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Ecumenical group chaired by Cardinal Tobin calls for Catholic recognition of some Orthodox divorces, remarriages
The North American Orthodox-Catholic Theological Consultation—co-chaired by Cardinal Joseph Tobin of Newark and Metropolitan Methodios of Boston—has announced the publication of a new...Free eBook:
Free eBook: Liturgical Year 2023-2024, Vol. 2 |
Pope Francis calls for ‘courage of the white flag’ in Ukraine; bishops respond: ‘surrender means death’
In an interview with the Swiss broadcaster Radio Télévision Suisse, Pope Francis called on Ukraine to “raise the white flag” and negotiate—leading to a clarification...Following Fiducia Supplicans, Coptic Orthodox Church suspends theological dialogue with Catholic Church
Rejecting any blessing of homosexual relationships, the Holy Synod of the Coptic Orthodox Church has suspended theological dialogue with the Catholic Church, less than three months after the...‘Demos II’—identified as cardinal—writes ‘profile of the next Pope’
Two years after “Demos”—later identified as Cardinal George Pell—wrote a memo strongly criticizing the current pontificate, “Demos II” has written a document that “defines the seven priorities of the next conclave to repair the confusion and crisis created by this pontificate.”“Demos II,” according to La Nuova Bussola Quotidiana [The New Daily Compass], is the principal author of a new text written “after he collated the suggestions of other cardinals and bishops.”
“It is clear that the strength of Pope Francis’ pontificate is the added emphasis he has given to compassion toward the weak, outreach to the poor and marginalized, concern for the dignity of creation and the environmental issues that flow from it, and efforts to accompany the suffering and alienated in their burdens,” writes Demos II.
“Its shortcomings are equally obvious: an autocratic, at times seemingly vindictive, style of governance; a carelessness in matters of law; an intolerance for even respectful disagreement; and – most seriously – a pattern of ambiguity in matters of faith and morals causing confusion among the faithful,” he continued. “The task of the next pontificate must therefore be one of recovery and reestablishment of truths that have been slowly obscured or lost among many Christians.”
Resentment is key to Pope’s thinking, Archbishop Chaput writes
In an essay for First Things, retired Archbishop Charles Chaput writes: “It becomes hard to avoid the conclusion that an undercurrent of resentment is one of the distinguishing and most regrettable marks of the Francis pontificate.”While praising some aspects of the Pope’s leadership, the archbishop says that his first encyclical, Lumen Fidei—which was based on a draft written by Pope Benedict XVI—“stands in unhappy contrast to every other document of the Francis tenure.”
Archbishop Chaput sees resentment as a key theme of the Pope’s thinking, and adds that “the advisers, apologists, and ghostwriters who surround this pontificate have been instrumental in adding to the problem.” The archbishop devotes much of his essay to a critique of the thought of Cardinal Victor Fernandez, the new prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
Irish voters, in referenda, rout anti-family amendments
In a stunning rebuke to their ruling government, the people of Ireland sent two proposed constitutional amendments down to decisive defeats in referenda on March 8.The two proposed amendments, which were heavily promoted by the government of Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, would have removed a passage in the country’s constitution that commits the government to supporting women’s work in the home, and changed a passage on marriage to include “other durable relationships.”
By an overwhelming 74 to 26%, the voters chose to retain the constitutional plank that says: “the State shall, therefore, endeavor to ensure that mothers shall not be obliged by economic necessity to engage in labour to the neglect of their duties in the home.” The result roughly matches a pre-referendum poll that found 69% of mothers with young children would prefer to stay at home if possible.
By slightly more than a two-thirds majority, the voters also chose to retain the constitution’s reference to marriage as “the natural primary and fundamental unit group of society.” The proposed amendment would have expanded the definition of “family” to include “other durable relationships.”
Pope, at general audience, reflects on virtuous action
At his March 13 general audience, held in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Francis reflected on virtuous action, in the eleventh talk in a series of Wednesday general audiences devoted to the virtues...Lapsed Italian Catholics reverting to ancient Roman gods, seers and sorcerers
“Between 10 to 13 million Italians – almost all of them baptized Catholics – have turned to sorcerers or witches at least once in their lives,” according to the report. “The epicenter of witchcraft and occultism is in the Lombardy region of northern Italy, with 2,800 occult operators and 200,000 clients.”Vatican appeals for aid to Holy Land collection as donations decline by 25%
The Dicastery for the Eastern Churches has issued its annual appeal for the collection for Holy Land Christians, which typically takes place on Good Friday.“I address you so that their cry does not go unheard and that the Holy Father can support the local Churches in finding new ways, opportunities for housing, work, and educational and professional training, so that they may remain and not get lost in the West, a world they don’t know, which is so different from their feelings and their way of witnessing their faith,” Cardinal Claudio Gugerotti, the dicastery’s prefect, wrote in an appeal to the world’s bishops.
“If they leave, if they leave their small businesses serving pilgrims who no longer come to Jerusalem and Palestine, the East will lose part of its soul, perhaps forever,” he added in his letter, dated February 14 and released by the Vatican on March 8.
The dicastery also announced that €6,571,893.96 ($7.19 million) was collected in 2023—down over 25% from the $9.04 million collected in 2022—and offered a detailed report on expenses.
Pope defends same-sex blessings, civil unions
Pope Francis defends Fiducia Supplicans, and gives his endorsement to civil unions, in his forthcoming autobiography.In excerpts from Life: My Story Through History, posted on the Vatican News site, the Pontiff defended the “blessings for irregular couples” suggested in the controversial Vatican directive. He added: “And if some brother bishops decide not to follow this path, it does not mean that this is the antechamber of a schism, because the doctrine of the Church is not questioned.”
Regarding civil unions, the Pope said that while homosexual relationships cannot be seen as marriages, “it is right that these people who live the gift of love can have legal coverage like everyone else.”
In other passages cited by Vatican News, the Pope said:
- that the military dictatorship in his native Argentina has been responsible for “a generational suicide.”
- that his difficult tenure as a Jesuit provincial in Argentina had been caused by “my authoritarian attitude, to the extent of being accused of being ultraconservative.”
- that the presence of the late Pope Benedict in the role of “Pope Emeritus” had been “instrumentalized, with ideological political purposes by unscrupulous people,” to focus criticism on the current pontificate.