Cologne, Germany, Jun 29, 2019 / 03:30 am (CNA).- German Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki thanked Pope Francis for ‘fearlessly’ calling Catholics in Germany to be a missionary church in a letter published Saturday.
“It is refreshing how clearly and fearlessly the Holy Father also puts into words the terms which we often express in this country only with hesitation and a certain timidity, which we have almost lost: repentance, conversion, mission,” Cardinal Woelki said in a statement June 29.
Pope Francis published a more than 5,700 word letter addressed to Catholics in Germany Saturday calling for a focus on evangelization in the face of the “erosion” and “decline of the faith” in the country.
The Archbishop of Cologne said that it is obvious that Pope Francis shares the concern of many German Catholics: “How can we preserve the faith today and pass it on to the next generation?”
According to research recently published by the University of Freiburg, the number of officially registered Catholics in Germany is predicted to halve by 2060.
“The forthcoming process of change cannot respond exclusively to external facts and needs, such as the sharp decline in the birth rate and the ageing of communities, which do not allow a normal generational change to be considered,” Pope Francis said in his letter.
“A true process of change … makes demands that arise from our Christianity and from the very dynamics of the evangelization of the Church; such a process requires pastoral conversion,” he said.
Cardinal Woelki responded, “the fact that Pope Francis even speaks of ‘erosion and decay of faith’ in Germany shows that he really does not gloss over anything and also encourages us not to close our eyes to reality.”
This is “first and foremost a crisis of faith,” the German cardinal said.
“Let us be infected by the ‘hopeful serenity’ that Pope Francis has written to us with this letter. It is the serenity of all who are fully devoted to Christ,” Woelki said.
“Let’s take the words of the Holy Father, let’s take them seriously! Let us carry the Good News into the world of today!”
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Pope Leo XIV meets with new bishops in Rome on Sept. 11, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media
ACI Prensa Staff, Sep 11, 2025 / 16:57 pm (CNA).
Every September, the new bishops of the Catholic Church gather in Rome to participate in a formation course,… […]
Pope Francis takes a figure of the Christ child in his arms at the end of the Vatican’s Mass for the Nativity of the Lord on Dec. 24, 2023. / Vatican Media
CNA Staff, Dec 24, 2023 / 16:31 pm (CNA).
In his Christmas homily, Pope Francis shared a message for anyone who may be feeling sad or discouraged with a reminder that the Lord was born to save the world and to give us a hope that is greater than all of our problems.
“Dear brother, dear sister, to God who changed history … you are not a number but a face. Your name is written on his heart,” Pope Francis said on Dec. 24.
“Leave behind the prison of your sorrows and embrace the tender love of the God who became a child. … Cast your cares on him and he will care for you (cf. Ps 55:22). He became flesh; he is not looking for your achievements, but for your open and trusting heart. In Him, you will rediscover who you truly are: a beloved son or daughter of God.”
Pope Francis presided over Mass for the Nativity of the Lord in St. Peter’s Basilica on Christmas Eve
The Mass began with a cantor chanting the traditional Kalenda Proclamation of the Birth of Christ from the Roman Martyrology. Children from Mexico, India, South Korea, the Ivory Coast, and Italy then placed flowers before a figure of the Christ child enthroned in front of the altar.
Children place flowers before a figure of the Christ child enthroned in front of the altar of St. Peter’s Basilica. Vatican Media
“Tonight, our hearts are in Bethlehem, where the Prince of Peace is once more rejected by the futile logic of war, by the clash of arms that even today prevents him from finding room in the world,” Pope Francis said, calling to mind the war in the Holy Land and the ongoing violence in the place of Jesus’ birth.
The pope underlined that God “revolutionizes history by becoming a part of history.” The Lord “does not eliminate pain, but transforms it,” he said. “He does not remove problems from our lives, but grants us a hope that is greater than all our problems.”
“God so greatly desires to embrace our lives that, infinite though he is, he becomes finite for our sake. In his greatness, he chooses to become small; in his righteousness, he submits to our injustice,” Pope Francis said in his homily.
“Brothers and sisters, this is the wonder of Christmas: not a mixture of sappy emotions and worldly contentment, but the unprecedented tenderness of a God who saves the world by becoming incarnate.”
The pope urged people to “rediscover worship” by learning from the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint Joseph, the shepherds, and the Magi who “stood gazing upon Jesus with their hearts set on him.”
In his homily, Pope Francis quoted a letter J.R.R. Tolkien wrote to his son in 1941: “‘I put before you the one great thing to love on earth: the Blessed Sacrament. … There you will find romance, glory, honor, fidelity, and the true way of all your loves on earth.’”
Christmas Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on the night of Dec. 24, 2023. Vatican Media
The pope underlined that worship in adoration is never a waste of time, but makes “our time a dwelling place for God.”
“[To worship] is to let the seed of the Incarnation bloom within us; it is to cooperate in the work of the Lord, who, like leaven, changes the world. To worship is to intercede, to make reparation, to allow God to realign history.”
During the Mass, the choir sang traditional Christmas carols, including “The First Noel,” “Silent Night,” and “O Come All Ye Faithful.”
About 6,500 people were present inside of the basilica for the Mass, according to the Vatican.
“While those who exercise power seek to take their place with the great ones of history, the King of history chooses the way of littleness. None of the powerful take notice of him: only a few shepherds, relegated to the margins of social life,” Pope Francis said.
Christmas Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on the night of Dec. 24, 2023. Vatican Media
Pope Francis explained that the Lord saves us, not by waving a “magic wand” or “pushing a button,” but by drawing near to us, in order to change our world from within.
“If you look to your own heart, and think of your own inadequacies and this world that is so judgmental and unforgiving, you may feel it difficult to celebrate this Christmas. You may think things are going badly, or feel dissatisfied with your limitations, your failings, your problems, and your sins,” he said.
“Today, though, please, let Jesus take the initiative. He says to you, ‘For your sake, I became flesh; for your sake, I became just like you.’”
Pope Francis brings a figure of the Christ child over to the nativity scene inside of St. Peter’s Basilica at the end of Mass. Vatican Media
“Tonight the Lord was born to light up your life; his eyes are alight with love for you,” he added.
Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, the dean of the College of Cardinals, served as the main celebrant at the altar for the Christmas Mass.
At the end of Mass, the 87-year-old pope was brought up in a wheelchair to the front of the altar, where he kissed a figure of the Christ child and brought it over to the nativity scene inside St. Peter’s Basilica.
“Brothers and sisters, tonight love changes history,” Pope Francis said. “Make us believe, Lord, in the power of your love, so different from the power of the world. Lord, make us, like Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, and the Magi, gather around you and worship you. As you conform us ever more to yourself, we shall bear witness before the world to the beauty of your countenance.”
Vatican City, Mar 26, 2020 / 04:04 am (CNA).- Pope Francis Thursday prayed for everyone who is fearful of the future because of the coronavirus outbreak, asking the Lord for help in bearing these worries.
In view of the Pope’s exhortation AL and his refusal to clarify and then his implicit endorsement of the Eucharist for non-Catholics, this Germany discourse makes no sense.
Apart from the Letter, we might recall that the commenting Cardinal Woelke was among the seven German bishops who in 2018 went around Cardinal Marx (President of the German Bishops Conference) to solicit directly and in writing a CLARIFICATION FROM ROME whether Marx’s German initiative to admit spouses of Catholics to the Eucharist was out of line.
They chose to not inform Marx of this request, and the local Marx maneuver—with universal implications—thankfully came under deserved scrutiny.
Cardinal Ladaria Ferrer, Prefect for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), then CLARIFIED that Marx’s initiative was out of line, and he left the German hierarchy to fix its own wagon, rather than giving silent and, therefore, implied approval from the universal Church. (The novelty continues in Germany, but is quarantined from the rest of the Mystical Body of Christ.)
So, Woelke is not to be tarred with the same brush as Cardinal Marx, and might even be a rare SHINING STAR in the German hierarchy. He is then quoted above as saying that the issue is “first and foremost a CRISIS OF FAITH” The question, then is what does THIS mean?
The “CRISIS” part, especially in Germany, is obvious…But, does Rome mean a narrowed “FAITH” in bare-bones REVELATION, but increasingly AMPUTATED IN PRACTICE from the inborn Natural Law/moral doctrine–now increasingly displaced by “anthropological cultural change” and urgent terrestrial agendas?
The C-9 (now C-6) kitchen cabinet of cardinals is reportedly on track to recommend by September a super-dicastery of Evangelization (?), reportedly/ speculatively at the expense of marginalized CDF. If so, the validity of Church teaching on personal morals will never be explicitly denied, just not mentioned.
Instead, “accompaniment” on a road with no definitive end point, and under a “new paradigm” road design not so narrow as we have faithfully understood for two millennia (Mt 7:13-14).
I read it. Im sorry but I couldnt make heads or tails of it. Word salad with a whole bottle of Thousand Island dumped on top.
Meaningless, incomprehensible twaddle
When are they going to admit their attempts to modernize have failed?
In view of the Pope’s exhortation AL and his refusal to clarify and then his implicit endorsement of the Eucharist for non-Catholics, this Germany discourse makes no sense.
Apart from the Letter, we might recall that the commenting Cardinal Woelke was among the seven German bishops who in 2018 went around Cardinal Marx (President of the German Bishops Conference) to solicit directly and in writing a CLARIFICATION FROM ROME whether Marx’s German initiative to admit spouses of Catholics to the Eucharist was out of line.
They chose to not inform Marx of this request, and the local Marx maneuver—with universal implications—thankfully came under deserved scrutiny.
Cardinal Ladaria Ferrer, Prefect for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), then CLARIFIED that Marx’s initiative was out of line, and he left the German hierarchy to fix its own wagon, rather than giving silent and, therefore, implied approval from the universal Church. (The novelty continues in Germany, but is quarantined from the rest of the Mystical Body of Christ.)
So, Woelke is not to be tarred with the same brush as Cardinal Marx, and might even be a rare SHINING STAR in the German hierarchy. He is then quoted above as saying that the issue is “first and foremost a CRISIS OF FAITH” The question, then is what does THIS mean?
The “CRISIS” part, especially in Germany, is obvious…But, does Rome mean a narrowed “FAITH” in bare-bones REVELATION, but increasingly AMPUTATED IN PRACTICE from the inborn Natural Law/moral doctrine–now increasingly displaced by “anthropological cultural change” and urgent terrestrial agendas?
The C-9 (now C-6) kitchen cabinet of cardinals is reportedly on track to recommend by September a super-dicastery of Evangelization (?), reportedly/ speculatively at the expense of marginalized CDF. If so, the validity of Church teaching on personal morals will never be explicitly denied, just not mentioned.
Instead, “accompaniment” on a road with no definitive end point, and under a “new paradigm” road design not so narrow as we have faithfully understood for two millennia (Mt 7:13-14).