Pope Francis praying at the Mass in suffrage for the cardinals and bishops who have died in the past year, Nov. 2, 2022. / Vatican Media
Vatican City, Oct 12, 2024 / 09:00 am (CNA).
Pope Francis expressed in a letter Saturday a desire that each of the 21 new cardinals to be added in December will be more of a “servant” than an “eminence.”
The pope’s brief letter, published Oct. 12, also welcomed the cardinals-designate to membership in the “Roman clergy,” which Francis called “an expression of the Church’s unity and of the bond that unites all the Churches with this Church of Rome.”
The pontiff announced after the Angelus Oct. 6 that he will add 21 men — 19 bishops and three priests — to the College of Cardinals in a consistory later this year.
The future cardinals come from countries on every continent, and include archbishops from the countries of Iraq, Brazil, and Italy. They will be elevated to the College of Cardinals in a ceremony in St. Peter’s Basilica on Dec. 7.
The pope will also offer a Mass of thanksgiving with the cardinals on Dec. 8, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception.
Pope Francis in his letter encouraged the men to pray often, to love everyone, and to have mercy on the suffering.
“I thank you for your generosity and I assure you of my prayers that the title of ‘servant’ (deacon) will increasing eclipse that of ‘eminence,’” the pope told the future cardinals.
He also asked them to embody three attitudes the Argentinian poet Francisco Luis Bernárdez once used to describe St. John of the Cross: “eyes raised, hands joined, feet bare.”
“Eyes raised, because your service will require you to lengthen your gaze and broaden your heart, in order to see farther and to love more expansively and with greater fervor,” he said.
He quoted his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, who said St. John of the Cross sat “at the school of his gaze,” which is “the pierced side of Christ.”
Another important attitude, Francis said, is hands joined in prayer for discernment, “because what the Church most needs — together with the preaching of the Gospel — is your prayer to be able to shepherd well the flock of Christ.”
He added that to have bare feet means to be close to the difficult realities faced by people around the world, including “the pain and suffering due to war, discrimination, persecution, hunger and many forms of poverty.”
“These will demand from you great compassion and mercy,” the pope said.
One of the cardinals-designate, retired apostolic nuncio Archbishop Angelo Acerbi, is already over the age of 80 and no longer eligible to vote in a future conclave.
Cardinal-designate Father Timothy Radcliffe, O.P., will turn 80 on Aug. 22 next year. Radcliffe is one of two spiritual leaders for the Synod on Synodality taking place this month in Rome
Among the 21 new cardinals, a total of nine are currently in Rome to participate in the second session of the synod Oct. 2-27.
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Vatican City, Nov 3, 2017 / 02:53 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- This week, representatives from Catholic universities around the world are gathered in Rome to study how higher education can better respond to the global migrant and refugee crisis, particularly when it comes to research.
Catholic universities have a lot of potential, and “it was thought that if this potential was put at the service of one of the principal concerns of the Holy Father, migrants and refugees, we can really make a change, make a difference in respect to what was done before,” Fr. Fabio Baggio told CNA.
One of two undersecretaries for the migrants and refugees section of the Vatican dicastery for Integral Human Development, Baggio spoke ahead of a conference organized by Catholic universities around the world, titled “Migrants and Refugees in a Globalized World: the Response of Universities.”
Happening in Rome Nov. 1-4, the conference is organized by the International Federation of Catholic Universities (IFCU) in partnership with the Being the Blessing Foundation, the Pontifical Gregorian University, and the Center for Interreligious Understanding.
In his comments to CNA, Baggio said as soon as the dicastery heard about the initiative, they offered their support, and are hopeful that “the good practices that some universities already have can be applied, multiplied and that many others can do it.”
Baggio also voiced his hope that the universities would be able to build a stronger network in order to both share resources among the wealthier universities and those with less funding, and to share best practices.
Key goals for the conference include garnering a better understanding of the reality of the global migrant and refugee crisis, studying the different approaches to teaching university students about the issue, and exploring various ways to respond to the need for higher education of those living in refugee camps.
Various representatives from Catholic universities throughout the world are speaking on the issue from their local perspectives, and exchanging ideas on how to conduct better research in order to come up with concrete action points when responding to the educational needs of migrants.
The topic of migrants and refugees has been among the leading issues of Pope Francis’ pontificate. Not only does he address it in many of his speeches, but he has chosen to directly oversee the migrant and refugee section of the dicastery for Integral Human Development.
Fr. Baggio technically works under dicastery president Cardinal Peter Turkson. However, he reports directly to the Pope on the topic of migrants and refugees. He said Francis has been very clear about the issue from the beginning.
“The Holy Father was very clear the first time he spoke about this in Strasbourg (and) he was very clear when he received the Charlemagne Prize here in Rome, where he said that Europe must rediscover its roots, cultural roots and the roots of civilization,” he said.
“The moment in which we abdicate that which we built as a civilization, is the moment when we completely annul everything, we are resigned,” he said, explaining that in Europe, “we are in the cradle of law and the cradle of human rights and the cradle of dignity.”
“So I say that in this sense it’s a great invitation for Europe to rediscover her own roots, and to go forward with a great project of unity for all peoples, not being afraid of losing one’s own identity, but on the contrary, to be enriched with the wealth that others bring.”
Pope Francis will be meeting with conference participants Saturday, Sept. 4, to close out the event, to discuss what he believes universities can and should be doing when it comes to the migrant and refugee crisis.
Vatican City, May 3, 2019 / 10:22 am (CNA).- Pope Francis Friday offered a critique of captialism’s impact on the environment, calling for a response that hears “the cry of the Earth and the cry of the poor.”
Pope Benedict XVI arrives in St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican for the Oct. 21, 2012, canonization ceremony for Jacques Berthieu, Pedro Calungsod, Giovanni Battista Piamarta, Maria Carmen Salles y Barangueras, Marianne Cope, Caterina (Kateri) Tekakwitha, and Anna Schaffer. / Photo by Franco Origlia/Getty Images
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jan 2, 2023 / 14:00 pm (CNA).
During his pontificate, Pope Benedict XVI beatified 870 people and canonized a total of 45 saints. Though his papacy was relatively short, spanning from 2005 to 2013, the 45 people whom he declared saints are models of faith and holiness, celebrated by Catholics all over the world.
Here are seven of the best-known saints Pope Benedict XVI canonized:
St. Kateri Tekakwitha
St. Kateri Tekakwitha, or “Lily of the Mohawks,” was the first Native American saint to be canonized. Born in what is today New York state, she was the daughter of a Mohawk father and a Christian Algonquin mother. She was baptized at age 21 and fled persecution to St. Francis Xavier Mission near Montreal, Canada, joining a community of Native American women who had also converted to Christianity. She is remembered for her suffering, devout faith, courage, and her purity. St. Kateri died on April 17, 1680, at age 24.
Statue of St. Kateri Tekakwitha with lily. Shutterstock
She was canonized by Benedict XVI on Oct. 21, 2012. He said: “Kateri impresses us by the action of grace in her life despite the absence of external help and by the courage of her vocation, so unusual in her culture. In her, faith and culture enrich each other! May her example help us to live where we are, loving Jesus without denying who we are.”
St. Hildegard of Bingen
St. Hildegard of Bingen was an abbess, artist, author, composer, mystic, pharmacist, poet, preacher, and theologian from Germany. Born in 1098, in her late teens she became a Benedictine nun at the Monastery of Saint Disibodenberg. From the age of 3, she experienced visions of God and was asked by her confessor to write them down in what became the influential illustrated book “Scivias.”She founded two monasteries and was a prolific writer of poetry, theology, and sacred music. She died on Sept. 17, 1179.
A sculpture of Hildegard of Bingen by Karlheinz Oswald at Eibingen Abbey in Hesse, Germany. . Gerda Arendt (CC BY-SA 3.0).
St. Hildegard was canonized on May 10, 2012, and declared a Doctor of the Church by Benedict XVI on Oct. 7, 2012. He said: “In Hildegard are expressed the most noble values of womanhood: hence the presence of women in the Church and in society is also illumined by her presence, both from the perspective of scientific research and that of pastoral activity.”
St. Damien of Molokai
The bronze cast of Marisol Escobar’s ‘Father Damien’ in the National Statuary Hall (detail). public domain.
Joseph de Veuster, later to become St. Damien of Molokai, was born in 1840 in rural Belgium. At the age of 13, he was forced to leave school to work on a farm but later decided to pursue a religious vocation with the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. As a priest, he served victims of leprosy quarantined on the Hawaiian island of Molokai. He eventually contracted the disease, losing his eyesight, speech, and mobility. St. Damien died of leprosy on April 15, 1889. Benedict XVI said of St. Damien, whom he canonized on Oct. 11, 2009: “Following in St. Paul’s footsteps, St. Damien prompts us to choose the good warfare, not the kind that brings division, but the kind that gathers people together. He invites us to open our eyes to the forms of leprosy that disfigure the humanity of our brethren and still today call for the charity of our presence as servants, beyond that of our generosity.”
St. Marianne Cope
St. Marianne Cope was born in Germany in 1838 and entered religious life with the Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis in Syracuse, New York, in 1862. Mother Marianne served as an educator and opened two of central New York’s first hospitals. She was sent to Kalaupapa on the island of Molokai in Hawaii at age 45 to care for leprosy patients and established an education and health care system for them in the years she was there.
Painting of nun Saint Marianne Cope and images with lepers and her team on Molokai Island at Mary, Star of the Sea, Catholic Church, Kalapana, Hawaii. Claudine Van Massenhove / Shutterstock
Benedict XVI canonized St. Marianne Cope on Oct. 21, 2012. Of her legacy, he said: “At a time when little could be done for those suffering from this terrible disease, Marianne Cope showed the highest love, courage, and enthusiasm. She is a shining and energetic example of the best of the tradition of Catholic nursing sisters and of the spirit of her beloved St. Francis.”
St. Jeanne Jugan
St. Jeanne Jugan was born on Oct. 25, 1792, during the French Revolution. At age 25, she joined the Third Order of St. John Eudes, a religious association for laypersons. After some time serving as a nurse caring for elderly women, she acquired an unused convent building that would hold 40 people and established the Little Sisters of the Poor. At the time of her death on Aug. 29, 1879, 2,400 members were serving internationally.
Portrait of St. Jeanne Jugan (1792–1879), foundress of the Little Sisters of the Poor, by Léon Brune 1855. Public domain
At St. Jeanne Jugan’s canonization on Oct. 11, 2009, Benedict said: “Jeanne lived the mystery of love, peacefully accepting obscurity and self-emptying until her death. Her charism is ever timely while so many elderly people are suffering from numerous forms of poverty and solitude and are sometimes also abandoned by their families.”
St. Pedro Calungsod
St. Pedro Calungsod was born in 1654 in the Philippines. In 1668, at the age of 14, he was among the young catechists chosen to accompany Spanish Jesuit missionaries — among them Blessed Diego Luis de San Vitores — to the Marianas Islands to spread the Catholic faith. St. Pedro was responsible for converting many people, especially through the sacrament of baptism. On April 2, 1672, he was killed, along with San Vitores, while they were conducting a baptism. He is now recognized as a martyr.
Pope Francis and Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle before a mosaic of catechist St. Pedro Calungsod in St. Peter’s Basilica on Nov. 21, 2013. Credit: Kerri Lenartowick/CNA.
He was canonized on Oct. 21, 2012. Of St. Pedro’s hardships, while visiting the Marianas Islands, Benedict said: “Pedro, however, displayed deep faith and charity and continued to catechize his many converts, giving witness to Christ by a life of purity and dedication to the Gospel. Uppermost was his desire to win souls for Christ, and this made him resolute in accepting martyrdom.”
St. Alphonsa
St. Alphonsa was born in Kerala, India, on Aug. 19, 1910. As a young woman, she rejected all suitors who came her way, as she was determined to enter religious life. In 1923, she suffered an accident that left her burned, disabled, and partially disfigured. She joined the Franciscan Clarist Congregation, and until her death suffered from physical ailments and problems associated with her disability. In her love for God, she embraced her sufferings until her death on July 28, 1946.
1996 stamp of India with photo of St. Alphonsa. India Post, Government of India via Wikimedia Commons
St. Alphonsa was canonized by Benedict XVI on Oct. 12, 2008. She is the first Indian woman to become a saint. In a Vatican statement released on the day of her canonization, she is described as “a victim for the love of the Lord, happy until the final moment and with a smile of innocence always on her lips.”
It’s risable that the Pope who is an instrument of division tells new cardinals that they are signs of unity.
It’s no different from a Pope who calls for dialogue and openness and then refuses to meet with four dubia Cardinals and holds synodal meetings under strict secrecy and silence.
Bending low to uplift the lowly is a meaningful diakonia. It is known to add life to the life span of the Reverends, the Excellencies, and the Eminences across cultures, and continents.
I feel like I stand on a firm foundation built on the teachings of Jesus Christ, his infinite sacrifice at his crucifixion, the blood of martyrs, Holy Tradition, and an understanding of God’s desire to create the human creation and how we can joyfully endure and return to him. Yet, there are priests, bishops, cardinals, and a pope that have separated themselves from all that I have known in an effort to appeal to the desires of modern man. I know that the Evil One is real and his efforts bear fruit, but that he will eventually burn in utter defeat. However, too often I wonder what caused these others to go down such a path and how we stop even a pope from creating such havoc and heartache.
Expression of the Church’s unity. Quite the contrary. Fracture continues to be expressed and made quite concrete at every turn of events while we shoulder the Bergoglian captivity.
Radcliffe? Really?
Unity with what?
It’s risable that the Pope who is an instrument of division tells new cardinals that they are signs of unity.
It’s no different from a Pope who calls for dialogue and openness and then refuses to meet with four dubia Cardinals and holds synodal meetings under strict secrecy and silence.
Bending low to uplift the lowly is a meaningful diakonia. It is known to add life to the life span of the Reverends, the Excellencies, and the Eminences across cultures, and continents.
I feel like I stand on a firm foundation built on the teachings of Jesus Christ, his infinite sacrifice at his crucifixion, the blood of martyrs, Holy Tradition, and an understanding of God’s desire to create the human creation and how we can joyfully endure and return to him. Yet, there are priests, bishops, cardinals, and a pope that have separated themselves from all that I have known in an effort to appeal to the desires of modern man. I know that the Evil One is real and his efforts bear fruit, but that he will eventually burn in utter defeat. However, too often I wonder what caused these others to go down such a path and how we stop even a pope from creating such havoc and heartache.
Expression of the Church’s unity. Quite the contrary. Fracture continues to be expressed and made quite concrete at every turn of events while we shoulder the Bergoglian captivity.
Radcliffe? Really?
Unity with what?