Pope Francis

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Hmmm...

http://www.thetablet.co.uk/news/7928/0/pro-francis-theologians-start-petition-in-support-of-pope-following-filial-correction-

Pro Francis theologians start petition in support of Pope following 'filial correction'
18 October 2017 | by Christopher Lamb   

'In a short time, you [Francis] have succeeded in reshaping the pastoral culture of the Roman Catholic Church in accordance with its origin in Jesus'

A group of 100 predominantly German speaking theologians and bishops have started a petition in support of Pope Francis following accusations that he is allowing the spread of heresy.

Last month 62 clergy and scholars submitted a “filial correction” of the Pope over his attempts to give divorced and remarried Catholics communion arguing that he has “effectively upheld 7 heretical positions about marriage, the moral life.” Their letter was later received over 10,000 signatures.

The latest petition, however, praises his his “courageous and theologically sound papal leadership” while admitting Francis’ “pastoral initiatives” are coming under “vehement attack.”

In a letter to Francis the group writes: “In a short time, you have succeeded in reshaping the pastoral culture of the Roman Catholic Church in accordance with its origin in Jesus. Wounded people and wounded nature go straight to your heart. You see the church as a field hospital on the margins of life. Your concern is every single person loved by God. When encountering others, compassion and not the law shall have the last word.”
 
https://onepeterfive.com/progressive-catholics-launch-defense-initiative-filial-correction/
Progressive Catholics Launch Defense Initiative Against Filial Correction
Maike Hickson  October 17, 2017

Today, the website of the German bishops, Katholisch.de, surprises its readers with the publication of a story detailing an initiative which has been launched in order to support Pope Francis himself against the critics who signed the 24 September Filial Correction. The new group is called “Pro Pope Francis” and now has its own website, “www.pro-pope-francis.com“. It says that the group has already 100 signatories and more than 1,000 “supporters” of this declaration. The initiative thanks Pope Francis for his “courageous and theologically well-founded leadership.” The signatories also praise the pope for letting “mercy have the last word” in pastoral matters.
 

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http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/10/19/pope_mass_the_gift_of_gods_salvation_opens_the_door_to_all/1343928

Pope Mass: The gift of God's salvation opens the door to all
19/10/2017 11:52

Pope Francis celebrates Mass at the Casa Santa Marta - AFP
The Lord gives us the memory of  God's salvation which is “a gift” and close to the concreteness of the works of mercy he wants us to do, whether they are "material or spiritual": so we will become people who help to "open the door" to ourselves and others. That was Pope Francis’ prayer at morning Mass at the Casa Santa Marta. Recalling the passage from Luke's Gospel in which the Scribes and Pharisees considered themselves righteous, and Jesus makes known to them that God alone is just, the Pope explained why law practitioners had "taken knowledge away" with "the consequence of not being able to enter the Kingdom nor let others enter either".

"This leads us to understand the revelation of God, to understand God's heart, to understand God's salvation - the key to knowledge - we can say it is very neglected. One forgets the freedom of salvation; forgetting the closeness of God and forgetting God's mercy. And those who forget the gift of salvation, the closeness of God, and the mercy of God, have taken away the key to knowledge. "
 

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http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/10/19/pope_institution_des_chartreux/1343955

Pope meets students, staff of “Institution des Chartreux”
19/10/2017 13:03

Pope Francis meeting students and staff of the Institution des Chartreux of Lyon, France, in the Vatican, Oct. 19, 2017. - AP‎
(Vatican Radio)  Pope Francis on Thursday urged students of a French Catholic School to watch out against the lure and slavery of money, and train themselves to be promoters and defenders of equality and justice in the world.

Some 80 students and staff of Institution des Chartreux of Lyons, in Rome as part of their semester, met the Pope in the Vatican.  Known commonly as Les Chartreux, the private school is managed by the Carthusians.
 

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http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/10/19/pope_francis_marks_50_years_of_methodist-catholic_dialogue/1343951

Pope Francis marks 50 years of Methodist-Catholic dialogue
19/10/2017 12:53

Pope Francis meets with heads of the World Methodist Council and members of the Methodist Roman Catholic International Commission
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis met with leaders of the World Methodist Council on Thursday, celebrating fifty years of dialogue between the two Churches.

Noting that in the Old Testament, a golden jubilee was a moment to set slaves free, the pope said “we too have been freed from the slavery of estrangement and mutual suspicion”.

After fifty years of patient dialogue, he said, “we are no longer strangers” but rather, through our shared Baptism, “members of the  household of God”.

True dialogue, the pope continued, gives us courage to encounter one another in humility and sincerity” as we seek to learn from each other.
 
http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/10/19/world_methodist_council_dialogue_must_reach_local_level/1343997
World Methodist Council: dialogue must reach local level
19/10/2017 13:27

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http://www.catholicnews.com/services/englishnews/2017/pope-names-bishop-joseph-m-siegel-to-lead-diocese-of-evansville.cfm

Pope names Bishop Joseph M. Siegel to lead Diocese of Evansville
By Catholic News Service
10.18.2017 4:51 PM ET

CNS/Paul Haring
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Pope Francis named Auxiliary Bishop Joseph M. Siegel of Joliet, Illinois, to head the Diocese of Evansville, Indiana.

He succeeds Archbishop Charles C. Thompson, who was appointed in June to lead the Archdiocese of Indianapolis.

The appointment was announced in Washington Oct. 18 by Archbishop Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States.

Bishop Siegel, 54, has been vicar general of the Joliet Diocese since 2011. He will be installed as the sixth bishop of Evansville Dec. 15.
 

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http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/10/20/pope_at_mass_hypocrisy_and_trickery_are_bad_for_us/1344141

Pope at Mass: hypocrisy and trickery are bad for us
20/10/2017 11:15

(Vatican Radio) May God grant us the grace of interior truth, rather than living a life of hypocrisy and trickery. That was Pope Francis’ message on Friday to those gathered for morning Mass in the Casa Santa Marta chapel.

Reflecting on the first reading of the day from St Paul’s letter to the Romans, the pope explained that God’s pardon is always freely given and not earned by what we do.

The work we do, he continued, is our response to this gratuitous love and forgiveness of God, who took away original sin and who pardons our sins every time we turn to Him.

Hypocrities try to appear virtuous

In the passage from St Luke’s Gospel, Pope Francis said, we read about another way that people seek justification, by trying to appear righteous and saintly. They are the hypocrites, he said, whose lives are filthy inside, but on the outside they try to appear virtuous and holy by showing how they fast and pray or give to charity.
 

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http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/10/20/pope_academy_social_sciences_market_state_society_/1344195

Pope urges for ethics in the service of man and environment
20/10/2017 13:28

Pope meeting participants in the workshop organized by the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences and ODUCAL
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Friday urged for an ethics that is friendly to man and the environment, where fundamental values are not “sacrificed on the altar of efficiency”.  The Pope was speaking to participants in a workshop organized in the Vatican by the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences in collaboration with the Organization of Catholic Universities in Latin America and the Caribbean (ODUCAL).  The Oct. 19-21 workshop is discussing “Changing relations among market, state and civil society.”

Inequalities and exploitation of planet

In line with their discussions, the Pope stressed on two specific causes that fuel “exclusion and existential peripheries”.  The first is the “endemic and systemic increase in inequalities and the exploitation of the planet.”  Besides depending on individual behavior, inequality and exploitation also depend on economic rules that society adopts, the Pope pointed out.  The way sectors such as energy, labor, banking, welfare, tax and school are designed, depends on how income and wealth are shared among those who have contributed to producing them.  But “if profit prevails, democracy tends to become a ‎plutocracy in which inequalities and the exploitation of the planet grow,” the Pope warned.
 

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http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/10/20/pope_condolence_telegram_daphne_caruana_galizia_parolin/1344241

Pope’s condolence for assassination of Maltese reporter
20/10/2017 15:27

Journalists in Valletta, Malta, protesting the assassination of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. - REUTERS
(Vatican Radio)  Pope Francis has expressed his condolence for the killing of a Maltese journalist, who was investigating corruption among leading politicians in the tiny Mediterranean island nation.  “Saddened by the tragic death of Daphne Caruana Galizia, His Holiness Pope Francis offers prayers for her eternal rest, and asks you kindly to convey his condolences to her family,” Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin wrote in a telegram sent on the Pope’s behalf to Archbishop Charles Scicluna of Malta.  “The Holy Father also assures you of his spiritual closeness to the Maltese people at this difficult moment, and implores God’s blessings upon the nation,” the cardinal wrote.

Investigating corruption

A well-known blogger and fierce critic of the government and the opposition, Caruana Galizia was killed on Monday in a powerful blast that wrecked her car as she was leaving her house in the rural north of the overwhelmingly Catholic nation. Maltese police said on Thursday they believe Caruana Galizia was killed by a remotely-controlled bomb attached under her car.
 

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http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/10/21/pope_pontifical_pio_brazilian_college_student_priests/1344397

Pope meets Brazilian student priests of Rome
21/10/2017 12:07

(Vatican Radio)  Pope Francis on Saturday reminded Brazilian priests studying in Rome that they were first of all priests and pastors of the people of God before being teachers and doctors.  While many Brazilians back home seem to have “lost hope in a better future because of enormous social problems and scandalous corruption,” the Pope said, the nation “needs its priests be a sign of hope.”

The Holy Father made the remarks to some 100 Brazilian student priests and staff of the Pontifical Pio Brazilian College of Rome who met him in the Vatican. Most Pontifical Colleges in Rome are hostels where priests from various nations reside while pursuing ecclesiastical studies in various pontifical universities in the city.

Four pillars of priest's life
 

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http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/10/21/pope_francis_to_participants_in_conference_on_disabled_/1344386

Pope Francis to participants in conference on disabled persons
21/10/2017 13:31

Pope Francis greeting blind and seeing-impaired persons at the weekly General Audience, Oct 18, 2017 - ANSA
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Saturday received participants in a major international conference organized by the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization. Catechesis and Persons with Disabilities: a necessary engagement in the pastoral life of the Church was the title of the conference, which was held in the Vatican.

Time for persons with disabilities to become catechists

Pope Francis met the conference participants on Saturday morning and told them it is time that people with disabilities themselves became catechists, helping to communicate the Faith more effectively “through their own witness”.

Following an introduction by the President of the Vatican Dicastery, Archibishop Rino Fischella, the Pope spoke of the great developments in the field of stimulating awareness and promoting the dignity of persons with disabilities, but he also criticized what he called an often “narcissistic and utilitarian” view that fails to recognize the “human and spiritual wealth” that people with disabilities possess and are ready to offer.

Below is our translation from Italian of the full text of the Pope’s discourse.
 

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In the article, links are provided for the statistics in English and video highlights.

https://zenit.org/articles/fides-catholic-population-growing-to-1-3-billion/

Fides: Catholic Population Growing to 1.3 Billion 
Schools, Hospitals, Social Agencies Serve World
October 20, 2017

The number of Catholics in the world is increasing: almost 1.3 billion, 17.7 percent of the world’s population, reported Agenzia Fides on October 20, 2017.  Agenzia Fides is the information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies.

According to figures from the Church’s Book of Statistics (data related to 2015) and elaborated by Agenzia Fides, the baptized are 12.5 million more than the previous year (2014). This is one of the data in the Dossier published by Agenzia Fides on the occasion of the 91st World Mission Day, which is celebrated on Sunday, October 22, 2017.

The Dossier offers a wealth of statistical information about the Catholic Church around the world.

DOSSIER FIDES STATISTICS 2017 ENG

Click here to see video highlights

A few statistics of interest:
•Africa has 222 million Catholics, 19.42 percent of the population.
•The Americas have 635 million Catholics, 63.6 percent of the population.
•Europe has 285 million Catholics, 39.87 percent of the population.
•Asia has 141 million Catholic, 3.24 percent of the population.
 

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http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/10/22/pope_francis_at_angelus_on_being_christian_in_the_world/1344546

Pope Francis at Angelus: on being Christian in the world
22/10/2017 15:44

Pope Francis waves faithful during the Angelus prayer in St. Peter's square at the Vatican, 22 October 2017 - ANSA
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis prayed the Angelus with pilgrims and tourists gathered in St. Peter’s Square on Sunday.

Addressing them ahead of the traditional prayer of Marian devotion, Pope Francis shared a reflection on the Reading from the Sunday Gospel, which this week came from St. Matthew and contains the maxim, “Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s, and render unto God what is God’s.”

Pope Francis explained that the episode teaches us both the legitimacy of earthly authority and the primacy of God in human affairs and over all the universe.
 
https://zenit.org/articles/angelus-address-on-rendering-to-caesar-the-things-that-are-caesars-and-to-god-the-things-that-are-gods/
Angelus Address: “On Rendering to Caesar the Things that Are Caesar’s, and to God the Things that Are God’s” 
October 22, 2017

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Btjl5Q2gxOE
2017.10.22 - Angelus Domini 

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http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/10/22/pope_at_angelus_churchs_mission_entrusted_to_st_jp_ii/1344535

Pope Francis at Angelus: Church's mission entrusted to Pope St. John Paul II
22/10/2017 14:30

Faithful gather in St. Peter's Square for the Angelus prayer at the Vatican, 22 october 2017 - ANSA
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has proclaimed October, 2019 an “Extraordinary Missionary Month” to be marked and celebrated in the whole Church throughout the world, and entrusted the mission of the Church in the world especially to Pope St. John Paul II.

The Holy Father recalled his intention to celebrate the Extraordinary Missionary Month on Sunday – World Mission Sunday – during the course of remarks to pilgrims and tourists gathered in St. Peter’s Square beneath the window of the Papal apartments in the Apostolic Palace, to pray the traditional Angelus with him at noon.

“Today,” said Pope Francis, “World Mission Day is celebrated, on the theme: Mission at the heart of the Christian faith. I urge everyone to live the joy of mission by witnessing the Gospel in the environs where each one lives and works.”
 
http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/10/22/pope_francis_letter_to_card_filoni_on_world_mission_sunday/1344549
Pope Francis: letter to Card. Filoni on World Mission Sunday
22/10/2017 16:12

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http://whispersintheloggia.blogspot.com/
In Magnum's Wake, Pope "Clarifies" Sarah. Again.
posted by Rocco Palmo at 08:01

In an extraordinary rebuke to one of his own Curial cardinals, the Pope has aimed to "explain simply, and hopefully clearly... some errors" in his Worship chief's understanding of Magnum Principium, his recent motu proprio on liturgical translations, indicating the new norms granting new oversight to bishops' conferences as a fresh development and declaring several key pieces of the operative rules in 2001's Liturgiam authenticam "abrogated."

 A year since Francis' last open clash with his top liturgical aide, a personal letter from the pontiff to the CDW prefect Cardinal Robert Sarah (above, ad orientem), dated 15 October, was published this morning by the Italian outlet La Nuova Bussola Quotidiana and subsequently confirmed by the Holy See Press Office, as well as being placed on the Italian homepage of Vatican Radio. (Ironically enough, even as this Ordinary Sunday takes precedence, today marks the feast of St John Paul II, under whose authority LA was promulgated.)

 Noting a recent, lengthy commentary in which Sarah stated that LA remains "the authoritative text concerning liturgical translations," the Pope responded by relating that paragraphs 79-84 of the 2001 norms – those which deal precisely with the requirement for a vernacular rendering's recognitio by Rome – were now abolished, going on to note that Magnum "no longer upholds that translations must conform on all points with the norms of Liturgiam authenticam, as was the case in the past."

 In the new balance of responsibility, Francis said, Sarah's contention that "the words recognitio and confirmatio, without being strictly synonymous [to explain the Vatican's role], are nevertheless interchangeable" – in essence, that little had changed from LA – was not the case. As the pontiff explained, "the faculty" now belongs to the respective bishops' conferences "to judge the goodness and coherence of terms in the translation of the original, albeit in dialogue with the Holy See"; in other words, not a unilateral call on Rome's part, even at the process' final stage.

 Given considerable focus in the new norms' wake on the use of the word "fideliter" – that is, a conference's charge of weighing a translation's fidelity to the original – in Magnum's revision of the Code of Canon Law, the pontiff writes that the term, as judged by an episcopal conference, implies a "triple" meaning: "first, to the original text; to the particular language in which it is translated, and finally to the understanding of the text by its audience."

 In light of LA's revision of translation principles – which placed a premium on accuracy to the original Latin text over a "dynamic equivalence" approach that allowed a looser standard to ensure widespread comprehension – the Pope's new interpretation is of particular significance.

 While Francis began his letter by thanking the Guinean cardinal for his "contribution," it bears recalling that, on Magnum's release in early September, Sarah – who Papa Bergoglio himself named to CDW in late 2014 – was conspicuous by his absence: an explanatory note on the new norms was instead issued by his deputy, the English Archbishop Arthur Roche. A former bishop of Leeds and chairman of ICEL – the global coordinating body for English-language translations – Roche was likewise received by Francis in a private audience earlier this month by himself.
 
https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2017/10/22/pope-tells-sarah-power-indeed-shifting-rome-bishops/
Pope tells Sarah power is indeed shifting from Rome to the bishops
October 22, 2017

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http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/10/23/pope_francis_mass_homily_greed_idolatry_money_/1344651

Idolatry of money starves children to death - Pope
23/10/2017 12:02

(Vatican Radio)  In these times, with much calamities and injustice on the media, especially regarding children, let us raise an earnest prayer that God convert the hearts of men to be able to know the Lord and not worship money as God.   This was the exhortation of the Pope Francis in his homily at Mass, Monday morning, in the chapel of the Santa Marta residence in the Vatican.

Idolatry of money

Taking his cue from the parable in Luke’s Gospel, where the rich fool worshipped money as God, the Pope reflected on the vanity of putting trust in earthly goods rather than in the true treasure of relationship with the Lord.  Despite an abundant harvest, the greedy man thinks of expanding his storehouses.  “Dreaming of a long life”, the Pope said, “he thinks of having more goods to the point of nausea, and not being satisfied, he enters into a spiral of "exasperated consumerism.”
 

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http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/10/23/pope_francis_meets_group_from_tel_aviv_university/1344715

Pope Francis meets group from Tel Aviv University
23/10/2017 15:19

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis met on Monday with a delegation from Tel Aviv University, stressing the need to develop a culture of wisdom that can form future leaders who are sensitive to the profound ethical issues facing our societies.

Please find below the full text of the Pope’s greeting to the delegation from Tel Aviv University

Dear Friends,

I offer you a warm welcome, and I thank Professor Joseph Klafter, Rector of Tel Aviv University, for his kind words.

To all of you I express my appreciation for your commitment to the education of the young, who represent the present and the future of society.  The work of education, demanding yet essential, calls for great insight and tact, for it seeks to form the whole person.  Carrying out this vital service certainly requires professional and technical knowledge and expertise, but also empathy and sensitivity, in order to foster dialogue with students and to promote their formation both as individuals and as future professionals in their areas of study.
 

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http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/10/23/pope_meets_greek_orthodox_patriarch_theophilos_of_jerusalem/1344662

Pope meets Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilos of Jerusalem
23/10/2017 13:34

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis met on Monday with the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, Theophilos III, calling for an end to violence and discrimination against people of different faiths in the Holy Land. The Orthodox leader is visiting Rome from October 22nd to 25th, meeting with top Vatican officials.

During the audience, Pope Francis recalled his own journey to Jerusalem in 2014 and expressed his pleasure at the recent restoration of Jesus’ tomb in the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre, a project that saw close cooperation between the Orthodox, the Armenians and the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land.

Appeal for justice and peace

The pope conveyed his closeness to all those suffering from the ongoing conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, noting that the lack of understanding continues “to create insecurity, the restriction of fundamental rights and the flight of many people from their land”. He called for increased efforts to achieve peace based on justice and recognition of the rights of all people.

The Status Quo of Jerusalem must be defended and preserved, the pope insisted, while violence, discrimination and intolerance against Jewish, Christian or Muslim places of worship must be firmly rejected.
 

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Video at the link

http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/09/30/pope_tells_canadian_youth_in_video_message_to_‘build_bridges/1339506

Pope Francis tells Canadian youth in video message to ‘build bridges’
30/09/2017 15:00

Pope Francis in a video message for the young people of Canada - AP
(Vatican Radio)  Pope Francis has sent a video message to the young people of Canada gathered in preparation for the Synod of Bishops 2018.

The Holy Father invited them to build bridges through social communications, without letting their youthful enthusiasm for the Gospel be snuffed out.

In his video message to the young people of Canada, Pope Francis reflected on the “marvels of technology” which now allow “encounters and exchanges that were unthinkable until a short while ago.”

He invited them to use new channels of communication positively and “not to let them be ruined by those bent only on exploiting and destroying them”.

Spread youthful joy of Gospel
 

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https://zenit.org/articles/liturgy-popes-letter-to-cardinal-sarah-unabridged-translation/

Liturgy: Pope’s Letter to Cardinal Sarah (Unabridged Translation) 
The Holy See Doesn’t Impose a Translation on Episcopal Conferences
October 23, 2017

VATICAN CITY, OCTOBER 22, 2017 (Zenit.org).- The Holy See must not impose the  translation of liturgical texts in vernacular language on the Episcopal Conferences, states Pope Francis in a letter addressed to Cardinal Robert Sarah, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, published by the Vatican on October 22, 2017.

The Holy Father refers also to his Motu Proprio Magnum Principium” (MP) on liturgical translations, effecting a slight modification of the formulations of the Code of Canon Law of the Latin Catholic Church (Canon 838, paragraphs 2 and 3) which came into force on October 1, 2017. He emphasizes the “clear difference” that the new Motu Proprio establishes between recognitio (verification) and confirmatio (confirmation).

He recalls the “right” of Episcopal Conferences to make their translations and their “responsibility” to judge the fidelity of their translations. Finally, he stresses that the Holy See’s confirmatio “is granted after the version has been submitted to the Apostolic See for ratification of the Bishops’ approval, in a spirit of dialogue and of aid to the reflection, if its necessary,” and respecting the rights and duties of the Bishops.

Here is an unabridged translation of the Pope’s letter.
 

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http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/10/24/archb_jurkovič_on_appreciation_for_holy_sees_role_at_un/1344947

Archb. Jurkovič on appreciation for Holy See's role at United Nations
24/10/2017 16:23

Pope Francis addresses the United Nations General Assembly in New York in September 2015 - AFP
(Vatican Radio) On October 24th we mark UN Day. It celebrates the anniversary of the entry into force in 1945 of the United Nations Charter. With the ratification of this founding document by the majority of its signatories, including the five permanent members of the Security Council, the United Nations officially came into being.

Pope Francis, who has addressed the UN General Assembly in the United States and staff members at the UN Office in Nairobi, has often referred to and appealed to the UN in many of his speeches and messages regarding international affairs. 

His tweet for the UN Day reads “Let us all work together to promote peace among peoples and guarantee respect for human rights”.

Archbishop Ivan Jurkovič is the Holy See’s Permanent ******* to the United Nations in Geneva. After a private audience with Pope Francis this week he spoke to Vatican Radio about his meeting with the Pope, about the significance of the Organization in today’s world, and about the growing consideration shown towards the Catholic Church and other faith-based organizations at the UN.