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Vatican City, Sep 16, 2016 / 11:19 am (CNA/EWTN News).- On Friday, Pope Francis visited a neonatal hospital unit and a hospice for the terminally ill, stressing the dignity of human life from conception to natural death.

The Sept. 16 visit is the latest in the Pope’s “Mercy Friday” initiatives, to spend time with various groups each month during the Jubilee of Mercy.

In previous trips, he has made surprise stops at places including an elderly home, a drug and alcohol rehab center, and a facility for retired priests.

In this month’s visit, Pope first visited the San Giovanni hospital, stopping at both the emergency room and the neonatal unit. Currently there are 12 babies with various conditions in the unit. Five of them – including one set of twins – are in very serious condition in the ICU.

A Vatican description of the event said that Pope Francis wore a hygienic mask and took other sanitary precautions, like all visitors to the unit, where the children’s immune systems are often weak.

He spoke to the babies in each incubator, and greeted their parents, offering words of comfort.

Pope Francis then visited the Villa Speranza Hospice, where 30 patients in the terminal stages of illness are housed. He greeted each patient one-by-one, as well as their families, in an emotional encounter.

Through the visit, “the Holy Father wanted to give a strong sign of the importance of life, from its first moment to its natural end,” the Vatican said in a statement.

“The acceptance of life and the guarantee of human dignity at all stages of development are lessons repeatedly stressed by Pope Francis,” the Vatican continued, adding that the Pope’s dual mercy visit is a “concrete and tangible sign” of how essential it is to give our attention “to those in the most vulnerable and precarious situations.”

 

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Vatican City, Sep 16, 2016 / 12:38 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis has confirmed that the impediments preventing one from being ordained – such as homicide, abortion, or attempted suicide – apply whether or not the man was Catholic at the time the act occurred.

As the law is written, a doubt existed that the “irregularities,” as they are called, applied only to those who were Catholic – and thus those who were under the law – at the time they were committed.

Pope Francis affirmed the definitive interpretation, that the law does apply to non-Catholics who have performed the acts, in a meeting with members of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts on May 31. The letter was made public by the Vatican Sept. 15.

The purpose of the law is to provide extra protection to the sanctity of the Sacrament of Holy Orders – in the episcopate, priesthood, and diaconate – Bishop Juan Ignacio Arrieta Ochoa de Chinchetru, secretary of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, said in the Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano. He clarified that it is not a punishment for the irregularizing act, but merely an upholding of the dignity of Holy Orders.

Canon 1041 of the Code of Canon Law states that, among others, “any person who has committed voluntary homicide or procured a completed abortion and all those who positively cooperated in either” and “a person who has mutilated himself or another gravely and maliciously or who has attempted suicide” is “irregular for receiving (holy) orders.”

Bishop Arrieta told reporters Thursday that it is possible for a dispensation to be granted by special intervention of the bishop if the person is truly contrite, “but a warning sign remains.”

Precaution is required in order to “protect the dignity of the sacrament,” he said.

The definitive interpretation is substantiated by a reasoned, rather than overly formalistic reading of the law, Bishop Arrieta said in L'Osservatore Romano.

“A different interpretation” of the canon, he continued, “would lead to propose a discriminatory treatment by applying different rules depending on the condition of whether or not Catholic at the time of the facts.”

This would be “particularly paradoxical and unjust, because both Catholics and non-Catholics are equally bound to respect for his own life and that of others, as belonging to the natural order,” he said.

Pope Francis also issued changes this week to the Latin code of canon law, with an eye toward clarifying ministry to Eastern Catholics.

The Pope cited concern for harmony between the different codes. The name of the Pope’s apostolic letter, De concordia inter Codices, in fact means “Concerning harmony between laws.” It is dated May 31 and was released Sept. 15 and concerns topics such as baptism, marriage, and change of ecclesiastical rite.

The Pope said the changes were motivated by the presence of many Eastern Catholics in predominantly Latin Catholic regions.

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Vatican City, Sep 16, 2016 / 01:10 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Like the Good Samaritan in the parable, you have been called to show the mercy of God to the men and women God has placed in your path, Pope Francis said to a group of new bishops on Friday.

“Be bishops with a heart wounded by such a mercy and so tireless in the humble task of accompanying the man who 'by chance' God has put in your way,” the Pope encouraged.

The Roman Pontiff's Sept. 16 audience was with the participants in an annual training course for bishops held in Rome organized by the Congregation of Bishops and the Congregation of Eastern Churches.

“Men have need of mercy,” the Pope said. The Good Samaritan is “interested in (the man's) recovery and his future … mercy, which had broken his heart, needs to pour and pour.”

Just as Christ was close to his disciples, accompany your priests first “with patient care”, Pope Francis exhorted the new bishops. He added that priests should feel comfortable going to their bishop to ask questions or for explanations.

He also told the bishops to take special care of seminaries and seminarians, not focusing just on the number of vocations, but rather on the “quality of discipleship.”

“Do not deprive the seminarians of your firm and tender fatherhood,” he said.

The Holy Father also talked about the importance of introducing people to the sacraments, to the fullness of truth in the Church, and to mercy.

“The Mercy of God is the only reality that allows men to not get completely lost, even when unfortunately he tries to escape his appeal,” the Pope said. “Bishops, be able to launch your Churches in this abyss of love.”

Pope Francis told the bishops that they were caught “from the heart of God to guide his Holy People” and thus should not be afraid to live out their calling.

“Know that this time it is your name that the Father wanted to say,” he said. “Indeed, abandon the pretense of self-sufficiency to rely as little children on him who reveals his small kingdom.”

The bishops have been called to their vocation and position by God, Pope Francis said, and it is their job to attract people to the mercy of God and to help them discern the whisper of God amid the noise of the world.

“A god distant and indifferent you can ignore, but (you cannot) easily resist a God so near and moreover wounded for love,” the Pope continued. “Goodness, beauty, truth, love, good – here is what we can offer to this beggar, the world, although in half-broken bowls.”

Pope Francis also encouraged the bishops to accompany families, rejoicing in their generous love and encouraging the immense good they do in the world.

“Put before their eyes the true joy of love and grace with which God elevates the share of his Love. So many people need to rediscover it, others have never known (it), some (are) waiting it redeem it, not a few will bring him the weight of having irretrievably lost,” he said.

“Please keep them company in discernment and with empathy.”

The Pope reminded the bishops that above all, it is the work of God that they do in their ministries.

“It is comforting to keep in our hearts the memory of his voice that has called us, despite our shortcomings,” he said. “He gives peace, surrender to certainty that it will be him, not us, to bring to fulfillment what he himself started.”

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IMAGE: CNS photo/Philip Laubner, CRS

By Rhina Guidos

WASHINGTON (CNS) ? A six-month search for a new president and CEO for one of the largest humanitarian relief agencies in the world ended at its doorstep, with Catholic Relief Services announcing Sept. 16 that it is hiring a veteran employee -- the agency's No. 2 -- Sean Callahan, as its new president and CEO.

"We looked all across the nation and found that the best person for the job was Sean, already working for us," said Bishop Richard J. Malone of Buffalo, New York, head of the CRS Board Search Committee, in a statement announcing Callahan's new position, which begins Jan. 1, 2017. He succeeds Carolyn Y. Woo, who ends her five-year term at the end of 2016.

Callahan began his career with CRS 28 years ago and has served as director of Human Resources, regional director for South Asia, head of its Nicaragua program and executive vice president for overseas operations. Four years ago he was appointed as the agency's chief operating officer.

Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of Oklahoma City, chairman of the CRS board, said in a statement that all that experience is what makes Callahan "eminently qualified" for the top spot.

Callahan said mission, not climbing the corporate ladder, is what has motivated him in his almost three decades at CRS, the U.S. bishops' overseas relief and development agency based in Baltimore. In his new leadership position, he said he wants to inspire and motivate staff and CRS partners around the world to be united in humanitarian efforts, incorporating different elements of the Catholic Church to help humanity.

That means emphasizing the sanctity of life and how charitable efforts to help those suffering around the world is part of that Christian mission.

"Sacredness of life is key," Callahan said in a phone interview with Catholic News Service from Montreal. "We need to be aware of the situation of the least among us. We have a responsibility."

That means teaching others about situations that bring suffering and snuff out lives around the world. It means finding a way, whether by prayer, voting, volunteering or giving financially, to become involved with finding a solution to the hardship of others.

In Pope Francis and the recently canonized St. Teresa of Kolkata, whom Callahan met while working for CRS in Asia, the church has great models and inspiration to meet that mission and understand that Christians have a call to help those in distress, including the poor, refugees and migrants, Callahan said.

As head of CRS, he said he wants to help connect those in the United States to see "brothers and sisters in other parts of the world ... connect those who have more with those who have less."

It also means helping others understand that leaving one's country is not the preferred option for those who leave their homelands, which is why CRS has programs to help people not emigrate.

"Many of these people, what they want is safety and security," he said. CRS tries to provide a livelihood, health care, education, but sometimes they still are faced with having to leave their homelands.

"Once they do migrate, it's our responsibility that they're safe and protected. ... That's where we have been inspired by the Holy Father" in reaching out, teaching those who may not be comfortable with foreigners, whether migrants or refugees, understand that Jesus was a migrant, he was a refugee, too, Callahan said.

While Americans are rightly proud of their homeland, not all immigrants who are here have chosen to leave what's familiar to them by choice and they would stay in their home countries if they had had safe and secure places to live, he said. That's where organizations such as CRS step in to put mechanisms in place that build stronger communities and try to alleviate some of the hardship.

Callahan, 56, has master's degree in law and diplomacy from Tufts University, and is president of Caritas North America. He also is on the board of trustees for Catholic Charities USA and has served on the Executive Committee and Representative Council of Caritas Internationalis, a Vatican-based confederation of 165 Catholic relief, development and social service organizations.

When he takes over in January, he will be leading an agency of 5,400 worldwide. In a statement, CRS said its operating expenditures will reach almost $900 million in fiscal year 2016, the highest in its history, rising from $585 million in fiscal year 2013.

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Follow Guidos on Twitter: @CNS_Rhina.

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IMAGE: CNS/L'Osservatore Romano

By Cindy Wooden

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis donned a green hospital gown over his white cassock and entered the neonatal unit of a Rome hospital, peering in the incubators, making the sign of the cross and encouraging worried parents.

The trip to the babies' ward of Rome's San Giovanni Hospital and then to a hospice Sept. 16 were part of a series of Mercy Friday activities Pope Francis has been doing once a month during the Year of Mercy.

By visiting the ailing newborns and the dying on the same day, the Vatican said, Pope Francis "wanted to give a strong sign of the importance of life from its first moment to its natural end."

"Welcoming life and guaranteeing its dignity at every moment of its development is a teaching Pope Francis has underlined many times," the statement said. With the September visits he wanted to put "a concrete and tangible seal" on his teaching that living a life of mercy means giving special attention to those in the most precarious situations.

During the Mercy Friday visits, Pope Francis has spent time with migrants, the aged, at a recovery community for former drug addicts and at a shelter for women rescued from human trafficking and prostitution.

Pope Francis stopped by the emergency room of San Giovanni Hospital before going to the neonatal unit, where 12 little patients were being treated. Five of the newborns, including a pair of twins, were in intensive care and were intubated, the Vatican said. The pope also went to the maternity ward and nursery upstairs, greeting new parents and holding their bundles of joy.

At the neonatal unit, the Vatican said, the pope was "welcomed by the surprised personnel" and, like everyone else, put on a gown and followed all the hygiene procedures.

Leaving the hospital, he drove across town to the Villa Speranza hospice, which hosts 30 terminally ill patients. The hospice is connected to Rome's Gemelli Hospital.

Pope Francis went into each of the rooms and greeted each patient, the Vatican said. "There was great surprise on the part of all -- patients and relatives -- who experienced moments of intense emotion with tears and smiles of joy."

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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.

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