(Vatican Radio) On Sunday 5th of June Pope Francis is set to canonise the founder of the Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception, Blessed Stanislaus Papczyński who died in 1701. In an effort to find out more about this Polish born Saint, Veronica Scarisbrick speaks to the Vicar General of this order, Fr. Joseph Roesch. Listen to Fr. Joseph Roesch and find out what we remember the founder of his order for, three hundred years on.
Listen to the Vicar General of the Marians of the Immaculate Conception Fr. Joseph Roesch in an interview with Veronica Scarisbrick:
Father Roesch explains how his experience as an army chaplain on battle fronts has been passed down to us. How we have his writings to fall back on and how he is remembered as a zealous priest who preached and practiced love of God and of neighbour. Also what he believes makes him a saint who can serve as a role model for young people today.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Today Pope Francis met with Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser of Qatar.The Holy See Press Office provides the following details of the meeting: Today at 11 a.m., in the Apostolic Palace, the Holy Father Pope Francis received in a private audience Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, president of the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development. Her Highness Sheikha Moza provided information to the Holy Father on her many activities in the fields of educational and social development, at both national and international levels, and on the grave situation of schools in various areas of conflict, and received his encouragement. The encounter, was cordial in nature and lasted for around 30 minutes. The gift offered by Her Highness to the Holy Father was a valuable Arab manuscript of the Gospels, richly decorated and composed of 123 pages in Naskh calligraphy, produced in Ottoman Turkey in the 18th century. The Pope presented Her Highness with a medallion depicting the olive tree of peace and the Arabic edition of his encyclical Laudato si’. Subsequently, at the Secretariat of State, Her Highness met with Archbishop Giovanni Angelo Becciu, substitute of the Secretariat of State, accompanied by Msgr. Michael F. Crotty. Their discussions focused on the situation of the Catholic community in Qatar. Finally, in the so-called “Raphael Wing” of the Apostolic Palace, Her Highness attended the signing of an Agreement (Memorandum of Understanding) between the Vatican Apostolic Library and the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development on behalf of the Qatar National Library. The Agreement was signed for the Qatar Foundation by His Excellency Dr. Hamad Al Kuwari and for the Apostolic Library by the Prefect, Msgr. Cesare Pasini. (from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) On Saturday, 4 June the Holy See issued a press release announcing that Pope Francis has approved a new Pontifical Council for the Laity, the Family and Life. The full text of the release follows: Today, June 4, 2016, the Holy Father Pope Francis, as proposed by the Council of Cardinals, has approved ad experimentum the Statute of the new Pontifical Council for the Laity, the Family and Life which will combine, from 1 September 2016, the current Pontifical Council for the Laity and the Pontifical Council for the Family. On that date both of these Dicasteries cease their duties and become suppressed, articles 131-134 and 139-141 of the Apostolic Constitution Pastor Bonus of 28 June 1988 being repealed. (from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) In a new Apostolic Letter, issued motu proprio , Pope Francis has established new norms providing for the removal of Bishops (or those equivalent to them in Canon Law) from their offices in cases where they have “through negligance, committed or omitted acts that have caused grave harm to others, either with regard to physical persons, or with regard to the community itself.” The Apostolic Letter “ Come una madre amorevole ” (As a Loving Mother) also clarifies that, with regard “to abuse of minors or vulnerable adults, it is sufficient that the lack of diligence be grave.” The full text of the Apostolic Letter, in Italian, can be found here . In a note explaining the new procedures, the Director of the Holy See Press Office, Father Federico Lombardi, SJ, said, “The Apostolic Letter insists on the importance of vigilant care for the protection of minors and vulnerable adults, calling for a ‘particular diligence.” Therefore, he continued, “it clarifies that negligence regarding cases of sexual abuse committed against children or vulnerable adults are among the ‘grave causes’ that justify removal from ecclesiastical Offices, even of Bishops.” The new Letter, according to Father Lombardi, establishes a procedure for carrying out a Canon already present in both the Code of Canon Law and the Code of Canons of Eastern Churches. It is not a penal procedure, he said, because it concerns cases of negligence, rather than with a crime that has been committed. For the same reason, the Dicasteries charged with following through on the procedures include the Congregations for Bishops, for the Evangelization of Peoples, for Oriental Churches, and for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, instead of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Father Lombardi drew attention especially to two points in the Apostolic Letter. First, the “lack of diligence” necessary for removal from office can exist even be “without grave moral fault” on the part of the Bishop. Second, in cases concerning the abuse of minors “it is sufficient that the lack of diligence be ‘grave,’ while in other cases it is required that the lack of diligence be ‘very grave’.” This effectively lowers the standard necessary for a Bishop to be removed from office when there is negligence with regard to cases of sexual abuse. In cases involving important decisions regarding Bishops, including those foreseen in the Apostolic Letter, the specific approval of the Holy Father is necessary. Father Lombardi noted that this is not a new disposition. However, the Apostolic Letter does introduce a new “dedicated College of jurists” (It.: “apposite Collegio di giuristi”), which will assist the Holy Father before he makes a definitive decision. Father Lombardi said the College would be expected to be composed of Cardinals and Bishops. Finally, Father Lombardi noted that because the Apostolic Letter concerns new procedural norms, the question of retroactivity does not apply, as law on the possibility of removal from office “for grave cause” already exists. The Letter simply establishes procedures for the application of the already existing law. (from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) On Saturday Pope Francis met with National Directors of the Pontifical Missionary Societies and those who work with the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.
The encounter took place in the context of the one hundredth anniversary of the foundation of the Pontifical Missionary Union (PMU), which was inspired by Blessed Paolo Manna, a missionary priest of the Pontifical Institute for the Foreign Missions. In his address to the group, Pope Francis said that, “through the intuition of Blessed Paolo Manna and the mediation of the Apostolic See, the Holy Spirit has led the Church to have an every understanding of her own missionary nature, later brought to maturation by the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council.”
Blessed Paolo Manna emphasized the importance of forming Bishops and Priests, and through them, the laity, for the missions. But, the Pope insisted, the emphasis on the formation of clergy does not mean “reducing the PMU to a simply clerical reality.” Rather, it has the mission of “supporting the hierarchy in its service to the missionary nature of the Church,” which is proper to everyone, in their own way, in the Church. In this way, he said, the “Pastors of the Church help to keep the Church, always and everywhere, in a state of mission.”
“Mission makes the Church,” the Pope said, “and keeps her faithful to the salvific will of God.” He asked the directors and collaborators to focus on the commitment to “permanent formation in mission,” with “the intention of serving and nourishing the missionary identity of the whole Church.” He noted especially the importance of newer Churches, which can transmit to “the Churches of ancient foundation” some of “the ardour of young faith, the witness of Christian hope, sustained by the admirable courage of martyrdom.” He encouraged them to serve these new Churches with great love, helping them bring people to the Gospel “through attraction, and not through proselytism.”
Concluding his address, Pope Francis called for the directors and collaborators to engage in a “re-thinking” of their mission, with the goal of an “adequate reformation of methods,” and “an authentic renewal.” He expressed his gratitude for the work of the PMU, entrusting its service to the Blessed Virgin Mary, Queen of the Missions; to Saints Peter and Paul, to Saint Guido Maria Conforti, and to Blessed Paolo Manna.”
(from Vatican Radio)…