The Bishop’s Palace in Kraków, southern Poland. / Mazur/catholicnews.org.uk. See CNA article for full slideshow.
Krakow, Poland, Mar 9, 2022 / 10:45 am (CNA).
The former residence of St. John Paul II in the Polish city of Kraków has opened its doors to Ukrainian refugees.
The Catholic Archdiocese of Kraków said on March 9 that Archbishop Marek Jędraszewski had welcomed people fleeing the Ukraine war to the city’s Bishop’s Palace.
Karol Wojtyła, the future John Paul II, lived at residence from 1958 to 1978 when he was archbishop of Kraków.
He returned to the palace in 1979, after his election as pope, addressing young people from a window above the entrance, now known as the “Papal Window.” He also spoke from the window in 2002, during his ninth and final papal visit to his homeland.
Since the 14th century, Kraków’s bishops have resided at the palace, which is the city’s second largest after Wawel, the residence of Poland’s kings.
According to the U.N. refugee agency, more than 2.1 million people had fled Ukraine as of March 8. Almost 1.3 million of them have traveled to Poland.
The Archdiocese of Kraków said that every parish is involved in the effort to welcome refugees following the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24.
It explained that several thousand refugees were currently being housed in rectories, pilgrim houses, religious houses, and other Church buildings.
Speaking at the Diocesan Sanctuary of St. John of God, Jędraszewski said: “As children of the same God, we are called to a particular fraternity and a sense of great solidarity, to generosity, to readiness to renounce what we have lived for the sake of those who come to us with one bag in hand and a child in the other.”
John Paul II, who led the Church until his death in 2005, became the first pope of the modern era to visit Ukraine in 2001.
In his 2004 message for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees, he wrote: “I deeply hope that every ecclesial community, made up of migrants and refugees and those who receive them and drawing inspiration from the sources of grace, will untiringly engage in the construction of peace. May no one let injustice, difficulties or inconvenience be a discouragement!”
“If the ‘dream’ of a peaceful world is shared by all, if the refugees’ and migrants’ contribution is properly evaluated, then humanity can become more and more of a universal family and our earth a true ‘common home.’”
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Rome Newsroom, May 3, 2020 / 08:30 am (CNA).- The liquefaction of the blood of the early Church martyr St. Januarius occurred Saturday amid the coronavirus lockdown, leading the Archbishop of Naples to bless the city with the miraculous relic.
“Dear friends, I have a big announcement to make: even in this time of coronavirus, the Lord through the intercession of St. Januarius has liquified the blood!” Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe said May 2.
Cardinal Sepe, the Archbishop of Naples, offered a Mass via video livestream from the Cathedral of the Assumption of Mary to celebrate the recurring miracle, and then used the relic of the liquified blood to bless the city.
“How many times our saint has intervened to save us from the plague, from cholera. St. Januarius is the true soul of Naples,” he said in his homily.
St. Januarius, or San Gennaro in Italian, the patron of Naples, was a bishop of the city in the third century, whose bones and blood are preserved in the cathedral as relics. He is believed to have been martyred during Diocletian persecution.
The reputed miracle is locally known and accepted, though has not been the subject of official Church recognition. The liquefaction reportedly happens at least three times a year: Sept. 19, the saint’s feast day, the Saturday before the first Sunday of May, and Dec. 16, the anniversary of the 1631 eruption of Mount Vesuvius.
During the miracle, the dried, red-colored mass confined to one side of the reliquary becomes blood that covers the entire glass. In local lore, the failure of the blood to liquefy signals war, famine, disease or other disaster.
“Naples has never given up in the face of the misfortunes that have affected it,” Sepe said.
The cardinal praised the health care workers who are serving those infected by the coronavirus in the city. Naples is the capital of the region of Campania, where 4,459 people have been documented with COVID-19 by the Italian Ministry of Health.
“But there is another possible epidemic that worries me in the most dangerous neighborhoods in the city,” Sepe said, referring to the Camorra, the Neapolitan mafia.
“There are those who are good at making a fortune in times of epidemic. … Let’s move, intervene immediately, because the underworld is faster than our bureaucracy. The Camorra does not wait. It is up to us to get rid of all [criminal] organizations. We must overcome and affirm the right to hope,” the cardinal said.
Amid Italy’s lockdown, anti-mafia experts have warned that Italy’s criminal organizations could take advantage of the redirection of police resources, and profit from the government stimulus that could inadvertently fund mafia-controlled industries.
The coronavirus lockdown also prevented the traditional procession for the miracle of St. Januarius from taking place. This procession had even continued in Naples during World War II, according to ACI Stampa.
Public Masses have not been allowed in Italy for the past eight weeks under the country’s coronavirus restrictions.
The president of the Italian bishops’ conference, Cardinal Gualtiero Bassetti said May 2 that the bishops had reached an agreement with the government, and that he expects public Masses to resume “in the coming weeks” if the infection curve flattens.
“As a Church, we have certainly shared in suffering the limitations imposed to protect the health of all,” he said.
Pope Francis greets thousands of children and their families as he makes his way through St. Peter’s Square during the first World Children’s Day, Saturday, May 26, 2024. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA
Vatican City, May 26, 2024 / 13:15 pm (CNA).
After an exuberant kick-off event on Saturday for the first World Children’s Day, Pope Francis gathered together with tens of thousands of children in St. Peter’s Square for Mass on this feast of the Holy Trinity. A piercing early summer sun moved everyone — from nuns to the boys’ choir — to shade their heads with colorful hats.
Thousands gather in St. Peter’s Square in Rome on Saturday, May 26, 2024, for the first World Children’s Day with Pope Francis. Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA
The creation of a World Children’s Day was announced by the pope on December 8, 2023, at the midday Angelus. The idea for it was suggested to the pope by a 9-year-old boy in an exchange shortly before World Youth Day in Lisbon.
Among the special guests at the Mass was Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who together with her daughter Ginevra, met the Pope briefly before the Mass.
With this first event complete, Francis announced at the end of the festivities today that the next World Children’s Day will be held in September 2026.
Among the special guests at the Mass for the first World Children’s Day was Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who together with her daughter Ginevra, met the pope briefly before the Mass on Saturday, May 26, 2024. Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA
The One who accompanies us
The Holy Father, smiling and clearly happy to be surrounded by children, completely improvised his homily, making it a brief and memorable lesson on the Holy Trinity.
“Dear boys and girls, we are here to pray together to God,” he began. But then counting on his fingers and enumerating, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, he asked, “But how many gods are there?”As the crowd answered “one,” the pope praised them and started talking of each of the Persons of the Holy Trinity.
He began with God the Father — “who created us all, who loves us so much” — asking the children how we pray to him. They quickly answered with the “Our Father.”
Pope Francis went on to speak of the second person of the Trinity, after the children called out his name — Jesus — as the one who forgives all of our sins.
When he got to the Holy Spirit, the pope admitted that envisioning this person of the Trinity is more difficult.
“Who is the Holy Spirit? Eh, it is not easy …,” he said.
“Because the Holy Spirit is God, He is within us. We receive the Holy Spirit in Baptism, we receive Him in the Sacraments. The Holy Spirit is the one who accompanies us in life.”
Using this last phrase, the Pope invited the children to repeat the idea a number of times: “He is the one accompanies us in life.”
“He is the one who tells us in our hearts the good things we need to do,” the Pope said, having the kids repeat the phrase again: “He is the one who when we do something wrong rebukes us inside.”
The pope speaks to thousands of children and many others who gathered in St. Peter’s Square on Saturday for the first World Children’s Day on the feast of the Holy Trinity. May 26, 2024. Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA
The pope ended the homily thanking the children and also reminding them that “we also have a mother,” asking them how we pray to her. They answered “with the Hail Mary.” The pope encouraged them to pray for parents, for grandparents, and for sick children.
“There are so many sick children beside me” he said, as he indicated the children in wheelchairs near the altar. “Always pray, and especially pray for peace, for there to be no wars.”
Applauding the grandparents
The pope frequently urges young people to seek out their grandparents, and the give-and-take of his homily gave the impression of a beloved grandpa surrounded by his grandkids. He insisted that the kids quiet down for the time of prayer.
When the Mass concluded, and after praying the midday Angelus, the pope summarized the lessons of the homily: “Dear children, Mass is over. And today, we’ve talked about God: God the Father who created the world, God the Son, who redeemed us, and God the Holy Spirit … what did we say about the Holy Spirit? I don’t remember!”
The children needed no further invitation to answer loudly that “the Holy Spirit accompanies us in life.” Joking that he couldn’t hear well, the Pope had them say it again even louder, and then prayed the Glory Be with them.
Pope Francis speaks with a group of children in St. Peter’s Square in Rome during the first World Day of Children on Saturday, May 26, 2024. Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA
The pope also asked for a round of applause for all the grandparents, noting that at the Presentation of the Gifts, a grandfather had accompanied a group of children who brought forward the bread and wine.
Dreaming and dragons
After the closing procession, Italian actor Roberto Benigni took the stage for a lively and inspirational monologue that combined good humor and life lessons.
While Benigni is known especially to the English-speaking world for his role in Oscar-winning Life is Beautiful, in Italy he’s also known for his commentaries on important issues, combined with his exuberant humor.
“When I was a boy, I wanted to be pope,” he told the audience.
Urging the children to read — “Kids need to read everything!” — he paraphrased G.K. Chesterton who insisted that fairy tales are important: “Fairy tales do not tell children the dragons exist. Children already know that dragons exist. Fairy tales tell children the dragons can be killed,” Chesterton said.
Italian actor Roberto Benigni speaks at the World Children’s Day in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican. He took the stage for a lively and inspirational monologue that combined good humor with a call for children to read and to dream. Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA
“Dream!” Benigni urged the children. “It’s the most beautiful thing in the world. But I want to tell you a secret. You’ll tell me you know how to dream; you’ll say you just have to close your eyes, sleep, and dream. … No, no. I’ll tell you a secret — to dream, you don’t have to close your eyes. You have to open them! You have to open your eyes, read, write, invent.”
The actor emphasized the need to be peacemakers, saying that the Sermon on the Mount contains “the only good idea” that’s ever been expressed. War is the “most stupid sin,” he lamented.
“War must end,” Benigni insisted, going on to quote a famous author of children’s literature. “You will tell me: That is a dream, it is a fairy tale. Yes, it is, but as Gianni Rodari said, ‘Fairy tales can become reality, they can become true!’”
A priest has resigned as a parish pastor after he performed a same-sex civil union ceremony in the town hall of the Italian town of Sant’Oreste. The priest is not expected to return to ministry for at least a year.
On July 11, Fr. Emanuel Moscatelli officiated at a ceremony in which two women, friends of the priest, contracted a civil union, in a ceremony described in the Italian media as a wedding.
The priest did not wear liturgical vestments, wearing instead a red, white, and green ceremonial sash, often worn by mayors and other Italian civic officials when conducting government business. Moscatelli was delegated by Valentina Pina, the town’s mayor, to perform the ceremony.
News of the ceremony was first reported by Italian news agency ADN Kronos July 20. On the same day, Bishop Romano Rossi of Civita announced that the priest had resigned as pastor of St. Lorenzo’s Parish in Sant’Oreste, of his own free will.
In a statement published July 20, Rossi said he had met with Moscatelli July 14, and the priest had agreed to resign his ministry, and to “take a reasonable period of reflection to recover clarity and the joy of his priestly ministry in the concrete reality of the world of today.”
“Fr. Emanuel expressed his full trust in the Church as mother, and in his bishop, and is fully accepting of the plan that I will propose.”
“I made him understand the mess he made, I can understand that in certain circumstances of weakness, friendship or the spirit of the time comes into play, but celebrating a civil union is too much,” Rossi told Italian news site La Nuova Bussola.
“Now I have the duty of helping this priest of mine to see clearly inside himself. And relaunching his priestly life on new foundations, I believe there is room for recovery after the mistake he made. Anyway, let’s take a year and let’s see,” the bishop added.
In his initial statement, Rossi said that he aims to convey to Moscatelli “clarity on a doctrinal level, and communion on a pastoral level” during his period outside of active ministry, which the bishop said will take place in Milan, north of Sant O’reste.
Same-sex marriage is not legal in Italy, but same-sex civil unions have been legal since 2016, and are often contracted in ceremonies resembling wedding celebrations.
It is not clear whether the priest will face a canonical penalty or process in response to his actions. Canon 1369 of the Code of Canon Law says that “A person is to be punished with a just penalty who, at a public event or assembly…gravely harms public morals, or rails at or excites hatred of or contempt for religion or the Church.”
The Catholic Church teaches that while homosexual acts are “sins gravely contrary to chastity,” it teaches also that those who identify as gay or lesbian should “be accepted with respect, compassion and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided.”
On the question of civil unions, in 2003, the Vatican’s Congregation for Doctrine of the Faith taught that “respect for homosexual persons cannot lead in any way to approval of homosexual behavior or to legal recognition of homosexual unions.”
“In those situations where homosexual unions have been legally recognized or have been given the legal status and rights belonging to marriage, clear and emphatic opposition is a duty. One must refrain from any kind of formal cooperation in the enactment or application of such gravely unjust laws and, as far as possible, from material cooperation on the level of their application. In this area, everyone can exercise the right to conscientious objection,” the CDF added.
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