- 'Giving and forgiveness are the essence of the glory of God,' Pope tells pilgrims (Vatican Press Office)
Reflecting on John 12:20-33, the Gospel reading of the day, Pope Francis told pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square on the Fifth Sunday of Lent that “from the Cross, the ‘cathedra of God,’ the Lord teaches us that true glory, that which never fades and makes us happy, is made up of giving and forgiveness.”“Giving and forgiveness are the essence of the glory of God,” the Pope emphasized in his Sunday Angelus address, which he read aloud—unlike the previous day, when an aide read the Pope’s remarks on his behalf.“May the Virgin Mary, who followed Jesus faithfully at the hour of His Passion, help us be living reflections of the love of Jesus,” Pope Francis concluded. - Vatican probes privacy violations in connection with financial trial (Crux)
The Vatican’s prosecutor, Alessandro Diddi, has disclosed that he is now investigating whether illicit electronic eavesdropping was a factor in the Vatican’s financial-misconduct “trial of the century.” During the trial—in which Diddi’s prosecuting team won a conviction of ten defendants including Cardinal Angelo Becciu—there were several references to unauthorized searches of government data bases to obtain information about Vatican officials and/or the parties involved in a controversial London real-estate deal. More recently, Italian newspapers have reported on a police official’s search for information about key figures in the Vatican trial. “As soon as I discovered, from articles in the press, the existence of electronic stalking regarding the Holy See, I opened a file, because I believe that someone followed our investigations from the outside,” said Diddi. He indicated that he could not determine whether information from illicit searches had been used during the trial, but felt obliged to investigate that possibility. - Veteran Vatican diplomat questions two-state solution (Crux)
Cardinal Fernando Filoni, the former sostituto or assistant Secretary of State, seemed to indicate reservations about the Vatican’s longstanding call for a “two-state solution” in the Holy Land during a session with reporters. “I don’t know if two states are better than one,” the cardinal said. He said that it is difficult to find a solution to the conflict because there are “two realities that live in the same territory.” “A peace that is not just creates new wars, new hatred, new violence,” Cardinal Filoni said. He said that a lasting peace will require both Israelis and Palestinians to recognize the each other’s legitimate rights. - Biden proclaims Catholic faith at St. Patrick's day brunch (Fox)
President Joe Biden emphasized the importance of his Catholic faith as he played host to influential Catholics at a St. Patrick’s Day brunch on March 17. Biden said that his Catholic education taught him that “every single human being deserves to be treated with dignity.” He did not mention abortion. The President welcomed “so many friends from the Catholic bishops’ conference as well as the Archdiocese of Washington” to the event, before sitting at a table flanked by Ireland’s Taoiseach (prime minister) Leo Varadkar and Cardinal Christophe Pierre, the papal nuncio in Washington. - Pontifical Academy for Life on abortion in France: 'There can be no right to suppress a human life' (Pontifical Academy for Life)
Reacting to France’s approval of a constitutional right to abortion, the Pontifical Academy for Life said that “precisely in the age of universal human rights, there can be no ‘right’ to suppress a human life.”The Pontifical Academy for Life urged “all governments and all religious traditions to give their best so that at this stage of history, the protection of life becomes an absolute priority ... The specific life situations and difficult and dramatic contexts of our time must be addressed with the tools of a legal civilization that looks first to the protection of the weakest and most vulnerable.”“The protection of human life is the first goal of humanity and can only develop in a world free of conflict and divisions, with science, technology, and industry serving the human person and fraternity,” the pontifical academy added.The pontifical academy’s statement against a constitutional right to abortion in France comes nearly a year and a half after the Pope’s surprise appointment of supporters of legalized abortion to the academy.According to the Pontifical Academy for Life’s statutes, promulgated by Pope Francis in 2016, members are appointed on the basis of their “faithful service in the defense and promotion of the right to life of every human person,” among other qualifications. Nonetheless, in 2022, the Pope appointed Mariana Mazzucato and Roberto Dell’Oro, two supporters of legalized abortion, to the academy—and both the academy and the Pope himself defended Mazzucato’s appointment. - 'Working among the last,' 'working together': papal encouragement for Italian charity (Vatican Press Office)
In a March 16 audience, Pope Francis encouraged members of the Camillo Faresin Foundation, an Italian charitable organization, in their work, as the charity celebrated its 20th anniversary. Bishop Camillo Faresin (1914-2003), after whom the foundation is named, was a Salesian missionary who ministered as a bishop in Brazil.“Looking at your effort, I would like to emphasize and encourage two important lines of action: working among the last and working together,” the Pope said.The Pope added that Bishop Faresin “left us a great example to imitate: to stay with the last, always! But how? By choosing and favoring, in your projects, the poorest and most neglected situations as special places to stay in.”“Working together is already in itself a proclamation of the lived Gospel; and for you, as well as being an intelligent way of optimizing resources, it is a way of formation in charity and communion,” the Pope continued. “Working together, finally, is also an expression of faith in Divine Providence ... And the most important resources for the works of the Lord are not things, but rather ourselves, wisely placed close to one another so that we share what we are: our passion, our creativity, our skills and experience, and also our weaknesses and frailties.” - New officials named to pontifical abuse commission (CNS)
Pope Francis has named Auxiliary Bishop Luis Manuel Alí Herrera of Bogota, Colombia, as the new secretary of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors.The prelate succeeds Father Andrew Small, OMI, who was appointed in 2021. Last year, the Pope criticized “alleged corruption” in the Church’s missionary work amid a Vatican investigation into the transfer of $17 million from the Pontifical Mission Societies in the US, previously led by Father Small, to a nonprofit investment fund.Cardinal Seán O’Malley, president of the commission, lauded Father Small’s “vision and tenacity,” as well as his “energy and ingenuity,” and said that “many people will benefit from his efforts for years to come.”The Pope also appointed Teresa Kettelkamp as the pontifical commission’s adjunct secretary. The former Illinois State Police colonel served as executive director of the US bishops’ Secretariat of Child and Youth Protection from 2005 to 2011.Cardinal O’Malley said that Bishop Herrera and Kettelkamp “share a common passion for the well-being of children and vulnerable people, with lifetimes of service to the Church in this important area. They bring both stability to the commission’s agenda and a high degree of professionalism to their new roles.” - Irish primate: avoid extremes on immigration (RTE)
Archbishop Eamon Martin of Armagh called for an “honest and open conversation” about immigration in a St. Patrick’s Day address. The Primate of All Ireland said that the “legitimate anxieties” of many Irish people must be recognized, along with the rights and needs of immigrants. He urged the faithful to “move away from the extremes” and seek a national consensus. The archbishop reminded his people that St. Patrick would understand “the predicament of the trafficked unaccompanied minor; the exploited laborer; the escaping refugee; the immigrant, the emigrant; the expat; the student or missionary abroad.” The challenge for Ireland today, he said, is to “truly become an island of belonging and hope where our own young people, health workers and teachers want to stay, and where others want to come and live among us.” - Giving, care, and community: papal remarks for 100th anniversary of Bambino Gesù Hospital (Vatican Press Office)
In a speech read aloud by an aide, Pope Francis emphasized the importance of “giving, care, and community” as Bambino Gesù Hospital, a pediatric hospital under Vatican jurisdiction, celebrated its 100th anniversary.“Dear brothers and sisters, I confess that when I come to Bambino Gesù I feel two opposing sentiments: I feel sorrow for the suffering of the sick children and their parents, but at the same time I feel great hope, seeing everything that is done there to treat them,” the Pope said. “Thank you! Thank you for all of this. Keep going forward in this blessed work.”An estimated 3,000 people attended the audience, which took place in Paul VI Audience Hall. - Papal tribute to Patriarch Neophyte, late head of Bulgarian Orthodox Church (Vatican Press Office)
In a message of condolence to the temporary leader of the Orthodox Church of Bulgaria (CNEWA profile), Pope Francis paid tribute to Patriarch Neophyte, who died on March 13 at the age of 78, 11 years after his election as Patriarch.“His Holiness Neophyte gave valued service to the Gospel and to dialogue, and despite his many sufferings remained a man of humility and joy, an example of a life consecrated to the Lord and his Church,” the Pope wrote.During his 2019 apostolic journey to Bulgaria, Pope Francis delivered an address to the Patriarch and Holy Synod of the Orthodox Church of Bulgaria. The following year, Pope Francis gave relics of Pope St. Clement I and St. Potitus to the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. - Vatican newspaper recalls anniversary of Syrian civil war (L'Osservatore Romano (Italian))
The Vatican newspaper devoted prominent front-page coverage in its March 15 edition to the 13th anniversary of the beginning of the Syrian civil war.L’Osservatore Romano noted that “there are over 507,000 victims, of whom 164,000 are civilians, including 25,000 minors. The humanitarian situation is disastrous: over 16 million people require assistance, while internally and externally displaced people exceed 13 million, and 90% of the population lives below the poverty line.”“Against this ‘desert of death,’ as Pope Francis defined it, may prayer and commitment to peace remain constant everywhere,” the unsigned article concluded. - Theme of 4th Lenten sermon to the Curia: 'I am the resurrection and the life' (Cantalamessa.org (Italian))
Cardinal Raniero Cantalamessa, OFM Cap, the preacher of the papal household since 1980, preached on Christ’s words, “I am the resurrection and the life,” on March 15, in his fourth Lenten sermon to Pope Francis and the Roman Curia, delivered in Paul VI Audience Hall.The overarching theme of Cardinal Cantalamessa’s 2024 Lenten sermons is “But who do you say that I am?” (Matthew 16:15). In each Friday sermon, the prelate has preached on a different “I am” statement made by Christ. His first sermon was devoted to “I am the bread of life”; his second sermon to “I am the light of the world”; and his third sermon, to “I am the Good Shepherd.”At the beginning of his second sermon, Cardinal Cantalamessa made the claim that the “I am” statements of Jesus in St. John’s Gospel, while true in one sense, are “not of the historical Jesus.” Thus, the prelate professed his conviction that Christ really is “the way, the truth, and the life,” even as he questioned whether “the sentence was in fact historically pronounced by the earthly Jesus.” (In contrast, the Second Vatican Council’s Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation taught that the four Gospels “faithfully hand on what Jesus Christ, while living among men, really did and taught.”)Cardinal Cantalamessa customarily preaches sermons to the Pope and members of the Roman Curia on Fridays during Advent and Lent, as well as the Good Friday homily in St. Peter’s Basilica. An exception was made for the first Lenten sermon of 2020, when Father Marko Ivan Rupnik took Cantalamessa’s place—despite Rupnik’s canonical conviction, two months earlier, of the offense of absolving an accomplice in a sexual sin. - Pope remembers late German cardinal's care for the poor (Vatican Press Office)
Pope Francis has written a telegram of condolence to the nephews of Cardinal Paul Josef Cordes, who died on March 15 at the age of 89.“I remember with affection this brother who served the Lord and the Church faithfully and generously, attentive to the demands of the world of the young and the needs of fragile people, to whom he communicated Christ’s love and tenderness,” Pope Francis wrote. “He spared no energy in bearing witness to the Pope’s paternal care for the poorest.” - Vatican publishing house highlights Catholics who opposed Hitler (Libreria Editrice Vaticana)
Libreria Editrice Vaticana, the Vatican publishing house, has published La Lama e la Croce [The Blade and the Cross], a work by journalist and pacifist Francesco Comina that offers profiles of Catholics who opposed the Nazi regime.Among the Catholics discussed by Comina was Father Max Josef Metzger (1887-1944), who was officially recognized as a martyr by Pope Francis on March 14. - Pope defends same-sex blessings, civil unions (Vatican News)
Pope Francis defends Fiducia Supplicans, and gives his endorsement to civil unions, in his forthcoming autobiography. In excerpts from Life: My Story Through History, posted on the Vatican News site, the Pontiff defended the “blessings for irregular couples” suggested in the controversial Vatican directive. He added: “And if some brother bishops decide not to follow this path, it does not mean that this is the antechamber of a schism, because the doctrine of the Church is not questioned.” Regarding civil unions, the Pope said that while homosexual relationships cannot be seen as marriages, “it is right that these people who live the gift of love can have legal coverage like everyone else.” In other passages cited by Vatican News, the Pope said: that the military dictatorship in his native Argentina has been responsible for “a generational suicide.” that his difficult tenure as a Jesuit provincial in Argentina had been caused by “my authoritarian attitude, to the extent of being accused of being ultraconservative.” that the presence of the late Pope Benedict in the role of “Pope Emeritus” had been “instrumentalized, with ideological political purposes by unscrupulous people,” to focus criticism on the current pontificate. - Russian embassy praises Pope Francis for his 'truly strategic viewpoint on world problems' (@emb_rus)
The Russian Embassy to the Holy See and the Sovereign Military Order of Malta paid tribute to Pope Francis on March 13, the 11th anniversary of his election.“Pope Francis is a true and sincere advocat[e] of humanism, peace and traditional values,” the embassy tweeted, as it described the Pontiff as “one of the few political leaders with a truly strategic viewpoint on world problems.”The Russian embassy’s praise of Pope Francis’s “truly strategic viewpoint” came days after the airing of an interview in which the Pope called on Ukraine to “raise the white flag” and negotiate—leading to an anguished statement from the Permanent Synod of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. - Synod announces 'permanent forum' on synodality (Pillar)
The General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops has announced that it will “activate a ‘permanent forum’ to deepen the theological, canonical, pastoral, spiritual and communicative aspects of the Church’s synodality.”“In carrying out this task, it will be assisted by the International Theological Commission and by a canonical Commission established at the service of the Synod in agreement with the Dicastery for Legislative Texts,” stated the Secretariat, led by Cardinal Mario Grech.The announcement came in “How to be a synodal Church on mission?”—one of three texts related to the Synod released on March 14. This document is subtitled “Five perspectives for theological exploration in view of the Second Session of the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops.”Two other texts related to the Synod were released on March 14: a letter of Pope Francis, dated February 22, to Cardinal Grech on synodal study groups (CWN overview); and an accompanying document of the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops, entitled “Study Groups for questions raised in the First Session of the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops to be explored in collaboration with the Dicasteries of the Roman Curia.” - Pope, in autobiography, says no plans to resign (AP)
Pope Francis says that his health is good, and he has no plans to resign, in a forthcoming autobiography due for publication next week. The Italian daily Corriere della Sera published excerpts from the papal autobiography on March 14. The book, entitled Life: My Story Through History, written in collaboration with Italian journalist Fabio Marchese Ragona, will be released on March 19, the 11th anniversary of the Pope’s installation. In the book the Pope says that his critics are motivated by a desire to halt reforms in the Church. “Needless to say, there are always some who wish to put the brakes on reform,” he says. In speaking about the possibility of resignation, Pope Francis said that is it “a distant possibility, because I truly do not have any cause serious enough to make me think of resigning.” While he disclosed that he has prepared a letter of resignation, in case he becomes incapacitated, he believes that he has “many projects to bring to fruition, God willing.” - VP Harris visits abortion clinic (AP)
Vice President Kamala Harris visited an abortion clinic in Minnesota on March 14, highlighting the Biden administration’s support for abortion. Harris insisted that “when we talk about a clinic such as this it is absolutely about health care and reproductive health care.” She charged that former President Trump, by his failure to support abortion, had become the “architect of a health-care crisis.” - Pope sees 'spirituality of mercy' as key to evangelization (Vatican Press Office)
In a March 15 address to members of the Dicastery for Evangelization, which was meeting in plenary session, Pope Francis said that a “spirituality of mercy” is essential for bringing the faith to a secularized world. The Pope said that a “loss of the sense of belonging to the Christian community” was responsible for secularization in many societies. He said that effective catechesis and the message of mercy could counteract that problem. The Pope also urged prayerful preparation for the Jubilee Year 2025, and thanked the members of the dicastery for their work in preparing for that Jubilee. The Pope’s address was read by an aide, in keeping with the practice that the Pontiff has adopted for the past few weeks, as he continues to battle a respiratory ailment.