Vatican City, Mar 12, 2018 / 04:11 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- In a personal letter reportedly sent to the head of the Secretariat for Communications, Benedict XVI said that he sees continuity between himself and his successor, Pope Francis.
The letter, according to a press release from the Secretariat March 12, was sent to Msgr. Dario Vigano on the occasion of the release of a series of books called “La Teologia di Papa Francesco” (“The Theology of Pope Francis”) published by the Vatican’s publishing house.
The books “show rightly that Pope Francis is a man of profound philosophical and theological formation and, therefore, help to show the inner continuity between the two pontificates, even with all of the differences of style and temperament,” Benedict wrote.
“I applaud this initiative that wishes to oppose and react to the foolish prejudice that Pope Francis is only a practical man lacking in particular theological or philosophical formation,” he continued, “while I am only a theorist of theology that has understood little of the concrete life of a Christian today.”
Excerpts from the letter were included in the Secretariat’s press release, though it was not available in its entirety.
The eleven-book series was written by international theologians and edited by Fr. Roberto Repole, president of the Italian Theological Association.
There are currently agreements for the books to be published in English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Polish and Romanian.
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A hearing in the Vatican finance trial on May 20, 2022. / Vatican Media.
Vatican City, Oct 25, 2022 / 09:34 am (CNA).
A key witness in the so-called Vatican finance “trial of the century” will be heard at the end of November.His role — and test… […]
Pope Francis waves to pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square on Feb. 25, 2024, during his weekly Angelus reflection. The pope canceled his audiences the day before due to mild flu conditions, according to the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media
“How many victims, injuries, destruction, anguish, tears in a period that is becoming terribly long and of which the end is not yet in sight,” the pope said about the war, which began with Russia’s invasion on Feb. 24, 2022, adding that the conflict has “unleash[ed] a global wave of fear and hatred.”
“While I renew my deepest affection for the tormented Ukrainian people and pray for everyone, in particular for the numerous innocent victims,” Pope Francis said, “I implore that that bit of humanity be found that allows us to create the conditions for a diplomatic solution in search of a just and lasting peace.”
The Vatican said Pope Francis canceled his audiences on Feb. 24 as a “precaution.” When the Vatican said that Francis had a “mild flu” in November, the pope underwent precautionary testing at a Rome hospital. The 87-year-old pope canceled a trip to Dubai in December after his doctors advised him not to travel because of a bronchial infection.
But on Sunday he was back in public view for the weekly Angelus. Reflecting on the Gospel reading for the second Sunday in Lent — Mark’s account of the Transfiguration — the pope described the apostles’ mountaintop experience with Jesus as a transformative moment where Christ “physically manifests himself there in all his light.”
The Transfiguration, he said, sums up all of Jesus’ works up until that point of his ministry, while foreshadowing his Passion.
“The preaching of the Kingdom, the forgiveness of sins, the healings, and the performed signs were, indeed, sparks of a greater light, namely, of the light of Jesus,” the pope said from the window of his study in the Apostolic Palace, overlooking nearly 20,000 pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square.
The Holy Father stressed that it is an event that reminds all Christians that “God is light,” which allows us to “seek his face, that is full of mercy, fidelity, and hope.” In this way we can keep Christ fixed as a singular point of reference as “we journey through life.”
The pope declared: “Always keep the luminous face of Christ before our eyes,” adding, “never direct your eyes away from the light of Jesus.”
Pilgrims gather in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican for Pope Francis’ weekly Angelus address on Feb. 25, 2024. Credit: Vatican Media
Pope Francis suggested that this encounter with the living God is done principally through “prayer, listening to the Word, the Sacraments, especially Confession and the Eucharist.” But, underscoring the sacramental dimension, is also a deeply personal, human element.
It is a call for the faithful, the pope suggested, to seek God in one another, noting that it can serve as a “Lenten resolution” that enables us to become “seekers of the light of Jesus.”
“But it also helps to look people in the eyes,” he continued, “learning to see God’s light in everyone and cultivating the ability to marvel at this beauty that shines in each one, without exception: in those close to us and in those we do not know; in the happy gazes of those who are joyful and in the tears of those who are sorrowful; in the sad and dimmed eyes of those who are tried by life and of those who have lost their enthusiasm; and even in those whom we find it difficult to look in the face, preferring to turn away.”
Father Marko Rupnik. / Credit: Screen shot/ACI Prensa
CNA Staff, Dec 15, 2023 / 09:38 am (CNA).
The Vatican has decided to shut down the religious community of sisters co-founded by accused abuser Father Marko Rupnik, the Slovenian Archdiocese … […]
This a prank right? There’s a youtube version also …that will hit tomorrow? Here is my worst encounter with the theological formation mentioned:
Paragraph 297, AL: “No one is condemned forever, because that is not the logic of the Gospel!”
Aboard the papal plane, Oct 2, 2016 / 06:08 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- During his flight from Baku, Azerbaijan to Rome on Sunday, Pope Francis:
“Mercy has the last word. I like to tell, I do not know if I told you, because I repeat it so much … in the Church of Santa Maria Maddalena – I told you or no? – There is a beautiful capital, but it is more or less from the thirteenth century. Medieval cathedrals were catechesis with sculptures. And in a part of the capital there is Judas hanged with his tongue out and eyes (bulging) out, and on the other side of the capital there is Jesus the Good Shepherd who takes (Judas) and carries him with him. And if you look closely, the face of Jesus, the lips of Jesus are sad on the one hand, but with a small smile of understanding in the other. They understood what mercy is … with Judas, huh! “
Not so fast. Msgr Dario Edoardo Viganò Prefect of the Secretariat for Communication omitted [deviously?] Benedict’s last paragraph, cited by journalist Socci in a Sandro Magister essay, “However, I do not feel like writing a short and dense theological page on them because in all my life it has always been clear that I would write and express myself only on books that I had also really read. Unfortunately, even for physical reasons, I am not able to read the eleven volumes in the near future, all the more so because I am already waiting for other commitments. I am sure he will have understanding and I greet him cordially” (Benedict XVI). If true it exposes the Vatican attempt to discredit Benedict as a supporter of the papal plan for doctrinal revolution and secularization of the Church.
Traditional Church Teaching can never contradict Itself.
Nor can Pope Benedict XVI who, in his masterpiece Jesus of Nazareth, writes ‘this apodictic law is pronounced in the name of God himself.’ It is divine law that applies at all times.
Not much sign of ‘interior continuity’ between himself and Pope Francis it seems.
Who knows who wrote that letter.
This a prank right? There’s a youtube version also …that will hit tomorrow? Here is my worst encounter with the theological formation mentioned:
Paragraph 297, AL: “No one is condemned forever, because that is not the logic of the Gospel!”
Aboard the papal plane, Oct 2, 2016 / 06:08 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- During his flight from Baku, Azerbaijan to Rome on Sunday, Pope Francis:
“Mercy has the last word. I like to tell, I do not know if I told you, because I repeat it so much … in the Church of Santa Maria Maddalena – I told you or no? – There is a beautiful capital, but it is more or less from the thirteenth century. Medieval cathedrals were catechesis with sculptures. And in a part of the capital there is Judas hanged with his tongue out and eyes (bulging) out, and on the other side of the capital there is Jesus the Good Shepherd who takes (Judas) and carries him with him. And if you look closely, the face of Jesus, the lips of Jesus are sad on the one hand, but with a small smile of understanding in the other. They understood what mercy is … with Judas, huh! “
Not so fast. Msgr Dario Edoardo Viganò Prefect of the Secretariat for Communication omitted [deviously?] Benedict’s last paragraph, cited by journalist Socci in a Sandro Magister essay, “However, I do not feel like writing a short and dense theological page on them because in all my life it has always been clear that I would write and express myself only on books that I had also really read. Unfortunately, even for physical reasons, I am not able to read the eleven volumes in the near future, all the more so because I am already waiting for other commitments. I am sure he will have understanding and I greet him cordially” (Benedict XVI). If true it exposes the Vatican attempt to discredit Benedict as a supporter of the papal plan for doctrinal revolution and secularization of the Church.
Traditional Church Teaching can never contradict Itself.
Nor can Pope Benedict XVI who, in his masterpiece Jesus of Nazareth, writes ‘this apodictic law is pronounced in the name of God himself.’ It is divine law that applies at all times.
Not much sign of ‘interior continuity’ between himself and Pope Francis it seems.