Denver, Colo., Feb 8, 2019 / 05:43 pm (CNA).- A long-awaited summit on sexual abuse will take place at the Vatican two weeks from now.
The meeting was announced in September, in the months after allegations of sexual abuse and coercion on the part of … […]
Vatican City, Feb 8, 2019 / 11:19 am (CNA/EWTN News).- In mid-nineteenth century Algeria, a French bishop sought to share the Gospel among the local Africans living in his diocese by forming a community that adopted the traditional dress in Algiers — a white cassock with a red fez.
One hundred and fifty years later, the Missionaries of Africa, commonly called the “White Fathers” for their distinctive attire, have grown to have more than 1,500 vocations in 22 African countries — 95 percent of which come from Africa.
Pope Francis welcomed members of the Missionaries of Africa and Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Africa to the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace Friday, and encouraged them to continue their mission on their 150th anniversary of their community’s founding.
“It is always for Him, with Him and in Him that the mission is lived. Therefore, I encourage you to keep your eyes fixed on Jesus Christ, so as never to forget that the true missionary is above all a disciple,” Pope Francis told the missionaries Feb. 8.
Founded by Cardinal Charles Lavigerie of Algiers in 1868, the White Fathers went on to evangelize in sub-Saharan Africa. Their priests notably brought Catholicism to Uganda, catechizing and baptizing St. Charles Lwanga and his 22 companion martyrs in the 1880s.
Today the White Fathers work to provide clean for orphanages in Tanzania, education for women in Burkina Faso, mental trauma aid for refugees in Burundi, and healing for victims of human trafficking in Kenya. They continue to be known for their dialogue with Muslim communities in Africa.
Pope Francis thanked the White Fathers and Sisters “in particular for the work you have already done in favor of dialogue with Islam, with our Muslim sisters and brothers.”
“May the Spirit make you builders of bridges among men. Where the Lord has sent you, may you help to grow a culture of encounter, be at the service of a dialogue that, while respecting differences, can draw wealth from the diversity of others,” he said.
The pope commented on the community founder’s zeal for abolishing slavery.
Called the “the apostle of the slaves of all Africa,” Cardinal Lavigerie was an outspoken opponent of the European slave trade in the 19th century. He traveled around Europe campaigning against the practice of slavery in Africa and elsewhere.
Today the White Fathers continue to fight slavery in the form of human trafficking with the establishment of the “Human Trafficking Rescue Center” in Ngong, Kenya.
“In the wake of Cardinal Lavigerie, you are called to sow hope, fighting against all today’s forms of slavery; making you close of the little ones and the poor, of those who wait, in the peripheries of our society, to be recognized in their dignity, to be welcomed, protected, raised, accompanied, promoted and integrated,” Pope Francis said.
“With this hope, I entrust you to the Lord, through the intercession of the Virgin Mary, Our Lady of Africa,” he added.
Vatican City, Feb 6, 2019 / 11:34 am (CNA).- The Vatican clarified Wednesday Pope Francis’ comments on the sexual abuse of women religious made during his in-flight press conference returning from Abu Dhabi Feb. 5.
“When the Holy Father, referring to the dissolution of a Congregation, spoke of ‘sexual slavery,’ he meant ‘manipulation,’ a form of abuse of power that is also reflected in sexual abuse,” Holy See Press Office Interim Director Alessandro Gisotti said Feb. 6.
The clarification refers to a specific sentence in the pope’s response to a question regarding the sexual abuse of women religious by clerics.
Francis said Tuesday that, “Pope Benedict had the courage to dissolve a women’s congregation that had a certain level because this slavery of women had entered, even sexual slavery, by clerics or by the founder.”
The Holy See Press Office clarified that sexual manipulation had occurred within this women’s religious congregation, not actual sex slavery.
Gisotti later told CBS News that Pope Francis’ remarks referred to the Contemplative Sisters of Saint-Jean in France suppressed by Benedict XVI in 2013.
Sexual abuse of women religious by priests has been a recent subject in the women’s section of the Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano.
Recent reports have also suggested incidences of the abuse of women religious by clerics in Africa and Asia.
In India, a police investigation is ongoing into a case of an alleged abuse of a nun of the Missionaries of Jesus by a bishop. The religious sister has accused Bishop Franco Mulakkal of Jullunder of sexually assaulting her 13 times between 2014 and 2016.
The sister had said that she filed a complaint against Bishop Mulakkal in March 2018 with Cardinal George Alencherry, Major Archbishop of the Syro-Malabar Archdiocese of Ernakulam-Angamaly, and that he failed to report it to the police.
Mulakkal was removed from his responsibilities as Bishop of Jullundur, arrested Sept. 21, 2018, and then released on bail.
The pope said Feb. 5 he believes the problem is more common in some cultures than others but acknowledged that “there have been priests and also bishops who have done that. And I believe it may still be being done.”
The Church has “been working on this for a long time,” including through the suspension of clerics and the dissolution of some congregations involved in “corruption.”
“It’s a problem. The mistreatment of women is a problem,” the pope said. Asking for prayers, he added that he wants to go forward. “There are cases, yes,” he said, adding: “We are working.”
The issue was broached as the Vatican approaches a four-day meeting of the heads of bishops’ conferences and religious orders to discuss the sexual abuse of minors. The summit will be held Feb. 21-24.
In his response the pope also denounced the treatment of women as “second-class” and said it is often a cultural problem which in some countries can escalate even to the point of female babies being the targets of infanticide.
“I would dare to say that humanity still hasn’t matured” regarding the full equality of women, he said.
Vatican City, Feb 6, 2019 / 05:53 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The Vatican announced Wednesday that Pope St. Paul VI’s feast day will be celebrated annually on May 29 as an optional memorial.
“Before and after becoming Pope, Saint Paul VI lived wi… […]
Vatican City, Feb 6, 2019 / 03:23 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis said Wednesday that his recent trip to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates was a step forward in Catholic-Muslim dialogue and promoting peace among religions.
Though a brief visit, … […]
Albany, N.Y., Feb 5, 2019 / 08:00 pm (CNA).- Just days after expanding legal abortion up to the point of birth, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is proposing a law that would lift the ban on surrogacy contracts in the state of New York.
If passed, the l… […]
Vatican City, Feb 5, 2019 / 02:01 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis said Tuesday he is aware that mistreatment and abuse of religious women by clerics is still a problem, and that it is something the Church is working to end.
“It’s true, within the Church there have been clerics who have done this,” the pope said Feb. 5. “Must something more be done? Yes. Do we have the will? Yes.”
He spoke aboard the papal plane returning to Rome after a two-day trip to the United Arab Emirates, responding to a question about sexual abuse of women religious by priests, a recent subject in the women’s section of the Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano.
Recent reports have suggested that abuse of women religious by clerics is more prevalent in Africa and Asia.
The most prominent instance of alleged abuse of a woman religious by a cleric is the case of a nun of the Missionaries of Jesus, in the Indian state of Kerala. She has accused Bishop Franco Mulakkal of Jullunder of sexually assaulting her 13 times between 2014 and 2016.
Mulakkal was arrested Sept. 21, 2018, but was released on bail. A police investigation is ongoing, and the bishop has been temporarily removed from his responsibilities as Bishop of Jullundur.
Cardinal George Alencherry, Major Archbishop of the Syro-Malabar Archdiocese of Ernakulam-Angamaly, has been accused of receiving the nun’s complaint against Bishop Mulakkal in March 2018, and failing to report it to the police.
The pope said he believes the problem is more common in some cultures than others but acknowledged that “there have been priests and also bishops who have done that. And I believe it may still be being done.”
The Church has “been working on this for a long time,” including through the suspension of clerics and
the dissolution of some congregations involved in “corruption.”
“It’s a problem. The mistreatment of women is a problem,” the pope said. Asking for prayers, he added that he wants to go forward. “There are cases, yes,” he said, adding: “We are working.”
The issue was broached as the Vatican approaches a four-day meeting of the heads of bishops’ conferences and religious orders to discuss the sexual abuse of minors. The summit will be held Feb. 21-24.
In his response the pope also denounced the treatment of women as “second-class” and said it is often a cultural problem which in some countries can escalate even to the point of female babies being the targets of infanticide.
“I would dare to say that humanity still hasn’t matured” regarding the full equality of women, he said.
Francis also underlined the work of Benedict XVI, who he called “a strong man, a consistent man,” who acted courageously to combat “sexual and economic corruption” both before and during his years as pope.
“About Pope Benedict I would like to underscore that he is a man that had the courage to do many things on this theme,” Francis said.
Papal biographer Austen Ivereigh has written a piece for Commonweal, on the meeting of the heads of the world’s bishops’ conferences scheduled for February 21-24 to discuss “the protection of minors and vulnerable adults.” Francis is […]
Vatican City, Feb 3, 2019 / 05:28 am (CNA/EWTN News).- During the Angelus Sunday, Pope Francis urged people to think of and pray for the many people in Yemen, especially children, who are starving to death in the war.
Praying a ‘Hail Mary’… […]
Vatican City, Feb 2, 2019 / 10:34 am (CNA/EWTN News).- To follow Christ is a choice which must be made day in and day out, Pope Francis said Saturday, explaining that to know the Lord means meeting him in one’s daily life.
“The God of life is to be encountered every day of our lives; not now and then, but every day. To follow Jesus is not a decision taken once and for all, it is a daily choice,” the pope said Feb. 2, adding that “we do not meet the Lord virtually, but directly, we encounter him in our lives.”
Addressing consecrated men and women, he said, “this is the vision of consecrated life, a simple and prophetic vision, where we keep the Lord before our eyes and between our hands, and not to serve anything else. He is our life, he is our hope, he is our future.”
Pope Francis reflected on encounter with the Lord for the 23rd World Day of Consecrated Life, which takes place every year on the feast of the Presentation of the Lord.
The Feast of the Presentation of the Lord is also sometimes called Candlemas. On this day, many Christians bring candles to the church to be blessed. They can then light these candles at home during prayer or difficult times as a symbol of Jesus Christ, the Light of the World.
The Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica Feb. 2, began with Pope Francis blessing the candles in the rear of the nave. He then processed to the front of the darkened church with priests, bishops and cardinals carrying lit candles. Men and women present in the congregation also held small candles.
The feast of the Presentation is “a feast day of encounter,” the pope said. “What does this mean for us? Above all, that we too are called to welcome Jesus who comes to meet us,” meaning to place him at the center, as the “beating heart of everything.”
Francis recalled a part of the day’s Gospel, and the repetition of the phrases “according to the law” and “in the Spirit.” At the presentation of Jesus in the temple, Mary and Joseph “run to the temple, called by the law” and Simeon and Anna are “moved by the Spirit,” he said.
“What does this twofold call, by the law and by the Spirit, mean for our spiritual life and our consecrated life?” he asked. “It means that we are all called to a twofold obedience: to the law – in the sense of what gives order to our lives – and to the Spirit, who does new things in our lives.”
He illustrated this point using the Wedding at Cana. Mary tells the servants to “do whatever he tells you,” in other words, requesting obedience. Jesus then asked them to fill six stone water jars, which takes time and effort and likely seemed pointless at the time, since the wedding needed wine, not water.
“And yet, precisely from those jars filled ‘up to the brim,’ Jesus draws forth new wine,” Pope Francis said. “And so it is for us: God calls us to encounter him through faithfulness to concrete things: daily prayer, Holy Mass, Confession, real charity, the daily word of God.”
Consecrated life requires concrete things, he explained, such as obedience to one’s superior and to the rules of consecrated life.
He said: “If we put this law into practice with love, then the Spirit will come and bring God’s surprise, just as in the temple and at Cana. Thus the water of daily life is transformed into the wine of newness, and our life, which seems to be more bound, in reality becomes more free.”
And the strength and courage to carry this out is found in encounter with Jesus, he noted, explaining that it is important to always return to the source of one’s vocation, “to retrace in our mind the decisive moments of encounter with him, to renew our first love.”
“This would be good for our consecrated life,” he advised, “so that it does not become a time that passes by, but rather a time of encounter.”
“Consecrated life is not about survival, but new life. It is a living encounter with the Lord in his people. It is a call to the faithful obedience of daily life and to the unexpected surprises from the Spirit. It is a vision of what we need to embrace in order to experience joy: Jesus,” he concluded.
© Catholic World Report