Vatican City, May 12, 2020 / 09:00 am (CNA).- Pope Francis has appointed Fr. Peter Muhich to be the next Bishop of Rapid City, South Dakota.
Fr. Muhich, 58, most recently served as the rector of the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Rosary in Duluth, Minne… […]
Vatican City, May 12, 2020 / 06:30 am (CNA).- The coronavirus crisis has shown that governments need to invest more in health care and employ more nurses, Pope Francis said Tuesday.
In a message marking International Nurses Day, the pope said the pand… […]
Vatican City, May 12, 2020 / 05:30 am (CNA).- The world offers peace like it is something to possess within ourselves; instead, God’s peace is a gift which opens us to others and points toward heaven, Pope Francis said at Mass Tuesday.
Peace &ld… […]
Vatican City, May 11, 2020 / 09:20 am (CNA).- The Vatican Museums are preparing to reopen by reservation only with new health measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, according to the general secretary of Vatican City State.
“For the i… […]
Vatican City, May 11, 2020 / 05:18 am (CNA).- Pope Francis Monday appointed Fr. Louis Tylka, a priest of the Archdiocese of Chicago, as coadjutor bishop of the Diocese of Peoria to serve alongside Bishop Daniel R. Jenky, CSC.
As coadjutor, Tylka will … […]
Vatican City, May 11, 2020 / 04:30 am (CNA).- Pope Francis began his morning Mass on Monday by praying for the unemployed after millions of people lost their jobs amid coronavirus restrictions.
“In these days many people have lost their jobs &he… […]
Vatican City, May 10, 2020 / 05:30 am (CNA).- We must always remember that we are made for heaven, Pope Francis said in his Regina Coeli address Sunday.
Speaking in the library of the Apostolic Palace due to the coronavirus pandemic, the pope said May 10: “God is in love with us. We are his children. And for us He has prepared the most worthy and beautiful place: paradise.”
“Let us not forget: the dwelling place that awaits us is paradise. Here we are passing through. We are made for heaven, for eternal life, to live forever.”
In his reflection before the Regina Coeli, the pope focused on Sunday’s Gospel reading, John 14:1-12, in which Jesus addresses his disciples at the Last Supper.
He said: “At such a dramatic moment Jesus began by saying: ‘Do not let your hearts be troubled.’ He says this to us too in the dramas of life. But how can we make sure that our hearts are not troubled?”
He explained that Jesus offers two remedies for our turmoil. The first is an invitation to us to have faith in him.
“He knows that in life, the worst anxiety, turmoil, comes from the feeling of not being able to cope, from feeling alone and without reference points before what happens,” he said.
“This anxiety, in which difficulty is added to difficulty, cannot be overcome alone. That is why Jesus asks us to have faith in Him, that is, not to lean on ourselves, but on Him. Because liberation from anguish passes through trust.”
The Pope said that Jesus’ second remedy is expressed in his words “In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places … I am going to prepare a place for you” (John 14:2).
“This is what Jesus did for us: He reserved us a place in heaven,” he said. “He took upon Himself our humanity to take it beyond death, to a new place, in heaven, so that where He is, we might be there also.”
He continued: “Forever: it’s something we can’t even imagine now. But it is even more beautiful to think that this forever will be all in joy, in full communion with God and with others, without any more tears, without rancor, without division and upheaval.”
“But how to reach Paradise? What is the way? Here is the decisive phrase of Jesus. Today he says: ‘I am the way’ [John 14:6]. To ascend to heaven, the way is Jesus: it is to have a living relationship with Him, to imitate Him in love, to follow in His footsteps.”
He urged Christians to ask themselves which way they were following.
“There are ways that do not lead to heaven: the ways of worldliness, the ways of self-assertion, the ways of selfish power,” he said.
“And there is the way of Jesus, the way of humble love, of prayer, of meekness, of trust, of service to others. It is to go ahead every day asking: ‘Jesus, what do you think of my choice? What would you do in this situation, with these people?’”
“It will do us good to ask Jesus, who is the way, the directions for heaven. May Our Lady, Queen of Heaven, help us to follow Jesus, who opened heaven for us.”
After reciting the Regina Coeli, the pope recalled two anniversaries.
The first was the 70th anniversary on May 9 of the Schuman Declaration, which led to the creation of the European Coal and Steel Community.
“It inspired the process of European integration,” he said, “enabling the reconciliation of the peoples of the continent after the Second World War and the long period of stability and peace from which we benefit today.”
“The spirit of the Schuman Declaration cannot fail to inspire all those with responsibilities in the European Union, called upon to face the social and economic consequences of the pandemic in a spirit of harmony and cooperation.”
The second anniversary was that of St. John Paul’s first visit to Africa 40 years ago. Francis said that on May 10, 1980, the Polish pope “gave voice to the cry of the people of the Sahel, harshly tried by drought.”
He praised an initiative by young people to plant a million trees in the Sahel region, forming a “Great Green Wall” to combat the effects of desertification.
“I hope that many will follow the example of solidarity of these young people,” he said.
The pope also noted that May 10 is Mother’s Day in many countries.
He said: “I want to remember all mothers with gratitude and affection, entrusting them to the protection of Mary, our heavenly Mother. My thoughts also go out to the mothers who have passed to the other life and accompany us from heaven.”
He then called for a moment of silent prayer for mothers.
He concluded: “I wish everyone a good Sunday. Please don’t forget to pray for me. Have a good lunch and goodbye for now.”
Afterwards, he offered his blessing while overlooking an almost empty St. Peter’s Square.
Vatican City, May 10, 2020 / 03:30 am (CNA).- Church leaders must put prayer before all other things, Pope Francis said at his morning Mass Sunday.
Speaking in the chapel at Casa Santa Marta, his Vatican residence, the pope said May 10 that praying must be a bishop’s first priority.
He said: “The bishop’s prayer, the first task: to pray. And the people, seeing the bishop pray, learn to pray. Because the Holy Spirit teaches us that it is God who ‘does things’.”
“We do a little, but it is He who ‘does the things’ of the Church, and it is through prayer that the Church advances. And that is why the leaders of the Church, so to say, the bishops, must go ahead with prayer.”
In his homily, the pope reflected on Sunday’s Gospel reading, John 14:1-14, in which Jesus tells his disciples that he is the way, the truth and the life and that no one comes to the Father except through him.
He described the passage as Jesus’ “declaration of access to the Father.” It was, he suggested, as if Christ “opened the doors of the omnipotence of prayer.”
Believers should pray with trust and courage, he said. He gave the examples of Abraham “haggling” with God to save Sodom in Genesis 18:20-33, and Moses asking the Lord to spare his people in Exodus 32:1-35. Therefore Christians should not pray timidly.
“To pray is to go with Jesus to the Father who will give you everything,” he said. “Courage in prayer, frankness in prayer.”
The pope then turned to the day’s second reading, Acts 6:1-7, in which the apostles respond to complaints about food distribution in the early Christian community.
He noted that, in order to focus on prayer and preaching, the apostles “enlightened by the Holy Spirit, ‘invented’, so to speak, the deacons,” selecting seven men of good reputation to oversee food allocation.
He said: “This is the bishop’s task: to pray and preach. With this strength that we have heard in the Gospel: the bishop is the first one who goes to the Father, with the trust that Jesus gave, with courage, with parrhesia [bold speech], to fight for his people. The first task of a bishop is to pray.”
The pope recalled “a holy parish priest” who whenever he met a bishop would ask him how many hours a day he prayed.
Prayer is a bishop’s primary task, he said, “Because it is the prayer of the head of the community for the community, the intercession to the Father so that he might guard the people.”
He concluded: “It is sad to see good bishops, good people, good people, but busy with many things, the economy, and this and that… Prayer in first place. Then the other things. But when the other things take space away from prayer, something doesn’t work…”
“This is how the Church goes forward, with prayer, the courage of prayer, because the Church knows that without this access to the Father she cannot survive.”
The pope ended the celebration with adoration and benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. The congregation then sang the Easter Marian antiphon “Regina caeli.”
At the start of Mass, the pope recalled two recent commemorations. May 8 marked the 75th anniversary of the end of the Second World War. May 9 was the 70th anniversary of the Schuman Declaration, which proposed the creation of a European Coal and Steel Community, leading to the foundation of the European Union.
He said: “Let us ask the Lord for Europe today to grow united in this unity of brotherhood which makes all peoples grow in unity in diversity.”
Vatican City, May 9, 2020 / 04:00 am (CNA).- The devil uses envy to try to thwart the proclamation of the Gospel, Pope Francis said at his morning Mass Saturday.
In his homily in the chapel at Casa Santa Marta, May 9, the pope reflected on the day’s first reading, Acts 13:44-52, in which the Jewish community at Antioch rejects St. Paul’s preaching about Jesus.
He said: “On the one hand there is the Lord, there is the Holy Spirit who makes the Church grow, and it grows ever more: this is true. But on the other hand, there is the evil spirit that seeks to destroy the Church.”
After citing other examples in the Acts of the Apostles where the apostles faced rejection, the pope asked: “And what is the devil’s instrument to destroy the Gospel proclamation? Envy. The Book of Wisdom [2:24] says it clearly: ‘Through the devil’s envy sin has entered the world’ — envy, jealousy, here. Always this bitter, bitter feeling.”
Reflecting on this enduring struggle, Pope Francis quoted St. Augustine of Hippo, who wrote in “The City of God” that “the Church progresses on her pilgrimage amidst this world’s persecutions and God’s consolations.”
“A Church that has no difficulty lacks something,” he said. “The devil is too calm. And if the devil is calm, things are not going well. Always the difficulty, the temptation, the struggle… the jealousy that destroys. The Holy Spirit creates the harmony of the Church, and the evil spirit destroys. Until today.”
The pope noted that in the first reading the community at Antioch turned the leading women and men of the city against the apostles. He observed that temporal powers are often an instrument through which envy is stirred up against Christians.
He said: “Let us be careful with the preaching of the Gospel: never to fall, to put our trust in temporal powers and money. The trust of Christians is Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit that He sent, and it is precisely the Holy Spirit who is the leaven, it is the strength that makes the Church grow.”
“Yes, the Church goes ahead, in peace, with resignation, joyful: between ‘the consolations of God and the persecutions of the world.’”
The pope led those watching via livestream in an act of spiritual communion, composed by St. Alphonsus Liguori, founder of the Redemptorists.
He prayed: “My Jesus, I believe that you are present in the most Blessed Sacrament. I love You above all things and I desire to receive You into my soul. Since I cannot now receive You sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart. I embrace You as if You were already there, and unite myself wholly to You. Never permit me to be separated from You.”
The pope ended the celebration with adoration and benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. The congregation then sang the Easter Marian antiphon “Regina caeli.”
At the start of Mass, the pope noted that May 9 is the feast day of St. Louise de Marillac, the French founder of the Daughters of Charity. Her feast normally falls on March 15 but was transferred this year because it fell on a Sunday in Lent. A painting of the 17th-century saint was brought to the pope’s chapel to mark the occasion.
The Daughters of Charity belong to the Vincentian family. Vincentian nuns live at the Casa Santa Marta, the pope’s residence, and run a pediatric dispensary at the Vatican.
At the start of Mass, the pope said: “Today is the commemoration of St. Louise de Marillac: let us pray for the Vincentian sisters who have run this clinic, this hospital, for almost 100 years and have worked here, in Santa Marta, for this hospital. May the Lord bless the sisters.”
CNA Staff, May 8, 2020 / 10:25 am (CNA).- Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò has accused a Vatican cardinal of causing him “serious harm” in a bitter war of words over a controversial open letter regarding the coronavirus crisis.
In a statement published May 8, the archbishop criticized Cardinal Robert Sarah’s decision to distance himself from the letter, titled “Appeal for the Church and the World,” which argues that the coronavirus pandemic has been exploited in order to create a one-world government.
The statement details Vigano’s account of his interactions with Sarah beginning May 4. Viganò claims that on the evening of May 7, the prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for Divine Worship and Sacraments asked him to remove him from the list of signatories to the letter, which had by that time already been published.
“With surprise and deep regret,” he wrote, “I then learned that His Eminence had used his Twitter account, without giving me any notice, to make statements that cause serious harm to the truth and to my person.”
Viganò was referring to a series of three May 7 tweets from Sarah, which said: “A Cardinal Prefect, member of the Roman Curia has to observe a certain restriction on political matters. He shouldn’t sign petitions in such aereas [sic].”
“Therefore this morning I explicitely [sic] asked the authors of the petition titled ‘For the Church and for the world’ not to mention my name.”
“From a personal point of view, I may share some questions or preoccupations raised regarding restrictions on fundamental freedom but I didn’t sign that petition,” Sarah added.
Viganò’s statement continued: “I am very sorry that this matter, which is due to human weakness, and for which I bear no resentment towards the person who caused it, has distracted our attention from what must seriously concern us at this dramatic moment.”
After Viganò issued his rebuke, Sarah tweeted May 8: “I will not speak to this petition, which today seems to occupy a lot of people. I leave to their conscience those who want to exploit it in one way or another. I decided not to sign this text. I fully accept my choice.”
In his statement, Viganò said he had chosen to publicize his private conversations with Sarah because he had a duty to tell the truth, and “also for the sake of fraternal correction.”
Vigano said Sarah had initially told him: “Yes, I agree to put my name to it, because this is a fight we must engage in together, not only for the Catholic Church but for all mankind.”
He confirmed that Sarah’s signature has now been removed from the open letter.
Vigano, a former papal nuncio made headlines in August 2018, for a letter that alleged Vatican officials had ignored warnings about the sexual abuse of disgraced former cardinal Theodore McCarrick. Since that time, Vigano has released numerous letters expressing his viewpoints on matters in the Church, which include criticisms of Pope Francis and other curial officials.
The appeal argued that as a result of the pandemic centuries of Christian civilization could be “erased under the pretext of a virus” and an “odious technological tyranny” established in its place.
It said: “We have reason to believe, on the basis of official data on the incidence of the epidemic as related to the number of deaths, that there are powers interested in creating panic among the world’s population with the sole aim of permanently imposing unacceptable forms of restriction on freedoms, of controlling people and of tracking their movements. The imposition of these illiberal measures is a disturbing prelude to the realization of a World Government beyond all control.”
Several bishops and cardinals are alleged to have signed the letter. Bishop Joseph Strickland of Tyler, Texas told CNA May 7 that he had signed it.
A press release on the appeal’s website May 8 claimed that Robert Kennedy Jr, son of the slain US. Presidential candidate Sen. Robert Kennedy, had signed the letter.
To date, nearly 4 million people have tested positive for the coronavirus, and at least 272,000 have died.
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