Pope Francis

[grace-land]

http://www.usccb.org/news/2015/15-103.cfm

Supreme Court Decision on Marriage “A Tragic Error” Says President of Catholic Bishops’ Conference
June 26, 2015

WASHINGTON—The U.S. Supreme Court decision, June 26, interpreting the U.S. Constitution to require all states to license and recognize same-sex “marriage” “is a tragic error that harms the common good and most vulnerable among us,” said Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville, Kentucky, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).

The full statement follows:

Regardless of what a narrow majority of the Supreme Court may declare at this moment in history, the nature of the human person and marriage remains unchanged and unchangeable. Just as Roe v. Wade did not settle the question of abortion over forty years ago, Obergefell v. Hodges does not settle the question of marriage today. Neither decision is rooted in the truth, and as a result, both will eventually fail. Today the Court is wrong again. It is profoundly immoral and unjust for the government to declare that two people of the same sex can constitute a marriage.

The unique meaning of marriage as the union of one man and one woman is inscribed in our bodies as male and female. The protection of this meaning is a critical dimension of the “integral ecology” that Pope Francis has called us to promote. Mandating marriage redefinition across the country is a tragic error that harms the common good and most vulnerable among us, especially children. The law has a duty to support every child’s basic right to be raised, where possible, by his or her married mother and father in a stable home.

Jesus Christ, with great love, taught unambiguously that from the beginning marriage is the lifelong union of one man and one woman. As Catholic bishops, we follow our Lord and will continue to teach and to act according to this truth.

I encourage Catholics to move forward with faith, hope, and love: faith in the unchanging truth about marriage, rooted in the immutable nature of the human person and confirmed by divine revelation; hope that these truths will once again prevail in our society, not only by their logic, but by their great beauty and manifest service to the common good; and love for all our neighbors, even those who hate us or would punish us for our faith and moral convictions.
 

[grace-land]

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/breaking-supreme-court-redefines-marriage-throughout-us-20846/

Breaking: Supreme Court redefines marriage throughout US (Updated)

Washington D.C., Jun 26, 2015 / 08:07 am (CNA/EWTN News).- In a wide-reaching decision, the U.S. Supreme Court has declared that same-sex “marriage” is a constitutional right and that states must recognize same-sex unions.

By a vote of 5-4, the court ruled June 26 that states must recognize same-sex “marriages” under the 14th Amendment, and recognize such unions contracted in other states.

Justice Anthony Kennedy, writing the majority opinion, said the court now holds that same-sex couples may “exercise the fundamental right to marry.” He characterized this as a liberty that had been denied to them.

Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas and Samuel A. Alito dissented and, in an unusual step, each wrote separate opinions.
 
Increasing requirements for recognition of same-sex unions as marriages, combined with state anti-discrimination laws, have caused growing conflict with religious freedom.

Parents in some school districts have faced difficulty in exempting their children from classes voicing approval of same-sex relationships, while small businesses with moral reservations about participating in same-sex ceremonies have faced discrimination lawsuits. Catholic-run adoption agencies have been forced to close because the law would require them to place children with same-sex couples against their religious beliefs.

Those who supported efforts to defend marriage have also faced professional retaliation. In 2014 Mozilla CEO Brendan Eich was forced to leave the company he co-founded after activist groups and media publicized that he had donated to support California’s Proposition 8.

The consequences for religious freedom were a topic of the court’s deliberations in Obergefell v. Hodges. U.S. Solicitor General Donald Verilli at one point acknowledged that the high court’s approval of a legal right to same-sex “marriage” could mean problems for the tax-exempt status of colleges with objections to recognizing the unions.

[grace-land]

http://whispersintheloggia.blogspot.com/2015/06/on-marriage-courts-last-word.html

Friday, June 26, 2015
"A Profound Turning Point" – On Marriage, The Court Rules... and The Church Responds

(2pm ET – Updated with a host of reactions from US church's leadership below.) In a sweeping ruling that represents the ultimate civil judgment on same-sex marriage, this morning a 5-4 majority of the Supreme Court held full recognition of gay unions as a constitutional right of equal protection under the 14th Amendment, thus redefining the institution across the 50 states.
 

[grace-land]

http://www.news.va/en/news/signed-in-the-vaticans-apostolic-palace-comprehens

Comprehensive agreement between the Holy See and the State of Palestine
2015-06-26 L’Osservatore Romano


On Friday 26 June 2015, at the Vatican Apostolic Palace, a Comprehensive Agreement was signed between the Holy See and the State of Palestine.

The accord follows on the Basic Agreement which was signed between the Holy See and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) on 15 February 2000 and is the result of the negotiations undertaken by a bilateral working commission over the past number of years.

His Excellency Archbishop Paul R. Gallagher, Secretary for Relations with States, signed for the Holy See and His Excellency Dr. Riad Al-Malki, Minister of Foreign Affairs, signed for the State of Palestine.

The following took part in the solemn act:
 
The Agreement is comprised of a Preamble and 32 Articles distributed in 8 Chapters. It deals with essential aspects of the life and activity of the Catholic Church in the State of Palestine, while reaffirming support for a negotiated and peaceful resolution of the situation in the region.

The Agreement shall come into force when both Parties have notified each other in writing that the constitutional or internal requirements for the coming into force of the Agreement have been met.
 

[grace-land]

http://www.news.va/en/news/fra-matthew-festing-on-private-audience-with-pope

Fra' Matthew Festing on private audience with Pope Francis
2015-06-26 Vatican Radio


Vatican Radio) Pope Francis met on Thursday with Fra' Robert Matthew Festing, the Prince and Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, in a private audience to discuss the Order's worldwide activities and the plight of migrants, an issue in which the Order of Malta is heavily involved.

The Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta issued a press release on the occasion of World Refugee Day on 20 June 2015, launching an international campaign entitled: "No to the construction of walls".
 

[grace-land]

http://www.news.va/en/news/metropolitan-archbishops-to-receive-the-pallium

Metropolitan archbishops to receive the pallium

Vatican City, 26 June 2015 (VIS) – Forty-six metropolitan archbishops have been nominated by the Holy Father to receive the pallium this year, imposed every 29 June, Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul Apostles, in the Vatican Basilica:

Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki, archbishop of Cologne, Germany

Cardinal Antonio Canizares Llovera, archbishop of Valencia, Spain

Archbishop Julian Leow Beng Kim of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Archbishop Eduardo Eliseo Martin of Rosario, Argentina

Archbishop Florentino Galang Lavarias of San Fernando, Philippines

Archbishop Anthony Pappusamy of Madurai, India

Archbishop Sevastianos Rossolatos of Athens, Greece

Archbishop Thomas Aquino Manyo Maeda of Osaka, Japan

Archbishop Carlos Osoro Sierra of Madrid, Spain

Archbishop Eamon Martin of Armagh, Ireland

Archbishop Anthony Colin Fisher, O.P., of Sydney, Australia

Archbishop Blase J. Cupich of Chicago, U.S.A.
 
Archbishop John Charles Wester of Santa Fe, U.S.A.
 

[grace-land]

http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-francis-greets-delegation-from-ecumenical-pat

Pope Francis greets delegation from Ecumenical Patriarch
2015-06-27 Vatican Radio


(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Saturday met with a delegation of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Batholomew I, which is in Rome for the Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, which is on Monday.

“Your presence at the celebrations of our feast testifies once again to the deep relationship between the sister Churches of Rome and Constantinople, foreshadowed by the bond which unites the respective patron Saints of our Churches, the Apostles Peter and Andrew, brothers in blood and faith, united in apostolic service and martyrdom,” said Pope Francis.

The Holy Father took the occasion to renew his support for the work of the Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church.
 

[grace-land]

http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2015/06/27/pope_francis_promulgates_motu_proprio/1154455

Pope Francis promulgates Motu Proprio instituting the ‘Secretariat for Communications’
27/06/2015 12:00


(Vatican Radio)  Pope Francis promulgated on Saturday, 27 June 2015, a Motu Proprio instituting the Secretariat for Communications and nominating Rev. Msgr. Dario Edoardo Viganò as Prefect of the new Secretariat.

The Motu Proprio establishes that all communications offices will be incorporated under the direction of the new Secretariat for Communications, including the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, the Holy See Press Office, Vatican Internet Service, Vatican Radio, the Vatican Television Center (CTV), the Osservatore Romano, Vatican Typography, Photograph Service, and the Vatican Publishing House (Libreria Editrice Vaticana).

The new Dicastery will also work in union with the Secretariat of State for the direction of the institutional website of the Holy See, www.vatican.va and the Twitter account of the Holy Father:  @pontifex .
 

[grace-land]

http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-francis-approves-the-decrees-for-canonization

Pope Francis approves the decrees for canonization of Louis and Zelie Martin
2015-06-27 Vatican Radio


(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis approved on Saturday the decrees allowing for the canonization of Louis and Zelie Martin, the parents of St. Therese of the Child Jesus (of Lisieux).

The Holy Father approved the decrees allowing Louis and Zelie Martin to be canonized during the Ordinary Consistory in the Apostolic Palace of the Vatican.

The couple will be the first to be canonized together as husband and wife, giving testimony to their ‘extraordinary witness of conjugal and familial spirituality’, said Cardinal Angelo Amato, the Prefect for the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints.
 

[grace-land]

http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-sends-video-message-to-ecuador-bolivia-and-pa

Pope sends video-message to Ecuador, Bolivia and Paraguay
2015-06-27 Vatican Radio


One week before his Apostolic Visit to South America, Pope Francis sent a video message to the people of Ecuador, Bolivia and Paraguay.

The Holy Father expressed his closeness to them, saying that he wants to share in their concerns and joys during his trip.

“I want to be a witness of this joy of the Gospel and bring to you the tenderness and caress of God, our Father, especially to your children most in need, to the elderly, the sick, the imprisoned, the poor, to those who are victims of this throwaway culture,” he said.

The common faith shared  by the people, he continued, “is a source of brotherhood and solidarity” that fosters harmony and builds peace.

Concluding his message, the 78 year old Pontiff called on the people of Ecuador, Bolivia and Paraguay to remain steadfast in that faith.

“I urge you to unite your prayers to mine so that the announcement of the Gospel can reach to the farthest outskirts and continue to make the values of the Kingdom of God a leaven of the earth in our days as well,” he said.
 

[grace-land]

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/marriage-has-had-its-day-at-court-but-religious-freedom-could-soon-follow-66737/

Marriage has had its day at Court, but religious freedom could soon follow

Washington D.C., Jun 27, 2015 / 06:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Friday’s Supreme Court ruling against the traditional understanding of marriage may pose huge obstacles to the free exercise of religion and conscience across the US, the nation's bishops have said in response to the decision.

“The free exercise of religion means that we have a right not only to debate it openly in the public square, but to operate our ministries and to live our lives in accordance to the truth about marriage without violence, or being penalized, or losing our tax exemption, or losing our ability to serve the common good through our social services and through education,” Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore, chair of the U.S. bishops conference’s Ad Hoc Committee on Religious Liberty, told EWTN News Nightly June 26.

“The Church and its religious organizations serve millions of people with love and attention,” the archbishop said, adding that “it would be a shame to see that jeopardized. It would be a shame to see free exercise swallowed up in this decision.”
 

[grace-land]

http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-jesus-is-risen-he-has-conquered-death

Pope: Jesus is risen, He has conquered death
2015-06-28 Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) “Do we believe that Jesus can heal us and can wake us from death?” That, said Pope Francis, is the message of Sunday’s Gospel, which tells how Jesus healed a woman suffering from haemorrhages, and raised a young girl from the dead. In his address to the faithful at the Sunday Angelus, the Pope said these two episodes “have a single centre: the faith.” In fact, he continued, “the whole of the Gospel is written in the light of this faith: Jesus is risen, He has conquered death, and through His victory, we too shall rise.”

But this faith, which for the early Christians was absolutely sure, can sometimes become “tarnished” and uncertain. Sunday’s Gospel, the Pope said, “invites us to live in the certainty of the Resurrection: Jesus is the Lord, he has power over evil and death, and He wants to bring us to the house of the Father, where life reigns.”
 
http://www.zenit.org/en/articles/pope-s-angelus-address--5
Pope's Angelus Address
Vatican City State,  June 28, 2015

[grace-land]

http://www.news.va/en/news/prayers-and-condolences-for-victims-of-terror-atta

Prayers and condolences for victims of terror attacks
2015-06-28 Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has expressed his prayerful solidarity with victims of several terrorist attacks on Friday.

In separate telegrams sent by Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, to France, Kuwait, and Tunisia, the Holy Father said he was united in prayer with the relatives of the victims, especially those who have lost family members. He prayed, too, for the souls of those who perished in the attacks. Pope Francis offered his condolences to those who were wounded and to their families, praying that the Lord might give them “comfort and consolation in their trials.”
 

[grace-land]

http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-welcomes-orthodox-delegation-for-feast-of-sts

Pope welcomes Orthodox delegation for feast of Sts Peter and Paul
2015-06-29 Vatican Radio


(Vatican Radio) On the feast day of Saints Peter and Paul, Pope Francis urged 46 new metropolitan archbishops to hear the first apostles’ call to prayer, to faith and to witness. The Pope’s words came during his homily at Mass in St Peter’s Basilica which included several significant ecumenical initiatives, as Philippa Hitchen reports:

Every year on June 29th, solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, a high level delegation from the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Istanbul travels to the Vatican to celebrate this great feast of the patron saints of the Church in Rome. Just as a Vatican delegation travels to Istanbul each November 30th to celebrate the feastday of St Andrew with the Orthodox Church of the East.

Pope Francis had special greetings to the Orthodox delegation, led by Metropolitan John Zizioulas, who was also present in the Vatican just 10 days ago for the presentation of the papal encyclical on the environment, ‘Laudato Si’’.

Meanwhile, providing inspirational music for the Mass on Monday were choristers of the Anglican choir of New College, Oxford, who joined forces with the regular Sistine Chapel Choir to underline the ecumenical nature of this important feast day.
 

[grace-land]

http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-francis-to-new-archbishops-be-true-witnesses

Pope Francis to new archbishops: be true witnesses
2015-06-29 Vatican Radio


(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis delivered the homily at Mass celebrated in St. Peter's Basilica on Monday, the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, Patrons of Rome. The Mass also saw the ceremonial gift of the Pallium - the peculiar sign of the office of a Metropolitan Archbishop. Below, please find the full text of the Holy Father's prepared remarks, in English.

The reading, taken from the Acts of the Apostles, speaks to us of the first Christian community besieged by persecution. A community harshly persecuted by Herod who “laid violent hands upon some who belonged to the Church… proceeded to arrest Peter also… and when he had seized him he put him in prison” (12:1-4).

However, I do not wish to dwell on these atrocious, inhuman and incomprehensible persecutions, sadly still present in many parts of the world today, often under the silent gaze of all.  I would like instead to pay homage today to the courage of the Apostles and that of the first Christian community.  This courage carried forward the work of evangelisation, free of fear of death and martyrdom, within the social context of a pagan empire; their Christian life is for us, the Christians of today, a powerful call to prayer, to faith and to witness.
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSH_U_cn1nc
Holy Mass with the imposition of the Pallium 2015.06.29 

[grace-land]

http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-francis-at-angelus-prayers-for-latin-america

Pope Francis at Angelus: prayers for Latin America trip
2015-06-29 Vatican Radio


(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Monday asked prayers for his upcoming voyage to Ecuador, Bolivia, and Paraguay, scheduled for the coming 5th to the 13th of July. In remarks to the gathered faithful in St. Peter’s Square following the Angelus prayer after Mass to mark the Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul, patrons of the city of Rome, the Holy Father said, “I ask you all to accompany me with prayer, that the Lord will bless my journey on the continent of Latin America so dear to me, as you can imagine.”
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGa9Lx_gt0U
Angelus Domini 2015.06.29
Streamed live on Jun 29, 2015

Starts at 12:00 pm. On the main liturgical feasts, the Pope recites the Angelus prayer with the pilgrims. Before and after the prayer, he delivers a brief reflection and issues greetings.

[grace-land]

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/historic-meeting-between-pope-francis-and-russian-orthodox-head-getting-closer-10352898.html

Historic meeting between Pope Francis and Russian Orthodox head 'getting closer'
Monday 29 June 2015

An historic meeting between Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church is "getting closer every day," a senior Orthodox prelate has said.
 
The unprecedented meeting would be a significant step towards healing the 1,000-year-old rift between the Western and Eastern branches of Christianity, which split in the Great Schism of 1054.

"Now such a meeting is getting closer every day but it must be well prepared," Metropolitan Hilarion, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church's foreign relations department, said in an interview with Italy's Corriere della Sera newspaper.

He said the meeting between the head of the 1.2 billion member Roman Catholic Church and the head of Russian Orthodox Church - which counts some 165 million of the world's 250 million Orthodox Christians - would take place in a "neutral" country, not in Moscow or the Vatican. Austria or Hungary were possibilities, he said.

Hilarion, one of the most influential people in world Orthodoxy, said he could not say if the meeting could take place as early as this year, but there was currently "a good dynamic" between the two Churches.
 

[grace-land]

http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-francis-christians-and-jews-brothers-and-frie

Pope Francis: Christians and Jews, brothers and friends
2015-06-30 Vatican Radio


(Vatican Radio) This week members of the International Council of Christians and Jews have been meeting to discuss “The 50th Anniversary of Nostra Aetate: The Past, Present, and Future of the Christian-Jewish Relationship”, and it was on this theme that Pope Francis addressed the participants on Tuesday in the Clementine Hall in the Vatican.

He told them that Nostra Aetate represented a definitive “yes” to the Jewish roots of Christianity and an irrevocable “no” to anti-Semitism adding, that both faith traditions were no longer strangers, but friends and brothers.

The Holy Father said that in celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of this document,  “we are able to see the rich fruits which it has brought about and to gratefully appraise Jewish-Catholic dialogue.  He then added, “ in this way, we can express our thanks to God for all the good which has been realized in terms of friendship and mutual understanding these past fifty years.”

The Pope underlined that despite different perspectives, both Christians and Jews confess one God, Creator of the Universe and Lord of history.  And he, Pope Francis continued, “in his infinite goodness and wisdom, always blesses our commitment to dialogue.”
 

[grace-land]

http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-francis-greets-benedict-xvi-before-summer-bre

Pope Francis greets Benedict XVI before summer break
2015-06-30 Vatican Radio


(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Tuesday morning visited Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI at his residence, the former Convent Mater Ecclesiae, in the Vatican, to greet him and wish him a pleasant stay in Castel Gandolfo in the Roman hills. The meeting lasted about half and hour.

The director of the Vatican Press Office, Father Federico Lombardi said the Pope Emeritus transferred to the summer retreat earlier today and will remain there for the next two weeks. He is scheduled to return  on July 14.
 

[grace-land]

http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-francis-changes-to-summer-agenda

Pope Francis: Changes to summer agenda
2015-06-30 Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) The General Audiences held on Wednesdays will be suspended for the whole month of July. They will resume in August in the Paul VI Hall.

There will, however, be an Audience on the afternoon of July 3rd with the Movement of Renewal in the Spirit, in St. Peter's Square.

The Pope will continue to recite the Angelus on Sunday's.

The morning mass at Santa Marta is also suspended during July and August. It will resume in early September.