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Tag: Pope Francis

  • Pope to elevate five Roman Catholic prelates

    Pope to elevate five Roman Catholic prelates

    Pope Francis is to elevate five Roman Catholic prelates from outside Italy and the Vatican to the rank of cardinal, the elite group of churchmen who are his closest advisers and can enter a conclave to choose his successor.

    The pope, making the surprise announcement during his weekly Sunday address, said the men came from Mali, Spain, Sweden, Laos and El Salvador.

    The new cardinals were named as Archbishop Jean Zerbo, 73, of Bamako, Mali, Archbishop Juan José Omella, 71, of Barcelona, Spain, Bishop Anders Arborelius, 67, of Stockholm, Bishop Louis-Marie Ling Mangkhanekhoun, 73, of Pakse, Laos, and Bishop Gregorio Rosa Chávez, 74, of San Salvador.

    The ceremony to elevate them, known as a consistory, would take place on June 28.

    The fact that none of the five are Italian and none hold Vatican positions underscores Francis’ conviction that the Church is a global institution that should become increasingly less Italian-centric.

    Naming new cardinals is one of the most significant powers of the papacy, allowing a pontiff to put his stamp on the future of the 1.2 billion-member Roman Catholic Church.

    Since only cardinals aged under 80 can enter a secret conclave to choose a new pope from their own ranks after Francis dies or resigns, the new members will join the ranks of prelates known as “cardinal electors”.

    Francis, the former cardinal-archbishop of Buenos Aires, was elected in such a conclave on March 13, 2013 as the first non-European pontiff in 1,300 years.

    It will be Francis’s fourth consistory and he has used each occasion to show support for the Church where Catholics are in a minority, in this case Sweden, Mali and Laos.

    The naming of a cardinal for Sweden was significant because Sweden is where the Lutheran World Federation was founded in 1947 and because this year marks the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther’s Reformation.

    Francis, who visited Sweden last year, is keen to further Catholic dialogue with Protestant churches.
    Sweden is also one of the world’s most secular countries and the naming of a cardinal there will boost the morale of the tiny Catholic population.

    Including the current batch, Francis has named nearly 50 cardinal-electors, or about 40 per cent of the total of 120 allowed by Church law.

    Francis, like some of his predecessors, bent the rules. With the latest appointments, there will be 121 cardinal electors until February, when one Vatican-based Italian cardinal turns 80.

  • Pope tasks religious leaders on need to defeat “barbarity”

    Pope tasks religious leaders on need to defeat “barbarity”

    Leaders of all faiths should unite in renouncing religious extremism and counter the “barbarity of those who foment hatred and violence,” Pope Francis said on Friday at the start of a two-day visit to Cairo.

    “Let us say once more a firm and clear ‘No!’ to every form of violence, vengeance and hatred carried out in the name of religion or in the name of God,” the pope told a peace conference at Egypt’s highest Islamic authority, Al-Azhar.

    Francis’s trip, aimed at improving ties between Muslims and Roman Catholics, comes three weeks after Islamic State suicide bombers killed at least 45 people in two Egyptian churches.

    “Together let us affirm the incompatibility of violence and faith, belief and hatred,” he said at the 1,000-year-old Sunni Muslim seat of learning.

    Francis headed straight to meet Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi after landing in Cairo, driving through heavily guarded streets but eschewing an armoured motorcade and instead using a normal car with his window wound down.

    “Pope of Peace in Egypt of Peace,” read posters plastered along the road leading from the airport to central Cairo.

    He is due to give three speeches on Friday and will celebrate an open-air Mass on Saturday at a military arena.

    His visit comes at a time of high tensions in Egypt, the most populous Arab nation.

    Besides the Palm Sunday bombings, Islamist militants on Thursday attacked a police checkpoint close to St. Catherine’s monastery at Mount Sinai.

    The pope referred to Mount Sinai, where the Prophet Moses received the 10 biblical commandments, and specifically invoked the famed injunction “thou shalt not kill”.

    The pontiff has repeatedly said that Christian-Muslim dialogue is the only way to overcome Islamist militants who have persecuted Christians and driven them from their 2,000-year-old communities in Iraq and Syria and are now hitting them in Egypt.

    His message carried special resonance inside Al-Azhar, where he is a guest of its Grand Imam, Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, widely considered among the most moderate clerics in Egypt.

    In his speech, Tayeb said militants had “carelessly” and “ignorantly” misinterpreted religious texts. “Islam is not a religion of terrorism,” he said.

    Tayeb has faced criticism from within Egypt’s parliament and sections of the media, who say Al-Azhar is an ossified.

    Francis stressed the importance of strong education.

    “To counter effectively the barbarity of those who foment hatred and violence, we need to accompany young people,” he said.

    Tayeb visited the Vatican in 2016, restoring relations with the Roman Catholic Church after they had been cut in 2011 in protest at what Egyptian Muslim leaders said were repeated insults directed at Islam by Francis’s predecessor, Pope Benedict.

    The pope has been applauded by moderate Muslims for his efforts to improve relations. He has washed the feet of Muslims during Holy Week ceremonies and in 2016.

    brought Syrian Muslim refugees back to Italy with him from a Greek migrant centre.

    His visit to Cairo is also aimed at bolstering sometimes frosty relations with Coptic churches, and he will meet Pope Tawadros II, head of the Coptic Orthodox Church who narrowly escaped a church bombing in Alexandria this month.

    He will also go to Cairo’s largest Coptic cathedral to pray for the 28 people killed in a Christmas season blast in 2016 and lay flowers in their memory.

    Copts represent about 10 per cent of Egypt’s 92 million population.

  • Pope sues for peace in Easter message

    Pope sues for peace in Easter message

    Pope Francis issued a fresh appeal for world peace on Thursday, in an interview published hours before he was due to perform the pre-Easter ritual of washing prison inmates’ feet.

    After leading a mass in St Peter’s Basilica, Francis was scheduled to visit Paliano prison, about 75 km south-east of Rome.

    In previous years, the pope washed feet in a juvenile prison, a centre for the disabled, a high-security jail and a refugee centre.

    “All I want is to call even more strongly for peace for this world subjugated by arm traffickers who profit from the blood of men and women,” Francis told Italian newspaper La Repubblica.

    “Violence is no cure for our broken world,” he added.

    The washing of the feet recalls the gesture that Christians believe Jesus performed on the 12 apostles before the Last Supper. It shows that the man the apostles saw as their leader was capable of the most humble act.

    Francis said the Catholic Church’s duty should be to “stand by the last in line, the marginalized, the discarded,” and added that convicts should not be judged too harshly because “we are all sinners, but Jesus forgives us with his mercy.”

    Easter, falling on Sunday, celebrates the resurrection of Jesus and is the most important Christian holiday.

    In the run-up to it, Francis is scheduled to preside over the traditional Via Crucis (Way of the Cross) procession on Friday, and lead an Easter vigil on Saturday.

  • Pope Francis dines with the homeless on 80th birthday

    Pope Francis yesterday celebrated an active if low-key 80th birthday, sharing breakfast with eight homeless people before celebrating Mass with cardinals as greetings poured in from around the world.

    The pontiff received more than 70,000 email messages wishing him a happy birthday, as well as telephone calls and telegrams from world leaders and religious figures.

    His predecessor, 89-year-old Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI, sent a “very affectionate” written greeting that the Vatican said was “particularly appreciated,” followed by a personal call in the afternoon and three small gifts that the bore “very personal and significant meaning for both.” The Vatican did not otherwise divulge the nature of the gifts.

    At breakfast, Francis chatted individually with each of the homeless guests- four Italians, two Romanians, a Moldovan and a Peruvian – at the Vatican hotel where he resides, and shared Argentinian cakes with them before heading to Mass.

    The guests offered the pope a bouquet of sunflowers. They were invited from among those staying around St. Peter’s Square and at nearby showers for the homeless established by the pope’s almsgiver. The pope also sent enough birthday cakes for 1,500 people to kitchens serving the poor and homeless in Rome.

    Speaking to the cardinals, Francis contemplated the aging process.

    “For some days now, I have had in mind a word that seems ugly: Old age, a thought that frightens,” he said.

    But then he recalled his own words during his first papal greeting in 2013, when he said: “Old age is the thirst for knowledge.”

    He added: “I hope it will be the same for me.”

    Saturday is a working day at the Vatican and Francis kept up his usual pace. He met with Malta’s president and held an audience with members of the Nomadelfia community, a secular group whose lifestyle emulates early Christians, who sang “Happy Birthday” to the pontiff.

    The pope experienced the day “with great joy. He was particularly happy by the presence of many children and youths at the audience with the Nomadelfia community,” the Vatican said.

    Greetings arrived from all corners of the globe, both personal messages and succinct tweets with the hashtag #Pontifex80.

  • Buhari greets Pope Francis at 80

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday congratulated Pope Francis who turns 80 on Saturday.

    The President, in a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, joined the Roman Catholic Church in particular, and Christendom in general, in celebrating the milestone in the life of the Pontiff, whom he said has shown uncommon humility, generosity and love for humanity.

    He believed that Pope Francis has lived, preached and demonstrated the tenets of the Christian faith like Saint Francis of Assisi, who influenced the world around him by caring for the weak, the poor and helpless.

    The President assured that the teachings of His Holiness on peace, love and tolerance in a world embroiled in conflicts will not be lost on leaders, and will continue to resonate through many generations.

    President Buhari also prayed that the almighty God will grant Pope Francis longer life and good health as he serves God and humanity.

     

     

     

  • Buhari hails Pope Francis for contribution to global peace

    Buhari hails Pope Francis for contribution to global peace

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday commended the contribution of Pope Francis and the Holy See to global peace.

    He described the contribution as “active and relentless.”

    The President spoke while receiving Archbishop Augustine Kasujja, Apostolic Nuncio (Ambassador of the Holy See) in a farewell visit at State House, Abuja.

    He said that the effort of the Pope for peace, especially in Syria, is inspiring and impressive.

    In a statement by the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, Buhari said: “Please convey our gratitude to the Pope. We thank the Vatican for supporting Nigeria’s efforts. You have spent over six years here. We hope you will keep in touch,”

    Archbishop Kasujja extolled what he called “the courage of Nigerians,” especially as exhibited by the unbowed heads of people in the North-east, despite the devastation visited on them by years of insurgency.

    He said that he visited all parts of the country during his almost seven years’ stay.

    “If you permit me, I will love to be an ambassador of Nigeria wherever I go,” he declared.

    The Apostolic Nuncio said he found Nigeria fascinating, and his tour of duty quite fulfilling and rewarding.

  • Bishops face sack for mishandling abuse

    Pope Francis has approved measures to sack bishops who mishandle child sexual abuse cases, a papal decree has said.

    Bishops who are “negligent” in dealing with priests committing abuse will be removed under the new legal procedures, the BBC reports.

    The decree comes in response to long-running demands by abuse victims and their supporters to hold bishops accountable if they fail to protect their flocks from paedophiles.

    Existing laws relating to abuse cases would be tightened, the Pope said.

    He acknowledged that canon law already allows for a bishop to be removed for negligence but said he wants a more precise definition of the “grave reasons” that could lead to dismissal.

    “I intend to specify that among these so-called ‘serious reasons’ is the negligence of bishops in the exercise of their functions, especially in cases of sexual abuse of minors or vulnerable adults,” Pope Francis wrote.

    Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi was quoted by the AFP news agency as saying that the pontiff had also established a group of lawyers to help him make decisions that could result in the dismissal of a bishop.

  • Europe must be open, multicultural society – Pope

    Europe must be open, multicultural society – Pope

    Pope Francis has called on Europe to be an open and multicultural society by welcoming refugees and helping young people to start families, while offering them job opportunities.

    He made the call on Friday during an acceptance speech in Vatican City for the Charlemagne Prize, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

    The Pope stressed the need for Europe to respect the foreigner, immigrant and people from different cultures as worthy of being listened to.

    He said there was need to follow the moral obligation of building a new economic system with dignified and well-paying jobs, especially for our young people.

    Francis, who recalled the impact of founding fathers of the European Union such as Robert Schuman and Alcide De Gasperi, said “their vision inspired to build bridges and tear down walls.

    “I dream of a Europe where being a migrant is not a crime but a summon to greater commitment on behalf of the dignity of every human being.”

     

  • Refugees are gift, not problem – Pope

    Refugees are gift, not problem – Pope

    Pope Francis on Tuesday issued a fresh call for solidarity toward migrants in a video message sent to the Italian chapter of the Jesuit Refugee Service, an international Catholic charity.

     

    He said “forgive the closure and the indifference of our societies, which are afraid of the changes in lifestyle and mentality that your presence requires.

     

    “Treated like a burden, a problem, a cost, you are instead a gift,’’ Francis said in the video which he directly addressed refugees.

     

    The remarks came three days after Francis visited a migrant centre on the Greek island of Lesbos and returned to Rome with 12 Syrian refugees who would be taken care of by the Vatican.

  • Pope Francis visits migrant camp

    Pope Francis has made an emotional visit to a detention camp on the Greek island of Lesbos, telling the migrants there “you are not alone”.

    The Moria camp holds more than 3,000 people, some of whom may face deportation to Turkey, the BBC reports.

    “Do not lose hope,” the Pope said, as he urged the world to show “common humanity” on the migrant crisis.

    Thousands of migrants are now stuck on Lesbos after last month’s European Union-Turkey deal to try to ease the flow.

    The Vatican insists that the Pope’s visit is purely humanitarian and religious in nature and should not be seen as a criticism of the deportations.

    Pope Francis first met a group of young boys who had made the dangerous overseas journey alone.

    As he toured the camp, TV pictures showed one woman kneeling at his feet, delivering an emotional appeal.

    A young girl handed him some artwork. The Pope said “Bravo, Bravo,” before telling his staff: “Don’t fold it. I want it on my desk.”

    In his speech, the Pope acknowledged “the great sacrifice” the people in the camp had made, saying he wanted to “draw the attention of the world to this grave humanitarian crisis.”