Pope Francis

[grace-land]

Video, with English commentary, at the link

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2020-10/pope-francis-angelus-catechesis-conversion-peripheries.html
Pope at Angelus: God prepares His wedding banquet for everyone
11 October 2020, 12:10

At the Angelus prayer on Sunday, Pope Francis says it is not enough to accept the invitation to the Lord's wedding banquet, it also entails being "open to a journey of conversion, which changes the heart.”
By Devin Watkins

In his address to pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square for the recitation of the Angelus, Pope Francis reflected on God’s plan of salvation for humanity.

In the day’s Gospel reading (Mt 22:1-14), Jesus recounts a parable in which a king hosts a marriage feast for his son.
 
https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2020-10/pope-francis-repeats-prayer-intention-lay-people-responsibility.html
Pope reiterates desire that women participate more in Church responsibility
11 October 2020, 13:17

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2020-10/pope-francis-appeal-fires-americas-peace-armenia-azerbaijan.html
Pope prays for wildfires in the Americas, peace in Nagorno-Karabakh
11 October 2020, 12:59

https://zenit.org/2020/10/11/angelus-pope-reflects-on-parable-of-the-wedding-banquet-full-text/
Angelus: Pope Reflects on Parable of the Wedding Banquet (Full Text)
OCTOBER 11, 2020 13:04  JIM FAIR

[grace-land]

https://cruxnow.com/church-in-the-usa/2020/10/2020-christmas-stamp-shows-peruvian-painting-of-our-lady-of-guapulo/

2020 Christmas stamp shows Peruvian painting of Our Lady of Guapulo
Dennis Sadowsk  iOct 10, 2020  CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

CLEVELAND — A new postage stamp for Christmas shows detail from an 18th-century Peruvian painting of Our Lady of Guapulo.

The ornate image of Mary holding the infant Jesus by an unknown artist in Cuzco, Peru, is from the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

The U.S. Postal Service will release the stamp at post offices nationwide Oct. 20.

“Enrobed in a pyramidal gown speckled with jewels and holding a scepter woven with roses and leaves, a crowned Virgin Mary looks down at a similarly adorned Christ Child in her left arm,” the USPS wrote in its description of the stamp.

The image is framed in a gray metallic border. The word “Christmas” appears in black lettering across the top.
 

[grace-land]

Video at the link

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2020-10/pope-francis-audience-australian-cardinal-george-pell0.html
Pope Francis receives Cardinal George Pell
12 October 2020, 12:02

In the past few days, the Australian Cardinal returned to Rome. After spending 400 days in jail, this past April, he was unanimously acquitted by the Australian High Court of the charge of the sexual abuse of minors.
By Vatican News

Pope Francis received Cardinal George Pell in audience on Monday, and in greeting him also thanked him for his witness. The 79-year-old Australian Cardinal, prefect emeritus of the Secretariat for the Economy (holding the position from 2014 to 2019), returned to Rome in the past few days. He had left the Vatican in July 2017 to face charges regarding the sexual abuse of minors. Pope Francis granted him a period of leave to be able to defend himself against the accusations.
 
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/pope-francis-meets-with-cardinal-pell-at-the-vatican-45879
Pope Francis meets with Cardinal Pell at the Vatican

Vatican City, Oct 12, 2020 / 04:01 am MT (CNA).- Former Vatican finance czar Cardinal George Pell met with Pope Francis in a private audience at the Vatican Monday.

The Holy See press office said that the audience took place Oct. 12, but gave no further details.

A video of the meeting showed the pope shaking the cardinal’s hand, while saying: “It is a pleasure to meet you again.”

After the two men were seated, the pope added: “Thank you for your testimony.”
 
https://edwardpentin.co.uk/pope-francis-receives-cardinal-george-pell-in-private-audience/
Pope Francis Receives Cardinal George Pell in Private Audience
12/10/2020  Edward Pentin

[grace-land]

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/pope-francis-names-ucla-literacy-expert-to-pontifical-academy-30133

Pope Francis names UCLA literacy expert to pontifical academy

Vatican City, Oct 12, 2020 / 05:30 am MT (CNA).- Pope Francis appointed a literacy expert at the University of California, Los Angeles, to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences Monday.

The Holy See press office said Oct. 12 that the pope had named Maryanne Wolf as an “ordinary member” of the academy.

Wolf is the director of the Center for Dyslexia, Diverse Learners, and Social Justice at UCLA and one of the world’s leading authorities on the science of reading.

She is the co-creator of the RAN/RAS naming speed tests, regarded as one of the best predictors of dyslexia across all languages. She also designed the RAVE-O reading intervention for children with dyslexia.

She is the author of “Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain” and “Reader, Come Home: The Reading Brain in a Digital World,” as well as more than 160 scientific papers.
 

[grace-land]

https://cruxnow.com/church-in-europe/2020/10/bishop-francis-expressed-dramatic-concern-over-germanys-synodal-path/

Bishop: Francis expressed ‘dramatic concern’ over Germany’s ‘synodal path’
Inés San Martín  Oct 12, 2020

A German bishop says Pope Francis expressed a “dramatic concern” over the Catholic Church in Germany and its “synodal path” of reform that began last year, which could include reviewing “taboo” issues such as priestly celibacy and a female priesthood.

Francis comments were reported made at Wednesday’s general audience during a conversation with Bishop Heinz Josef Algermissen, the retired bishop of Fulda.

Algermissen spoke on the phone with German newspaper Fuldaer Zeitung after meeting the pope.

Francis, the bishop said, expressed with “clear words and dramatic concern” his views on the “synodal path” – a process of reform launched by the German Catholic church bringing together German lay people and bishops to discuss four major topics: The way power is exercised in the Church; sexual morality; the priesthood; and the role of women in ministries and offices in the Church.
 

[grace-land]

https://cruxnow.com/church-in-the-americas/2020/10/mexican-president-asks-pope-francis-for-conquest-apology/

Mexican president asks Pope Francis for conquest apology
Associated Press  Oct 11, 2020

MEXICO CITY — Mexico’s president published an open letter to Pope Francis Saturday calling on the Catholic Church to apologize for abuses of Indigenous peoples during the conquest of Mexico in the 1500s.

In the letter, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador also asks the pope to lend Mexico ancient pre-Hispanic Mexican or colonial-era documents.

“The Catholic Church, the Spanish monarchy and the Mexican government should make a public apology for the offensive atrocities that Indigenous people suffered,” the letter states.

López Obrador asked the pope to make a statement in favor of Miguel Hidalgo, Mexico’s 19th-century independence leader who was once believed to have been excommunicated by the church for his involvement in the uprising. However, researchers later said it appeared that Hidalgo had confessed his sins before he was executed and thus was not excommunicated.

López Obrador said: “I think it would be an act of humility and at the same time greatness” for the church to reconcile posthumously with Hidalgo.

The letter comes as Mexico struggles with how to mark the 500th anniversary of the 1519-1521 conquest, which resulted in the death of a large part of the country’s pre-Hispanic population.
 

[grace-land]

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2020-10/council-of-cardinals-meeting-online.html

Council of Cardinals holds online meeting
12 October 2020, 15:35
 
By Vatican News

The Council of Cardinals (C6) will have an online meeting on Tuesday afternoon.

Matteo Bruni, Director of the Holy See Press Office, said the meeting's participants will also discuss how to continue the meetings amid the ongoing health crisis.

The Council of Cardinals held its 33rd meeting from 17 to 19 February this year. Subsequent meetings have not been held due to the ongoing Covid-19 health crisis.

During the February meeting, Cardinals Pietro Parolin, Óscar A. Rodgríguez Maradiaga, Reinhard Marx, Sean Patrick O’Malley, Guiseppe Bertello, and Oswald Gracias began the phase of in-depth reading and revision of the draft of the new Apostolic Constitution on the Roman Curia, which, once approved, will replace the Constitution Pastor Bonus promulgated by Pope Saint John Paul II.

[grace-land]

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/analysis-vatican-finances-and-cardinal-parolins-crisis-of-credibility-10609

Analysis: Vatican finances and Cardinal Parolin’s crisis of credibility
By Ed Condon

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 12, 2020 / 04:00 pm MT (CNA).- On Saturday, the ongoing saga of Vatican financial scandal – or reform, if you prefer – continued with the approval of several new changes to Vatican City law on transparency and economic oversight.

It also included the announcement that Cardinal Pietro Parolin will no longer sit on the reconstituted oversight board of the Institute for Works of Religious (IOR), commonly called the Vatican bank – the first time that the Secretary of State will not have a seat. That announcement is one of several indications that the cardinal and his department, both at the center of Church governance for years, may be losing influence and trust with Pope Francis.

Cardinal Parolin has, so far, remained largely aloof from the financial storm surrounding the curial department he leads, while the ongoing investigation into financial affairs at the department Parolin leads has claimed the jobs of at least six former senior officials, and seen a dramatic fall from grace for his former chief deputy, Cardinal Angelo Becciu.
 

[grace-land]

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/vatican-to-turn-building-offered-by-nuns-into-shelter-for-refugees-42983

Vatican to turn building offered by nuns into shelter for refugees

Vatican City, Oct 13, 2020 / 04:40 am MT (CNA).- The Vatican said Monday that it would use a building offered to it by a religious order to house refugees.

The Office of Papal Charities announced Oct. 12 that the new center in Rome would offer shelter to people arriving in Italy through the Humanitarian Corridors program.

“The building, which bears the name of Villa Serena, will become a shelter for refugees, especially for single women, women with minors, families in a vulnerable state, who arrive in Italy with the Humanitarian Corridors,” said the Vatican department that oversees charitable works on behalf of the pope.
 

[grace-land]

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/as-evaluation-ends-vatican-says-moneyval-inspection-was-constructive-88120

As evaluation ends, Vatican says Moneyval inspection was ‘constructive’
By Hannah Brockhaus

Vatican City, Oct 13, 2020 / 09:00 am MT (CNA).- Moneyval, the Council of Europe’s anti-money laundering watchdog, concluded its two-week on-site inspection of the Holy See and Vatican City on Tuesday, according to a Vatican statement.

Moneyval arrived at the Vatican on Sept. 30 for the next phase of a regular multi-year evaluation of the institution’s compliance with European financial regulations.

Meetings with the Moneyval committee were “held in a constructive and cooperative atmosphere,” the Vatican said Oct. 13, calling the inspection “a further important step of the evaluation process.”

The purpose of this stage of the inspection was to judge the effectiveness of the Vatican and Holy See’s legislation and procedures for combating money laundering and terrorism financing. A big part of that effectiveness comes down to how successful the Vatican has been at prosecuting these crimes in court.
 

[grace-land]

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/vatican-trial-for-priests-accused-of-abuse-and-cover-up-in-vatican-city-youth-seminary-81487

Vatican trial for priests accused of abuse and cover-up in Vatican City youth seminary
By Hannah Brockhaus

Vatican City, Oct 13, 2020 / 06:00 am MT (CNA).- The Vatican’s criminal court is expected to begin this week the trial of two Italian priests, one accused of sexual abuse at a pre-seminary inside Vatican City, and the second accused of covering up the alleged crime while serving as the seminary’s rector.

The proceedings are due to begin Oct. 14 at 9:30 a.m. in the tribunal of Vatican City State. It is thought to be the Vatican’s first criminal prosecution for abuse allegedly committed within its own territory.

The two defendants are Fr. Gabriele Martinelli, a 29-year-old former student at the Vatican’s St. Pius X youth seminary, and Fr. Enrico Radice, the seminary’s rector for 12 years. Neither man has commented publicly on the allegations.

The pre-seminary is intended to encourage priestly vocations and is the residence of about a dozen altar boys aged 12 to 18 who serve at papal Masses in St. Peter’s Basilica.
 

[grace-land]

Update:  Cardinal Becciu

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/security-consultant-linked-to-vaticans-becciu-scandal-arrested-62265

'Security consultant' linked to Vatican's Becciu scandal arrested

CNA Staff, Oct 13, 2020 / 01:40 pm MT (CNA).- The woman at the center of a Vatican financial scandal involving Cardinal Angelo Becciu has been arrested, according to Italian media reports.

Several Italian news outlets have reported that Cecilia Marogna was held by Italian financial authorities on Tuesday evening in Milan on an international warrant issued by the Vatican through Interpol.

CNA has not independently corroborated reports that Vatican investigators issued the arrest warrant.

Earlier this month, it was reported that Marogna had received more than 500,000 euros from the Holy See’s Secretariat of State under the direction of its former sostituto Cardinal Angelo Becciu.

Becciu has been accused of using Marogna to build “off-books” intelligence networks.
 

[grace-land]

Hmmm...

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/analysis-what-does-cardinal-farrells-promotion-say-about-the-mccarrick-report-11994

Analysis: What does Cardinal Farrell's promotion say about the McCarrick report?
By JD Flynn

Denver Newsroom, Oct 13, 2020 / 02:55 pm MT (CNA).-  Cardinal Kevin Farrell was appointed last week to lead a small committee charged with scrutinizing high-level Vatican financial decisions not governed by ordinary Vatican oversight norms.

Because of Farrell’s background, the cardinal’s promotion raises questions about what is contained, and not contained, in a long-awaited report on the Vatican’s investigation into the career, connections, and sexual malfeasance of Theodore McCarrick.

Already the camerlengo—charged with leading the College of Cardinals when the pope dies— Farell will now be given singular insight into the Vatican’s finances, and into progress in the ongoing task of Vatican financial reform and accountability.

The transactions Farrell will oversee involve matters governed by the pontifical secret, matters pertaining to the international sovereignty of the Holy See, and matters pertaining to high-level diplomatic relations; Farrell and his committee will be therefore uniquely informed about issues of Church governance and statecraft at the highest level, and, one supposes, exercise some control over the purse on those fronts.

Information is currency in Rome, and Cardinal Farrell’s new position makes him uniquely informed, and therefore among the most powerful figures in Vatican leadership.
 

[grace-land]

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/pope-francis-comforts-parents-of-slain-italian-catholic-priest-94342

Pope Francis comforts parents of slain Italian Catholic priest

Vatican City, Oct 14, 2020 / 08:00 am MT (CNA).- Pope Francis met with the parents of a slain Italian priest before the general audience Wednesday.

The pope referred to the meeting with the family of Fr. Roberto Malgesini during his general audience address Oct. 14 in the Paul VI Audience Hall at the Vatican.

He said: “Before entering the Hall, I met the parents of that priest of the Diocese of Como who was killed: he was killed precisely in his service to others. The tears of those parents are their own tears, and each one of them knows how much he or she has suffered in seeing this son who gave his life in service to the poor.”

He continued: “When we want to console somebody, we cannot find the words. Why? Because we cannot arrive at his or her pain, because her sorrows are her own, his tears are his own. The same is true of us: the tears, the sorrow, the tears are mine, and with these tears, with this sorrow I turn to the Lord.”
 

[grace-land]

Video at the link

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2020-10/pope-francis-general-audience-prayer-psalms-suffering.html
Pope at Audience: God remains near to us in suffering when we pray
14 October 2020, 10:01

In his catechesis at the Wednesday General Audience, Pope Francis reflects on the witness of prayer as laid out in the Book of Psalms, saying the door to God’s heart is always open in our moments of pain.
By Devin Watkins

Pope Francis continued his catechesis cycle on prayer at the weekly General Audience, focusing on the Book of Psalms.

He called the Old Testament book a “gymnasium and home of countless men and women of prayer.”
 
https://zenit.org/2020/10/14/full-text-of-holy-fathers-october-14-general-audience-commentary/
Full Text of Holy Father’s October 14 General Audience Commentary
OCTOBER 14, 2020 14:57

https://zenit.org/2020/10/14/pope-sorry-i-greet-from-afar-but-lets-be-prudent-follow-recommendations-to-end-this-pandemic/
Pope: Sorry I Greet from Afar, But Let’s Be Prudent & Follow Recommendations to End This Pandemic
Gives Explanation to Crowds at Conclusion of General Audience
OCTOBER 14, 2020 10:31  DEBORAH CASTELLANO LUBOV

[grace-land]

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/vatican-city/news/2020-10/pope-c6-council-cardinals-meeting-reform-apostolic-costitution.html

Pope to C6: Apostolic Constitution reform already underway
14 October 2020, 10:24

Pope Francis and the six members of the Council of Cardinals meet virtually to plan the next steps of the new Apostolic Constitution.
By Vatican News staff writer

An online meeting provided the six Cardinal advisors that make up the so-called C6 (Council of Cardinals) the occasion to meet together with Pope Francis after an eight-month suspension of meetings caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

A Vatican Press Office statement said Pope Francis engaged in the virtual meeting on Tuesday afternoon from his office in the Casa Santa Marta to discuss some aspects of the text of the new Apostolic Constitution on the Roman Curia.

Once approved, that text will replace the Constitution Pastor Bonus promulgated by Pope Saint John Paul II.

"During the summer months,” the statement explained, “the Council had the opportunity to work via internet on the text of the new Apostolic Constitution whose updated draft was presented to the Holy Father. According to the usual practice, the competent Dicasteries are now proceeding with the reading of the draft."

Planning next steps

In particular, the statement noted, the meeting was convened “to summarize the work done and to study how to support the implementation of the new Constitution, once it has been promulgated.”

It also said that during the meeting Pope Francis highlighted the fact that "the reform is already underway, even under some administrative and economic aspects."
 

[grace-land]

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/vatican-city/news/2020-10/pope-appointment-academy-sciences-jose-onuchic.html

Pope appoints expert in Molecular Biophysics at Pontifical Academy of Sciences
14 October 2020, 12:02

José Nelson Onuchic, Professor of Physics and Astronomy and Chemistry at Rice University in Houston (USA), is appointed as an Ordinary Member of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences.
By Vatican News staff writer

Pope Francis on Wednesday appointed Professor José Nelson Onuchic as a new member of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, the Vatican’s international scientific academy, established by Pope Pius XI in 1936.
 

[grace-land]

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2020-10/pope-francis-names-new-bishop-for-springfield-massachusetts-us.html

Pope Francis names new Bishop for Springfield, Massachusetts, USA
14 October 2020, 12:44

Pope Francis appoints Rev. William D.Byrne of the Archdiocese of Washington as the new Bishop of Springfield, Massachusetts, USA.
By Vatican News staff writer

Pope Francis on Wednesday named Fr William D.Byrne as the new Bishop of Springfield, Massachusetts in the United States. Until now he has been parish priest of Our Lady of Mercy Parish in Potomac, Maryland.

He succeeds Archbishop Mitchell T. Rozanski who was appointed as the new Metropolitan Archbishop of Saint Louis by the Pope in June 2020.
 

[grace-land]

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/vatican-court-hears-charges-on-first-day-of-sex-abuse-trial-87188

Vatican court hears charges on first day of priest sex abuse trial
By Hannah Brockhaus

Vatican City, Oct 14, 2020 / 09:01 am MT (CNA).- At the first hearing of an abuse trial Wednesday, the Vatican’s criminal court heard the charges against two Italian priests, one accused of using violence and his authority to commit sexual abuse for a number of years, and the second accused of impeding investigations into the abuse.

Fr. Gabriele Martinelli, 28, and Fr. Enrico Radice, 72, were present in the Vatican courtroom for the eight-minute hearing Oct. 14, accompanied by their lawyers. Neither man has publicly addressed the allegations.

The next hearing, which will include the questioning of the two defendants, will take place Oct. 27, after being postponed “due to the commitments of this tribunal for an already advanced trial,” according to court president Giuseppe Pignatone.

Pignatone said that the defense had until Friday to present more documentation, and that he would give his answer about the evidence admitted at the Oct. 27 hearing.

The alleged abuse is said to have taken place from 2007 to 2012 at different times and places in Vatican City State. At the time, Martinelli was an alumnus of the St. Pius X pre-seminary, a residence for about a dozen boys aged 12 to 18, who serve at papal Masses and other liturgies in St. Peter’s Basilica, and are thinking about the priesthood.
 

[grace-land]

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/seven-more-vatican-swiss-guards-test-positive-for-the-coronavirus-63459

Seven more Vatican Swiss Guards test positive for the coronavirus

Vatican City, Oct 15, 2020 / 12:00 pm MT (CNA).- The Pontifical Swiss Guard announced Thursday that seven more of its members have tested positive for the coronavirus.

The world’s smallest but oldest standing army said in a statement Oct. 15 that a total of 11 members had now contracted the virus.

“The isolation of positive cases was immediately arranged and further checks are being carried out,” it said.

The unit, which has 135 soldiers, emphasized that it would follow strict new measures to contain COVID-19 issued earlier this month by the Governorate of Vatican City State. It said it would also seek to minimize the risk of spreading the virus in the locations where Swiss Guards serve.

It added that it would offer an update on the situation “in the next few days.”
 
Pope Francis remained at a distance from pilgrims throughout his general audience Oct. 14, arriving via a side entrance and leaving without mingling with members of the public.

At the end of the audience, he apologized for not greeting pilgrims up close, urging everyone present to follow measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
 
https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2020/10/14/pope-francis-not-wearing-mask-coronavirus-vatican
Explainer: Why isn’t Pope Francis wearing a mask?
Colleen Dulle
October 14, 2020