Pope Francis greets pilgrims from the popemobile in St. Peter’s Square on March 8, 2023. / Daniel Ibáñez/CNA
Rome Newsroom, Mar 13, 2023 / 10:20 am (CNA).
Pope Francis marked his 10th anniversary as pope Monday with a private Mass with cardinals and an appearance on what Vatican News has dubbed a “popecast.”
The nine-minute podcast, released only in Italian, was published on the Vatican News website and on Spotify.
“It seems like yesterday,” Francis said, referring to his election to the papacy on March 13, 2013.
“The time is ‘pressurous,’” he continued, making up a word in Italian. “It’s in a hurry. And when you want to seize today, it is already yesterday.”
These past 10 years were lived in this tension, he added.
Pope Francis’ schedule was free of public meetings on March 13 except for a Mass at 8 a.m. in the chapel inside his Vatican residence.
The private Mass at the Santa Marta guesthouse was concelebrated with cardinals. The Vatican did not release any other details, including information about the pope’s homily.
In the “popecast,” Pope Francis said “the most beautiful moment” of his pontificate was with elderly in St. Peter’s Square in 2014.
Some of the most painful moments, instead, were those connected to the horror of war, including visits to military cemeteries, the 2013 prayer vigil for peace in Syria, and others.
He said he hates the fact that in wars such as the one between Russia and Ukraine, many young men, of either side, never get to go home.
The gift he most wants for his anniversary, he said, is “peace.”
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Cardinal George Pell’s coffin in front of some of the cardinals who concelebrated his funeral Mass on Jan. 14, 2023 / Alan Koppschall/CNA
Vatican City, Jan 14, 2023 / 07:50 am (CNA).
Catholics traveled from near and far to attend the funeral Mass of Cardinal George Pell in St. Peter’s Basilica on Saturday.
The Australian cardinal died in Rome Jan. 10 from a cardiac arrest following a hip surgery. He was 81.
His Jan. 14 funeral, held at the Altar of the Chair, was filled to capacity, with extra chairs added at the last minute to accommodate people standing as far back as the Vatican basilica’s main altar.
Cardinal George Pell’s funeral in St. Peter’s Basilica on Jan. 14, 2023. Vatican Media
“A man of God and a man of the Church, he was characterized by a deep faith and great steadfastness of doctrine, which he always defended without hesitation and with courage, concerned only with being faithful to Christ,” Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re said about Pell in his homily for the funeral.
“As he noted many times, the weakening of faith in the Western world and the moral crisis of the family grieved him,” Re said. “To God, who is good and rich in mercy, we entrust this brother of ours, praying that God will welcome him into the peace and intimacy of his love.”
Pell’s brother, David Pell, and cousin Chris Meney, together with other family members, priests, and religious, traveled from Australia to be at the funeral.
Cardinal George Pell’s funeral Mass beginning now. Pell’s brother, David, is seated near the front.
Michael Casey, Pell’s former secretary who now works at the Australian Catholic University, was also in attendance.
From Rome, Holy See diplomats, students, and priests, also came to pray for Pell’s repose. Seminarians of the Pontifical North American College attended the funeral Mass immediately following their audience with Pope Francis the same morning.
American author George Weigel, a longtime friend of Cardinal Pell, traveled from the United States for the funeral.
The Mass was celebrated by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, the deacon of the College of Cardinals, and concelebrated by cardinals and bishops.
Pell’s private secretary during his years in Rome, Father Joseph Hamilton, and archbishop Georg Gänswein, the longtime secretary of Pope Benedict XVI, also concelebrated.
Archbishop Georg Gänswein concelebrates the funeral Mass of Cardinal George Pell on Jan. 14, 2023. Alan Koppschall/CNA
Pope Francis arrived at the end of the Mass to perform the rite of final commendation and farewell, as is his custom for the funeral of a cardinal.
“May God unite his soul with those of all the saints and faithful departed,” the pope prayed. “May he be given a merciful judgement so that, redeemed from death, freed from punishment, reconciled to the Father, carried in the arms of the Good Shepherd, he may deserve to enter fully into everlasting happiness in the company of the eternal King together with all the saints.”
Pope Francis presided over the Final Commendation and Farewell at the end of Cardinal George Pell’s funeral on Jan. 14, 2023. Alan Koppschall/CNA
Francis sprinkled holy water. A priest incensed the coffin as the choir and congregation sang the Marian antiphon Sub Tuum Praesidium.
Applause broke out as Pell’s coffin was carried from St. Peter’s Basilica.
The cardinal will be buried in his former cathedral, St. Mary’s, in Sydney, Australia.
The day before his funeral, a visitation was held for Pell in the Church of Santo Stefano degli Abissini inside the Vatican.
A visitation was held for Cardinal George Pell in the Church of Santo Stefano degli Abissini inside the Vatican on Jan. 13, 2023.
The Gospel for Cardinal Pell’s funeral Mass was from Luke 12, about the vigilant and faithful servants: “Blessed are those servants whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival,” Luke 12:37 says.
The Responsorial Psalm was from Psalm 23: “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.”
In his homily, Re remarked on Pell’s unexpected death, and on his recent attendance at the funeral of Pope Benedict XVI.
A Swiss Guard genuflects during the consecration at Cardinal George Pell’s funeral Mass on Jan. 14, 2023. Alan Koppschall/CNA
“Despite his 81 years, he seemed to be in good health,” he said. “Hospitalized for hip surgery, heart complications ensued, causing his death.”
“Enlightened and comforted by faith in the risen Christ, we are gathered around this altar and the body of Cardinal Pell to entrust his soul to God, that he may be received into the immensity of his love in life without end.”
Re described Pell as a “strong-willed and decisive protagonist, characterized by the temper of a strong character, which at times could appear harsh.”
The cardinal’s premature death, Re said, has left us dismayed, but “there is only room in our hearts for hope.”
Cardinal George Pell’s coffin is removed from the altar after his funeral Mass on Jan. 14, 2023. Alan Koppschall/CNA
‘ What should the Pope do? The Holy Father often says that he welcomes questions and opinions from any place. In the same recent Mexican interview, Pope Francis mentioned the bishop of Moreles in Mexico. He is a brave man caught in the midst of the drug wars. The Pontiff judged that the best way to help him, when he is pressed and harassed even by threats of his life, was to make him a Cardinal. ‘
‘ What should the Pope do? The Holy Father often says that he welcomes questions and opinions from any place. In the same recent Mexican interview, Pope Francis mentioned the bishop of Moreles in Mexico. He is a brave man caught in the midst of the drug wars. The Pontiff judged that the best way to help him, when he is pressed and harassed even by threats of his life, was to make him a Cardinal. ‘
https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2015/04/22/ads-and-judgments-in-the-city-by-the-bay/
A decade spent in relentless work for humanity and Planet Earth. Happy and blessed 10th Anniversary. Ad multos annos. God bless.