The pope didn't summon Spain's bishops to 'chew them out,' Cardinal Omella says

Pope Francis meets with the Spanish bishops at the Vatican on Nov. 28, 2023. / Credit: Vatican MediaRome Newsroom, Nov 28, 2023 / 17:50 pm (CNA).Pope Francis met with Spanish bishops at the Vatican today to inform them of the conclusions of the apostolic visit made to the country's seminaries in early 2023.Before discussing the report, the preacher of the papal household, Cardinal Raniero Cantalamessa, offered those present a meditation starting at 8 a.m. that took Pentecost as its starting point.The Holy Father joined the meeting once the meditation began, and when it was over there was an extensive conversation for about two hours. After a break, the meeting with those responsible for the Dicastery for the Clergy began.During a press conference, the president of the Spanish Bishops' Conference (CEE), Cardinal Juan José Omella, stated that it soon became clear that the meeting with the pontiff "was not about chewing them out or condemning anyone. It was to see how we can impro...

5 things to know about the debate on euthanasia in Ecuador

null / Credit: ShutterstockACI Prensa Staff, Nov 28, 2023 / 12:15 pm (CNA).The discussion about the decriminalization of euthanasia in Ecuador started Nov. 20 when the country's constitutional court began to evaluate the arguments for and against the request of a woman with an incurable disease who seeks to end her life.Here are the key points to understand in the debate:1. In Ecuador, euthanasia is illegal.Euthanasia is illegal in Ecuador. The country's constitution establishes in Article 66 "the right to the inviolability of life" and "to personal (physical) integrity." In addition, there is no specific legislation that allows euthanasia or that considers there to be a "right to death."In a recent interview with ACI Prensa, CNA's Spanish-language news partner, Pablo Proaño, a lawyer at the law firm Dignidad y Derecho (Dignity and Law) of Ecuador, explained that euthanasia is considered a "crime of homicide" and that the penal code "does not admit of exceptions."He also clarif...

Pope Francis reportedly takes Vatican apartment, salary from Cardinal Burke

Cardinal Raymond Burke at EWTN's studio in Rome during the canonization of St. John Paul II and St. John XXIII. / Credit: Steven Driscoll/CNAVatican City, Nov 28, 2023 / 13:34 pm (CNA).Pope Francis has stripped one of his top American critics, Cardinal Raymond Burke, of his Vatican housing and salary privileges, the Associated Press is reporting.According to the AP report, which is based on conversations with two anonymous sources briefed on the measures, the pope discussed his planned actions against the American prelate at a Nov. 20 meeting of Vatican office heads.The pope reportedly said that Burke was a source of "disunity" in the Church and that he was using the privileges afforded to retired cardinals against the Church.The Italian Catholic news blog La Nuova Bussola Quotidiana first reported pending actions against Burke on Nov. 27."Cardinal Burke is my enemy, so I take away his apartment and his salary," the pope had said at the Nov. 20 meeting, according to Bussol...

Confronting controversy: German-Polish bishops' dialogue highlights synodal way tensions

Bishop Georg Bätzing of Limburg, Germany, (left) and Archbishop Stanislaw Gadecki of Poznan, Poland. / Credit: Bistum Limburg/Episkopat.pl. / Bistum Limburg/Episkopat.plCNA Newsroom, Nov 28, 2023 / 14:05 pm (CNA).A public dispute between the German Bishops' Conference president and his Polish counterpart took another turn on Monday when both prelates met in person to discuss what the German bishop called "irritations."Bishop Georg Bätzing of Limburg, Germany, and Archbishop Stanislaw Gadecki of Poznan, Poland, spoke on Nov. 27 on the sidelines of the annual plenary meeting of the Council of European Bishops' Conferences (CCEE) in Malta, according to a report by CNA Deutsch.The German Bishops' Conference confirmed the encounter. It followed a strongly-worded letter by Bätzing to his Polish counterpart, published on Nov. 21, in which the German bishop accused the Polish archbishop of making "false statements about the Synodal Way."The German prelate roundly criticized the Polish ...

Vatican cancels Pope Francis' trip to climate conference in Dubai, citing ongoing illness

Pope Francis pictured on Nov. 27, 2023. The pope felt well enough to keep his scheduled appointment with the president of Paraguay on Monday morning as he recovers from the flu. / Credit: Vatican MediaCNA Staff, Nov 28, 2023 / 14:53 pm (CNA).Pope Francis will not attend the United Nations COP28 climate conference in Dubai this week due to his continuing struggles with lung inflammation stemming from influenza, the Vatican said on Tuesday.The Holy See Press Office announced on Tuesday that "although the general clinical picture of the Holy Father in relation to the state of influenza and inflammation of the respiratory tract has improved," the Holy Father's doctors "have asked the pope not to make the trip planned for the next few days to Dubai on the occasion of the 28th Conference of the Parties for United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.""Pope Francis accepted the doctors' request with great regret and the trip was therefore canceled," the press offic...

Here are Pope Francis' liturgies for Christmas 2023 at the Vatican

Christmas Mass in St. Peter's Basilica Dec. 24, 2022. / Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNARome Newsroom, Nov 28, 2023 / 09:03 am (CNA).As the preparatory season of Advent draws near, the Vatican has published the schedule of Pope Francis' liturgies for Christmas 2023 through the Jan. 7 feast of the Baptism of the Lord.Most of the liturgies will take place in St. Peter's Basilica.Following his custom in recent years, Pope Francis will preside over a Christmas Eve "Mass at Night" at 7:30 p.m. in the basilica.On Christmas Day, he will deliver the traditional "urbi et orbi" ("to the city and the world") blessing from the central balcony on the front of St. Peter's Basilica. This blessing is given only on Christmas and Easter or on other exceptional occasions and includes the pope's wishes for peace in the world.For the vigil of the Jan. 1 solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, the pope will preside over first vespers, also known as evening prayer. The prayer service will also include the si...

Pope Francis sends rosary to president-elect Milei of Argentina

Pope Francis and Javier Milei. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/ACI Prensa and U.S. Embassy in Argentina/OPlibertad/Wikipedia (Public Domain)ACI Prensa Staff, Nov 27, 2023 / 18:00 pm (CNA).The Office of the President-Elect of Argentina confirmed on X that the country's new president, Javier Milei, received a rosary from Pope Francis on Nov. 24.The sacramental, blessed by the Holy Father, was sent to Milei and vice president-elect Victoria Villarruel.Pope Francis' gift follows a phone call he had last week with the president-elect of Argentina in which the pontiff congratulated Milei and advised him to have "courage and wisdom" in governing the nation.Milei took advantage of the occasion to invite the pope to visit his homeland in 2024.Both gestures mark the beginning of a new relationship between the two as Milei has apologized for the insults and criticism that he had previously publicly leveled against the Holy Father.A libertarian economist, Milei won the Nov. 19 presidential el...

'No fear' among Spanish bishops over upcoming meeting with Pope Francis about seminaries

null / Credit: CathopicACI Prensa Staff, Nov 27, 2023 / 18:30 pm (CNA).The spokesman for the Spanish Bishops' Conference (CEE), Bishop Francisco César García Magán, stated at a Nov. 24 press conference that "there is no fear" among the bishops regarding the upcoming meeting of all the bishops with Pope Francis to address the state of the seminaries.The conference spokesman acknowledged that "it is a singular event" for all the bishops of a nation to be called as a group to a meeting in Rome outside of their "ad limina apostolorum" visits."It doesn't happen every day, obviously, that the pope convenes [a meeting] with an episcopate," he added.In addition, García said the archbishop of Barcelona and president of the Spanish Bishops' Conference, Cardinal Juan José Omella, "asked around" at the Vatican, and "they have confirmed that it was about the seminaries."He also told the media in an appearance at the end of the conference's 123rd plenary assembly that the Spanish prelates ar...

The first church dedicated to the Miraculous Medal is in South America

Sanctuary of the Miraculous Medal in Monte Sião, Brazil. / Credit: Facebook Sanctuary of the Miraculous MedalACI Digital, Nov 27, 2023 / 04:30 am (CNA).The town of Monte Sião in southern Minas Gerais state in Brazil can be considered a land of graces, since the first church dedicated to Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal is located there. Our Lady's intercession is credited with ending a prolonged period of drought there in the 1930s.In 1830, Our Lady appeared to St. Catherine Labouré in France and asked her to have a medal made according to the design she had been shown: the Virgin standing on a globe with outstretched hands with rays of light emanating from them, her foot on a serpent, and bearing the inscription: "O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee."The letter M is inscribed on the back side, with a cross rising from the middle of the letter. Below are the Sacred Heart of Jesus encircled with a crown of thorns and the Immaculate Heart of Mary ...

Pope Francis' health 'stable' despite breathing difficulties, Vatican says

Pope Francis pictured on Nov. 27, 2023. The pope felt well enough to keep his scheduled appointment with the president of Paraguay on Monday morning as he recovers from the flu. / Vatican MediaVatican City, Nov 27, 2023 / 06:05 am (CNA).Pope Francis' lung inflammation has caused him some breathing difficulties, but his condition is stable and "clearly improving," the Vatican said on Monday.The 86-year-old pope is being treated with antibiotics intravenously and is in "good and stable" condition without a fever, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni told journalists on Nov. 27.A CT scan at a Rome hospital over the weekend "ruled out pneumonia, but it showed lung inflammation causing some breathing difficulties," Bruni said.Pope Francis felt well enough to keep his scheduled appointment with the president of Paraguay on Monday morning, but has postponed some of his other meetings this week as he recovers from what the Vatican has described as a "mild flu."The Vatican released photos of ...