St. Mary Church

Vatican City, Oct 31, 2024 / 15:10 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis received in audience on Wednesday members of “Project Hope,” a program of accompaniment for the spiritual and emotional healing of women and men who suffer the consequences of having chosen abortion.

The members of the initiative, which has spread to most Latin American countries, aim to help those who seek “reconciliation and forgiveness” and experience God’s mercy.

Since 1999, these “companions” — whom the Holy Father referred to as “angels” — have been caring for the “other victims of abortion,” those who have decided to end the lives of their children.

Project Hope came about from women and also men asking for help “with tears in their eyes and expressing the need to know how to cope with unbearable pain.”

The goal of the project is to help the parents work out their grief “with the help of trained professionals and through an approach of acceptance, understanding, and confidentiality, which seeks to facilitate the encounter of the mother and father with their child who was the victim of an abortion.”

Suffering is ‘indescribable’

During the Oct. 30 audience at the apostolic palace in the Vatican, Pope Francis expressed his joy at receiving those who for 25 years have been accompanying women whose suffering, according to the pontiff, “is indescribable.”

For the Holy Father, “the arrival of each newborn is often synonymous with a joy that overwhelms us in a mysterious way and that renews hope.”

“It’s as if we perceived, without knowing how to explain it, that every child announces the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, of God’s desire to make his dwelling in our hearts,” he added.

Looking at the Scriptures, Pope Francis said the Lord “wanted us to share in a pain that, because it is the antithesis of that joy, shocks us brutally.”

“A cry is heard in Ramah, sobbing and bitter weeping: Rachel is weeping for her children, and she refuses to be consoled for her children — they are no more!” the Holy Father read. 

The first cry, Pope Francis said, quoting an ancient author, “referred to children, the holy innocents, and their pain ceased with death, while the bitter weeping was the lament of mothers that is always renewed when they remember.”

He also referred to the flight to Egypt of the Virgin Mary and St. Joseph due to Herod’s order to kill newborns to explain “that such a great evil drives Jesus away from us, prevents him from entering our home, from having a place in our inn.”

‘Evil doesn’t have the last word’

“But we must not lose hope,” the pope reminded. “Evil does not have the last word; it is never definitive. Like the angel in St. Joseph’s dream, God announces to us that, after this desert, the Lord will return to take possession of his house.”

The pontiff also commented that the people who are part of Project Hope are like “that angel.”

“I truly thank you for it,” he said.

He also invited them to trust “in the firm hand of St. Joseph so that these sisters of ours can find Jesus in their desolation.”

“With him they will reach the warm and safe home of Nazareth, where they will experience inner silence and the peaceful joy of seeing themselves welcomed and forgiven in the bosom of the Holy Family,” he concluded.

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

Feast date: Oct 31

St. Foillan was born in 7th-century Ireland and was the brother of St. Fursey and St. Ultan. He joined them in England, where they were working as missionaries, and had established a monastery near Yarmouth.

During a war between the Mercians and Anglo-Saxons, c.650, the monastery was destroyed and many of the brothers were killed, captured or dispersed. Foillan ransomed back his brothers and traveled to France, where they were welcomed and encouraged in their evangelization by King Clovis II.

In 653, St. Foillan founded a monastery at Fosses in the Diocese of Liege and served as its abbot. He was a well-loved preacher and spiritual director, successfully evangelizing the people in the area, which grew into the modern town of Le Roeulx, Belgium. He also served as the spiritual director at the house founded by St. Gertrude.

In 655, while traveling on Church business, St. Foillan was murdered by bandits along with his three companions.

Feast date: Oct 31

Oct. 31, though best known as the Vigil of the Solemnity of All Saints (All Hallows’ Eve) in the Western church, is also the liturgical feast day of St. Wolfgang of Ratisbon, who was regarded as one of the greatest German saints of his time

The Benedictine monk and bishop, who served as a missionary to pagans and a reformer of the Church in southeastern Germany, was born around 934 in the historic southwestern German region of Swabia.

Wolfgang came from a family of nobility and was privately tutored as a child. Later on, the future monk was educated at the renowned Monastery of Reichenau, and at Wurtzburg. Wolfgang showed intellectual prowess and found companionship during his years of study, but was also dismayed by the petty jealousies and moral lapses he observed in Wurtzburg’s academic environment.

In 956, his school companion Henry was chosen to lead the Archdiocese of Trier. Though Wolfgang had become interested in monastic life, he chose to go with Henry to Trier, where his service to the Church included a teaching position in the cathedral school.

After Archbishop Henry’s death in 964, Wolfgang left Trier, became a monk of the Order of Saint Benedict, and settled at a monastery in the diocese of Augsburg. Its school prospered under his direction, and the local bishop – the future St. Ulrich – ordained him to the priesthood in 968. In his youth, Wolfgang had envisioned a secluded life of contemplation; but things turned out differently, as he was sent east to evangelize the Magyars in 972.

By Christmas of that year, Wolfgang had been chosen as the new Bishop of Ratisbon (present-day Regensburg in Bavaria). But he continued to live out his monastic vocation, retaining his distinctive Benedictine habit and dedicating himself to the same ascetic lifestyle. Amid the work of preaching and reform, Wolfgang remained a man of prayer, silence, and contemplative solitude.

Not surprisingly, the Bishop of Ratisbon made monasticism a focus of his church reforms, reviving religious life in places where it had fallen into disorder. Wolfgang also showed extraordinary care for the poor in his diocese, to such an extent that he was called “the Great Almoner.” On the other hand, he was also involved in affairs of state at a high level, and tutored the children of the Duke of Bavaria, including the future Holy Roman Emperor St. Henry II.

Wolfgang, despite being one of the great bishops and saints of his time, still encountered serious difficulties in his leadership of the Diocese of Ratisbon. On one occasion, a political conflict caused him to withdraw from his diocese to a hermitage for a period of time. Wolfgang is also said to have struggled with the great geographical extent of the diocese, parts of which were eventually entrusted to the Bishop of Prague.

In 994, while traveling in Austria, Wolfgang became sick and died in the village of Pupping. Miracles associated with his tomb, including many healings, led to his canonization of 1052. Several of St. Wolfgang’s devotees experienced relief from stomach ailments, and he remains a patron saint of such troubles today. His intercession is also sought by victims of strokes and paralysis, and by carpenters.

Vatican City, Oct 31, 2024 / 10:55 am (CNA).

Pope Francis encouraged members of Italy’s Educational Commitment Movement of Catholic Action (MIEAC) on Thursday to not be afraid to propose high Christian ideals to young people in a secularized society.

“Christian education crosses unexplored terrain, marked by anthropological and cultural changes, on which we are still seeking answers in the light of the Word of God,” the Holy Father said to participants of MIEAC’s national congress at a private audience held in the Vatican.

MIEAC is an educational project connected to Italy’s Catholic Action that was established in 1990 with the aim of fostering the integral development of young people in all its dimensions: existential, spiritual, affective, cultural, social, and political.

During the Thursday audience, the pope praised MIEAC members for their dedication amid the “labyrinths of complexities” affecting human relationships in today’s society and encouraged them to “carry forward an idea and a practice of education that effectively puts the person at the center.”

“The educational service that defines your movement brings with it, today perhaps even more than in the past, the challenge of operating on a human and Christian level,” he said. “This is precisely the right perspective in which to continue the journey of your movement. Go forward!”

Looking to the 2025 Jubilee Year of Hope, the Holy Father said it is necessary for teachers to sow hope in the world by paying “special attention to children, adolescents, [and] young people.”

“We must look at them with trust, with empathy, I would like to say with the gaze and heart of Jesus. They are the present and the future of the world and of the Church,” he shared.

“Ours is the task — entirely educational — to accompany them, support them, encourage them and, with testimony, to show them the good path that leads to being ‘fratelli tutti’ [all brothers].”

The Holy Father also insisted that the education of children is a task and process that needs the initiative and support of different people from church-related and secular institutions.

“It is important not to remain alone but to build and strengthen fruitful relationships with the various subjects of the educational process: families, teachers, social workers, managers and sports trainers, catechists, priests, religious men and women, without neglecting collaboration with public institutions,” the pope said.

The pope’s last message to MIEAC members was to “educators with a big heart” to follow the example of their founder, Venerable Giuseppe Lazzati, “a credible teacher and witness, a model of a Christian educator” who was foremost moved by love of God and others.

“Through educational processes we express our love for others, for those who are close to us or entrusted to us; and, at the same time, it is essential that education be founded, in its method and its aims, on love. Always educate with love!”

Vatican City, Oct 30, 2024 / 15:25 pm (CNA).

Theologians and others involved in the October gathering of the Synod on Synodality met this week to offer their expert opinions on the synodal process as it moves into the “reception” or implementation phase.

The academic congress — “From the Council to the Synod: Rereading a Church’s Journey, 60 Years on Since Lumen Gentium (1964–2024)” — was hosted by the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome from Oct. 28–30.

“We are still in this synodal process, and with the approval of the final document, in fact, the third phase of the synod opens, which is that of reception,” said Father Dario Vitali, a theology professor and theological coordinator at the Synod on Synodality assemblies.

Speaking during the conference’s opening Oct. 28, Vitali said: “It will be the Churches above all that will do the work [of implementation], but it also becomes important to have an event like this in which theological experts and canonists who participated in the synod sessions can offer their reflection after having served in the assembly, a reflection based on expertise.”

The congress, which immediately followed the monthlong gathering of the second session of the Synod on Synodality at the Vatican, featured many of the experts who presented at four theological forums during the synodal assembly.

Those included theologians Father Gilles Routhier, Father Carlos Galli, Cardinal-designate Archbishop Roberto Repole, Thomas Söding, and canonists Myriam Wijlens and Father José San José Prisco.

Synod leadership also participated in the three-day academic event, including the synod’s general secretary, Cardinal Mario Grech, and the synod’s special secretaries Jesuit Father Giacomo Costa and Father Riccardo Battochio.

“It is urgent to foster dialogue between pastors and those engaged in theological research,” Grech said in his opening remarks Oct. 28.

“We could say that for something that closes, there is something else that opens,” he continued. “The final document that is the mature fruit of the consensus reached is now returned to the holy people of God, because there is circularity between the universal Church and local Churches.” 

“The stage of celebration ends and the stage of reception begins,” he said.

On the second day of the conference, which was focused on the theme of synodality and the role of the bishop, French Canadian theologian Routhier highlighted how “bishops’ conferences are not simply a grouping of hierarchs,” that is, bishops, “but express the ‘communio ecclesiarum,’” the communion of Churches.

Wijlens said in her presentation that “with this synod, Pope Francis has invited us to enter into a process of reconfiguration of the active principles of the Church,” and “the people of God have entered into this new path,” which represents a “Church on the move where canonical norms must provide for the implementation of this path and not stifle it.”

The third day of the conference was titled “The Church and Her Institutions: A Reinterpretation from a Synodal Perspective.” 

Grech spoke at length about the connections between the Second Vatican Council and the Synod on Synodality and said he was joyful that Pope Francis chose to approve the synod’s final document, allowing it to participate “in the ordinary magisterium of the successor of Peter.”

“It seems to me that I can say that Vatican II has been the inspirational model, the certain horizon for the path accomplished until today, a sort of compass to orient the path of the Church, our path,” the synod leader said.

“It is not out of place,” he continued, “to speak of the synod as a moment of mature, or at least more mature, reception of the council.”

“It could be said that the final document re-proposes the ecclesiological doctrine of the council. In fact, one catches here an advance in line with the council but one that significantly advances the council’s doctrine,” Grech said.

“But the final document does not just take up the council: It rethinks it, translates it, embodies it in processes,” he added. “As in the case of the third part, devoted to the conversion of processes, here participation in decision-making processes is a matter that the council had not intended to touch.”

Veronica Giacometti, Antonio Tarallo, and Marco Mancini of CNA’s Italian-language news partner ACI Stampa contributed to this report.

Vatican City, Oct 30, 2024 / 10:40 am (CNA).

Pope Francis addressed thousands of international pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square on Wednesday, urging them not to turn the sacrament of confirmation into their “last rites” as Catholics but to use it as “the beginning of an active participation in the Church.”

Continuing his catechetical series on the Holy Spirit and the Church, the Holy Father during his Wednesday general audience said confirmation is a “gift of God” and a “milestone” that should not mark a departure from the Church for Catholics.

“People say that it is the ‘sacrament of goodbye’ because once young people have done it they leave,” he said. “They come back for weddings. That’s what people say.”

The pope suggested that lay faithful “who have had a personal encounter with Christ and have had some experience of the Spirit” could reignite their own faith by helping other Catholics to better prepare for confirmation, which is the sacrament of the Holy Spirit “par excellence.”  

Reflecting on the accounts of the confirmation of the first Christians, recorded in the Acts of the Apostles and in St. Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians, Pope Francis said it is God himself who anoints believers.

“He has put his seal upon us and given the Spirit in our hearts,” he told the crowds present in St. Peter’s Square. “The theme of the Holy Spirit as the royal seal with which Christ marks his sheep is at the basis of the doctrine of the indelible character conferred by this rite.”

“Confirmation is for all the faithful what Pentacost was for the entire Church. It strengthens the baptismal incorporation into Christ and the Church, and the royal consecration to the prophetic, royal, and priestly mission,” he added.

During the Wednesday audience, the Holy Father expressed his desire that Catholics will “remove the ashes of habit and disengagement” to become “bearers of the flame of the Spirit” in the upcoming 2025 Jubilee Year of Hope.

Drawing attention to the solemnity of All Saints’ Day, celebrated on Nov. 1, the pope reminded his listeners that those who have gone before, who now enjoy “heavenly glory” and are “by the Father’s side,” wish to also be in communion with us and to guide us in our journey toward heaven.

Prayers for the Spirit’s gift of peace in the world

After greeting pilgrims belonging to different language groups — including Arabic, English, French, German, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, and Spanish — and expressing his closeness with the young, sick, elderly, and newlyweds, the pope exhorted all people to continue to pray for peace in the world.

“We pray for peace. War is continuing to grow,” he said. “Let us think of the countries that are suffering so much: tormented Ukraine, Palestine, Israel, Myanmar, North Kivu [in Congo], and so many other countries that are suffering from war.”

“Peace is a gift of the Spirit and war is always a defeat. Nobody wins in war, everybody loses. Let’s pray for peace, brothers and sisters.”

Vatican City, Oct 30, 2024 / 10:10 am (CNA).

After an October full of activity due to the Synod on Synodality, in November Pope Francis will once again mark the beginning of the month of the dead with special prayers and Masses for All Saints’ and All Souls’ Days. 

On the solemnity of All Saints on Nov. 1, Pope Francis will lead the Angelus, a traditional Marian prayer, from a window overlooking St. Peter’s Square at noon Rome time, as he does on every holy day of obligation.

Before the Angelus, the pope will deliver a short reflection; often it is based on the day’s Gospel or feast. Afterward, he may greet some of the groups present in St. Peter’s Square and draw attention to current social issues affecting the world, especially war.

For All Souls’ Day on Nov. 2, Francis will continue his custom of holding a Mass in a local cemetery to pray for the dead, especially the holy souls in purgatory.

The Mass will be offered at 10 a.m. in part of the nearly 52-acre Laurentino Cemetery — Rome’s third largest. Pope Francis usually gives a brief, spontaneous homily on this occasion.

This will be the pope’s second All Souls’ Day Mass in Laurentino Cemetery. In 2018, he offered Mass in an area of the cemetery reserved for deceased children and unborn babies called the “Garden of Angels.”

Since 2016, Pope Francis has celebrated or presided at a Mass in six different cemeteries in or near Rome. For All Souls’ Day in 2023, Mass was offered at the small Rome War Cemetery, which contains 426 Commonwealth burials from the Second World War.

During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the pope opted to stay in Vatican City and celebrate Mass for the faithful departed in the Church of Our Lady of Mercy, which is surrounded by the Teutonic Cemetery — the burial place of people of German, Austrian, and Swiss descent, and particularly members of the Archconfraternity to the Sorrowful Mother of God of the Germans and Flemings.

In 2019, the pope celebrated Mass at the Catacombs of Priscilla, while in 2022 he privately visited the Teutonic Cemetery again but offered Mass for deceased bishops and cardinals in St. Peter’s Basilica — another papal custom during the week of All Saints’ and All Souls’ Days.

On Sunday, Nov. 3, Pope Francis will again lead the Angelus in St. Peter’s Square, as he does every Sunday at noon.

The following morning, on Nov. 4, he will preside at a Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica for the repose of the souls of the bishops and cardinals who died during the previous year. It is the pope’s practice to always offer this Mass sometime during the first week of November.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Catholic Church must put more effort into ensuring that the sacrament of confirmation is not the "sacrament of goodbye" for young people, who receive it and then do not come to church again until they want to get married, Pope Francis said.

"The problem is how to ensure that the sacrament of confirmation is not reduced, in practice, to 'last rites,' that is the sacrament of 'departure' from the church, but is rather the sacrament of the beginning of an active participation in its life," he said Oct. 30 at his weekly general audience.

Continuing a series of audience talks about the Holy Spirit in the life of the church, the pope said parishes need to identify laypeople "who have had a personal encounter with Christ and have had a true experience of the Spirit," and ask them to lead the confirmation preparation classes. 

But all Catholics must help as well by rekindling the "flame" of the Holy Spirit that they received at confirmation like the disciples received at Pentecost, he said. And the Holy Year 2025, which opens Dec. 24, is a good time to do that.

"Here is a good goal for the Jubilee Year: To remove the ashes of habit and disengagement, to become, like the torchbearers at the Olympics, bearers of the flame of the Spirit," he said. "May the Spirit help us to take a few steps in this direction!"

"Confirmation is for all the faithful what Pentecost was for the entire church," the pope said, quoting the Italian bishops' catechism for adults. "It strengthens the baptismal incorporation into Christ and the church and the consecration to the prophetic, royal and priestly mission."

In other words, he told Arab speakers, "Through the sacrament of confirmation, the Holy Spirit consecrates and strengthens us, making us active participants in the church's mission." 

Greeting a group of ethnic Croatian young people who had recently been confirmed in Germany, Pope Francis prayed that the Holy Spirit would "inflame your hearts and make you joyful witnesses for Christ."

Urging everyone present in St. Peter's Square to continue to pray for peace in Ukraine, Palestine, Israel and Myanmar, the pope said he had just read about 150 people being gunned down.

Pope Francis did not say where, but some assumed he was referring to a terrorist attack Oct. 6 in the village of Manni, Burkina Faso, while Vatican News reported he was referring to Israeli attacks on northern Gaza.

"What do children, families, have to do with war?" the pope asked. "They are the first victims. Let us pray for peace."
 

Vatican City, Oct 29, 2024 / 15:45 pm (CNA).

Cardinal Seán O’Malley, archbishop of Boston and president of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, stressed that “celibacy is not the cause of pedophilia” but highlighted the need for more reforms within the Church to adopt a victim-centered approach to better safeguard children.

Following the presentation of the first annual report on safeguarding released by the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors on Tuesday, O’Malley stated that he has “never seen any serious studies that have indicated that celibacy and sexual abuse is related.”

“Yes, we are aware of the incredible damage that [pedophilia] has done to the credibility of the Church and our ability to have a prophetic voice in society,” the cardinal said in response to a journalist’s question on a potential “link between celibacy and sex abuse” at the Oct. 29 press briefing.

“And that only underscores the urgency of the Church to reform itself so that we can carry on Christ’s mission and be a sign of his love. And the kingdom of God is about justice and truth, and these are the core values that we’re talking about here,” he added.

Maud de Boer-Buquicchio, a jurist and international advocate for children’s rights who was appointed by Pope Francis as a member of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors in 2022, also stated that she did not see any relationship between celibacy and criminal sexual abuse against children.

“I don’t see any relationship,” she said. “Sexual relationships with children is a crime and the ones who commit this have a problem, which is related to their psychological state of mind.”

“There is no exception for this, no excuse for this crime. Children should be respected in their integrity — physical and moral. So whether celibate or not, it doesn’t matter. The children should be protected,” she said.

O’Malley stated that the goal of the pontifical commission, which he has headed since its establishment in 2014, is “to do everything possible” to address the lack of justice and recognition from people in the Church.

“Your suffering and wounds have opened our eyes to the fact that — as a Church — we have failed to care for victims, and that we didn’t defend you, and that we resisted understanding you when you needed us most,” he said at the Tuesday press briefing.

“We hope that this report — and those that will come — compiled with the help of victims and survivors at the center, will help to ensure the firm commitment that these events never happen again in the Church.”

According to O’Malley the annual safeguarding report — which outlines the Vatican’s policies and procedures for the protection of minors — is intended to complement the commission’s advocacy role as well as support the work of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF).

“The work of the DDF is so central in the administration of justice in the area of sexual abuse, and our task is to try and bring a pastoral dimension to that and the voice of the victims,” the cardinal said.

The Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors marks its 10th anniversary this year. It is now a permanent institution within the Vatican tasked with accompanying and assisting local Churches’ safeguarding ministries through formation and training.

Vatican City, Oct 29, 2024 / 10:00 am (CNA).

The Vatican issued its first annual report Tuesday assessing the Catholic Church’s policies and procedures to prevent abuse in dioceses worldwide from Africa to Oceania.

The 50-page report by the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors is the first in an annual series that aims to provide analysis of safeguarding measures in dioceses, Catholic organizations, and religious orders globally over the next five to six years.

Released on Oct. 29, the inaugural report found that “a significant part of Central and South America, Africa, and Asia have inadequate dedicated resources” available for safeguarding efforts.

The pontifical commission also identified a “persistent concern regarding the transparency in the Roman Curia’s procedures and juridical processes,” noting that this lack of transparency is likely to “foment distrust among the faithful, especially the victim/survivor community.”

It pointed to the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) in particular for its slow processing of cases and lengthy canonical proceedings, which it said can be a “source of re-traumatization for victims.”

The Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors has been a part of the DDF since Pope Francis’ reform of the Roman Curia in 2022, yet the commission has frequently underlined its independence from the dicastery.

The commission also called for a dedicated advocate or ombudsman in the Vatican to assist victims and advocated for further study on compensation policies.

The report is not an audit of abuse incidents within the Church but rather a review of safeguarding policies and procedures. The commission indicated that future reports could evolve to include an audit function on the incidence of abuse, including measuring progress in reducing and preventing abuse.

The commission’s pilot report evaluated diocesan safeguarding practices in a dozen countries, including Mexico, Belgium, Cameroon, and Papua New Guinea, as well as two religious orders and across Caritas’ regional offices. 

The commission’s findings varied across regions. While parts of Europe displayed advanced safeguarding practices, including trauma-informed support, regions such as Central and South America, Africa, and parts of Asia face significant challenges due to limited resources and inadequate training. 

The commission cited critical obstacles, from cultural and financial barriers to shortages of trained personnel in areas like canon law and psychology.

In Papua New Guinea, funding constraints restrict training for safeguarding experts, and prohibitively expensive rape kits limit the ability to gather evidence for criminal investigations. A similar lack of trained experts in canon law and psychology impedes the work of Church safeguarding offices in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Zambia, meanwhile, faces cultural obstacles, such as a “patriarchal society” and “a culture of silence,” which prevent survivors, particularly young girls, from reporting abuse. 

In Mexico, cultural barriers to reporting abuse also pose a significant hurdle to justice, according to the report. 

In response to gaps in safeguarding resources, particularly in developing regions, the commission introduced the “Memorare Initiative,” inspired by a traditional prayer to the Virgin Mary. This program aims to support the establishment of centers for abuse reporting and victim services in the Global South.

Other recommendations included streamlined procedures for removing Church leaders implicated in abuse or cover-ups, as well as policies promoting fair compensation for victims.

The report also suggested that the Vatican collaborate with pontifical universities to create specialized courses of study on safeguarding for clergy and Church workers.

Looking ahead, the commission plans to review between 15 and 20 bishops’ conferences per year during ad limina visits, with the goal of examining the entire Church over five to six years.

Pope Francis requested the commission to create the report in 2022. Cardinal Seán O’Malley, who has led the commission since it was established by Francis in 2014, emphasized that the annual reports are intended as both a tool for accountability and a step toward restoring trust in the Church’s commitment to safeguarding and transparency.