On anniversary of election, Cardinal Parolin speaks on Pope’s priorities

March 14, 2017

Speaking to Vatican Radio on the 4th anniversary of the election of Pope Francis, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican Secretary of State, said that the Holy Father continues to focus on the need for the Church to help people find God’s mercy and the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Cardinal Parolin said:

The Pope is directing us to God’s love and making sure the Church acts as a channel for that love and a place of encounter between God’s mercy and man as he lives the concrete joys and sorrows of life on earth.

The cardinal remarked that the Year of Mercy had produced important results, especially in the “rediscovery” of the sacrament of Penance and of the need to help the poor. But even beyond the Jubilee Year, he said, mercy remains a key theme of this pontificate.

Commenting on criticism of the Pope, Cardinal Parolin said that “there have always been critical voices in the Church.” What is important, he said, is that criticism should be “sincere and constructive.”

Regarding the Pope’s plans for Vatican reform, the Secretary of State said that the goal is not to change the Roman Curia through “functional criteria,” but to achieve a “genuine returning to God.” He said that ‘the Church must strive to be ever more authentic, get rid of crusts accumulated in centuries of history and shine forth with the transparency of the Gospel.”

 

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Further information:

• Cardinal Parolin on anniversary of Francis' pontificate (Vatican Radio)
• “It is not the functional criteria that should guide the reform” (Vatican Insider)