the life of the Church across the globe.

In this regard, the Pontifical Commission is engaged in three specific Working Groups: Working with Survivors, Formation and Education, and Safeguarding Guidelines and Norms.
 

[grace-land]

Cardinal Marx, German bishops’ conference...

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/marx-says-german-synod-will-proceed-despite-vatican-objections-8221
Marx says German 'synod' will proceed despite Vatican objections

Cardinal Reinhard Marx at the Vatican Press Office on Oct. 17, 2014. Credit: Bohumil Petrik/CNA
By Ed Condon

Munich, Germany, Sep 16, 2019 / 11:45 am (CNA).- The head of the German bishops’ conference told Vatican officials last week that addressing controversial theological topics during the German bishops’ proposed “binding synodal path” will be a service to the universal Church.

“We hope that the results of forming an opinion [on these matters] in our country will also be helpful for the guidance of the Universal Church and for other episcopal conferences on a case-by-case basis. In any case, I cannot see why questions about which the Magisterium has made determinations should be withdrawn from any debate, as your writings suggest,” Cardinal Reinhard Marx wrote in a Sept. 12 letter to Cardinal Marc Ouellet, who is head of the Vatican’ Congregation for Bishops.

“Countless believers in Germany consider [these issues] to be in need of discussion,” Marx added.

Marx’s letter informed the Vatican that the German synodal process will continue as planned, despite recent instructions from the Vatican curia and pope, and will treat matters of universal teaching and discipline.

The letter followed a week of coverage concerning plans by the German bishops to create a Synodal Assembly with “deliberative power” to address issues including the separation of power in the Church, priestly life, women’s access to ministry and office in the Church, and sexual morality.

The letter was a response to the Vatican’s most recent intervention in German preparations for a synodal process, in which Ouellet sent Marx a four-page legal assessment of the German plans, which concluded that the Synodal Assembly is contrary to instructions from Pope Francis and “not ecclesiologically valid.”
 

[grace-land]

Update:  Cardinal Pell

https://cruxnow.com/church-in-oceania/2019/09/17/cardinal-pell-appeals-abuse-convictions-to-australian-high-court/
Cardinal Pell appeals abuse convictions to Australian High Court
Catholic News Service   Sep 17, 2019

Cardinal George Pell. (Credit: Catholic News Service.)
SYDNEY - Cardinal George Pell, the most senior Catholic cleric in the world to be convicted of child sexual abuse offenses, has lodged an application with Australia’s High Court to appeal his guilty verdict.

The application to the country’s highest court is Pell’s last avenue of appeal, and comes 27 days after the Supreme Court of the Australian state of Victoria decided, in a 2-1 decision, not to overturn his conviction on one count of child rape and four counts of indecently assaulting minors. The crimes involved two 13-year-old boys, in 1986 and 1987.

Pell was largely convicted on the testimony of one victim. The second victim died of an accidental heroin overdose in 2014 when he was 31 years old without complaining that he had been abused.

According to The Australian newspaper, in the application for special leave to appeal, Pell’s legal team said the believability of the single witness was not sufficient “beyond reasonable doubt.” If the case is heard, it will have widespread ramifications for trials concerning sexual abuse.

Unlike his first appeal, which had a high chance of being heard, this last appeal has less certainty. The Australian High Court will decide to hear a case only if it is of national importance on a point of law or is in the interests of “the administration of justice” or concerns a dispute between courts.
 
A High Court justice, and possibly a panel of up to three, will be chosen from the court’s seven justices to consider the application. The justice may decide whether the court will hear the cases purely on written pleadings, or she or he may call for a short verbal hearing. If an appeal is to be heard, it is unlikely to be until 2020, said lawyers in Australia.
 

[grace-land]

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope-francis/mass-casa-santa-marta/2019-09/pope-francis-homily-casa-santa-marta-compassion.html

Pope at Mass: compassion is the language of God
17 September 2019, 13:44

Pope Francis celebrates Mass at the Casa Santa Marta  (ANSA)
At the heart of Pope Francis’ reflection during morning Mass on Tuesday is the virtue of compassion which, he says, is the language of God, whilst often the language of man is that of indifference.
By Linda Bordoni

Pope Francis on Tuesday invited the faithful to open their hearts to compassion. Speaking during the homily at Mass in the Casa Santa Marta, he urged those present not to “close themselves” in indifference.

He reflected on the Gospel reading of the day which tells of Jesus’ encounter with a widow in the city of Nain who is mourning the death of her only son as he taken to the grave. The evangelist does not say that Jesus had compassion, the Pope said, but that "the Lord was moved with compassion,”  as if he had been overwhelmed with the sentiment.
 

[grace-land]

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2019-09/pope-francis-meets-orthodox-patriarch-bartholomew.html

Pope Francis meets with Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew
17 September 2019, 17:39

Pope Francis and Patriarch Bartholomew exchange gifts and a laugh  (Vatican Media)
Pope Francis meets with the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew on Tuesday, with the two religious leaders having lunch together at the Casa Santa Marta.
By Vatican News

The meeting between the Pope and the Patriarch was held in “a fraternal atmosphere”, according to a communiqué from the Holy See Press Office.

Pope Francis and Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople also had lunch together at the Casa Santa Marta with their respective delegations.

The Council of Cardinals is holding its 31st meeting, and the Secretary, Bishop Marcello Semeraro, invited the Patriarch to greet participants ahead of his encounter with the Pope
 
https://zenit.org/articles/pope-francis-receives-ecumenical-patriarch-bartholomew/
Pope Francis Receives Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew 
September 18, 2019 16:13•Anita Bourdin

[grace-land]

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2019-09/pope-francis-audience-discernment-holy-spirit-courage.html

Pope at Audience: Holy Spirit gives us courage, helps us discern well
18 September 2019, 11:56

Pope Francis makes the sign of the cross at the General Audience  (Vatican Media)
In his catechesis on the Acts of the Apostles at the weekly General Audience, Pope Francis says the Holy Spirit gives Christians courage and "the art of discernment" when facing hardship.
By Devin Watkins

Pope Francis started off by reflecting on the courage shown by the Apostles when they were dragged before the Sanhedrin to stand trial for preaching the Good News of Jesus Christ (Acts 5:34-35,38,39).

He said they spoke with conviction and with one voice in the face of their accusers, who wanted to imprison them and halt the spread of the Gospel.

‘Megaphone’ of the Holy Spirit

The key to their courage, said the Pope, is the Holy Spirit.

“The Apostles become the ‘megaphone’ of the Holy Spirit, sent by the Risen One to spread quickly and unhesitatingly the Word that brings salvation,” he said.

Pope Francis said these same men acted like “cowards” when Jesus faced similar circumstances. After Pentecost, however, they were completely changed and propelled onwards.

“The same happens to us: if we have the Holy Spirit within us, we will have the courage to strive forward, to win countless battles – not through our own strength but through the Holy Spirit who is with us.”
 
https://zenit.org/articles/popes-general-audience-you-will-only-find-yourselves-fighting-against-god-acts-539/
POPE’S GENERAL AUDIENCE: You Will Only Find Yourselves Fighting Against God” (Acts 5:39) 
September 18, 2019 15:55

Video at the link below--
Pope Francis - General Audience 2019-09-18
https://www.youtube.com/user/vatican

[grace-land]

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/world/news/2019-09/higher-committee-human-fraternity-rabbi.html

The Higher Committee of Human Fraternity welcomes a Rabbi member
18 September 2019, 15:54

Pope Francis and the Higher Committee of Human Fraternity   (ANSA)
The Higher Committee of Human Fraternity has raised the number of members to eight, with the recent addition to the board of Rabbi M. Bruce Lustig.

The Higher Committee of Human Fraternity has announced the inclusion of Rabbi M. Bruce Lustig, Senior Rabbi at Washington Hebrew Congregation, to the membership of the Committee, bringing the total membership to eight members concerned with the achievement of the objectives set forth in the Human Fraternity Document. Rabbi M. Bruce Lustig expressed his deep gratitude to His Holiness Pope Francis the Pope of the Catholic Church and Dr. Ahmed At-Tayeb, Grand Imam of Al-Azhar for their support and encouragement of the work of the Committee, and their sincere efforts to achieve the sacred mission of the Document of Human Fraternity. He thanked the Committee for his nomination as a representative of the Jewish faith, expressing his acceptance of the role and his pleasure in witnessing the signing of the historic declaration.
 

[grace-land]

https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2019/09/19/priesthood-is-a-gift-not-a-job-pope-says/

Priesthood is a gift, not a job, pope says
Carol Glatz   Sep 19, 2019
CATHOLIC_NEWS_SERVICE

(Credit: CNS photo/Vatican Media.)
ROME — Being a priest is not a job or fulfilling an employment contract but is a gift from God that should be contemplated and treasured as such, Pope Francis said.

Those who turn ordained ministry into an occupation “lose the heart of the ministry, lose the gaze of Jesus who looked upon all of us and told us, ‘Follow me,'” he said Sept. 19 during morning Mass at the Domus Sanctae Marthae.

The pope focused his homily on the day’s first reading in which St. Paul writes to Timothy (1 Tim 4:12-16), “Do not neglect the gift you have.”
 

[grace-land]

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2019-09/pope-francis-society-law-eastern-churches-ecumenism.html

Pope: study of Eastern Church law helps ecumenism
19 September 2019, 13:14

Pope Francis meeting participants in the congress of the Society for the Law of the Eastern Churches.  (Vatican Media)
Pope Francis received in audience in the Vatican participants in the congress of the Society for the Law of the Eastern Churches.
By Robin Gomes

The work of the Society for the Law of the Eastern Churches, which brings together experts from the Eastern Catholic, Orthodox and Oriental Churches, is of fundamental assistance to ecumenical dialogue, Pope Francis said on Thursday.

Speaking to some 80 participants in the 24th International Congress of the Society for the Law of the Eastern Churches, taking place in Rome, September 16-20, he said that they can learn from one another in all areas of ecclesial life, such as theology, the experience of spirituality and liturgy, pastoral activity and canon law.

The Society that aims at promoting better international and inter-confessional scholarly collaboration among specialists of the Law of the Eastern Churches and of the Civil Law on Eastern Churches is marking its 50 years this year.
 

[grace-land]

https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2019/09/19/council-of-cardinals-reviews-input-on-draft-constitution-for-curia/

Council of Cardinals reviews input on draft constitution for Curia
Carol Glatz  Sep 19, 2019
CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

(Credit: CNS photo/L'Osservatore Romano, handout.)
ROME - Pope Francis’s Council of Cardinals finished its first review and reflection on comments and proposals received for the draft of the proposed apostolic constitution reforming the Roman Curia.

The draft had been sent to leaders of the world’s bishops’ conferences, the dicasteries of the Roman Curia, the conferences of major superiors of men and women religious, the synods of the Eastern Catholic churches and some pontifical universities for their observations and suggestions.

The Vatican press office issued a communique Sept. 19 saying the council members met Sept. 17-19, and Francis was present except when he had a scheduling conflict.

The cardinals met to “review and change the draft of the new apostolic constitution according to the many contributions that arrived from bishops’ conferences, from the specific observations from the dicasteries of the Roman Curia and suggestions provided” by other organizations involved in the consultations, the communique said.

Once the draft is amended once more, it will be given to the pope for his consideration. The proposed apostolic constitution is provisionally titled Praedicate Evangelium (“Preach the Gospel”).
 

[grace-land]

Update:  Cardinal Pell

http://www.ncregister.com/blog/edward-pentin/cardinal-pell-appeal-what-happens-next

Sep. 19, 2019
Cardinal Pell Appeals to the High Court: What Happens Next?

Cardinal Pell filed an “application for special leave” to the High Court on Tuesday, following the Victoria Court of Appeal’s
Aug. 21 decision to uphold his conviction for child sexual abuse.
Edward Pentin

Now that Cardinal George Pell filed an appeal against his conviction to Australia’s High Court on Tuesday, the next step in the process will be for the prosecution to issue a response, according to a source close to the cardinal’s legal team.

The prosecution has three weeks to file a reply, the source told the Register, after which the cardinal’s lawyers have seven days to respond to that reply.

It is then up to the High Court to make a decision to either reject the application, or give consent to hear the appeal.

But the source said that decision could take a few months, and then the date of a hearing might not be until early next year, unless they believe it should be expedited on the strength of the appeal and the high-profile case.

The Australian prefect emeritus of the Secretariat for the Economy filed an “application for special leave” to the High Court on Tuesday, following the Victoria Court of Appeal’s 2-1 decision on Aug. 21 to uphold his conviction for child sexual abuse.
 

[grace-land]

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope-francis/mass-casa-santa-marta/2019-09/pope-francis-mass-casa-santa-marta-ordained-ministry.html

Pope at Mass: bishops and priests must be close to each other and to God's people
20 September 2019, 14:28

Pope Francis asks for prayers for priests and bishops during Mass at the Casa Santa Marta, and urges all those who have received the gift of the priesthood to be close to each other and to the people of God.
By Linda Bordoni

Pope Francis on Friday focused on the ministry of bishops and asked the faithful to pray for them so they may never neglect the gift of their ministry.

He recalled Thursday’s Liturgical reading in which the Apostle Paul gives his advice to the young bishop Timothy, and said more advice to bishops is to be found in today’s reading.

Yesterday, he said, at the heart of the message was the call to never neglect the gift of ordained ministry.

Today, he continued, the reflection focusses on things that weaken the life of the ordained minister like money, gossip and silly arguments.

“When a minister – a priest, a deacon, a bishop – gives too much value to money”, he attaches himself to the root of all evils, the Pope said, recalling that Paul describes the love of money as the root of all evils.
 

[grace-land]

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2019-09/pope-francis-surgeons-dentists-suicide-euthanasia-doctors.html

Pope to doctors: reject temptation to assist and support suicide and euthanasia
20 September 2019, 14:49

Pope Francis meeting representatives of the Italian orders of surgeons and dentists.   (Vatican Media)
In a meeting on Friday with representatives of Italy’s surgeons and dentists, Pope Francis spoke about encountering in their patients, persons who are unique in their dignity and fragility, and not just their illness.
By Robin Gomes

Pope Francis on Friday urged doctors to reject the temptation to assist and support suicide and euthanasia, reminding them of the Hippocratic oath that calls on them to commit themselves to absolute respect for human life and its sacredness.

“Medicine, by definition, is a service to human life, which involves an essential and indispensable reference to the person in his spiritual and material integrity, in his individual and social dimension.”  “Hence medicine is at the service of man, of the whole man, of every man,” Pope Francis told some 350 representatives of the National Federation of the Orders of Medical Surgeons and Dentists of Italy, whom he met on Friday in the Vatican. 
 

[grace-land]

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/vatican-department-heads-meet-to-discuss-budget-deficit-96740

Vatican department heads meet to discuss budget deficit
By Hannah Brockhaus

Vatican City, Sep 20, 2019 / 11:50 am (CNA).- The heads of dicasteries and Vatican City State institutions met Friday to discuss finances and how to reverse a reportedly rapidly growing deficit in the Holy See’s budget.

Matteo Bruni, Holy See press office director, confirmed to CNA that the meeting took place Sept. 20 among heads of dicasteries of the Roman Curia and of institutions connected to the Holy See and Vatican City State.

According to the Wall Street Journal, in May Pope Francis asked Cardinal Reinhard Marx of Munich and Freising, coordinator of the Council for the Economy, which oversees Vatican finances, to convoke the meeting to consider solutions and to “inform the respective heads about the gravity of the situation.”

The Holy See sustained a deficit of roughly 70 million euros ($77 million) in 2018, doubled from the previous year, according to Vatican officials, The Wall Street Journal reports.

The Sept. 20 meeting was intended to increase awareness of the issue among Vatican officials, many of whom are unaware of the gravity of the situation, according to Joseph Zahra, a Maltese economist who is a member of the Council for the Economy.

Zahra also said the Vatican will be releasing a financial report this fall, the first since 2015.
 

[grace-land]

Update: Cardinal Marx, German bishops’ conference...

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/cardinal-marx-holds-constructive-dialogue-with-pope-francis-on-synodal-plans-54584
Cardinal Marx holds 'constructive dialogue' with Pope Francis on synodal plans

Vatican City, Sep 20, 2019 / 08:25 am (CNA).- Cardinal Reinhard Marx, president of the German Episcopal Conference, has held talks with Pope Francis and Cardinal Marc Ouellet, prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, about the German bishops’ plans for a “binding synodal path.”

The meetings, held in Rome Sept. 19, followed a public exchange between the German hierarchy and the Vatican over the draft statutes for a “Synodal Assembly” to be formed by the bishops in partnership with the Central Committee of German Catholics.

In a media release issued by the German bishops’ conference on Friday, Marx called the meetings “constructive,” but offered no details about any further instructions given by the pope or the Curia concerning the synodal plans.

“In both talks, a constructive dialogue took place, which will feed into the deliberations of the general assembly of the German Episcopal Conference next week.” The release noted that Marx was in Rome for meetings of the pope’s Council of Cardinal Advisors, and the Vatican Council for the Economy, both of which Marx is a member.

The German bishops will meet in plenary session on Sept. 23-26 and are expected to formally adopt a set of statutes for the synodal process.

Pope Francis wrote to the German bishops in June, expressing a series of concerns with the German proposals, and warning them to proceed in communion with Rome and the whole Church.

That letter was, according to Cardinal Walter Kasper, “set aside” by the executive committee of the German bishops’ conference, who voted in August to endorse a set of statues codifying their previous plans, while rejecting an alternative proposal drafted to accommodate the pope’s concerns.
 
https://www.thetablet.co.uk/news/12084/pope-prompted-to-consult-kasper-before-writing-letter-to-german-church
20 September 2019, The Tablet
Pope prompted to consult Kasper before writing Letter to German Church
by Christa Pongratz-Lippitt