Cardinal Parolin doesn’t rule out Pope Leo XIV going to Nicaea

Vatican City, Sep 13, 2018 / 10:10 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Cardinal Daniel DiNardo has called a Sept. 13 meeting between Pope Francis and leaders from the Church in United States “lengthy and fruitful.”

The cardinal, who is Archbishop of Galveston-Houston and president of the U.S. bishops’ conference, travelled to Rome together with Archbishop José Gomez of Los Angeles, the vice-president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, and USCCB General Secretary Msgr. Brian Bransfield.

Also present at the meeting was Cardinal Séan O’Malley of Boston, who serves as president of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors and is a member of the C9 Council of Cardinals charged with advising the pope on the governance of the universal Church.

DiNardo requested the meeting with Francis to discuss the ongoing sexual abuse scandals which have rocked the Church in America, in particular the case of Archbishop Theodore McCarrick. Cardinal DiNardo had previously pledged to investigate the case of Archbishop McCarrick to “the full extent of the USCCB’s authority.”

Following a private audience with Pope Francis this morning, DiNardo released a brief statement through the U.S. bishops’ conference.

“We are grateful to the Holy Father for receiving us in audience. We shared with Pope Francis our situation in the United States – how the Body of Christ is lacerated by the evil of sexual abuse. He listened very deeply from the heart. It was a lengthy, fruitful, and good exchange.”

The meeting follows a series of calls by commentators for the Pope Francis to release files held on Archbishop McCarrick in Rome and at the apostolic nunciature in Washington, D.C.

While the statement did not specify if McCarrick’s case or Vatican files related to it were discussed during the meeting, DiNardo has previously called for greater transparency by Church authorities on matters of sexual abuse, and especially that case of Archbishop McCarrick.

DiNardo’s statement said he, together with Cardinal O’Malley, Archbishop Gomez, and Msgr. Bransfield, looked forward to continuing to work together with Pope Francis on resolving the crisis facing the Church in the United States.

“As we departed the audience, we prayed the Angelus together for God’s mercy and strength as we work to heal the wounds. We look forward to actively continuing our discernment together identifying the most effective next steps.”

Earlier this week, Pope Francis announced a special meeting with all the presidents of the world’s bishops’ conferences to discuss sexual abuse in the Church. That meeting is expected to be held in February of next year.

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Camerino, Italy, Jun 16, 2019 / 06:09 am (CNA).- Hope, which is more than mere optimism, gives one a deep-rooted confidence in the love and care of God, no matter what has happened, Pope Francis said Sunday.

Hope “does not expire, because it is … […]

Vatican City, Sep 30, 2017 / 09:14 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Saturday the Vatican announced Pope Francis’ appointment of Cardinal Raymond Burke as a member of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura – the Holy See’s highest court – which he previously headed for six years.

Burke, 69, is currently patron of the Order of the Knights of Malta, which he was appointed to in 2014 by Pope Francis. An expert in canon law, he served as prefect of the Apostolic Signatura from 2008 to 2014.

Other members added to the tribunal were Cardinal Agostino Vallini, 77, and Cardinal Edoardo Menichelli, also 77. Vallini was prefect of the Apostolic Signatura before Burke, from 2004 to 2008. He then served as Vicar General of Rome until his retirement in May of this year.

It is Menichelli’s first appointment to the Roman Curia. He retired as archbishop of Ancona-Osimo, Italy in July. Other new members to the court include Msgr. Frans Daneels and Msgr. Johannes Willibrordus Maria Hendriks.

Saturday Pope Francis also named Fr. Denis Baudot, a priest of the Archdiocese of Lyon and currently an official of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, judicial vicar of the Ecclesiastical Tribunal of Vatican City.

The Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura is one of three courts within the Holy See. The others are the Apostolic Penitentiary and the Tribunal of the Roman Rota.

The Signatura, as it’s called, functions sort of like a Supreme Court and the Apostolic Penitentiary is the court in charge of cases involving excommunication and serious sins, including those whose absolution is reserved to the Holy See.

The Rota is akin to a court of appeals or court of “last instance,” and is also where marriage annulment cases are judged.

Burke was born on June 30, 1948 in Richland Center, Wisconsin. He was ordained a priest in 1975, serving the Diocese of La Crosse until his appointment as bishop of La Crosse in 1994.

Before becoming prefect of the Apostolic Signatura in 2008, the American cardinal had served as archbishop of St. Louis, Missouri since 2003.
    
As the chaplain of the Knights of Malta, Burke has clashed with the Holy See over the removal of the Grand Chancellor of the Knights. He is also one of four cardinals who signed the controversial dubia, a letter asking Pope Francis to clarify parts of his apostolic exhortation “Amoris Laetitia.”

In an interview Sept. 24 Burke said that he’s been wrongly depicted as the “enemy” of Pope Francis.

Even though he believes that the current division in the Church demands an answer to requests for clarity, he noted that as faithful Catholics, those who have expressed doubt or concern over the confusion surrounding “Amoris Laetitia” love the Pope “with complete obedience to the office of Peter.”

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