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(Vatican)  Pope Francis on Tuesday acknowledged the appointment of a new auxiliary bishop to a diocese in southern India’s Kerala state belonging to the eastern rite Syro-Malabar Catholic Church.   At its meeting at Mount Saint Thomas in Kerala, the  Syro-Malabar Church Synod elected Fr. Jose Pulickal as Auxiliary Bishop of Kanjirapally, headed by Bishop Mathew Arackal.  Unlike in the Latin-rite Church where the Pope directly appoints bishops, the synods of eastern-rite Catholic churches have the autonomy of appointing their own bishops, to which the Pope gives his assent.

Born March 3, 1964, Fr.  Pulickal studied at the Minor seminary of Mary Matha.  After his priestly studies at St. Thomas Apostolic Seminary, Vadavathoor, he was ordained priest on Jan. 1, 1991.  After becoming the vicar of Kanjirapally Cathedral and director of ‎Snehashram Jesus Fraternity, he obtained a Master’s degree in biblical theology from St. Peter’s Institute, Bangalore, and a Doctorate from the Dharmaram Institute in the same city. He has held several responsible posts such as director of Catechetics, Vicar of Pathanamthitta Forane, diocesan consultor, protosyncellus or the bishop’s deputy for Ranni and Pathanamthitta, and since 2014 he has been protosyncellus  of the diocesan clergy.  

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(Vatican Radio) Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican Secretary of State, on Tuesday expressed his sorrow for the terrorist attack which took place in Istanbul, Turkey.

“What is happening [in Turkey] pains us. What is happening there, what continues to repeat itself, confirms that the best medicine in the face of these evils is always mercy.”

At least 10 people were killed in a suicide bomb attack Tuesday morning in the Sultanahmet district of Istanbul, near the city’s famous Blue Mosque.

His words came in response to a sideline question at the presentation of Pope Francis’ new book The Name of God is Mercy.

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(Vatican Radio) Anglican leaders from around the world on Tuesday conclude the second day of a meeting in Canterbury focused on healing divisions within the global communion.

Philippa Hitchen takes a closer look: 

Primates from all the 38 Anglican provinces, are attending the five day, closed door meeting in Canterbury Cathedral . They’re joined by the head of the Anglican Church in North America, established in 2009 in protest against what its founders saw as increasingly liberal teachings and practice within the Episcopalian tradition in Canada and the United States.

Also addressing the meeting is Templeton Prize winner Jean Vanier, the 86 year old Catholic founder of the Arche communities for people living with disabilities.

Despite fervid media speculation of a walk out by some bishops on the first day of the meeting, the participants gathered for a public evensong service on Monday, accompanied by young people from the new religious community of St Anselm, launched by the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby at his London headquarters of Lambeth Palace last year.

Informal sources said during the first working session of the meeting the bishops focused on setting their agenda and listened to an address by Archbishop Welby on the history and  key issues facing the Communion.

Ahead of the historic encounter, the Anglican leader asked people of faith to pray for the bishops so that they may be able to discern the will of God, despite the difficulties which challenge not only Christians but all of us in today’s world

 "What I would ask people to pray for more than anything else is wisdom and love. That the love of Christ for each of us, for each of us who are sinners, each of us who fail, will so overwhelm us that we are able to love each other as we should. And wisdom that we may know the call and purpose of God and in love and wisdom serve his world in the way he calls us to.”

The meeting in Canterbury is scheduled to conclude on Saturday January 16th. You can find further details on the website www.primates2016.org 

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(Vatican Radio) Italian actor Roberto Benigni said on Tuesday Pope Francis is “so full of mercy, you could sell it by the pound.”

He was speaking during the presentation of Pope Francis’ book length interview with journalist Andrea Tornielli - entitled The Name of God is Mercy – which took place at the Patristic Institute "Augustinianum,” located near the Vatican.

Benigni called the book “beautiful” and said it was possible to read portions “in five minutes, while waiting for a late train.”

In an excited and exuberant presentation, he said “you cannot speak in moderation about this Pope.”

“It’s a revolution, and it’s wonderful…I have done everything to see him,” he said.

“The core of the ministry of Pope Francis is just this: Mercy,” Benigni said.

The actor added that mercy is not “a virtue,” and “does not sit still for a second, but reaches out to sinners and the poor.”

He also said the book “raises our hearts without watering down our brains.”

Benigni was joined in the presentation by the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin.

“The Name of God is Mercy is not an interview which “covers the field on all the burning questions of the world,” Cardinal Parolin said. “Those who are seeking such revelations might perhaps be disappointed.”

The book, instead, explores “the great mystery of the mercy of God.”

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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis says prayer works miracles and prevents the hardening of the heart.

His words came on Tuesday morning during morning Mass at the Casa Santa Marta. 

“It’s the prayer of the faithful – the Pope said – that brings change to the Church; it’s not us popes, bishops or priests who carry the Church forward, but the Saints”.

Listen to the report by Linda Bordoni:  

Pope Francis took his cue from the Bible reading of the day which tells the story of Hannah, a woman whom, deeply distressed by her infertility, desperately prays to the Lord to give her a child, and of Eli, a priest, who looks on vaguely from afar and superficially judges the woman as a drunkard as he can see her babbling but cannot hear her words.

“Hannah was praying silently, her lips moved but her voice was not heard. Hers is the courage of a woman of faith who is weeping and grieving and asks the Lord for his grace. There are many good women in the Church,  many! They place all their trust in prayer...  Let us think of one of them, Saint Monica who was able, with her tears, to be granted the grace of conversion for her son, Saint Augustine. There are so many” the Pope said.

Eli, the priest, is “a poor man” towards whom, Francis says, he feels “a certain sympathy” because – he explains - “I find faults in myself that allow me to understand him well and feel close to him.”  “How easily - the Pope continues – do we judge people and lack the respect to say: 'I wonder what he has in his heart? I do not know, but I will say nothing...’ When the heart lacks compassion one always thinks evil" and does not understand those who pray “with pain and anguish” and “entrust that pain and anguish to the Lord”.

“Jesus knows this kind of prayer. When he was in Gethsemane and was so anguished and hurt he sweated blood, He did not accuse the Father: ‘Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from me; yet not my will, but Yours be done’”.  Jesus responded in the same way of the woman: with meekness. Sometimes, we pray, we ask things of God, but often we do not know how to engage with the Lord, to ask for grace” he said. 

The Pope also recalled the story of a man in Buenos Aires whose 9-year-old-daughter was dying in hospital. He said he spent the night at the shrine of the Virgin of Luján clinging to the gate and praying for the grace of healing. The next morning, when he returned to the hospital, his daughter was healed:

“Prayer works miracles; it works miracles for Christians, whether they be faithful laypeople,  priests, bishops who have lost compassion. The prayers of the faithful change the Church:  it’s not us popes, bishops, priests or nuns who carry the Church forward, but Saints. Saints are those who dare to believe that God is the Lord and that He can do everything” Pope Francis concluded.

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After setting a policy against soliciting or accepting payments for sacraments, a Catholic archbishop in the Philippines this time wants his parishes to stop charging fixed rates for issuing certificates.  Archbishop Socrates Villegas of Lingayen-Dagupan said the move is still part of the ongoing archdiocesan reform, as he reminded the clergy not to “commercialize” church services.  “This is in consonance with our collective vision to cleanse the church of any semblance of commercialism in the rendering of Church services,” Archbishop Villegas told his priests in a circular issued on Jan. 11.  The new “obligatory policy” was also agreed upon by the majority of priests and religious men of the archdiocese during their regular meeting on Friday.  According to the policy baptismal certificates, confirmation certificates, marriage certificates, wedding banns, and similar documents will be issued to requesting parishioners “without requiring any fixed amount”.

Archbishop Villegas, who is also the president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), last April put an end to the system of charging fixed rates for sacraments and sacramentals. The parishes will just accept whatever parishioners can offer, he indicated, adding that blessings and sacraments must not appear as church services “rendered in exchange for fees”.  However, the prelate appealed to the faithful for support on a regular basis by donating generously to their parishes regardless of services they may need.  This, he said “is a proof of our maturity in the faith and devotion to our Mother Church. We must be a community that gives because we love the Church.”  “We dream of a Church renewed, truly close to the people and responsive to the needs of the flock. Let us make this vision come true. Thank you for sharing the vision,”Archbishop Villegas added. (Source: CBCP)

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(Vatican Radio)  Fr. Paul Lansu from Pax Christi International is a participant in the Holy Land Coordination pilgrimage taking place in Palestine this week.

The pilgrimage is an opportunity for Catholic Church leaders from Europe, North America, and South Africa to visit parishes, schools, and development organizations in Israel and Jordan to show the support of the worldwide Christian community and gain insights into the complex political and religious problems underlying the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Fr. Lansu is the Senior Policy Advisor on disarmament, human rights, peace spirituality, and theology for Pax Christi, a global Catholic peace movement and network that works to help establish Peace, Respect for Human Rights, Justice and Reconciliation in areas of the world that are torn by conflict. The organization was founded in Europe in 1945 as a reconciliation movement bringing together French and Germans after World War II.

Christopher Wells is on the Holy Land Coordination pilgrimage and spoke with Fr. Paul Lansu about Pax Christi's work for peace in the region.

Listen to the full interview:

Fr. Paul Lansu said "Here in the region of Israel-Palestine, in what we call the Holy Land, I believe that after 70 years it is high time that politicians take leadership in a real peace process that leads to the acceptance by both peoples, the Israelis and the Palestinians." 

The word 'reconciliation', he says, comes from the Latin 'reconciliare', which means "the restoring of relations, that means you can only restore relations among equals. So far the Palestinians are not treated as equals of the Israelis. We [at Pax Christi] work hard with our Israeli and Palestinian partners to bring them together. We have had several meetings in Brussels and Cyprus, for instance, but we believe it is important to treat them as equals." 

"Once the two peoples accept each other, accept that they exist and have the right to be here because it is their motherland, it is then they can start a new future. We believe that the two-state solution should be created as soon as possible, not as an end in the peace process, but just as a beginning. Also for economic reasons, cultural reasons, for touristic reasons, they need to collaborate." 

Pope Francis recently sent Pax Christi a message on the celebration of its 70th anniversary.

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(Vatican Radio) Bishops of the Holy Land Coordination are continuing their visit to the Holy Land this week.  Church leaders from North America, Europe, and South Africa make an annual pilgrimage of solidarity to the region.

On Tuesday, the group visited Immaculate Heart Parish in Fuheis, Jordan, located just outside of the capital, Amman.

There they celebrated Mass with bishops and priests of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem.

“The Patriarchate covers four states: Cyprus Israel Palestine and Jordan,” explained the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Fouad Twal.

Listen to the Vatican Radio interview with Patriarch Twal:

“Each country is different from the other. We have different challenges,” he continued.

“In Cyprus we are a minority. The big number is workers from the Philippines, and some English people coming to spend their last life in Cyprus,” Patriarch Twal told Vatican Radio. “In Israel, the big problem is the occupation…with the consequence the emigration of our Christians outside. That is a drama for us.”

He said that Jordan provides stability for the Church, which is able to function freely.

“We can meet gather, we can meet, we can move,” Patriarch Twal said. “We are happy to give good witness welcoming all the refugees from Syria, from Iraq.”

He also praised the work Caritas is doing to help the less fortunate in the country.

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Vatican City, Jan 12, 2016 / 07:40 am (CNA/EWTN News).- In his new book on mercy Pope Francis offers extensive reflections on the topic that has shaped much of his pontificate, getting personal about his own experiences of mercy, what it means for him, and why humanity is in such desperate need of it.

“This is a time for mercy. The Church is showing her maternal side, her motherly face, to a humanity that is wounded,” the Pope said in his new book “The Name of God is Mercy,” released Jan. 12.

“She does not wait for the wounded to knock on her doors, she looks for them on the streets, she gathers them in, she embraces them, she takes care of them, she makes them feel loved…I am ever more convinced of it, this is a kairós, our era is a kairós of mercy, an opportune time.”

Francis’ comments are part of a book-length interview with Italian journalist Andrea Tornielli. The book is meant to “reveal the heart of Francis and his vision,” according to Tornielli's foreward. He had wanted to ask the Pope about mercy and forgiveness, “to analyze what those words mean to him, as a man and a priest.”

In the Pope’s own words, he says that the meaning of mercy for him goes to the etymological root of the word: “misericordis, which means opening one’s heart to wretchedness.”

“Mercy is the divine attitude which embraces, it is God’s giving himself to us, accepting us, and bowing to forgive,” he said. “Mercy is God’s identity card. God of Mercy, merciful God. For me, this really is the Lord’s identity.”

When asked by Tornielli why humanity is in such great need mercy, Francis simply answered: “Because humanity is wounded, deeply wounded.”

“Either it does not know how to cure its wounds or it believes that it’s not possible to cure them,” he said, explaining that it is not just a question of being wounded by social ills such as poverty or exclusion.

“Relativism wounds people too: all things seem equal, all things appear the same. Humanity needs mercy and compassion.”

Today, he said, we feel that “our illness, our sins, to be incurable, things that cannot be healed or forgiven. We lack the actual concrete experience of mercy.”

“We don’t believe that there is a chance for redemption; for a hand to raise you up; for an embrace to save you, forgive you, pick you up, flood you with infinite, patient, indulgent love; to put you back on your feet. We need mercy.”

He explained to Tornielli that the centrality of mercy in his life has “slowly evolved” over the years through his work as a priest, particularly in hearing confessions, as well as the many “positive and beautiful stories” he has seen.

Mercy is “Jesus’ most important message” Francis said, and, quoting retired pontiff Benedict XVI, added that “mercy is in reality the core of the Gospel message.”

“This love of mercy also illuminates the face of the Church...Everything that the Church says and does shows that God has mercy for man,” he observed.

Pope Francis recounted how the idea to have a Jubilee of Mercy came to him, explaining that the decision “came through prayer, through reflection on the teachings and declarations of the Popes who preceded me, and by thinking of the Church as a field hospital, where treatment is given above all to those who are most wounded.”

He said the first seeds were planted while he was still in Buenos Aires. At one point a roundtable discussion was held with theologians on what the pope at that time could do to bring people closer together.

One of the participants in the roundtable had suggested “a Holy Year of forgiveness,” Francis recalled, saying the idea “stayed with me.”

Reflecting on his own life, Pope Francis said that although he doesn’t remember having a first encounter with mercy as a child, one scripture passage he has always found syntony with is Ezekiel chapter 16.

In the passage, the Lord sees a newborn infant left to die and has compassion on her. He takes her in, anoints her and adorns her, only for her to later become a harlot enamored with her own beauty. In order to remind her of her origins, God placed her “above her sisters,” so that she would remember and be ashamed for what she had done.

God's mercy makes us feel shame for ourselves and our sin, the Pope said, explaining that “shame is a grace: when one feels the mercy of God, he feels a great shame for himself and for his sin.”

Shame is “a grace” that St. Ignatius also prayed for, Francis noted, and pointed to Fr. Gaston Fessard’s book “The Dialectic of the ‘Spiritual Exercises’ of St. Ignatius,” which he called “a beautiful essay by a great scholar of spirituality,” on the topic of shame.

He also pointed to a specific confession he had at the age of 17 on the Feast of St Matthew with a priest named Carlos Duarte Ibarra as being especially impactful.

Fr.  Duarte is one example that Pope Francis pointed to as a merciful priest, and said that others he has met include Fr. Enrico Pozzoli, the Salesian who baptized him and married his parents, as well as a young Capuchin priest he met in Buenos Aires.

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IMAGE: CNS/Paul Haring

By Cindy Wooden

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Arms flailing, the exuberant and perhaps hyperactive Italian actor and comedian Roberto Benigni described Pope Francis as a masterful minister of God's mercy, which is always active and always on the move.

Benigni brought the house down Jan. 12 during the presentation of the new book-length interview with Pope Francis, "The Name of God Is Mercy." The actor read excerpts of the book, but also offered his own reflections on mercy and bubbled over with praise for Pope Francis.

When he received the call asking him to participate in the book launch, Benigni said, he was told, "'His Holiness would like' and I said, 'Yes!' without letting them finish. I'd do anything -- be a Swiss Guard, drive the popemobile -- absolutely anything for this pope."

"Mercy," Benigni said, "is not a virtue that's seated in an easy chair. It's an active virtue, one that moves. Just look at the pope, he's never still. It moves not just the heart, but the arms, legs, heels, knees. It moves heart and soul. It's never still."

"I would have loved to be a priest," he said. When he was small and people would ask what he wanted to be when he grew up, Benigni said, "I'd respond, 'the pope.' Because this response made everyone laugh, I understood I had to be a comedian. If they'd all knelt, I would (have tried to) be pope."

Hundreds of people packed the auditorium of the Augustinian Patristic Institute across the street from the Vatican for the presentation.

Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman, said there is little doubt that mercy is a central theme of Pope Francis' pontificate, but the book is not so much an explanation of mercy as it is an account of how Pope Francis has experienced mercy in his personal life, his priestly ministry and his own spirituality.

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, said that in the published conversation with journalist Andrea Tornielli, it is as if Pope Francis wants "to take us by the hand and lead us into the great and comforting mystery of God's mercy, a mystery far from our human logic and yet so desired by us pilgrims lost in this age of challenges and trials."

Benigni told the people at the book presentation that Pope Francis clearly demonstrates how mercy is not a soft, saccharine virtue, but one that challenges people and has both social and political implications for the way it offers people a second chance and a helping hand.

Zhang Jianqing, an immigrant from China incarcerated in Padua, Italy, who took the name Agostino when he was baptized in 2015, was given leave to meet Pope Francis and share his conversion story at the book presentation.

Meeting and becoming friends with Christians who visited the prison, Zhang came to learn about Jesus and grew to love him. He hesitated converting, though, he said, because he already had decided that he should do nothing more in his life to hurt his family and especially his mother, a practicing Buddhist.

But his mother told him he must follow his heart, Zhang said. "God's mercy changed my life."

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