Francis, part 10 (2019)

‘Nationalistic tendencies’ Threaten World Peace, Pope Tells Diplomats

NB: This topic is a continuation of Francis, part 9 (2018)

South African Ambassador Says Pope Francis Has a Deep Understanding of Africa (Catholic News Agency for Africa)

Pope Francis welcomes 2019 with World Day of Peace message

FULL TEXT: MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS FOR THE CELEBRATION OF THE 52nd WORLD DAY OF PEACE 1 JANUARY 2019 Good politics is at the service of peace

Pope and grand imam sign historic pledge of fraternity in UAE (Guardian)

Pope Francis Approves Canonization of John Henry Newman (CNA)

A household name amongst English Catholics, and it has spread further afield. Just a few weeks ago I was having a conversation with a South Sudanese Catholic who had been a member of the Newman Society when he was younger, but had no idea who Newman actually was.

Pope Francis decries critics of church as 'friends of the devil' (Guardian)

the pontiff said that defects of the church needed to be denounced so they could be corrected, but that those who condemned “without love” were linked to the devil...

Death penalty a 'grave' violation of human right to life, pope says (NCR)

A quote from Pope Francis:

"The Church, without neglecting the present day, is called to work with a long term outlook, without the obsession of immediate results. She must patiently bear difficult or adverse situations or the changes of plan that reality imposes. … The Church has no need to occupy spaces of power or self-affirmation, but rather to make the good seed grow, patiently accompanying its development, rejoicing with the provisional harvest that can be obtained, without being discourages when an unexpected and freezing storm spoils what seemed to be golden and ready to be gathered."

— Meeting of papal diplomats, Sept. 17, 2016

https://www.ncronline.org/news/vatican/francis-chronicles/popes-quotes-church-mu...

THE POPE SENDS A LETTER FOR THE 800TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE MEETING OF SAINT FRANCIS OF ASSISI WITH THE SULTAN

The Pope made a call not to give in to violence, and even less under any religious pretext, in the letter he wrote on the occasion of the 800th anniversary of the meeting between Saint Francis of Assisi and Sultan al-Malik al-Kāmil, an event celebrated in Egypt from 1st to 3rd March...

How Pope Francis could shape the future of robotics (BBC)

Right to access clean water must be defended, pope says (NCR)

Spread Mercy, Build Fraternity, Pope Urges Morocco’s Christian Minority (Catholic News Agency for Africa)

Conversion is not your mission, pope tells Catholics in Morocco (Reuters)

“The Church grows not through proselytism but by attraction,” Francis said to applause. “This means, dear friends, that our mission as baptized persons, priests and consecrated men and women, is not really determined by the number or size of spaces that we occupy, but rather by our capacity to generate change and to awaken wonder and compassion”...

It’s exceedingly rare for the pope to kiss feet. He just did it for South Sudan’s warring leaders (Washington Post)

This link includes video footage.

Pope Proposes Radical Shakeup of the Roman Curia (The Tablet)

New constitution means all work of the curia comes under a mission to evangelise

Don’t seek quick fixes to crisis, Pope urges German Church (Catholic Herald)

Pope Francis: Migrants are people, not just a social issue (Catholic Herald)

Pope bombarded with insults after tweeting to pray for migrants (Euronews)

Found in Prayers of the Social Awakening, published in 1910.

Walter Rauschenbusch was a Protestant minister who worked in 'Hell's Kitchen' in New York City. He wrote advocating social justice.

For Immigrants

Thou great Champion of the outcast and the weak, we remember before thee the people of other nations who are coming to our land, seeking bread, a home, and a future. May we look with thy compassion upon those who have been drained and stunted by the poverty and oppression of centuries and whose minds have been warped by superstition or seared by the dumb agony of revolt. We bless thee for all that America has meant to the alien folk that have crossed the sea in the past, and for all the patient strength and God-fearing courage with which they have enriched our nation. We rejoice in the millions whose life has expanded in the wealth and liberty of our country, and whose children have grown to fairer stature and larger thoughts; for we, too, are the children of immigrants, who came with anxious hearts and halting feet on the westward path of hope.

We beseech thee that our republic may no longer fail their trust. We mourn for the dark sins of past and present, wherein men who are held in honor among us made spoil of the ignorance and helplessness of the strangers and sent them to an early death. In a nation dedicated to liberty may they not find the old oppression and a fiercer greed. May they never find that the arm of the law is but the arm of the strong. Help our whole people henceforth to keep in leash the cunning that would devour the simple. May they feel here the pure air of freedom and face the morning radiance of a joyous hope.

For all the oppressed afar off who sigh for liberty; for all lovers of the people who strive to break their shackles; for all who dare to believe in democracy and the Kingdom of God, make thou our great commonwealth once more a sure beacon-light of hope and a guide on the path which leads to the perfect union of law and liberty.

>18 2wonderY:

Amen.

Francis continues to make us all a bit uncomfortable (La Croix International)

No matter where you place yourself along the Catholic Church's broad spectrum – right, left or center; conservative or liberal; traditional or progressive – if you are not challenged and even disturbed by some of the things this pope says and does, then you are not paying attention. And that includes any of you who may consider yourselves "Pope Francis groupies" or "my-pope-right-or-wrong" Catholics. If he is not getting just a little bit under your skin then you are not listening, either. Despite what some of his more traditionalist critics claim, Francis is not politically correct. He is, in fact, quite out-spoken. He is prophetic. That is because he is, without a doubt, one of the most radically evangelical popes the Church has ever seen...

Pope Francis and Vladimir Putin Represent Two Opposing Sides of Christian Thought (Fair Observer)

There is certainly something paradoxical in the fact that the pope is deemed a heretic while the Russian president is praised as a defender of Christianity...

Pope Francis appoints new Vatican spokesman (Daily Monitor)

As a pope picks a spokesman, could history repeat itself? (Crux)

Thirty-five years ago, a pope from a foreign land had been in office for about six years when he hired a new lay spokesman who hailed from that pontiff’s favorite “new movement” in the Church. The rest, as they say, is history, as Spanish layman Joaquin Navarro Valls went on to shape the global narrative about St. John Paul II masterfully for more than twenty years.

At least in terms of a few basic matters of biography, there’s a case that history may be repeating itself in Matteo Bruni...

Pope offers prayers for migrants killed in Mediterranean shipwreck (Reuters)

The pope appealed to the international community to act promptly to guarantee safety and dignity for all...

Pope Francis says Social Media creating ‘Culture of Insults’

"Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.” (Ephesians 4:29)

Woman given top role in Vatican press office (The Tablet)

'The choice of a woman with roots in Brazil and an open gaze on the world is a testimony of the wish to build a team that knows how to speak to all'...

Pope Francis is truly the holy father, the priests' priest (NCR)

The Holy Father was true to his name last weekend when he published a fatherly letter to priests on the occasion of the 160th anniversary of the death of St. John Vianney. The letter was remarkable in many ways, a most exemplary text in understanding how Pope Francis brings our tradition alive and uses it to face the challenges and opportunities of our day...

True wealth is found in Jesus Christ, not money, Pope Francis says (Catholic Herald)

Pope Francis Wednesday criticized those who give more consideration to money than the sacraments or helping others find true wealth – a relationship with Jesus Christ...

Pope Francis again warns against nationalism, says recent speeches sound like ‘Hitler in 1934’ (Washington Post)

Pope Francis called for a united Europe in an interview published by Italian daily La Stampa on Friday, saying recent political rhetoric has echoed that of Nazi Germany.

“I am concerned because we hear speeches that resemble those of Hitler in 1934,” he said. “ 'Us first. We … We … ’ These are frightening thoughts”...

Pope issues new laws governing Vatican bank (The Tablet)

Pope Francis has issued new laws governing the Vatican’s bank, ruling that the accounts must be signed off by an external auditor and staff sign up to a code of ethics.

Francis has approved a set of statutes which mark another step in his reforms of Vatican finances which includes cleaning up an institution that has long been a source of scandal and embarrassment for the Church.

Given its location in a small and discreet sovereign state the bank, known as the Institute for the Works of Religion (IOR), has been vulnerable to money laundering, corruption, tax-evasion and embezzlement...

Pell takes issue with Francis from prison (The Tablet)

Cardinal George Pell has written a letter from prison in which he appears to take issue with the idea of the forthcoming Amazon synod as conceived by Pope Francis...

Pope Francis hospital ship brings Word of God, health care to Amazon region (Vatican News)

Pope to Methodists: We can offer common answers to suffering of the poorest (Vatican News)

Pope Francis sends greetings to the Synod of the Union of Methodist and Waldensian Churches, taking place this week...

The Holy Father said he joins them in their prayer for “the consolidation of the ecumenical spirit among Christians, as well as the growing communion between our Churches.” Pope Francis insists on the urgency of an authentic witness to Christ and the Gospel that is possible only by pursuing a unity of intentions and actions, saying “we are called to continue our commitment on the path of mutual knowledge, understanding, and collaboration, in order to bear witness to Jesus and His Gospel of charity.”

Before offering his blessing to the participants in the Synod, the Pope said that “as disciples of Christ we can offer common responses to the suffering that afflicts so many people, especially the poorest and weakest, and promoting justice and peace”...

Pope stuck in lift (elevator on the other side of the Pond)

Pope Francis explains why he was late for weekly prayer (BBC)

Pope Francis names 13 new cardinals (Catholic Herald)

As it happens, I know two of them, Miguel Ángel Ayuso Guixot MCCJ and Michael Louis Fitzgerald M Afr, both missionaries with a good understanding of ecumenical and inter-faith issues. Fine men. I don't know Michael Czerny SJ, but his experience in the Migrant and Refugee Section of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development is encouraging.

The full list of new cardinals:

1) Miguel Ángel Ayuso Guixot MCCJ (b 1952), President of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue

2) José Tolentino Calaça de Mendonça (b 1965), Librarian and Archivist of the Roman Church

3) Ignatius Suharyo Hardjoatmodjo (b 1950), Archbishop of Jakarta, Indonesia

4) Juan de la Caridad García Rodríguez (b 1948), Archbishop of San Cristóbal de la Habana, Cuba

5) Fridolin Ambongo Besungu OFM Cap (b 1960), Archbishop of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo

6) Jean-Claude Hollerich SJ (b 1958), Archbishop of Luxembourg, Luxembourg

7) Álvaro Leonel Ramazzini Imeri (b 1947), Bishop of Huehuetenango, Guatemala

8) Matteo Maria Zuppi (b 1955), Archbishop of Bologna, Italy

9) Cristóbal López Romero SDB (b 1952), Archbishop of Rabat, Morocco

10) Michael Czerny SJ (b 1946), Under-secretary of the Migrant and Refugee Section of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development

11) Michael Louis Fitzgerald M Afr (b 1937), Apostolic Nuncio (retired)

12) Sigitas Tamkevicius SJ (b 1938), Archbishop Emeritus of Kaunas, Lithuania

13) Eugenio Dal Corso PSDP (b 1939), Bishop Emeritus of Benguela, Angola

Only under-80s can vote for the next Pope? #1-10?

>37 John5918:

Yes, I believe so. Incidentally it's also encouraging to see how many of them come from the Global South.

Pope Francis in Africa: Is the continent the Catholic Church's great hope? (BBC)

The importance of Africa to the Catholic Church can be summed up in a word - growth.

Africa has the fastest growing Catholic population in the world, while Western Europe, once regarded as the heartland of Christianity, has become one of the world's most secular regions, according to the US-based Pew Research Center.

And many of those who do identify themselves as Christian in Western Europe do not regularly attend church.

In contrast, Christianity, in its different denominations, is growing across Africa. The Pew Research Center predicts that by 2060 more than four in 10 Christians will be in sub-Saharan Africa...

between 1980 and 2012 the number of Catholics in the world had increased by 57% to 1.2 billion, but growth in Europe was just 6%, compared to 283% in Africa. It put the number of Catholics in Africa at almost 200 million. "I think Africa is where the future is really {for the Catholic Church}"...

The growth in Africa is partly because its overall population is increasing faster than that of any other continent.

However, there are other reasons - including the fact that by being part of the Catholic Church people are part of "a social institution that provides a lot of support and security in places where precarious living is very common and widespread"...

"The Church provides hospitals, schools, {and} other social services. {These are} things that post colonial governments in… Africa have had a difficult time providing on a widespread scale."

The role of Catholics in offering such services "far surpasses what either Protestant churches or Islamic communities have been able to"...

Pope Francis has also increased African representation in the upper echelons of the Catholic Church.

Although the majority of cardinals are still from Europe and South America, he has appointed 10 African cardinals...

Cardinal list is latest from Francis that suggests new breeze blowing (NCR)

13 new cardinals, of whom 10 will be eligible to vote in the next conclave...

The most significant change in the College of Cardinals that Francis has effected is not so much ideological as it is geographic. There are now fewer cardinals from Western Europe and North America and more from Africa, Asia and Latin America. The shift is not right vs. left but North vs. South. And with that shift comes a shift in ecclesiological focus. A bishop in North America or Europe certainly spends a considerable amount of time focusing on how the church can minister to the poor. In the Global South, ministering to the poor is an essential part of all tasks.

In the U.S., the culture warriors on the right focus on fidelity to traditional sexual morality. Culture warriors on the left focus on the same issues, albeit reaching the opposite conclusions. But if you are a cardinal from Indonesia or Nicaragua or Congo, restricting or enlarging LGBT rights is not at the top of your agenda. Making sure your flock does not go hungry matters more than whom they go to bed with...

Some higher clergy think that the problem facing the church is an intellectual problem, that evangelization really is about better apologetics, that if the church were to do a better job of explaining her teaching, people would come flocking. Francis understands that the Gospel calls for witness more than explanation, that evangelization is the work of pastors more than professors, that credibility will be found in the way we live, not in the way we talk...

The list of new cardinals joins a long line of decisions made and texts written by this pope, all of which suggest a new breeze is blowing through the Catholic Church. The words of Isaiah come to mind, and not for the first time in this pontificate: "Behold, I am doing something new. Do you not perceive it?"

If it can be said that the last two pontificates clarified the teaching of the Second Vatican Council, this pontificate is clarifying the mission of Vatican II: Proposing anew, to the women and men of our time, the kerygmatic essence of the Gospel: Jesus comes to bring good news to the poor and liberty to captives.

Pope says 'it is an honor that Americans attack me' (CNN)

Pope Francis, who has tussled with the American president, American capitalists and American Catholics during his six years as pope, seems unfazed by the disputes.

In fact, he may even enjoy them.

In a brief exchange with a French journalist aboard the papal plane to Africa on Wednesday, Francis said he was honored by criticisms from conservative Catholics in the United States...

Edited to add: Pope Francis to journalist: ‘I am honored that the Americans attack me.’ (America Magazine)

In an informal exchange aboard the papal plane, Pope Francis told Nicolas Senèze that he is “honored that the Americans attack me” when the French Catholic journalist presented him with a copy of his book How America Wants to Change the Pope (Comment L'Amérique veut changer de Pape)...

The book describes how a wealthy and often traditionalist sector of the American Catholic church—both clerical and lay—attacks Pope Francis and notes that it is already working, with projects such as the “Red Hat Report,” to ensure that the cardinal elected pope at the next conclave is to its liking. It was clear from the context that Pope Francis was referring specifically to that sector of the U.S. church that is mentioned in the book and not to anyone else...

Shortly after, Vatican spokesperson Matteo Bruni told journalists that “in an informal context, the pope wished to say that he always considers criticisms as an honor, particularly when they come from authoritative thinkers, and in this case from an important nation.” The pope’s comments indicate he remains aware of the attacks against him from Catholics who disagree with his magisterial teaching and his statements on the economy, climate change, the death penalty, divorced and remarried persons and L.G.B.T. Catholics, as well as efforts by some traditionalist U.S. Catholics to delegitimize his teaching and undermine his pontificate.

Mr. Senèze’s book details the opposition to Pope Francis—which Senèze says comes from “a small minority”—including Cardinal Raymond Burke, Archbishop Charles Chaput and Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò (the former papal nuncio to the United States), as well as from wealthy lay people like Tim Busch and some U.S. Catholic authors like George Weigel, together with a sector of the U.S. Catholic media.

Pope Francis blasts corrupt leaders in Mozambique, welcomed in Madagascar (Africa News)

Pope Francis on Friday scolded political and business leaders in the resource-rich but poor East African country who allow themselves to be corrupted by outsiders.

“Mozambique is a land of abundant natural and cultural riches, yet paradoxically, great numbers of its people live below the poverty level,” Francis said...

In Africa, Pope tells nuns to beware of “educated devils” (Crux)

Completely disregarding his prepared text while meeting a group of cloistered nuns, Pope Francis warned the sisters against the “educated devils,” who come in disguise as a “noble, educated person, so often as a spiritual father.”

“Always transparency!” Francis told the sisters on Saturday, urging them to speak up if anyone wants to “disturb their tranquility,” including if that someone is their spiritual director.

“Please, dear sisters, if you hear of something strange happening, tell someone immediately. Immediately,” Pope Francis said, urging the sisters not to remain quiet when there’s something that takes away their peace...

Huge crowds attend Pope's Mass in Madagascar (BBC)

An estimated one million people attended a Mass celebrated by Pope Francis on the outskirts of Madagascar's capital city, Antananarivo, the Vatican said.

Worshippers braved the windswept dust to ensure a place at the Mass...

Pope to Madagascar Bishops: Be pastors with the heart of Jesus (Vatican News)

Pope Francis addresses the Bishops of Madagascar in Andohalo Cathedral, in Antananarivo, and describes what it means to be a pastor according to the heart of God...

Pope to clergy and religious in Madagascar: ‘be a sign of His living presence’ (Vatican News)

“Even those things you see as problems are signs of a Church that is alive, dynamic and striving to be each day to be a sign of the Lord’s presence”

Pope Francis accuses critics of stabbing him in the back (BBC)

Pope Francis has accused his critics of stabbing him in the back, and said he is "not afraid" of the Catholic Church splitting.

Speaking after a trip to Africa, the Pope took issue with conservative clergymen who have criticised him.

Those men do not "want good for the Church", but only care about "changing popes, changing styles, creating a schism", he said.

US Catholic leaders have attacked the Pope in the past for his views.

It is the first time he has spoken so openly about the chance of a split in the Church, which has more than one billion followers worldwide...

Why do some Catholics oppose Pope Francis? (America Magazine)

I was looking for a couple of quotes to give a flavour of this excellent and thoughtful piece, but I think it is a coherent whole and one needs to read it as a whole.

Pope heads to Asia seeking dialogue, peace and ecological solidarity (Crux)

For experts and locals alike, it seems Pope Francis’s upcoming visit to Thailand and Japan will not only highlight the Vatican’s strong ties with interreligious communities in each country, but it could also help the pope advance his ecological and peace-making agenda...

Against all odds, Pope Francis has made Synods of Bishops interesting (Crux)

When roughly 300 Catholic leaders gather in Rome Oct. 6-27 to talk about the Amazon, it will be the 29th time since 1965 a pope has convoked a Synod of Bishops. For most of that span, the body’s role could have been described in the same ironic terms Bob Dole once used about the Vice Presidency: “It’s indoor work, and no heavy lifting is involved”...

Of the 28 previous synods, even Catholics who pay close attention to Church affairs probably would be hard-pressed to name the dates and themes of more than, say, five. (I know bishops who actually attended some of those synods who struggle to recall what they were about or when they happened, so unmemorable were the proceedings.)

You have to give this to Pope Francis: Against all odds, he’s found a way to make synods really, really interesting...

Beyond the US, the Top Five countries for beefs with the Pope (Crux)

NIgeria (The African Church is dynamic, extremely loyal to the papacy, and it resonates with the anti-corruption and social justice message of a “third world” pope. Yet it also tends to be conservative on matters of faith and morals, leery of some of the winds blowing today...), Poland (In Poland, any pope starts with a deficit simply for not being John Paul II, and some Poles see Francis rolling back aspects of John Paul’s legacy...), Italy (There’s a strongly conservative-to-traditional wing in Italian Catholicism which, from the beginning, has been skeptical of this maverick pope...), Argentina (Argentines are angry Francis hasn’t yet come home after six years in office... Argentines (and especially the Argentinian media) tend to assume that absolutely everything the pope says and does is directed at them, which means they assume he’s forever taking sides in their political and cultural debates. All the divisions that run through society therefore are applied to the pope...) and Vatican City (The Vatican has a higher percentage of residents with strong opinions about the Catholic Church than anywhere else on earth, which means its denizens are always any pope’s toughest critics...).

>47 John5918: I finally had time to read the article. Amazing! All those supposed faults are really his strengths.

Two from Crux:

Pope urges Eastern Catholic bishops to promote ecumenism

Praising the fidelity of Eastern Catholics, Pope Francis also urged them to be more active in the search for Christian unity, especially unity with their Orthodox counterparts.

In heaven, he said, “the Lord will not seek an account of which or how many territories remained under our jurisdiction. He will not ask how we contributed to the development of our national identities. Instead, he will ask how much we loved our neighbor, every neighbor, and how well we were able to proclaim the Gospel of salvation to those we met along the road of life”...

Congo’s cardinal-designate has lifelong passion for human rights

Congo’s new cardinal will use his position to highlight Africa’s problems, while also bringing a lifelong passion for human rights to the international stage, said Catholic associates...

Who are the Five Cardinals-elect with African Connections? (aciafrica)

The connections of the five Cardinals-elect to Africa are not necessarily related to the candidates’ birth in or naturalization to African nations. In fact, only one of the five, DR Congo’s Archbishop Fridolin Ambongo Besungu, a Franciscan Capuchin (OFM, Cap), is African-born.

The other four are Spanish-born Archbishop Cristóbal Lòpez Romero, Italian-born Bishop Eugénio Dal Corso, English-born Archbishop Michael Louis Fitzgerald, and Spanish-born Archbishop Miguel Ángel Ayuso Guixot...

For Francis, saving the Amazon is evangelization in motion (Crux)

“What do ecology, economy, and politics have to do with the mandate and mission of the Church?”

What’s sometimes overlooked is that for Pope Francis, such subjects do not constitute an alternative to evangelization. As he sees it, they are evangelization, or at least an essential prolegomenon to it. When Christians stand with people as they face such struggles, the pope believes, they’ll eventually wonder why we’re doing it, and that’s when the conversation begins.

“The meekness that the Holy Spirit gives us makes us witnesses, because the path of the Holy Spirit isn’t proselytism, it’s witness,” Francis told the group. “If someone comes to proselytize, that’s not the Church, it’s a sect”...

New cardinals: The men are the message (NCR)

In announcing the appointment of 10 new cardinal electors, Pope Francis has improved the possibility that the next pope will continue his policies, but their appointments have also sent a message to the church about what should be the priorities of its leaders...

# 46, 47 Sour conservative priest in Canada, dubbed gateway priest to the real crazies after Francis:

Raymond de Souza: Elizabeth May and the rise of messianic politics
Father Raymond J. de Souza | September 20, 2019

The world needs saving, but apparently Jesus won’t do it. According to the Liberals and now the Greens, progressive politics will...

https://nationalpost.com/opinion/raymond-de-souza-elizabeth-may-and-the-rise-of-...

Pope, patriarch discuss canon law’s relationship to ecumenism (Crux)

The search for Christian unity must involve all aspects of the churches’ lives, including their different church laws, Pope Francis said...

And on a different topic:

Gathering of German bishops tests Pope Francis' efforts for decentralization (NCR)

Following an attempt by the Vatican to exercise control over its upcoming and reform-driven gathering, the Catholic Church in Germany has made it clear that it has no intention of backing down...

the concerns of the German bishops will likely play an important role as the Vatican prepares to host another troublesome synod on the Amazon region in October, where the ever-existing tensions between the center and the peripheries in the Catholic world are poised to take center stage...

Nigerian bishops criticize verbal hits on pope, South African xenophobia (Crux)

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria has condemned recent verbal attacks on Pope Francis as well as xenophobic attacks by South Africans on foreigners...

The bishops expressed their communion with and loyalty to Francis, expressing “serious concern” about “attacks coming from some higher levels of the Church in some parts of the world.” They said they regarded the attacks as the proverbial ill wind that does no one any good.

They said aggrieved church members and leaders should adopt more traditionally tested avenues to express their opinions to the pope.

“To be able to lead the flock of Christ in the right direction in a world filled with many contradicting and confusing voices, we as a college (of bishops) must speak with one voice,” the bishops said.

“We reaffirm our faith in and commitment to the pontificate of the Holy Father Pope Francis. Consequently, we pledge our loyalty and availability to him in the exercise of his Petrine office”...

Significant because African bishops in general are considered to be theologically "conservative". It seems they are distancing themselves from the attacks on the pope by certain quarters particularly in the USA and the Vatican which are more about "culture wars" than about theology.

It's also significant that their other main focus is on a social justice issue, namely xenophobia. If African bishops are "conservative" theologically, they are usually progressive on the pastoral front and take Catholic Social Thought very seriously.

A few recent articles:

Pope Francis: Clericalism linked to fixation on sexual morality (Catholic Herald)

God loves, rescues even those in the 'hell' of addiction, pope says (Crux)

Pope Francis criticises overuse of adjectives (The Guardian)

Catholic reactionary group raising its profile ahead of Amazon synod (Crux)

Show others God’s mercy, don’t judge them, pope says (Crux)

Author of book pope called a ‘bomb’ describes ‘powerful’ anti-Francis campaign (Crux)

Pope Francis: Catholics should not profess ideology over faith (Catholic Herald)

“Do not slip into being an NGO”: Pope’s Representative to Religious in Kenya (ACI Africa)

Did Pope Francis say that Jesus isn't God? Don't believe the report, Vatican says (Catholic Herald)

Beware of those who want God to live up to their standards, pope says (Crux)

St. Augustine would have embraced Pope Francis’s ‘field hospital’ Church (Crux)

>59 John5918: Love that image!

James K.A. Smith, On the Road with Saint Augustine

Veteran cardinal at Amazon synod says criticism of a pope is nothing new (Crux)

A timely intervention to set some of the current hype in perspective. All popes have had their critics. Many of us would have had our criticisms of the last two popes, John Paul II and Benedict XVI, and were not afraid to voice those criticisms in the spirit of loyal dissent. The difference, perhaps, is that "progressives" did not accuse these popes of being heretics and anti-popes, did not question their legitimacy, and did not threaten schism, as many "reactionaries" are doing to the current pope. The pope is the pope, as the good cardinal says, regardless of my opinion of a particular pope.

Pope names Nobel-winning U.S. chemical engineer to papal think tank (Crux)

Pope Francis appointed Frances H. Arnold, a Nobel-winning chemical engineer from the United States, to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences. Arnold, 63, is the Linus Pauling professor of chemical engineering, biochemistry and bioengineering at the California Institute of Technology and director of its bioengineering center...

Vatican releases book compiling pope’s theology of ecology (Crux)

Our Mother Earth: A Christian Reading of the Environmental Challenge

Vatican notes growing ecumenical consensus on what ‘church’ means (Crux)

Holy Spirit guides Church efforts to evangelize, pope says at audience (Crux)

The Holy Spirit guides the Catholic Church’s mission, pointing the way to evangelize new lands and opening people’s hearts to be transformed by Christ, Pope Francis said...The pope continued his series of talks on the Acts of the Apostles by looking at the Apostle Paul’s journey to Macedonia, which was inspired by a vision, guided by the Holy Spirit...Paul preaches to a group of women, he said, and Lydia, whose heart has been opened by God, listens, receives baptism with her family and offers Paul hospitality. It marks the start of evangelizing Europe, “a process of inculturation that continues still today”...

Death comes to those who forget it, pope says (Crux)

“Forgetting death is also its beginning, and a culture that forgets death begins to die from within,” the pope said. “A person who forgets death has already begun to die”...

In a secondary sense, Pope Francis delivers another homage to St. John XXIII (Crux)

Papacies are complicated things, and it’s always a mistake to reduce them to a single idea, source of inspiration or soundbite. That’s especially true when it comes to Pope Francis...

There’s a sense in which the Francis papacy can be understood as a sort of salsa-infused homage to St. John XXIII...

Pope Francis: The church must listen to ‘the cry of the poor’ (America Magazine)

the most important thing to emerge from the synod was the unequivocal commitment by the church in the nine countries of the Amazon region to seek new ways to preach the Gospel and to promote justice and stand in solidarity with its 34 million inhabitants in defense of their rights and against all forms of violence and exploitation that they now suffer. Synod participants were especially attentive to the treatment of the region’s 2.5 million indigenous peoples in voluntary isolation, that is, living in communities that shun contact with the industrialized world.

At the same time, the synod committed the church in the region to work for the protection of the Amazonian rain forest, since deforestation threatens the entire ecosystem...

Pope at All Souls’ Mass: The Christian’s place is in the wounded hands of God (Vatican News)

A timely reminder of the vulnerability, woundedness and weakness of our incarnated God, when there seem to be too many narratives of the Church Militant, Triumphant and comfortable floating around in some sections of the Church.

The Window of Vulnerability by Dorothee Soelle is a good book on this theme. Also The Crucified Jesus is no Stranger by Sebastian Moore, and even St Francis and the Foolishness of God by Marie Dennis et al.

Pope Francis: St. Paul Announced Christ to 'idol worshippers' Without Attacking Them (ACI Africa)

St. Paul announced Jesus Christ to “idol worshippers” in Athens without attacking them, but by building bridges, Pope Francis said Wednesday. “We also ask the Holy Spirit today to teach us to build bridges with culture, with those who do not believe or with those who have a creed different from ours. Always build bridges, always reach out, never aggression”...

In his weekly catechesis on the Acts of the Apostles, Pope Francis described St. Paul’s discourse on the Areopagus as an example of inculturation of the Catholic faith in Athens.

“In the heart of one of the most famous institutions of the ancient world, the Areopagus, he achieved an extraordinary example of inculturation of the message of faith: he announces Jesus Christ to idol worshipers, and he does not do so by attacking them, but by becoming … a builder of bridges,” Pope Francis said.

Paul “shudders inside to see a city full of idols,” the pope said, quoting Acts 17:16. He added that this encounter with paganism pushed St. Paul to “build a bridge of dialogue with the culture.”

Looking upon Athens with the eyes of faith, “drives him (Paul) to open a path between the Gospel and the pagan world.”

“In this way Paul observes culture, observes the environment of Athens starting from a contemplative gaze which discovers that it is God who lives in their houses, in their streets and in their squares,” he said.

Francis added: “This makes us wonder about our way of looking at our cities: Do we observe with indifference? With contempt? Or with the faith that recognizes the children of God in the midst of anonymous crowds?”

The pope explained that St. Paul revealed the true identity of the Athenian’s “unknown god” by beginning with creation. “That is, from biblical faith in the God of revelation, leading to redemption and judgment, that is, to the properly Christian message,” he said.

St. Paul “shows the disproportion between the greatness of the Creator and the temples made by man,” Francis said.

“In this way Paul, according to a beautiful expression of Pope Benedict XVI, ‘announces the One whom men ignore, yet they know: the Unknown-Known,’” he said.

Pope Francis said that Paul then invites the Athenians to “go beyond ‘the times of ignorance’ and to decide to convert in view of imminent judgement.”

The pope said that Paul’s announcement of the kerygma “arouses ridicule and derision” and “seems to have failed.” However, some adhered to his word and opened themselves to faith, among them, he said. “Among these is a man, Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus, and a woman, Damaris.”

“Even in Athens the Gospel takes root and can run with two voices: that of man and that of woman,” he said.

Pope recommends pastoral ‘closeness,’ urges bishops to be courageous (Crux)

Francis prays for reconciliation as South Sudan struggles to form coalition government (CNA)

Pope says he intends to go to South Sudan, urges dialogue (AP)

Pope Francis 'hopes to visit South Sudan next year' (BBC)

Pope announces visit to South Sudan (Vatican News)

Pope Francis: Inclusive Capitalism Leaves No One Behind (ACI Africa)

Pope Francis Monday called for the renewal and purification of existing economic models to be fair, trustworthy, and capable of extending opportunities to all, not only a few. “An inclusive capitalism that leaves no one behind, that discards none of our brothers or sisters, is a noble aspiration”...

Pope denounces increasing violence against Jewish people (Crux)

Pope Francis warned that violence against Jewish people, which reached a state of horror during World War II, is on the rise again...

Departing from his prepared remarks, the pope said that the world has “seen so many brutalities done against the Jewish people, and we were convinced that this was over... But today the habit of persecuting Jews is beginning to be reborn. Brothers and sisters: this is neither human nor Christian; the Jews are our brothers and sisters and must not be persecuted! Understood?”...

>70 John5918:

Pope, Anglican archbishop affirm desire to visit South Sudan together (Crux)

Vatican: Pope, Anglican head aim for joint South Sudan trip (AP)

Pope Francis: Catechism will be updated to define ecological sins (America Magazine)

Pope Francis said there are plans to include a definition of ecological sins in the church's official teaching...

Pope decries that “greed of a few” worsens poverty of others (Crux)

Pope Francis on Sunday decried that the “greed of a few” wealthy people is compounding the plight of the poor before sharing a meal with the jobless and the homeless that has become a tradition of his papacy...

Pope Francis calls use of nuclear weapons ‘immoral’ ahead of Japan trip (Catholic Herald)

Japan “is very aware of the suffering caused by war,” the pope said in his native Spanish. “Together with you, I pray that the destructive power of nuclear weapons will never be unleashed again in human history. Using nuclear weapons is immoral”...

Pax Christi International Statement On the Occasion of Pope Francis’ Visit to Japan, 23-26 November 2019

Pax Christi International (PCI) looks forward to this pastoral visit as one that will highlight not only the immorality of nuclear weapons but also the importance of nonviolence as a foundational ethic for building cultures of peace and sustainable development...

More must be done to include women in church bodies, pope says (Crux)

Where many saw sinners and evildoers, Jesus saw apostles (Vatican News)

Where many saw only a sinner, a blasphemer, a tax collector, an evildoer or even a traitor, Jesus was able to see apostles. Such is the beauty that his gaze invites us to proclaim, a gaze that transforms and brings out the best in others.” These words, which become flesh in the witness borne by so many Christians in every part of the world, are key to understanding mission as proposed by Francis... Jesus’ gaze is one that “shatters all determinisms, fatalisms and standards”...

Pope in Japan condemns those who invoke peace, but keep nuclear arms (Crux)

Dispute ideas, pope tells theologians, but don’t confuse the faithful (Crux)

Theologians must explore and debate disputed questions, at times even taking “risks” with what they propose, but those discussions should take place within the academy so as not to confuse the faithful, Pope Francis said.

“Theology must move forward,” the pope told members of the International Theological Commission. “It must face things that are not clear and take risks in discussion. However, this is among theologians.”

“You must give the solid food of faith to the people of God, not feed the people of God disputed questions”...

German Catholic Church Debates Sexuality, Celibacy and Women’s Roles (NYT)

The Roman Catholic Church in Germany has a split identity. At home, attendance is falling and many Germans say they regard the church’s teaching on social issues as hopelessly out of touch.

But globally, the German church is one of the most powerful — and liberal — regions of the Catholic world, a player whose wealth and theological influence are now creating a challenge for the entire church.

On Dec. 1, the German church’s international influence will be on display when its bishops begin a two-year-long series of meetings with lay leaders that will allow debate on hot-button issues that in many other corners of the church would be off limits, such as whether to accept homosexuality, end clerical celibacy and ordain women as priests.

The meetings carry no authority to actually change church doctrine...

Pope advances sainthood causes of Canadian missionary, Polish martyr (Crux)

These new prospective saints caught my eye as being particularly relevant - a bishop who ministered to First Nations peoples and migrant workers, a priest who was imprisoned and murdered by the Nazi SS, and 16 victims of the Spanish Civil War - reinforcing the Church's stance of standing with the poor, the vulnerable and the oppressed in the face of systemic marginalisation and oppression.

Catholicism’s Civil War Spills Into Bolivia (Foreign Policy)

The pope is reaching out to indigenous people, and the right aren’t happy...

The Vatican’s outreach to indigenous groups matters, especially within the context of a Latin American Catholicism that has often equated natives with the devil. As right-wing Bolivians celebrate the ouster of an indigenous president and the supposed return of the Bible to politics, these issues are not just ones of theological or doctrinal debate but are politically critical...

Church seeks what is best for those who are wounded, pope says (Crux)

The sacrament of marriage cannot be “improvised,” but must be prepared for, nourished and supported throughout the couple’s journey, Pope Francis said... on safeguarding marriage and on the pastoral care of “wounded couples”...

Pope Francis opens Advent season with Congolese rite Mass, warns against consumerism (America Magazine)

Pope Francis opened the season of Advent by warning against “consumerism, a virus that attacks the faith at its roots,” as he celebrated a festive Mass in the Congolese rite in Saint Peter’s Basilica on Dec. 1.

The Congolese Catholic community of Rome had invited him to celebrate with them on this special day in which they commemorated three important events...

The Congolese (originally Zairean) rite was started by the Congolese bishops in 1969 after the Second Vatican Council, and is an adaptation of the Roman rite. It was approved by the Congregation for Divine Worship in 1988, and uses dance, oral stylistic traditions, songs with traditional instruments and invocation of the saints and ancestors of upright hearts...

The Congolese choir concluded the celebration by singing the “Salve Regina” in Latin.

Pope Francis says he is ‘scandalized’ by anti-migrant rhetoric (Crux)

Pope Francis told Jesuits in Thailand he was "scandalized" by some of the anti-migrant rhetoric he hears in Europe, and he is convinced people are being manipulated into thinking the only way they can preserve their lifestyles is by building walls.

"The phenomenon of migration is compounded by war, hunger and a 'defensive mindset,' which makes us think only from a state of fear and that by reinforcing borders we can defend ourselves"...

The reference to "building walls" might also resonate in the USA.

Baltimore prelate calls narrative of tension between US bishops, pope bogus (Crux)

Having met with the pontiff for three hours Tuesday, Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore came away convinced the perception that Pope Francis doesn’t really like Americans very much is not only untrue, but that it’s being used both by the extreme right and left to sow division...

'The extreme right' chestnut.

>88 LesMiserables:

It actually says extreme right and left. Both do exist. Luckily, while you and I are arguably right and left respectively, neither of us would self-identify as "extreme", I would guess.

‘This is Francis:’ A Vatican photographer’s call from the pope (Catholic Herald)

Imagine that your cell phone rings, and the display says the call is from a “private number.” You expect it to be a telemarketer. But instead, when you answer, you hear a man with an Argentine accent say: “This is Francis. I received your letter”...

Pope calls idea of declaring Mary co-redemptrix ‘foolishness’ (Crux)

Pope Francis appeared to flatly reject proposals in some theological circles to add “co-redemptrix” to the list of titles of the Virgin Mary, saying the mother of Jesus never took anything that belonged to her son, and calling the invention of new titles and dogmas “foolishness.”

“She never wanted for herself something that was of her son,” Francis said. “She never introduced herself as co-redemptrix. No. Disciple,” he said, meaning that Mary saw herself as a disciple of Jesus...

today the “co-redemptrix” devotion tends to be strongest among more conservative Catholics.

What Francis said Thursday is in line with Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the Vatican’s doctrinal chief during most of St. John Paul II’ papacy, and now Pope emeritus Benedict XVI...

the then cardinal said: “The formula ‘co-redemptrix’ departs to too great an extent from the language of Scripture and of the Fathers, and therefore gives rise to misunderstandings.”

“Everything comes from Him {Christ}, as the Letter to the Ephesians and the Letter to the Colossians, in particular, tell us; Mary, too, is everything she is through Him,” Ratzinger said. “The word ‘co-redemptrix’ would obscure this origin. A correct intention being expressed in the wrong way”...

Another anti Marian slight.

>92 LesMiserables:

Why do you portray it as "anti Marian" and as a "slight"? It's a theological point, a bit arcane, and indeed it honours Mary for who she was rather than trying to add to that.

Latin America turns to Our Lady of Guadalupe in plea for peace (Crux)

I think this demonstrates another dynamic which people whose context is the US Catholic culture wars often do not understand, namely that much of the Church is not interested in polarisation and can hold positions which bridge the culture war gap. It is perfectly normal for Latin American Catholics to be progressive on issues of social justice and "conservative" on popular piety, including Marian devotion. Likewise, in many parts of Africa the Church is "conservative" theologically but is a champion of Catholic Social Teaching. In countries where HIV is a scourge bishops, even a cardinal, can accept the use of condoms for an HIV discordant married couple while still taking a "conservative" stance on Catholic sexual teaching, including birth control, in general. All of this is a result of the Church being incarnated into the concrete situations in which it finds itself. The truth of the faith has to be interpreted and implemented in concrete situations, not in the abstract nor in the situation of only one small part of the global and universal Church.

So once again, Pope Francis is not anti-Marian. He comes from a culture deeply immersed in Marian devotion. This is a particular theological issue, not part of some broad attack on Marian devotion and certainly not a "slight".

Why Greta, not Boris, may be the right way to assess Francis’s political impact (Crux)

Perhaps we can’t judge the impact of Pope Francis on politics by the usual measures, because, befitting his Argentinian populist outlook, he’s more interested in horizontal rather than vertical change...

Thunberg told the pope, “Thank you for standing up for the climate and speaking the truth. It means a lot.” For secularists long accustomed to thinking of religion as an obstacle to progress, it must indeed be a bit bewildering, but also encouraging, to know that the world’s most visible religious leader has their backs...

Francis’s own background as a Peronist populist in Argentina means he’s arguably even more sensitive to the dangers of politics being hijacked by elites (of whatever ideology) serving their own interests, and thus the importance of a strong and engaged civil society...

Last August, the Vatican published a book called The Emergence of Popular Movements: Rerum Novarum of Our Time, a reference to the 1891 social encyclical of Pope Leo XIII that launched modern Catholic social teaching. Clearly, the idea was to lift up popular movements as the most important embodiment of the Church’s social agenda in our time, with Francis calling them “a lever for profound social transformation” in his preface...

Pope ends 'secrecy' rule on child sexual abuse in Catholic church (Guardian)

Pope Francis has announced sweeping changes to the way the Roman Catholic church deals with cases of sexual abuse of children, abolishing the rule of pontifical secrecy that previously covered them.

Two documents issued by the pope back practices that have been in place in some countries, particularly the US, such as reporting suspicion of sexual abuse to civil authorities where required by law.

The documents, which put the practices into universal church law, also forbid imposing an obligation of silence on those who report sexual abuse or allege they have been a victim...

Pope says ‘rigidity, self-preservation’ must not impede reform of the Roman Curia (Crux)

In his annual end-of-year speech to the Roman Curia, Pope Francis Saturday outlined his top priorities for its reform, highlighting evangelization, communication and use of new media as well as the Church’s social agenda, and insisted that necessary changes not be bogged down by what he described as “rigidity” and a desire for “self-preservation.”

The agenda the pontiff sketched likely indicates the structure and mindset behind a looming apostolic constitution on the role and function of the Roman Curia, which Francis confirmed will be titled “Praedicate evangelium,” or “Preach the Gospel”...

Church Reform Takes Personal Conversion, Pope Francis Tells Roman Curia (ACI Africa)

To carry out the continuing reform of the Church requires a willingness to change and a commitment to personal conversion, Pope Francis said Saturday, during his annual Christmas greeting to the bishops and cardinals of the Roman Curia.

Francis quoted St. John Henry Newman, who said, “here on earth to live is to change, and perfection is the result of many transformations.”

“For Newman, change was conversion, that is, an inner transformation,” the pope said Dec. 21. “Christian life is actually a journey, a pilgrimage.”

The history of God’s people, the history of the Church, he continued, “has always been marked by departures, shifts, changes. The path, of course, is not purely geographical, but above all symbolic: it is an invitation to discover the movement of the heart which, paradoxically, needs to depart in order to remain, to change in order to be faithful”...

Pope: God loves even those who make 'a complete mess of things' (Guardian)

Pope Francis has delivered midnight Mass by saying the celebration of Jesus’s birth reminded humanity how “God continues to love us all, even the worst of us”.

The pontiff told crowds gathered at the Vatican on Christmas Eve: “You may have mistaken ideas, you may have made a complete mess of things, but the Lord continues to love you”...

Pope Francis: God still loves us all, even the worst of us (BBC)

Sinner or Saint – God Loves you, Pope Francis Says on Christmas Eve (ACI Africa)

A person’s weakness and sin does not change Christ’s love for them, and Catholics should strive to treat others the same way, serving anyone and not only those they consider worthy, Pope Francis said on Christmas Eve.

“God does not love you because you think and act the right way. He loves you, plain and simple. His love is unconditional; it does not depend on you”...

Pope ushers in Christmas with message of 'unconditional love' (Al Jazeera)

Pope Sends Special Christmas Message to South Sudanese Leaders (Voice of America)

Wednesday the pope also sent special wishes for peace and prosperity to the leaders of South Sudan. The joint Christmas message with Anglican Archbishop Justin Welby and the Reverend John Chalmers, former moderator of the Church of Scotland, assured South Sudanese leaders of their spiritual closeness as they strive for a swift implementation of the peace agreements reached for their country...

Pope Christmas message urges softening of 'self-centred hearts' (BBC)

The Pope has prayed for a softening of "stony and self-centred hearts" to help end injustice in the world, in his Christmas Day message.

From the Vatican balcony, Pope Francis spoke of "walls of indifference" being put up to people fleeing hardship in the hope of finding a better life.

The Pope prayed for those hit by conflict, natural disasters and disease, listing several countries...

Pope Francis on Christmas: Christ's light is greater than the darkness of world's conflicts (ACI Africa)

In his “Urbi et Orbi” blessing, Pope Francis said that the light of Christ is greater than the darkness of broken family relationships or the suffering endured in economic, geopolitical, and ecological conflicts...

Francis over Christmas muses on personal, not just structural, reform (Crux)

Over the centuries, papal rhetoric became a global standard-setter in indirection. Popes rarely acknowledged problems head-on - the Vatican could be burning down, but in public the most they’d ever concede would be oblique references to “difficult situations” and “sensitive matters.”

From the beginning, Pope Francis has been a break with this tradition, often using blunt speech more associated with country pastors than Successors of Peter. Yet in his two centerpiece messages for Christmas, Francis practiced a bit of indirection himself, indirectly sketching a parallel strategy for both ecclesiastical and social reform without ever quite saying so out loud.

In effect, Francis’s suggestion was this: Yes, by all means, let’s work for structural changes to deliver greater justice, peace and protection of human dignity, both in the Church and the world. But let’s not pretend we can change structures without first changing ourselves...

Continued in Francis, part 11 (2020)

A peaceful and blessed new year to all.