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(Vatican)  Pope Francis on Friday appointed a new Vicar Apostolic to the Vicariate Apostolic of Puerto Princesa in the Philippines. Fr. Socrates Mesiona of the Mission Society of the Philippines (MSP), the current national director of the Pontifical Mission Societies of the Philippines and former MSP Superior General is the new Apostolic Vicar of  Puerto Princesa.  The 53-year old priest takes over from Bishop Pedro Arigo, who has been Vicar Apostolic of Puerto Princesa since 1996.

Born in 1963 in Tagbilaran, Fr. Mesiona studied philosophy at the city’s Immaculate Heart of Mary Seminary (1980-’84) and philosophy at the Divine Word School of Theology (1984-’89).  He was ordained to priesthood in 1989.  From 1994 to ’96 he studied for a licentiate in Missiology at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome.  Fr. Mesiona was entrusted with several responsibilities such as principal of the school and later as rector of the Fil-mission Seminary in Tagaytay City, parish priest in Madaluyong City and bursar and member of the Mission Society of the Philippines.  He served as MSP superior general from 2004-2009, after which he was appointed national director of the national Pontifical Mission Societies.

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For the first time ever in Bangladesh a Catholic was elected to fill one of the highest offices of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), the largest opposition party. Albert Costa is a member of the Bhadun Gazipur parish, near the capital. He was elected Oct. 27as president of Jubo Dal, the youth wing of the party that plays a decisive role in political activism. His appointment represents quite an exceptional circumstance in Bangladesh, where Catholics represent just 0.4% of the population out of a total of about 160 million inhabitants.

Immediately after his election, Costa told AsiaNews: "I got this job at a time of extreme difficulty for the BNP. Thousands of our activists are subjected to legal proceedings by the Bangladeshi ruling party Awami League. I will take this responsibility seriously. I will reorganize the party from the groud up".

The Catholic has replaced Moazzem Hossain Alal, who was elected Deputy Secretary-General for political education. Albert has been the president of the Metropolitan Christian Co-operative Housing Society Ltd for some time. It is the leading organization for cooperation in Bangladesh, managed by Christians.Bangladesh  (Source: AsiaNews)

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Vatican City, Oct 28, 2016 / 08:15 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Ahead of his upcoming trip to Sweden for the joint commemoration of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, Pope Francis granted a lengthy, wide-ranging interview to a Jesuit magazine in which he talks about his expectations, and Catholic-Lutheran unity.

When asked about his hopes for his upcoming trip to Sweden, Pope Francis said “I can think of only one word to say: to come close.”

“My hope and expectation is that of coming closer to my brothers and sisters,” he said, explaining that being close “does all of us good. Distance, on the other hand, makes us bitter.”

When we are distant from one another, “we close within ourselves and we become individual entities, incapable of encountering each other. We are held back by fears.”

He stressed that we need to learn “to transcend ourselves to encounter others,” noting that if this doesn’t happen, even Christians “become sick because of our divisions.”

“My expectation is that of being able to take a step of closeness, of being closer to my brothers and sisters in Sweden.”

The interview was conducted by Fr. Ulf Jonsson S.J., director of the Swedish Jesuit magazine “Signum,” at the Vatican's Saint Martha Guesthouse Sept. 24, in the late afternoon, and lasted about an hour and a half.

Published Oct. 28, it came out just three days before Pope Francis’ Oct. 31-Nov. 1 visit to Sweden.

It will be the first time a Pope has traveled to Scandinavia since St. John Paul II’s 1989 visit. Though only two days, the trip will include an ecumenical moment of prayer at Lund’s Lutheran cathedral, which will be followed by the larger, primary ecumenical event at the Malmö Arena in Malmö.

The two ecumenical events will be followed by an outdoor papal Mass the next day at the Swedbank Stadium in Malmö marking All Saints Day, which was not originally in the schedule, but was added later upon the request of Sweden’s small Catholic community.

Francis, who has faced criticism for his initial decision to not hold Mass, explained in the interview that he originally decided not to because he wanted to promote unity, and avoid sectarian divisions.

“You cannot be Catholic and sectarian. We must strive to be together with others,” he said, explaining that “‘Catholic’ and ‘sectarian’ are two words in contradiction,” which is why he wasn’t planning to have Mass during the trip.
 
“I wanted to insist on an ecumenical witness. Then I reflected well on my role as pastor of a flock of Catholics who will also come from other countries, like Norway and Denmark. So, responding to the fervent request of the Catholic community, I decided to celebrate a Mass, lengthening the trip by a day.”

The Pope said he intentionally scheduled the Mass so it didn’t take place on the same day as the ecumenical encounter in order to “avoid confusing plans.”

“The ecumenical encounter is preserved in its profound significance according to a spirit of unity, that is my desire.”

Pope Francis also spoke at length about his relationship with Lutherans while still in Buenos Aires, which were overwhelmingly positive. When asked what Catholics can learn from Lutherans, he responded with two words: “reform and Scripture.”

Referring to the first word, Francis noted how at the beginning of the Reformation Martin Luther’s intention was to reform in a “in a difficult time for the Church.”

“Luther wanted to remedy a complex situation,” he said, explaining that the gesture “also because of the political situations... became a ‘state’ of separation, and not a process of reform of the whole Church, which is fundamental, because the Church is semper reformanda (always reforming).”

When it comes to Scripture, the Pope said Luther did an important thing by putting the Word of God into peoples’ hands, adding that “reform and Scripture are two things that we can deepen by looking at the Lutheran tradition.”

Although the fervor for unity that arose during John Paul II’s visit to Sweden in 1989 has somewhat died down, Pope Francis said that in his opinion, the best way to promote unity now is, in addition to continuing theological discussions, a shared enthusiasm for “common prayer and the works of mercy.”

“It is important to work together and not in a sectarian way,” he said, stressing that “to proselytize in the ecclesial field is a sin.”

“Proselytism is a sinful attitude,” he continued. “It would be like transforming the Church into an organization. Speaking, praying, working together: this is the path that we must take.”

He also spoke of the ecumenism of blood and the recent prayer encounter in Assisi, insisting that you can never use God to justify violence.

“You cannot make war in the name of religion, in the name of God. It is blasphemy, it is satanic,” and referring to the truck attack that took place earlier this year in Nice, France, said the “madman” who committed the massacre did so believe he was justified by God.

“Poor man, he was deranged,” Francis said, explaining that “charitably we can say that he was a deranged man who sought to use a justification in the name of God.”

He was also asked about critics who point to religous conflicts and say the world would be better off without religions.

In response, Francis sand that “idolatries that are at the base of a religion, not the religion itself!”

“There are idolatries connected to religion: the idolatry of money, of enmities, of space greater than time, the greed of the territoriality of space. There is an idolatry of the conquest of space, of dominion, that attacks religions like a malignant virus.”

Idolatry, he said, is “a false religion" and "wrong religiosity.”

On the other hand, true religions “are the development of the capacity that humanity has to transcend itself towards the absolute," he said, adding that the religious phenomenon is transcendent and it has to do with truth, beauty, goodness and unity.”

When asked for a final word on his upcoming trip, Pope Francis said that what came to him spontaneously to say “is simply: go, walk together! Don’t remain closed in rigid perspectives, because in these there is no possibility of reform.”

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IMAGE: CNS photo/Chaz Muth

By Donis Tracy

BRIGHTON, Mass. (CNS) -- Rapid growth in the number of men entering St. John's Seminary in Brighton to study for the priesthood has prompted the Boston Archdiocese to buy back space from Boston College to accommodate the increase.

Msgr. James Moroney, seminary rector, signed a purchase and sale agreement with the Jesuit-run college Oct. 20 to buy back more than 13,000 square feet of space within the current seminary building.

"I am so very happy to be able to announce the purchase of the annex," Msgr. Moroney said. "Right after I became rector of the seminary, one of the great dreams that both Cardinal (Sean P.) O'Malley and I began to articulate was the restoration of the seminary to a certain wholeness."

By purchasing the annex, located above the present kitchen and refectory space, the current St. John's Seminary buildings will now be owned "free and clear, without any leases or encumbrances of any kind" by the seminary, Msgr. Moroney said.

Built in 1884 by Boston Archbishop John Joseph Williams, the seminary had seen the number of seminarians dropping significantly, to an all-time low of 22 men studying for the priesthood in 2005.

"Having experienced, in the last 10 years, the most extraordinary growth the seminary has witnessed in its entire lifetime," Msgr. Moroney continued, "we are in desperate need for space."

He said in September, when the seminarians returned to St. John's Seminary, there were 98 men living at the seminary.

"We had seven more men than space for them," he said with a smile, adding that the St. John's Seminary board of trustees purchased a neighboring house for additional space. The property, called Cheverus House, currently is home to seven of the 12 deacons at the seminary.

The annex became part of Boston College in the early 2000s. Having purchased St. Clement Hall, a building adjacent to the seminary, they asked St. John's Seminary for additional rooms not being used. Because the annex had not been used since the 1960s, the seminary agreed to a 99-year lease on the facility.

With the signing of the purchase and sale agreement, Msgr. Moroney explained, St. John's Seminary has bought back that 99-year lease.

This comes after "extended discussions" between Msgr. Moroney, Cardinal O'Malley and Jesuit Father William Leahy, president of Boston College.

"I doubt there's been a month that has gone by since I became rector when Cardinal Sean and I have not spoken about this," said Msgr. Moroney, who has been in the post since July 2012.

Msgr. Moroney noted that since the annex has not been used since the mid-1960s, the rooms "will have to be brought back to the studs" and remodeled. Currently, three different architectural firms have brought their proposals to the seminary's board of trustees.

"There is enormous possibility that our newly returned annex can bring," the rector said.

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Tracy writes for The Pilot, newspaper of the Archdiocese of Boston.

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By Cindy Wooden

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis said he wanted his trip to Sweden to focus purely on promoting Christian unity, although in the end, he added a day to the visit so he could respond to the "fervent request" by the country's small Catholic community that he celebrate a Mass for them.

Accepting his responsibility as "pastor of a flock" of Catholics, he decided to add the Mass Nov. 1, although he insisted it be celebrated in a location different from the ecumenical events, he told Jesuit Father Ulf Jonsson, director of the Swedish Jesuit magazine Signum.

The interview was released in Italian and English Oct. 28 by the Italian Jesuit journal, La Civilta Cattolica. Pope Francis was scheduled to visit Sweden Oct. 31-Nov. 1. The first day, marked as Reformation Day by Lutherans and other Protestants, was to include an ecumenical prayer service and a larger event focused on Catholic-Lutheran cooperation in charity, justice and humanitarian work. All Saints' Day, Nov. 1, the pope was to celebrate Mass before returning to Rome.

Pope Francis said his goal for the trip is to come "closer to my brothers and sisters" in the Lutheran community. The trip will include an ecumenical launch of a year of events before the celebration in 2017 of the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation.

"Closeness does all of us good," he told Father Jonsson. "Distance, on the other hand, makes us bitter."

Asked about his personal experience with the Lutheran Church, Pope Francis said the first time he ever entered a Lutheran church was when he was 17 and went to a co-worker's wedding.

Later, as a Jesuit and professor at the Jesuit school of theology in Argentina, he said he had frequent contact and exchanges with professors at the nearby Lutheran school of theology.

"I invited a professor of spiritual theology from that faculty, a Swede, Anders Ruuth, to hold lectures on spirituality together with me," the pope said. It was "a truly difficult time" for the pope personally, he said, "but I had a lot of trust in him and opened my heart to him. He helped me a lot in that moment."

Friendships and formal exchanges with Lutheran pastors and leaders continued while he was archbishop of Buenos Aires and now as pope, he said.

Asked what Catholics can learn from Lutherans and what they should value of the Lutheran tradition, Pope Francis responded, "Two words come to my mind: reform and Scripture."

At a "difficult time for the church," Martin Luther tried "to remedy a complex situation," the pope said, but for a variety of reasons, including political pressure, his reform movement triggered the division of the church. But Luther's intuition was not altogether wrong, the pope said, because the church is called to be "'semper reformanda' (always reforming)."

In addition, he said, "Luther took a great step by putting the Word of God into the hands of the people" and giving them the Bible in their language, rather than in Latin.

Pope Francis also reiterated a point he frequently has made in the last few months: In the search for Christian unity, "theological dialogue must continue." However, he said, "personally, I believe that enthusiasm must shift toward common prayer and the works of mercy -- work done together to help the sick, the poor and the imprisoned. To do something together is a high and effective form of dialogue."

"Look," he said, "in ecumenism the one who never makes a mistake is the enemy, the devil. When Christians are persecuted and murdered, they are chosen because they are Christians, not because they are Lutherans, Calvinists, Anglicans, Catholics or Orthodox. An ecumenism of blood exists."

In September, he said he met with 400 people who survived or lost loved ones in the July terrorist attack in Nice, France. "That madman who committed that massacre did so believing he did it in God's name," the pope said. "Poor man, he was deranged! Charitably we can say that he was a deranged man who sought to use a justification in the name of God."

Sweden, although nominally Lutheran, has a reputation as one of the least religious countries in the world. Without faith, he said, people do not develop their natural capacity for transcendence.

"The path of transcendence gives place to God, and in this the little steps are important, even that of (going from) being an atheist to being an agnostic," he said. "The problem for me is when one is closed and one considers their life perfect in itself, then one closes in on oneself."

To help another open up to the possibility of transcendence and then to faith, he said, words and speeches are not necessary and sometimes not helpful. But seeing another person who lives with faith, who is open to God, speaks for itself.

A lack of faith, he added, is closely "tied to affluence. Restlessness is rarely found in affluence. This is why I believe that against atheism, that against closure to transcendence, prayer and witnessing are truly worthwhile."

Father Jonsson also asked Pope Francis who Jesus is for him. "Jesus has given meaning to my life here on earth and hope for the future life," the pope responded. "He looked at me with mercy, he took me, he put me on the road."

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