Cardinal Claudio Gugerotti, prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Eastern Churches, during an interview at the Vatican on Dec. 11, 2024. / Credit: EWTN News
Vatican City, Mar 18, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).
The prefect of the Holy See’s Dicastery for the Eastern Churches, Cardinal Claudio Gugerotti, asked bishops to avoid promoting fundraising events that would duplicate the Pontifical Collection for the Holy Land taken up on Good Friday.
“Please, avoid our churches promoting similar collections for this same purpose, so that the meaning and effectiveness of your charity, which responds to the universal initiative of the successor of Peter, the bishop of Rome, are not undercut,” the cardinal stated in a letter released Monday.
“Everything you have collected can be sent directly to this dicastery by the commissariats of the Holy Land in your country,” he added in the letter, which was also signed by the secretary of the Holy See’s Dicastery for the Eastern Churches, Archbishop Michel Jalakh.
The goal of the annual collection is to raise funds to sustain the holy sites and the charitable works carried out there. Ultimately, it aims to alleviate the suffering and needs of those Christians who, despite the difficulties, remain in the Holy Land.
“I feel a great responsibility to address the Catholic bishops, in the name of the Holy Father, to convey to you the call of the Church in response to the cry of those who are suffering terribly,” wrote Gugerotti, who also said he is “encouraged” by the recent truce between Israel and Hamas.
The prelate noted that with the truce there are no new explosions and unconsolable anguish is not being perpetuated.
The cardinal said the ceasefire, which has allowed the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza and the West Bank, is “fragile” and “will not suffice to resolve the problems” and “extinguish hatred.”
This year’s collection is indispensable
Gugerotti pointed out that this year the collection has become an “essential resource,” especially after the pandemic, which caused the “almost complete interruption of pilgrimages” and led to many Christians leaving the Holy Land.
“If we want to strengthen the Holy Land and ensure living contact with the holy places, it is necessary to sustain the Christian communities that, in their diversity, offer perennial praise to God-with-us, also in our name. But for this to be realized, we absolutely need the generous gift of your communities,” he urged.
The prelate reiterated that those living in the Holy Land, “beginning with the children, have the right to live in peace” and to once again “have homes and schools, to play together, without the fear of seeing the satanic smile of death again.”
“For us Christians, the holy places have a particular value: They are the incarnation of the Incarnation. They have been protected since the beginning by Christian communities, in the variety of their diverse traditions, and for centuries the Friars Minor of the Custody have cared for them with admirable fidelity,” he pointed out.
After more than a year of conflict, Gugerotti lamented “we have seen tears, despair, and destruction everywhere.”
The prelate said his hope is that “the triumph of inflicted death will not become an eternal victory” but that “the hope will return to us of seeing the Risen One, Jesus Christ Our Lord, who, precisely on that land, showed, alive, the wounds of his passion.”
The cardinal also cited the letter Pope Francis addressed to the Catholics of the Middle East on Oct. 7, 2024, encouraging them not to “let yourselves be engulfed by the darkness that surrounds you. Planted in your sacred lands, become sprouts of hope, because the light of faith leads you to testify to love amid words of hatred, to encounter amid growing confrontation, to unity amid increasing hostility.”
For Gugerotti, helping them is a duty of all Catholics. “Immediately comes to mind our duty — and I use this term with trembling, but decisively — to hasten, as soon as possible in a concrete way, to help life be reborn.”
“The Holy Land, the holy places, the holy people of God are your family, because they are the heritage of all of us. I ask you to consider the collection as one of your pastoral priorities: The survival of this precious presence of ours, which dates back directly to the time of Jesus, is at stake here,” he explained.
The cardinal praised the work of the Friars Minor of the Custody, who “care with admirable fidelity” for these holy places, and once again emphasized the need to financially support the Christian communities.
“I would like you, brother bishops, remembering the images of destruction and death that have constantly passed before your eyes in these times of a new Calvary, to become persuasive apostles of this commitment,” he said.
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
[…]
If the Pope gets to decide from afar, what role in worship does the local Ordinate have? Does he just enforce the dictates of the Pope or does he not have a say over the manner in which his flock engages Our Lord in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass? I understand he has charge over catechesis, confirmation and ordination; but, does he not also form the conscience of the flock under his care? I feel pity for any Bishop who wishes to grow his flock, instill right worship and true devotion and ONLY have one tool in his tool chest with with to accomplish his task: the NO Missae of Paul VI.
Every bishop of a diocese is a successor to an apostle and is sole the sole authority in his diocese. No bishop or Pope can in anway impose their personal views or opinions on any bishop/apostle of a diocese. Pope Francis is going way beyond his role as the successor of Peter.
There can be honest disagreement about the direction in which PF is leading the Church, but this tendency to micro-manage the bishops is surely unsettling to the liberal mind.
Fortunately, in my diocese we are ignoring Traditionis Custodes. And should things get uglier after April 3, plans are already being made to continue with the TLM with a diocesan priest and a real church location. The octogenarian modernists have already lost. They just don’t realize it yet, so blinded are they by envy and hate.
You’re a schismatic. Your bishop does not have the authority to ignore TC. Stop making an idol out of the TLM and start being Catholic.
Dear Friend,
When was the last time you attended a solemn high mass? When was the last time you knelt at the altar of the communion rail to receive Our Lord and do your part to finalize the oblation? When did you last gaze at the pews full of well dressed, well behaved young people, sitting with their (many) siblings and parents attentively “assisting” in the holy offering? Tell me, Friend, when did you last walk into a Catholic Church and NOT fear trampling on the precious body of Our Lord and savior? Every piece, every fraction, every fragment is the WHOLE of His body. He gets handed out like a carnival ticket in the NO Missae. I’ve seen fragments get trampled, or nearly so, because of insensitive, haughty and arrogant, modernist “Catholics” who don’t even believe in the Real Presence. The abuses are plain scandalous and shocking. Do a deep dive this Lent like I did 2 years ago when my local NO priest shut us out of the church for fear of a cold virus. Seek out that which you condemn and go. Study the counsel and its deeply jaded and nefarious players. Start with Michael Davies. He’s a good place to start. God bless. Don’t condemn. God is at the TLM. MAKE NO MISTAKE ABOUT IT.
Right, Mr. Tabish. Turning my back on the NO in 2018, I’ve never looked back except to lament the loss of God’s people still stuck there.
Scooter is correct. Pope Francis’ order may be mean-spirited, it may be vicious, it may be malevolent, it may be intended to damage the church–but it is also unquestionably lawful and proper for the pope to approve or disapprove of any liturgical format he sees fit, whether from worthy or unworthy motives. He may have adopted a double standard in dealing with the heterodox, whom he favors, and the orthodox, whom he detests. It does not matter. A lawful order is a lawful order. It doesn’t have to be nice. It doesn’t have to please our sensibilities in order to demand our obedience. Francis has as much right to suppress the TLM as Pope St. Pius V did to suppress many pre-Trenten liturgies, which he did do at the same time he issued the prototype of the Tridentine Mass. If Francis were to order bishops and priests to hold church “weddings” for same-sex couples, that order would have to be defied because it would be an unlawful, immoral order which seeks to overturn the natural law, something no man or woman can do, least of all the pope. But this does not do that. It has been said by some saints that Christ values obedience to the lawful exercise of proper church authority by duly empowered actors above all else, regardless of whether that authority is exercised in a wise or kind manner. Perhaps this is a test of obedience to and by Christ. If so, then anyone who counsels defiance of the order is failing that test. “Scooter Toloody” has said what needs to be said. Francis has as much right to crack down on the TLM as Benedict did to widen its use.
Actually it is not lawful. Read the documents of VII and consult a Canon Lawyer.
Mr. Norton, if you care to read Pius V’s document Quo Primum you will quickly conclude that Pope Francis does not have the legal authority to dispense with the TLM. It is very clear.
It is an unlawful order. The Pope does not own the Church. It is not his possession or plaything. He is charged with preserving the Church, instructing the Church in Truth, not in falsehoods. By your logic, the Pope would be within his authority to outlaw the praying of the rosary. This is extent that papolatry has reached in our era.
Bishops chose to ignore the Vatican regarding the blessing of same sex relationships, yet no one screams schism at them. Communion on the hand was banned by the Vatican, but many Bishops ignored that too. The latin mass was never banned, indeed it can never be banned as the Trent declared an anathema on anyone, including a Pope who alters or bans it.
When the Holy See is schismatic, how can defiance of its anti-canonical actions be schismatic? Not everyone idolizes clown and tango Masses like Francis, nor do they value his mendacity.
How rigid of you!.
Just like Our Lord asks of we Eye pluckers. Love your satire.
Not concerned about the pronouncements of Pope Scooter.
What is significant about April 3″
Rumours abound that on that date there will be issued tighter still restrictions on the TLM.
But go to the Rorate Caeli website where it is strongly averred that PF is losing interest in the liturgy war.
Pope Francis has also confirmed, through his lack of any disciplinary actions taken against the ‘dirty schism’ German Bishops, that if you want to perform immoral acts in the Catholic Mass, go to a Progressive Catholic Church in Germany to do so. Pope Francis confirms that you do not need any Vatican permission to do so.
For crying out loud, it’s time for traditional Catholics to practice the same manner of noncompliance that the DemoCatholics already do to support abortion, same-sex deviancy and whatever other demon driven things they allow for.
Scooter Toloody,
Name-calling… the blunt instrument of thoughtless, last ditch argument. Your judgmental and mean-spirited posting is perfectively representative of Pope Francis and his ilk. Congratulations. A little charity ( and humility) on your part would go a long way.
I suggest you follow Mr. Tabish’s soul-saving advice and get to know that which you condemn. I pray for you to find peace of soul.
Is the letter of Pope Francis’, Guardian of Tradition, a magistrial teaching or simply his personal view point as regards the latin liturgy? Clarification is needed in order to stop all the disunity that is prevailing by this issue.
There can be honest disagreement about the direction in which PF is leading the Church, but this tendency to micro-manage the bishops is surely unsettling to the liberal mind.
What previous generations considered sacred remains sacred and can not be abrogated. The problem within the church is the laity are informed of the dubious formation of the Novus ordo, and the manipulation by its designer (Fr.Bugnini). Young Catholics are attracted to the consistent celebration of the tlm, and the spiritual depth of its customs. Young priests are attracted to its direction of prayers to the sacrifice of Christ to the heavenly Father. The Vatican must be aware of the abuses within the N.O, and foster with the bishops an authentic celebration of the N.O ad orientem with the use of some Latin with gregorian chant. Right now priests are celebrating without consistent guidance. Draconian leadership will only foster more strife and confusion within the ranks.