Pope Francis

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https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope-francis/mass-casa-santa-marta/2019-12/pope-francis-santa-marta-mass-homily-lost-sheep.html

Pope at Mass: God corrects and comforts us with tenderness
10 December 2019, 13:59

Pope Francis, in his homily at the Mass at the Casa Santa Marta chapel in the Vatican, speaks about how the Lord consoles and corrects us. He reflects on the Parable of the Lost Sheep in Matthew’s Gospel.

The Lord guides His people, comforts them but also corrects them and punishes them with the tenderness of a father, a shepherd who "carries the lambs in His bosom and leads the ewes with care". This was the heart of the homily of Pope Francis at Mass as he reflected on the Parable of the Lost Sheep, asking how the Lord comforts and corrects us.

The first reading from the Book of Isaiah speaks about God’s consolation for His people Israel as "a proclamation of hope". "Comfort, give comfort to my people,", the prophet echoes the words of God saying the tribulation of Jerusalem is over and her guilt is expiated.
 

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https://detroitcatholic.com/news/catholic-news-service/michigan-bishops-say-evangelization-care-for-priests-topics-at-meeting-with-pope

Michigan bishops say evangelization, care for priests topics at meeting with pope
By Catholic News Service
Dec 10, 2019

In Rome for 'ad limina' meeting, bishops from Michigan, Ohio chat with Holy Father for two hours

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The bishops of Ohio and Michigan spent two hours conversing with Pope Francis about their dioceses, about the sexual abuse crisis, the crisis' impact on priests and, especially, about ways to ensure Catholics really are "missionary disciples.”

Seventeen bishops from the region met the pope Dec. 10 during their visits "ad limina apostolorum" — to the threshold of the apostles — to report on the status of their dioceses, meet the pope and the heads of Vatican departments and make a pilgrimage to the tombs of St. Peter and St. Paul.
 

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Photo gallery at the link

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2019-12/pope-greetings-eparchy-mukachevo-pilgrims-ukraine.html
Pope greets pilgrims from the Ukrainian Eparchy of Mukachevo
11 December 2019, 12:39

Before the General Audience on Wednesday morning Pope Francis greets a group of Ukrainian pilgrims from the Byzantine Greek-Catholic Eparchy of Mukachevo, marking 30 years from the end of Soviet oppression.
By Linda Bordoni

The Byzantines’ Greek-Catholic Eparchy of Mukachevo arose from the Union of Uzhhorod, which set roots in the north eastern part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire half way through the 17th century. Subsequently, the Eparchy of Mukachevo was established officially by Pope Clement XIV in 1771.

Throughout the centuries the territory, which lies in the Transcarpathia region in south-western Ukraine, has seen numerous changes in which new eparchies have been created and the territory divided.

Finally, in 1937 the Eparchy of Mukachevo became “immediately subject to the Holy See” and this year it is celebrating the 30th anniversary since the end of Soviet domination which forced the Church underground.

In his address to the pilgrims whom he received in the Vatican before the weekly General Audience, Pope Francis marked the anniversary, upholding the witness of the many Mukachevo martyrs, whom he said, “confirmed their fidelity to Christ, to the Church and to the Bishop of Rome” in the darkest moments of the community’s history.
 

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Photo gallery at the link

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2019-12/pope-francis-general-audience-acts-paul-11december2019.html
Pope at Audience: martyrdom is the air that Christians breathe
11 December 2019, 13:48

During his General Audience on Wednesday, Pope Francis held up the figure of St. Paul as a model for Christians saying suffering, persecution and martyrdom are a sign that they are walking in the footsteps of the Lord.
By Robin Gomes

Even today Christians are being persecuted and marginalized, Pope Francis said in his catechesis, adding, it is a blessing to be a witness of martyrdom.

The Pope reflected on the “seal of suffering” that increasingly marked the life of St. Paul as recounted in the Acts of the Apostles. The intrepid missionary is not only an ardent evangelizer among the pagans but he is also the suffering witness of the Risen One.
 
https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2019-12/pope-francis-telegramme-chile-missing-plane.html
Pope Francis praying for missing Chilean plane
11 December 2019, 14:00

https://zenit.org/articles/general-audience-st-paul-suffering-witness-of-risen-one-full-text/
GENERAL AUDIENCE: St. Paul, Suffering Witness of Risen One (Full Text)
December 11, 2019 13:02

Video at the link below--
Pope Francis - General Audience 2019-12-11
https://www.youtube.com/user/vatican

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https://zenit.org/articles/council-for-inter-religious-dialogue-meets-with-world-council-of-churches/

Council for Inter-Religious Dialogue Meets with World Council of Churches
December 11, 2019 15:57

The Pontifical Council for Inter-Religious Dialogue and the Office for Inter-Religious Dialogue and Cooperation of the World Council of Churches met yesterday, December 10, 2019, to reflect on and begin their next join project “At the Service of Wounded Humanity: Towards Inter-Religious Solidarity,” reported today, December 11, 2019, the Holy See Press Office.

According to the press release, to facilitate a more profound and complete understanding of the subject, several Catholic and Protestant experts and professionals, as well as representatives of some Dicasteries of the Holy See and of Pontifical Universities, of the Diplomatic Corps, of Religious Missionaries and Christian charity organizations were invited to the meeting.

Yesterday’s “brainstorming meeting” is a first step toward a more profound reflection, which will necessarily include also the participation of experts of other religious traditions.
 

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Update:  Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/peoria-bishop-announces-novena-for-venerable-sheens-sainthood-cause-63512
Peoria bishop announces novena for Venerable Sheen's sainthood cause

Peoria, Ill., Dec 10, 2019 / 02:38 pm (CNA).- Bishop Daniel Jenky of Peoria is inviting the faithful to pray a novena beginning Dec. 12 to "petition God unceasingly" that Archbishop Fulton Sheen’s sainthood cause may move forward.

Sheen, a beloved American evangelist and television personality who died in 1979, was set to be beatified Dec. 21 in Peoria, but the Holy See announced Dec. 2 that the beatification was to be postponed.

“I know how deeply saddened we all are about the postponement of the beatification of Fulton Sheen,” said Bishop Jenky said in a video message Dec. 9.
“But in these turbulent times when our faith is being tested...we need to remain faithful to prayer like Archbishop Sheen.”

The novena will begin Dec. 12 and include daily meditations on reflections from Sheen, Jenky announced.
 
The novena at the link:  https://celebratesheen.com/novena/

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Update:  Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen

https://twitter.com/roccopalmo
Rocco Palmo@roccopalmo 6h 6 hours ago
 
The last US ad limina report before Christmas break, Pope received USCCB Region VII (Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin) in audience today; amid squabbling over +Sheen beatification halt, Peoria’s +Jenky notably absent from group, having ostensibly stayed home in wake of Rome’s move.

https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2019/12/bishops-say-ad-limina-meeting-strengthens-their-bond-with-pope/
Bishops say ‘ad limina’ meeting strengthens their bond with pope
Cindy Wooden  Dec 13, 2019
CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

ROME - Inspiring “missionary disciples” rather than church-maintenance workers and building up the unity of the Church in a polarized world were some of the topics on the table when 26 U.S. bishops met Pope Francis Dec. 12.

Even though the pope was running 40 minutes late - and apologized profusely for it - the bishops of Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin spent “two hours and 18 minutes” conversing with him, said Archbishop Jerome E. Listecki of Milwaukee.
 

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https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2019-12/pope-francis-congreagation-causes-saints-50anniversary.html

Pope: saints are not unreachable human beings
12 December 2019, 14:46

Pope Francis on Thursday met some 400 members of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Vatican Dicastery. In a discourse, the Pope exhorted them in the spirit with which the Congregation is asked to carry out its activities in examining the lives of candidates to beatification and canonization.
By Robin Gomes

The tasks of what are today called the Congregation for the Causes of Saints and the Congregation for Divine Worship, had been carried out earlier by the Sacred Congregation of Rites, instituted over 4 centuries ago in 1588. Pope Saint Paul VI in 1969, Pope Francis said, split the Congregation into two dicasteries that have “two large areas that are clearly distinct”.

In the latest development, Pope Francis on Wednesday authorized the Congregation for the Causes of Saints to promulgate 10 decrees regarding 33 candidates for beatification.
 
https://zenit.org/articles/holiness-is-the-true-light-of-the-church-pope-tells-vaticans-congregation-for-causes-for-saints/
‘Holiness Is the True Light of the Church,’ Pope Tells Vatican’s Congregation for Causes for Saints
December 12, 2019 16:53  Deborah Castellano Lubov

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Photo gallery at the link

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2019-12/pope-guadalupe-mass.html
Pope at Mass: Mary is Woman, Mother, Mestiza
12 December 2019, 18:45

Pope Francis shares a reflection on Mary’s essence as woman, mother and mestiza on the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe celebrated on Thursday evening in St Peter’s Basilica. (With photo gallery.)
By Sr Bernadette Mary Reis, fsp

As has been his custom since the beginning of his pontificate, Pope Francis celebrates the liturgy in honour of Our Lady of Guadalupe. He was joined by many members of the Latin American community in Rome for the celebration in St Peter’s Basilica on Thursday afternoon. Pope Benedict XVI was the first Pontiff to celebrate this liturgy in 2011 in honour of the bicentenary of independence of the Latin American and Caribbean nations.

Mary’s essence

Pope Francis delivered his homily off the cuff, saying that the liturgy for the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, and her image displayed on the altar, suggested three adjectives to him. These three adjectives explain Mary’s essence: Woman, mother, mestiza, he said.
 
Video at the link below--
Pope Francis-Holy Mass on the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe 2019-12-12
https://www.youtube.com/user/vatican

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https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2019-12/pope-wrold-peace-day-message.html

Pope’s World Peace Day message: 'Every war is a form of fratricide'
12 December 2019, 11:57

Pope Francis’ Message for the 53rd World Day of Peace describes peace as a journey of hope to be undertaken in a spirit of dialogue, reconciliation and ecological conversion.
By Linda Bordoni

The 53rd World Day of Peace will be observed on 1 January 2020.

Pope Francis’ Message, published on 12 December, is entitled "Peace as a journey of hope: dialogue, reconciliation and ecological conversion".

The Pope begins by saying that hope puts us on the path to peace, while “mistrust and fear weaken relationships and increase the risk of violence.”  He urges us to be artisans of peace, open to dialogue in a spirit of reconciliation, on a journey of ecological conversion that leads to a “new way of looking at life.”

Hope keeps us moving forward

Describing peace as “a great and precious value, the object of our hope and the aspiration of the entire human family”, Pope Francis says it is a goal towards which to strive in spite of seemingly insurmountable obstacles.

He recalls the scars of war and conflict borne in “the memory and in the flesh” of humanity, and says they “affect especially the poor and the vulnerable,” perpetrating humiliation and exclusion, sorrow and injustice.
 
https://zenit.org/articles/popes-message-for-world-day-of-peace-full-text/
Pope’s Message for World Day of Peace (Full Text)
December 12, 2019 17:03

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https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2019-12/pope-francis-50-years-of-priesthood-serving-god-and-his-people.html

Pope Francis: 50 years of priesthood serving God and His people
12 December 2019, 08:40

December 13th marks the 50th anniversary of Pope Francis’ ordination to the priesthood. Vatican News celebrates this milestone recalling some of Pope’s reflections regarding priests and the priesthood.
By Sergio Centofanti

On 13 December 1969, just four days before his 33rd birthday, Jorge Mario Bergoglio was ordained a priest. His vocation dates back to 21 September 1953, the Feast of St. Matthew, the tax collector converted by Jesus: it was during a confession that day, that the future Pope had a profound experience of God's mercy.

The priest and mercy

Divine Mercy has characterized his entire priestly life. Pope Francis speaks of priests as quietly leaving everything to engage in the daily life of communities, giving others their own lives, moved, like Jesus, when he sees people exhausted and “like sheep without a shepherd".

Addressing parish priests in Rome on 6 March 2014, the Pope said: “In the image of the Good Shepherd, the priest is a man of mercy and compassion, close to his people and a servant to all… Whoever is wounded in life, in whatever way, can find in him attention and a sympathetic ear....Wounds need to be treated… We priests must be there, close to these people. Mercy first means treating the wounds”.
 

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https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/pope-francis-celebrates-the-50th-ordination-anniversary-by-honoring-his-mentor-59490

Pope Francis celebrates 50th ordination anniversary by honoring his mentor
By Courtney Mares

Vatican City, Dec 13, 2019 / 06:00 am (CNA).- Fifty years ago on Dec. 13, Jorge Mario Bergoglio was ordained a Jesuit priest in Argentina. As pope, he will celebrate his ordination anniversary Friday by honoring one of his early spiritual mentors, Fr. Miguel Angel Fiorito.

Fiorito, 1916-2005, was a Jesuit Argentine priest, professor, and spiritual writer who died when Cardinal Bergoglio was Archbishop of Buenos Aires.

In a preface to a five-volume collection of his writings to be launched Dec. 13, Pope Francis wrote that Fiorito had a “passion for the spiritual exercises,” and “taught many to pray and to discern the signs of the times.”
 
Pope Francis began his 50th ordination anniversary with a private morning Mass in Casa Santa Marta with all of the cardinals present in Rome. In the evening, he will celebrate with the General Curia of the Society of Jesus as he presents Fiorito’s collected writings.

Fr. Fioriti “brought us the divine imprint that the Lord Jesus has impressed on his life: that of the passion for spiritual exercises, which are an instrument for knowing how to feel and taste the Lord's request to our soul and help to cleanse it of all ambiguities,” Pope Francis wrote.

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https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2019-12/pope-francis-audience-french-pilgrims-divine-mercy.html

Pope: ‘never look at your brothers and sisters in need with condescension'
13 December 2019, 13:11

Pope Francis receives groups of French pilgrims dedicated to the Devotion of Divine Mercy saying there is no human poverty that God does not want to reach, touch and help.
By Linda Bordoni

Addressing a group of French pilgrims associated to the devotion of Divine Mercy, Pope Francis on Friday thanked them for their witness to the world of the joy of mercy.

Divine Mercy is a devotion to God’s infinite mercy that was promulgated by St. Faustina Kowalska in Poland, and later to the Universal Church by Pope St. John Paul II.

The pilgrims received in the Vatican  belong to ecclesial associations, congregations and movements whose different charisms include closeness and assistance to the poor, to migrants, to the sick, to prisoners, to people with disabilities.
 

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https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2019-12/pope-francis-christmas-concert-artists-audience.html

Pope: God’s birth a revolution of love and tenderness
13 December 2019, 14:58

Pope Francis on Friday met organizers and artistes of the Vatican’s annual Christmas concert that is scheduled for Saturday, December 14.
By Robin Gomes

By being born in a humble manger, God launched the only true revolution of love and tenderness that gives hope and dignity to the disinherited and the outcast.

Pope Francis made the point to the organizers and artistes of the 27th annual Christmas charity concert of the Vatican, promoted by the Vatican’s Congregation for Catholic Education and supported by the Don Bosco Valdocco Missions of the Salesians and the Pontifical Foundation Scholas Occurrentes.
 

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https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2019-12/pope-francis-christmas-schedule.html

Pope’s Christmas season schedule
13 December 2019, 10:27

Monsignor Guido Marini, the Master of the Pontifical Liturgical Celebrations has issued the following schedule of the Pope’s liturgical celebrations this Christmas Season:

    ° Tuesday, December 24, 2019, 09.30 pm: Christmas Eve Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica
    ° Wednesday, December 25, 2019, 12.00 pm:  Christmas message and blessing “ Urbi  et Orbi” from the  central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica
    ° Tuesday, December 31, 2019, 05.00 pm: First Vespers of the Solemnity of Mary the Mother of God, followed by the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, the traditional singing of “Te Deum” in thanksgiving for the concluding year 2019, and the Eucharistic blessing.
    ° Wednesday, January 1, 2020, 10.00 am:  New Year Day Mass of the Solemnity of Mary the Mother of God in St. Peter’s Basilica.  World Day of Peace.
    ° Monday, January 06, 2020, 10.00 am: Mass of the Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord in St. Peter’s Basilica.
 

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Update:  U.S. bishops’ ad limina visits to the Vatican

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/us-bishops-in-rome-ask-pope-francis-about-mccarrick-report-32832

US bishops in Rome ask Pope Francis about McCarrick report
By Courtney Mares

Vatican City, Dec 13, 2019 / 09:56 am (CNA).- American bishops from the Midwest met with Pope Francis this week with questions about the outcome of the Vatican’s investigation of Theodore McCarrick.

“I did ask about the McCarrick situation. That was something that all of us were very interested in knowing where this was going. And very glad to hear that a report is coming, and not sure when it will be, probably after the beginning of the new year,” Bishop Earl Boyea of Lansing told EWTN Dec. 13.

The seventeen bishops from Ohio and Michigan (Region VI of the US bishops) met with the pope for two hours Dec. 10 as a part of their ad limina visit to Rome, and had the opportunity to ask the pope questions.

Bishop Boyea said he asked Pope Francis about the promised McCarrick report, and that the pope described it for them. He said that the bishops also discussed the report with the Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin.

Parolin is "a little more nervous about the reception of this in the public," Boyea added.

The Vatican announced that it would conduct a review of files on McCarrick in October 2018.
 

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Update:  The movie, "The Two Popes"

https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2019/12/director-guilt-and-forgiveness-at-heart-of-the-two-popes/
Director: Guilt and forgiveness at heart of ‘The Two Popes’
Inés San Martín  Dec 13, 2019

ROME - Although superficially, “The Two Popes” is about an imagined conversation between Pope Benedict XVI and then-Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio - today Pope Francis - for the director of the film it is all about guilt, forgiveness and dialogue.

“The film is on guilt,” said Fernando Meirelles, best known for the films City of God and The Constant Gardener.

In the movie, “both popes have done really stupid things in their past, and they feel guilty about it,” Meirelles said.

The movie is about the two, talking “about what they feel guilt for, and they have to forgive themselves and forgive the other.”

“So forgiveness is one of the main themes of the film [too],” he said.

Though the premise of the film itself is fabricated - a conversation between Benedict and his successor in 2012 that never actually took place - many facts are interwoven within the fantasy, and most of the dialogue is rooted in things they have actually said.
 
The resemblance of the actor to the pope is something that hasn’t gone unnoticed, even by Cardinal Peter Turkson, who saw the movie at a screening held in Rome on Wednesday, with the actor and director present.

Turkson, the head of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Integral Human Development, on Thursday refrained from expressing an opinion on the movie itself, saying that it’s “an interpretation.”

Yet he did say that “the guy who played Pope Francis, resembled him physically more, than the guy who played Benedict. The guy who played Francis also had mannerisms that resembled him more. The guy who played Benedict was a little too robust, too strong. If you see it, you’ll see that Pope Benedict is feebler, softer spoken.”

The prelate also said that, although not knowing if they had one during filming, the movie could have benefited from being “accompanied by a theologian. Because, at a certain moment, Pope Francis says Mass and afterwards, he goes to greet the public [in the streets], and he does so with the chasuble still on. We wouldn’t do that.”
 
https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2019/12/the-two-popes-is-a-fun-if-historically-inaccurate-look-at-francis-and-benedict/
‘The Two Popes’ is a fun, if historically inaccurate, look at Francis and Benedict
Inés San Martín  Dec 12, 2019

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https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2019-12/pope-francis-presents-the-works-of-maestro-fiorito.html

Pope Francis presents the Works of Maestro Fiorito: a great dream that will bear fruit
13 December 2019, 20:28

On the 50th anniversary of his priestly ordination, Pope Francis visits the General Curia of the Society of Jesus in Rome to present a 5-volume collection of the Writings of Fr Miguel Angel Fiorito SJ, an Argentine Jesuit who died in 2005; and who formed many disciples, including the Pope himself. The collection is published by La Civiltà Cattolica, and edited by Fr José Luis Narvaja SJ.
By Vatican News

In his Preface to the Writings of Jesuit Fr Miguel Angel Fiorito, Pope Francis himself describes the edition as “a source of consolation for us who have been nurtured by his teachings for many years. These Writings will do a great good to the Church as a whole”.

The Pope decided to present the 5-volume collection personally, visiting the Jesuit General Curia on the 50th anniversary of his priestly ordination, and discussing the figure of Fr Miguel Angel Fiorito SJ, the man he considers his spiritual father.

A Master of dialogue

Pope Francis began his presentation by calling Fr Fiorito a “master of dialogue”, someone who spoke little, but who listened a lot: “a listening capable of discernment, which is one of the pillars of dialogue”, said the Pope. Fr Fiorito practiced and taught “dialogue between teacher and students, dialogue with authors and texts, with history and with God”.
 
Video at the link below--
Pope Francis presents the collection of the writings of Fr Miguel Angel Fiorito 2019-12-13
https://www.youtube.com/user/vatican

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https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2019-12/pope-to-youths-freedom-to-express-yourself-necessary-for-growth.html

Pope to students: Freedom to express yourself necessary for growth
13 December 2019, 19:56

Pope Francis on Friday inaugurated the new Vatican headquarters of Scholas Occurrentes, a pontifical organization involved in education in 190 countries around the world. Five South American "first ladies" were also present for the event.
By Vatican News

Representatives from Scholas Occurentes from around the world welcomed Pope Francis to the new premises of the organization in Rome. The young formators – present either in person or via video-link – hailed from Japan, Argentina, the United States, Haiti, Israel, Mozambique, Mexico, Spain, and Italy.

The Pope himself opened the doors to the new centre, after being greeted with songs and best wishes to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood.
 

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https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2019-12/pope-francis-audience-apostolic-collaborators-nothern-italy.html

Pope to Apostolic Collaborators: Serving God’s people with passion
14 December 2019, 14:32

Pope Francis receives a group of consecrated women serving as Apostolic Collaborators in various dioceses in Northern Italy. In prepared remarks of his address, he encourages the presence of women in the Church.
By Vatican News

It was Saint Paul VI, when still Archbishop of Milan, who had the intuition of involving consecrated women to assist him with his pastoral ministry. His decision shows an affiliation with the saint whose name he chose as Pope: the Apostle Paul who, in his letters, speaks of both men and women collaborators who played significant roles in the early evangelization.

Women’s presence in the Church

In prepared remarks, handed to a group of Collaborators and Auxiliaries from Milan and other dioceses in Northern Italy, in the Vatican on Saturday, Pope Francis acknowledged their history and identity, saying it was “significant as a form of women’s presence in the Church”.