Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament along route of Chartres pilgrimage June 9, 2019. / Credit: Benjamin Crockett/EWTN
Vatican City, Dec 6, 2024 / 09:55 am (CNA).
The Vatican Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments is reportedly looking into enforcing restrictions on the Latin Mass at the annual Chartres pilgrimage, according to a French media outlet.
The three-day walking pilgrimage from Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris to the Chartres over Pentecost weekend culminates in a massive Latin Mass inside the Notre-Dame de Chartres Cathedral. The pilgrimage drew a record attendance of 18,000 people earlier this year.
Citing anonymous sources in Paris and Rome, La Croix reported that Vatican officials are examining whether the Latin Mass offered in the Chartres cathedral at the conclusion of the popular pilgrimage is in accordance with the restrictions laid out in Traditionis Custodes, the motu proprio Pope Francis issued in 2021 that sharply curtailed the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass worldwide.
In February 2023, Pope Francis issued a rescript that required bishops to seek specific approval from the Dicastery for Divine Worship before designating the use of additional parish churches for the Latin Mass.
Last year, the Vatican enforced restrictions on the Summorum Pontificum pilgrimage, which was denied permission to celebrate the Traditional Latin Mass inside St. Peter’s Basilica.
The 2025 edition of the Chartres pilgrimage organized by the Notre-Dame de Chrétienne association is scheduled to take place from June 7–9, 2025.
The reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris this weekend would make it possible for the pilgrimage to begin inside of the Paris cathedral for the first time since the Notre Dame fire in 2019.
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Pope Francis presides over Easter Sunday Mass in St. Peter’s Square on March 31, 2024. / Credit: Vatican Media
Vatican City, Mar 31, 2024 / 08:15 am (CNA).
Pope Francis presided over Mass in St. Peter’s Square on Easter Sunday 2024 before giving the traditional urbi et orbi blessing in the presence of approximately 60,000 people.
On a warm and windy Easter Sunday at the Vatican, Pope Francis proclaimed: “Jesus Christ is risen! He alone has the power to roll away the stones that block the path to life. He, the living One, is himself that path. He is the Way.”
An icon of Christ was blown over by strong winds during Easter Sunday Mass in St. Peter’s Square. Vatican Media
“Only the risen Christ, by granting us the forgiveness of our sins, opens the way for a renewed world,” the pope added.
Speaking from the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica in his urbi et orbi blessing, Pope Francis said that “today throughout the world there resounds the message proclaimed 2,000 years ago from Jerusalem: ‘Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified, has been raised!’”
St. Peter’s Square was adorned with an array of over 21,000 flowers and plants from the Netherlands for the Easter Sunday Mass on March 31, 2024. Credit: Vatican Media
Three hundred priests, 18 bishops, and 34 cardinals concelebrated the Easter Sunday Mass on March 31. Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re celebrated at the altar due to Francis’ difficulty walking and standing.
The Gospel reading, John 20:1-9, was proclaimed in Latin and Greek. The passage recounts the moment in which Mary Magdalene and the apostles Peter and John found the empty tomb after Jesus’ resurrection.
As is his custom, Francis did not give a homily after the Gospel but stayed a few moments in silent prayer. Pope Francis gave a homily at the Easter Vigil Mass, which can be read here.
The pope also participated in the “Resurrexit,” an ancient rite honoring an icon of the Holy Savior. At the conclusion of the liturgy, Pope Francis rode through St. Peter’s Square on the popemobile greeting enthusiastic pilgrims who waved flags and cheered.
Three hundred priests, 18 bishops, and 34 cardinals concelebrated the Easter Sunday Mass on March 31, 2024, with Pope Francis. Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re celebrated at the altar due to Francis’ difficulty walking and standing. Credit: Vatican Media
In his urbi et orbi message following the Mass, the pope reflected on the “amazing discovery of Easter morning” as the women discovered an empty tomb.
“The tomb of Jesus is open and it is empty! From this, everything begins anew!” Pope Francis said.
“A new path leads through that empty tomb: the path that none of us but God alone could open: the path of life in the midst of death, the path of peace in the midst of war, the path of reconciliation in the midst of hatred, the path of fraternity in the midst of hostility.”
Pope Francis prayed for peace in Israel, Palestine, Ukraine, and other parts of the world suffering from war and violence.
At the end of Easter Sunday Mass, Pope Francis rode through St. Peter’s Square on the popemobile greeting enthusiastic pilgrims who waved flags and cheered. Vatican Media
“On this day when we celebrate the life given us in the resurrection of the Son, let us remember the infinite love of God for each of us: a love that overcomes every limit and every weakness,” he said.
“And yet how much the precious gift of life is despised! How many children cannot even be born? How many die of hunger and are deprived of essential care or are victims of abuse and violence? How many lives are made objects of trafficking for the increasing commerce in human beings?”
“May the light of the Resurrection illuminate our minds and convert our hearts, and make us aware of the value of every human life, which must be welcomed, protected, and loved. A happy Easter to all!” Pope Francis said.
Pope Francis at the Easter Vigil Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on April 8, 2023. / Credit: Vatican Media
Rome Newsroom, Feb 29, 2024 / 12:10 pm (CNA).
The Vatican has released Pope Francis’ schedule for Holy Week 2024, which will include five papal liturgies, Stations of the Cross at the Colosseum, and other traditions to mark the most sacred week of the year.
Easter is the highest feast in the Catholic Church, known as the “solemnity of solemnities,” celebrating Jesus’ resurrection and defeat of sin and death, and the Vatican celebrates Holy Week with pomp, reverence, tradition, and a busy schedule.
The 87-year-old pope is scheduled to preside over liturgies on each day of the Easter Triduum as well as Palm Sunday.
The Holy See Press Office published the pope’s Holy Week schedule one day after Pope Francis visited the hospital for diagnostic tests. Reuters reported that the pope had a CT scan during the hospital checkup. Last year, Pope Francis was discharged from the hospital one day before presiding over Palm Sunday Mass.
Holy Week 2024 begins on March 24 with Palm Sunday and culminates with Easter on March 31. Here is the Vatican’s full schedule:
Palm Sunday
Pope Francis presides over Palm Sunday Mass in St. Peter’s Square on April 2, 2023. Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNA
On Sunday morning, March 24, Pope Francis is scheduled to preside over Mass for Palm Sunday, also known as Passion Sunday or the Commemoration of the Lord’s Entrance into Jerusalem.
The Mass, which will be in St. Peter’s Square at 10 a.m. local time, will kick off with a grand procession of deacons, priests, bishops, cardinals, and laypeople carrying palms.
The procession includes olive tree branches, palm fronds, and the large, weaved palms called “parmureli,” all blessed by Pope Francis.
Holy Thursday
Pope Francis washes and kisses the feet of 12 young men and women, inmates at Casal del Marmo juvenile detention center on Rome’s outskirts, during a Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Thursday, April 6, 2023. Credit: Vatican Media
Pope Francis is set to start Holy Thursday with a chrism Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica at 9:30 a.m. in the presence of cardinals, bishops, and priests living in Rome.
During the Mass, Pope Francis, as the bishop of Rome, will bless the oil of the sick, the oil of catechumens, and the chrism oil to be used in the diocese during the coming year.
The Vatican has yet to release the details for where Pope Francis will celebrate Holy Thursday Mass 2024. Last year, the pope offered Mass at the juvenile detention center Casal del Marmo, the same detention center where he offered Holy Thursday Mass in 2013 shortly after his election.
Good Friday
Pope Francis arrives at the Liturgy of the Lord’s Passion in St. Peter’s Basilica on Good Friday on April 7, 2023. Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNA
Continuing the liturgies of the Triduum, Pope Francis is also scheduled to preside over a celebration for the Passion of the Lord on Good Friday at 5 p.m. in St. Peter’s Basilica.
During this liturgy, which is not a Mass, Cardinal Raniero Cantalamessa, the papal preacher, typically preaches instead of the pope.
In the evening, Pope Francis will lead the Stations of the Cross devotion at 9:15 p.m. in Rome’s Colosseum illuminated by candlelight.
Holy Saturday
Pope Francis at the Easter Vigil Mass at the Vatican on April 8, 2023. Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNA
On Holy Saturday, Pope Francis is set to preside over the Easter Vigil at 7:30 p.m. in St. Peter’s Basilica.
The Easter Vigil, which takes place on Holy Saturday night, “is the greatest and most noble of all solemnities,” according to the Roman Missal.
The liturgy begins in darkness with the blessing of the new fire and the preparation of the paschal candle. At the Vatican, cardinals, bishops, and priests process through the dark basilica carrying lit candles to signify the light of Christ coming to dispel the darkness.
Pope Francis also typically baptizes new Catholics at this Mass.
Easter Sunday
Credit: Pablo Esparza/CNA
The morning of Easter Sunday, Pope Francis will preside over Mass in St. Peter’s Square at 10 a.m. on a flower-decked parvise.
After Mass, he will give the annual Easter “urbi et orbi” blessing at noon from the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica.
“Urbi et orbi” means “to the city [of Rome] and to the world” and is a special apostolic blessing given by the pope every year on Easter Sunday, Christmas, and other special occasions.
In 2023, local authorities estimated that there were close to 100,000 people present in St. Peter’s Square for the blessing.
Vatican City, Jan 15, 2020 / 11:52 am (CNA).- Cardinal Claudio Hummes, the relator general of the Amazon synod, sent a letter Monday to some ordinaries indicating that the apostolic exhortation on the synod should be promulgated this month or the next.
“The draft is currently being reviewed and corrected and then needs to be translated. Pope Francis hopes to promulgate it by the end of this month or in early February,” Cardinal Hummes, who is also president of the Pan Amazonic Church Network, wrote in a Jan. 13 letter.
Among the works of REPAM is “protection for the 137 ‘contactless tribes’ of the Amazon and affirmation of their right to live undisturbed.”
Cardinal Hummes said in his letter that Francis is preparing the exhortation “to present the New Paths for the Church and for an Integral Ecology as developed with the guidance of the Holy Spirit” during the Amazon synod.
According to Cardinal Hummes, the exhortation “is keenly awaited and will attract great interest and many different responses.”
The cardinal added that the pope wants ordinaries to receive the text “before it is published and before the world press starts to comment on it, and join him in presenting the Exhortation and making it accessible to the faithful, to fellow believers and all people of good will, and to the media, the academic world, and others in positions of authority and influence.”
Cardinal Hummes offered “some suggestions” to bishops on how to prepare well for the exhortation’s release. “The purpose is not to generate publicity or attract attention. Rather, it is quietly to support you the Ordinary, in communion with Pope Francis, as you prepare to receive the Exhortation and pass it on to the People of God in your jurisdiction.”
“Accordingly, with greatest freedom, please make use of the suggestions insofar as they seem helpful.”
The cardinal suggested that “a useful way of preparing would be to read some of the relevant earlier documents referenced below.” He promised that a second letter with more suggestions would be coming shortly.
Cardinal Hummes’ suggested reading for ordinaries is composed of: the Amazon synod’s final document; Pope Francis’ address at a meeting with indigenous people of Amazonia in Puerto Maldonado, Peru, Jan. 19, 2018; the pope’s address at the opening of the Amazon synod, Oct. 7, 2019; his own address of the same day; the pope’s final speech to the synod of Oct. 26; and Laudato si’, the pope’s 2015 encyclical on care for our common home, especially its fifth and sixth chapters.
The synod’s final document called for the ordination of married men as priests, and for women to be considered for diaconal ordination. It presented the synod assembly’s reflections and conclusions on topics ranging from environmentalism, inculturation in the Church, and the human rights of indigenous communities in the face of economic, environmental, and cultural exploitation.
Four days before the final document was approved, Cardinal Christoph Schönborn of Vienna indicated that it was to be written principally by a team chaired by Cardinal Hummes.
The cardinal noted that, of course, “there will be a celebratory and communications event” at the Vatican’s synod hall when the exhortation is promulgated.
He suggested that ordinaries “may also want to begin planning a press briefing or a press conference or other event as soon as convenient after the publication of the Exhortation.”
“you may find it opportune to have the Exhortation presented by yourself along with an indigenous spokesperson if relevant in your area, an experienced pastoral leader (ordained or religious, layman or laywoman), an expert on climate or ecology, and a youth involved in peer ministry.”
Cardinal Hummes asked that the letter be kept confidential, and not shared with the media.
“Please do respect the guidelines,” he added.
The letter was published Jan. 14 by LifeSiteNews in English, and by Aldo Maria Valli in Italian.
CNA understands the letter to have been sent to “concerned bishops” around the world. It was not sent to all ordinaries.
Cardinal Hummes concluded his letter “with the sincere hope that his letter has been helpful.”
He asked for prayers that God the Father would “dispose the People of God in the Amazon and throughout the world to receive it with faith and hope, intelligently and effectively.”
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