Vatican City, Jun 24, 2020 / 05:00 am (CNA).- King David is an example of being consistent in prayer no matter what life throws at you or what good or bad you do, Pope Francis said during his general audience Wednesday.
Prayer “is able to ensure the relationship with God, who is the true Companion of man’s journey, in the midst of the many hardships of life: good or bad,” the pope said June 24.
Speaking via livestream from the apostolic library, Francis continued his general audience talks on prayer with a reflection on the life of King David.
This was the pope’s final general audience before the summer break in July.
David, he said, was “saint and sinner, persecuted and persecutor, victim and executioner, which is a contradiction. David was all this, together. And we too have often opposite traits in our lives; in the plot of living, all men often sin inconsistently.”
But, the pope emphasized, the consistent “thread” in David’s life was prayer.
“David the holy, prays; David the sinner prays; David the persecuted prays; David the persecutor prays; David the victim prays. Even David the executioner prays,” he stated.
In the psalms, “David teaches us to bring everything into dialogue with God: joy as guilt, love as suffering, friendship as much as an illness. Everything can become a word addressed to the ‘You’ who always listens to us.”
Pope Francis went on to explain that though David knew solitude and loneliness in his life, through the power of prayer he was never alone.
“David’s confidence is so great that when he was persecuted and had to flee he did not let anyone defend him,” the pope noted. David thought, “‘If my God humiliates me like this, He knows,’ because the nobility of prayer leaves us in the hands of God. Those hands, wounds of love: the only safe hands we have.”
In his catechesis, Francis looked at two characteristics of David’s life and vocation: that he was a shepherd and that he was a poet.
David “is a sensitive person who loves music and singing,” the pope noted. “The harp will always accompany him: sometimes to raise a hymn of joy to God (cf. 2 Samuel 6:16), other times to express a lament, or to confess his sin (cf. Psalm 51:3).”
“His gaze catches, behind the unraveling of things, a greater mystery,” he said, adding that “prayer arises from there: from the belief that life is not something that slides into us, but an amazing mystery, which evokes in us poetry, music, gratitude, praise, or lamentation, supplication.”
Francis explained that though David often did not live up to his task as a “good shepherd” and king, in the context of salvation history David is the “prophecy of another King, of whom he is only an announcement and prefiguration.”
“Beloved by God since he was a boy, he is chosen for a unique mission, which will play a central role in the history of the people of God and our own faith,” he said.
In his greeting to Spanish speakers after his catechesis, Pope Francis noted the 7.4 magnitude earthquake which struck the state of Oaxaca in southern Mexico Tuesday, resulting in injuries and at least two deaths, as well as extensive damage.
“We pray for all of them. May the help of God and brothers give you strength and support. Brothers and sisters, I am very close to you,” he said.
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Vatican City, Jan 25, 2021 / 05:30 am (CNA).- Pope Francis sent a video message Sunday to Latin American Church leaders organizing a “synodal” regional assembly, in which he asked them not to be ideological elites, but to remain close to th… […]
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.
Pope Francis blesses a newly married couple during his general audience on Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2024, in the Paul VI Audience Hall at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media
CNA Staff, Apr 29, 2025 / 15:19 pm (CNA).
In an exhortation to young peopl… […]
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At times good or less good, prayer is a faithful companion.
At times good or less good, prayer is a faithful companion.