Vatican City, Feb 13, 2019 / 03:32 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis Wednesday approved the canonization of Bl. John Henry Newman, a Roman Catholic cardinal, scholar, and founder of the Oratory of St. Philip Neri in England.
Following a Feb. 12 meeting with Cardinal Angelo Becciu, the head of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, the pope signed off on a second miracle attributed to the intercession of Newman, who was beatified by Pope Benedict XVI in Birmingham, England on Sept. 19, 2010.
The first miracle attributed to Newman’s intercession involved the complete and inexplicable healing of a deacon from a disabling spinal condition.
His second miracle concerned the healing of a pregnant American woman. The woman prayed for the intercession of Cardinal Newman at the time of a life-threatening diagnosis, and her doctors have been unable to explain how or why she was able to suddenly recover.
The date of his canonization has not yet been announced.
Bl. John Henry Newman was a 19th century theologian, poet, Catholic priest and cardinal. Originally an Anglican priest, he converted to Catholicism in 1845 and his writings are considered among some of the most important Church-writings in recent centuries.
Ordained a Catholic priest in 1847, he was made a cardinal by Pope Leo XIII in 1879, although he was not a bishop. Newman was also particularly dedicated to education and founded two schools for boys.
Sr. Kathleen Dietz, FSO, a Newman scholar, and vice-chancellor of the Diocese of Erie told CNA last November she suspects that Newman could be named the patron of scholars and students.
Pope Francis also green-lighted Feb. 13 the canonization of Bl. Maria Teresa Chiramel Mankidiyan of India, the founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Family, who died in 1926 in Kuzhikkattussery.
He also approved the canonization of martyred Jesuit Fr. Salvatore Vittorio Emilio Moscoso Cardenas, who was killed in hatred of the faith in Ecuador in 1897.
Those declared to have lived lives of heroic virtue and to be on the path to beatification are Cardinal József Mindszenty, archbishop of Esztergom and primate of Hungary (1892-1975); Fr. Giovanni Battista Zuaboni, founder of the Secular Institute of the Company of the Holy Family (1880-1939); Jesuit Fr. Manuel Garcia Nieto (1894-1974); Sr. Serafina Formai, foundress of the Congregation of the Missionary Sisters of the Glad Message (1876-1954); and Sr. Maria Berenice Duque Hencker, foundress of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Annunciation (1898-1993).
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Speaking at a press briefing on Oct. 6, Vatican spokesman Paolo Ruffini said that there needs to be “a certain amount of confidentiality about who takes the floor and who doesn’t in order to leave the space open … for ‘conversation in the Spirit.’” / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News
Vatican City, Oct 6, 2023 / 13:24 pm (CNA).
The roughly 450 people in the room during the Synod on Synodality assembly are “bound to confidentiality and discretion” regarding what is said in Synod discussions.
Unlike at past Synod of Bishops meetings, where the “pontifical secret” only applied to sharing what was said by others in the synod hall, the Synod on Synodality’s official regulations no longer allow Synod delegates to share their personal interventions with the public.
The rules, published this week on the first day of the 16th Ordinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, stipulate that all Synod delegates are “bound to confidentiality and discretion regarding both their own interventions and the interventions of other participants,” a duty that it says will continue to remain in force after the Synod assembly has ended.
For the first time, the Vatican communications office is also withholding the identities of which delegates are addressing the Synod assembly each day and the members of each working group, opting instead to summarize some of the topics discussed over the course of the day’s speeches and small-group discussions.
Speaking at a press briefing on Oct. 6, Vatican spokesman Paolo Ruffini said that there needs to be “a certain amount of confidentiality about who takes the floor and who doesn’t in order to leave the space open … for ‘conversation in the Spirit.’”
“It’s not important who says what, but it is an exchange and mutual listening,” said Ruffini, who serves as the president of the information commission for the Synod and is also the head of the Vatican Dicastery for Communication.
When asked about what the potential punishments would be for breaking the confidentiality regulations, Ruffini laughed and said that the rules do not mean that “there is a policeman who is going to punish you.”
“It is an assembly of brothers and sisters who have decided to speak freely during this specific period of time and, of course, there is a personal discernment in all of this,” he said.
“We are not talking about punishments,” he added. “We are talking about this personal discernment that was asked for by the pope to the members.”
According to the Vatican, the confidentiality requirement exists “in order to guarantee the freedom of expression of each and all regarding their thoughts and to ensure the serenity of the discernment in common, which is the main task entrusted to the assembly.”
Pope Francis calls Synod to ‘fast’ from public speech
Pope Francis underlined “the priority of listening” in his opening speech of the Synod on Synodality on Oct. 4, calling for “a certain fasting from public speech” by the Synod delegates during the nearly monthlong assembly.
“Some will say — and are saying — that the bishops are afraid and that is why they don’t want the journalists talking. No. The work of journalists is very important. But we have to help them so that they can also speak of this journeying in the Spirit,” Pope Francis said.
“More than speaking, the priority is that of listening. I ask journalists to please make this known to people, that they realize that the priority is to listen.”
The pope went on to describe how past synods during his pontificate were influenced by “worldliness” and the media before they even began.
“During the Synod on the Family, public opinion, the fruit of our worldliness, [thought] that communion was going to be given to the divorced, and in that spirit we began the synod,” Francis said.
“When we had the Synod for the Amazon, public opinion, pressure, [thought] that viri probati were going to be [ordained], and we went in under that pressure. Now there is speculation about this synod: ‘What are they going to do?’ ‘Maybe ordain women?’ … Those are things they are saying out there.”
During the Synod on Synodality, communication about what takes place in the synod hall is being managed by a “Commission for Information,” which is “mandated to report on the progress of the synodal assembly.”
The Synod rules forbid participants from recording, filming, or disclosing their interventions in the Synod’s General Congregations and in the Working Groups, but note that an official audiovisual recording of the General Congregations is kept in the archives of the General Secretariat of the Synod.
During official press briefings, Ruffini, the president of the information commission, has limited himself to summarizing the structure of the assembly and to listing off “various themes” and subjects that people brought up in discussions.
Summarizing the 22 three-minute inventions given in the Synod assembly on Friday morning, Ruffini said that the topics included “the suffering of the Church in several parts of the world,” the closeness of the Church to the Ukrainian people, seminary formation, the topic of “the Eucharist as food of the synodal Church,” and how the Church can be present to young people who spend so much time on the internet.
Sheila Pires, the secretary of the Synod’s information commission, told journalists that the atmosphere inside Paul VI Hall has been “an atmosphere of joy.”
“As much as there may be some tensions here and there, above all there is really an atmosphere of joy,” she said.
Pope Francis on May 7, 2024, appointed Father James Mark Beckman, 61, a priest of the Diocese of Nashville, as the fourth bishop of the Diocese of Knoxville. / Credit: Diocese of Nashville
Rome Newsroom, May 7, 2024 / 11:50 am (CNA).
Pope Franc… […]
Pope Francis presides over the funeral Mass for Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI in St. Peter’s Square on Jan. 5, 2023. / Vatican Media
Rome Newsroom, Jan 15, 2023 / 11:00 am (CNA).
It was widely anticipated that a major reform of the Diocese of Rome was coming, as Pope Francis has been thinking about it for some time.
But no one expected it to come when it did: On Jan. 6, one day after the funeral of Francis’ predecessor as Bishop of Rome, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI.
With the reform, Pope Francis firmly took over the reins of the vicariate, or hierarchy, of the diocese. Everything is centralized, and everything must pass, at least formally, under the control of the pontiff.
Cardinal Angelo de Donatis, the pope’s vicar for the diocese, sees his role deeply diminished. The diocese’s auxiliary bishops strengthen their direct link with the pope. In the end, the pope has made it clear that he is the one who also formally presides over the Episcopal Council, a new body established as an “expression of synodality.”
Cardinal Angelo De Donatis. . Daniel Ibanez/CNA
The backstory
Before going into some details of the new decree, however, some background is necessary.
The last reform of the structure of the Vicariate of Rome was outlined by John Paul II in 1908, with the apostolic constitution Ecclesia In Urbe. For the new reform, Pope Francis copied and pasted several passages from that document. In some cases, these have been minimally rewritten to emphasize some details instead of others. In other cases, greater changes were made but these do little to alter the basic substance of things.
The reform presents two general characteristics of Pope Francis’ way of legislating: using councils or commissions and requiring those bodies to report directly to him.
It is clear that the pope is the bishop of Rome and that the pope’s vicar for the diocese is his auxiliary. Pope Francis, however, in this case, goes further, including with the constitution a decree that directly defines the areas of competence of the auxiliary bishops.
Pope Francis shows, in this way, a willingness to exercise greater personal control over everything that happens in the vicariate. At the same time, this choice also testifies to a “break” in the relationship of trust with his vicar, Cardinal de Donatsi.
Although Francis called de Donatis to preach retreats to the Roman Curia in 2014, he was never the pope’s candidate to succeed Cardinal Vallini as vicar. That was Cardinal Paolo Lojudice.
Pope Francis, however, wanted to first consult the parish priests of Rome, 80% of whom preferred de Donatis. It was impossible, therefore, for the pope not to listen to them. He appointed De Donatis vicar (and cardinal) and made Lojudice archbishop of the prestigious Diocese of Siena, and a cardinal, as well.
Last May, at the general assembly of the Italian Episcopal Conference, it seemed clear that Pope Francis preferred the appointment of Cardinal Lojudice as the new president of the CEI.
Cardinal Matteo Zuppi and Cardinal Augusto Paolo Lojudice. Francesco Pierantoni via Wikimedia (CC BY 2.0)/Pufui PcPifpef via Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).
The plan was to appoint Lojudice vicar of the Diocese of Rome to succeed Cardinal de Donatis, who had finished his five-year term, which would then have made Lojudice the primary contact person for the pope both in Rome and among the Italian bishops. De Donatis would have been appointed the new Penitentiary in place of Cardinal Mauro Piacenza, who has now turned 78.
The Italian bishops, however, preferred Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, archbishop of Bologna, who was not unwelcome to Pope Francis.
Lojudice didn’t become vicar for the Rome Diocese, either, as everyone assumed would happen. Meanwhile, the relationship of trust between de Donatis and the pope seemed to have been interrupted in 2020, when, at the beginning of the lockdown for COVID-19, de Donatis decided to close the churches of Rome. When Pope Francis later highlighted the inadvisability of closing churches, de Donatis withdrew the decree but announced that every decision had been made in agreement with the pope. There also have been other moments of friction in recent years.
The pope, however, now seems intent on changing the vicar this year when de Donatis’ mandate expires. An indication of this is the fact that in the decree in which the Pope defines the area and pastoral competencies of the auxiliary bishops, de Donatis is not mentioned as vicar. One might take his presence for granted, of course, but the general interpretation is that the change will be made.
What’s new
What are the novelties introduced by Pope Francis? First, the figure of the prelate general secretary disappears, while the vicegerente (or the deputy of the vicar) manages the offices of the General Secretariat. The prelate secretary also had the function of the moderator of the Curia. In this case, everything is entrusted to the vicegerente, who thus sees his functions and weight increase.
The pope chose the vicegerente from among the auxiliary bishops, and in this case, Baldassare Reina was selected. Bishop Reina does not come from the Diocese of Rome but was called from Agrigento. The pope’s logic is to break possible power chains by bringing in fresh and foreign forces.
The choice of a new parish priest is entrusted to a lengthy procedure which must then, in any case, be submitted to the pope, who acts as the true and proper bishop of Rome without relying on the vicar, who is left with the appointment of assistant parish priests.
Article 20 of the Constitution requests a report for each candidate for the priesthood or diaconate to be submitted before ordination. Also, in this case, the candidates must be presented by the cardinal vicar to the pope, and only after obtaining the Episcopal Council’s consent. Therefore, the vicar seems to be practically a commissariat: He does not choose the candidates but submits them to the pope and can submit them only after the Episcopal Council has endorsed the choice.
The council is defined as the “first organ of Synodality” and must meet “at least three times a month,” presided over by the pope. Only in the absence of the pope can the cardinal vicar preside over the council, which is made up of the vicegerent and the auxiliary bishops. However, the pope wants to receive “the agenda for each meeting as soon as possible.”
Finally, there is also the establishment of an Independent Supervisory Commission. This will have a regulation that must be “approved by the Pope” and six members appointed by the pope who can remain in office for a maximum of two five-year terms.
The service for the protection of minors and vulnerable people is also added, which “reports to the Episcopal Council, through the auxiliary bishop appointed by me,” the pope has decreed.
Pope Francis attends the Italian bishops’ plenary assembly in Rome on May 24, 2021. Vatican Media.
The effects of the reform
The constitution also redistributes the areas and offices of the Vicariate’s Curia, and the accompanying decree gives each auxiliary bishop a specific task.
Beyond the reorganization, it should be noted how the pope enters into action as the actual bishop of Rome. Everything must pass through the decisions of the pope, while before, the cardinal vicar enjoyed trust and discretion. For the first time, however, the pope’s vicar is defined as an “auxiliary.” He is, therefore, an auxiliary among the auxiliaries, with a considerable reduction in his weight.
With this centralization, Pope Francis probably wants to overcome the risk of having “abuses” within the Vicariate.
It is worth remembering that in June 2021, Pope Francis ordered an inspection of the Vicariate itself. It was an audit entrusted to the Auditor General of the Holy See, Alessandro Cassinis Righini. It was the first time the Vicariate sifted through the accounting books, registers, and cooperative societies.
However, the Pope, as a matter of practice, has sent an inspection to all the dicasteries of the Curia every time there is a reform or a new mandate. The review, therefore, already predicted the change of pace in the Vicariate, one that has led Pope Francis to be increasingly alone in command.
Blessed John Henry Newman’s book Apologia Pro Vita Sua helped lead me into the Catholic Church, as I am sure is the case with millions of other Catholic converts.
A correction: Newman did not found two schools for boys. He founded just the one, The Oratory School, in Birmingham in 1859. It moved out into the countryside in the early 20th century and is now at Woodcote, near Reading, in south Oxfordshire. Hilaire Belloc was a pupil, and Tolkien sent his sons there. What may have confused your writer is that it has a separate junior school called The Oratory Preparatory School which split off from the main school to accommodate younger boys. There is also The London Oratory School, but Newman did not found it. Your writer should perhaps have mentioned that Newman was also the founding Rector of the Catholic University in Dublin, now known as University College Dublin.
Blessed John Henry Newman’s book Apologia Pro Vita Sua helped lead me into the Catholic Church, as I am sure is the case with millions of other Catholic converts.
His canonization is long overdue.
A correction: Newman did not found two schools for boys. He founded just the one, The Oratory School, in Birmingham in 1859. It moved out into the countryside in the early 20th century and is now at Woodcote, near Reading, in south Oxfordshire. Hilaire Belloc was a pupil, and Tolkien sent his sons there. What may have confused your writer is that it has a separate junior school called The Oratory Preparatory School which split off from the main school to accommodate younger boys. There is also The London Oratory School, but Newman did not found it. Your writer should perhaps have mentioned that Newman was also the founding Rector of the Catholic University in Dublin, now known as University College Dublin.