Pope Francis blesses a baby at the General Audience in St. Peter’s Square on Nov. 22, 2017. / Daniel Ibanez/CNA.
Vatican City, Mar 1, 2022 / 05:55 am (CNA).
The Vatican on Tuesday amended its law to include three days of paid paternity leave for employees who have a new child through birth or adoption.
The March 1 rescript, which was approved by Pope Francis in December 2021, added an article to the Vatican’s 2017 law on family benefits for lay employees.
The law already included five months of paid maternity leave, in line with Italy’s national maternity leave policies.
The law also foresaw a transfer of maternity leave to the father in the circumstance that the mother died or was physically incapacitated after birth.
From March 1, an employee who is a new father — through birth, adoption, or fostering — will have the right to be off for three working days while receiving his full salary.
The article 10bis was added to the section on parental leave.
The Vatican on Tuesday also updated the General Regulations of the Roman Curia to introduce the possibility of offering “on-call work contracts,” also sometimes called “intermittent work contracts.”
The “on-call work contracts” are a subcategory of the “fixed-term contracts” already offered by the Roman Curia and included in the general regulations.
“For the performance of discontinuous or intermittent services, for technical, organizational or replacement needs, or if in particular periods the need arises for not predetermined services, the Authorities in charge of the individual Entities may stipulate fixed-term contracts denominated ‘on call,’ provided that they are within the limits of its own budget,” the new article states.
The law also says that on-call work contracts should not exceed 665 days of work within a five-year period. Personnel employed under such contracts will be enrolled in the Vatican’s pension fund, but under a separate management.
Both of Tuesday’s texts were signed by the Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, who said that Pope Francis had granted the incorporation of the new articles into existing Vatican and Holy See law in a meeting with him on Dec. 13, 2021.
Parolin said that the law on intermittent work contracts would go into effect as soon as the separate management within the pension fund has been set up.
If you value the news and views Catholic World Report provides, please consider donating to support our efforts. Your contribution will help us continue to make CWR available to all readers worldwide for free, without a subscription. Thank you for your generosity!
Click here for more information on donating to CWR. Click here to sign up for our newsletter.
Fr. Stuart Long | Mark Wahlberg as Fr. Stu / Diocese of Helena | Sony Pictures
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Nov 5, 2022 / 10:00 am (CNA).
A new PG-13 version of Mark Wahlberg’s latest Catholic film, “Father Stu,” is coming back to the big screen … […]
Archbishop José H. Gomez places the Book of Gospels and a cross on the coffin of Bishop David O’Connell before leading a procession at Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, in downtown Los Angeles on March 3, 2023. / Photo by Jay L. Clendenin-Pool/Getty Images
CNA Newsroom, Mar 3, 2023 / 16:56 pm (CNA).
Thousands gathered Friday for the funeral of slain Los Angeles Auxiliary Bishop David O’Connell, who was remembered as “a friend of Jesus Christ” and the poor.
Archbishop José Gomez presided over the funeral Mass, held at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles. Speaking briefly at the conclusion of the liturgy, Gomez said “Bishop Dave,” as O’Connell was affectionately known, would be sorely missed, but “we know that he’s in heaven.”
“From there he’s going to continue to intercede for us,” Gomez said, “as he has done his whole life.”
O’Connell, 69, a popular Irish-born priest who worked on myriad social causes in South L.A. for the past 45 years, died Feb. 18 after being shot multiple times in his Hacienda Heights home, according to District Attorney George Gascón. Carlos Medina, the husband of O’Connell’s housekeeper, has admitted to murdering the bishop, Gascón said in a Feb. 22 press conference.
One of O’Connell’s closest friends, Monsignor Jarlath “Jay” Cunnane, gave the homily at Friday’s Mass.
“We’re heartbroken with you,” he said, speaking to O’Connell’s relatives sitting in the packed cathedral. “But thank you and your parents and those who’ve gone before you for giving us the blessing of him.”
Monsignor Jarlath (Jay) Cunnane speaks at the funeral Mass of Bishop David O’Connell at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in downtown Los Angeles on March 3, 2023. Credit: YouTube/olaCathedral
The Holy Father’s message, which was first shared with attendees at a memorial Mass for O’Connell on Wednesday, was shared again at the beginning of Mass Friday.
“To those gathered for the Mass of Christian burial and to all who mourn Bishop O’Connell’s loss in the sure hope of the resurrection, the Holy Father cordially imparts his blessing as a pledge of peace and consolation in the Lord,” Gomez said, reading the statement, which was signed by Vatican secretary of state Cardinal Pietro Parolin.
Following the reading from the Gospel of Matthew, Cunnane described O’Connell as “David, the friend of Jesus Christ; David, the friend of the poor.”
Said Cunnane: “I can’t imagine having walked that road without David at my side. I’m sure I would have got lost. I would have gone astray.” He said that O’Connell “was good at friendship” and was his “Anam Cara,” Gaelic for “soul friend.”
“He was a friend of souls. David did soul work. He spoke to the soul. He healed souls. He brought peace to souls,” Cunnane said, adding that “more than anything else … Bishop Dave was a friend of Jesus Christ and of Mary our Blessed Mother.”
Cunnane spoke about O’Connell’s devotion to the rosary and the Blessed Mother and mentioned his strong prayer life in recent years.
“For Dave life was, and especially in the recent years, life was prayer. Life was in the presence of Christ, and that is what he shared. Yes, he helped the poor. Yes, he fought for justice. But most of all, what he wanted to share was that encounter with Jesus Christ,” he said.
Cunnane added that he has battled sickness over the past number of years, which has hospitalized him. He said that O’Connell faithfully visited him in the hospital every day.
“I think I hear the Lord say to you, ‘My friend David O’Connell, come, blessed of my Father, enter the kingdom prepared for you from the beginning of creation,’” Cunnane concluded.
‘The rock of the family’
David O’Connell, Bishop O’Connell’s nephew, offered remarks about his uncle before the Mass concluded.
“Uncle Dave was an inspiration for us throughout our whole lives and he will remain to be so,” O’Connell said.
“He taught us that if you have the capacity to help someone, you should do it. I can hear him so clearly in my mind saying, ‘Ah, it’s no problem I can do it.’ All he wanted to do was make things easier for everyone else and he never asked for a single thing in return, ever.”
Bishop David O’Connell’s nephew, David O’Connell, speaks at the bishop’s funeral Mass at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in downtown Los Angeles on March 3, 2023. Credit: YouTube/olaCathedral
O’Connell said that his uncle would consistently offer his prayers for his nieces and nephews as they encountered challenges in their lives.
“He never ended a phone call without telling me how proud he was of me,” O’Connell said, fighting back tears.
“He was really the rock of the family, the one we went to for advice, and for support. We are all heartbroken,” he said.
O’Connell said that a new opportunity presents itself following his uncle’s death.
“We now all have the opportunity to pick up where he left off and carry the example that he set. Help those that you can help. Lend an ear and listen to people. Respect each other. Be considerate and give others the benefit of the doubt. Have patience, and give everyone a chance. Make sure that those who are closest to you know that you love them and that you are proud of them,” he said.
“Uncle Dave, we all love you so much. I am so sorry that you will not be here for all the things that are to come in our lives, at least not in person,” he said. “Until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of his hand.”
Leave a Reply