Robin Franssen, 18, of Belgium, is a first-year philosophy student at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas. / Credit: Bénédicte Cedergren/EWTN

Rome Newsroom, Jan 28, 2024 / 08:00 am (CNA).

Hundreds of students travel annually to Rome to study the prodigious philosophical and theological works of St. Thomas Aquinas, the “Angelic Doctor,” whose feast the Catholic Church celebrates on Jan. 28.

“I knew that I wanted to study something that had to do with my faith,” Robin Franssen, 18, a first-year philosophy student at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome, told the Register, CNA’s sister news outlet, “for God is really the center of my life. And I wanted not only to deepen my faith, but deepen my understanding of it.”

Originally from Belgium, Franssen was still in high school when he first heard of Thomism, the school of thought that arose as a legacy of the work of Aquinas — arguably the most illustrious saint in the Order of Preachers after its founder, St. Dominic — whose philosophy and theology was recommended by Pope Leo XIII in his 1879 encyclical on the restoration of Christian philosophy, Aeterni Patris, to be taught by the magisterium of the Church.

Similarly to the students walking in his footsteps several centuries after him, St. Thomas is also renowned for his great search for truth.

‘A man in search of God’

“St. Thomas is, first and foremost, a man in search of God,” Dominican Father Serge-Thomas Bonino, president of the Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas, colloquially known as the Angelicum, told the Register. “We know that when he was a child, his first words were ‘Quid est Deus?’ meaning, ‘What is God?’”

Not only did St. Thomas search for God’s ultimate truth, Bonino added, but “he sought God intellectually,” to be able to share his knowledge with others.

Born in 1225 in the family-owned castle of Roccasecca in the Italian region of Aquino, Thomas spent his youth in the nearby Benedictine Monastery of Monte Cassino, established by St. Benedict, where his parents hoped that he would become the next abbot.

Father Serge-Thomas Bonino, OP, president of the Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas, is also a philosophy professor at the Angelicum in Rome. Credit: Bénédicte Cedergren/EWTN

When Thomas was 14, a military conflict between the Italian Emperor Frederick II and Pope Gregory IX spilled into the abbey, prompting Thomas’ parents to enroll him at the studium generale (university) recently established by the emperor in Naples. There, not only did he discover the works of Aristotle, but he also discovered the Dominican order, which he asked to join in 1244 at age 19.

Thomas finished his studies in Paris, where he also began to teach at the University of Paris. He then followed his mentor, St. Albert the Great, to Cologne to teach as an apprentice professor before returning to Paris, where he was appointed regent master in theology.

“He returned to Italy twice,” Bonino said. “The first time, he went to Orvieto, where he, among other things, composed the proper for a Mass and an office for the feast of Corpus Christi at the request of the pope, and then to Rome, where he started to write his main work, the Summa Theologiae.”

After teaching in Paris for a second time, Thomas returned to Italy once again, this time to Naples, where he was called to participate in the Council of Lyon in 1274. However, the theologian never made it to France: Exhausted, he died in the Cistercian Abbey of Fossanova.

Living Thomism

Although 750 years have gone by since the great saint died (March 7), the thought of St. Thomas did not die with him but continued to develop over time and is today known as “living Thomism.”

Today, both religious and laymen and laywomen from the world over travel to Rome to study the thought of the great saint at the Angelicum, built on the legacy of the Dominican order’s first Roman university at the priory of Santa Sabina in Rome, founded in 1222.

“The students, wherever they come from, are faced with incredible cultural and intellectual challenges,” Bonino said, “and so they are looking for a tradition that is well rooted in the history of the Church, in order to be able to face these issues.”

“And Thomism, which has been and is still very much recommended by the magisterium of the Church, gives these students the keys and tools they need” to do so and to “promote a Christian vision of man, culture, and society,” he said.

Gina Pribaz, an American student of spiritual theology at the Angelicum in Rome. Credit: Bénédicte Cedergren/EWTN

“St. Thomas offers us an image of the human being that’s being forgotten today,” Gina Pribaz, 54, a student of spiritual theology at the Angelicum from the United States, told the Register. “It’s such a bedrock notion of man created in the image of God, of an embodied soul, and we need to really study what that means and how we can offer an explanation of that to others.”

Drawn to study the theology of St. Thomas in order to enrich her spiritual life, Pribaz added, “St. Thomas gives us such a depth of knowledge and a systematized and integrated way of understanding the faith, and I found that very attractive.”

Similarly, Franssen, the 18-year-old Belgian, commented: “Something really striking to me is the rationality of St. Thomas. We live in a world where it is commonly thought that faith is for the ignorant, that faith is irrational, unreasonable, but it’s not.”

“I believe that learning more about St. Thomas’ rationality that suffuses not only in his philosophy but in his whole work, really helps us not only to understand but also deepen and promote our faith.”

“Many think that because medieval theologians or philosophers are dead, so are their thoughts,” Zhihua Duan, 28, a doctoral student in philosophy at the Angelicum from China, told the Register. “But it’s not true. Looking at some of our contemporary problems, we can easily find the answers already present in the 13th century.”

Zhihua Duan, 28, a doctoral philosophy student at the Angelicum from China, is currently finishing her doctoral thesis. Credit: Bénédicte Cedergren/EWTN

Currently pursuing her doctorate in philosophy at the Angelicum, Duan is now finishing her doctoral thesis titled, “An Analogical Explanation of Aquinas’ Anthropology in Relation to His Political Beliefs.”

“One of the many things that I found very interesting in St. Thomas’ philosophy is his attempt to introduce natural beings and the natural existence to us,” Duan shared.

“Often, people want to start with the higher disciplines and, for example, immediately study the Trinity. But Aquinas starts with the natural existence to help us better understand what we are so that we can subsequently analogously speak about what God is.”

Reflecting upon the many things St. Thomas can teach us today, Pribaz added, “the idea that faith goes hand in hand with reason,” which remains “a stumbling rock for many people,” as well as the notion of “prayer as the interpreter of desire.”

“I know a lot of people, myself included, who wonder what it is they want in life, what they should be doing, how they should spend their time and use their gifts,” Pribaz said. “Because of that, I find St. Thomas’ notion — that being in dialogue with God in prayer reveals what we want, and that God interprets for us within our hearts what we want — beautiful.”

This story was originally published in the National Catholic Register and was edited and adapted by CNA.

Pope Francis gave a special message to Chinese Catholics at the end of his Mass in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia on Sept. 3, 2023. / Vatican Media

Rome Newsroom, Jan 25, 2024 / 16:40 pm (CNA).

Father Thaddeus Wang Yuesheng was consecrated bishop of Zhengzhou, China, on Thursday, bringing an end to a 70-year-long sede vacante. 

The Holy See Press Office announced on Thursday morning that Wang was appointed by Pope Francis as the bishop of Zhengzhou on Dec. 16, 2023. The report noted that the decision took place “in the framework of the Provisional Agreement between the Holy See and the People’s Republic of China.”  

The Vatican Fides News Agency, which is part of the Dicastery for Evangelization, added that his appointment “was also favored by the direct contribution of the various components of the local Church, according to the criterion of synodality.” 

In a statement published on the official website of the Bishops’ Conference of the Catholic Church in China (BCCC), “on March 22, 2022, he [Wang] was elected as the bishop-elect of the Diocese of Zhengzhou.”

Wang was born in the city of Zhumadian in the central Chinese province of Henan on Feb. 27, 1966. He studied at the South Central Seminary between 1987 and 1993 and was ordained a priest on Oct. 17, 1993. 

From December 2011 he was a parish priest in the Huiji District, in Zhengzhou, as well as chairman of the Henan Catholic Patriotic Association and deputy director of the Academic Affairs Committee. In January 2013, he was elected as the rector of the Diocese of Zhengzhou.

The appointment of the 58-year-old Wang marks a change since the Diocese of Zhengzhou has been without a bishop since the 1950s. 

The Diocese of Zhengzhou was erected on April 11, 1946, in accordance with Pope Pius XII’s apostolic constitution Quotidie Nos, which established an official hierarchy for the Chinese Church.

In the same year, the Italian-born Xaverian missionary, Faustino Tissot, was appointed bishop of Zhengzhou. Following the establishment of the People’s Republic of China in October 1949, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) implemented a campaign to isolate the local Church from Rome by expelling foreign priests, missionaries, and bishops. 

In 1953, Tissot and 16 other foreign priests were expelled, leaving the diocese functionally vacant. The running of the diocese was continued by six Chinese priests, which continued until Mao Zedong’s Cultural Revolution when all religious activity and celebration was suspended and churches were forced to close. 

Following the death of Mao in 1976, Deng Xiaoping became the paramount leader and inaugurated a period of “opening up,” which allowed for the nominal restart of religious activity. Several churches were opened and a few more were constructed in Zhengzhou and all across mainland China. 

According to the BCCC statement, the Jan. 25 episcopal ordination took place in the church of Qinghuayuanlu, dedicated to Our Lady of Lourdes. The Mass was concelebrated by the bishop of Shanghai, Joseph Shen Bin, Bishop Yang Yongqiang, Bishop Zhang Yinlin of Anyang, and the bishop of Nanyang, Peter Jin Lugang. 

The statement added that more than 300 priests, nuns, and faithful from all the dioceses in the province had participated in the liturgy.

Shen serves as the vice chairman of the state-controlled Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association (CCPA) and is chairman of the BCCC. 

Shen was at the forefront of a row between the Holy See and the PRC when he was appointed bishop of Shanghai in April 2023 without the papal mandate, thereby breaking the terms of the 2018 Sino-Vatican Accord. 

In July 2023, the Vatican’s secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, announced the pope’s decision to regularize the episcopal appointment to “remedy the canonical irregularity created in Shanghai, in view of the greater good of the diocese and the fruitful exercise of the bishop’s pastoral ministry.”

Shen has been a leading voice for the sinicization of the Church, a process that entails not only enculturating the faith into the context of Chinese society but also bringing it into line with the official practices of the CCP. 

The Sino-Vatican Accord is a provisional agreement and is subject to modifications when it is up for renewal every two years. It went into effect in 2018 and was renewed for the first time in 2020 and for a second time in 2022. It is up for renewal in October 2024. 

Cardinal Joseph Zen preaches a sermon during a Mass at the Holy Cross Church on May 24, 2022, in Hong Kong, China. / Anthony Kwan/Getty Images

Rome Newsroom, Jan 25, 2024 / 08:30 am (CNA).

Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun said Pope Francis’ recent declaration allowing the blessing of same-sex couples under certain conditions “creates confusion” and suggested that its author, Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, should resign or be dismissed. 

In a statement published Jan. 23 on his blog, Zen said the declaration Fiducia Supplicans contains numerous passages in need of clarification and “leaves many questions unanswered,” according to an unofficial translation.

The 91-year-old Hong Kong cardinal emeritus highlighted in particular how the declaration appeared to him to condone sexual behavior in same-sex relationships by implying such a relationship has an “intrinsic goodness” and can “mature” and “grow.” 

Noting how the declaration appears to be similar to Pope Francis’ response to one of five “dubia” that the cardinal and four other cardinals sent last summer in which they sought clarification on same-sex blessings, Zen said Fiducia Supplicans (“Supplicating Trust”) makes the claim that “same-sex sexual love is ‘similar’ to marital love!”

“This is an absolute subjective error,” he said. “According to objective truth, that behavior is a grave sin and can never be good.”

The cardinal asked that if Fernández, as prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, “is committing a heresy by claiming a serious sin as ‘good,’ then shouldn’t the prefect resign or be dismissed?”

Zen was referring to paragraph 31 of the document, which refers to those in same-sex relationships who, although they “do not claim legitimization of their own status,” nevertheless “beg that all that is true, good, and humanly valid in their lives and their relationships be enriched, healed, and elevated by the presence of the Holy Spirit.” 

“These forms of blessing,” the paragraph continues, “express a supplication that God may grant those aids that come from the impulses of his Spirit — what classical theology calls ‘actual grace’ — so that human relationships may mature and grow in fidelity to the Gospel, that they may be freed from their imperfections and frailties, and that they may express themselves in the ever-increasing dimension of the divine love.”

Widespread criticism

Zen’s statement adds another prominent voice to the widespread criticism that Fiducia Supplicans has received from prelates and episcopal conferences since its surprise release on Dec. 18.

In his statement, Zen acknowledged that the document stresses no blessing should be misunderstood, and the Church does not approve of the “sexual union” of a same-sex couple or of a man and a woman living in an irregular union not in conformity with the Church’s teaching.

But at the same time, he said it “goes on to say that in certain circumstances, out of pastoral love, blessings may be given to same-sex couples and to other men and women living in irregular relationships.”

That “leaves many questions unanswered,” the Hong Kong cardinal said, while at the same time the document explicitly precludes the possibility of further discussion of it. 

Turning to what he saw as another point of confusion, he said that in a subsequent Jan. 4 clarification, Fernández strongly denied that the declaration was “contrary to ecclesiastical reasoning” but “on the other hand, recognizes that bishops and bishops’ conferences have reason to have certain doubts about it” and will need “a longer period of time to study it.” 

Zen said that is “tantamount” to saying that Fiducia Supplicans “is not valid for the time being.”

Other problems

The cardinal then set about discussing what he sees as other serious specific problems with the declaration. 

He noted that the document says couples who ask for a blessing “may” also ask for God’s grace to conform fully to his will, but he also observed that the declaration states the priest is not supposed to examine them to see if they have such an intention. “How can a priest bless him or her if they are not sure they have such an intention, or if there is reason to suspect they do not have such an intention at all?” Zen asked.

On another point, he recalled that Scripture says pastors are to “protect the sheep, heal the wounded, and lead back the lost” but added that the declaration appears to say that individuals could obtain a blessing as a “couple” and leave as a “couple” after the blessing. “Doesn’t that mean that they can, at least for the time being, continue to live in the ‘wrong,’ i.e. sinful way?” he asked.

Zen noted that the declaration frequently stresses the need to avoid confusion, but the blessings encouraged by the declaration “do in fact create confusion.”

He further mentioned how secular media “intentionally” adds to the confusion and wondered why Church figures such as Jesuit Father James Martin, homosexual rights advocate Sister of Loretto Jeannine Gramick, and the German bishops are allowed to “create confusion” or fail to follow “some of the rules” in the declaration. “Is it consistent with pastoral principles to create confusion on this important issue?” he said.

The cardinal closed by saying that the matter of blessing same-sex couples and others in unions that contradict Church teaching should be freely discussed at the upcoming synodal assembly in October in order to reach conclusions on the issue. Fiducia Supplicans is a “preemptive” declaration, the cardinal said, which showed “grave contempt for the office of the bishops — the successors of the apostles, the brothers of the pope!”

This story was first published by the National Catholic Register, CNA’s sister news partner, and is reprinted here on CNA with permission.

Sculpture of St. Peter outside of St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican. / Credit: Unsplash

Rome Newsroom, Jan 24, 2024 / 17:25 pm (CNA).

The Vatican Court of Appeals sentenced an Italian priest to jail on Jan. 23 for “the crime of corruption of minors” relating to the sexual abuse of a fellow student at a school for papal altar boys.

The case is being called historic, as it is the first such ruling that has been handed down for sexual violence perpetuated on Vatican sovereign territory. 

Father Gabriele Martinelli was accused of forcing the former altar server, identified as L.G., to have sexual relations with him between 2007 and 2012 while they were students at the St. Pius X pre-seminary.

Martinelli was sentenced to two and a half years in prison and ordered to pay a fine of 1,000 euros (about $1,089.78) to cover the legal proceedings, Vatican News reported. 

The 31-year-old Martinelli was ordained to the priesthood in 2017 and is a priest in the Diocese of Como in northern Italy and a member of the “Opera don Folci,” a religious association centered on the formation of priests.

The St. Pius X pre-seminary, where Martinelli was enrolled, offers a formation in the liturgical functions of St. Peter’s Basilica, including papal Masses, for middle and high school boys who are considering a vocation to the priesthood.

The institute was formerly located in Palazzo San Carlo, in Piazza Santa Marta, in the Vatican, just steps away from Pope Francis’ official residence of Casa Santa Marta. However, given the controversy surrounding the cover-up of abuse and Martinelli’s trial, Pope Francis announced the decision to move the pre-seminary to a new location outside Vatican City in 2021. 

The allegations against the priest were first reported by Italian journalists in 2017 and by the Associated Press in 2018. At the time, the Vatican was unable to proceed with a case against Martinelli given that the charges were brought against him outside of the one-year statute of limitations.

On June 29, 2019, Pope Francis intervened to allow the case to proceed by lifting the cause of inadmissibility. 

On Dec. 8, 2021, the pope in his broader efforts to be more transparent in the handling of sexual abuse cases introduced a sweeping revision to canon law. The revisions introduced new penalties for the cover-up of sexual abuse, mandated that allegations of abuse be immediately reported, and reclassified sexual crimes from under the title of “Crimes Against Special Obligations” to “Offenses Against Human Life, Dignity, and Liberty.” 

Martinelli’s trial began in October 2020; however, on Oct. 6, 2021, the Vatican’s lower court acquitted Martinelli of the charges against the younger peer, citing insufficient evidence. 

Charges of “aiding and abetting” were also dropped against Father Enrico Radice, the former rector of the pre-seminary. 

The Vatican appeals court’s Jan. 23 decision partially reversed the 2021 lower court decision, having found evidence that Martinelli was guilty of “the crime of corruption of minors.” 

The appellate court ruling, the Italian network ANSA reported, noted that Martinelli “is not punishable limited to the facts contested up to Aug. 2, 2008, as he is under 16 years of age” and acquits him “of the crimes accused of him in relation to the period following Aug. 9, 2008, due to insufficient evidence” but confirms “the reclassification of the facts in dispute as supplementary to the crime of corruption of minors foreseen and punished by article 335, criminal code, limited to the period from Aug. 9, 2008, to March 19, 2009.”

The conviction can still be appealed to the Vatican’s highest court, the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura. 

The victim of Martinelli’s abuse spoke with the Washington Post, on the grounds of anonymity, following the conviction. 

“The first feeling I had was this: For years I was told I was a pervert, a faker, a liar, a madman, who was exploiting this for his own ends,” the victim disclosed to the Washington Post. 

“But all these years of pain and fatigue now have a meaning. There’s some lightness pouring in,” the victim said. 

Young people greet Pope Francis as he arrives at the World Youth Day welcoming ceremony in Lisbon, Portugal, Aug. 3, 2023. / Credit: Jesus Huerta/Flickr JMJ Lisboa 2023

ACI Prensa Staff, Jan 23, 2024 / 16:22 pm (CNA).

“Love is the primary reason for the existence of the Church,” Pope Francis begins the letter accompanying the new edition of YouCat, the Catechism of the Catholic Church written for adolescents and young people.

The full text was published yesterday by the Italian newspaper La Stampa and is titled “The Password for Joy,” which, according to the pope, is found precisely within the catechism.

The pope explains that this “love” of which he speaks is primarily the love that God the Father revealed to the world through Jesus. 

However, he also points out that there is another love that comes from each person: the love that believers, in turn, profess for Jesus Christ.

“He is the center of our heart. How, in fact, can we not have feelings of true affection toward him who has made us partakers of a love, that of the Father, a love about which it is impossible to imagine a greater one?” the pope wrote in his letter. “The believer is, therefore, always in love with Jesus.”

The pontiff also noted that it is the duty of “adults in faith” to make Jesus Christ known to those who have not yet had the opportunity. This encounter, the Holy Father said, must be proposed through the catechism, which reveals the love that Catholics feel for the Lord.

“This beautiful book that you now have in your hands has its origin precisely in such a love: the love for Jesus that we believers hold within us,” he said.

Regarding the importance of the catechism for young people, Pope Francis recalled his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, who wrote in the preface to the first edition of YouCat: “This book is compelling because it speaks to us of our very destiny and therefore concerns each of us intimately. Because of this I ask you: Study the catechism with passion and perseverance!”

Pope Francis referenced these words and also recommended that young people frequently read the Gospel and pray daily to “transfer” the attitudes of Jesus from the mind to the heart.

“Here is the password for a truly lively and joyful life,” the pope said, “to look at and judge what happens to us and the decisions we are called to make with the same eyes, with the same feelings, with the same attitude that embodied Jesus.”

Meuser leaves YouCat Foundation

Bernhard Meuser, the German founder, main author, and “father of YouCat” will retire at the end of this year, the organization said on its official website.

The 70-year-old theologian and philologist has written, supervised, and edited numerous publications that have received international recognition. The most important has been the Youth Catechism of the Catholic Church (YouCat), which has been translated into more than 60 languages and is one of the bestselling Catholic books worldwide.

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

Pope Francis receives an ecumenical delegation from Finland on Friday, Jan. 19, 2024, on the second day of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. / Credit: Vatican Media

Rome Newsroom, Jan 22, 2024 / 13:00 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis received an ecumenical delegation from Finland on Friday, Jan. 19, on the second day of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity and to mark the feast of St. Henry of Uppsala. 

Speaking on the importance of ecumenical dialogue and providing a broader reflection on the saints and the important role their testament plays, the pope noted that “we are on a journey and our common goal is Jesus Christ.” 

The pope told the Finnish delegation: “The saints are brothers and sisters who have traveled this road to the end and have reached their goal. They accompany us as living witnesses of Christ our way, truth, and life.” 

“If the thousandth anniversary of the death of St. Olav in 2030 can inspire and deepen our prayer for unity and also our journey together, this will be a gift for the entire ecumenical movement,” the pope added in his address. 

Following the meeting with the pope on Friday, the ecumenical delegation met with Cardinal Kurt Koch, prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity. Father Oskari Juurikkala at the meeting called the cardinal “a quite unique case that can be an example for others.”

Finland shares a border with Sweden, Norway, and Russia. It is home to some 5.5 million people, of whom an estimated 16,000 are Catholic, fewer than 1% of the population. 

The Diocese of Helsinki covers the entire country and comprises just eight parishes and 25 priests, of whom most are foreign-born. Despite the small number of Catholics, the Catholic population of Finland grows each year, primarily from conversion and immigration. 

After a four-year sede vacante in the diocese, following the resignation of Bishop Teemu Sippo, the first Finnish-born Catholic bishop since the Protestant Reformation, Father Raimo Goyarrola was appointed as bishop of Helsinki by Pope Francis on Sept. 29, 2023.

Bishop Emeritus of Helsinki Teemu Sippo, SCI (left), apostolic nuncio to the Nordic countries Archbishop Julio Murat, and bishop-elect Raimo Ramón Goyarrola Belda of Helsinki following a Mass at St. Henry's Cathedral on Sept. 29, 2023. Credit: Catholic Information Centre, Diocese of Helsinki

Goyarrola was consecrated bishop of Helsinki on Nov. 25, 2023, in the Johanneksen Kirkko (St. John’s Lutheran Church) in Helsinki. 

Reflecting on his episcopal consecration, Goyarrola told the National Catholic Register, CNA’s sister news partner, in a recent interview that “it was amazing, it was an ecumenical feast. There were many Catholics, of course, but also many Lutherans, Pentecostals, Orthodox, Methodists, and Anglicans — we were like a council in the church.” 

Ecumenism between the different churches is one of the defining features of the religious fabric of the country. 

“Thanks to ecumenism, we use 25 different temples that are non-Catholic; they’re Lutheran or Orthodox churches. Every Sunday we use 25 [different non-Catholic parishes]; that means 25 different cities where [there is] Catholic Mass. But this is not a Catholic parish. And this is amazing. This is a gift. This is ecumenism in Finland,” the bishop continued in his interview with EWTN. 

According to the diocese’s official website, the permanent Catholic parishes are located in Helsinki, Turku, Jyväskylä, Tampere (with chapels in Vaasa and Pietarsaari), Kouvola, Kuopio, and Oulu. 

“A parish priest on Sunday will say three to four Masses. One Mass is in the parish, but another Mass is 200 kilometers from the parish, and perhaps the third Mass is 150 kilometers from the parish, and so we travel a lot by car, by train,” the bishop added.

Finland is a traditionally Lutheran country; however, in many ways, it retains unique links with the Catholic tradition that has made greater ecumenical dialogue possible.

Pope Francis receives an ecumenical delegation from Finland at the Vatican on Jan. 19, 2024, on the second day of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. . Credit: Vatican Media

Juurikkala, a native of Helsinki and a priest of Opus Dei in Rome, spoke with CNA about his journey toward the faith and the unique ecumenical atmosphere that characterizes the Church in Finland. 

“In the last couple of decades, there has been a growing sense of friendship, especially between the Lutheran, Orthodox, and Catholic bishops, priests, and pastors,” he said. 

Both for Juurikkala and Goyarrola the unique status and historical legacy of Finnish Lutheranism have facilitated greater dialogue and mutual intelligibility with Catholicism. 

Noting that in Finland, the Protestant Reformation took the form primarily of a “political reformation,” Goyarrola said Finnish Lutherans “pray[ed] to the Virgin Mary, the saints, and there were tabernacles all around Finland more than 100 years after the Reformation.”  

“The Lutheran Church in Finland is the closest Lutheran Church in the world to the Catholic Church,” the bishop added. 

Juurikkala observed that the Catholic Church and the Finnish Lutheran Church also had a common “way of understanding the Eucharist and communion; it’s not so radically reformed in many other places.” He added that there’s also a “strong sense of the episcopal office,” which positions it “much closer to Anglicanism in that sense. It’s a strong sense of the episcopal office and kind of the church hierarchy and the notion of priesthood.” 

Juurikkala grew up in what he described as a “humanistic family” where there was an emphasis on “humanities, literature, and culture,” but “there was really nothing, no Christian element in our life apart from the general, you know, Western culture.” 

The Finnish priest noted that in Finland, especially during the 1980s to the early 2000s, “the Catholic Church was very invisible in the society.”

But, in the past 20 years there has been a shift in the Church’s presence in the Nordic country, brought in part by the advent of social media and the proliferation of the internet, he said. 

“We see clearly in Finland that with the younger generations, there’s a lot of openness toward spirituality in general and interest in religions,” Juurikkala said. “There were some studies by some sociologists since in the last couple of weeks they published a study showing that the most religious group now in Finland is teenage boys.” 

Cardinal Kurt Koch, president of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, speaks with EWTN Vatican Bureau Chief Andreas Thonhauser on Jan. 18, 2024. / Credit: EWTN

Rome Newsroom, Jan 19, 2024 / 16:00 pm (CNA).

Orthodox and other Christian leaders have raised concerns to the Vatican about its recent declaration allowing nonliturgical blessings of same-sex couples, according to a top cardinal in charge of ecumenical affairs.

In an exclusive interview with EWTN and in separate comments to the Vatican’s news agency, Cardinal Kurt Koch, prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, revealed that he has received negative reactions to the Dec. 18, 2023, declaration Fiducia Supplicans. Both interviews were conducted in connection with this year’s Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, which runs from Jan. 18–25.

“I have received a long letter from all the Oriental Orthodox churches. They want to have some explanation and clarification about this document,” Koch told EWTN.

In his interview with EWTN, which will be aired on Sunday, Jan. 21, on “Vaticano,” Koch further discussed the implications of the Orthodox churches’ reception of Fiducia Supplicans and how the issue of same-sex blessings has divided the Western churches.

“We have a great division in the Anglican world, when the Church of England has introduced the possibility to have blessings for same-sex ... couples. They have a very strong opposition, above all in Africa,” the 73-year old Swiss prelate said, reflecting on the Church of England’s 2023 decision to permit the blessings of same-sex couples.

The cardinal said he also spoke with Metropolitan Hilarion of Budapest, of the Russian Orthodox Church, who expressed a “great shock when he read this document.”

When asked what the next steps would be in this process of dialoguing with the churches, Koch noted that during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity there will be the International Mixed Commission between the Catholic Church and the Oriental Orthodox churches in Rome.

“We have the plenary assembly of the Oriental Orthodox here in Rome just next week, and they have already announced that they can talk about these issues,” the Swiss prelate told EWTN.

Koch also indicated that in light of the feedback he has received from the Orthodox churches, he wrote to Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, the prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, for clarification ahead of this meeting, in order “to have some explanations.”

The plenary meeting of the Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue is held between the Catholic Church and the 14 autocephalous, or “self-headed,” Orthodox churches and will be held Jan. 22–26.

‘Some negative reactions’

In a separate interview with the German section of Vatican News, Koch said that he had “received some negative reactions from the ecumenical world about Fiducia Supplicans.”

​​Asked whether a reading of Fiducia Supplicans might “almost justify Eucharistic hospitality [the extension of the Eucharist to non-Catholics] under certain narrowly defined conditions,” Koch said: “I believe that in ecumenical dialogue we need to think about this anew: What is blessing, and what is the relationship between doctrine and pastoral care?”

“These questions have now become acute again, and we need to talk about them,” the prelate said.

Koch joins a growing list of senior Vatican prelates who have publicly commented on the polarized reception to the dicastery’s Dec. 18 document. 

During a Jan. 12 conference held in Rome, the Vatican’s secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, expressed that “this document has aroused very strong reactions; this means that a very delicate, very sensitive point has been touched; it will take further investigation.” 

When asked in a follow-up question by an Italian journalist if the document was a mistake, the Vatican’s top diplomat responded curtly: “I do not enter into these considerations; the reactions tell us that it has touched a very sensitive point."

Pope Francis responded publicly to questions about the Vatican’s declaration on blessings for same-sex couples for the first time on the Italian prime time TV show “Che tempo che fa,” which aired on Jan. 14. 

Asked if he “felt alone” after Fiducia Supplicans was met with some resistance, the 87-year-old pontiff said: “Sometimes decisions are not accepted.”

“But in most cases, when you don’t accept a decision, it’s because you don’t understand,” he added.

This year’s Week of Prayer for Christian Unity celebration marks the 60th anniversary of the historic meeting between Pope Paul VI and Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras I of Constantinople on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem in 1964. That was the first formal meeting of a pope and ecumenical patriarch since 1438, marking a paradigm shift in the ecumenical relations between the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches.

Pope Paul VI meets Orthodox Patriarch Athenagoras I at his residence of the apostolic delegation on Jan. 5, 1964. The meeting between the two church leaders ended a 900-year standoff between the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church. / Credit: EPU FILES/AFP via Getty Images

Rome Newsroom, Jan 18, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).

The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity will be celebrated by Catholics and other Christians worldwide from Jan. 18–25.

The theme for 2024, “You shall love the Lord your God ... and your neighbor as yourself,” is taken from the Gospel of Luke and selected by the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, the Faith and Order Commission of the World Council of Churches, and the ecumenical community of Chemin Neuf in Burkina Faso. 

Each day of the weeklong celebration is centered on different Scripture readings and meditations, which can be found on the website of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity. Other material prepared for the weeklong celebration includes the text for an ecumenical service, a historical overview, and key dates in ecumenical relations since the launch of the project. 

The internationally observed effort first started in 1908 under the leadership of Servant of God Father Paul Wattson, the founder of an Anglican religious community and later a convert to Catholicism. It was initially called the Octave of Christian Unity, with the approval of Pope Pius X, and was subsequently promoted by Pope Benedict XV. 

The octave is celebrated from Jan. 18–25 in the Northern Hemisphere and is typically observed around the feast of Pentecost in the Southern Hemisphere.

This year’s celebration also marks the 60th anniversary of the historic meeting between Pope Paul VI and Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras I of Constantinople on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem in 1964. That was the first formal meeting of a pope and ecumenical patriarch since 1438, marking a paradigm shift in the ecumenical relations between the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches. 

On the 60th anniversary of the meeting in Jerusalem between Pope Paul VI and the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Athenagoras I, we recall the landmark encounter through several images and the voice of the Holy Father.
Watch now: pic.twitter.com/m9tJlzsecr

— Vatican News (@VaticanNews) January 4, 2024

In 1965, the two leaders met in Rome, where they published the “Joint Catholic-Orthodox Declaration of His Holiness Pope Paul VI and the Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras I,” lifting the mutual excommunication between the churches from 1054. 

The document stated: “They likewise regret and remove both from memory and from the midst of the Church the sentences of excommunication which followed these events, the memory of which has influenced actions up to our day and has hindered closer relations in charity.” 

On Jan. 6, the feast of the Epiphany of the Lord, Pope Francis in his Angelus reflection said the anniversary marked a turning point in ecumenical relations between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches, which broke “a wall of incommunicability that for centuries had kept Catholics and Orthodox apart.” 

The pope added: “And thinking of that historic gesture of fraternity in Jerusalem, let us pray for peace, for peace in the Middle East, in Palestine, in Israel, in Ukraine, all over the world. So many victims of war, so many deaths, so much destruction. Let us pray for peace.” 

On Jan. 25, the feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, Pope Francis will preside over the celebration of second vespers and deliver a homily at the papal Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls. The Holy Father will be joined by Archbishop Justin Welby of Canterbury, head of the Church of England. 

Pope Francis delivers a speech to all of the world’s ambassadors to the Vatican on Jan. 8, 2024. / Credit: Vatican Media

Rome Newsroom, Jan 17, 2024 / 15:30 pm (CNA).

On the occasion of the 54th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Pope Francis sent a letter to the group’s leader to express his hope that it will be an opportunity to find “ways to build a better world.” 

The pope’s Jan. 17 letter, addressed to the organization’s chairperson, Klaus Schwab, comes against the backdrop of what the pontiff described as an “increasingly lacerated world” and a “troubling climate of international instability.”

The letter opened with the pope’s characterization of modern wars, which “no longer take place only on clearly defined battlefields, nor do they involve soldiers alone.” 

“In a context where it appears that the distinction between military and civil targets is no longer respected, there is no conflict that does not end up in some way indiscriminately striking the civilian population,” the pope wrote in his letter, quoting from his Jan. 8 address to the ambassadors accredited to the Holy See.

The pope noted that the cessation of armed conflict “calls for more than simply setting aside the instruments of war. It demands addressing the injustices that are the root causes of conflict.” 

Francis’ letter touched upon many of the core themes of his pontificate, including the climate crisis, global food scarcity, economic inequality, and the exploitation of laborers in developing countries. 

“The exploitation of natural resources continues to enrich a few while leaving entire populations, who are the natural beneficiaries of these resources, in a state of destitution and poverty,” Francis wrote. 

The pope’s letter went on to also highlight the massive social changes brought about by the globalization of financial markets, which has “demonstrated the interdependence of the world’s nations and peoples.” The Holy Father appealed for a “fundamentally moral dimension” that “must make itself felt in the economic, cultural, political, and religious discussions that aim to shape the future of the international community.”

Speaking to the importance of harmonizing state policy and business practices to arrive at more sustainable models of growth and economic development, the pope reiterated that these new economic paradigms must be “farsighted” and “ethically sound,” which “by their very nature must entail subordinating the pursuit of power and individual gain, be it political or economic, to the common good of our human family, giving priority to the poor, the needy, and those in the most vulnerable situations.” 

Pope Francis also emphasized the role nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) play as critical stakeholders in advancing social and economic development.

The Holy Father wrote that they must be free “to exercise their functions of control and guidance in the economic sector, since the achievement of the common good is an objective beyond the reach of individual states, even those that are dominant in terms of power, wealth, and political strength.” 

“International organizations are also challenged to ensure the achievement of that equality, which is the basis of the right of all to participate in the process of full development, with due respect for legitimate differences,” the letter continued. 

The World Economic Forum (WEF) was founded in 1971 by Klaus Schawab, a Swiss-German economist and engineer, to foster greater cooperation between private and public entities to confront political, economic, and social issues at the national, regional, and international levels. 

The annual meeting — which is held every year in Davos, Switzerland — is attended by many of the world’s elite including heads of state, CEOs of Fortune 100 companies, financial leaders, the heads of some international organizations, and major cultural personalities. 

In previous years the event has been attended by U.S. presidents including Donald Trump in 2018 and 2020 and Bill Clinton in 2000. President Joe Biden has not attended the event since taking office. 

Leading the U.S. delegation to this year’s forum — which is being held Jan. 15–19 — is Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is joined by U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry.

Other attendees include the premier of the People’s Republic of China, Li Qiang; French President Emmanuel Macron; Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy; United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres; and World Bank President Ajay S. Banga. 

Cardinal Mauro Gambetti greets animals and offers his blessing in St. Peter’s Square on Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2024. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

Vatican City, Jan 17, 2024 / 14:00 pm (CNA).

St. Peter’s Square was filled with horses, cows, donkeys, dogs, sheep, chickens, and rabbits on Wednesday for the feast of St. Anthony Abbot.

Farmers and pet owners alike brought out their beloved animals to the Vatican for a special blessing on Jan. 17.

Cardinal Mauro Gambetti blesses animals in St. Peter’s Square for the feast of St. Anthony of the Desert, co-patron of animals, on Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2024. Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

While many American Catholics associate the feast of St. Francis of Assisi with a blessing of animals, in Italy farmers traditionally celebrate the feast of St. Anthony Abbot, the patron saint of domestic animals. St. Anthony is also known as St. Anthony of the Desert, St. Anthony of Egypt, and St. Anthony the Great, among other names.

St. Anthony Abbot was a fourth-century hermit known for his asceticism and as a father of monasticism. His holy life in the Egyptian desert was recorded by St. Athanasius in “The Life of St. Antony.”

Donkeys were among the animals blessed in St. Peter's Square on the feast of St. Anthony of the Desert on Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2024. Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

Despite the cold and rainy weather, many people showed up to celebrate again with their furry friends.

Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, the archpriest of St. Peter’s Basilica, individually greeted the animals after offering the blessing. 

The cardinal kicked off the day’s celebration with a Mass inside St. Peter’s Basilica with members of the Italian Breeder’s Association.

Cardinal Mauro Gambetti celebrates Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica ahead of the blessing of animals in St. Peter’s Square on Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2024. Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

In his homily, Gambetti reflected on how farming is “a job in contact with the earth, with creation.”

Acknowledging that farmers have faced difficulties in recent years, the cardinal encouraged them to face “the challenges that globalization poses” with “the strength of compassionate humanity in the name of Jesus Christ.”

An animal pen at the blessing of animals in St. Peter’s Square, Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2024. Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

Pope Francis delivers a message at his general audience on Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2024, in the Paul VI Audience Hall at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media

Rome Newsroom, Jan 17, 2024 / 12:50 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis amended the Vatican’s financial regulations on Tuesday, enshrining a spending limit into law that requires Vatican offices to get permission before making large purchases.

The pope published two apostolic letters — which the Holy Father issued motu proprio (“on his own impulse”) — on Jan. 16 that make changes to some of Francis’ former financial reform laws from June 2020, updating them to align with the 2021 apostolic constitution Praedicate Evangelium, the pope’s signature reform of the organization and structure of the Roman Curia.

The first motu proprio, titled “On the Limits and Modalities of Ordinary Administration,” requires Vatican offices to get approval from the Secretariat of the Economy for purchases over 2% of their total annual operating budget. The motu proprio adds that purchases under 150,000 euros do not require approval. 

The Secretariat for the Economy oversees the financial aspects of both the Roman Curia and the Vatican City State administration, including a review of financial reports. The secretariat was established by Pope Francis in 2014 as part of his financial reform of the Vatican.

The law grants the Secretariat for the Economy 30 days to notify the Vatican offices whether the request has been approved, adding that “the lack of response is equivalent to the granting of the request.”

The second motu proprio consists of more than 90 articles and includes Vatican regulations on procurements, or the process of acquiring and purchasing goods and services.

Pope Francis wrote in his introduction to the second motu proprio that he was updating regulations in light of “the experience gained in recent years” to allow for a “more effective application” of Vatican financial reforms with the goal of “continuing on the path undertaken to promote transparency, control, and competition in the procedures for the awarding of public contracts.”

The amended regulations include a provision that the sustainable use of internal funds, transparency in the procurement process, and equal treatment among bidders all take place “in accordance with the principles of the social doctrine of the Church, the canonical order of the Holy See and Vatican City State, and the encyclical letter Laudato Si',” codifying compliance with Pope Francis’ landmark environmental encyclical into the law.

Pope Francis signed the motu proprio on procurements on Nov. 27, 2023, in St. Peter’s Basilica and the letter on extraordinary spending more recently on Jan. 6 from the Vatican.

Pope Francis takes part in the Roman Curia’s Lenten retreat in Ariccia, Italy, on March 6-10, 2016. / Credit: Vatican Media

Rome Newsroom, Jan 16, 2024 / 13:48 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis and the Roman Curia will take their traditional Lenten retreats separately and not as an organized group for another year, the Holy See Press Office announced on Tuesday morning. 

For the fifth consecutive year the joint retreat between the Holy Father and the Curia has been canceled. Curial officials will make their own retreat arrangements to commence the 40-day penitential season of Lent.

The tradition of a weeklong papal retreat dates back to the pontificate of Pius XI. It was first held in 1925 during the season of Advent. In 1964 Pope Paul VI changed the date of the retreat to the first week in Lent. 

In 2014 Pope Francis changed the location of the tradition from the Vatican to the town of Ariccia, which sits in the Alban Hills, 20 miles southwest of Rome.

This year’s retreat will start on the first Sunday of Lent, Feb. 18, following the recitation of the Angelus at noon. It will conclude the afternoon of Friday, Feb. 23. 

As in the past, the Holy Father’s regular activities are fully suspended during the retreat, including the Wednesday general audience, which would have been held on Feb. 21. 

In 2020 the Holy See Press Office announced that the pope had withdrawn from the retreat due to a lingering cold. In 2021 and 2022 the retreat for the pope and curial officials was held separately due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The retreat was also private in 2023.

This year’s private retreat comes after a year of tumultuous health issues for the pontiff.

In March 2023 the pope spent four days at Rome’s Gemelli hospital after suffering from a respiratory infection. Several months later Francis underwent a three-hour abdominal surgery to correct an incisional hernia and spent nine days in postoperative recovery before being released on June 16. 

In November 2023, meanwhile, Francis suffered from what the Holy Father described as “very acute infectious bronchitis.” At the behest of his doctors, the pope canceled his highly anticipated December trip to the COP28 climate summit in Dubai due to that infection.