CNA Daily News - Vatican

Vatican spokesman denies Pope conducted exorcism

Tue, 21 May 2013 04:31:00 -0600

Vatican City, May 21, 2013 / 04:31 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis did not perform an exorcism when he prayed over a young disabled man in St. Peter’s Square on Pentecost Sunday, according to the Vatican’s spokesman.

“The Pope had no intention of doing an exorcism, so it is absolutely false that this has been done. He simply prayed for the sick person,” Vatican press office director Father Federico Lombardi told CNA May 21.?

The idea that Pope Francis performed an exorcism was fueled by a video posted online by channel TV2000, which is overseen by the Italian bishops’ conference.

In the video, which is a preview of the May 24 episode of “Vade Retro” (“Go Back” in Latin), a young man is presented to the Pope by Legionary Father Juan Rivas.

What he said to the pontiff is unknown, but the Pope seemed to become serious and began praying over the young man in a wheelchair, placing both his hands on his head.

As the Pope prayed, what sounds like a growl can be heard coming from the young man as he opened his mouth and recoiled downward in his chair.

The Pope’s security detail can be seen hovering in the background, and one of them comes in to quickly take a letter from the Fr. Rivas, before the Pope passes on the next person.

“As usual, the Pope had many patients and many people in difficulty presented to him, and the Pope always prays intensely for them,” Fr. Lombardi said about the encounter.

Marta Jimenez Ibanez contributed to this report.

Pope tells Catholics to shout 'Jesus' instead of 'Francis'

Mon, 20 May 2013 16:02:00 -0600

Vatican City, May 20, 2013 / 04:02 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis asked those gathered for the Pentecost Vigil Mass at the Vatican to chant Christ's name instead of his own, highlighting his role as Christ's vicar on earth.

“From now on no more 'Francis,' only 'Jesus,' alright?” he asked rhetorically during the Pentecost Vigil Mass said May 18 at Saint Peter's Square.

“All of you in the square shouted out 'Francis, Francis, Pope Francis,' but where was Jesus?” he admonished them. “I want to hear you shout out 'Jesus, Jesus is Lord, and he is in our midst.'”

During his homily, he spoke to the more than 200,000 people gathered from ecclesial movements from around the world.

The Pope told how his grandmother was the first to pass on the faith to him, and insisted that a person's faith begins through their family.

“I received my first Christian proclamation right from this woman, from my grandmother. That is something beautiful,” he exclaimed.

“The first proclamation is in the home, within the family. This makes me think of the love of many mothers and so many grandmothers in the transmission of the faith,” he said.

He told mothers to conscientiously transmit faith to their children, because “God puts people alongside us who help our journey of faith.”

He also told how, at the age of 16, he felt a sudden urge to go to confession one day. It was there that he heard the call to priesthood.

“After the confession I felt that something had changed, I was not the same. I felt a voice call me, and I was convinced that I had to become a priest.”

“This experience of faith is important,” he added. “We say that we must seek God, go to him to ask for forgiveness but when we go, he is waiting for us, he is the first one there.”

Attendants had posed four questions to the pontiff, which he answered during his homily. The first question inquired about how he has achieved “certainty of faith” and how he would guide each of them to “overcome our fragility of faith.”

“Fragility’s biggest enemy, curiously enough, is fear. But do not be afraid,” he advised. “We are weak, we know it. But Jesus is stronger and if you are with him, then there is no problem.”

The second question given him was on the challenge of evangelization for ecclesial movements and how to effectively communicate the faith in today’s world.

“If we push ahead with planning and organization – beautiful things indeed – but without Jesus, then we are on the wrong road. Jesus is the most important thing,” emphasized Pope Francis.

The pontiff underscored the importance of prayer and “letting God gaze at you.”

He said that he prays the rosary daily, but often “nods off” in front of the tabernacle. “But he understands me. I feel so much comfort when I think that he is looking at me.”

The Bishop of Rome underscored the need for letting one’s self be guided by God. He reflected on St. Peter's vision of “the sheet with all the animals,” when Christ told him to eat non-kosher foods, Christ having made them clean.

Though St. Peter was at first reluctant and did not understand, “some non-Jews came to call him to go into a house, and he saw how the Holy Spirit was there.”

“Peter was guided by Jesus to reach that first evangelization to the Gentiles,” Pope Francis said. “Be guided by Jesus' own leadership,” he urged.

The third question was concerning suffering, and how the movements may address it for the good of the Church and of society.

“When the Church becomes closed in on itself, it gets sick,” Pope Francis said, appealing to people to “not close in on themselves, on their own friends and movements.”

“Think of a closed room, a room locked for a year, when you go in, has a smell of damp,” he said. “A Church that is closed in on itself is just the same – it is a sick Church.”

When Christians are “starched,” speaking “of theology calmly over tea,” rather than being courageous and encountering non-Christians and the poor, the Church is sick, he said.
The pontiff believes people cannot rest in peace knowing that a starving child is not news worthy.

“We cannot become starched Christians, too polite, who speak of theology calmly over tea, we have to become courageous Christians,” he said.

Catholics must themselves reach out to the poor and assist them on a personal level, he stressed.

“A poor Church for the poor begins with going to the flesh of Christ,” which he called the poor.

Personally helping the poor, for Pope Francis, is a theological response to Christ's own poverty. It is a loving response to God's own solidarity with us, since he “humbled himself” and “became poor, walking with us on the road.”

He also emphasized the danger of letting worldliness creep into the Church. “There is a problem that is not good for Christians: the spirit of the world, the worldly spirit, the spiritual worldliness.”

The final question asked of the pontiff regarded how Catholics can help and support those who are persecuted for their faith.

“We must try to make them feel, these brothers and sisters, that we are deeply united to their situation,” he said, highlighting the importance of praying in solidarity with them.

“In the prayer of every day we must say to Jesus, 'Lord, look upon this brother, look at this sister who suffers so much,'” he concluded.

Courageous prayer leads to miracles, Pope reflects

Mon, 20 May 2013 11:35:00 -0600

Vatican City, May 20, 2013 / 11:35 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis encouraged bold prayer and faithful trust in God during his homily at Mass today at Casa Santa Marta in the Vatican.

“A courageous prayer, that struggles to achieve a miracle,” the Bishop of Rome said May 20. “Not prayers of courtesy: 'Ah, I will pray for you,' I say an Our Father, a Hail Mary and then I forget.”

Rather, he said, “strong prayer is needed. Humble and strong prayer that enables Jesus to carry out the miracle.”

Highlighting the importance of faith in Christ, he told of how an Argentine girl who fell ill and was expected to live but a few hours was miraculously healed after her father prayed intensely for her.

“Her father, an electrician, a man of faith … took a bus to the Marian shrine of Lujan, 70 kilometers (43 miles) away.”

“He finally arrived after 9:00 p.m., when everything was closed. And he began to pray to Our Lady, with his hands gripping the iron fence and he prayed, and prayed, and wept, and prayed … and that’s the way he remained all night long,” Pope Francis added.

The man returned to the hospital the following morning and found his wife weeping. She told him that the doctors came and said the fever was gone and that she would live.

“This still happens,” the Pope reminded his listeners. “Miracles do happen.”

Pope Francis was reflecting on the day's Gospel, which recounts the disciples’ failure to heal a child, and Jesus intervenes saying everything is possible for those who have faith.

According to him, a prayer for a miracle must be “an involved prayer, a prayer that unites us all.”

He took as models the prayer of Abraham, “who struggled with the Lord” to save Sodom and Gomorrah, and Moses' prayer, when he “held his hands high and tired himself out.”

“When people ask us to pray for the many people who suffer in wars, all refugees … pray. But with your heart to the Lord,” he exhorted.

“Do it, but tell him, 'Lord, I believe, help my unbelief.'”

The pontiff stated there is disbelief when “the heart will not open, when the heart is closed, when the heart wants to have everything under control.”

“It is a heart, then, that does not open and does not give control of things to Jesus,” he concluded. “Prayer does wonders, but we have to believe.”

Pope ties Church movements Mass to Pentecost

Sun, 19 May 2013 07:22:00 -0600

Vatican City, May 19, 2013 / 07:22 am (CNA/EWTN News).- St. Peter’s Square was “transformed into an open-air Cenacle,” Pope Francis said after he celebrated Pentecost with Church movements.

“This celebration of faith is about to end, which began yesterday with the Vigil and culminated this morning in the Eucharist.

“A renewed Pentecost that has transformed St. Peter's Square into an open-air Cenacle,” Pope Francis said May 19 before reciting the Regina Caeli Marian prayer with around 200,000 pilgrims.

His brief reflection prior to the prayer recapped his main message for the Mass, which was that the Holy Spirit brings “newness, harmony and mission” to the lives of Christians.

He saw newness in the pilgrims reliving “the experience of the early Church, who agreed in prayer with Mary, the Mother of Jesus.”

The harmony inspired by the Holy Spirit was evident in the Square with the “variety of charisms” and the beauty of those being united in the Church.

Finally, Pope Francis thanked the communities and associations for the gift they are to the Church. He then urged them to mission, the third aspect of the Spirit’s work in Christians’ lives.

“Always carry the power of the Gospel! Always have the joy and passion for communion in the Church! The Risen Lord is always with you and the Madonna protects you!” he proclaimed.

Spirit's surprises are way to happiness, Pope teaches

Sun, 19 May 2013 06:58:00 -0600

Vatican City, May 19, 2013 / 06:58 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Around 200,000 pilgrims packed St. Peter’s Square to celebrate Pentecost with Pope Francis, who called on them to be open to “God’s surprises” because they bring true happiness.

“This is not a question of novelty for novelty’s sake, the search for something new to relieve our boredom, as is so often the case in our own day,” the Pope said May 19.

“The newness which God brings into our life is something that actually brings fulfillment, that gives true joy, true serenity, because God loves us and desires only our good,” he stated.

Pope Francis gave his homily during a 10:30 a.m. Mass with Church movements and associations from Europe, Asia and Africa in St. Peter’s Square.

They arrived in Rome for a series of weekend events centered on the Year of Faith, which included a pilgrimage to St. Peter’s tomb, music and testimonies. Their encounter with the Pope began on Saturday afternoon when he held a prayer vigil with them, and it finished with today’s Mass.

The Holy Father dedicated his homily to three ways that the Holy Spirit works in the lives of Christians: “newness, harmony and mission.”

Speaking about the “newness” the Holy Spirit brings, he explained that it requires letting him be the soul and guide of our lives in our every decision.

But the newness and change he brings lasts because it is truly fulfilling and creates joy, the Pope said.

He then posed a series of questions to the crowd:

“Are we open to ‘God’s surprises?’ Or are we closed and fearful before the newness of the Holy Spirit? Do we have the courage to strike out along the new paths which God’s newness sets before us, or do we resist, barricaded in transient structures which have lost their capacity for openness to what is new?”

The second aspect of the Spirit’s work is that he gives different gifts to people, creating diversity in the Church that ends up all being united in harmony by him.

“One of Fathers of the Church has an expression which I love: the Holy Spirit himself is harmony – ‘Ipse harmonia est,’” the Pope said.

He warned that when “we are the ones who try to create diversity and close ourselves up in what makes us different and other, we bring division.”

The key, Pope Francis taught, is to “let ourselves be guided by the Spirit” and live in and with the Church.

“It is the Church which brings Christ to me, and me to Christ; parallel journeys are dangerous!” he cautioned.

“When we venture beyond (proagon) the Church’s teaching and community, and do not remain in them, we are not one with the God of Jesus Christ,” the Pope told the communities.

“So let us ask ourselves: Am I open to the harmony of the Holy Spirit, overcoming every form of exclusivity? Do I let myself be guided by him, living in the Church and with the Church?”

Pope Francis’ final point centered on how the “Holy Spirit is the soul of mission.”

“The older theologians,” he recalled, “used to say that the soul is a kind of sailboat, the Holy Spirit is the wind which fills its sails and drives it forward, and the gusts of wind are the gifts of the Spirit. Lacking his impulse and his grace, we do not go forward.”

He explained that the Holy Spirit “draws us into the mystery of the living God and saves us from the threat of a Church which is gnostic and self-referential, closed in on herself.”

Instead, the Spirit “impels us to open the doors and go forth to proclaim and bear witness to the good news of the Gospel, to communicate the joy of faith, the encounter with Christ,” the Pope preached.

Although the events of Pentecost took place “almost 2,000 years ago,” they are not “something far removed from us; they are events which affect us and become a lived experience in each of us.”

“The Holy Spirit,” Pope Francis noted, “makes us look to the horizon and drive us to the very outskirts of existence in order to proclaim life in Jesus Christ.

“Let us ask ourselves: do we tend to stay closed in on ourselves, on our group, or do we let the Holy Spirit open us to mission?”

He closed his homily by asking God the Father to pour out the Holy Spirit again, using the Latin invocation, “Veni, Sancte Spiritus!” (Come Holy Spirit!).

After Mass Pope Francis recited the Regina Caeli prayer with the assembly, thanking them for their presence and saying that the Holy Spirit renewed Pentecost and changed St. Peter’s Square into an open-air Upper Room.

Gossip is like slapping Jesus, Pope asserts

Sat, 18 May 2013 09:15:00 -0600

Vatican City, May 18, 2013 / 09:15 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis spoke today about how gossip by Christians is a “slap” to Jesus “in the person of his children.”

“All three - disinformation, defamation and slander - are sins! This is sin! It is to slap Jesus in the person of his children, his brothers,” the Pope said May 18 in the chapel of St. Martha’s House.

The topic came up in Pope Francis’ homily because of the day’s Gospel reading from John 21 in which Peter asks if John will be alive when Jesus returns to earth.

“What is it to you?” the pontiff began his homily, referring to Jesus’ response to Peter, who was being tempted “to interfere in the lives of others.”

Peter became “nosy,” Pope Francis remarked, noting that there are two ways people are tempted to get involved in others’ lives. The first is “to compare oneself with others” and the second is to gossip.

“It seems nice to chat,” he reflected, “I do not know why, but it looks nice. Like sweet of honey, right? You take one and then another, and another, and another, and in the end you have a stomach ache. And why? The chatter is like that eh? It is sweet at first and it ruins you, it ruins your soul!”

The Pope then referred back to Genesis, saying that gossip is “‘a little’ like the spirit of Cain who killed his brother, his tongue; it kills his brother!”? The consequence of gossiping is that “we become Christians of good manners and bad habits,” he warned, later repeating the description.

According to Pope Francis, people fail in this area in three ways: by giving “misinformation,” by making known the faults of others, and by telling lies about others.

“That is why Jesus does with us what he did with Peter when he says: ‘What is it to you? Follow me.’ The Lord in this instance points the way,” he said.

“This kind of talk will not do you any good,” the Pope stated, “because it will just bring to the Church a spirit of destruction. ‘Follow me!’ These are the beautiful words of Jesus, it is so clear, that he has so much love for us. As if to say: ‘Don’t have fantasies, believing that salvation is in the comparisons with others or in gossip. Salvation is to go behind me.’”

Pope Francis finished his homily by saying, “Today we ask the Lord Jesus to give us this grace not to ever get involved in the lives of others, not to become Christians of good manners and bad habits, it is to follow Jesus, to walk behind Jesus on his way. And this is enough.”

American seminarians win Clericus Cup second time

Sat, 18 May 2013 07:30:00 -0600

Rome, Italy, May 18, 2013 / 07:30 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The North American Martyrs succeeded in clinching the Clericus Cup for the second year in a row, beating the seminarians from Mater Ecclesiae by a score of 1-0.

The game was closely fought, with the Martyrs scoring the game’s only goal about 25 minutes into the second half on a break away down the right-hand side of the field.

The match was primarily a showcase of defense, with the Martyrs appearing to have a slight edge over Mater Ecclesiae throughout the game.

In keeping with tradition, the boisterous American fans showed up dressed as super heroes, including Batman, Captain America and Uncle Sam. They sang patriotic songs, chanted as a drum thumped out the beat, and blew air horns.

The Mater Ecclesiae supporters also turned out for the game in strong numbers, filling the stands and backing their team with the occasional cheer and beating of a drum.

The match was held at the Knights of Columbus Fields, which meant the seminarians could see St. Peter’s Basilica in the background as they duked it out.

As the final whistle sounded, the North American Martyrs fans could be heard changing their chant from “We believe we will win,” to “We believe we have won!”

The Clericus Cup is organized by the Centro Sportivo Italiano, and this year it brought together 13 teams from local Roman seminaries to compete for the prize.

Pope's mission app launch spreads Gospel

Fri, 17 May 2013 11:30:00 -0600

Rome, Italy, May 17, 2013 / 11:30 am (CNA).- With the touch of an iPad, Pope Francis became the first pontiff to unlock a new smartphone application and expanded the Church’s footprint in the digital world.

“I was quite anxious that we were going to get the signal and it was all going to work. Because this isn’t made up, these folks are actually waiting for the Holy Father to hit this button before it works,” said Father Andrew Small in a May 17 CNA interview.

The launch of the MISSIO App took place May 17 in the Vatican’s Clementine Hall during a meeting of the Pope and the 120 national directors of the Pontifical Mission Societies.

The mission society’s application for mobile devices and smartphones collects news from Rome, stories and photos from the missions and other material and makes it available to the world.

The actual unlocking of the app was simple.

Fr. Small, the U.S. national director, presented his iPad to the Pope, who asked, “I push here?”

“As soon as the Holy Father hit the button, a little notice came across the top – what they call a ‘push notice’ – and it said, ‘Pope Francis has unlocked the MISSIO App.’

“And he sort of looked a little bit surprised,” Fr. Small recalled.

The button was labeled “Evangelizantur,” which means, “that they be evangelized” in Latin.

Since the app is available in English, Spanish, Italian, German, French,
Portuguese, Chinese and Arabic, Fr. Small explained that the developers settled on the Latin phrase for the launch.

The purpose of the application is to help the Pope and the Church extend the reach of its message, with a particular emphasis on young people.

“Ever since his election, Pope Francis has reached far beyond the Vatican, touching people's lives in simple and meaningful ways,” Fr. Small observed.

By making the app available the Pope is putting “the missionary Gospel in the pockets of millions of people, young and old, rich and poor, believer and searcher,” he added.

The MISSIO App was developed by the company Little iApps and is available for free in the iTunes App Store and on Google Play.

Pope tells story of bishop who felt 'unworthy'

Fri, 17 May 2013 10:35:00 -0600

Vatican City, May 17, 2013 / 10:35 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis told the story of a man who felt ashamed of being a bishop to say that people should not worry of being sinners but should concentrate on allowing Jesus to transform them.

“He was ashamed because he did not feel worthy, he had a spiritual torment and he went to the confessor,” Pope Francis said at his May 17 daily Mass.

“The confessor heard him and said, ‘but do not worry, if after the mess Peter made of things, they made him Pope, then you go ahead!’” he recalled.

The Pope delivered his homily on the Gospel reading from John 21, which tells the story of Jesus asking Peter if he loved him three separate times.

According to the pontiff, people should try harder to encounter Jesus rather than focus on their own sins.

“Many times, we look the other way because we do not want to talk with the Lord or allow ourselves to encounter the Lord,” he stated.

“Meeting the Lord is important, but more importantly, let us be met by the Lord, this is a grace,” he added.

“Peter let himself be shaped by his many encounters with Jesus,” the Pope noted, “and this is something we all need to do as well, for we are on the same road.”

“Peter is great, not because he is good, but because he has a nobility of heart, which brings him to tears, leads him to this pain, this shame and also to take up his work of shepherding the flock,” he remarked.

The pontiff noted “the problem is not that we are sinners: the problem is not repenting of sin; not being ashamed of what we have done, that’s the problem.”

“The Lord makes us mature with many meetings with Him, even with our weaknesses, when we recognize them with our sins,” Pope Francis said.

“The point is that this is how the Lord is, that’s the way He is,” he said.

Referring back to the Gospel reading, Pope Francis said the questions Jesus posed to Peter are “a dialogue of love between the Lord and his disciple.”

He explained that the narration goes back to the history of Peter’s meetings with Jesus, from his invitation to follow the Lord, to his receiving the name of the Rock, “a mission which was there, even if Peter understood nothing of it at the time.”

“Peter was saddened that, for a third time, Jesus asked him, ‘do you love me?’” said Pope Francis.

Peter was a great man, the Holy Father remarked, but he was also a sinner and this question made him feel “pain” and “shame.”

“The Lord makes him feel that he is a sinner, makes us all feel that we are sinners,” but this shame and humility “brings him to a new encounter with Jesus” and “to the joy of forgiveness,” the Pope preached.

Pope points mission societies toward young churches

Fri, 17 May 2013 09:58:00 -0600

Vatican City, May 17, 2013 / 09:58 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis met this afternoon with the directors of the Pontifical Mission Societies and encouraged them to help “the young churches” that operate in difficult and sometimes hostile circumstances.

After reminding them not to forget the universal and missionary nature of their work, Pope Francis underscored the importance of helping those in “the young churches, which often operate in a climate of difficulty, discrimination, and persecution.”

The 120 national directors of the Pontifical Mission Societies and Cardinal Fernando Filoni, head of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, met with the Pope at 12:30 p.m. on May 17 in the Vatican’s Clementine Hall.

During the encounter, Pope Francis became the first pontiff to unlock an app for smartphones. He launched the MISSIO app on an iPad by pressing a button that said “Evangelizantur,” which means, “that they be evangelized” in Latin.

The app that he unlocked offers news from the Vatican, stories and photos from the missions, and a way to donate to the society. It is available for Android and Apple devices.

Father Andrew Small, who is the U.S. national director, said in a May 17 interview with CNA that during the directors’ meeting with the Pope he “reclaimed us as the Bishop of Rome, as the Roman pontiff” by emphasizing that they are pontifical institutes.

He also told the leaders that they are, “in a sense, my specialists in the missionary work of the Church,” Fr. Small recalled, before going on to explain how the societies work to help the poor and needy and proclaim the Gospel.

The Pope also underlined the relevance of the societies, saying that they are “still necessary today because there are so many peoples who have still not known and met Christ and it is urgent to find new forms and new ways that God's grace might touch the heart of each man and each woman and bring them to him.”

Pope Francis acknowledged that their mission is a difficult one, but “with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, it becomes an exciting mission. … This is what we should always draw courage from: knowing that the strength of evangelization comes from God, belongs to him.”

The Pope also touched on one of his major themes, telling the societies to bring God’s mercy and to the poor and abandoned while maintaining an outward focus on evangelization, instead of becoming “wrapped up in themselves.”

'Chasm' exists between Pope, liberation theology

Thu, 16 May 2013 20:04:00 -0600

Rome, Italy, May 16, 2013 / 08:04 pm (CNA).- Even though Pope Francis is deeply concerned for the poor and has been praised by liberation theologians, there is a stark divide between the pontiff and them, according to a Vatican analyst.

“There is a chasm between the vision of the Latin American liberation theologians and the vision of this Argentine pope,” Sandro Magister wrote May 16 in the Italian publication “L'Espresso.”

This is despite perceptions that “when, just three days after his election as pope, Jorge Mario Bergoglio called for 'a Church that is poor and for the poor,' his admission among the ranks of the revolutionaries seemed like a done deal.”

Liberation theology developed in Latin America in the 1950s as a Marxist interpretation of the gospel, focusing on freedom from material poverty and injustice rather than giving primacy to spiritual freedom.

While Pope Francis has been praised by Leonardo Boff, a former Franciscan priest and a leader among liberation theologians, the Roman Pontiff “always registered his disagreement with (liberation theology), even at the cost of finding himself isolated.”

“He knows liberation theology well, he saw it emerge and spread among his Jesuit confrères as well,” Magister wrote.

Rather than being influenced by Boff and other radical liberation theologians, Pope Francis took to Father Juan Carlos Scannone, one of his professors.

Magister said that Fr. Scannone “elaborated a theology not of liberation, but 'of the people,' founded on the culture and religious devotion of the common people, of the poor in the first place, with their traditional spirituality and their sense of justice.”

It was this “people's theology” that the Bishop of Rome has embraced, and not a theology of liberation.

In the preface to a 2006 book by Guzmán Carriquiry on the legacy and future of Latin America, Pope Francis wrote of liberation theology: “After the collapse of 'real socialism,' these currents of thought were plunged into confusion. Incapable of either radical reformulation or new creativity, they survived by inertia, even if there are still some today who, anachronistically, would like to propose it again.”

This “dismissive” judgement of liberation theology, Magister said, is “an enthusiasm for progress that in reality backfires” on Catholic identity.

Pope Francis' frequent references to spiritual realities are a sign of his non-alignment with the immanence characteristic of liberation theology, while at the same time having a deep concern for the poor.

During a homily for a daily Mass said April 30, the Roman Pontiff said that Christ is the one to whom “the prince of this world” comes but can do nothing against. “If we don’t want the prince of this world to take the Church into his hands, we must entrust it to the One who can defeat the prince of this world,” said Pope Francis.

And yet, on May 16, he reminded new ambassadors to the Holy See that he “loves everyone, rich and poor alike, but the Pope has the duty, in Christ's name, to remind the rich to help the poor, to respect them, to promote them.”

Pope: 'If we annoy people, blessed be the Lord'

Thu, 16 May 2013 10:40:00 -0600

Vatican City, May 16, 2013 / 10:40 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The Pope told Christians it is better to be “annoying” and “a nuisance” than lukewarm in proclaiming Jesus Christ.

“If we annoy people, blessed be the Lord,” said Pope Francis during his morning Mass at the Vatican on May 16.

“We can ask the Holy Spirit to give us all this apostolic fervor and to give us the grace to be annoying when things are too quiet in the Church,” he said at the chapel of the Saint Martha residence, where he lives.

He celebrated the Mass alongside Cardinal Peter Turkson and Bishop Mario Toso, the president and the secretary of the Vatican Council for Justice and Peace.

Council staff and employees from Vatican Radio were among those attending the Eucharistic celebration.

The Pope preached on today’s first reading from Acts 22 and contrasted “backseat Christians” with those who have apostolic zeal.

“There are those who are well mannered, who do everything well, but are unable to bring people to the Church through proclamation and apostolic zeal,” he stated.

The pontiff said apostolic zeal “implies an element of madness,” which he labeled as “healthy” and “spiritual.”

He added that it “can only be understood in an atmosphere of love” and that it is not an “enthusiasm for power and possession.”

Pope Francis also dwelt on St. Paul’s actions in the reading from Acts.

“Paul, in preaching of the Lord, was a nuisance, but he had deep within him that most Christian of attitudes, apostolic zeal,” he stated.

“He was not a man of compromise, no!” he exclaimed. “The truth, forward! The proclamation of Jesus Christ, forward!”

The Pope noted that St. Paul’s fate was one “with many crosses, but he keeps going, he looks to the Lord and keeps going.”

“He is a man who, with his preaching, his work, his attitude irritates others, because testifying to Jesus Christ and the proclamation of Jesus Christ makes us uncomfortable.

“It threatens our comfort zones, even Christian comfort zones, right?” he asked the congregation. “It irritates us.”

Pope Francis underscored that the Lord “always wants us to move forward, forward, forward, not to take refuge in a quiet life or in cozy structures.”

Saint Paul’s apostolic zeal, he observed, comes from knowing Jesus Christ.

Paul did not find and encounter Jesus Christ with an intellectual or scientific knowledge, but with “that first knowledge of the heart and of a personal encounter.”

According to the Pope, St. Paul was a “fiery” individual who was always in trouble, “not in trouble for troubles’ sake, but for Jesus” because “proclaiming Jesus is the consequence.”

“The Church has so much need of this, not only in distant lands, in the young churches, among people who do not know Jesus Christ, but here in the cities, in our cities, they need this proclamation of Jesus Christ,” Pope Francis stressed.

“So let us ask the Holy Spirit for this grace of apostolic zeal, let’s be Christians with apostolic zeal, onwards, as the Lord says to Paul, take courage!” he exclaimed.

Relations with China affect timing of Matteo Ricci cause

Thu, 16 May 2013 10:00:00 -0600

Vatican City, May 16, 2013 / 10:00 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Approval for the beatification of the Italian Jesuit missionary Matteo Ricci, who ministered in China 500 years ago, depends to some degree on the Vatican’s relations with China.

“Part of the beatification depends on the political relations between China and the Vatican,” said Father Anton Witwer, the postulator of his cause.

“It’s possible to wait, even if all things are clear for a beatification, something like five years to see if the political situation has changed and is more favorable for the cause,” he told CNA in a May 15 interview.

Jesuit Father Matteo Ricci was an expert in mathematics, cosmology and astronomy, who helped spread the Gospel in China during the 16th century.

The Italian Jesuit was the first Westerner invited into the Forbidden City, the Chinese imperial palace where the emperor lived, and he produced the first map of China where Africa, Europe and America also appeared.

The process of naming him a saint involves several steps, beginning with his life being recognized as one of “heroic virtue,” before he can be beatified, which is the step before sainthood.

According to Fr. Witwer, the process began in 1985 in the Italian town of Macerata, but “it was only a historical opening so it was not sufficient.”

“This is why we had to make a new process,” he added, referring to the one initiated on Jan. 24, 2010.

The German priest, who is the General Postulator of the Society of Jesus, also explained some of the considerations that can impact the timing of Fr. Ricci’s beatification.

“First, a beatification has to help the local church (in China) to sustain and grow faith, and if there is a political impediment, it is sometimes necessary to choose the just time,” Fr. Witwer said.

In fact, the Vatican asked Fr. Witwer to introduce the cause of Fr. Ricci’s lay collaborator Xu Guanqi because “for China, it would maybe be better if a European and a Chinese are beatified more or less together,” he explained.

“This would be better for China because it is easier to accept a Chinese Blessed and not only a missionary working in China,” he added.

But according to the Jesuit postulator, Xu Guanqi’s beatification process is on hold since it was introduced in Shanghai, which is currently without a bishop.

The Italian Diocese of Macerata finished studying the case of Fr. Ricci on May 10, and passed it to the Vatican’s Congregation for the Causes of Saints.

The congregation will now examine the case to decide whether or not to give the missionary, who spoke fluent Chinese and embraced the country’s culture and customs, the status of heroic virtue.

The postulator pointed out that if the Vatican gives Fr. Ricci that status, it would mean “he lived as a virtuous of faith, obedience and poverty, more than the average Christian.”

The next step in eventually proclaiming him a saint would be to beatify him, making him Blessed Mateo Ricci. That step, among other things, will involve a miracle being attributed to his intercession and have it certified as miraculous by separate panels of medical doctors, cardinals and the Pope.

“We still have to wait for the beatification because we have to wait for a miracle, which we don’t have yet,” Fr. Witwer reported.

“The Diocese of Macerata will now bring documents to the congregation and we will have to examine their canonical correctness,” said Fr. Witwer.

The postulator explained that the next step in determining whether Fr. Ricci lived a life of heroic virtue involves drafting a document of around 500 pages – known as a “Positio” – that details the life, writings and virtues of the priest.

It will be directed by the relator of the saints congregation, a “sort of thesis moderator, and then studied by historians, theologians and finally by cardinals,” said Fr. Witwer.

“Maybe in two years we can finish the Positio, then several years will be needed to study it, and then a few more years may be needed before the beatification finally takes place,” he said.

'Money has to serve, not rule!' Pope tells new ambassadors

Thu, 16 May 2013 05:47:00 -0600

Vatican City, May 16, 2013 / 05:47 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis told the new ambassadors to the Holy See from Kyrgyzstan, Antigua and Barbuda, Luxembourg and Botswana to use money to serve and asked them to help reform the world economy along “ethical lines.”

“Money has to serve, not rule!” he said during a May 16 meeting with the new ambassadors of four countries who do not have a physical location for their embassy to the Holy See in Rome.

Pope Francis used the occasion to underscore that “wanting power and possession has become limitless” and “the selfish sprawling of corruption and tax evasion have gone global.”

“The Pope urges a return to the unselfish solidarity and ethics in favor of man in financial and economic reality,” he said during the 11:00 a.m. meeting in the Vatican’s Clementine Hall.

No official explanation was given of why Pope Francis chose to speak about economics with diplomats from such diverse parts of the world, but the four countries have all experienced the effects of the global financial crisis.

The Pope also stressed to the ambassadors that there is a need for financial reform “along ethical lines that would in its turn produce an economic reform to benefit everyone.”

That lesson is one that the people of Antigua and Barbuda know very well, since in 2009 Allen Sanford was accused of running an $8 billion Ponzi scheme from the country.

Pope Francis said he “loves everyone, rich and poor alike, but the Pope has the duty, in Christ's name, to remind the rich to help the poor, to respect them, to promote them.”

“This would require a courageous change of attitude on the part of political leaders,” he stated.

“I urge them to face this challenge with determination and farsightedness, taking account, naturally, of their particular situations,” he added.

The pontiff spoke about the dangers of the current economic crisis, noting it is “a new, invisible tyranny, sometimes virtual.”

“The joy of living is decreasing, indecency and violence are on the rise, and poverty is becoming more evident,” said Pope Francis.

“You must fight to live and often to live in a non-decent way,” he observed.

According to him, one of the causes of the situation lies in the relationship that people now have with money and “its dominion over us and our societies.”

“We have created new idols, the ancient worship the golden calf has found a new and ruthless image in fetishism of money and the dictatorship of the economy without purpose nor a truly human face,” said the Pope.

“It reduces man to one of its demands, consumption and even worse, the human being is today considered himself as a commodity that you can use and then throw away,” he remarked.

The Holy Father also warned that solidarity is often considered counterproductive and contrary to financial and economic logic.

“Financiers, economists and politicians consider God as manageable, even dangerous because it calls man to his full realization and independence from any kind of slavery,” said Pope Francis.

“While the income of a minority is growing exponentially, that of the majority weakens,” he said, pointing to the growing disparity between the rich and poor.

He believes this imbalance stems from “ideologies that promote the absolute autonomy of markets and financial speculation.”

The Pope asked the new ambassadors to assure their natives of his prayers and tell them of his “feelings of gratitude and respect.”

The new ambassadors are Bolot Iskovich Otunbaev of Kyrgyzstan, David Shoul of Antigua and Barbuda, Jean-Paul Senninger of Luxembourg, and Lameck Nthekela of Botsawana.

Vatican bank plans website launch, annual report

Thu, 16 May 2013 04:18:00 -0600

Vatican City, May 16, 2013 / 04:18 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The institution often called the Vatican bank will launch a new website and begin publishing its annual report, as it continues to improve its transparency and image.

News of the latest efforts was announced by the Institute for Works of Religion’s new president, Ernst von Freyberg, during a May 13 meeting with the staff.

He was appointed by Benedict XVI on Feb. 15 as part of an ongoing effort to revamp the institute by updating its controls against money laundering and the financing of terrorism.

At the Monday meeting, von Freyberg “expressed his appreciation for the efforts of all, for the high professionalism and the positive results achieved” during his first three months at the helm, Vatican Radio said in a May 14 report.

He also revealed that the institute has obtained the services of an “international organization” to ensure that its transactions meet international and Vatican money-laundering standards.

The main purpose of the website is to increase communication with the public about what the institute does, and it will not offer online banking.

In June 2012, the director of the institute, Paolo Cipriani, told the press that it oversees about 6 billion euros ($7.4 billion) in assets and has around 33,000 accounts.