Month: March 2018

Vatican City, Mar 12, 2018 / 12:58 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- On Monday Pope Francis sent condolences for the death of Cardinal Karl Lehmann, the retired archbishop of Mainz, Germany, who died March 11.  

Expressing his condolences for the death of the prominent cardinal in a letter to Bishop Peter Kohlgraf of Mainz March 12, Francis said he learned of Cardinal Lehmann’s death “with pain,” and is praying for him “who the Lord has called to himself after a serious illness and suffering.”

Cardinal Lehmann, who served as the bishop of Mainz for nearly 33 years, died in his home on the morning of March 11 at the age of 81. He retired in 2016, and in September 2017 suffered a stroke which left his health in serious decline.

His funeral Mass will take place March 21 at the Mainz Cathedral.

Cardinal Lehmann served as president of the German bishops’ conference for 20 years. Pope Francis said that in this long period of activity he “helped shape the life of the Church and of society.”

“He always had a heart open to the questions and challenges of the times, and to offering answers and orientations starting from the message of Christ, to accompany people along their path, seeking what unites…” he continued.

Lehmann was born on May 16, 1936 and ordained a priest for the diocese of Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany in 1963. He was appointed bishop of Mainz in 1983 and served until his retirement in 2016. He was made a cardinal by St. Pope John Paul II in 2001.

While bishop of Mainz, he became a member of the circle for dialogue between representatives of the German bishops’ conference and the Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany.

From March 1986-1988 he also became a member, and later president, of the Lutheran-Catholic dialogue between the World Lutheran Federation and the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity.

Lehmann was at the center of numerous controversies involving the Vatican.

During his tenure as president of the German bishops’ conference he clashed with Pope John Paul II over abortion. After years of political conflict, first-trimester abortion became permissible in Germany in 1995, as long as a women received counseling first from a state-approved counselor.

Lehmann supported the Church’s participation in the compulsory counseling through church counseling centers, despite objections from Pope John Paul II. In 1998, the pope banned the Church’s participation in the state’s counseling system.

In 1993, Lehmann was also one of three German bishops, alongside Walter Kasper and Oskar Saier, who issued a pastoral letter arguing that there should be room to allow divorced-and-civilly-remarried Catholics to receive communion “in particular situations.”

The bishops also proposed that the decision to receive the Eucharist should be left to the individual’s judgment, in discussion with a priest.

Following the promulgation of the letter, then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, called the bishops to attend a series of meetings at the Vatican.

The CDF also issued a corrective letter in October 1994, reaffirming Church teaching that the divorced-and-civilly-remarried may not receive Holy Communion “as long as this situation persists,” unless the couple decides to live in continence.

In  2015 Lehmann was identified as having belonged to a group of progressive reformer cardinals, who are said to promoted alternative candidates at the conclave that elected Pope Benedict XVI, and are rumored to have promoted the election of Jorge Bergoglio as Pope Francis.   
It was dubbed the “St. Gallen Group,” after the host of their discussions, the Bishop of St. Gallen, Switzerland, Ivo Furer.

The group is said to have also included Cardinals Godfried Danneels, Walter Kasper, Ad van Luyn, and Achille Silvestrini, as well as the now-deceased Cardinals Basil Hume, Jose da Cruz Policarpo, Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, Carlo Martini, and Lubomyr Husar.  

It met primarily between 1995 and 2006, discussing various topics, including papal primacy.

The group’s meetings were first revealed in an authorized biography of Cardinal Danneels. At the book’s launch in Brussels in Sept. 2015, Danneels said the group called themselves “the mafia.”

In 2005 Lehmann participated in the papal conclave that elected Benedict XVI, and in the 2013 conclave that elected Pope Francis.

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Vatican City, Mar 12, 2018 / 10:22 am (CNA/EWTN News).- As the Vatican’s annual Good Friday Collection approaches, the head of the Congregation for the Eastern Churches has encouraged people to take pilgrimages to the Holy Land, in addition to su… […]

Vatican City, Mar 12, 2018 / 05:55 am (CNA/EWTN News).- During his long tenure as a bishop and theologian, Cardinal Karl Lehmann, who died March 11 in Mainz, Germany, was instrumental in shaping the life of the Church and society, Pope Francis said in … […]

Rome, Italy, Mar 11, 2018 / 02:47 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- In a world that has grown afraid, Pope Francis reflected on the importance of mercy and love, praising the work of the Community of St. Egidio and reminding Christians that they must share the gift… […]

Vatican City, Mar 11, 2018 / 07:21 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Cardinal Karl Lehmann, Archbishop Emeritus of Mainz and one of the most prominent leaders in the German Church known for his ecumenical work, died at his home Sunday morning at the age of 81.

In a statement following the prelate’s March 11 death, president of the German Bishops Conference Cardinal Reinhard Marx said in wake of Lehmann’s passing, “the church of Germany is bowing humbly in front of a personality who influenced the Catholic church worldwide.”

Marx praised the many accomplishments and longstanding contributions of his predecessor, who he said “tirelessly” to build bridges of understanding, reconciliation and dialogue.

After retiring from his role as head of the Mainz diocese in 2016, Lehmann last year suffered a stroke last year and his health has been in decline ever since.

In a March 11 CDU party press release on the cardinal’s death, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she was sad to hear of the prelate’s passing, and voiced gratitude “for our good conversations and meetings over the years.”

She called the late prelate “an exceptionally gifted mediator, between the German Catholics and Rome, in the spirit of the economical movement between the Christian churches, but also between Christians and believers of other religions.”

Born in Sigmaringen, Germany, May 16, 1936, Lehmann played a leading role in advancing the Catholic Church’s dialogue with Lutherans and Evangelicals, in particular. And with 20 years as head of the German Bishops conference, he is widely considered to be one of the most influential leaders in the German Church.

After completing seminary, Lehmann was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Freiburg Oct. 10, 1963, and held doctorates in both philosophy and theology from Rome’s Pontifical Gregorian University.

For three years, from 1964-1967, he was an assistant to Jesuit Fr. Karl Rahner at the University of  Münster helping with the latter’s seminar on the Christian vision of the world and the philosophy of religion.

He graduated from the Gregorian University in 1967, and the same year continued to assist Fr. Rahner with his role in the Chair of Dogmatic and the History of Dogmatic at the Westfälischen Wilhelms University of Münster.

After completing his doctoral studies, writing his thesis on themes associated with Christ’s resurrection and Christian Revelation, Lehmann then taught dogmatic theology at the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz.

In 1969 became a member of the Central Committee of German Catholics and the Jaeger-Stählin working committee of Evangelical and Catholic Theologians. In 1975 he was named a scientific consultant for the Catholic part of the working committee, and in 1989 became its president.

Lehman later taught at the Albert Ludwig University, Freiburg im Breisgau, and for 10 years, from 1974-1984, was a member of the International Theological Commission.

At the time, the future cardinal also edited the official publication of the documents from the Joint Synod of the Dioceses in the Federal Republic of Germany for the 1971-1975 Synod of Würzburg.

In June 1983, he was appointed Bishop of Mainz and received episcopal ordination that October. A year later, he became a member of the circle for dialogue between representatives of the German Bishops Conference and those from the Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany.

From March 1986-1988 he also became a member and later president of the Lutheran-Catholic dialogue between the World Lutheran Federation and the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity.

The two entities in 2017 signed their latest joint-statement to mark their shared commemoration of the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. In a major ecumenical move, Pope Francis traveled to Lund, Sweden from Oct. 31-Nov. 1, 2017, for a joint-commemoration of the landmark anniversary.

In addition to his role in helping advance ecumenism, Cardinal Lehmann was elected president of the German Bishops Conference in 1987 – a position he held for 20 years, being reconfirmed in the role in 1993, 1999 and again in 2005.

In 1995 he was named Special Secretary of the First Special Assembly for Europe of the Synod of Bishops, and from 1988-1998 was a member of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

The prelate received awards from universities and institutions all over the world, and was the author of several publications.

He participated in the conclave of 2005 that elected Benedict XVI as Pope, as well as the conclave of 2013 that elected Pope Francis, and is rumored to have been one of the cardinals pushing for Bergoglio’s election.

Lehmann was given a red hat by Pope John Paul II in 2001. He retired from his role as head of the Mainz diocese in 2016, and died the morning of March 11, 2018.

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Vatican City, Mar 11, 2018 / 05:12 am (CNA/EWTN News).- On Sunday Pope Francis said that to be a Christian isn’t easy, but means having faith and striving to live a moral life even when it’s hard, trusting in God and his love during moments of weakness and anxiety.

“Christianity doesn’t offer easy consolations, it’s not a shortcut, but requires faith and a healthy moral life which rejects evil, selfishness and corruption,” the Pope said March 11.

A faithful and moral life, he said, “gives us the true and great hope in God the Father, rich in mercy, who has given us his only son, thus revealing to us his immense love.”

Pope Francis spoke to pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square for his Sunday Angelus address, which he focused on the day’s passage from John’s Gospel when Jesus speaks to Nicodemus, explaining what will happen to those who believe and walk in truth, and what will happen to those who don’t.

Jesus’ affirmation that “God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him,” synthesize the core of Christian message, Francis said.

Namely, this message is that “even when the situation seems desperate, God intervenes, offering man salvation and joy.” God, the Pope said, doesn’t stand aside, but “enters into the history of humanity to animate it with his grace and to save it.”

Christians, he said, are called to listen to this announcement and to reject the temptation to be too sure of themselves, wanting to “do without God,” and be “liberated” from him and his word.

“When we find the courage to consider ourselves for what we are, we realize that we are people called to deal with our fragility and our limits,” he said, noting that at times thinking about these weaknesses can lead people to be anxious for the future, or afraid of illness and death.

This, Francis said, is the reason many people look for “a way out,” turning to “dangerous shortcuts such as the tunnel of drugs, superstitions or ruinous magic rituals.”

However, Christianity offers a different path. Though it’s not easy, it leads to hope, he said, and pointed to the image of Jesus on the cross, which he said is the “greatest manifestation of God’s love.”

“It’s good to know our limits,” he said. Not to become discouraged, “but to offer them to God, and he helps us in the path of daily life. He takes us by the hand, but he never leaves us alone, never. Because of this we have joy.”

Turning again to the passage in the day’s Gospel where Jesus says that he didn’t come to condemn the world, but to save it, Pope Francis said if Christians root themselves in this affirmation, then “our trust is unshakable.”

To do this, he said, “is a matter of opening the heart.” And during Lent in particular, this means opening means increasingly opening oneself to God in a better way.

“Only in this way can we live a life animated by justice and charity, and become testimonies of this divine love; a love which is not only given to those who earn it, doesn’t ask for recompense, but is offered freely, without conditions.”

Jesus went to the cross “to heal us,” he said, and in off-the-cuff comments urged faithful to look to the crucifix and say: “God loves me. It’s true, there are sins, (but) God loves us in our weakness, in our infidelity, in our fragility…let’s look to the crucifix and go forward.”

Pope Francis closed his address asking that Mary would help obtain for each person this certainty that they are loved by God.

“(God) is close to us in moments when we feel alone, when we feel tempted to surrender to the difficulties of life,” he said, and prayed that those present would be able to communicate the message of Jesus, so that Lent would become “an experience of forgiveness, welcome and charity.”

After leading pilgrims in praying the Angelus, the Pope greeted pilgrims present from around the world, offering a special welcome the students, mentors and tech experts who participated in the March 8-11 first-ever Vatican “Hackathon.”

Speaking directly to the students, he told them “it’s beautiful to place intelligence, which is a gift from God, at the service of the truth and those most in need.”

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