Catholic News 2

Rome, Italy, Nov 18, 2016 / 03:26 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- In a simple rite this Saturday, 17 prelates will receive a red biretta from Pope Francis and thus join the College of Cardinals.
 
Dressed in their red robes, the cardinals-to-be will gather in St. Peter Basilica, profess the Creed, and then approach Pope Francis one by one. The Pope will give each of them the red biretta, and their cardinal’s ring

The Pope will place the red hat on each cardinal’s head and say:

“To the glory of almighty God and the honor of the Apostolic See, receive the scarlet biretta as a sign of the dignity of the cardinalate, signifying your readiness to act with courage, even to the shedding of your blood, for the increase of the Christian faith, for the peace and tranquility of the people of God and for the freedom and growth of the Holy Roman Church.”

As he places the ring on a new cardinal’s finger, the Pope will say: “Receive this ring from the hand of Peter and know that, with the love of the Prince of the Apostles, your love for the Church is strengthened.”

Each cardinal will be assigned a titular church. This is an important act, as the cardinals must be a part of the Diocese of Rome, whose bishop and primate is the Pope. This means cardinals are always linked to Rome, though they come from different countries.

The College of Cardinals reflects how the Synod of the Diocese of Rome evolved to become a governmental body. It is an institution that can be simply considered as “the Pope’s Senate.”
 
Cardinals are now part of Vatican Congregations and dicasteries, and in that capacity they help the Pope to govern the Church. This was not always the case.

During the Middle Ages, consistories were convoked any time the Pope had to make an important decision. The meeting of cardinals also served as a tribunal. In the twelfth century, Pope Alexander III scheduled one consistory per month. Not long after Alexander III’s pontificate, Pope Innocent III scheduled three meetings per week.
 
In the 16th century, under Pope Sixtus V’s curial reforms, the consistory lost some of its power. Ever since, cardinals mainly assist the Pope in governing the Church and working in Vatican congregations. The consistory is convoked to give a particular solemnity to important moments of the Church.

The rite of the consistory was reformed in 1969 by Blessed Paul VI. The reform gave a liturgical framework to the creation of a new cardinal, though the event had not previously been seen as a liturgical moment.

Pope Paul’s changes elaborated a rite that put the imposition of the red biretta in a context of prayer. He thus gave a spiritual bond to the cardinals’ intimate union with the Pope.

Father Gianfranco Grieco, a former writer for L’Osservatore Romano who covered all the Paul VI’s international trips, recounted in his book “Paul VI” that the Pope used to convoke a consistory any time he came back from an international trip. He would report his impressions from the trip and exchange opinions with the cardinals.

The rite for the consistory was reformed and simplified by Pope Benedict XVI in 2012, while maintaining Paul VI’s vision of a liturgical framework for the creation of new cardinals.
 
Benedict XVI took from Paul VI’s rite two prayers of the cardinals that refer to the powers God has given to the Church, and especially to the successor of Peter. The successor of Peter, in turn, prays for himself, asking that he will be able to rightly fulfil his office.

Consistories have still had key roles in the life of the Church. Benedict XVI announced his historic resignation of the Petrine ministry on Feb. 11, 2013, during a Consistory for the Canonization of the Martyrs of Otranto.
 
As for Pope Francis, he has used the consistory as a sort of “advisory board” on core issues.

The Feb. 22, 2014 consistory was preceded by an extraordinary consistory on the issues of the family. It was opened with a speech from Cardinal Walter Kasper that set the tone of the discussion ahead of the two synods on the family.

Pope Francis convoked another extraordinary consistory Feb. 12-13, 2015 to discuss Curia reform, ahead of the Feb. 14-15 consistory for the creation of new Cardinals.
 
It is noteworthy that the Code of Canon Law, reformed in 1983, lays out two forms of consistory: ordinary and extraordinary. An extraordinary consistory is celebrated in particular cases, and all the cardinals are called to take part in it. An ordinary consistory takes place when the Pope needs the cardinals’ counsel on some important, though normal, issue, or to give solemnity to the Pope’s decision, such as the approval of the canonization of saints.

Kevin J. Jones contributed to this report.

Full Article

IMAGE: CNS photo/Sean Gallagher, The Criterion

By John Shaughnessy

INDIANAPOLIS (CNS) -- As Cardinal-designate Joseph W. Tobin headed to Rome for his Nov. 19 installation into the College of Cardinals by Pope Francis, he naturally thought again of all the ways his life has changed in the past six weeks.

He also thought of how those life-changing moments have been shaped by the relationship he has formed during the past 11 years with the pope.

After all, it was Pope Francis who announced Oct. 9 that Archbishop Tobin would be one of the church's 17 new cardinals. And 13 days later, Cardinal-designate Tobin learned that Pope Francis was reassigning him from the Archdiocese of Indianapolis to lead the Archdiocese of Newark, New Jersey -- a move that became official on Nov. 7.

Returning to Italy for his elevation as a cardinal in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Cardinal-designate Tobin is also returning to the place he first met Pope Francis.

The year was 2005, and the two men were participants in a meeting of the Synod of Bishops. For the better part of four weeks, they sat next to each other, talking about the issues and getting to know each other through their shared ability to speak Spanish.

At the time, Cardinal-designate Tobin was the superior general of the Redemptorist order while Pope Francis was Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the archbishop of Buenos Aires. The synod meeting took place shortly after the conclave of 2005 that elected Benedict XVI as pope -- a conclave in which many observers noted that Cardinal Bergoglio likely finished in second place.

"I told the cardinal later on that he was my mother's candidate" in 2005, Cardinal-designate Tobin said in an interview with The Criterion, newspaper of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, citing the way his mother appreciated how then-Cardinal Bergoglio lived in a small apartment, took a bus to work and cooked his own meals. "He got quite a laugh out of that."

From that moment on, whenever their paths have crossed, Pope Francis has always asked Cardinal-designate Tobin about his mother, Marie.

"Like a good pastor, he remembers things," Cardinal-designate Tobin said. "Whenever I've seen him -- and even in times he's written to me -- he always says, 'How's your mother, and does she still pray for me?' I assured him she's a good Catholic, and she prays for the Holy Father."

The bond between the two men was especially evident when Cardinal-designate Tobin knelt before Pope Francis in St. Peter's Basilica June 29, 2013, to receive his pallium as the archbishop of Indianapolis. A pallium is a circular band made from lamb's wool that symbolizes an archbishop's role as the shepherd of the archdiocese and his communion with the pope.

In that moment, Pope Francis spent considerable time talking with Cardinal-designate Tobin. At one point in their conversation, Pope Francis told him, "I've been praying intensely for you, and I hope your mother is praying for me."

That conversation still touches Cardinal-designate Tobin.

"I was struck when I received the pallium from him," he recalled. "First, we had a conversation and ... when he put the pallium on my shoulders, he switched from Italian into Spanish because that was the language of his heart. And he said something personal to me. And it was lovely. And I've always been grateful for that, but I never thought it would end with the news" about being named a cardinal.

Three months before Pope Francis made that October announcement about the new cardinals, Cardinal-designate Tobin had visited the pope in July, in the guesthouse in Vatican City where the pope lives, to discuss church business.

Cardinal-designate Tobin shared some of the details of that meeting during a Sept. 7 homily he gave at SS. Peter and Paul Cathedral in Indianapolis.

"I didn't even have time to put on my game face when I arrived at his floor. The elevator opened, and there he was," Cardinal-designate Tobin began.

"He invited me into a sort of television room where there were four or five chairs, and he said, 'Pick whichever one you want. I'll take whatever is left.' And we talked, and shared. And I saw a very human side to him. He said twice, 'I really don't know why I was elected. I suspect the Italians couldn't agree on a candidate.'"

Then Pope Francis added, "But because I wasn't looking for this, I accepted it as God's will. And I believe I'll have what I need."

Cardinal-designate Tobin has tried to take heart from that perspective as he deals with the life-changing moments of the past six weeks.

He views the pope's words as an example for everyone -- and for himself -- to stay connected to each other in solidarity, but most importantly to stay connected to Jesus Christ."

It's one more bond that connects Pope Francis and Cardinal-designate Tobin, just as they share a vision of the church that is open and welcoming, just as they are both advocates for immigrants and refugees, just as they both have a natural humility about their own lives and an understanding sense of humanity toward the lives of other people.

"I think it's the connection of a teacher and his disciple," Cardinal-designate Tobin has said about their relationship. "When I've seen him a handful of times over the last four years, I always thank him for teaching me how to be a bishop -- knowing not only how he ministered in the Archdiocese of Buenos Aires, but also what he teaches and how he articulates his expectations for bishops and priests."

The latest chapter in their relationship will unfold when Pope Francis installs him as a cardinal.

"I really do think, in all sincerity, that I'm an unworthy recipient of his affection," Cardinal-designate Tobin has said. "I don't know why. Whatever began in 2005 has continued and deepened."

- - -

Shaughnessy is assistant editor of The Criterion, newspaper of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis.

- - -

Copyright © 2016 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. www.catholicnews.com. All rights reserved. Republishing or redistributing of CNS content, including by framing or similar means without prior permission, is prohibited. You may link to stories on our public site. This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. To request permission for republishing or redistributing of CNS content, please contact permissions at cns@catholicnews.com.

Full Article

Full Article

Full Article

Full Article

Full Article

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has given an interview to the Catholic Italian daily, Avvenire to mark the end of the Holy Year of Mercy, saying that the Jubilee and Ecumenism are the fruits of the Second Vatican Council.

Listen to our report:

In the lengthy interview to Avvenire, the Holy Father gives his assessment of the Jubilee of Mercy and touches on the complex journey towards Christian Unity and the legacy of the Second Vatican Council.

Speaking from the Casa Santa Marta the Pope talks about the Church's path of living and witnessing to the Gospel as a way of mercy and not as an ideology.

Pope Francis explains that, he did not have a plan for the Jubilee. “I simply let myself be guided by the Holy Spirit”, he says.

Stressing the importance of forgiveness, the Pope comments, that he likes to think that God has a bad memory. “He forgives and forgets”.

Turning his attention to the issue of Christian Unity, the Pope underlines the significant steps taken during this Extraordinary Year on the path of reconciliation between Christians, adding that this work goes back to the Vatican II.

Unity, Pope Francis says, has three roads: to walk together doing charitable works, to pray together, and then to recognize the common confession  as expressed in the common martyrdom, the ecumenism of blood.

With ecumenism, the Holy Father stresses, it is crucial to serve with the poor, who are "the flesh of Christ".

Pope Francis will conclude the Extraordinary Year of Mercy on Sunday, the feast of Christ the King.

Full Article

(Vatican Radio)  Members of the Presidency of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB), were in Rome in mid-November for their customary visit to the various Dicasteries of the Roman Curia.

Conference President Bishop Douglas Crosby, O.M.I., of Hamilton; Vice-president Bishop Lionel Gendron, P.S.S., of Sain-Jean-Longueuil; and Msgr Frank Leo, Jr., C.S.S., the CCCB’s General Secretary were received in an audience with Pope Francis at the beginning of their stay in Rome. Later, the prelates met with members of different Dicasteries.

As their visit drew to a close, Bishop Crosby came to Vatican Radio to explain the annual visit.

Listen to the full interview of Bishop Douglas Crosby, O.M.I., of Hamilton, President of the CCCB, with Christopher Wells:

When the members of the Presidency meet with the various Dicasteries, Bishop Crosby said, they talk about “the state of the union,” “the state of the Church in Canada, and particularly relating to the Dicasteries were visiting.”

Among other issues discussed, Bishop Crosby mentioned concerns about the recently enacted laws in Canada permitting euthanasia and assisted suicide.

The Conference President also spoke of positive developments with regard to Dioceses in the northern part of Canada.

Overall, Bishop Crosby said the encounters with members of the Curia are “always very interesting,” giving both the Bishops and Curial officials a chance to get to know one another.

The CCCB Presidency’s annual visit to Rome concluded on Wednesday, just a few days before the solemn close of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy. 

Full Article

Rome, Italy, Nov 18, 2016 / 11:05 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Venezuelan Archbishop Baltazar Enrique Porras Cardozo is one of the Pope's picks from the peripheries who will get a red hat this weekend, which the new cardinal-elect says is a sign of the Vatican's concern for the people amid the country’s ongoing crisis.

“The Holy Father has shown a special interest for Venezuela,” Cardinal-elect Porras told journalists Nov. 15.

“I think that never as now, here in the Vatican, have there been senior leaders who have had a direct or close relationship with the reality of Venezuela,” he said, adding that “undoubtedly the situation of the country” is what influenced the Pope’s decision to name him cardinal.

This round of consistory red-hatters “is a bit special” in the context of the Jubilee of Mercy, he said, noting that the majority of his fellow cardinal-elects are “’outsiders,’ we come from dioceses or sees which traditionally have never had cardinals.”

On Oct. 9 Pope Francis announced that Archbishop Porras and 16 other priests and bishops would be named cardinals Nov. 19, the eve of the close of the Jubilee of Mercy. His nomination makes him one of just two cardinal-electors from Venezuela, meaning he is eligible to vote in the next conclave, alongside fellow Venezuelan Cardinal Jorge Urosa Savino.

Porras, Archbishop of Merida, spoke to journalists about his nomination in the context of Venezuela’s current social and economic situation Nov. 15, just days before he is set to be elevated as cardinal by Pope Francis.

He recalled receiving a letter from the Pope, which didn't simply offer congratulations, but provided “a program” for how to carry out ministry in his new role.

The letter, he said, cautioned against getting “carried away” by the excitement and compliments for his appointment. To be a cardinal, it read, “is not for a worldly joy, but to know that it’s a responsibility that has to do mainly with the poor.”

The new cardinal-elect spoke about the significance of having two electors from Venezuela for the first time, which he said is due to the fact that the Church is “the strongest and most unified” institution in Venezuela.

“The loss of institutions in Venezuela is very serious. Everything works discretionally in power,” he said, noting that the Church in Venezuela “has been a very critical voice in denouncing the problems that exist in the country.”

Venezuela is currently on the point of a humanitarian emergency in which fundamental necessities are inaccessible and many, including children, die due to the lack of basic foods and medicines.

In the aftermath of Chavez’s stormy reign and the takeover of his successor, Nicolas Maduro, in 2013, Venezuela has been marred by violence and social and economic upheaval. Poor economic policies, including strict price controls, coupled with high inflation rates, have resulted in a severe lack of basic necessities such as toilet paper, milk, flour, diapers and medicines.

Venezuela's socialist government is widely blamed for the crisis. Since 2003, price controls on some 160 products, including cooking oil, soap and flour, have meant that while they are affordable, they fly off store shelves only to be resold on the black market at much higher rates.

The Venezuelan government is known to be among the most corrupt in Latin America, and violent crime in the country has spiked since Maduro took office after former president Chavez died from cancer in 2013. The regime is known to have committed gross abuses, including violence, against those who don’t share their political ideologies.

When it comes to the stance of the Church in the crisis, Porras noted that since the bishops frequently speak out against the Maduro regime, they are labeled as siding with the opposition. However, he stressed that “The Church in Venezuela is not with the opposition, it’s with the people.”

“The hierarchy is with the people,” he said, noting that according to documentation from 1531 when Venezuela first received a bishop until now, the Church has always pointed out the problems that need to be solved.

“All governments, from Romulo Betancourt to now have seen us as the opposition,” he said, insisting that the Church’s behavior, particularly in the past 50 years, “has been in continuity” with her attitude in the past.

“We are on the side of the people and not on the side of any political bias,” he said, explaining that in their meetings with people from both government and opposition parties, “we usually say things quite clearly. And there are those who receive it and those who don’t.”

Porras also spoke about Pope Francis and his Latin American roots, which he says are at the heart of the Pope’s closeness to the people.

In both Europe and North America, Pope Francis’ style “is sometimes seen as something like a good pastor who doesn’t have much depth in thought, that he is simply a good pastor.”

This attitude “is a mistake,” Porras said, saying that if there’s one virtue the Church in Latin America has “it is closeness, simplicity and presence in the midst of problems.”

Different currents of thought since the Second Vatican Council such as liberation theology and the theology of the people, “which Pope Francis represents,” has a lot to do with this cultural sense of closeness, Porras said.

The 'theology of the people' was popular in Argentina in the 1950s as an alternative to radical liberation theology. While radical liberation theologians looked to Marxist interpretations of the Gospel, theology of the people was founded on common peoples' culture and devotion, including their spirituality and sense of justice.

A true “pastoral theology,” Porras said, can be understood by looking to the concept of an internist doctor in medicine, who is the one that has “a fairly general vision” of things, and as such is able to take the richness of other areas of theology “and always relate them to reality, to daily life.”

“This is one of the great contributions” Latin American theology has, Porras said, explaining that the true value of it “is clearly expressed in the thought and actions of Pope Francis.”

 He spoke about the Pope’s frequent call for pastors to take on “smell of the sheep,” which is something “we have to be permanently,” particularly given the country’s current situation.

“Unfortunately, in Latin America and Venezuela also, those who arrive at the government remain isolated in a kind of capsule and have very little relation with the people, with real problems,” he said, noting that as bishops, staying close to their flock is a key way “to be able to see what reality” is like.

Many say Venezuela is a rich country, “but what Venezuela has had throughout the 21st century is a rich government, but not a rich population,” the archbishop said, explaining that currently “everything is the opposite.”

“Imagine at this moment that there is no food, where there are no medicines, where violence is unleashed and where impunity and corruption are evident because the mere presence of works and people of the Church is already a call to what should be.”

When asked about the recent election of Donald Trump as the next president of the United States, Porras said Trump’s pre-election rhetoric on immigration has “a short circuit,” especially given the fact that there are many Latinos who live in the U.S.

“Simplistic readings of this should not be made,” he said, noting that in the context of a changing world, when the needs of the people are at least in some way “recognized by political diligence,” the politicians “must also look for solutions to these problems.”

Full Article

Vatican City, Nov 18, 2016 / 12:38 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis on Friday had a question for priests: “Are you attached to money?”

“The house of our Lord God is a house of prayer. Our encounter with the Lord (is) with the God of love,” he said in his Nov. 18 homily. “The Lord of Money is constantly seeking to enter inside.”

Pope Francis spoke at his Friday morning Mass at Casa Santa Martha’s chapel, largely attended by priests.

His reflection focused on the day’s gospel reading about Christ driving money lenders from the Jewish temple.

The moneychangers were renting their spaces from the priests, said the Pope in a strong warning about the “Lord of Money.”

“This is the lord that can ruin our life and can lead us to end our life in a bad way, without happiness, without the joy of serving the true Lord, who is the only one capable of giving us that true joy.”

The Pope particularly focused on the dangers of the love of money in the priesthood. He said the people of God forgive “so many sins” by priests, except for attachment to money and mistreating people.

“Following the Lord of Money leads a priest to be the head of a firm or be a prince or we can go even higher,” he warned the priests gathered for Mass. “It’s sad to see a priest who’s at the end of his life, he’s in agony, he’s in a coma and his relatives are there like vultures, looking to see what they can take away.”

He recounted the story of Jacob’s wife Rachel who kept hidden her idols, called teraphim. For Pope Francis, this is an image of attachment to material goods.

“Let us grant this pleasure to the Lord, a true examination of our conscience: ‘Lord, are you my Lord or is it, like Rachel, these teraphim hidden in my heart, this idol of money?’”

Pope Francis had some recommendations: “be courageous,” he repeated, “be courageous.”

“Make a choice: sufficient money like that of an honest worker, sufficient savings like those of an honest worker,” he said. “But all these financial interests are not permissible; this is idolatry.”

He closed praying that God “grant us all the grace of Christian poverty.”

“May the Lord give us the grace of the poverty of working people, those who work and earn a fair wage and who do not seek any more.”

Full Article