Vatican

Vatican City, Apr 9, 2020 / 07:00 am (CNA).- The Vatican has thanked Chinese organizations for donating medical supplies to help it combat the coronavirus.

The Holy See press office said April 9 that the Vatican Pharmacy had received donations from Chinese groups including the Red Cross Society of China and the Jinde Charities Foundation of Hebei Province.

The press office hailed the gifts as “an expression of the solidarity of the Chinese people and Catholic communities with those involved in the relief of those affected by COVID-19 and the prevention of the current coronavirus epidemic.”

It continued: “The Holy See appreciates this generous gesture and expresses its gratitude to the bishops, the Catholic faithful, the institutions and all other Chinese citizens for this humanitarian initiative, assuring them of the esteem and prayers of the Holy Father.”

In February, the Vatican announced that it had sent thousands of face masks to China to help limit the spread of the coronavirus. It had donated between 600,000 to 700,000 masks to the Chinese provinces of Hubei, Zhejiang, and Fujian since Jan. 27, the Global Times, a Chinese state-run news outlet, reported Feb. 3.

The medical supplies were donated as part of a joint initiative of the Office of Papal Charities and the Missionary Center of the Chinese Church in Italy, in partnership with the Vatican Pharmacy.

China broke off diplomatic relations with the Holy See in 1951, two years after the communist revolution resulted in the creation of the People’s Republic of China.

The Vatican signed a provisional agreement with China in 2018 concerning the appointment of Catholic bishops. The text of the agreement has never been published.

On Feb. 14 this year, Archbishop Paul Gallagher, the Holy See’s Secretary for Relations with States, met Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi in Munich, Germany. The encounter was the highest level meeting between officials from the two states since 1949.

The Red Cross Society of China, founded in Shanghai in 1904, is the national Red Cross Society in the People’s Republic of China.

The Jinde Charities Foundation is a Catholic organization registered in Shijiazhuang, the capital of Hebei province.

[…]

Vatican City, Apr 8, 2020 / 02:45 pm (CNA).- Fr. Miguel Ángel Tábet is believed to be the first priest to die of the coronavirus in Rome. Two other priests living in the same residence of Opus Dei in Rome remain hospitalized.

The 78-year… […]

Vatican City, Apr 8, 2020 / 10:30 am (CNA).- The first cardinal known to have tested positive for coronavirus has released a message from hospital, thanking his flock for their prayers and saying he is recovering from the disease.

Writing from the Gemelli Hospital in Rome, where he was hospitalized March 30, Cardinal Angelo De Donatis said: “Thank God I’m healing and I should be discharged soon.” 

The cardinal, who is vicar general of Rome diocese, wrote in an April 8 message that he felt “supported and consoled by the prayers of all of you who have been close to me” during his ordeal. 

He said: “All my gratitude goes to the doctors, the nurses and all the medical staff of the Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic who are caring for me and many other patients, with great competence and demonstrating a deep humanity, animated by the sentiments of the Good Samaritan.”

He also thanked the pope for his prayers and support. While Pope Francis is the Bishop of Rome, the day-to-day leadership of the diocese is provided for by De Donatis, who enjoys broad vicarious authority delegated by the pope.

Referring to Matthew 26:17, where the disciples ask Jesus where they should make preparations for him to eat the Passover meal, the cardinal said: “Meditating on this question, in light of the experience of the disease, I seem to have clearly perceived how none of us can really prepare for Easter without recognizing that, in the first place, it is Jesus who is eagerly yearning to ‘do Easter’ with us.” 

“We only have to welcome the grace and enter with our life into the Paschal Mystery of Christ, ‘who died for our sins and rose again for our justification’. Let us allow the Lord, through His merciful love, to heal our infirmity and to console the sorrows we carry in our hearts.”

[…]

Vatican City, Apr 8, 2020 / 03:30 am (CNA).- Meditating on Christ’s Passion can help us as we struggle with questions about God and suffering during the coronavirus crisis, Pope Francis said at his general audience Wednesday.

Speaking via livestream due to the pandemic, the pope urged Catholics April 8 to spend time in Holy Week sitting in silent prayer before a crucifix and reading the Gospels. 

At a time when churches around the world are closed, “this will be for us, so to speak, like a great domestic liturgy,” he said.

The suffering unleashed by the virus raises questions about God, the pope noted. “What is He doing in the face of our pain? Where is He when everything goes wrong? Why does He not solve our problems quickly?”

“The account of the Passion of Jesus, which accompanies us in these holy days, is helpful to us,” he said.

The people acclaimed Jesus as he entered Jerusalem. But they rejected him when he was crucified because they had expected “a powerful and triumphant Messiah,” rather than a gentle and humble figure preaching a message of mercy. 

Today we still project our false expectations on to God, the Pope said. 

“But the Gospel tells us that God is not like that. He is different and we could not know Him with our own strength. That is why he came close to us, he came to meet us and precisely at Easter he revealed himself completely.”

“Where? On the cross. There we learn the features of God’s face. Because the cross is God’s pulpit. It will do us good to look at the Crucified One in silence and see who our Lord is.”

The cross shows us that Jesus is “He who does not point the finger at anyone, but opens his arms wide to everyone”, the pope said. Christ does not treat us as strangers, but rather takes our sins upon himself.

“To free ourselves from prejudices about God, let us look at the Crucified One,” he advised. “And then we open the Gospel.” 

Some might object that they prefer a “strong and powerful God,” the pope said.

“But the power of this world passes, while love remains. Only love guards the life we have, because it embraces our frailties and transforms them. It is the love of God who at Easter healed our sin with his forgiveness, who made death a passage of life, who changed our fear into trust, our anguish into hope. Easter tells us that God can turn everything to good, that with Him we can truly trust that all will be well.”

“That is why on Easter morning we are told: ‘Do not be afraid!’ [cf. Matthew 28:5]. And the distressing questions about evil do not suddenly vanish, but find in the Risen One the solid foundation that allows us not to be shipwrecked.” 

At morning Mass April 8, in the chapel of his Vatican residence, the Casa Santa Marta, Pope Francis prayed for those who were taking advantage of others during the coronavirus crisis.

“Today we pray for people who in this time of pandemic exploit the needy,” he said. “They take advantage of the needs of others and sell them: the mafia, loan sharks and many others. May the Lord touch their hearts and convert them.”

On the Wednesday of Holy Week, the Church focuses on Judas, the pope said. He encouraged Catholics not only to ponder the life of the disciple who betrayed Jesus, but also to “think of the little Judas that each one of us has inside of us”.

“Each of us has the ability to betray, to sell, to choose for our own interest,” he said. “Each one of us has the possibility of letting ourselves be attracted by the love of money, or goods, or future well-being.”

After Mass, the pope presided at Adoration and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, leading those watching around the world in a prayer of spiritual communion. 

[…]

Vatican City, Apr 7, 2020 / 02:35 pm (CNA).- During the coronavirus pandemic, saving the elderly must be just as important as saving others, the Vatican’s Laity, Family, and Life dicastery has said.

In an April 4 statement, the dicastery said “despite the complexity of the situation we live in, it is necessary to clarify that saving the lives of the elderly who live within residential homes or who are alone or sick, is a priority as much as saving any other person.”

“Faced with the scenario of a generation hit so severely, we have a common responsibility, which stems from the awareness of the invaluable value of every human life and from gratitude to our fathers and grandparents,” it continued.

The statement noted that in Italy, one of the epicenters of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is estimated that 80% of the people who have so far lost their lives to the virus were over the age of 70.

As of Tuesday, over 17,000 people have died in Italy from the coronavirus, with victims having an average age of 78 and a median age of 80. According to Johns Hopkins University, more than 78,000 people have died from COVID-19 worldwide.

The dicastery warned that loneliness is an added threat to the elderly; and said that loneliness could be the “previous pathology” which weakens an older person and makes the virus “more lethal” for him or her.

“It is no coincidence that we are witnessing the death, in terrible proportions and ways, of
many people who live far from their families, and in truly debilitating and disheartening conditions of solitude,” the laity office underlined.

The dicastery said it is important for the Church to serve the elderly and find ways to combat loneliness in this difficult time, especially when in-person visits are not possible.

It praised those who are making calls and sending video messages and letters to those who are alone, as well as the parishes which are delivering food and necessities to those who cannot go out.

It also noted that “almost everywhere, priests continue to visit homes to dispense the sacraments.”

“But the gravity of the moment calls all of us to do more,” the statement urged.

The dicastery said “as individuals and as local churches, we can do much for the elderly: pray for them, cure the disease of loneliness, activate solidarity networks and much more.”

This generational impact calls the Church to “a common responsibility,” the laity office said, underlining that the coronavirus “affects the future of our ecclesial communities and our societies because, as Pope Francis recently said, ‘the elderly are the present and tomorrow of the Church.’”

“So let us join in prayer for grandparents and the elderly around the world. Let us gather around them with our thoughts and hearts, and when possible, let’s act, so that they are not alone,” the statement concluded.

[…]

Vatican City, Apr 7, 2020 / 05:15 am (CNA).- The Vatican has welcomed the Australian High Court’s decision to quash Cardinal George Pell’s sexual abuse conviction.

A statement from the Holy See press office, issued April 7, said: &quo… […]

Vatican City, Apr 7, 2020 / 04:24 am (CNA).- Pope Francis prayed at Mass Tuesday for all those who have been persecuted by an unjust sentence, offering the prayer hours after Australia’s High Court overturned a child sex abuse conviction against … […]

Washington D.C., Apr 6, 2020 / 10:20 pm (CNA).- The High Court of Australia ordered the acquittal of Cardinal George Pell on Tuesday. 

While Pell’s criminal trials in Australia are now at an end, the same accusations which saw him first con… […]

Vatican City, Apr 6, 2020 / 12:10 pm (CNA).- Monday, April 6 marks the 500th anniversary of the death of Raphael, the Renaissance painter responsible for “The School of Athens” and “The Transfiguration.”

While the Vatican Museums was due to unveil the last phase of restoration of its Raphael Rooms this week, the restored frescoes remain hidden from the public after coronavirus restrictions closed the museums a month ago. However, the Vatican is encouraging people to make virtual museum visits to “admire, even from a distance, the splendor of Raphael’s art.”

Art historian Elizabeth Lev shared with CNA her advice for Catholics who wish to spend some time contemplating Raphael’s works of art during the coronavirus quarantine.

“From his early Oddi altarpiece painted when was about 19 or 20 to the fresco of the School of Athens, to his dazzling tapestries and his architectural feat of a portico decorated with scenes from the Bible, it’s easy to understand why Raphael was hailed as an exemplar of ‘Catholic excellence,’” Lev said April 6. 

“Raphael produced some very powerful altarpieces and, in some cases, even created new types of iconography, especially in the Madonna of Foligno and his St Cecilia panel in Bologna. He reinvented the ‘sacred conversation,’ which are paintings where saints dialogue with Mary and Jesus, welcoming viewers into greater prayer and contemplation,” she said.

The Vatican Museums offer a virtual tour of the Raphael Rooms with a 360 degree view of each room. Raphael was commissioned by Pope Julius II to paint the four rooms in the Apostolic Palace which formed part of the papal apartments. 

The School of Athens fresco placing Plato alongside Aristotle can be viewed in the Room of the Segnatura, along with illustrations of the cardinal and theological virtues. 

The Room of Constantine was the last of the Raphael Rooms to undergo restoration, a project which began in the 1980s. The virtual tour of the Room of Constantine displays paintings of Constantine’s baptism, vision of the cross, and the Battle of the Milvian Bridge before the restoration. 

One room in the Vatican Museums’ Pinacoteca, or painting gallery, displays Raphael’s Crowning of the Virgin, Madonna of Foligno, and The Transfiguration. 

“In this very unique week, I would propose reflecting on Raphael’s Transfiguration painted just before he died and placed upon his tomb during his funeral,” Lev said. “In this work, Raphael paints two distinct areas, the lower section where the apostles attempt to heal a boy possessed by demons (Mark 9:17-29) and then the upper section where Jesus reveals himself to Peter, James and John and God the Father announces ‘This is my dearly loved Son. Listen to him.’”

“People are afraid and confused, trying to control things they cannot and struggling pointlessly in the shadows. But lifting one’s gaze, one sees Jesus. Everything is subordinate to Him, and he appears as transfigured, a dynamic, powerful light that can repel the encroaching darkness. What an inspiring way for us to envision Jesus during these dark days,” she said.

Lev also recommends Raphael’s Madonna and Child paintings, such as The Alba Madonna in the National Gallery in Washington, D.C.

“These were small devotional works, meant for contemplation in the home, appropriate for all of us who are housebound,” she said. “He did endless variations on them, so there is something for everyone — versions where Joseph hovers protectively, others where young John and Jesus cavort.”

Born Raffaello Sanzio in 1483 in Urbino, Italy, Raphael went on to work in Rome from 1508 to 1520, serving Pope Julius II and Pope Leo X.

Raphael died at the age of 37 on Good Friday, April 6, 1520. He is buried in the Pantheon, which had already been consecrated as the Basilica of St. Mary and the Martyrs, where the artist’s tomb remains on display.  

“He was brilliant and tremendously successful. When he died at the age of 37 he was already running the equivalent of a Fortune 500 company: the largest studio of the Renaissance,” Lev said.

Earlier this year, the Vatican Museums displayed 10 of Raphael’s tapestries in their original place in Sistine Chapel for one week. The tapestries, commissioned by Pope Leo X in 1515, depict the lives of St. Peter and St. Paul in the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles.

Raphael painted the Apostolic Palace at the same time as Michaeangelo was working on the Sistine Chapel

“Michelangelo was eight years his senior and was already working in the Sistine chapel when Raphael arrived to paint the apartments of Pope Julius. The two had completely different perspectives on painting. Raphael’s was more similar to Leonardo’s, with careful backgrounds and elegant compositions, while Michelangelo’s figures were sculptural and monumental,” Lev explained.

“As these two Titans clashed stylistically, the world’s greatest works of art were born,” she said.

The Sistine Chapel, the Pio Clementino Museum, the Chiaramonti Museum, the New Wing, the Niccoline Chapel, and the Room of the Chiaroscuri can also be viewed via virtual tour on the Vatican Museums website.

Rome’s Scuderie del Quirinale museum had also opened a major exhibition on Raphael this year, which brings together 200 works of art from Louvre, the Uffizi and elsewhere. This exhibition was forced to close 72 hours after its March 5 opening due to the Italian government’s closure of all museums in response to the coronavirus outbreak. 

A video posted on YouTube by the museum allows quarantined Italians and art lovers around the world to catch a glimpse of the paintings displayed in this exhibition originally scheduled to end June 2. 

“Most of us lead very busy lives that were abruptly halted by the quarantines. As we are all required to exercise the virtue of patience these days, we can also rediscover the skill of looking carefully at things, appreciating details and the value of serenity. And nowhere are those qualities better expressed than in the art of Raphael,” Lev said.

[…]

Vatican City, Apr 6, 2020 / 11:21 am (CNA).- In an Easter letter to confessors on Saturday, the head of the Apostolic Penitentiary wrote that while ‘social distancing’ is necessary amid the coronavirus, ‘mercy does not cease’.

Despite the restrictions placed by many civil and ecclesial governors, “Mercy does not cease and God does not distance himself,” Cardinal Mauro Piacenza, the Major Penitentiary, wrote April 4.

“The social distancing required for health reasons, while necessary, cannot and must never turn into ecclesial distancing, let alone theological-sacramental distancing,” he added.

The Apostolic Penitentiary is the Holy See’s tribunal with responsibility for the internal forum and indulgences.

Cardinal Piacenza recalled his March 19 decree granting plenary indulgences to those suffering from Covid-19, asd well as health-care workers, their family, and those who care for them in any capacity; as well as an attached note on the sacrament of confession calling for reflection on its “urgency and centrality.”

In his letter to confessors, the Major Penitentiary wrote: “Mercy does not cease because where ordinary celebration of the sacrament is impossible, we are committed to pray, to console, to present souls to divine Mercy, fulfilling that priestly role of intercessors, which was conferred on us on the day of ordination.”

“Mercy does not cease because we all need the closeness and the ‘caress’ of Jesus, which also materializes in a moment of listening and dialogue, capable of opening a perspective of hope and light, in this circumstance of trial.”

Mercy “is expressed in the pastoral creativity of so many confreres,” he said, “who try in every way to make themselves close to the people entrusted to them, giving testimony of faith, courage, fatherhood, fully living their priesthood.”

Nor does mercy cease “because the sacrifice of the Holy Mass does not cease, even if celebrated without the physical presence of the people, from which every grace flows for the Church and for the world.”

Cardinal Piacenza wrote that “from the Cross, the bloody sacrifice of Christ, the possibility of salvation and reconciliation is given to all men; salvation also flows from the Eucharistic celebration, the bloodless sacrifice of Christ, the current re-presentation of the bloody one. In this sense, despite today’s dramatic circumstances, we are called to rediscover the centrality of the priestly ministry and, above all, what is essential in it: the work of Christ more than ours, the sacramental implementation of salvation, of which we are ministers, that is, servants.”

“Mercy does not cease but is expressed in every consideration to which the pandemic pushes us, in the rediscovery of the values for which it is worth living and dying, in the rediscovery of silence, of adoration and of prayer, in the rediscovery of the closeness of the other and, above all, of God.”

Neither does mercy cease, he said, “at the celebration of the sacred liturgy, which faithfully actualizes the mysteries of salvation, but becomes lived charity, which extends a helping hand to those who suffer,  and through the priestly ministry God’s forgiveness is offered.”

“Mercy does not cease even towards those who have been called to eternity because each of them is reached by the prayers of suffrage in the paschal certainty that with death, relationships are not broken but are transformed, strengthened, in the communion of saints.”

Cardinal Piacenza concluded urging that confessors “entrust this time, our ministry of Reconciliation, and this Easter so anomalous, to the protection of the Holy Virgin, Mother of Mercy in the certainty of her intercession so that each and every one may be given that new life, which is the yearning of every believer and of every man.”

[…]