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Month: January 2021

To enjoy God’s presence

Posted by | Jan 30, 2021 | |

Learning the habit of loving surrender in the contemplative moment is the daily habit required to extract myself from the spiral that leads to darkness

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Pope Francis meets with Cardinal Cupich after Biden inauguration statement dispute

Posted by | Jan 30, 2021 | , |

Vatican City, Jan 30, 2021 / 08:00 am (CNA).- Pope Francis met with Cardinal Blase Cupich on Saturday, 10 days after the cardinal publicly criticized the U.S. bishops’ official statement on the inauguration of President Joe Biden.

The private audience occurred in the Apostolic Palace on the morning of Jan. 30. Cardinal Cupich, the archbishop of Chicago, has been in Rome for a meeting of the Vatican Congregation for Bishops. The Holy See Press Office did not release any further information on the meeting other than that it took place.

On Jan. 20, the day of the U.S. presidential inauguration, Cupich took to Twitter to criticize a statement from Archbishop José Gomez of Los Angeles, president of the U.S. bishops’ conference.

In his four-part Twitter thread Cupich said that “the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops issued an ill-considered statement on the day of President Biden’s inauguration. Aside from the fact that there is seemingly no precedent for doing so, the statement, critical of President Biden, came as a surprise to many bishops, who received it just hours before it was released.”

“The statement was crafted without the involvement of the Administrative Committee, a collegial consultation that is a normal course for statements that represent and enjoy the considered endorsement of the American bishops,” he said.

“The internal institutional failures involved must be addressed, and I look forward to contributing to all efforts to that end, so that, inspired by the Gospel, we can build up the unity of the Church, and together take up the work of healing our nation in this moment of crisis.”

In the statement that Cupich said was “ill-considered,” Archbishop Gomez wrote that while there are numerous issues of concern to the bishops’ conference, abortion is the preeminent issue that cannot be ignored.

Gomez said that “abortion is a direct attack on life that also wounds the woman and undermines the family. It is not only a private matter, it raises troubling and fundamental questions of fraternity, solidarity, and inclusion in the human community. It is also a matter of social justice. We cannot ignore the reality that abortion rates are much higher among the poor and minorities, and that the procedure is regularly used to eliminate children who would be born with disabilities.”

“Rather than impose further expansions of abortion and contraception, as he has promised, I am hopeful that the new President and his administration will work with the Church and others of good will. My hope is that we can begin a dialogue to address the complicated cultural and economic factors that are driving abortion and discouraging families,” he continued.

U.S. President Joe Biden, a Catholic, issued a statement with Vice President Kamala Harris two days later on the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision which mandated permissive abortion laws nationwide.

The president and vice president stressed their commitment to legal abortion, saying “The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to codifying Roe v. Wade and appointing judges that respect foundational precedents like Roe.”

Biden also issued a presidential memorandum on Jan. 28 repealing the Mexico City Policy. His act allows for the U.S. to again fund international pro-abortion groups through family planning funding and global health assistance.

In his sweeping order “Protecting Women’s Health at Home and Abroad,” Biden stated his administration’s commitment to promoting women’s “reproductive health.”

The U.S. bishops’ conference (USCCB) responded that, under Biden’s order, the U.S. would be contributing to abortions and abortion advocacy in the developing world.

Archbishop Joseph Naumann of Kansas City, chair of the U.S. bishops’ pro-life committee, and Bishop David Malloy of Rockford, chair of the bishops’ international justice and peace committee, issued a statement on Jan. 28.

“It is grievous that one of President Biden’s first official acts actively promotes the destruction of human lives in developing nations,” the bishops said.

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Mexican nuns in need of help after Covid hits community

Posted by | Jan 30, 2021 | , |

Mexico City, Mexico, Jan 30, 2021 / 06:01 am (CNA).- The Dominican Nuns of the St. Catherine of Siena Monastery in Mexico City sent an urgent request for “fervent prayers” to local and international Catholics after 10 of their 24 religious fell ill with Covid-19 early this week.

The superior of the community sent a letter to supporters and Catholic news organizations explaining that most of the infected religious have mild symptoms, but the required isolation is preventing them from producing the sweets, bread, and cakes whose sales constitute the financial pillar of the community.

“Two of our sisters have been in very bad condition and have been transported to a hospital, while our older sister, 87 year-old Sister Teresa Coronado, died of COVID late last week.
Most of us continue to be in stable condition, with minor flu symptoms, but social distancing is preventing us from fulfilling our regular duties. Please keep us in your prayers so that God’s will may always be done.”

In Mexico, there have been 1.8 million cases of Covid-19, and more than 153,000 deaths. Of the dead, 166 have been clerics and 11 religious.

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Cardinal Parolin on Vatican finances: ‘Talking about a crisis is a bit excessive’

Posted by | Jan 30, 2021 | , |

Rome Newsroom, Jan 30, 2021 / 06:00 am (CNA).- Cardinal Pietro Parolin has said that he does not consider the Vatican’s financial scandals to be “a crisis,” but pointed to the recent headlines as a sign of the Vatican’s transparency.

In a television interview aired by French Catholic network KTO on Jan. 29, the Vatican Secretary of State downplayed the reports of financial mismanagement that led to the conviction of the former president of the Vatican bank, the forced resignation of Cardinal Angelo Becciu, and the dismissal of several employees from the Secretariat of State.

“Perhaps talking about a crisis is a bit excessive in my opinion,” Parolin said.

“If we look at history, there have always been difficult times. There have always been situations, how to put it … not entirely transparent. … We can even refer to the recent past as well.”

Pope Francis issued a new law transferring financial responsibilities away from the Vatican’s Secretariat of State to the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See (APSA) one month ago. This shake up was first announced in an Aug. 25 letter to Cardinal Parolin that was made public on Nov. 5 after the Secretariat of State was engulfed in accusations of financial mismanagement, particularly regarding an investment in a London property.

The Vatican official said in the French interview that Pope Francis wanted to “directly face these problems which have arisen precisely to make the Roman Curia as transparent as possible, precisely so that she can … really exercise the service to which she is called … the service of the Gospel.”

“You know very well that people today will not accept the Gospel except from a totally transparent Church,” Parolin said, according to a transcript of the interview provided by KTO.

The cardinal said he believed that “considerable progress” had already been made in the pope’s reform of the Roman Curia, particularly with regard to Vatican finances, pointing to the creation of the Council for the Economy, the Secretariat for the Economy, and the Office of the Revisor General.

He said that further reforms might entail the merger of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples with the Pontifical Council for the New Evangelization and the combination of the Congregation for Catholic Education with the Pontifical Council for Culture.

“But these are minor actions compared to what has already been done,” he said. “Now it is a question of giving homogeneity to all the reforms which have been made, by means of the new apostolic constitution which has for at least provisional title: ‘Predicate Evangelii.’”

The apostolic constitution overhauling the Roman Curia — entitled  “Praedicate evangelium,” which means “Preach the Gospel” — is largely finished, according to Parolin, who said that the text should be published “before the end of this year.”

During the 30-minute sit-down interview conducted before Parolin’s trip to Cameroon, the cardinal was also asked about the Vatican’s provisional agreement with China on the appointment of bishops, a diplomatic effort in which Parolin himself has played a leading role.

“First of all, I would say that I deeply respect anyone who has a different opinion and who criticizes, say, criticizes the Holy See’s policy on China. And it is a right to do so, because it is an extremely complex and difficult situation. There can be different points of view,” he said.

The Vatican Secretary of State said that the agreement signed with the leaders of the Chinese Communist Party was “a small step from which to start to seek to improve the situation of the Church,” comparing it to the Gospel parable of the sower who plants a seed hoping that it will grow and bear fruit.

“This agreement was not intended to be, and could not, be an agreement to solve all the problems that the Church faces in China,” he said.

Parolin was also asked if Pope Francis intends to visit France to which he said: “I think that there is an availability and a desire of the pope to come and visit France, but don’t ask me for the date!”

Pope Francis’ next scheduled international trip is to Iraq on March 5-8. The cardinal said that interreligious dialogue will “certainly be one of the themes that the pope will address,” in addition to encouraging “the political stability of the country.”

“But the pope wants to go to Iraq above all to encourage Christians. Today Iraq, and all the countries in the region, have suffered a hemorrhage of Christians, due to the situation of war, conflict, due to which the Christian community has been reduced to the strict minimum. The Pope feels the need to go there, to give courage to these Christians, to invite them to continue to bear witness in these circumstances which are not easy,” Parolin said.

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Saturday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time

Posted by | Jan 30, 2021 | |

Reading I Heb 11:1-2, 8-19

Brothers and sisters:
Faith is the realization of what is hoped for 
and evidence of things not seen.
Because of it the ancients were well attested. 

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to …

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