Sister Mary Barron speaks at the eighth Novendiales Mass for Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Basilica, Saturday, May 3, 2025 / Credit: Vatican Media
CNA Newsroom, May 3, 2025 / 12:50 pm (CNA).
At the eighth Novendiales Mass on Saturday, Pope Francis was hailed as a “humble and compassionate pastor,” one who maintained “unwavering confidence in the vocation of women religious.”
Sister Mary Barron, the president of the International Union of Superiors General, said at the Mass that the late pope “invited us out into the world and among all of God’s creation to heal and accompany those most in need.”
The pope “reminded us again and again of the importance of embracing our frailty not as a limitation but as a source of grace,” she said.
Pope Francis appointed Barron—the superior general of the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of the Apostles—to the Dicastery for Evangelization last year. She said on Saturday that the pope “urged us women religious to lower ourselves in service as Christ lowered himself to wash the feet of his disciples.”
“He inspired us to bring hope and healing to the darkest corners of the world, to bring a friendly smile with a helping hand and a heart filled with the love of Jesus,” she said.
Barron praised the pope’s “unwavering confidence” in women religious.
“You recognized our contribution as builders of communion, as custodians of the warmth and maternal tenderness of the Church and reminded us that our presence is indispensable,” she said.
“We give thanks for your heart as a pastor, for your vision and for the deep trust you have placed in consecrated women,” she said.
“We promise to carry out the mission you have entrusted to us and to be the caress of our loving Creator God especially toward those who suffer.”
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Vatican City, Jan 14, 2020 / 07:01 pm (CNA).- This week Fernando Martínez Suárez, a priest of the Legionaries of Christ, was dismissed from the clerical state. He had been found guilty of the sexual abuse of minors by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
Martinez, 79, will remain a member of the Legion of Christ. He had been ordained a priest in 1964.
The Legion of Christ stated Jan. 13 that Martinez, “who was found guilty of delicts of sexual abuse of minors, as a result of the process before the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, has lost the clerical state and can no longer exercise the priestly ministry.”
Fr. Andreas Schöggl, secretary general of the Legion, wrote in a Jan. 13 letter to Martinez’ victims that “the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith submitted the request to the Holy Father after an attentive study of the case.”
Martinez abused at least six girls, ages 6 to 11, between 1991 and 1993 when he directed the Cumbres Institute in Cancún.
He was also accused of other acts of abuse, including that of a boy between the ages of 4 and 6 at the Cumbres Lomas Institute in Mexico City in 1969.
Martinez had himself been abused by Fr. Marcial Maciel, founder of the Legion of Christ, in Ontaneda and Rome in 1954, when Martinez was 15.
An internal commission of the Legion published a report last month saying that since its founding in 1941, 33 priests of the Legionaries of Christ committed sexual abuse of minors, victimizing 175 children.
Fr. Maciel abused at least 60 minors.
Fourteen Legionaries who committed abuse of minors were themselves victims of abuse in the order.
The Legion of Christ was long the subject of critical reports and rumors before it was rocked by Vatican acknowledgment that its charismatic founder lived a double life, sexually abused seminarians, and fathered children.
In 2006 the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith removed Maciel from public ministry and ordered him to spend the rest of his life in prayer and penance. The congregation decided not to subject him to a canonical process because of his advanced age.
From that point, Benedict XVI carried on a process of reform for the Legion of Christ, a process continued under Pope Francis.
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 delivers the Angelus address on Oct. 23, 2022. / Vatican Media
Vatican City, Oct 23, 2022 / 06:05 am (CNA).
In his Sunday Angelus address, Pope Francis warned that “spiritual arrogance” can lead to adoration of one’s ego instead of… […]
In addition to the International Union of Superiors General…would also like to hear recognition for others more at the “periphery,” at least in the United States–the Council of Major Sisters of Women Religious:
https://cmswr.org/about/member-communities/
https://cmswr.org/about/who-we-are/