Vatican

Vatican City, Jun 2, 2018 / 03:42 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Survivors of sexual abuse and other abuses perpetrated by Chile’s most notorious abuser priest, Fernando Karadima, met with Pope Francis Saturday. They said they found a pope who not only listened and suffered with them, but who truly understood the depth of the crisis and the steps that are needed going forward.

“I came to Rome with three ideas. First, that he invited us, the advice that Peter would share with us, and also with hope. I have to say that the three things are confirmed and have exceeded my expectations,” Fr. Eugenio de la Fuente Lora told journalists June 2 after meeting with the pope.

Three fundamental takeaways from the encounter, he said, are the pope’s “listening, empathy and welcome.”

De la Fuente, who was a victim of Karadima’s abuse, voiced gratitude for feeling “completely understood by someone admirably empathetic, who suffered with my pain and understood it.”

Pope Francis, he said, “has a very deep understanding of the problem and… he has some very concrete ideas for how to advance, always on the short, medium and long term.”

Renewal won’t be immediate, but it will take time, he said, adding that the pope is “very clear” about what needs to be done.

De la Fuente is part of a second group of priests and victims of Chile’s most notorious abuser priest, Fr. Fernando Karadima. They are holding meetings with Pope Francis at the Vatican June 1-3.

Staying at the Santa Marta guesthouse, where Pope Francis lives, the group of nine includes five priests who were victims of abuse of power, conscience, and sexuality; two priests who have been assisting the victims; and two lay people.

In addition to De la Fuente, the group includes Fr. Francisco Javier Astaburuaga Ossa, a priest who accompanied victims Juan Carlos Cruz and James Hamilton before they went public about their abuse. Another victim of Karadima’s abuse, Fr. Alejandro Vial Amunátegui, is also in the group.

Two of the other priests who will meet with the pope are Fr. Javier Barros Bascuñán and Fr. Sergio Cobo Montalba. The remaining four participants have chosen not to go public.

Msgr. Jordi Bertomeu, who assisted Maltese Archbishop Charles Scicluna in the February investigation of the Chilean crisis, was also present. The two investigators will travel to Chile again in the coming days, this time visiting the Diocese of Osorno, rather than Santiago.

Saturday’s meeting with survivors began with 4 p.m. Mass June 2, after which the group stayed with the pope for four hours and fifteen minutes. Francis met them individually and as a group before taking his leave at 8:15 p.m. No other encounters with the pope are expected before the group returns to Chile.

In comments to the press after meeting with the pope, Astaburuaga said Francis focused heavily on the concept of the “holy faithful People of God” spoken of in the Second Vatican Council document “Lumen Gentium,” saying the Church must work harder to build an ecclesiology that has “a strong sense” of this concept.

“The people of God are essential, pastors are from the people of God and they are also there to serve the people of God,” Astaburuaga said, adding that all baptized are called to be “builders of the Church.”

The priest said that in order to change the “culture of abuse and concealment” Pope Francis spoke of in a recent letter to Chilean Catholics, a careful process of discernment is needed which takes three things into consideration: time, people and place.

When contemplating any decision, it’s important to think about “who are the people, places and times,” he said, stressing that the process of renewal in Chile is “the work of everyone, not just one.”

“This is why the pope insisted on returning to the concept of the people of God from the Second Vatican Council. We are all responsible: priests, bishops, laity, the holy people. It’s a joint task.”

Pope Francis, he said, listened “very carefully” when he spoke about his experience accompanying victims of abuse. “This is the testimony he gave us. To listen, and to listen with a lot of attention (and) a lot of trust.”

Though the process has at times been difficult, Astaburuaga said accompanying victims such as Cruz and Hamilton over the past 20 years “has its fruits,” and “it’s a great joy in the midst of their great suffering.”

Pope Francis, he said, also asked them to continue praying for the Church in Chile, particularly by emphasizing Eucharistic Adoration more strongly in local dioceses.

The pope also again asked for forgiveness in the name of the Church for the suffering each of them has lived, said Astaburuaga, who called the act “a great humility” on the part of the pope.

“I’ll go back to Chile with a lot of hope,” he said, adding that “beyond the difficulties there are, conflicts are always an opportunity. Conflicts that we have to face, but always with hope.”

Most of those who came to the Vatican for the June 2 meeting with the pope participated in an investigation of abuse cover-up by the hierarchy in Chile, which took place in February and was conducted by Archbishop Charles Scicluna of Malta and Msgr. Jordi Bertomeu of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. The others worked with the investigation after the archbishop’s time in Chile.

This weekend’s gathering conclude the pope’s first round of meetings with the victims of abuses which occurred at Karadima’s Sacred Heart parish in Santiago.

Pope Francis said Mass for the group June 2, after which he met the nine as a group before holding individual conversations. He had met with three more of Karadima’s victims, Juan Carlos Cruz, James Hamilton, and Andres Murillo, at the Vatican April 27-30.

Karadima was convicted by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in 2011 of abusing minors, and sentenced to a life of prayer and penance. He has not been sentenced by civil courts because of Chile’s statue of limitations.

A priestly association Karadima was involved in and which he had led for many years, the Priestly Union of the Sacred Heart, was suppressed within a year of his conviction.

Attention to Karadima’s abuse has heightened since the appointment of Bishop Juan de la Cruz Barros Madrid to the Diocese of Osorno in 2015. Barros had been accused of both covering up and at times participating in Karadima’s abuses.

Pope Francis initially defended Barros, saying he had received no evidence of the bishop’s guilt, and called accusations against him “calumny” during a trip to Chile in January. He later relented, and sent Scicluna to investigate the situation in Chile.

After receiving Scicluna’s report, Francis apologized, said that he had been seriously mistaken, and asked to meet the country’s bishops and more outspoken survivors in person.

He met with Chile’s bishops May 15-17. As a result, each of them tendered letters of resignation, which Pope Francis has yet to accept or reject. The pope also gave the bishops a letter chastising them for systemic cover-up of clerical abuse and calling them to institute deep changes.

On May 31, the Vatican announced that Francis has decided to send Scicluna and Bertomeu back to Chile in the coming days, this time traveling to the Diocese of Osorno, where Barros is stationed, in order to “advance the process of healing and reparation for victims of abuse” in Chile.

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Vatican City, Jun 2, 2018 / 07:15 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis begins his second set of meetings with victims of Fr. Fernando Karadima, a Chilean priest who committed sexual abuse, as well as abuse of power and conscience, at the Vatican Saturday afternoon.

At 4:00 p.m. June 2, according to the Holy See press office, Pope Francis will say Mass with the group of priests, who are guests at the Vatican’s Santa Marta guesthouse June 1-3.

The scheduled group and individual meetings with the pope will begin following the Mass.

The group of nine includes five priests who were victims of abuse of power, conscience, and sexuality; two priests who have been assisting the victims; and two lay people.

The reason the meeting was called by Pope Francis, the Holy See press office stated, “is to deepen the reality experienced by a part of the faithful and the Chilean clergy.”

“With the help of these five priests, the Pope seeks to remedy the internal rupture of the community. In this way we can begin to rebuild a healthy relationship between the faithful and their pastors, once everyone becomes aware of their wounds.”

Most of those coming to the Vatican participated in Archbishop Charles Scicluna of Malta’s investigation of abuse cover-up by the hierarchy in Chile, whick took place in February. The others worked with the investigation after the archbishop’s time in Chile.

The meeting will conclude the pope’s first round of meetings with the victims of abuses which occurred at Karadima’s Sacred Heart parish in Santiago.

“These priests and lay people represent all the victims of abuses by clerics in Chile, but it is not ruled out that similar initiatives may be repeated in the future,” stated a May 22 press release announcing the meeting.

“The Holy Father continues to ask the faithful of Chile – and especially the faithful of the parishes where these priests carry out their pastoral ministry – to accompany them with prayer and solidarity during these days.”

Francis had met with three more of Karadima’s victims, Juan Carlos Cruz, James Hamilton, and Andres Murillo, at the Vatican April 27-30.

Karadima was convicted by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in 2011 of abusing minors, and sentenced to a life of prayer and penance. He has not been sentenced by civil courts because of Chile’s statue of limitations.

A sacerdotal association which Karadima had led, the Priestly Union of the Sacred Heart, was suppressed within a year of his conviction.

Attention to Karadima’s abuse has heightened since the 2015 appointment of Bishop Juan de la Cruz Barros Madrid to the Diocese of Osorno. Barros had been accused of covering up Karadima’s abuses.

Pope Francis initially defended Barros, saying he had received no evidence of the bishop’s guilt, and called accusations against him “calumny” during a trip to Chile in January. He later relented, and sent Scicluna to investigate the situation in Chile.

After receiving Scicluna’s report, Francis apologized, said that he had been seriously mistaken, and asked to meet the country’s bishops and more outspoken survivors in person.

He met with Chile’s bishops May 15-17. As a result, each of them tendered letters of resignation, which Pope Francis has yet to accept or reject. The pope also gave the bishops a lettter chastising them for systemic cover-up of clerical abuse and calling them to institute deep changes.

On May 19, Bishop Alejandro Goić Karmelić of Rancagua suspended several priests after allegations of sexual misconduct were raised against them. He also apologized for not following up when the accusations were first brought to his attention.

[…]

Vatican City, Jun 1, 2018 / 09:55 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Sports touch the lives of many people, and while they can be a vehicle for character growth, they can also pose moral dangers, as in cases of abuse or corruption, warned a Vatican document released… […]

Vatican City, Jun 1, 2018 / 08:29 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The Vatican announced Friday that Pope Francis has tapped Slovakian-born Bishop Milan Lach S.J. as the new head of the Ruthenian Eparchy of Parma, which encompasses a large portion of the Midwest region of the United States.

Born in Kezmarok, Slovakia in 1973, Lach, 44, has been the apostolic administrator for the vacant eparchy since 2017.

His appointment as the eparchy’s new bishop was announced in a June 1 communique from the Vatican. The news was published stateside in Washington D.C. by the pope’s ambassador to the U.S., Archbishop Christophe Pierre.  

Headquartered in Parma, Ohio, the Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Parma governs the majority of Ruthenian Catholics throughout the Midwest. The eparchy encompasses the majority of Ohio, apart from certain eastern border counties, as well as Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Missouri, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota.

The Ruthenian Catholic Church is an Eastern Catholic Church and in full communion with the Bishop of Rome. Ruthenian Catholics use the Byzantine rite and are led by the Ruthenian Archbishop of Pittsburgh.

Bishop Lach was admitted to the Greek-Catholic seminary in Presov, Slovakia in 1992, and three years later he entered the novitiate with the Society of Jesus in Trnava.

After finishing his theological studies at the University of Trnava, Lach was ordained a deacon for the Society of Jesus in 2000, and was ordained priest for the order in the Diocese of Kosice in 2001.

That same year he began working in the scientific area of the Center of Spirituality East-West of Michal Lacko in Kosice. In 2009, he was tapped as the center’s superior, a role he held until 2011.

Lach also obtained both a master’s degree and a doctorate from the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome, completing his studies in 2009.

In 2011 the bishop was named vice dean of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Trnava for foreign relations and development.

He was named auxiliary bishop of the Archeparchy of Presov of the Byzantines by Pope Francis in June 2013, and in 2017 he was named apostolic administrator of the Parma eparchy when the former bishop, John Michael Kudrick, retired.

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Vatican City, May 31, 2018 / 12:05 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- In a letter to Catholics in Chile on Thursday, Pope Francis said he is ashamed of the Church’s failure to listen to victims, and urged all the baptized to make a commitment to ending the culture of abuse and cover-up.

“Here resides one of our main faults and omissions: not knowing how to listen to victims,” the pope said in his May 31 letter.

Because of this inability to listen, “partial conclusions were drawn, which lacked crucial elements for a healthy and clear discernment,” he said, adding that “with shame I must say that we did not know how to listen and react in time.”

The need to investigate the Chilean abuse crisis, he said, “was born when we saw that there were situations that we did not know how to see and hear. As a Church we could not continue to walk ignoring the pain of our brothers.”

Francis stressed the importance of prayer and the role that the People of God have in the Church, saying that to distance oneself from the People of God “hastens us to the desolation and perversion of ecclesial nature.”

“The fight against a culture of abuse requires renewing this certainty,” he said, and urged all Christians not to be afraid of being protagonists of change in the Church.

Francis then thanked the organizations and media outlets which he said took on the issue, “always seeking the truth and not making this painful reality a meditative source for increasing the rating of their programming.”

He also said the process of purification the Church is currently living is due not just to recent events, but the whole process is possible thanks to the effort and perseverance of those who, “against all hope and stains of discredit,” did not tire of seeking the truth.

“I am referring to the victims of abuses of sexuality, power and authority and to those who in this moment believe and accompany them. Victims whose cry rose to heaven,” he said, voicing gratitude for the “courage and perseverance” they have shown.

The “never more” attitude in front of a culture of abuse and the system of cover-up, he said, “demands working among everyone in order to generate a culture of care which permeates our ways of relating, praying, thinking, of living authority; our customs and languages and our relationship with power and money.”

Pope Francis then stressed the urgency of generating spaces where a culture of abuse and concealment is not the “dominant scheme,” and in which a critical and questioning attitude is not confused with “betrayal.”

He then urged all Christians, especially those who work in educational and formational entities and institutions, to pool their resources with civil society in order to find strategic ways of promoting a culture of care and protection.

Abuse and cover-up, he said, are “incompatible with the logic of the Gospel since the salvation offered by Christ is always an offer, a gift which demands and requires freedom,” adding that all attempts against freedom and the integrity of the person “are anti-evangelical.”

The pope then invited centers of religious formation, faculties of theology, and seminaries to launch a theological reflection capable of rising above the present time and promoting a “mature, adult” faith in the Church.

Communities that are able to fight against abuse and which are internally capable of discussion and even confrontation on the issue are welcome, he said, adding that “we will be fruitful in the measure that we empower and open communities from within and thus free ourselves from closed and self-referential thoughts full of promises and mirages which promise life but which ultimately favor the culture of abuse.”

Referring the popular piety practiced in many communities in Chile, which he called an “invaluable treasure and authentic school of the heart for the people of God,” Francis said that in his experience, expressions of popular devotion are “one of the few places where the People of God are sovereign” from the influence of a clericalism which tries to control and limit the laity.

Francis then pointed to all the laity, priests, bishops, and consecrated persons in Chile who have faithfully lived their vocations in love, saying they are Christians who know how to cry with others, to seek justice, and to look with mercy on those who are suffering.

Pope Francis closed his letter saying a Church that is wounded is capable of understanding and being moved by the wounds of today’s world and of both making these wounds their own and accompanying and healing those who bear them.

“A Church with sores does not put itself at the center, it does not believe itself to be perfect, it does not try to conceal and disguise its evil, but puts it before the only one who can heal wounds and who has a name: Jesus Christ.”

This certainty is what will prompt people to look for the commitment to ultimately and in time generate a culture where every person “has the right to breathe an air free of every kind of abuse.”

He urged the entire People of God not to be afraid to get involved and walk, driven by the Holy Spirit in search of a Church “which is increasingly more synodal, prophetic and hopeful,” and which is ultimately “less abusive because it knows to put Jesus at the center in the hungry, in the prisoner, in the migrant, in the abused.”

Francis’ letter coincided with the start of the pope’s second round of meetings with Chilean abuse survivors.

The group, consisting of five priests and two laypersons who suffered either sexual abuse or abuse of power or conscience by Karadima, and two priests who have accompanied the victims, will be in Rome over the weekend to discuss the country’s abuse crisis with the pope.

Francis’ letter comes after a months-long process of addressing the Chilean abuse crisis following an in-depth investigation carried out by Archbishop Charles Scicluna of Malta and Msgr. Jordi Bertomeu, from the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith.

The investigation was initially centered around Bishop Juan Barros of Osorno, appointed to the diocese in 2015 and accused by at least one victim of covering up abuses of Fr. Fernando Karadima.

In 2011, Karadima was convicted by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith of abusing minors and sentenced to a life of prayer and solitude. Allegations of cover-up were also made against three other bishops – Andrés Arteaga, Tomislav Koljatic and Horacio Valenzuela – whom Karadima’s victims accuse of knowing about Karadima’s crimes and failing to act.

Pope Francis initially defended Barros, saying he had received no evidence of the bishop’s guilt, and called accusations against him “calumny” during a trip to Chile in January. However, after receiving Scicluna’s report, Francis apologized in an April 8 letter to the Chilean bishops, and asked to meet the prelates and more outspoken survivors in person.

A few weeks, later, Francis held both private and group meetings with three of Karadima’s most outspoken victims – Juan Carlos Cruz, James Hamilton and Andres Murillo – at the Vatican April 27-29.

Two weeks later, the pope met with all of Chile’s active bishops in Rome, some of whom have also been accused of cover-up, to discuss the conclusions of Scicluna’s report and to share his own reflections on the crisis.

During the May 15-17 meeting, Francis criticized the 34 bishops present for systematic cover-up of clerical abuse in Chile, and urged them to refocus, putting Christ at the center of their mission.

The gathering concluded with all of Chile’s active bishops offering a written resignation to Francis, which he will either accept or deny. So far, there has been no news of the pope’s decision.

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Vatican City, May 31, 2018 / 07:21 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The Vatican announced Thursday that to help with the process of healing in Chile, Pope Francis will send Archbishop Charles Scicluna and Msgr. Jordi Bertomeu to the diocese of Osorno, and will issue a pastoral letter on the nation’s abuse crisis.

A May 31 statement from Vatican spokesman Greg Burke said in order to “advance the process of healing and reparation for victims of abuse” in Chile, Maltese Archbishop Charles Scicluna and Msgr. Jordi Bertomeu of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith will travel to Osorno in the coming days.

The Diocese of Osorno has been in the international spotlight the past few years after the controversial appointment of Bishop Juan Barros in 2015, who has been accused of covering up the crimes of his longtime friend Fr. Fernando Karadima, one of Chile’s most notorious abusers.

In 2011, Karadima was found guilty by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith of sexually abusing several minors during the 1980s and 1990s, and sentenced to a life of prayer and solitude.

In addition to Scicluna and Bertomeu’s visit, Burke also announced that Pope Francis will send a letter to the president of the Chilean Bishops Conference, Bishop Santiago Silva Retamales, addressed to the People of God.

Scicluna and Bertomeu traveled to both the United States and Santiago in February to investigate the accusations against Barros, as well as other cases of clerical abuse in the country.

The Maltese archbishop is widely recognized as the Vatican’s top investigator on the clerical abuse. In 2015 he was named by the Pope to oversee the team in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith charged with handling appeals filed by clergy accused of abuse. He served as the congregation’s Promoter of Justice for 17 years, and is widely known for his expertise in the canonical norms governing allegations of sexual abuse.

After seeing the results of Scicluna’s 2,300 page report on the findings of the February investigation in Chile, Pope Francis – who had initially backed Barros, calling the accusations against him “calumny” – issued a major “mea culpa,” in an April 8 letter to Chile’s bishops, apologizing for having made “serious errors” in judgment of the situation due to “a lack of truthful and balanced information.”

Shortly after, Pope Francis held both private and group meetings with three of Karadima’s most outspoken victims – Juan Carlos Cruz, James Hamilton and Andres Murillo – at the Vatican from April 27-29.

Two weeks later, the pope met with all of Chile’s bishops, many of whom have also been accused of cover-up, at the Vatican to address the crisis.

During the May 15-17 meeting, Francis criticized the 34 bishops present for systematic cover-up of clerical abuse in Chile, and urged them to refocus, putting Christ and the Gospel back at the center of their mission.

The gathering concluded with all of Chile’s active bishops offering a written resignation to Francis, which he will either accept or deny. So far, there has been no news of the pope’s decision.

This weekend Pope Francis will meet a second round of Chilean abuse victims at the Vatican, consisting of five priests and two laypersons who suffered either sexual abuse or abuse of power or conscience by Karadima, and two priests who have accompanied the victims.

Expected to arrive to Rome Friday, the group of nine will have Mass with Pope Francis Saturday morning, and are expected to have both individual and private meetings with the pope.

Benedict XVI made a similar move after the clerical abuse crisis in Ireland blew up in 2009. He summoned the country’s bishops to Rome in December of that year, and in March 2010 issued a pastoral letter to all Catholic faithful in Ireland apologizing for the Church’s role in the crisis, and promising action, including the apostolic visitation of several dioceses.

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Vatican City, May 31, 2018 / 05:39 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis Thursday extended the mandate of his special envoy to Medjugorje, tasking him with oversight of the pastoral needs of both the local parish community, and pilgrims who come to visit the site of alleged Marian apparitions that took place in the city.

Henryk Hoser, archbishop emeritus of Warszawa-Praga, was tapped as the pope’s special envoy to study the pastoral situation of Medjugorje in February 2017.

On May 31 Francis named him apostolic visitor to the site for an undetermined amount of time “ad nutum Sanctae Sedis,” or “at the desire of the Holy See.”

Hoser’s task now, according to a Vatican communique on the appointment, is an “exclusively pastoral” role in continuity with the work Hoser did when first named as the papal envoy.

According to the Vatica, Hoser concluded his work sometime within the past few months. In his new role as apostolic visitor, the archbishop’s specific mission, rather than simply looking into the pastoral situation, will be to ensure “a stable and continuous accompaniment” of the parish community in Medjugorje, as well as pilgrims who visit the shrine, “whose needs require special attention.”

The alleged Marian apparitions in Medjugorje started June 24, 1981, when six children in the town, now a part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, claimed to have had a vision of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

According to the alleged visionaries, the apparitions conveyed a message of peace for the world, a call to conversion, prayer and fasting, as well as certain secrets surrounding events to be fulfilled in the future.  

These apparitions are said to have continued almost daily since their first occurrence, with three of the original six visionaries claiming to have received apparitions every afternoon because not all of the “secrets” intended for them have been revealed.

In April 1991, the bishops of the former Yugoslavia determined that “on the basis of the research that has been done, it is not possible to state that there were apparitions or supernatural revelations.”

On the basis of those findings, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith directed in October 2013 that clerics and the faithful “are not permitted to participate in meetings, conferences or public celebrations during which the credibility of such ‘apparitions’ would be taken for granted.”

However, Benedict XVI established a commission, headed by Cardinal Camillo Ruini, to study the topic in further detail.

In January 2014, the commission completed their study on the supposed apparitions’ doctrinal and disciplinary aspects, and was to have submitted its findings to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. The congregation has yet to submit its final document to the pope for a final decision.

Pope Francis tapped Archbishop Hoser as a special envoy to look into the pastoral situation in  Medjugorje in February 2017.

Two months after his appointment as special envoy, Hoser told members of the press that the site bore many genuine expressions of faith, and many vocations were found there. However, he clarified that the final determination of the apparition’s authenticity remains to be seen.

Pope Francis has often referenced the alleged Medjugorje apparitions in daily homilies, saying Mary is not a “post-master” who delivers messages everyday on the hour.

When asked by journalists about the apparitions on the flight back from Fatima, Portugal in May 2017, the pope said the original apparitions from more than three decades ago deserve further study, but the ongoing visions seem less credible.

He stressed the need to distinguish between the two sets of apparitions, and referenced the report given to the CDF by Cardinal Ruini in 2014.  

“The first apparitions, which were to children, the report more or less says that these need to continue being studied,” he said, but as for “presumed current apparitions, the report has its doubts.”

“I personally am more suspicious, I prefer the Madonna as Mother, our Mother, and not a woman who’s the head of an office, who every day sends a message at a certain hour. This is not the Mother of Jesus. And these presumed apparitions don’t have a lot of value.”

He clarified that this is his “personal opinion,” but added that the Madonna does not function by saying, “Come tomorrow at this time, and I will give a message to those people.”

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Vatican City, May 30, 2018 / 08:31 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The teaching of the Catholic Church on the impossibility of ordaining women to the priesthood, now or in the future, is clear – and to sow confusion by suggesting otherwise is a serious matt… […]

Vatican City, May 30, 2018 / 03:43 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis said Wednesday that confirmation is the sacrament in which Catholics are marked with a seal that solidifies their belonging to Christ through the Holy Spirit, who he said is God’s invisible gift to each person who receives the sacrament.

Referring to how candidates for confirmation are told to “receive the seal of the Holy Spirit given to you as a gift,” Pope Francis said May 30 that the Holy Spirit “is the invisible gift bestowed” on candidates, and the holy oil they are anointed with, called “chrism,” is the “visible seal” of this gift.  

“In the image of Christ who bears on himself the seal of the Father, Christians are also marked with a seal that says to whom they belong,” he said, adding that “it is God himself who confirms us in Christ and who has given us the anointing, he has impressed us with a seal and has given us the deposit of the Spirit in our hearts.”

Pope Francis spoke to pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square for his weekly general audience, which this week focused on the sacrament of confirmation as a part of the process of Christian initiation in the Catholic Church.

Confirmation, he said, “shines in the light of baptism” and is fulfilled in the reception of the Eucharist.

He noted how candidates, at one point during the confirmation Mass, are asked to renew the promises made by their parents and godparents at their baptism. With confirmation, “now it is they themselves who profess faith in the Church, ready to respond ‘I believe’ to the questions asked by the bishop.”

The coming of the Holy Spirit requires that hearts be gathered in prayer, he said, noting that this is why after a moment of silence among the congregation, the bishop extends his hands toward the candidates and “asks God to infuse in them the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete.”

While the Holy Spirit is the biggest gift given during the sacrament, he brings a variety of others with him, Francis said, and listed the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit spoken of by the prophet Isaiah and the fruits of the Holy Spirit referred to by St. Paul.

The seven gifts mentioned by Isaiah – wisdom, understanding, knowledge, counsel, fortitude, fear of the Lord and piety – are bestowed in a special way on candidates during the sacrament of confirmation and are the virtues “poured out onto the Messiah in order to fulfill his mission,” Francis said.

Likewise, he noted that in St. Paul’s letter to the Galatians the apostle referred to the fruits of the Holy Spirit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control – which represent both the uniqueness and unity of the Holy Spirit.

“The one Spirit distributes the many gifts which enrich the one Church: he is the author of diversity, but at the same time the creator of unity,” the pope said, adding that while different people receive different gifts, “at the same time there is harmony and unity” among them all.

Francis then turned to the moment when the bishop lays his hands on the heads of the candidates, saying this gesture is biblical, having been spoken about in the Acts of the Apostles, and is how the Holy Spirit is communicated to the person receiving the sacrament.

This gesture is done “to better express the outpouring of the Spirit who pervades those who receive it,” he said, noting that soon after the laying on of hands, the candidates are anointed with holy oil, called “chrism.”

Used in both Eastern and Latin rites during the sacrament, the oil is “a therapeutic and cosmetic substance, which enters the wounds of the medical body in the tissue and perfumes the limbs,” he said.

This, he said, is the reason why oil was adopted as a liturgical and biblical symbol to express the action of the Holy Spirit, “who consecrates and permeates the baptized, embellishing them with gifts.”

After receiving the anointing with oil in the sign of the cross, the candidates receive an “indelible spiritual sign,” which is “the character that more perfectly configures them to Christ and gives them the grace of spreading its ‘good smell’ among men.”

Pope Francis concluded his address saying the Holy Spirit is “an undeserved gift to be welcomed with gratitude, making room for his inexhaustible creativity.”

The Spirit, he said, is a gift “to be preserved with care, to be indulged with docility, allowing oneself to be molded like wax by its fiery charity in order to reflect Jesus Christ in today’s world.”

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Vatican City, May 30, 2018 / 12:07 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis’ announcement of a consistory to create new cardinals will also have consequences for the offices of the Roman Curia.

Archbishop Giovanni Angelo Becciu, Substitute for General … […]