Pope Francis

[grace-land]

Video, with English commentary, at the link

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2021-08/pope-at-angelus-look-at-life-starting-from-the-heart.html
Pope at Angelus: look at life starting from the heart
29 August 2021, 12:20

At the Sunday Angelus in St. Peter's Square, Pope Francis invites us to look at life and the world starting from the heart. The day's Gospel reading reminds us that “from within, out of the heart” is where problems can originate causing us to blame others for everything, when instead we need to ask God to purify our own hearts to progress in faith.
By Vatican News staff writer

The Gospel for today’s liturgy shows a few scribes and Pharisees amazed by Jesus’ attitude. They are scandalized because his disciples pick up food without first performing the traditional ritual ablutions. They think among themselves “This way of doing things is contrary to the religious practice” (cf. Mk 7:2-5).

Pope Francis recalled the day's Gospel reading, which recounts when a few scribes and Pharisees were scandalized because Jesus' disciples did not perform the traditional ablutions before eating. The Pope asked why they did not conform to these traditions, especially since they offer good ritual habits, such as simple washing before eating. The answer, he said, was more about making sure we keep faith at the centre of our focus in all matters and avoiding being focused solely on outward formality. This can become a religious practice where outward devotion and appearances matter most and we overlook the worship which Jesus desires with "a faith that touches the heart".
 
https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2021-08/pope-francis-calls-for-prayer-fasting-for-afghanistan.html
Pope Francis calls for prayer, fasting for Afghanistan
29 August 2021, 12:57

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2021-08/pope-francis-prays-for-flood-victims-in-venezuela.html
Pope Francis prays for flood victims in Venezuela
29 August 2021, 15:02

https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/angelus/2021/documents/papa-francesco_angelus_20210829.html
POPE FRANCIS
ANGELUS
Saint Peter's Square
Sunday, 29 August 2021

[grace-land]

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2021-08/master-of-papal-liturgical-ceremonies-named-bishop-of-tortona-i.html

Master of Papal Liturgical Ceremonies named bishop of Tortona
29 August 2021, 11:53

Pope Francis has named Monsignor Guido Marini as the new Bishop of Tortona in northern Italy.
By Vatican News staff reporter

Pope Francis has appointed Monsignor Guido Marini, of the clergy of the Archdiocese of Genoa, as Bishop of the Diocese of Tortona, Italy. Monsignor Marini has been serving as Master of Papal Liturgical Celebrations.

Curriculum vitae

Monsignor Guido Marini was born in Genoa on 31 January 1965. After graduating from high school he entered the Archiepiscopal Seminary of Genoa, where he obtained a Baccalaureate in Theology. Ordained a priest on 4 February 1989, he continued his studies in Rome at the Pontifical Lateran University, where he obtained a doctorate in utroque iure (in both canon and civil law). In 2007 he obtained a Bachelor's degree in psychology of communication from the Pontifical Salesian University.
 
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/248810/pope-francis-appoints-vatican-master-of-ceremonies-msgr-guido-marini-to-italian-diocese
Pope Francis appoints Vatican Master of Ceremonies Msgr. Guido Marini to Italian diocese
By Hannah Brockhaus
Vatican City, Aug 29, 2021 / 04:40 am

[grace-land]

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2021-08/pope-francis-provides-for-churches-in-australia-and-india.html

Pope Francis provides for churches in Australia and India
29 August 2021, 14:32

The Holy Father has named Apostolic Administrators for the Diocese of Broome, Australia, and for the Syro-Malankar Eparchy of St John Chrysostom of Gurgaon in India.
By Vatian News

The Holy See announced on Saturday that Pope Francis has accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the diocese of Broome, Australia, presented by Bishop Christopher Alan Saunders, and has appointed Bishop Michael Henry Morrissey, bishop of Geraldton, as apostolic administrator sede vacante of the same diocese.
 

[grace-land]

Update:  Cardinal Burke

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/248809/cardinal-burke-tweets-that-his-condition-is-improving
Cardinal Burke tweets that his condition is improving
By Shannon Mullen
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 28, 2021 / 21:38 pm

Raymond Cardinal Burke issued a personal statement via Twitter Saturday night, thanking his doctors, all those who have offered prayers on his behalf, and especially God “who has brought me to this point of healing and recovery.”

Coming a week after the last public update on his health, Cardinal Burke’s tweet provided another positive sign that his condition has improved since being placed on ventilator Aug. 14 due to complications from COVID-19. He said he now faces an "intensive rehabilitation."
 
https://twitter.com/cardinalrlburke?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor
Cardinal Burke@cardinalrlburke·14h

I express my deepest gratitude to God, to the healthcare professionals who are caring for me, to the staff of the
@GuadalupeShrine, to my brother bishops and priests, and to all those who have remembered me in their prayers.

A letter of gratitude--
https://www.cardinalburke.com/presentations/letter-of-gratitude
A Letter of Gratitude from Cardinal Burke
ON AUG 28, 2021

[grace-land]

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2021-08/pope-francis-rural-italy-bishops-message-charity-hope.html

Pope urges Italian Bishops to make parishes ‘schools of service’
30 August 2021, 15:59

Pope Francis sends his greetings to a meeting of Bishops serving rural areas in Italy, and urges them to let charity and hope fill their pastoral activities
By Vatican News staff reporter

Some 20 Italian Bishops are holding a two-day meeting in the city of Benevento to seek ways to revitalize their pastoral care in areas facing depopulation, marginalization, and economic difficulty.

The Bishops hail from dioceses in Piedmont, Umbria, Lazio, Abruzzo, Molise, Campania, Puglia, Basilicata, and Calabria.

As the event kicked off on Monday, Pope Francis sent a message to participants, urging them to set out with openness to “make all things new.”
 

[grace-land]

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2021-08/young-mother-of-three-among-those-whose-causes-are-advancing.html

Young mother of three advances along path to sainthood
30 August 2021, 13:43

Pope Francis authorizes sthe promulgation of Decrees concerning the heroic virtues of the Servants of God Enrica Beltrame Quattrocchi, the daughter of a couple beatified in 2001; Placido Cortese, a Franciscan friar who died under torture by the Gestapo; and a young Italian mother, Maria Cristina Cella Mocellin, who delayed chemotherapy treatments in order to save her unborn child.
By Benedetta Capelli

Three figures whose lives were characterised by surrender to God's love, trust in His mercy, and hope in His forgiveness. These are the traits that distinguish the new Venerable Servants of God.

After Monday’s audience with Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, Pope Francis authorised the Dicastery to promulgate the Decrees concerning the heroic virtues of Enrichetta Beltrame Quattrocchi, Fra Placido Cortese, and Maria Cristina Cella Mocellin.
 

[grace-land]

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/248826/indias-syro-malabar-catholic-church-to-adopt-uniform-liturgy

India’s Syro-Malabar Catholic Church to adopt ‘uniform’ liturgy
By Jose Torres Jr.
Manila, Philippines, Aug 30, 2021 / 16:15 pm

India’s Syro-Malabar Church has decided to implement a “uniform” celebration of the liturgy, in which the celebrant will stand both facing toward and away from the congregation at different times, following lengthy discussions during the synod of its bishops last week.

In a pastoral letter issued on Aug. 27, Cardinal George Alencherry, head of the Church, called on the clergy and the faithful to set aside “individual preferences” and to work toward unity.

The pastoral letter is set to be read in all Syro-Malabar churches during Sunday Mass on Oct. 5.

The announcement said the “uniform” or unified system of celebrating the Mass will come into effect starting on Nov. 28, the Feast of the Annunciation.
 
In a letter on July 3 to the Syro-Malabar Church, Pope Francis wrote that “the Holy See looks with particular approval and encouragement to the agreement reached unanimously by the Synod of Bishops of the Syro-Malabar Church in 1999.”

The pontiff said a “uniform way of celebrating the Holy Qurbana” is “an important step towards the growth of ecclesial stability and communion within the entire body of your beloved Church.”

[grace-land]

Excerpts of a new interview with Pope Francis...

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/248832/pope-francis-says-a-nurse-saved-my-life-after-surgery
After surgery, Pope Francis says a nurse ‘saved my life’
By Hannah Brockhaus
Vatican City, Aug 31, 2021 / 07:32 am

In a new interview, Pope Francis said that a nurse saved his life, in reference to a medical issue he had earlier this summer.

“A nurse saved my life,” Pope Francis told Spanish COPE radio, in excerpts of an interview which will air Sept. 1.

In a pre-released segment, a journalist can be heard asking Pope Francis how he is doing after a July 4 operation on his colon.

“I’m alive,” the pope responded. “A nurse, a man with a lot of experience, saved my life.”
 
The papal interview also addressed recent media rumors that Pope Francis is thinking about resigning.

Francis put the rumors to rest, joking that “when a pope is sick, a wind or a hurricane of a conclave rises.”

La Repubblica also claimed to have learned that not only is Pope Francis not thinking about retirement, but also that he is not drafting a document with rules for retired popes, as had been recently rumored.

In the hour and a half-long interview, Pope Francis also reportedly spoke about the situation in Afghanistan.

The interview with Carlos Herrera, an award-winning Spanish journalist and television presenter, will air on COPE, a radio station owned by the Spanish bishops’ conference, on Sept. 1.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/248814/will-pope-francis-resign
Analysis: What's behind rumors that Pope Francis will resign?
By Andrea Gagliarducci
Rome, Italy, Aug 30, 2021 / 00:00 am

https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2021/08/pope-says-afghan-withdrawal-failed-to-foresee-all-the-eventualities/
Pope says Afghan withdrawal failed to foresee ‘all the eventualities’
By Inés San Martín
Aug 31, 2021

[grace-land]

Latest interview with Pope Francis

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/248841/vatican-finance-trial-pope-francis-says-that-he-hopes-cardinal-becciu-is-innocent
Pope Francis says that he hopes Cardinal Becciu is innocent of charges in Vatican finance trial
By Courtney Mares
Vatican City, Sep 1, 2021 / 03:30 am

Pope Francis addressed the Vatican financial scandals in a sit-down radio interview that aired Wednesday, saying he hoped that Cardinal Angelo Becciu is innocent of the charges against him.

“I hope with all my heart that he is innocent. Besides, he was a collaborator of mine and helped me a lot. He is a person whom I have a certain esteem as a person, that is to say that my wish is that he turns out well … In any case, justice will decide,” the pope told Carlos Herrera, a journalist at Spain’s COPE radio station.

Becciu is one of 10 defendants in the Vatican’s largest trial for financial crimes in the modern era, after the pope changed the norms to allow cardinals to be tried by lay judges. Becciu is accused of embezzlement and abuse of office, but vehemently denies any wrongdoing.

In the 90-minute interview, his first since undergoing colon surgery, Pope Francis spoke about his recent restrictions on the Traditional Latin Mass, the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan, the Vatican-China deal, euthanasia, and abortion, as well as other pressing topics.
 
English transcript of the new interview--
https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2021-09/pope-after-operation-it-never-crossed-my-mind-to-resign.html
Pope after operation: 'It never crossed my mind to resign'
01 September 2021, 09:45

Pope Francis was interviewed by Carlos Herrera on Radio COPE. For the first time, he talks about the July surgery and also discusses Afghanistan, China, euthanasia, and the reform of the Roman Curia.
By Carlos Herrera

[grace-land]

Video, with English commentary, at the link

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2021-09/pope-at-audience-take-time-to-reflect-on-how-we-live-our-faith.html
Pope at Audience: Take time to reflect on how we live our faith
01 September 2021, 09:32

At the General Audience Pope Francis continues his catechesis on the apostle Paul's Letter to the Galatians when he warns them about straying from their new faith in Christ. He says we too are invited to reflect on how we live our faith and to ensure that our love of Christ, crucified and risen again, remains at the centre of our daily lives.
By Vatican News staff writer

Welcoming pilgrims to the Paul VI Audience Hall at the Vatican for his weekly General Audience, Pope Francis continued his catechesis on the Letter of Saint Paul to the Galatians. In this latest chapter, he recalls how the apostle Paul challenges the first Christians of Galatia to look at where they have strayed from their faith and how they risk nullifying the grace they have experienced if they do not correct course.

The Pope described how the Apostle uses strong terms, like foolishness, to describe their behaviour, because they risked losing their faith in Christ, which they initially received with enthusiasm, and so Paul appealed to their memory of his first proclamation when he offered them the possibility of attaining a new, hitherto unhoped-for freedom in faith.
 
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/248842/pope-francis-at-the-general-audience-choose-faith-in-christ-over-formalities
Pope Francis: Choose faith in Christ over formalities
By Hannah Brockhaus
Vatican City, Sep 1, 2021 / 06:00 am

https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/audiences/2021/documents/papa-francesco_20210901_udienza-generale.html
POPE FRANCIS
GENERAL AUDIENCE
Wednesday, 1st September 2021

[grace-land]

Video, with English text, at the link

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2021-09/pope-francis-prayer-intention-september-sustainable-lifesyle.html
Pope’s September prayer intention: ‘An environmentally sustainable lifestyle’
01 September 2021, 16:00

Pope Francis releases his prayer intention for the month of September, and invites us to pray that everyone might make choices which promote a simple and sustainable lifestyle.
By Devin Watkins

As the Church begins the annual Season of Creation on 1 September, Pope Francis is inviting everyone to pray for “an environmentally sustainable lifestyle”.

In The Pope Video for the month of September, he held up the example of young people who are environmentally conscious.

“It makes me very happy to see that young people have the courage to undertake projects for environmental and social improvement, since the two go together,” he said.
 

[grace-land]

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/church/news/2021-09/pope-season-of-creation-laudato-si-movement.html

Pope Francis encourages participation in 2021 Season of Creation
01 September 2021, 16:00

Pope Francis urges the participation of the faithful as the 2021 Season of Creation kicks off. The Season runs from 1 September - 4 October. As part of initiatives for the celebrations, the Laudato Si' Movement invites Christians to sign and promote the "Healthy Planet, Healthy People" Petition, which will be presented to world leaders at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26), scheduled to take place in Glasgow, Scotland in November.
By Vatican News staff writer

The ecumenical celebration of the 2021 Season of Creation—themed “A home for all? Renewing the Oikos of God”—runs from 1 September, the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, through 4 October, the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of ecology.

During this annual celebration of prayer and action for our common home, Christians across the globe will come together for a time of restoration and hope, and to discover radically new ways of living with creation.

Pope Francis invites participation

Pope Francis has called on Catholics to take action for our common home during the Season of Creation. In the Pope Video for the month of September, he encourages everyone to question the way we live, and to turn “towards lifestyles that are simpler and more respectful of the environment.”

The Holy Father has also stressed that the “cry of the earth and the cry of the poor are becoming increasingly serious and alarming,” urging Catholics to take “decisive, urgent action to transform this crisis into an opportunity.”

Furthermore, at the weekly General Audience on Wednesday, he recalled the celebration of the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, and the beginning of the Season of Creation. He noted that a message for the occasion - to be released in coming days - had been prepared together with Ecumenical Patriarch Batholomew and Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury.

“Together with our brothers and sisters of different Christian denominations, let us pray and work for our common home in these times of grave planetary crisis,” the Pope said.

The 2021 Season of Creation comes just a few weeks before the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26), scheduled to take place from November 1-12 in Glasgow, Scotland. It also comes on the heels of a dismal, recently-released UN climate report which makes it clear that we are running out of time to avert the worst effects of the ecological crisis and the climate emergency.
 

[grace-land]

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/248840/pope-francis-will-visit-cyprus-in-december-says-local-official

Pope Francis will visit Cyprus in December, says local official
By CNA Staff
Nicosia, Cyprus, Sep 1, 2021 / 02:30 am

Pope Francis will visit Cyprus in December, according to a local official.

The Associated Press reported on Aug. 31 that an official said that the visit would take place on Dec. 2-3 and include a meeting with Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades.

The Vatican has not confirmed the trip. But in an interview broadcast on Sept. 1, the pope said he hoped to visit the eastern Mediterranean island nation, which has a population of around 875,000 people, including approximately 10,000 Catholics.

The pope told Spain’s COPE radio station that since his election in 2013, he had chosen to visit “small countries in Europe.”

“First it was Albania and then all the countries that were small. Now Slovakia is on the program, then Cyprus, Greece, and Malta. I wanted to take that option: first to the smaller countries,” he said.

It is unclear whether a papal trip to Cyprus would be combined with a visit to neighboring Greece and Malta, an archipelago also located in the Mediterranean Sea.

Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni told AP: “Some trip hypotheses are under study for the autumn but it’s premature to speak about them.”

In the interview, the pope also confirmed his intention to visit Glasgow, Scotland, for the U.N. Climate Change Conference, known as COP26, taking place on Oct. 30-Nov. 12.
 

[grace-land]

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2021-09/pope-audience-arche-foundation.html

Pope: ‘Sharing opens paths of freedom, rebirth and dignity’
02 September 2021, 12:19

Pope Francis greets members of a Catholic association that offers shelter and assistance to mothers and children in difficulty.
By Linda Bordoni

Marking the 30th anniversary of the Arché Foundation—an organization that accompanies and supports vulnerable children and families—Pope Francis thanked the founder and staff for their work “to free mothers and children from bonds of violence and mistreatment.”

The Pope addressed Fr Giuseppe Bettoni, the Italian priest who established Arché in Milan in 1991 in response to the HIV emergency affecting children and their families, and thanked him and his associates for coming to the Vatican to tell their story.

He noted that the choice of the Foundation’s name—Arché—is significant as it recalls our origins, “the beginning, and we know that in the beginning there is Love, the love of God.”

 “All that is life, all that is beautiful, good and true comes from God who is love,” the Pope said, adding that “just as human life comes from a mother's womb, Jesus who is Love made flesh came from the heart and womb of a Mother.”
 

[grace-land]

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/248863/ex-papal-master-of-ceremonies-msgr-guido-marini-sees-gods-providence-in-new-call-as-bishop

Msgr. Guido Marini sees God’s providence in his ‘new call’ as bishop
By Hannah Brockhaus
Rome Newsroom, Sep 2, 2021 / 13:00 pm

The longtime papal master of ceremonies Msgr. Guido Marini said this week that he sees his appointment to lead the Italian diocese of Tortona as part of God’s providence.

In an Aug. 29 video interview with Il Popolo, the newspaper of the Italian Diocese of Concordia-Pordenone, Marini said: “I see it as something entering in the providence of God…”

Pope Francis named Marini bishop of Tortona, northern Italy, on Aug. 29. The 56-year-old monsignor had been head of papal liturgies at the Vatican since 2007.

“And now, there is this new call, this turning of the page, let’s say, that the story of God in my life continues in a new way,” he said in the interview.
 

[grace-land]

RE: apostolic letter “Traditionis Custodes” (“Guardians of the Tradition”)...

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/248860/traditionis-custodes-traditional-catholic-institutes-appeal-to-french-bishops-for-mediator
Traditionis custodes: Traditional Catholic institutes appeal to French bishops for ‘mediator’
Courtalain, France, Sep 2, 2021 / 08:00 am

The leaders of traditional Catholic institutes appealed this week to the French bishops for a “mediator” to address the challenges presented by Pope Francis’ motu proprio Traditionis custodes.

In a joint statement dated Aug. 31, the heads of institutes that exclusively celebrate the Traditional Latin Mass called for “a human, personal dialogue, full of trust, far from ideologies or the coldness of administrative decrees.”

“With confidence, we turn first of all to the bishops of France so that a true dialogue may be opened and that a mediator be designated who is for us the human face of this dialogue,” they said.

France is one of the world’s leading centers of Catholic traditionalism. The day after Pope Francis announced sweeping changes to his predecessor Benedict XVI’s 2007 apostolic letter Summorum Pontificum, which acknowledged the right of all priests to say Mass using the Roman Missal of 1962, French bishops expressed their “esteem” for Traditional Latin Mass communities.
 
Joint Statement--
https://lmswrexham.weebly.com/news-blog/superior-generals-of-the-ecclesia-dei-institutes-release-statement-following-courtalain-meeting
Superior Generals of the Ecclesia Dei Institutes release statement following Courtalain meeting
2/9/2021

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/248839/the-north-american-college-will-no-longer-teach-or-celebrate-the-latin-mass
North American College to cancel teaching and celebrating Masses in the Extraordinary Form
By Alejandro Bermudez
Rome Newsroom, Aug 31, 2021 / 21:51 pm

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/248870/traditional-latin-masses-to-end-in-some-galveston-houston-archdiocese-parishes-but-continue-in-others-cardinal-dinardo-says
Traditional Latin Masses to end in some Houston parishes but continue in others, Cardinal DiNardo says
By Kevin J. Jones
Houston, Texas, Sep 2, 2021 / 17:01 pm

[grace-land]

Update:  Former cardinal Theodore McCarrick

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/248866/former-catholic-cardinal-theodore-mccarricks-court-hearing-is-tomorrow-what-to-expect
Theodore McCarrick's court hearing is tomorrow: What to expect
By Matt Hadro
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 2, 2021 / 16:35 pm

Disgraced former cardinal Theodore McCarrick is expected to appear in a Massachusetts court on Friday morning for his arraignment.

It will be a historic moment, as McCarrick, 91, is the first current or former U.S. cardinal to be criminally charged with sex abuse. It will also mark the first time McCarrick has appeared in public since 2018, when accusations of longstanding sexual misconduct by him first came to light.

On July 29, McCarrick was charged with three counts of indecent assault and battery on a person over the age of 14, in Dedham District Court in Massachusetts. The charges stemmed from an incident in 1974 when he allegedly sexually assaulted a 16 year-old male.

McCarrick had already been living at a then-undisclosed location since early 2020, and before that, a private residence at a Capuchin friary in rural Kansas. He was sentenced to a life of prayer and penance by Pope Francis in July 2018, after the New York archdiocese deemed sex abuse accusations against him to be credible.

Despite the significance of his charges, Friday’s court appearance will likely be a brief affair, an introduction to a lengthier trial process.
 

[grace-land]

Update:  Former cardinal Theodore McCarrick

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/248875/former-cardinal-theodore-mccarrick-makes-first-court-appearance-pleads-not-guilty
BREAKING: Former cardinal Theodore McCarrick makes first court appearance, pleads not guilty
By Joe Bukuras, Christine Rousselle
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 3, 2021 / 07:48 am

Former cardinal Theodore McCarrick pleaded ‘not guilty’ on Friday to several charges of sexual assault, while appearing for the first time in a Massachusetts court.

McCarrick, 91, has been charged with three counts of indecent assault and battery on a person over the age of 14, incidents which allegedly took place in the 1970s. Each of the three criminal charges carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison.

He appeared for his arraignment on Friday in Dedham District Court, accompanied by his attorney Katherine Zimmerl, of the firm Coburn & Greenbaum. The court entered a "not guilty" plea on his behalf. McCarrick’s next court date is Oct. 28, and his bail was set at $5,000.

Under conditions stated by Judge Michael J. Pomarole, McCarrick is not allowed to leave the United States and must surrender his passport. He may not have contact with anyone under the age of 18.
 

[grace-land]

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2021-09/ukraine-pope-francis-apostolic-nuncio-kulbokas.html

Archbishop Kulbokas: Pope Francis encourages the people of Ukraine
03 September 2021, 15:11

Archbishop Visvaldas Kulbokas begins his mission in Kiev as the new Apostolic Nuncio to Ukraine on 7 September. The 47-year-old Lithuanian-born Archbishop has served in the Secretariat of State and in various Pontifical missions. He describes his meeting with Pope Francis on Thursday as “a father who sends him with his encouragement and blessing.”
By Taras Kotsur

In an interview with Vatican News, Archbishop Visvaldas Kulbokas, whom Francis appointed Apostolic Nuncio to Ukraine last June and who will begin his assignment in Kiev on 7 September, speaks about his origins from Lithuania to Ukraine, and his experience at the Secretariat of State.

Born in Klaipėda, Lithuania, on 14 May 1974, Archbishop Kulbokas entered the Holy See's diplomatic service in July 2004, and has worked in the Pontifical missions in Lebanon, the Netherlands, the Russian Federation, and at the Section for Relations with States of the Secretariat of State. He has also served at the Apostolic Nunciature in Kenya since 2020.
 

[grace-land]

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/vatican-city/news/2021-09/pope-audience-new-ambassador-britain-holy-see-chris-trott.html

New British Ambassador to Holy See honoured to work with Catholic Church
04 September 2021, 12:26

Christopher Trott is received in the Vatican to present his Letters of Credence to Pope Francis, accrediting him as British Ambassador to the Holy See.
By Vatican News staff writer

Pope Francis on Saturday morning received in audience Christopher John Trott, Great Britain’s new Ambassador to the Holy See.

A statement released by the British Embassy to the Holy See stated that following the audience, Ambassador Trott said: “I was honoured to present my Credentials to His Holiness Pope Francis this morning. Today marks a highlight of my diplomatic career and I look forward to building further on the excellent relations between the United Kingdom and the Holy See during my ambassadorial mandate”.