St. Arcadius. / Credit: Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jan 12, 2024 / 09:45 am (CNA).

On Jan. 12, the Church honors the feast days for several martyrs and groups of martyrs at a time in which Christians still face persecution and the threat of martyrdom at the hands of authoritarian governments and other hostile actors in many parts of the world.

“Invent what torments you please,“ St. Arcadius of Mauretania told a pagan judge who threatened him with torture if he would not offer a sacrifice to one of the false Roman gods in 302 A.D., according to Catholic.net.

“Nothing shall make me betray my God,” Arcadius said. “The fear of death will never make me fail in my duty.“

The judge ordered the torture and execution of Arcadius, which was carried out by chopping off his limbs. The martyr is one of many Christians who was put to death during the Roman persecution of Christians in the early fourth century.

“Learn from my torments,“ Arcadius is said to have told onlookers as he was dying. “Your gods are nothing. The only true God is the one for whom I am suffering and about to die. To die for him is to live.“

Jan. 12 also marks the feast days for three different groups of martyrs, spanning three different continents: the Martyrs of Ephesus in A.D. 762, in present-day Turkey; the Martyrs of Iona in A.D. 806, in present-day Scotland; and the Martyrs of Africa, whose specific date and location is unknown.

The Ephesus martyrs numbered between 40 and 50 monks who were persecuted under a fellow Christian, Byzantine Emperor Constantine V. They were killed for opposing the ruler’s adherence to and enforcement of the heresy of iconoclasm, which opposed the veneration of icons and manifested in the destruction of holy images throughout the East.

The Iona martyrs were more than 60 monks who were killed when Danish pirates raided the island, burned down the monastery, and slaughtered the occupants. This was one of many Viking raids on the British Isles by Norse pagans. 

Most of the details of the African martyrdom honored on Jan. 12 have been lost to history, but the feast honors about 50 soldiers who were killed for their faith.

Although these martyrdoms occurred more than 1,000 years ago, many Christians around the world still face the threat of martyrdom in 2024. 

According to a report from the Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need, more than 50% of the world’s population lives in a country in which state or nonstate actors persecute people for their religious beliefs.

In recent years, Nigeria has been one of the most dangerous spots for Christians. Just last month, Islamic terrorists launched an attack on Christian villages that left nearly 200 Nigerian Christians dead. During a 15-month period throughout 2021 and the first three months of 2022, more than 5,000 Christians were killed in attacks. 

A separate report from the watchdog group Open Doors found that the persecution of Christians is at its highest point in decades. Some of the worst government offenders are North Korea, Iran, and Pakistan. Christian persecution is also on the rise in other countries, such as India, where anti-conversion laws are leading to Christians being arrested, and Nicaragua, where the socialist regime is arresting members of the clergy who oppose the government and shutting down Catholic schools and media outlets.

In the beginning of his papacy, Pope Francis reminded the faithful that in many countries, Christians are still persecuted for their religion. 

“The age of martyrs is not yet over; even today we can say, in truth, that the Church has more martyrs now than during the first centuries,” the pontiff said. “The Church has many men and women who are maligned through calumny, who are persecuted, who are killed in hatred of Jesus, in hatred of the faith.”

Bernini's baldacchino at the papal Mass on Jan. 1, 2024. / Credit: Vatican Media

Rome Newsroom, Jan 11, 2024 / 13:15 pm (CNA).

The Vatican announced on Thursday that the soaring baldacchino over the main altar of St. Peter’s Basilica designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini 400 years ago will undergo a major restoration.

The ambitious restoration and conservation project, expected to be completed just before the start of the Catholic Church’s jubilee year in December, will require scaffolding to be set up around the canopy of the basilica’s main altar for nearly a year.

Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, the archpriest of St. Peter’s Basilica, has assured that papal liturgies will still be able to take place in the basilica amid the restoration work.

The 700,000 euro (about $768,000) restoration is being funded by the Knights of Columbus and will be carried out by the Vatican Museums’ expert art restorers.

Patrick Kelly, the head of the Knights of Columbus, was present in Rome for a press conference on Jan. 11 to announce the restoration in the basilica, calling the project “one of the greatest restorations” of the many that the Knights have funded at the Vatican in the past 40 years.

“It’s Bernini’s baldacchino … It’s a singular masterpiece of sacred art — one which is instantly recognizable and impressive,” Kelly said.

“But, if that weren’t enough, this project also fits very well with our mission and with our history of service to the Church, and especially, the successors of St. Peter.”

Pope Urban VIII commissioned Bernini in 1624 to design and build the enormous canopy over the Papal Altar of the Confession, located directly over the tomb of St. Peter the Apostle. 

With its twisted bronze columns, the baldacchino stretches 92 feet high. Intricately decorated with gilded Baroque angels, cherubs, bees, and laurel branches, the canopy took Bernini nine years to create with considerable help from his architectural rival, Francesco Borromini. 

The pope directed Bernini to dismantle and melt down bronze beams from Rome’s ancient Pantheon to help create the massive baldacchino, which in total weighs nearly 70 tons. The canopy was finally revealed to the public in 1633.

After visiting St. Peter’s Basilica in 1873, novelist Henry James described his encounter with the baldacchino: “You have only to stroll and stroll and gaze and gaze; to watch the glorious altar-canopy lift its bronze architecture, its colossal embroidered contortions, like a temple within a temple, and feel yourself, at the bottom of the abysmal shaft of the dome dwindle to a crawling dot.”

At the Vatican press conference, Pietro Zander, the head of the artistic and archeological patrimony of the basilica, explained that a preliminary investigation found that the baldacchino had a “degraded state of conservation” and that its entire surface is covered “with a dark coating,” which requires significant cleaning.

“The deterioration issues … are in part to the many visitors and pilgrims who flock to St. Peter's Basilica every day, changing its microclimate by their presence,” Zander said.

“The basilica welcomes up to 50,000 people every day,” he said. “Considerable microclimatic variations during the day and strong changes in temperature and humidity between day and night interact with the canopy, causing alterations and corrosion of the metal; oxidation of the iron supports and reinforcements; and expansion of the wooden parts with consequent lifting and detachment of layers on its surface.”

Zander indicated that further study of the “microclimate of the basilica” will also help to form a conservation plan for all of the artistic works in the basilica.

The restoration work will begin on Feb. 12, one day after Pope Francis is scheduled to preside over the canonization of Argentina’s first saint in a Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica. 

Alberto Capitanucci, who leads the technical team of “Fabric of St. Peter,” the office responsible for the conservation and maintenance of St. Peter’s Basilica, expects that it will take about four weeks to put up the scaffolding, which will enable a team of 10-12 experts to work each day on the restoration of the baldacchino.

The restoration in the basilica is one of many construction and restoration projects taking place across the city of Rome to prepare for the Church’s 2025 Jubilee Year.

Rome mayor Roberto Gualtieri has said that the Eternal City will become “an open-air construction site” in 2024 with 1,400 building projects planned in the city ahead of the jubilee, according to Italy’s Rai News.

Construction is already underway to create a new pedestrian-only wide walkway from Castel Sant’Angelo to the road leading to St. Peter’s Square, the via della Conciliazione, with a tunnel for cars underneath, a project expected to cost about $77 million.

The jubilee year will officially begin with the pope opening the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica in December 2024.

Mater Ecclesiae Monastery in the Vatican. / Credit: Krzysztof Golik, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

ACI Prensa Staff, Jan 9, 2024 / 18:30 pm (CNA).

Vatican City has new tenants: seven nuns from Argentina who, at the request of Pope Francis, will live in Mater Ecclesiae (“Mother of the Church”), the monastery where Pope Benedict XVI resided for almost a decade following his resignation from the papacy.

The group consists of six Benedictine nuns and their abbess who were previously living out their religious vocation at St. Scholastica Abbey in the town of Victoria, located in Buenos Aires province in the Diocese of San Isidro, Argentina.

The nuns landed in Rome on the morning of Jan. 3 and were received by Cardinal Fernando Vérguez Alzaga, president of the Governorate of Vatican City State, responsible for everything concerning the monastery.

Before heading to their new home, the Benedictine nuns visited the replica of the Lourdes Grotto in the Vatican Gardens to pray and sing before the image of the Virgin.

On Jan. 6, the nuns attended the Mass for the Epiphany in St. Peter’s Basilica. At the end of the liturgy, Pope Francis greeted them: “Welcome with all my heart. You are going to bring spirituality, thank you very much,” the Holy Father said to the nuns.

The purpose of Mater Ecclesiae

As reported by the Holy See, Pope Francis in a letter dated Oct. 1, 2023, ordered that the place “return to its original purpose,” which is for “contemplative orders to support the Holy Father in his daily concern for the entire Church, through the ministry of prayer, adoration, praise, and reparation, thus being a prayerful presence in silence and solitude.”

The Argentine Benedictine nuns “generously accepted the invitation.”

The place that was the last residence of Benedict XVI, located among the hills of these gardens, was erected as a women’s monastery of contemplative life with the title of Mater Ecclesiae by St. John Paul II in 1994.

Between 1994 and 2012, four communities — the Poor Clares, the Discalced Carmelites, the Benedictines, and the Visitation nuns — in turn lived there.

In 2013, after Benedict XVI’s historic resignation from the papacy, the monastery became his residence, where he remained until his death on Dec. 31, 2022, in the company of Archbishop Georg Gänswein and four consecrated women.

St. Scholastica Abbey in Victoria

The St. Scholastica Abbey in Victoria was founded in 1941. Almost three years earlier, the construction of their church had begun on the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, on Dec. 8, 1938, at the urging of the prior of the St. Benedict Abbey in Buenos Aires, Father Andrés Azcárate.

The nuns who were to move to Argentina received their formation at St. Mary’s Abbey in São Paulo, Brazil. In September 1941, “four Brazilians who had taken their solemn vows, six Argentines with temporary vows, and one other sister” left for Argentina, forming the founding community, as detailed on its website.

In 1946, the monastery was raised to the status of an abbey with Mother Plácida de Oliveira being named the first abbess. She died in 1948 and was succeeded by Mother Mectildis Cecilia Santangelo. In 1977, Mother María Leticia Riquelme was appointed abbess, with special permission as she was not yet 35 years old, and she launched three other foundations in Argentina.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

Pope Francis greets Archbishop Charles Scicluna. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Jan 8, 2024 / 12:13 pm (CNA).

A Vatican official has said that he thinks the Catholic Church’s priestly celibacy requirement in the Latin rite should be revised.

Archbishop Charles Scicluna, who serves as the archbishop of Malta and is an assistant secretary at the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, said in an interview published Jan. 7 that the Church should “think seriously about” changing the Western discipline.

“If it were up to me, I would revise the requirement that priests have to be celibate,” he said, according to a captioned Maltese-language video interview by the Times of Malta.

“This is probably the first time I’m saying it publicly and it will sound heretical to some people,” he added.

The 64-year-old archbishop said that the Church should learn from the Eastern Churches, which allow married men the option to get ordained to the priesthood.

“Why should we lose a young man who would have made a fine priest, just because he wanted to get married? And we did lose good priests just because they chose marriage,” he said.

Scicluna, who has personally handled multiple investigations into clerical sex abuse on behalf of the Vatican’s doctrine office, made the comments when asked about Catholic priests in Malta who have secret relationships and have fathered illegitimate children.

“This is a global reality; it doesn’t just happen in Malta. We know there are priests around the world who also have children and I think there are ones in Malta who may have too,” Scicluna said.

“A man may mature, engage in relationships, love a woman. As it stands, he must choose between her and priesthood, and some priests cope with that by secretly engaging in sentimental relationships,” he said.

Scicluna, who was a delegate at the Synod on Synodality assembly last fall, added that he has previously spoken openly in Rome about his views on priestly celibacy.

Priestly celibacy discussed at Synod on Synodality

The requirement of priestly celibacy was openly discussed at the 2019 Synod of Bishops on the Pan-Amazon region, but in the end, Pope Francis chose not to mention celibacy in his postsynodal apostolic exhortation.

The topic came up again during the 2023 Synod on Synodality assembly at the Vatican in October. The assembly’s synthesis report has asked whether it is necessary to maintain the discipline of priestly celibacy in the Latin rite of the Catholic Church and called for the question to be taken up again in the next assembly in October 2024, noting that “different assessments were expressed” on the topic during the first synod assembly.

Pope Francis on priestly celibacy

In an interview for a book published in October, Pope Francis pushed back against the idea that changes to Church practice such as introducing female deacons or optional priestly celibacy would help boost vocations.

Asked about women’s ordination bringing “more people closer to the Church” and optional priestly celibacy helping with priest shortages, Pope Francis said he does not share these views.

“Lutherans ordain women, but still few people go to church,” Pope Francis said. “Their priests can marry, but despite that, they can’t grow the number of ministers. The problem is cultural. We should not be naive and think that programmatic changes will bring us the solution.”

“Mere ecclesiastical reforms do not serve to solve underlying issues. Rather, paradigmatic changes are what is needed,” he added, pointing to his 2019 letter to German Catholics for further considerations on the issue.

null / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

Rome Newsroom, Jan 8, 2024 / 11:30 am (CNA).

A 1998 book by Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández featuring provocative, sexually-charged themes has resurfaced, likely adding further scrutiny to the already embattled prefect of the Vatican’s doctrine office.

Titled “Mystical Passion: Spirituality and Sensuality,” the 26-year-old work includes graphic descriptions of human sexual relations and discussion of what the Argentinian theologian describes as “mystical orgasm.”

The nearly 100-page-long book also depicts in detail an imaginary erotic encounter with Jesus Christ on the shores of Galilee, which Fernández said was based on a spiritual experience disclosed to him by a 16-year-old girl.

The book, originally published in Mexico, was brought to renewed attention on Jan. 8 by Caminante Wanderer, a traditionalist Catholic blog based in Argentina, which described “Mystical Passion” as “imprudent” and “an occasion of sin” for potential readers.

Similarly, the Italian traditionalist website Messa in Latino said the book was “truly scandalous and apparently blasphemous.”

Fernández did not respond to a request for comment by EWTN News before publication.

This is not the first time that a book with a sexual focus previously published by the Argentinian theologian has caused controversy.

When Fernández was appointed to head the Dicastery of the Doctrine of the Faith in July 2023, his 1995 book “Heal Me With Your Mouth: The Art of Kissing” resurfaced and was the subject of significant criticism.

The book was criticized for its erotic themes and depictions, and many suggested the work was inappropriate for a celibate priest.

For his part, Fernández said he had no regrets about writing “Heal Me With Your Mouth,” which he described as “a pastor’s catechesis for teens,” “not a theology book.”

Similar to “Heal Me With Your Mouth,” “Mystical Passion” does not appear on the official list of Fernández’s publications circulated by the Vatican when he was announced as the new DDF head.

Much of “Mystical Passion” focuses on the Church’s tradition of divine love, with a particular focus on how divine ecstasy can be experienced not only spiritually but also bodily. Fernández cites heavily from saints and mystics such as Augustine, John of the Cross, Teresa of Ávila, and Blessed Angela of Foligno.

“The testimonies of the mystics show us that the relationship with God can also beneficially affect the erotic level of man, up to his sexuality,” Fernández writes.

The relationship between human sexual relations and intimacy with God has long been explored in the Catholic Church, including in works such as St. John Paul II’s theology of the body catechesis.

However, Fernández’s work stands apart for its graphic descriptions and its focus on sexual pleasure as not merely allegorical for divine union but constitutive of it, particularly in the works’ later chapters.

Fernández’s description of “an experience of love, a passionate encounter with Jesus, that a sixteen-year-old-teenager [girl] told me about,” comes in the book’s sixth chapter, “My Beautiful, Come.”

The passage speaks of encountering Christ at the Sea of Galilee as he bathes and lies in the sand, and includes a lengthy description of kissing and caressing his body from head to toe.

Throughout the passage, the Blessed Mother is depicted as standing by and approvingly allowing the encounter to take place.

The book’s final section focuses on the human orgasm and its connection to divine intimacy, often utilizing graphic, provocative descriptions.

For instance, in a chapter titled “Male and Female Orgasm,” Fernández provides an extensive, detailed description of sexual intercourse, offering his assessment of differences in male and female preferences and experiences of orgasm.

However, Fernández goes on to conclude that “in the mystical experience God touches the most intimate center of love and pleasure, a center where it does not matter much whether we are male or female.”

In the chapter “The Road to Orgasm,” Fernandez seems to suggest that the saints experienced sexual pleasure in their mystical unions with God.

“Some saints began to have inebriating experiences of God shortly after their conversion, or at the same conversion; others, like Saint Teresa of Ávila, achieved these experiences after many years of spiritual dryness. Saint Therese of Lisieux, although she felt tenderly loved by God, never had very ‘sensual’ experiences of his love, and it seems that she only achieved an overflowing and passionate joy at the moment of her death, when her face was transfigured and she said her last words: ‘I love you, oh my God, I love you!’”

The cardinal also seems to address sexual relations between people of the same sex.

After writing that an experience of divine love will not necessarily “mean, for example, that a homosexual will necessarily stop being homosexual,” Fernández notes “that God’s grace can coexist with weaknesses and even with sins, when there is a very strong conditioning. In those cases, the person can do things that are objectively sinful, without being guilty, and without losing the grace of God or the experience of his love.”

After reflecting on how persons can reach “a kind of fulfilling orgasm in our relationship with God,” the cardinal writes in the chapter “God in the couple’s orgasm” that God can be present “when two human beings love each other and reach orgasm; and that orgasm, experienced in the presence of God, can also be a sublime act of worship of God.”

While Fernández speaks of “couples” in his description of sexual relations, he rarely explicitly mentions valid marriages, which the Church teaches is the only context in which sexual relations are licit.

In another passage, the now-DDF head condemns masturbation as selfish but describes authentic sexual relations as only vaguely “open to others,” with no mention of openness to generating new life.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that sexual relations in marriage “remain ordered per se to the procreation of human life” and describes both the unitive and procreative significance as “both inherent to the marriage act.”

In one particularly graphic passage, Fernández cites the 15th-century Muslim theologian Al Sounouti, who offered praise to God for making men’s reproductive organs “as hard and straight as spears” so that they can “wage war” on the corresponding body parts of women.

Discussion of Fernández’s 1998 book comes at a time when the Argentinian prelate’s leadership of the DDF has come under significant scrutiny following the Dec. 18 publication of guidance on the possibility of blessing same-sex couples. The Vatican document, Fiducia Supplicans, has widely been criticized for ambiguity and for failing to engage in wider consultation with the world’s bishops before publication.

On Jan. 4, Fernández issued an unprecedented 2,000-word press release clarification of Fiducia Supplicans. The clarification came after worldwide pushback, with entire episcopal conferences in Africa and Eastern Europe and individual bishops in Latin America, Europe, and the United States stating that they would not allow the described blessings in their jurisdictions.

A longtime theological adviser to Pope Francis, Fernández was made a cardinal by the pope on Sept. 30, 2023, shortly after he began his duties at the DDF. In his letter announcing the appointment, Pope Francis wrote that he expected Fernández to promote “theological knowledge” rather than focus on disciplining “doctrinal errors.”

Pope Francis baptizes babies in the Sistine Chapel on Jan. 7, 2024. / Credit; Vatican Media

Vatican City, Jan 7, 2024 / 07:30 am (CNA).

Pope Francis baptized babies in the Sistine Chapel on Sunday and encouraged parents not to worry if their children cry or fuss during Mass.

On the feast of the Baptism of the Lord on Jan. 7, the pope baptized 16 babies and presided over Mass beneath Michelangelo’s frescoes.

In a brief off-the-cuff homily, the pope said that baptism is “the most beautiful gift” that parents can give to their children.

Pope Francis baptizes babies in the Sistine Chapel on Jan. 7, 2024. Credit: Vatican Media

“We are here to baptize, to give the gift of faith to our babies. And they are the protagonists in this ceremony — they can speak, they can walk, they can shout … because this is their celebration. They will receive the most beautiful gift, the gift of faith, the gift of the Lord,” Pope Francis said.

“They are the protagonists because they will also give us today the testimony of how to receive faith: with innocence, with openness of heart,” he added.

Following the homily, the Sistine Chapel choir sang the Litany of the Saints in preparation for the baptisms.

Pope Francis used a golden shell-shaped cup to pour baptismal water over the head of each baby beneath the 48-foot high fresco of Michelangelo’s “The Last Judgment.”

Pope Francis baptizes babies in the Sistine Chapel on Jan. 7, 2024. Credit: Vatican Media

The pope told parents to let their babies cry during the Mass, joking that once one baby cries then “the concert will begin.”

Archbishop Fernando Vérgez Alzaga, president of the Governorate of Vatican City State, served as the main celebrant of the Mass with Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, the papal almoner, concelebrating.

Krajewski also helped to clothe each child in a white garment after their baptism to symbolize that the child has “put on Christ” and risen with the Lord.

Pope Francis baptizes babies in the Sistine Chapel on Jan. 7, 2024. Credit: Vatican Media

The feast of the Baptism of the Lord commemorates Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan River by St. John the Baptist.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church describes baptism as the “basis of the whole Christian life, the gateway to life in the Spirit ... and the door which gives access to the other sacraments.”

St. John Paul II began the papal tradition of baptizing children in the Sistine Chapel on the feast of the Baptism of the Lord on Jan. 11, 1981.

Pope Francis baptizes babies in the Sistine Chapel on Jan. 7, 2024. Credit: Vatican Media

The ceremony initially took place in the Pauline Chapel of the Apostolic Palace but was moved to the Sistine Chapel in 1983.

The event was reserved at first for babies of Swiss Guards but later expanded to include the children of Vatican employees.

To qualify, children have to be under one year of age and their parents must be married in the Church. Each child is accompanied in the Sistine Chapel by his or her parents, siblings, godfather, and godmother.

The family groups attend a rehearsal before the ceremony. During the event, the Vatican provides baby-changing tables in a nearby room in the Apostolic Palace.

In his homily on Jan. 7, 2024, for the feast of the Baptism of the Lord, Pope Francis encouraged parents not to worry if their children cry or fuss during Mass. Credit: Vatican Media

Pope Francis reminded the godparents present of their responsibility to help the newly baptized babies to grow in faith.

“I ask you to accompany them as they grow because this is a great way to help so that faith grows in them,” he said. “Thank you so much for your witness, for bringing them here to receive the faith.”

Pope Francis baptizes babies in the Sistine Chapel on Jan. 7, 2024. Credit: Vatican Media

At the end of the Mass, Pope Francis encouraged the parents to have their children celebrate the date of their baptism each year like a birthday.

“Let them know the date of the baptism. It is the date of birth. The date of birth is like a birthday. At baptism, I became a Christian. Teach this to children to celebrate it every year,” he said.

Pope Francis meets with a delegation from the Society of Catholic Publicists of Germany on the 75th anniversary of its foundation Jan. 4, 2024, at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media

ACI Prensa Staff, Jan 5, 2024 / 18:30 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis said people working in Catholic media must not refrain from being involved in the evangelizing mission of the Church and that, therefore, “they cannot remain ‘neutral’ with respect to the message they convey.”

The pontiff made his remarks at a Jan. 4 audience with a delegation from the Society of Catholic Publicists of Germany on the 75th anniversary of its foundation.

According to Vatican News, the Holy Father also explained that “interreligious dialogue, ecumenism, and the defense of peace, freedom, and human dignity” should be the goals of communication professionals, especially if they are Catholic.

“How many conflicts today, instead of being extinguished by dialogue, are fueled by fake news or inflammatory statements in the media! That’s why it’s all the more important that you, strong in your Christian roots and in living the faith daily, ‘demilitarized’ in your heart by the Gospel, support the disarmament of language,” the pope said in his discourse, which he gave in writing to the delegation.

To achieve this “demilitarization” of language, he shared four guidelines that Catholics in the media can put into practice: “Foster a tone of peace and understanding, build bridges, be available to listen, and engage in respectful communication toward others and their reasons.”

He also noted that Catholic journalists have a fundamental role to play in situations involving tension and disputes by “providing correct information” to resolve misunderstandings and contributing to the construction of peace in society, “helping mutual understanding and not setting people in opposition to each other.”

Pope Francis was also emphatic in asking Catholic journalists not to be turned in on themselves but to go out and “bring the Christian message to all areas of life” using the enormous resources, platforms, and communication tools available to the modern world. 

“A Church concerned above all with itself becomes ill with self-referentiality,” he warned.

In that regard, the pontiff pointed to the weakest in society as the center of attention of communication professionals. In these peripheries, Pope Francis commented, is found “the God of love, waiting for the good news of our charity.” The Holy Father pointed out the need for journalists “who highlight the stories and faces of those to whom few or no one pays attention.”

Catholics in the media should “always think of the faces of the people, especially the poor and the simple, and start from them, their reality, their dramas, and their hopes, even if doing so means going against the current” and sparing no effort, he concluded.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

Cardinal Angelo Becciu. / Credit: Claude Truong Ngoc, CC BY SA 40 via Wikimedia Commons

Vatican City, Jan 5, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).

After being convicted on several counts of embezzlement of Vatican funds, Cardinal Angelo Becciu gave a New Year’s Eve homily recommending the congregation draw up “a balance sheet” of one’s personal life before God, according to an Italian media outlet.

Becciu, who was sentenced to five and a half years in prison by the Vatican’s criminal court on Dec. 16, celebrated Christmas in his hometown on the Italian island of Sardinia and presided over a Mass in the Cathedral of the Blessed Immaculate Virgin of Ozieri on Dec. 31.

“Recalling the past means drawing up a balance sheet of our personal lives before God, without closing our eyes to the issues that grip the society in which we live both locally and universally,” Becciu said in his homily, according to the Italian Catholic blog Korazym.org.

“It also means having a calm and practical look at that reality, that mystery, which we hold most dear: the Church of God,” he said.

The cardinal was also welcomed as a “guest of honor” at a celebratory dinner with the poor after the Mass by Bishop Corrado Melis of Ozieri, who vehemently defended Becciu in a letter to his diocese after he was found guilty by a Vatican tribunal.

In addition to finding Becciu guilty of embezzlement of funds from the Vatican property deal in London, judges in the Vatican trial also convicted the cardinal for using Vatican money to pay Cecilia Marogna, a Sardinian woman who was employed by Becciu as a security consultant, and of embezzlement for sending 125,000 euros of Vatican money to a charity run by his brother in Sardinia.

Becciu has denied all wrongdoing and his lawyers have announced that the cardinal will appeal the ruling in the Vatican’s yearslong finance trial. 

Due to the appeal, the cardinal remains free as he awaits the appeal process for his case per Italian incarceration procedures for convicted criminals who have not committed violent crimes or are a flight risk. 

None of the other five people who received jail sentences at the end of the Vatican’s finance trial are currently behind bars, and it is expected that the appeals process could take at least a year for a new trial to conclude.

Becciu told the Sardinian television station TGR Sardinia after presiding over Christmas Mass at the parish church of Santa Sabina in his hometown of Pattada, Sardinia, that he felt “an affectionate welcome” on the island after his conviction.

Sardinian Bishop Melis published an emotional letter on the website of the Diocese of Ozieri immediately following the Vatican ruling saying that the sentence imposed on Becciu — whom he refers to endearingly in Italian as “Don Angelino” — caused him “immense suffering, … bitterness, and disorientation.”

“To dear Don Angelino I remember a phrase dear to Charles de Foucauld: ‘The cross is the daily bread of faithful souls,’” the bishop said.

St. Peter's Dome. / Credit: dade72 via Shutterstock

Vatican City, Jan 4, 2024 / 10:10 am (CNA).

The Vatican’s doctrine office issued a response on Thursday to “clarify the reception of Fiducia Supplicans” amid widespread international backlash to the Vatican’s recent declaration on same-sex blessings.

Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF), published a five-page press release on Jan. 4 that refers to Fiducia Supplicans as “perennial doctrine” and underlines that pastoral blessings of couples in irregular situations should not be “an endorsement of the life led by those who request them.”

Fernández said that the responses he has received from bishops’ conferences around the world to the declaration highlight “the need for a more extended period of pastoral reflection” and that what is expressed in these bishops’ statements “cannot be interpreted as doctrinal opposition because the document is clear and definitive about marriage and sexuality.”

“There is no room to distance ourselves doctrinally from this declaration or to consider it heretical, contrary to the Tradition of the Church, or blasphemous,” the cardinal said, pointing to a few paragraphs in the text of the original declaration that affirms the Church’s doctrine on marriage. You can read the full text of the press release at the bottom of this story.

The clarification was published two and a half weeks after the Dec. 18 publication of Fiducia Supplicans, which prompted strong backlash from bishops in several African and Eastern European countries as well as confusion and division from other parts of the world.

Some bishops have welcomed the declaration, some are approaching it with caution, and others are refusing to implement it.

In the press release, published in six languages, Fernández provides one “concrete example” of what the spontaneous “pastoral blessings” might look like in practice, explaining that they should only last “about 10 or 15 seconds.”

“Since some have raised the question of what these blessings might look like, let us look at a concrete example: Let us imagine that among a large number making a pilgrimage a couple of divorced people, now in a new union, say to the priest: ‘Please give us a blessing, we cannot find work, he is very ill, we do not have a home and life is becoming very difficult: May God help us!” he said.

“In this case, the priest can recite a simple prayer like this: ‘Lord, look at these children of yours, grant them health, work, peace, and mutual help. Free them from everything that contradicts your Gospel and allow them to live according to your will. Amen.’ Then it concludes with the sign of the cross on each of the two persons.”

Fernández said that priests giving these types of blessings should “not impose conditions” or “enquire about the intimate lives of these people.”

He added that “this non-ritualized form of blessing, with the simplicity and brevity of its form, does not intend to justify anything that is not morally acceptable.”

“It remains clear, therefore, that the blessing must not take place in a prominent place within a sacred building, or in front of an altar, as this also would create confusion,” Fernández added in the clarification.

The press release did not mention anything about cases in which priests have already violated the terms stipulated in the Fiducia Supplicans declaration, which requires that blessings be spontaneous and cannot be a “blessing similar to a liturgical rite that can create confusion.”

The cardinal emphasized that the “real novelty of this declaration” is “the invitation to distinguish between two different forms of blessings: ‘liturgical or ritualized’ and ‘spontaneous or pastoral.’”

“The central theme … is to have a broader understanding of blessings and of the proposal that these pastoral blessings, which do not require the same conditions as blessings in a liturgical or ritual context, flourish. Consequently, leaving polemics aside, the text requires an effort to reflect serenely, with the heart of shepherds, free from all ideology,” he said.

The DDF’s press release says that the same-sex blessing declaration may require more time for its application “depending on local contexts and the discernment of each diocesan bishop with his diocese.”

“In some places, no difficulties arise for their immediate application, while in others it will be necessary not to introduce them, while taking the time necessary for reading and interpretation,” Fernández said.

The cardinal added that it is fine that some bishops have, for example, established that priests perform these blessings only in private, so long as this is “expressed with due respect for a text signed and approved by the Supreme Pontiff himself, while attempting in some way to accommodate the reflection contained in it.”

The clarification also notes that in countries where there are “laws that condemn the mere act of declaring oneself as a homosexual with prison and in some cases with torture and even death, it goes without saying that a blessing would be imprudent.”

The press release was signed by Fernández and Monsignor Armando Matteo, the secretary for the doctrinal section of the dicastery.

“We will all have to become accustomed to accepting the fact that, if a priest gives this type of simple blessings, he is not a heretic, he is not ratifying anything nor is he denying Catholic doctrine,” it said.

“We can help God’s people to discover that these kinds of blessings are just simple pastoral channels that help people give expression to their faith, even if they are great sinners. For this reason, in giving a blessing to two people who come together to ask for it spontaneously, we are not consecrating them nor are we congratulating them nor indeed are we approving that type of union.”

Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/ACI Prensa

Rome Newsroom, Jan 3, 2024 / 18:20 pm (CNA).

Amid significant confusion about the Vatican’s recent guidance on same-sex blessings, the document’s architect has lashed out at those advancing the most liberal interpretation: Catholic leadership in Germany. 

Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) and longtime theological adviser to Pope Francis, described Fiducia Supplicans as a “clear answer” to German plans to formalize liturgical blessings for same-sex couples, a move that is explicitly forbidden by the Dec. 18 guidance.

“It is not the answer that people in two or three countries would like to have,” Fernández said of Fiducia Supplicans in a Jan. 3 interview with the German Catholic newspaper Die Tagespost. “Rather, it is a pastoral response that everyone could accept, albeit with difficulty.” 

The Vatican’s guidance proposes the possibility of “spontaneous blessings” for same-sex couples and those in “irregular relations” but “without officially validating their status or changing in any way the Church’s perennial teaching on marriage.” To avoid confusion, Fiducia Supplicans prohibits the promotion of formalized blessings and the use of any clothing or symbols that could give the impression of a marital blessing. 

Members of the controversial German Synodal Way, a collaboration between the German Bishops’ Conference (DBK) and a powerful lay lobby (ZdK), overwhelmingly approved developing formalized ritual texts for same-sex blessings at a March 2023 assembly in Frankfurt.

Since then, several German bishops have greenlighted public blessings of same-sex couples in their dioceses. And following the publication of Fiducia Supplicans, ZdK vice president Birgit Mock said the Church in Germany would not scrap its plans to develop a formal text of same-sex blessings, despite the guidance’s prohibitions.

Fernández suggested that some German Catholics may fail to appreciate the perspectives of Catholics in other parts of the world on questions related to sexuality.

“Listening to some reflections made in the context of the German Synodal Path, it sometimes seems that a part of the world feels particularly ‘enlightened’ to understand what the other poor wretches are unable to grasp because they are closed or medieval, and then this ‘enlightened’ part naively believes that thanks to it, the whole universal Church is reformed and freed from the old schemes,” Fernández told Die Tagespost.

Similarly, the DDF head suggested that some German Catholic leaders don’t appreciate Pope Francis’ effort to maintain Church unity.

“Some German bishops do not seem to understand that a liberal or enlightened pope could not guarantee this communion among Germans, Africans, Asians, Latin Americans, Russians, and so on,” Fernández said. “A ‘pastoral’ pope, on the other hand, is able to do this,” because he preserves Church teaching while allowing it “to enter into dialogue with the concrete, often so wounded lives of the faithful.”

Fernández also directly challenged the Synodal Way’s basis for trying to radically change Church teaching and practice related to sexuality and governance, namely, the need to address the systemic causes of the sexual abuse crisis. 

“To believe that in one part of the world the crisis caused by sexual abuse can be solved by decisions that are contrary to the teaching of the universal Church is, in my opinion, not even reasonably justified,” Fernández said, noting that “some non-Catholic Christian communities” with differing understandings of sexuality and authority are also plagued by problems related to sex abuse. 

The publication of Fiducia Supplicans has been marked by widespread confusion and conflicting interpretations, with bishops in countries throughout Africa and Eastern Europe banning the proposed blessings in their jurisdictions, while prelates in countries like Germany have characterized the document as an affirmation of their push for change. 

Wednesday’s interview was not the first time Fernández has addressed the impact of Fiducia Supplicans, including its significance for the Catholic Church in Germany. 

In a Dec. 23 interview, he told The Pillar that some episcopates’ advancement of ritualized blessings of irregular couples is “inadmissible” and that “they should reformulate their proposal in that regard.” 

The Argentinian also said that he is “planning a trip to Germany to have some conversations that I believe are important.”

In the Die Tagespost interview, the cardinal also discussed the Vatican’s ongoing dialogues with DBK representatives. Two have occurred already, with the next set to take place in Rome this month. 

Fernández reaffirmed that discussion of changes to Church teaching on sexuality and male-only holy orders will not be on the table in further meetings, something already expressed to the DBK in an October letter from Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin. However, the DDF head suggested that “the door remains open” to discuss how reformable aspects of the issues involved “can be deepened” and possibly lead to “a pastoral development” similar to Fiducia Supplicans. 

The cardinal also addressed the German Church leadership’s ongoing preparations to establish a governing “synodal council” of bishops and laity — which was forbidden by senior Vatican leadership in a January 2023 letter explicitly approved by Pope Francis. 

The synodal committee laying the groundwork for the synodal council held its first meeting Nov. 10–11, though it was boycotted by four German ordinaries, while an additional four were not able to attend, citing scheduling conflicts. The DBK is set to vote on adopting the committee’s statutes at its February plenary session in Augsburg. Fernández emphasized patience in his Die Tagespost interview. 

The condition of continuing dialogue between the Vatican and the DBK, he said, is that “we do not continue to make decisions that will only be discussed at further meetings.” 

“We must remember that ‘time is worth more than space,’” he said, citing Evangelii Gaudium, Pope Francis’ 2013 apostolic exhortation that Fernández is believed to have ghostwritten. “So let’s stay calm and think about the bigger picture.” 

Father Ramon Guidetti has been excommunicated by his local bishop for saying in a homily that Pope Francis “is not the pope” and calling him “a usurper.” / Credit: Screenshot from Radio Domina NostraYouTube channel, Jan. 3, 2024

Rome Newsroom, Jan 3, 2024 / 11:08 am (CNA).

An Italian priest has been excommunicated by his local bishop for saying in a homily that Pope Francis “is not the pope” and calling him “a usurper.”

The Diocese of Livorno in Tuscany issued a decree on Jan. 1 notifying Catholics that Father Ramon Guidetti “publicly committed a schismatic act” during Mass and has ipso facto incurred “latae sententiae excommunication,” or an automatic excommunication.

Bishop Simone Giusti informed his diocese that Catholics are not to attend any Masses offered by the excommunicated priest or they would also “incur the very serious penalty of excommunication.”

The bishop cited Canon 751, which defines schism as “the refusal of submission to the Supreme Pontiff or of communion with the members of the Church subject to him.”

A video uploaded to YouTube shows Guidetti calling Pope Francis a “usurper” and a “freemason” in his homily given on Dec. 31, 2023, to mark the one-year anniversary of Benedict XVI’s death.

In the homily, the priest further denied that Pope Francis has been the pope for the last decade.

Guidetti, 48, had served since 2017 as a parish priest of the Church of San Ranieri, located outside of the coastal city of Livorno about 150 miles north of Rome.

According to a local paper in Livorno, the bishop met with Guidetti before Christmas to discuss his dissent and proceeded with the official excommunication decree after the priest’s public act of schism on Dec. 31.

Nahida Anton and her daughter Samar Anton were killed as they were walked to the Missionaries of Charity convent in the compound of Holy Family Parish in Gaza on Dec. 16, 2023. / Credit: Father Gabriel Romanelli/Facebook

CNA Staff, Jan 2, 2024 / 18:36 pm (CNA).

Twenty Catholic missionaries were murdered in 2023, according to a new Dec. 30 report issued by the Vatican’s Fides News Agency.

Fides, the news agency of the Pontifical Mission Societies, arrived at that number by calculating “all baptized engaged in the life of the Church who died in a violent way, not only ‘in hatred of the faith.’”

The agency said that most of the missionaries shared the traits of living a “normal life” and did “not carry out any sensational actions or out-of-the ordinary deeds that could have attracted attention and put them in someone’s crosshairs.”

“They found themselves, through no fault of their own, victims of kidnappings, acts of terrorism, involved in shootings or violence of various kinds,” the report said. 

Among those who were killed were two U.S. clergymen: Los Angeles Auxiliary Bishop David O’Connell and Nebraska parish priest Father Stephen Gutgsell.

The news agency reported that one bishop, eight priests, two non-religious men, one seminarian, one novice, and seven laypersons made up the missionaries murdered in the last year.

The number of murders represents an increase over 2022, when 18 missionaries were killed. 

Africa

Nine missionaries were killed in Africa, the continent that saw the most such murders in 2023. Of the nine, five were priests, two were religious men, one was a seminarian, one was a novice. 

Of these, four were killed in Nigeria. In recent months, a monk, Brother Godwin Eze, was kidnapped and brutally murdered at the Benedictine monastery in Eruku, Nigeria. 

In Burkina Faso, two men, a priest and religious brother, were killed. In the western African country of Tanzania, one priest, Father Pamphili Nada, died after his parish was attacked. 

In Cameroon, Brother Cyprian Ngeh was stabbed to death, and in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a priest, Father Léopold Feyen, was also stabbed to death. 

Mexico and U.S.

Six missionaries were killed in the Americas in 2023, with all of the murders occurring in either Mexico or the United States. The deaths included one bishop, three priests, and two laywomen. Two catechists were killed on their way to a Eucharistic procession in the Mexican state of Oaxaca.

In the United States, Bishop O’Connell was killed in his home. Charges were filed against his housekeeper’s husband. Father Gutgsell was stabbed in his Church rectory; an arrest has been made and charges filed in that case as well. 

Asia

Four laypeople were killed in Asia in the past year. 

Two of those murders happened in the Philippines. Two Catholic college students, Junrey Barbante and Janine Arenas, were killed when a bomb went off during a Eucharistic celebration at the State University of Mindanao. 

The other two murders occurred in Gaza during the Israel-Hamas war. Two women, Samar Kamal Anton, along with her mother, Nahida Khalil Anton, were killed by sniper fire while on their way to the convent of the Sisters of Mother Teresa.

Europe

One missionary was killed in Europe, a Spanish layperson. 

Diego Valencia was the sacristan of Nuestra Senora de La Palma Parish in Algeciras when he was killed by a Moroccan man wielding a machete.

Pope Francis prays during his Wednesday general audience on Nov. 15, 2023. / Credit: Vatican Media

CNA Staff, Jan 2, 2024 / 14:50 pm (CNA).

Each month Pope Francis shares a prayer intention as part of the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network. The monthly prayer intentions express the Holy Father’s concerns for humanity and the mission of the Catholic Church. Here are this year’s monthly prayer intentions:

January: For the gift of diversity in the Church 

During the month of January, Pope Francis has asked the faithful to pray for the gift of diversity in the Church. He emphasized recognizing “the gift of different charisms within the Christian community.”

February: For the terminally ill 

February’s prayer intention is that the sick, “who are in the final stages of life, and their families receive the necessary medical and human care and accompaniment.”

March: For new martyrs

Pope Francis urges the faithful to pray during March for “those who risk their lives for the Gospel in various parts of the world.”

April: For the dignity of women

During April, Catholics are asked to pray that “the dignity and worth of women be recognized in every culture.” The prayer intention includes praying for an end to the discrimination many women face in different parts of the world.

May: For the formation of men and women religious and seminarians

May’s prayer intention is for the formation of men and women religious and seminarians, that they may “grow in their vocational journeys through human, pastoral, spiritual, and community formation.”

June: For those fleeing their own countries

Pope Francis asks the faithful to pray in June for “migrants fleeing from war or hunger” and that they “may find welcome and new living opportunities in their host countries.”

July: For the pastoral care of the sick 

July’s prayer intention asks that the sacrament of the anointing of the sick bestows “the Lord’s strength to those who receive it and to their loved ones.”

August: For political leaders

During the month of August, Catholics are asked to pray that political leaders “be at the service of their own people” and also that they work for the common good, integral human development, and take care of those who have lost their jobs.

September: For the cry of the earth

“That each of us listens with our hearts to the cry of the earth” is the prayer intention for the month of September. Catholics are also asked to pray this month for victims of environmental disasters and the climate crisis.

October: For a shared mission

When bishops and laypeople meet for the second part of the Synod on Synodality during October, the faithful are asked to pray that “the Church continues to sustain a synodal lifestyle in every way.”

November: For those who have lost a child

The prayer intention for the month of November is for “all parents who mourn the loss of a son or daughter.” 

December: For pilgrims of hope 

In anticipation of the Church’s next jubilee, the faithful are asked to pray during the month of December that “the coming Church Jubilee Year 2025 strengthens us in our faith, helping us to recognize the risen Christ in the midst of our lives, transforming us into pilgrims of Christian hope.”

Pope Francis prays during his general audience address in the Paul VI Audience Hall at the Vatican on Dec. 27, 2023. / Credit: Vatican Media

CNA Staff, Jan 2, 2024 / 13:50 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis’ prayer intention for the month of January is for the gift of diversity in the Church.

“There is no need to fear the diversity of charisms in the Church. Rather, living this diversity should make us rejoice,” Pope Francis said in a video released Jan. 2. 

Let us #PrayTogether that the Spirit may help us recognize the gift of the different charisms within the Christian communities, and to discover the richness of different ritual traditions within the Catholic Church. #PrayerIntention #ClickToPray pic.twitter.com/KPbdAbwZiz

— Pope Francis (@Pontifex) January 2, 2024

The Holy Father pointed out that “diversity and unity were already very much present in the first Christian communities.”

“But there’s more,” he added. “To move forward on the journey of faith, we also need ecumenical dialogue with our brothers and sisters of other confessions and Christian communities.”

“This is not something confusing or disturbing but is a gift God gives to the Christian community so it might grow as one body, the body of Christ.”

Pope Francis used the Eastern Churches as an example: “They have their own traditions, their own characteristic liturgical rites … yet they maintain the unity of the faith. They strengthen it, not divide it.”

“If we are guided by the Holy Spirit, abundance, variety, diversity, never cause conflict,” he said.

“The Holy Spirit reminds us first and foremost that we are children loved by God — everyone equal in God’s love, and everyone different,” the pope added.

He concluded with a prayer: “Let us pray that the Spirit helps us recognize the gift of different charisms within the Christian communities and to discover the richness of different ritual traditions within the Catholic Church.”

Pope Francis’ prayer video is promoted by the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network, which raises awareness of monthly papal prayer intentions.

Firefighters inspect collapsed wooden houses in Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Jan. 2, 2024, a day after a major 7.6-magnitude earthquake struck the Noto region in Ishikawa Prefecture. / Credit: KAZUHIRO NOGI/AFP via Getty Images

CNA Staff, Jan 2, 2024 / 12:56 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis was “deeply saddened” to learn of a devastating earthquake that struck western Japan on New Year’s Day, the Vatican said on Tuesday, with the pontiff extending his prayers and condolences to the country after dozens of deaths were reported.

The reported 7.6-magnitude quake struck Ishikawa Prefecture in the western part of the country. More than 50 people were reported dead as of Tuesday morning, with reports of tens of thousands of homes having been destroyed in the tremor.

In a telegram sent on behalf of  Pope Francis, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, secretary of state of the Vatican, said the Holy Father “was deeply saddened to learn of the loss of life and damage caused by the earthquake.”

The pope “assures everyone affected by this disaster of his heartfelt solidarity and spiritual closeness, and prays especially for the dead, those who mourn their loss, and for the rescue of any persons still missing,” the telegram said.

“The Holy Father offers encouragement to the civil authorities and emergency personnel as they assist the victims of this tragedy and willingly invokes upon all the divine blessings of consolation and strength,” the message concluded.

Vatican News reported on Tuesday that “a team from the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Japan is assessing the damage before the Church decides its response,” according to a statement from Tokyo Archbishop Tarcisio Kikuchi.

The deadly quake brought outpourings of support from leaders around the world. On Monday, President Joe Biden said in a statement that he and First Lady Jill Biden were “praying for the people of Japan who have been impacted by the terrible earthquake.” 

“My administration is in touch with Japanese officials, and the United States stands ready to provide any necessary assistance for the Japanese people,” Biden said. 

“As close allies, the United States and Japan share a deep bond of friendship that unites our people. Our thoughts are with the Japanese people during this difficult time.”

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, meanwhile, said in a statement that his “thoughts are with all those affected by the earthquakes in Japan, which have caused such terrible damage.”

“Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is a great friend of the U.K., and we stand ready to support Japan and are monitoring developments closely,” Sunak said.

Pope Francis smiles at pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square on Jan. 1, 2024, for his first Angelus of the new year. / Credit: Vatican Media

Rome Newsroom, Jan 1, 2024 / 09:47 am (CNA).

Pope Francis delivered his first Angelus of the new year on Jan. 1, the solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, by reflecting that the importance of Mary’s motherhood is defined by love and underscored by a quiet silence that allowed her to place Christ at the center. 

“She is Mother not only because she carried Jesus in her womb and gave birth to him but because she brings him into the light, without occupying his place,” the pope said to the nearly 35,000 faithful gathered in St. Peter’s Square. 

Pope Francis also used the occasion to appeal for prayers for the Church in Nicaragua, which has been at the center of an escalating persecution launched by the country’s president, Daniel Ortega.

“I am following with deep concern what is happening in Nicaragua, where bishops and priests have been deprived of their freedom. I express to them, their families, and the entire Church in the country my closeness in prayer,” the Holy Father said.

“I also invite all of you present here and all the people of God to insistent prayer, while I hope that we will always seek the path of dialogue to overcome difficulties. Let’s pray for Nicaragua today.”

Just days after Christmas, on Dec. 28 and Dec. 29, Nicaragua’s Sandinista regime abducted four priests, whose whereabouts are still unknown.

The priests are: Monsignor Carlos Avilés, vicar general of the Archdiocese of Managua; Father Héctor Treminio, pastor of Holy Christ Parish in Esquipulas in the same archdiocese; and Father Fernando Calero, pastor of Our Lady of Fatima Parish in Rancho Grande in the Diocese of Matagalpa.

In his Angelus reflection, Pope Francis noted that Mary’s silence is a “beautiful feature” but should not be thought of as a “simple absence of words” but rather as a feature that is “filled with wonder and adoration for the wonders that God is working.”

“In this way, she makes room within herself for the One who was born; in silence and adoration, she places Jesus at the center and bears witness to him as Savior,” the pope observed.

The Holy Father went on to express that this expression of maternity seen in Mary is an ideal that is also seen in our mothers who “with their hidden care, with their thoughtfulness, are often magnificent cathedrals of silence. They bring us into the world and then continue to attend to us, often unnoticed, so that we can grow. Let us remember this: Love never stifles; love makes room for the other and lets them grow.”

Pope Francis added that by reflecting on mothers, we can “learn that love that is cultivated above all in silence, that knows how to make room for the other, respecting their dignity, leaving the freedom to express themselves, rejecting every form of possession, oppression, and violence.”

Pilgrims gathered in St. Peter's Square for Pope Francis' Angelus reflection on Jan. 1, 2024, wave peace signs. On Jan. 1 the Catholic Church observes the solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, as well as the World Day of Peace. Credit: Elizabeth Alva/CNA

In addition to the day’s Marian feast, on Jan. 1 the Church celebrates the World Day of Peace, a tradition that was started by Pope Paul VI in 1968. In light of this celebration, Pope Francis took a moment during the Angelus to note that “freedom and peaceful coexistence are threatened whenever human beings yield to the temptation to selfishness, self-interest, the desire for profit, and the thirst for power.”

The pope underscored that the antidote to overcoming these destructive tendencies that are ubiquitous today is “love,” which “consists of respect and kindness: In this way, it breaks down barriers and helps us to live fraternal relationships, to build up more just and humane, more peaceful societies.”

On Monday the Vatican released a video message from the pope invoking the Blessed Mother’s intercession for peace in the world.

Pope Francis invoke the Virgin Mary as the Queen of Peace and Mother of Mercy at a prayer vigil for peace in St. Peter's Basilica, Friday, Oct. 27. / Credit: Courtney Mares

Rome Newsroom, Jan 1, 2024 / 09:00 am (CNA).

In a video marking the World Day of Peace on Jan. 1, Pope Francis asks the Blessed Mother to “teach us to cherish and care for life — each and every human life” and “to repudiate the folly of war, which sows death and eliminates the future.”

“This is a dark hour, Mother,” the pope prays in the video, which was released Monday. “Turn your eyes of mercy toward our human family, which preferred Cain to Abel.”

The Vatican described the video, which used selections from Pope Francis’ Oct. 27 prayer for peace, as an exploration of “the visual and existential contrasts between war and peace.”

It shows a child walking across a desolate field as another runs joyfully through the tall grass. Smoke billows from a just-bombed building, while fireworks of celebration light up the night sky. Other scenes juxtapose marching soldiers with civilians crossing the street, flying kites with fighter jets, and an elderly woman crying in anguish with another praying serenely.

“You suffer with us and for us, as you see your children suffering from conflicts and wars that are tearing our world apart,” Pope Francis prays to Mary as an image of a burned-out church is set against a chapel glowing with lit votive candles. You can watch the full video below.

Praying for peace has been a major emphasis of Pope Francis’ in recent months, as armed conflicts rage across the world. In his “urbi et orbi” address on Christmas Day, the pope prayed for an end to violence in Israel and Palestine, Ukraine, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and several other conflict areas in Africa and the Middle East. Francis has repeated many of these intentions in his most recent addresses.

“Please, let’s not forget Ukraine, Palestine, Israel, which are at war,” the pope said in his Angelus message for Jan. 1. “Let’s pray for peace to come, altogether.”

The Catholic Church has observed the World Day of Peace on Jan. 1, the solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, since 1968. For this year’s observance, Pope Francis also released a message calling for the global regulation of artificial intelligence for “peace and common good.”

In the newly released video, a young girl sits in rubble while another reads quietly on her classroom floor as Pope Francis tells the Blessed Mother that “we cannot succeed alone.” The pope continues, asking Mary to grant that a “glimmer of light may illumine the dark night of conflict.

“Mother Mary, Queen of Peace, pour forth into our hearts God’s gift of harmony.”

Pope Benedict XVI on April 21, 2007, in Vigevano, Italy. / Credit: miqu77/Shutterstock

Chicago, Ill., Dec 31, 2023 / 08:00 am (CNA).

A brilliant thinker and prolific writer, Pope Benedict XVI wrote 66 books in his lifetime. His final work, “What Is Christianity? The Last Writings,” was published in Italian on Jan. 20, just weeks after his death at age 95 on Dec. 31, 2022. Ignatius Press published the English translation of the book on July 17.

While the texts were originally written in German, Elio Guerriero, the Italian director of the theological journal Communio, translated them into Italian, which Benedict wanted to be the reference language. Guerriero had previously collaborated with Pope Benedict on other works.

In this last book, the pope addressed a number of important issues he had not touched on before. He also clarified and expanded his thoughts about various social and theological questions.

Pope Benedict XVI deliberately reserved the book’s publication for after his death, a decision that has drawn a lot of attention. He explained his reasoning in a letter quoted in the foreword of the book, writing: “For my part, I want to publish nothing more during my lifetime. The fury of the circles in Germany that are opposed to me is so strong that if anything I say appears in print, it immediately provokes a horrible uproar on their part. I want to spare myself this and to spare Christianity, too.”

Regarding the timing of its publication, Father Joseph Fessio, SJ, editor of Ignatius Press, told CNA that “Pope Benedict was very conscious that his resignation was unusual and could cause confusion. He did not want to appear to be setting up some sort of parallel magisterium. He was very discreet.”

The book is reportedly a sort of “last message to the world.”

“‘What Is Christianity?’ concludes the life and writings of one of the great churchmen of all time,” Fessio said. “It’s his last testament.”

The book’s foreword was written by Guerriero, who explained the purpose behind the publication: “The present volume is not just a collection of previously published texts with a few new ones added but rather a kind of spiritual testament written in a spirit of wisdom by a fatherly heart that was always attentive to the expectations and hopes of the faithful and of all mankind.”

With just six chapters, it is an accessible introduction to his work. Topics covered include “World Religions and the Christian Faith,” “Christian-Islamic Dialogue,” “Jews and Christians in Dialogue,” “The Catholic Priesthood,” and “The Meaning of Communion.” It also includes reflections honoring the lives of St. John Paul II and Jesuit Father Alfred Delp, a resistance fighter against Nazism.

“It’s not too deeply scholarly. Every article would be accessible to any educated person,” Fessio said. “Much of it is meant for the world, for everybody.”

Were there any surprises in this “last testament” of a great Church leader? Yes, Fessio said, but no more so than with Benedict’s other works. 

“I learn new things whenever I read him, but I expected that,” he said. “It’s a very eclectic book, with many enlightening contemporary insights. He shared what he thought was important to say.” 

Among the many kernels of wisdom in the book are the following:

1. St. Joseph’s silent wisdom

Benedict XVI held great affection for Christ’s foster father, for whom he was named, and tried very much to follow his example. In particular, he found that St. Joseph’s silence was a guide to wisdom for him.

He writes in the book: “[He] was given to me by my parents as a patron saint for life. The older I get, the clearer the figure of my patron becomes to me. Not one word of his has been handed down to us, but rather his ability to listen and to act. I understand more and more that his silence is precisely what speaks to us and, beyond scientific knowledge, wishes to guide me to wisdom.”

Later, the pope describes how St. Joseph is known through his decisive actions, since no word of his appears in Scripture. Repeatedly, God reveals a certain course of action to St. Joseph, and every time St. Joseph pursues that course immediately upon realizing it is God’s will. 

His life was a constant “yes” to God, his actions speaking louder than words ever could: As Pope Benedict XVI put it: “His silence is at the same time his message.”

2. Love and joy at the origin of missionary work

Pope Benedict XVI reflects in the book on what role missionary work has in today’s world, when interreligious dialogue often takes its place.

He wrote: “Joy needs to be communicated. Love needs to be communicated. Truth needs to be communicated. Someone who has received a great joy cannot simply keep it for himself; he has to hand it on. The same is true for the gift of love and for the gift of recognizing the truth that is manifested… Let us proclaim Jesus Christ, not in order to gain as many members as possible for our community, much less for the sake of power. Let us speak about him because we feel that we must hand on this joy that was given to us. We will be credible announcers of Jesus Christ when we have truly encountered him in the depths of our being, when, through the encounter with him, we have received the gift of the great experience of truth, love, and joy.”

3. The message of God’s mercy is greatly needed today

In a lengthy passage in the chapter called “Faith is not an idea, but a life,” the pope explains that modern man craves assurance of God’s mercy, something he calls a “sign of the times.” 

Referring to the parable of the Good Samaritan, he writes about how important it is “that men deep in their hearts expect that the Samaritan will come to their aid; that he will bend down to them, anoint their wounds, care for them, and carry them to safety.”

He wrote that St. John Paul II and Pope Francis both made mercy central to their message as popes: “Mankind is waiting for mercy… In the final analysis, they know that they need God’s mercy and his tenderness. In the hardness of a technological world where feelings no longer count for anything, nevertheless, there is a growing expectation of a saving love that is freely given.”

4. Reflections on Father Alfred Delp

Pope Benedict XVI has a personal connection to Jesuit Father Alfred Delp, who was martyred in Nazi Germany, and urges the faithful to “revive the memory of this great witness to Jesus Christ in dark times,” explaining Delp’s legacy in these words:

“Father Delp certainly could be killed in the body by the executioners of the time, just as his hands could be chained, but the word of God is not chained and speaks to us again and again precisely through the bloody testimony of the martyrs. May the Lord help us, in our time and in the way that we ask, to be witnesses to Jesus Christ once again.”

Pope Francis waves at the crowd of 1.5 million people who attended the closing Mass of World Youth Day 2023 in Lisbon, Portugal on Aug. 6, 2023. / Vatican Media.

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Dec 30, 2023 / 07:00 am (CNA).

Pope Francis maintained a busy travel schedule in 2023, visiting six different countries on three separate continents despite being one of the oldest popes in Church history and enduring ongoing struggles with poor health. 

Francis turned 87 this month, and in March he celebrated his 10th year as pope. Although his year was marked by several hospital stays, struggles with bronchitis, and sciatica that often confined him to a wheelchair — as well as a canceled trip to Dubai for COP28 due to health issues — the pontiff still managed to make five international trips, called “apostolic journeys.”

Here is where he went. 

Pope Francis meets young people and adults from the Diocese of Rumbek in Juba, South Sudan, on Feb. 4, 2023. Credit: Vatican MediaAfrica: Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan

The pope’s first apostolic journey of 2023 was to the African continent, where despite years of wars and ongoing persecutions the Church has seen its greatest growth and where regular Mass attendance is higher than anywhere else on the globe.

Francis was in Africa for six days, Jan. 31–Feb. 5, during which time he visited the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and South Sudan. While there, Francis spoke out against the violence racking the continent and against international powers seeking to exploit African countries for their gain.

“Hands off Africa! Stop choking Africa: Africa is not a mine to be stripped or a terrain to be plundered,” Francis said in his first speech in the DRC on Jan. 31. 

“I have greatly desired to be here and now at last I have come to bring you the closeness, the affection, and the consolation of the entire Catholic Church,” Francis also said. “I am here to embrace you and to remind you that you yourselves are of inestimable worth, that the Church and the pope have confidence in you, and that they believe in your future, the future that is in your hands, your hands.” 

On Feb. 1 the pope celebrated a special papal Mass in Kinshasa, the DRC’s capital city, which was attended by more than 1 million African faithful. Video taken before the Mass showed the massive crowds of Catholics dancing and singing songs, including a joyful chant of “Maman Maria” (“Mama Mary” in French), as they awaited Pope Francis’ arrival.

"Maman Maria!" ("Mother Mary!" in French)

Video by @TurkElias who is on the ground in Kinshasa, DRC for Mass with Pope Francis pic.twitter.com/yBMG1Bktyj

— Hannah Brockhaus (@HannahBrockhaus) February 1, 2023

Joyful scenes from colleagues on the ground in Kinshasa, DRC, where Pope Francis will soon celebrate Mass. Follow @TurkElias @Gianluca_Teseo and @cnalive for more! pic.twitter.com/kyFCiOHZVu

— Hannah Brockhaus (@HannahBrockhaus) February 1, 2023 Europe: Hungary

Next, Francis visited Budapest, the capital of the central European nation of Hungary, April 28–30.

The pontiff’s journey to the post-Soviet nation that borders Ukraine was themed “Christ Is Our Future.”

During the trip, the pope focused his addresses on the need for European nations to cooperate with one another and recapture a spirit of fraternal unity and pursue “creative efforts for peace.”

Using the city of Budapest’s “Chain Bridge” as an example, Francis said the bridge “helps us to envision that kind of Europe since it is composed of many great and diverse links that derive their solidity and strength from being joined together. In this regard, the Christian faith can be a resource, and Hungary can act as a ‘bridge builder’ by drawing upon its specific ecumenical character. Here, different confessions live together without friction, cooperating respectfully and constructively.”

He thanked the Church in Hungary for its “generous and wide-ranging service to charity” and for welcoming “with enthusiasm” many Ukrainian refugees.

More than 4 million Ukrainians have crossed into Hungary since the beginning of the war with Russia. 

As Hungary grapples with a growing loss of faith and increasing irreligiosity, Francis encouraged Hungarian clergy in an April 28 address, saying that solutions will “come from the tabernacle and not the computer.”

To combat “bleak defeatism and a worldly conformism,” Francis said, “the Gospel gives us new eyes to see” as well as discernment that enables us to “approach our own time with openness, but also with a prophetic spirit.”

Pope Francis takes selfies with volunteers after the closing Mass for WYD2023 in Lisbon, Portugal, Aug. 6, 2023. Credit: Vatican MediaEurope: Portugal

Francis visited Portugal from Aug. 2–6 to participate in the 2023 World Youth Day (WYD) in Lisbon.

While in Portugal, the pope met with a wide array of youth, government officials, and religious leaders, participated in an outdoor Stations of the Cross with an estimated 800,000 young people, visited the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima, and celebrated a special closing Mass that was attended by about 1.5 million faithful.

Looking out on the field filled with over a million young faithful after the closing Mass on Aug. 6, Francis echoed the famous words of St. John Paul II, WYD’s founder, saying: “Dear young people, I would like to look into the eyes of each one of you and tell you: Be not afraid, be not afraid.” 

“I tell you something very beautiful: It is no longer me, it is Jesus himself who is looking at you in this moment, he is looking at you,” the pope continued. “He knows you, he knows the heart of each one of you, he knows the life of each one of you, he knows the joys, he knows the sadness, the successes, and the failures.”

Francis encouraged the young people assembled, telling them: “You are a sign of peace for the world, showing how different nationalities, languages, and histories can unite instead of divide. You are the hope of a different world.”

After thanking the young people, the pope urged them to move forward with the light of the Holy Spirit, exclaiming: “Onward!”

Upon his arrival at Chinggis Khaan International Airport on Sept. 1, 2023, Pope Francis was welcomed with a bowl of Aaruul, dried curds which are a traditional food of Mongolian nomadic peoples. Credit: Vatican MediaAsia: Mongolia

In September, Francis traveled 5,600 miles to make the first papal trip in history to the central Asian country of Mongolia.

With a population of just 3.3 million, Mongolia has only 1,450 Catholics, making up less than 1% of the country’s total populace.

While the Catholic population in Mongolia is one of the smallest in the world, “being little is not a problem,” Pope Francis assured the local religious leaders while in the Cathedral of Sts. Peter and Paul in Mongolia’s capital city, Ulaanbaatar. 

“God loves littleness, and through it, he loves to accomplish great things, as Mary herself bears witness,” Pope Francis said Sept. 2.

“Brothers and sisters, do not be concerned about small numbers, limited success, or apparent irrelevance. That is not how God works. Let us keep our gaze fixed on Mary, who in her littleness is greater than the heavens.”

A country sandwiched between China and Russia, Francis called Mongolia a “symbol of religious freedom” in his first speech in the Asian country. He underlined how Mongolia’s democratic government is in a unique position to play “an important role on behalf of world peace.”

Catholics from Hong Kong and mainland China were also among the pilgrims who journeyed to see the pope during his time in Mongolia. Some of the visiting Catholics from China wore masks and sunglasses to shield their identities, a testament to the stark difference in religious freedom in the country on the other side of Mongolia’s southern border.

Francis also sent a special telegram message to Chinese President Xi Jinping and the people of China as he flew through Chinese airspace between Rome and Mongolia.

“I send greetings of good wishes to your excellency and the people of China as I pass through your country’s airspace en route to Mongolia,” the telegram read. “Assuring you of my prayers for the well-being of the nation, I invoke upon all of you the divine blessings of unity and peace.”

Pope Francis celebrates Mass for an estimated 50,000 people at the Vélodrome Stadium in Marseille, France, the last stop in his Sept. 22-23, 2023, visit to the port city to speak at an ecumenical meeting of young people and bishops called the “Rencontres Mediterraneennes,” or Mediterranean Encounter. Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNAEurope: France 

Less than three weeks after his Mongolia trip, the pope traveled again, this time to participate in the “Rencontres Méditerranéennes,” a gathering of young people and bishops in the Mediterranean coastal city of Marseille, France, Sept. 22–23.

Billed as a “cultural festival,” the event was devoted to dialogue on international migration and ecological issues.

Before a memorial to people lost at sea on Sept. 22, Francis said humanity is at a crossroads between fraternity and indifference regarding the migrant crisis.

“We can no longer watch the drama of shipwrecks, caused by the cruel trafficking and the fanaticism of indifference,” he said. “People who are at risk of drowning when abandoned on the waves must be rescued. It is a duty of humanity; it is a duty of civilization.”

At a Mass attended by more than 50,000 at Marseille’s Velodrome Stadium on Sept. 23, Francis told those gathered to be Christians who “leap for joy” in the face of life’s challenges — with hearts ready to encounter the Lord and others.

MARSEILLE, FRANCE

50,000 French came to see Pope Francis in the Velodrome pic.twitter.com/478wFJG57L

— Catholic Arena (@CatholicArena) September 23, 2023

“We want to be Christians who encounter God in prayer, and our brothers and sisters in love; Christians who leap, pulsate, and receive the fire of the Holy Spirit and then allow ourselves to be set afire by the questions of our day, by the challenges of the Mediterranean, by the cry of the poor — and by the ‘holy utopias’ of fraternity and peace that wait to be realized,” the pope said.

Pope Benedict XVI on May 11, 2010. / Credit: Mazur/www.thepapalvisit.org.uk

Rome Newsroom, Dec 29, 2023 / 16:30 pm (CNA).

One year after the death of Pope Benedict XVI, scholars, experts, and friends of the late pontiff will meet in Rome on Dec. 30–31 in the Benedict XVI Hall of the Campo Santo Teutonico at the Vatican to discuss his legacy.

EWTN, the Fundatio Christiana Virtus Association, and the Joseph Ratzinger-Benedict XVI Vatican Foundation have partnered to hold the conference, which will air on EWTN throughout the day on Dec. 31 beginning at 6:30 a.m. ET (see schedule below).

Solène Tadié will be the moderator for the panels, and panelists include Father Vincent Twomey and Father Federico Lombardi, former director of the Holy See Press Office, who will discuss the topic “Benedict XVI, Memory and Legacy.”

Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller and Matthew Bunson, EWTN vice president and editorial director, will later discuss “The Center of Benedict XVI’s Theology: Jesus Christ.”

Discussion about “The Death of Benedict XVI in the Light of Eternal Life” will be led by Cardinal Kurt Koch and Father Ralph Weimann.

On Dec. 31, Archbishop Georg Gänswein, who served as personal secretary to Pope Benedict XVI from 2005–2022, will preside over Mass at the Altar of the Chair in St. Peter’s Basilica to mark the first anniversary of the death of Benedict XVI.

The conference will conclude with a final session in which Gänswein will offer reflections on the last years of Benedict XVI’s life and his legacy in the Benedict XVI Hall of the Campo Santo Teutonico.

EWTN will broadcast the “Remembering Benedict XVI: Life, Teaching, Legacy” conference at the following times on Sunday, Dec. 31:

6:30 a.m. ET: “Benedict XVI, Memory and Legacy”

9:30 a.m. ET: “The Center of His Theology: Jesus Christ”

Noon ET: “Holy Mass in Remembrance of Pope Benedict XVI”

4 p.m. ET: “His Death in the Light of Eternal Life”

6 p.m. ET: “His Last Years”