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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Tuesday urged the international community to act without delay in combating climate change.

In a message to participants of the COP22 Climate Change meeting taking place in the Moroccan city of Marrakech, the Pope pointed out that all parties and stakeholders have a “serious ethical and moral responsibility to take action and implement last year’s Paris climate-change agreement.

Listen to the report by Linda Bordoni:

“The current situation of environmental degradation – Pope Francis said – which is strongly connected to the human, ethical and social degradation that we unfortunately experience daily, challenges us all, each of us with our own roles and competencies, and brings us together here with a renewed sense of awareness and responsibility”. 

Participants at the so-called COP22 Conference are being called to take the next step in the implementation of the Paris Agreement which saw world leaders pledge to make good on their promises for climate action and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. 

The Pope said that agreement represents “a significant acknowledgement of the fact that, when confronted with issues so complex as climate change, the individual and/or national action is no longer sufficient, but there is a need to implement a responsible collective response truly aimed at achieving ‘cooperation to build our common home”. 

He said we can and must direct our intelligence to guide technology, as well as to develop and limit our power, placing them ‘at the service of another type of progress, one that is more healthy, more human, more social and more integral’, and capable of placing the economy at the service of the human person, of building peace and justice, and of safeguarding the environment”.

Pope Francis said that the Paris Agreement has traced a clear path along which the whole international community is called to commit itself, and that the COP22 represents a central stage in this path, which has an impact on all of humanity, particularly the poorest and future generations who are the most vulnerable to the worrisome impact of climate change, and reminds us of the serious ethical and moral responsibility we have to act promptly, in a way as free as possible from political and economic pressures, going beyond personal interests and behaviours”.

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(Vatican Radio) The Prefect of the Secretariat for Communications unveiled on Tuesday details of the multimedia coverage for the Consistory and the closing ceremony for the Jubilee Year of Mercy taking place on November 19th and 20th. At a presentation in the Vatican the Secretariat’s Prefect, Monsignor Dario Vigano, said, in an historic first, the two papal events over the weekend will be filmed live in Ultra HD with a High Dynamic Range thanks to a joint production by the Vatican Television Centre and Vatican Radio in collaboration with Eutelsat, Globecast and Sony. Monsignor Vigano said the multimedia coverage of these two events marked the creation of a New Audiovisual Production Centre created by the merger of the Vatican Television Centre and Vatican Radio as part of the ongoing reform and merger of the Vatican’s various media outlets.  

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A Zambian Catholic Priest, Fr. Leonard Namuhumba has lamented the fact that hospitality for which Africans are known was slowly being replaced by individualism and self-centeredness. 

Fr. Leonard Namuhumba has particularly called on African religious women to embrace hospitality and to open their hearts to fellow community members and the people they serve. Fr Namuhumba who is Lusaka Archdiocese’s Cathedral Administrator said this, at the weekend, during the graduation Mass of religious women drawn from various African countries.  

Zambia’s Kalundu Study Centre, situated in Lusaka, offers a one-year Leadership and Development course tailored for religious women. The course equips the nuns with skills needed in their religious congregations.

Fr. Leonard Namuhumba lamented the fact that hospitality was slowly being replaced by individualism and self-centeredness adding that society was becoming closed in itself.

“Hospitality is a spoken message, given out in gestures and signs. And when this gesture or sign is given out, the words are very clear: I care about you and your destiny,” Fr. Namuhumba said.

He explained that when people do not feel welcome, they become isolated, rejected and depressed.

“Those who help others, even in a small way are already participating in the missionary work of the Church. When your heart is open to those spreading the Word of God, you are already taking part in the mission of our Lord,” he said.

Fr. Namuhumba further encouraged the Sisters to be women of prayer saying that prayer leads to faith, love and service.

Twenty-Six (26) nuns drawn from Angola, South Africa, Ethiopia, Kenya and Zambia successfully completed the course. 

In her vote of thanks, Sr. Josepha Twapita, MSSHS, spoke on behalf of other graduating students. She gave credit to all those that supported them during their training. She said the graduands were especially indebted to the various spiritual directors, priests, sisters, visiting lecturers and the administrators of Kalundu Study Centre.

(Zambia Conference of Catholic Bishops)
Email: engafrica@vatiradio.va

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Vatican City, Nov 15, 2016 / 06:08 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin has said that Francis’ decision to give a red hat to the longtime papal envoy to Syria is a sign of the Pope’s closeness to the Church and people on the ground amid the country's dire situation.

“With this decision, the Pope wanted to express a great sign of closeness to Syria,” Cardinal Parolin told CNA Nov. 13. The gesture goes beyond mere “diplomatic formulas,” and is a sign of human and ecclesial closeness.

Pope Francis has already demonstrated his closeness, concern, and interest in Syria “in many, many ways,” he said, adding that Archbishop Mario Zenari’s elevation “is another manifestation of that interest.”

On Oct. 9 Pope Francis announced that Archbishop Zenari and 16 other priests and bishops would be named cardinals Nov. 19, the eve of the close of the Jubilee of Mercy. He has served as the Pope’s ambassador to Syria since 2008, and has seen the country continue to deteriorate as their 6-year long civil war continues to rage.

The fact that after accompanying the Church in Syria for so long in increasingly precarious conditions underlines “how the Holy See, through the apostolic nuncio, was there, on the spot, without ever abandoning the people or the Church,” Cardinal Parolin said.

The Secretary of State spoke during the Nov. 11-13 conference “Damascus: prism of hope,” organized by the Pontifical Oriental Institute in honor of the centenary of its foundation.

The conference sought to discuss an answer to Syria's crisis by getting into the depth of the issues, rather than staying at the surface level.

Both the conference and Archbishop Zenari’s nomination as cardinal fall at a time when fighting in Syria, particularly Aleppo, has reached new and bloody heights.

With a humanitarian crisis already looming large in the city, airstrikes and bunker bombs continue to kill hundreds of civilians, including many children, almost daily. Attempts at numerous ceasefires have fallen through as rebel and government forces continue to fight for control of the city.

The Syrian civil war, which began in March 2011, has claimed the lives of an estimated 300,000 people, and forced 4.8 million to become refugees, about half of them children. Another 8 million Syrians are believed to have been internally displaced by the violence.

In his comments to CNA, Cardinal Parolin said there are certain tendencies today which seek to promote “a world order without God.” The temptation to do this, he said, has always been around but so far “has not brought any acceptable result.”

He said the belief of the great monotheistic religions born in the region “can become a source of inspiration and concrete commitment for building a more just society with more solidarity.”

In terms of what new initiatives might be on the table given the increasing destruction in Syria, Cardinal Parolin said he hopes the conference leads to some “very useful ideas and indications for the future regarding the initiatives to take and positions to assume, to give an impulse so that the war ends through the search for a negotiated solution.”

He noted how three years ago, in September 2013, Pope Francis held a special day of prayer for peace in Syria. The cardinal said that while the situation has become more precarious, no such initiatives are currently on the slate, “but they could be thought of.”

“I imagine above all a prayer initiative, because prayer has a great power to change things,” he said.

 

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Baltimore, Md., Nov 15, 2016 / 09:36 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops on Tuesday elected Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston as its president, and Archbishop Jose Gómez of Los Angeles vice-president.

Cardinal DiNardo has served as conference vice-president since 2013. He was elected president at the bishops' fall assembly Nov. 15 in Baltimore, and will serve a three-year term.

The bishops’ conference president plays a significant role in coordinating and leading charitable and social work and education, while providing a public face for the Catholic Church in the U.S.

Cardinal DiNardo has served as Archbishop of Galveston-Houston since 2006, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 2007. Archbishop Gómez succeeded as Archbishop of Los Angeles, in 2011.

In the vote for president, Cardinal DiNardo received 113 votes. There were 10 candidates, and the nominee with the second-largest number of votes was Archbishop Gregory Aymond of New Orleans, who garnered 30 votes.

Cardinal DiNardo and Archbishop Gómez had both also been selected (at the 2014 general assembly) by their fellow US bishops to be among the delegates to the 2015 Synod on the Family.

Cardinal DiNardo was born in Steubenville in 1949, and was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Pittsburgh in 1977.

He was appointed coadjutor bishop of Sioux City in 1997, succeeding as its ordinary the following year. He was then named coadjutor archbishop of Galveston-Houston in 2004.

The cardinal was chosen vice president of the U.S. Bishops’ Conference in 2013. He had previously served as the head of the bishops’ pro-life committee, where he was outspoken against the contraception mandate of the Obama administration.

In addition, has been a member of the Pontifical Council for Culture, the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People, and the Pontifical Council for the Economy.

Archbishop Gómez heads the largest U.S. diocese, with more than 4 million Catholics. He is the highest-ranking Hispanic bishop in the United States.

Born in Monterrey, Mexico in 1951, he was ordained a priest of Opus Dei in 1978. In 2001, he was appointed auxiliary bishop of Denver, and made Archbishop of San Antonio in 2004. In 2010 he was appointed coadjutor archbishop of Los Angeles, succeeding as its ordinary the next year.

Archbishop Gomez has worked extensively in Hispanic ministry and played a key role in creating the Catholic Association of Latino Leaders. He has also been outspoken on pro-life issues, immigration, and the death penalty.

In 2008, Archbishop Gomez was appointed as a consultant to the Pontifical Commission for Latin America. He has served in various roles for the US bishops' conference, including in cultural diversity, doctrine, and Hispanics and liturgy.

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IMAGE: CNS/Paul Haring

By Cindy Wooden

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Year of Mercy brought more than 20 million pilgrims to Rome, but for Pope Francis, the idea always was that the celebration of God's mercy would be local: have people experience God's love in their parishes and send them out into the world to commit random acts of mercy.

While concrete works of mercy have a social impact, Pope Francis' idea was deeply connected to evangelization, which is why Rome jubilee events were organized by the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization. The pope had said he wanted the Holy Year to be "a new step on the church's journey in her mission to bring the Gospel of mercy to each person."

The pope's constant refrain during the Year of Mercy, which began Dec. 8, 2015, was that no one is excluded from the mercy of God, who has shown his love for each person by sacrificing his son for the salvation of all. All can be forgiven, the pope taught over and over again. And once a person experiences just how loving and merciful God has been, the obligation is to reach out to others with that same love and mercy.

Pope Francis made no claim to having invented a church focus on divine mercy. The evangelical trend was already clearly present in when St. John Paul II wrote an encyclical letter on mercy in 1980 and when he beatified and then canonized Sister Faustina Kowalska, known as the "Apostle of Divine Mercy."

"I believe this is the time of mercy," Pope Francis told reporters traveling with him to Brazil in 2013 on his first foreign trip as pope. "The church is mother. She must go out and heal wounds with mercy."

For Pope Francis -- personally and for all Catholics -- that healing is expressed most powerfully in the confessional where one is honest about one's sins and where God's forgiveness and mercy are expressed through sacramental absolution.

The pope formally commissioned more than 1,100 priests from around the world as "missionaries of mercy" on Ash Wednesday, Feb. 10, giving them special faculties to grant absolution even in cases that usually must be referred to the local bishop or even the Vatican.

Along with processions to the Holy Door in St. Peter's Basilica and a meeting with Pope Francis, all of the major jubilee events in Rome included extended hours for confession. It was part of all the large jubilee events, including those for children, for people in mourning, for deacons, priests, the sick, youths, catechists, prisoners and for papal nuncios -- the pope's ambassadors around the world.

As he has done before, ignoring the cameras, Pope Francis himself went to confession during a special Lenten penance service in St. Peter's Basilica and again in August in Assisi when he celebrated the traditional "Pardon of Assisi."

Setting an example did not stop at the church doors, though. One Friday each month throughout the Year of Mercy, Pope Francis quietly left the Vatican -- without informing the media -- and spent the late afternoon and early evening making visits reflecting the traditional corporal works of mercy.

The visits took him, among other places, to a community for persons recovering from addiction, a hospice, a hospital neonatal care unit and to an apartment on the outskirts of Rome where he met with men who have left the priesthood to marry and have children.

A highlight of the year was the canonization of Mother Teresa of Kolkata, an event that brought some 120,000 people to St. Peter's Square in September.

In his homily, Pope Francis said, "God is pleased by every act of mercy because in the brother or sister that we assist, we recognize the face of God which no one can see."

"Each time we bend down to the needs of our brothers and sisters," he said, "we give Jesus something to eat and drink; we clothe, we help and we visit the Son of God."

Preaching God's mercy has been a central focus of Pope Francis' ministry since his election in March 2013, and the closing of the Holy Door in St. Peter's Basilica Nov. 20 will not end that focus.

Celebrating a jubilee Mass Nov. 13 with the homeless and other people in precarious situations, Pope Francis prayed that as the Holy Doors in some 10,000 cathedrals, shrines and churches around the world were closed, God would open people's eyes and hearts to the needs of others.

The Year of Mercy was an occasion to help people recognize how merciful God has been to them and, then, in effect, he commissioned all Catholics to be "missionaries of mercy."

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Follow Wooden on Twitter: @Cindy_Wooden.

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IMAGE: CNS/Paul Haring

By Cindy Wooden

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- In a rather simple prayer service Nov. 19, Pope Francis will create 17 new cardinals and symbolically bind them to ancient church traditions.

In the months following the consistory -- as any gathering of cardinals is called -- the new cardinals under the age of 80 will be named members of various Vatican congregations, councils, dicasteries and offices. For most of the cardinals, the memberships, while not involving a permanent move to Rome, will be the most regular exercise of their new ministry as advisers to the pope.

The most serious responsibility that cardinals have is the solemn obligation to gather in a conclave to elect a new pope. That right is reserved to cardinals under the age of 80.

Three U.S. citizens are among the new cardinals. They are: Archbishop Blase J. Cupich of Chicago; Bishop Kevin J. Farrell, prefect of the new Vatican office for laity, family and life; and Archbishop Joseph W. Tobin, who recently was transferred from Indianapolis to Newark, New Jersey.

At the consistory for creating new cardinals, Pope Francis will give each of the 17 a scroll with the "title" to a church or parish in Rome. As the "titular cardinal" of the church, a cardinal from anywhere in the world becomes a special member of the clergy of Rome. The practice echoes the ancient tradition of the Rome clergy electing their bishop, the pope.

They will arrive at St. Peter's Basilica already dressed in their new red robes; the crimson hue is a reminder the cardinals wear that they must be faithful to Christ, his church and the pope to the point of shedding blood, if necessary.

Together, the new cardinals will solemnly profess their faith by reciting the Creed and formally swear fidelity and obedience to the pope and his successors. Then, one by one, they will approach Pope Francis to receive a biretta -- a three-cornered red hat -- their cardinal's ring and the assignment of their titular church.

The 17 new cardinals come from 11 nations and most will travel with family, friends and faithful. The Vatican always hosts a reception where people can greet the new cardinals -- both those they know and those they have never met. The reception used to be held on the lower floors of the Apostolic Palace, but has now been moved to the Vatican audience hall.

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IMAGE: CNS photo/Bob Roller

By Carol Zimmermann

BALTIMORE (CNS) -- The U.S. bishops chose to break from tradition during this year's fall assembly by celebrating Mass at the church known as the "Mother Church" of black Catholics in Western Baltimore instead of the usual venue: Baltimore's historic basilica.

"I pray our presence will convey the church's solidarity with you," said Baltimore Archbishop William E. Lori in opening remarks Nov. 14 to a few dozen parishioners attending the Mass with more than 250 bishops who filled nearly every pew of the small church.

In his homily, Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville, Kentucky, said the bishops came to the church "to be present, to see with our own eyes, so that we might humbly take a step and lead others to do so."

Archbishop Kurtz, outgoing president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, also said the bishops' presence was just one part of an effort to bring about healing of racial divides. He acknowledged this effort would involve "more than simply a quick visit on a bus."

The Nov. 14 Mass and other events around the nation such as prayer services to heal divisions, should "move our hearts to holy dialogue, grounded in respect," he said, adding that it is something that needs everyone's dedication.

"For violence to fall and civility to rise, everyone must do a part," he said.

That message was not lost on parishioners who sat in the side pews or in metal folding chairs in the back of the church during the evening Mass in the church, which was built in 1888.

"The bishops wanted to be visual," said community activist and parishioner Ray Kelly after Mass, who said their presence sent a message not just to this parish, but well beyond it.

"Coming here restored hope," he told Catholic News Service, after taking pictures of some parishioners at the back of church after the Mass was over.

Longtime parishioner Iris Turner said seeing the nation's bishops in the church where her great grandparents worshipped and where she has been firmly rooted since receiving her first sacraments was an experience that "filled my soul."

Turner, who attended the now-closed parish school from first grade through eighth grade, as did a friend she sat by at the Mass, said she hoped the bishops' visit "would put St. Peter Claver on the map."

The bishops chose the church, named for the patron saint of slaves and ministry to African-Americans, to show support for parishes in neighborhoods that have seen rising violence. They picked the brick church -- that sits across the street from boarded-up and windowless buildings -- on the recommendation of the new task force of the U.S. bishops to promote peace in U.S. communities following the violence in the nation this summer after shootings of and by police officers in in Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Minneapolis; and Dallas.

Last spring, St. Peter Claver was in the middle of violent protests during riots where there was looting, multiple fires and buildings destroyed in response to the death of Freddie Gray, the African-American man who died a week after he was seriously injured while in police custody.

The church, a fixture in Gray's neighborhood, was a site of prayer immediately after the riots. Its parishioners held community meetings at the parish center and were on the streets involved in cleaning up broken glass and debris.

Archbishop Lori, who led a prayer service at the church after the riots, told the bishops that St. Peter Claver's parishioners were immediately at work to "reclaim the community."

"This parish is that field hospital envisioned by Pope Francis," he added.

Turner, who arrived at the Nov. 14 Mass after work, saying she wouldn't miss it, is proud that her parish is such an integral part of the community. "We never moved out," she said. "We're still here feeding the homeless, visiting the sick."

She is also optimistic that racism will not always exist. "I'm not hating," she said, adding that she believes "God is walking on this earth" and "is in charge."

At the end of Mass, parishioners did not rush out and head home but lingered in the pews talking before making their way through a side door to a reception at the parish hall.

Parishioner Pauline Fleming, wearing a maroon St. Peter Claver sweatshirt, was an exception. She wanted to greet bishops at the end of Mass so she left before the end of Mass walking right past a protester outside the church yelling into a megaphone about what he felt was wrong with the Catholic Church and its leaders.

He was joined on the sidewalk by a few other protesters standing by the buses waiting for the bishops who were holding banners in support of women's ordination to the priesthood and saying the church should "stop persecuting gays."

A man carrying the "stop persecuting gays" banner walked onto the altar with it during the homily and was escorted away.

Fleming, who had to speak loudly over the megaphoned protester said the Mass was "great for the city and for our parish."

"It was a blessing," she said, adding: "It's hard to put into words."

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Follow Zimmermann on Twitter @carolmaczim.

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IMAGE: CNS photo/Tyler Orsburn

By Cindy Wooden

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Cardinal-designate Kevin J. Farrell believes the U.S. bishops as a whole should have discussed pastoral guidelines for implementing Pope Francis' exhortation on the family before individual bishops began issuing guidelines for their own dioceses.

Implementing the pope's exhortation, "Amoris Laetitia," he said, "has to be done in communion with our bishops. I think that it would have been wiser to wait for the gathering of the conference of bishops where all the bishops of the United States or all the bishops of a country would sit down and discuss these things."

A conference-wide discussion, he told Catholic News Service Nov. 15, would ensure "an approach that would not cause as much division among bishops and dioceses, and misunderstandings."

The cardinal-designate was asked specifically about pastoral guidelines issued for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia by Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, who also is head of a U.S. bishops' ad hoc committee for implementing "Amoris Laetitia. " Among other things, the Philadelphia guidelines state that while divorced and civilly remarried couples should be welcome in parishes and accompanied by priests, they may not receive Communion unless they live as brother and sister.

Cardinal-designate Farrell was bishop of Dallas and a member of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops until September when he became prefect of the new Vatican Dicastery for Laity, the Family and Life.

"I don't share the view of what Archbishop Chaput did, no," the cardinal-designate said. "I think there are all kinds of different circumstances and situations that we have to look at -- each case as it is presented to us."

"I think that is what our Holy Father is speaking about, is when we talk about accompanying, it is not a decision that is made irrespective of the couple," he said. "Obviously, there is an objective moral law," he said, but you will never find two couples who have the same reason for being divorced and remarried.

Catholic News Service attempted to contact Archbishop Chaput, who was unavailable for comment.

Pope Francis' apostolic exhortation on the family was published in early April. The pope continually has insisted that the document is about the importance and beauty of marriage and family life and the church's obligation to support and strengthen it.

But much of the debate has focused on the document's eighth chapter that speaks of ministry to and access to the sacraments for couples in what the Catholic Church traditionally defined as "irregular situations," particularly people who were divorced and civilly remarried without an annulment.

Cardinal-designate Farrell insisted "Amoris Laetitia" is "so important" because of the way it explains and affirms the church's vision of the joy and beauty of family life and the way it encourages better ways to share that teaching, especially in marriage preparation programs.

"The most important part of 'Amoris Laetitia' is not Chapter 8" on accompanying those in irregular situations, he said. "We need to explain marriage, we need to explain human love in a much better and more dynamic way. And we need laypeople to do that."

"We don't deny the difficulties" some couples experience or the fact that there are many divorced and remarried Catholics, who "go to our churches in the United States every weekend," he said. "We have to try to find ways to bring them into full communion."

Obviously, there are limits to what the church can do because of its firm faith that marriage is indissoluble, he said. "But it is better to say to the couple, 'Let's work together and let's walk together' -- as Pope Francis would say -- 'through this process and see how far we arrive.'"

The Catholic Church cannot react by "closing the doors before we even listen to the circumstances and the people," the cardinal-designate said. "That's not the way to go."

While a few cardinals and bishops have disagreed with the general interpretation of Pope Francis' exhortation, "I think the bishops are unified," Cardinal-designate Farrell said.

"Each bishop in his diocese has to set certain rules and parameters, but at the same time, I think that they need to be open to listening to the Holy Spirit and open to what the bishops of the world" discussed at the synods on the family in 2014 and 2015.

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Contributing to this story were Carol Glatz and Robert Duncan.

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