Pope Francis

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http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/09/18/pope_at_mass_‘pray_for_leaders_despite_their_mistakes’/1337475

Pope at Mass: ‘Pray for leaders despite their mistakes’
18/09/2017 13:38

(Vatican Radio) As Christians we must pray for our elected leaders, even if we don’t agree with their politics. That was Pope Francis’ message during Mass in the Casa Santa Marta on Monday, as he reflected on the readings for the day.

Pope Francis took as his starting point the First Reading from St Paul’s Letter to Timothy, where he asks that “supplications, prayers, petitions, and thanksgivings” be offered “for kings and for all in authority”. In the day’s Gospel, a Roman leader, the centurion, prays that his servant be healed.

Recognize one’s subordinate position

“This man felt the need to pray,” the Pope noted, because “he was aware that he did not have everything under his control”. He knew that above him was another who was really in charge. The centurion had soldiers as subordinates but he was also aware of being a subordinate. This awareness led him to pray.

“If leaders do not pray, they close themselves off in a self-referential circle or in that of their party, a circle from which they cannot escape”, said Pope Francis. It is important to be aware that we are all subordinate to someone more powerful. And those who are more powerful than political leaders, he suggested, are both the people who gave those leaders their power, “and God from whom their power comes through the people”. Political leaders pray, said the Pope, when they are aware of being a subordinate.
 

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http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/09/19/pope_at_daily_mass_draw_near_to_those_who_suffer/1337656

Pope at daily Mass: Draw near to those who suffer
19/09/2017 12:48

Pope Francis preaches at the daily Mass at the Casa Santa Marta. - REUTERS
(Vatican Radio) “Compassion,” “drawing near,” “to restore.” At the morning Mass at the Casa Santa Marta, Pope Francis prayed to the Lord, that He might give us “the grace” to have compassion for all those who are suffering; to draw near to these people in order to “take them by the hand” to restore them to the place of “dignity that God wills for them.”

The Holy Father was reflecting on the Gospel, from St Luke, which tells how Jesus raised the son of the widow of Naim from the dead.  He explained how, in the Old Testament, the poorest of the slaves were precisely the widows, the orphans, the strangers and the foreigners. And the recurring invitation is to “care” for them, to ensure that they are inserted into and are part of society. Jesus is able “to see the details,” because He sees with the heart; He has compassion:
 

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http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/09/19/vatican_holds_seminar_on_young_people_ahead_of_synod/1337775

Vatican holds seminar on young people ahead of 2018 Synod of Bishops
19/09/2017 17:27

(Vatican Radio)  The Vatican released a statement on Tuesday regarding preparations for the 15th Ordinary Synod of Bishops to take place in October 2018.

In the statement, the Secretariat General of the Synod of Bishops said an international seminar on the condition of youth in the world was held on 11-15 September 2017 at the Jesuit General Curia.

Some 82 young people from around the world attended the event, as well as various experts and pastoral workers.

The statement said the sessions reflected on several themes, including "the young and identity, the young and otherness, the young and planning, the young and technology, and the young and transcendence."

Please find below the original statement:
 

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http://www.ncregister.com/blog/edward-pentin/pope-francis-sets-up-new-john-paul-ii-institute-on-marriage-and-family

Blogs  |  Sep. 19, 2017
Pope Francis Sets Up New John Paul II Institute on Marriage and Family
Edward Pentin

The Vatican announced today that Pope Francis has established a new Pontifical John Paul II institute for “Marriage and Family Sciences” to replace the previous academic institution founded by John Paul in 1981.

In an apostolic letter Summa Familiae Cura issued motu proprio and published Sept. 19, the Vatican said the new entity — whose name will be the Pontifical John Paul II Theological Institute for Marriage and Family Sciences — is being established to carry forward the work of the two recent Synods of Bishops and the apostolic exhortation that came from those meetings, Amoris Laetitia.

The Pope notes the important work carried out by the original institute, called the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and the Family, which was founded in the wake of the 1980 Synod on the Family.

Cardinal Carlo Caffarra, who died Sept. 6, was the founding president of that Institute. As a signatory to the dubia given to Pope Francis exactly a year ago today, he had serious concerns about Amoris Laetitia, interpretations of which he found incompatible with John Paul II's teachings and the magisterium of the Church.
 

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https://zenit.org/articles/popes-wednesday-catechesis-educate-to-hope/

Pope’s Wednesday Catechesis: “Educate to Hope” 
September 20, 2017

General Audience 09/20/2017 © L'Osservatore Romano
Pope Francis reflected on the theme” Educate to Hope,” in his Wednesday General Audience, September 20, 1017 in St. Peter’s Square. He urged: “If boredom paralyzes you, get rid of it with works of goodness!”

He continued:  “Work for peace in the midst of men, and don’t listen to the voice that spreads hatred and divisions. Don’t listen to these voices.” He reminded the crowd that “Human beings, in as much as they are different from one another, were created to live together. In opposition, be patient: one day you will discover that each one is a recipient of a fragment of truth.”

The Holy Father repeated his theme of love for each person:  “Love persons. Love them one by one. Respect everyone’s way, linear or troubled as it might be, because each one has his story to tell.

“Each one of us also has his own story to tell. Every child that is born is the promise of a life that, once again, shows itself stronger than death. Every love that arises is a power of transformation that yearns for happiness.”

* * *
Pope Francis’ Catechesis, September 20, 2017, St. Peter’s Square
 
http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/09/20/pope_prays_for_mexican_earthquake_victims/1337853
Pope prays for Mexican earthquake victims
20/09/2017 11:21

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78nYnqnyVh8
2017.09.20 - General Audience

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Hmmm...

http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/09/19/new_jpii_pontifical_institute_releases_statement/1337769

New JPII Pontifical Institute for Matrimonial & Family Sciences releases statement
19/09/2017 17:04

(Vatican Radio)  The newly-created John Paul II Pontifical Theological Institute for Matrimonial and Family Sciences on Tuesday released a statement regarding Pope Francis' Motu Proprio Datae summa familiae cura.

The Motu Proprio was released on Tuesday, establishing the Institute to carry forward the work of the two recent Synods of Bishops and the Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia.

The 'media notes' statement is signed by Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, Grand Chancellor of the Institute, and Msgr. Pierangelo Sequeri, its President.

It discusses the inspiration and sources behind the Holy Father's Motu Proprio, as well as how the project is to be implemented.

Please find below the original statement:
 

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http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/09/21/pope_francis_if_you_want_mercy,_know_that_you_are_sinners/1338134

Pope Francis: if you want mercy, know that you are sinners
21/09/2017 13:21

Pope Francis at Mass, September 21, 2017
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis said Mass on Thursday – the Feast of St. Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist – in the chapel of the Casa Santa Marta in the Vatican.

In remarks following the Readings of the Day, which included St. Matthew’s own account of his conversion and calling into discipleship, the Holy Father focused on the three stages of the episode: calling, feasting, and scandal.

Jesus had just healed a paralytic, when He met Matthew – a tax-collector, hence a figure despised by Jewish authorities and considered a traitor to his land and people – sitting at the customs desk.

Jesus looked at him and said, “Follow me,” and Matthew got up and followed Him

Recalling Caravaggio’s famous depiction of the scene, Pope Francis spoke of Matthew’s “sidelong look” with one eye on Our Savior and the other on his purse: a look that was even stand-offish, if not outright aggressive. Then, there was the merciful gaze of Jesus, which communicated such overwhelming love that the resistance of the man who wanted the money, “fails”: Matthew got up and followed Him.
 

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http://www.catholicnews.com/services/englishnews/2017/pope-says-church-was-late-fighting-abuse-promises-zero-tolerance.cfm

Pope says church was late fighting abuse, promises 'zero tolerance'
9.21.2017 8:13 AM ET

CNS/L'Osservatore Romano
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis has endorsed an approach of "zero tolerance" toward all members of the church guilty of sexually abusing minors or vulnerable adults.

Having listened to abuse survivors and having made what he described as a mistake in approving a more lenient set of sanctions against an Italian priest abuser, the pope said he has decided whoever has been proven guilty of abuse has no right to an appeal, and he will never grant a papal pardon.

"Why? Simply because the person who does this (sexually abuses minors) is sick. It is a sickness," he told his advisory commission on child protection during an audience at the Vatican Sept. 21. Members of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, including its president -- Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley of Boston -- were meeting in Rome Sept. 21-23 for their plenary assembly.

Setting aside his prepared text, the pope said he wanted to speak more informally to the members, who include lay and religious experts in the fields of psychology, sociology, theology and law in relation to abuse and protection.
 

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http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/09/21/vatican_secretariat_for_communications_signs_convention_/1338116

Vatican Secretariat for Communications signs convention with Jesuits
21/09/2017 12:50

Msgr. Dario Edorado Viganò, Prefect of the Secretariat for Communications - RV
(Vatican Radio)  The Vatican’s Secretariat for Communications and the Society of Jesus signed a Convention on Thursday.

Msgr. Dario Edoardo Viganò, the Secretariat’s Prefect, said, “This signing comes only a few days after the 100th birthday of Fr. Stefanizzi.”

“Fr. Stefanizzi was the Director of Vatican Radio during the years of the Second Vatican Council, an event which needed to be recounted to those persons who understood neither Latin nor theology. From this point of view, therefore, Fr. Stefanizzi followed the model of ‘user first’, putting primary focus, that is, on the users of communication, which is today the center of the Vatican Media reform desired by Pope Francis. Fr. Stefanizzi knew how to mediate what happened in the Council room with what people needed to know, so as to avoid a double reading of ‘inside’ and ‘outside’ the Council, often highlighted by both Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis,” Msgr. Viganò said.

The Prefect of the Secretariat for Communications also expressed gratitude, both his own and that of the whole dicastery, to the Society of Jesus, with which, during the last year and half, a process of discernment and rethinking has begun of the Jesuit’s presence within, no longer Vatican Radio, but a much larger reality. With the signing of the Convention, the Society makes itself available to this service according to the apostolic mission of the world of communications. Msgr. Viganò also relayed the gratitude and satisfaction of the Pope for this new form of collaboration within the reform process
 

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http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/09/21/pope_francis_receives_italian_antimafia_parliamentary_commis/1338070

Pope Francis receives Italian Antimafia Parliamentary Commission
21/09/2017 11:15

Pope Francis receives members of the anti-mafia commission
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Thursday met with the Italian Antimafia Parliamentary Commission in the Vatican.

In his prepared remarks to the group, the Holy Father began by recalling 3 high profile figures killed by the mafia, Magistrates Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino, who were killed 25 years ago and Servant of God, Rosario Livatino, killed on September 21, 1990.

Corruption

The Pope, during his address underlined how “corruption always finds a way to justify itself, presenting itself as the "normal" condition, the solution for those who are "shrewd", the way to reach ones goals.” The Pope went on to say that, “it has a contagious and parasitic nature, because it does not nourish what good produces, but how it subtracts and robs.”

Authentic Politics
 

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http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/09/21/spotlight_on_first_american-born_martyr_in_church’s_history_/1337096

Spotlight on first American-born martyr in Church’s history ahead of his beatification
21/09/2017 14:00

Fr Stanley Rother - RV
(Vatican Radio) Father Stanley Rother, the first American-born martyr in the history of the Church is being beatified in Oklahoma City on September 23rd. The U.S. priest was gunned down in Guatamala in 1981 shortly after taking the heroic decision to return to his mission parish in the Central American nation despite knowing his name was on a death list there.

Maria Ruiz Scaperlanda is the author of a biography about this American martyr, entitled, ‘The Shepherd Who Didn’t Run.’ She spoke to Susy Hodges about Father Stanley’s life, his mission and why it made such an impact on her.

A U.S. Catholic writer and blogger, Scaperlanda was involved in collecting documentation for Father Stanley’s beatification cause.  She described how the priest grew up in a farming family and was used to being very “hands-on” when it came to tilling the land and fixing whatever was broken and he used those same skills to help the people in his mission parish in a remote area of Guatamala.

“Heart wrenching” decision

Asked about Father Stanley’s decision to return to his parish in Guatamala following a stay with his family in his native U.S. despite the death threats made against him Scaperlanda said it must have been “really really difficult ..... and heart wrenching” for him.  She likened it to Jesus’ mental torment in the Garden of Gethsamene shortly before his arrest and crucifixion.

“The Shepherd Who Didn’t Run”

Scaperlanda explained how the title for her book about Father Stanley “The Shepherd Who Didn’t Run” was taken from the priest’s words in a letter he wrote shortly before his return to Guatamala where he wrote that “a shepherd cannot run at the first sign of danger.”
 

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http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/09/22/pope_francis_meets_perus_president_ahead_of_papal_visit/1338412

Pope Francis meets Peru's President ahead of papal visit
22/09/2017 15:47

Pope Francis meets Peru's President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski and his wife Nancy Lange during a private audience on Friday - REUTERS
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis met on Friday with the President of the Republic of Peru, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski Godard, who is preparing to welcome the Holy Father to the South American nation from January 18th to 21st.

A note from the Vatican press office said the two leaders discussed the good relations between Peru and the Holy See, which will be further strengthened by the pope’s upcoming visit to the cities of Lima, Puerto Maldonado and Trujillo.

Education, environment, development

During the cordial discussions, the pope and the president also spoke about the contribution that the Church makes to Peruvian society, including in areas of education, environmental protection, development and poverty eradication.
 

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http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/09/22/vatican_presents_guidelines_for_catholic_schools/1338440

Vatican presents guidelines for Catholic educational institutions
22/09/2017 16:40

Cardinal Giuseppe Versaldi, Prefect of the Congregation for Catholic Education - RV
(Vatican Radio) A press conference was held in the Holy See Press Office on Friday to present the work of the Pontifical Foundation Gravissimum educationis and the document “Educating to fraternal humanism. Building a ‘civilization of love’ 50 years after Populorum progressio”.

Cardinal Giuseppe Versaldi, Prefect of the Congregation for Catholic Education, presented the document at Friday’s press conference.

He said it contains the guidelines for education in fraternal humanism and that it will be distributed to all 216,000 Catholic schools and universities around the world.

'Fraternal humanism'

Entitled “Educating to fraternal humanism. Building a ‘civilization of love’ 50 years after Populorum progressio”, the document seeks to trace a path forward in Catholic education based on the principles set out in Populorum progressio.

The document says, “Our efforts at education will be inadequate and ineffectual unless we strive to promote a new way of thinking about human beings, life, society and our relationship with nature”.

“Solidarity and brotherhood,” Cardinal Versaldi said, can be promoted by Catholic schools and universities “through a formative experience capable of integrating science and conscience.”

Pontifical Foundation Gravissimum educationis

The press conference also gave voice to the two-year old Pontifical Foundation Gravissimum educationis, instituted by Pope Francis in 2015.
 

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http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/09/22/vatican_to_set_up_joint_committee_with_muslim_world_league/1338434

Vatican to set up joint committee with Muslim World League
22/09/2017 16:07

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has held talks with Dr. Muhammad Al-Issa, Secretary General of the Muslim World League, accompanied by a delegation.

The meeting came during an informal encounter on Wednesday between the World Muslim League delegation and the president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran.

Combat fundamentalism

A statement from the Pontifical Council said that the two sides reaffirmed the following points: that religion and violence are incompatible; that religions have moral resources capable of contributing to fraternity and peace; that the phenomenon of fundamentalism, in particular when violent, is troubling and joint efforts are required to counter it.

Protect religious freedom

In addition, the statement said, situations exist where freedom of conscience and of religion are not entirely respected and protected, so there is an urgent need to remedy this, renewing “religious discourse” and reviewing school books.
 

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http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/09/22/pope_francis_makes_surprise_visit_to_rome_neuro_rehab_centre/1338460

Pope Francis makes surprise visit to Rome neuro rehab centre
22/09/2017 17:23

Pope Francis pays a surprise visit to the Fondazione Santa Lucia. - RV
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Friday made a surprise visit to a Rome rehabilitation centre for patients with neurological diseases.

A statement from the Holy See press office said the afternoon visit was a continuation of the ‘Fridays of Mercy’ initiative that he inaugurated during the recent Jubilee Year to encourage practical gestures of solidarity with those most in need.

The Santa Lucia Foundation, located to the south of Rome’s city centre, is well known for its quality care of patients affected by physical or mental disabilities resulting from strokes, bone marrow diseases, Parkinson’s and multiple sclerosis.
 

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https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/breaking-62-scholars-correct-pope-francis-for-propagating-heresies

Sat Sep 23, 2017 - 6:00 pm EST
BREAKING: 62 scholars correct Pope Francis for ‘propagating heresies’

ROME, September 23, 2017 (LifeSiteNews) –  Expressing “profound grief” and “filial devotion,” Catholic clergy and lay scholars from around the world have issued what they are calling a “Filial Correction” to Pope Francis for “propagating heresy.”

The Filial Correction, in the form of a 25-page letter, bears the signatures of sixty-two Catholic academics, researchers, and scholars in various fields from twenty countries. They assert that Pope Francis has supported heretical positions about marriage, the moral life, and the Eucharist that are causing a host of “heresies and other errors” to spread throughout the Catholic Church.

The correction was delivered to the Pope at his Santa Marta residence on August 11, 2017. No similar action has taken place within the Catholic Church since the Middle Ages, when Pope John XXII was admonished for errors which he later recanted on his deathbed.

“With profound grief, but moved by fidelity to our Lord Jesus Christ, by love for the Church and for the papacy, and by filial devotion toward yourself, we are compelled to address a correction to Your Holiness on account of the propagation of heresies effected by the apostolic exhortation Amoris laetitia and by other words, deeds and omissions of Your Holiness,” the signers write in the letter.

“As subjects, we do not have the right to issue to Your Holiness that form of correction by which a superior coerces those subject to him with the threat or administration of punishment,” they state.

“We issue this correction, rather, to protect our fellow Catholics — and those outside the Church, from whom the key of knowledge must not be taken away — hoping to prevent the further spread of doctrines which tend of themselves to the profaning of all the sacraments and the subversion of the Law of God,” they add.

The signers respectfully insist that Pope Francis condemn the heresies that he has “directly or indirectly upheld,” and that he teach the truth of the Catholic faith in its integrity.

They say that they make “no judgment” about the Pope’s culpability in propagating the seven heresies they list. They add that it is not their task to “judge whether the sin of heresy has been committed” whereby a person “departs from the faith by doubting or denying some revealed truth with a full choice of the will.”

The letter was made public today, six weeks after the signers received no response from the Pope.
 

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http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/09/24/pope_francis_at_angelus_embrace_the_logic_of_gods_kingdom/1338746

Pope Francis at Angelus: embrace the logic of God's Kingdom
24/09/2017 13:29

Faithful and pilgrims crowd St. Peter's Square at the Vatican during the Angelus noon prayer led by Pope Francis, Sunday, Sept. 24, 2017. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis prayed the Angelus with pilgrims and tourists gathered in St. Peter’s Square on Sunday – the 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time – focusing his remarks ahead of the traditional prayer of Marian devotion on the Parable of the Landowner and the Wage-earners, proclaimed as the Gospel reading of the day (Mt. 20:1-16).

The Gospel at a glance

In that story, Jesus likens the Kingdom of God to a landowner, who hires day-labourers in the early morning, and again at successive hours of the day, at the end of which he instructs his paymaster to give the full day’s wage to all the workers, beginning with those hired at the 11th hour.

The labourers of the first hour complain of this treatment, to which the Landowner replies, “I am not cheating you. Did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take what is yours and go. What if I wish to give this last one the same as you? Or am I not free to do as I wish with my own money? Are you envious because I am generous?”

Jesus then explains the lesson, “Thus, the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

Pope Francis reflects

Reflecting on the passage, Pope Francis said, “In reality, the ‘injustice’ of the Landowner serves to provoke, in those who hear the parable, an increase in understanding (It. salto di livello), because Jesus does not want to speak of the problem of labour and of just wages, but of the Kingdom of God.”
 
https://zenit.org/articles/angelus-address-on-the-parable-of-the-householder-who-calls-labourers-to-his-vineyard/
Angelus Address: On the Parable of the Householder Who Calls Labourers to His Vineyard 
“God Wants All to Work for His Kingdom; He Wants to Give All the Same Recompense: Salvation and Eternal Life”
September 24, 2017

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0DaeCTJ_4s
2017.09.24 - Angelus Domini

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http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/09/24/pope_francis_bl_stanley_rother_model_of_heroic_witness/1338734

Pope Francis: Bl Stanley Rother model of heroic witness
24/09/2017 12:43

Cardinal Angelo Amato, center, prays under a banner depicting Blessed Stanley Rother during Rother's Beatification Ceremony in Oklahoma City, Saturday, Sept. 23
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis praised the virtue and example of Blessed Stanley Francis Rother on Sunday, one day after the secular missionary priest originally of Oklahoma in the United States was beatified as a martyr.

Bl. Stanley was killed on July 28th, 1981, after returning to Guatemala to minister to his flock, despite several death threats and warnings his life would be in danger. “Well, a shepherd cannot run from his flock,” he is quoted as saying in explanation of his decision to return in the face of such danger.

In remarks to the faithful gathered in St. Peter’s Square following the traditional Angelus address on Sunday, Pope Francis said, “[Saturday], in Oklahoma City, the missionary priest, Stanley Francis Rother, killed in hatred of the faith for his work of evangelization and work to promote the human dignity of the poorest people in Guatemala, was proclaimed Blessed. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9TVYvIRFPo
BEATIFICATION OF VENERABLE FATHER STANLEY ROTHER
Streamed live on Sep 23, 2017
The beatification of Servant of God Fr. Stanley Rother, live from the Cox Convention Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

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http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/09/24/vatican_issues_statement_responding_to_former_ag_statements/1338770

Vatican issues statement responding to former AG statements
24/09/2017 17:48

Libero Milone, former Auditor General of the Vatican, in a screen grab from an appeaance on SkyNews 24, Sept. 24, 2017 - ANSA
(Vatican Radio) The Press Office of the Holy See released a statement in connection with the statements from the Vatican’s former Auditor General, Libero Milone, which were widely quoted today, saying the Holy See notes “with surprise and regret” the remarks made by the former Auditor General.

Milone told reporters from several news organizations that he had been forced to resign after discovering unspecified “irregularities” within his bailiwick – or face criminal charges he told reporters were fabricated.

The Statement from the Holy See’s Press Office goes on to say, “In [acting] this way, [Milone] has failed to agree to keep confidential the reasons for his resignation from the Office. It is recalled that, according to the Statutes, the Auditor General’s task is to analyze the budgets and accounts of the Holy See and the related administrations. Unfortunately, the Office headed by Dr. Milone, exceeding its powers, illegally commissioned an external concern to conduct investigative activities into the private lives of Holy See Personnel.”
 
https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2017/09/24/ex-vatican-auditor-says-forced-old-guard-frame-job/
Ex-Vatican auditor says he was forced out by old guard with ‘frame-job’
John L. Allen Jr.   September 24, 2017

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http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/09/25/pope_francis_says_mass_for_vatican_citys_corps_of_gendarmes/1338821

Pope Francis says Mass for Vatican City's Corps of Gendarmes
25/09/2017 11:04

A officier of the Gendarmerie Corps of Vatican City State during the feast of St. Michael the Archangel at Vatican City, 26 September 2013 - ANSA
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis said Mass for the Corps of Gendarmes – the Vatican police force – in the Lourdes Grotto of the Vatican on Sunday to mark the 201st anniversary of the founding of the Corps.

In remarks following the Readings of the Day, Pope Francis focused especially on the 1st Reading, from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah, saying, “In the first Reading, the prophet Isaiah urges us to seek the Lord, to convert: ‘Seek ye the Lord, while he may be found: call upon him, while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unjust man his thoughts.’ (55: 6-7).