Pope taps new bishops for Davenport, San Diego dioceses

Vatican City, Sep 21, 2017 / 12:26 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- There should be no opportunity for appealing canonical cases of sexual abuse against minors when allegations have been proven by evidence, Pope Francis said in spontaneous comments Thursday.

In off-the-cuff remarks to the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors (PCPM) Sept. 21, the Pope said that “if pedophilia, an abuse of minors, is proven it is enough to not receive appeals.”

“If there is the evidence, period: it is definitive.”

Pope Francis also explained that he would not consider direct appeals for clemency or reconsideration from priests who have been found guilty of allegations of sexual misconduct. “I have never signed one of these,” he said, “and I will never sign it.”

The Pope elaborated, saying that the Church must consider that a person that commits abuse “is sick, that they suffer from a disease.” He explained “today he is sorry, we forgive him, and then after two years he falls again.”

He also expressed regret for a case in which he chose to impose lenient sanctions against an Italian priest abuser, saying, “I learned in this.”

Speaking at the opening of the plenary assembly of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, Francis set aside his prepared remarks, handing them out to be read, explaining that he preferred to talk in a more informal manner.

“I know it was not easy to begin this work,” he told commission members. “It was necessary to go against the current, because it is a reality, the conscience of the Church…came a bit late.”

Because awareness of the problem came late, “the means to solve the problem have come late,” he continued. “I am aware of this difficulty. But it is the reality, I tell you so: we arrived late.”

The practice of moving clergy who were suspected or accused of abuse to a different diocese may have contributed to a slowing of our consciences, he reflected. He said that the Lord has raised “prophetic” men in the Church who have worked to bring this issue to the surface.

One such person the Pope pointed to is Cardinal Sean O’Malley, the president of the PCPM, who frequently raised the issue of the problem of abuse to Pope Francis. The Pope said that Cardinal O’Malley spoke to him about the ministry of Jesus to children.

“Now what I think is that it should be the way to continue with our work,” Francis said. “I say ‘ours’ because it is not (only) a commission, because it is a commission within the Holy See with the Pope too.”

Speaking about the process for how the Holy See handles abuse cases, Pope Francis said that he believes “for the moment” the responsibility for the resolution of abuse cases should continue to reside with the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, as it has since 2001.

Some had speculated that the Pope was considering suggestions that the laicization of priests found to have committed abuse be reassigned to the Roman Rota and other tribunals of the Vatican.

“But in this moment the problem is real… it is grave that some have not taken notice of the problem,” he said, and for this reason the competency must remain with the CDF until the whole Church becomes aware.

There are many cases, at the moment, that do not move forward quickly, the Pope noted, but the newly-appointed secretary and prefect of the CDF, Bishop-designate Giacomo Morandi and Archbishop Luis Ladaria Ferrer, are working to add more people to work on the process of abuse cases, he said.

The Pope concluded by thanking the commission for their work, saying without them it would not have been possible to carry out the work already done, nor would it be possible to continue their future work within the Curia.

“That’s what I wanted to tell you spontaneously,” he said, “then you have the most formal, educated speech there, but I think that this you have the right to know.”

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Vatican City, Oct 11, 2019 / 03:01 am (CNA).- Pope Francis will canonize four women alongside John Henry Newman this Sunday. These women — a stigmatist, a mystic, a Roman orphan, and Nobel Peace prize nominee — also proclaimed Christ through their li… […]

Vatican City, Mar 28, 2018 / 10:07 am (CNA/EWTN News).- When Peter Lombardi was diagnosed with leukemia in 2015, his wish was to get a kiss from Pope Francis, but his family’s plans to see him at the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia fell through when Peter was in the hospital.

His wish came true March 28 when Francis saw Peter, 12, who has Down syndrome, in the crowd of people and stopped the popemobile to have him lifted in. Peter not only got a kiss from the Pope, but a blessing, and a ride twice around the crowded square during the General Audience in St. Peter’s Square.

“If the Pope could have just waved to him I would have been happy,” Peter’s mother, Brenda, told CNA. Peter said that he likes the Pope and that getting a kiss from him made him feel better.

“I rode with him and he gave me a kiss and blessing,” he said. He was also happy to have received a balloon animal after the experience.

In remission since June, Peter is visiting Rome and Medjugorje for two weeks with his parents, Brenda and Matt, and his three brothers, “to thank our Lord for his healing and to thank the Blessed Mother; for their faithfulness, for their love and mercy upon our family,” Brenda said.

“God protected him throughout his leukemia,” she continued. “God’s mercy is so infinite and his grace through the heavy crosses are even bigger and better in the end when you put your trust in him.”

Peter originally asked for the kiss from Pope Francis when he was sick and watching the Pope on TV from the hospital. Brenda recounted how the people from the Make-A-Wish Foundation came into Peter’s room and asked him what he wanted.

They were really surprised, she noted, when he said, “see that man on TV, kissing all those kids? I want a kiss from him!”

While the Make-A-Wish Foundation could not grant that one, his other wish will be granted soon: a lightsaber fight with Darth Vader at Walt Disney World.

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