Cardinal O’Malley to US bishops: Ask for grace at St. Peter’s tomb

Pope Francis greets Cardinal Bechara Boutros Rai during a previous private audience at the Vatican, on Feb. 7, 2020. / Vatican Media.

Vatican City, May 30, 2021 / 07:00 am (CNA).
Pope Francis has invited Lebanese Christian leaders to the Vatican… […]

Vatican City, Sep 21, 2017 / 08:16 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Thursday in a written speech Pope Francis reiterated the Catholic Church’s commitment to the protection of minors from sexual abuse, stating that the Church will continue to take a “zero tolerance” stance against offenders.

“Let me say quite clearly that sexual abuse is a horrible sin, completely opposite and in contradiction to what Christ and the Church teach us,” the Pope’s prepared remarks stated Sept. 21.

“That is why, I reiterate today once again that the Church, at all levels, will respond with the application of the most firm measures to all those who have betrayed their call and abused the children of God.”

Pope Francis addressed members of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors at the opening of their plenary assembly. Handing out copies of his prepared statement to those present, he then delivered off-the-cuff remarks.

In his prepared speech, the Pope wrote that the Church “irrevocably and at all levels seeks to apply the principle of ‘zero tolerance’ against sexual abuse of minors.”

He explained that the disciplinary measures which have been adopted by particular churches must apply to everyone who works within the institutions of the Church.

“However, the primary responsibility is of the bishops, priests and religious, of those who have received the vocation to offer their lives to the service, including the vigilant protection of all vulnerable children, young people and adults,” he continued.

The Pope noted how he has personally had the privilege of listening to the stories of victims and survivors of abuse and that in these encounters people have openly shared the effects that sexual abuse has had on their lives and on the lives of their families.

“I know that you too have had the blessed occasion to participate in the same meetings,” he said to commission members, “and that they continue to nourish your personal commitment to do everything possible to combat this evil and eliminate this ruin among us.”

Francis said that he wanted to share at that gathering the “profound pain I feel in my soul for the situation of abused children.” The sexual abuse scandal is, he continued, “a terrible ruin for the whole of humanity” affecting vulnerable children, young people and adults in every country and society.

The whole experience has also been “very painful” for the Church and is something “we are ashamed of,” he said.

“But we have also experienced a call, which we are sure comes directly from our Lord Jesus Christ: to embrace the mission of the Gospel for the protection of all vulnerable minors and adults.”

Francis spoke to the members of the commission after an address by Cardinal Sean O’Malley, president of the commission, and after presentations by two commission members, Sr. Hermenegild Makoro, CPS, and Mr. Bill Kilgallon, on the projects of the commission’s six working groups from the past three years.

Praising the work of the commission over the last three and a half years, the Pope said that they have worked to consistently emphasize the most important principles guiding the Church’s efforts in abuse protection.

He also said that he was happy to hear that many churches have taken their advice of holding a Day of Prayer and of dialoguing with victims and survivors.

In his address, O’Malley said that the commission considers the safeguarding of minors and vulnerable adults to be “an integral part of the mission of the Church.”

“The Church’s care for victims/survivors of abuse and their families is a primary consideration in this mission. By listening attentively and sharing experiences with them, our Commission has benefitted greatly from all that survivors have offered to us.”

Other things the commission has emphasized has been educational and training programs, especially for Church leaders, and assistance for local churches to develop and implement guidelines, he said.

Following the audience with Pope Francis, he said the commission will hold their plenary assembly to continue to discuss these projects and prepare recommendations for the Pope for the continued work of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors.

Francis said that the Church is called to be “a place of piety and compassion, especially for those who have suffered.”

The Church is a field hospital, he concluded, one which accompanies each of us on our spiritual journey.

“I am fully confident that the Commission will continue to be a place where we can listen with interest to the voices of the victims and the survivors. Because we have much to learn from them and their personal stories of courage and perseverance.”

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Vatican City, Jun 5, 2018 / 08:18 am (CNA/EWTN News).- With the death count of a massive volcanic eruption in Guatemala already at 65, Pope Francis has offered his prayers for the victims, their families and the thousands who have lost their homes due to the calamity.

In a June 5 telegram, the pope said he was “deeply distressed in hearing the sad news of the violent eruption” of Guatemala’s Volcano de Fuego, meaning “Volcano of Fire,” which so far “has caused numerous victims and enormous material damage which has affected a significant number of the area’s inhabitants.”

Signed by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin and addressed to Guatemala’s apostolic nuncio, Archbishop Nicolas Henry Marie Denis Thevenin, the telegram conveyed Pope Francis’ prayers for the deceased and for all those “who are suffering the consequences of this natural disaster.”

The pope assured of his spiritual closeness and support to the families “who weep for the loss of their loved ones,” to wounded and to those who are working in relief efforts, asking that God would grant them “the gifts of solidarity, spiritual serenity and Christian hope.”

Francis’ telegram came after the June 3 eruption of Volcano de Fuego, one of the Guatemala’s most active volcano’s, resulting in a death toll of at least 65 people so far, with many still unaccounted for.

During the eruption, a heavy pyroclastic flow – an especially deadly combo of hot toxic gases and volcanic matter – poured out of the volcano and an engulfed several villages below, burying houses and covering surrounding areas with a thick blanket of ash.

According to CONRED, Guatemala’s national disaster agency, so far some 3,265 people have been evacuated and at least 46 others injured due to the volcanic eruption. The nation’s airport was also reportedly shut down due to the hot ash still hanging in the air.

Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales has declared three days of national mourning over the tragedy, and, according to ABC News, has also called in his ministers to discuss declaring a state of emergency in several affected areas.

The eruption of Volcan de Fuego is Guatemala’s largest volcanic eruption since the 1902 eruption of the Santa Maria volcano, which killed thousands.

In a June 4 statement, Bishop Víctor Hugo Palma Paúl of Escuintla, one of the hardest hit areas, assured the people of his diocese of the Church’s “closeness and solidarity, illuminated by faith in the God of Jesus Christ, God of life and not of death, of peace, and not destruction.”

The bishop asked both local and national Guatemalan authorities to continue offering relief services with “promptness and civic commitment.”

In Escuintla, the villages of Los Lotes and El Rodeo – known for the rich agricultural diversity they provide to the nation – have practically been buried, leaving inhabitants largely cut off from aid and from their livelihood.

In his statement, Hugo said three make-shift welcome centers have been set up in parishes in his diocese for those who have lost their homes.

He thanked those working to support victims, and voiced confidence in God’s providence toward “the victims of this tragedy,” and entrusted “the life and spiritual and material well-being” of Guatemalans to the care of Mary, Mother of the Church.

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