The clock starts today for a very important week for the reform of the Church...

[Michie]

The clock starts today for a very important week for the reform of the Church. The Council of Cardinals will begin its three-day meeting today. After that, informal meetings, until February 20 and 21, when the cardinals will gather in an ordinary public consistory. On Saturday...

The clock starts today for a very important week for the reform of the Church...

 

[Michie]

The second half of this month of February is characterized by a startling series of appointments, for the ecclesiastical Rome of Pope Francis. To begin, from Monday the 17th to Wednesday the 19th there will be a meeting of the council of cardinals appointed ten months ago by Jorge Mario Bergoglio to help him in the governance of the universal Church and in the reform of the curia...

Nine days of fireworks are on the way...

 

[Michie]

'Group of Eight' cardinals meet in Rome as Pope Francis opens critical week of reform activities...

 

[Tallguy88]

You remember that German Cardinal who wants to give divorced and remarried Catholics communion? Pope Francis chose him to give the opening speech. I wonder what kind of message that's meant to send?

VATICAN CITY -- Ever since last July, when Pope Francis told reporters that the church's practices on marriage exemplify a need for mercy in the church today, speculation has been widespread that he might make it easier for divorced and remarried Catholics to receive Communion even without an annulment of their first marriage.

Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, told reporters that Cardinal Walter Kasper would deliver the opening talk at a two-day meeting of the College of Cardinals, Feb. 20-21. The spokesman did not specify the subject of the talk, but said it would deal with church teaching on the family.

The cardinals' meeting will focus on preparation for October's extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the "pastoral challenges of the family in the context of evangelization," which Pope Francis has said will take up the question of giving Communion to the divorced and remarried.

That question is one on which Cardinal Kasper has strong and well-known views. In 1993, when the cardinal was a diocesan bishop in Germany, he and two other bishops issued pastoral instructions telling priests they could give Communion to divorced and civilly remarried Catholics convinced their first marriages were invalid, even if they had not received annulments.

That practice was later ruled out by the Vatican, but last year, the Archdiocese of Freiburg, Germany, made a similar proposal. Even criticism from Cardinal-designate Gerhard Muller, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, has not stopped prominent voices -- including Cardinal Reinhard Marx of Munich and Freising, Germany, and Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga of Tegucigalpa, Honduras -- from suggesting Freiburg might be allowed to carry out the proposal.

http://cnsblog.wordpress.com/2014/0...o-address-college-of-cardinals-on-the-family/

 

[Michie]

I think it just sends the message he has always sent. He is open to listening.

 

[Tallguy88]

I think it just sends the message he has always sent. He is open to listening.

I wouldn't oppose allowing divorced and remarried Catholics to receive. And if they don't go that far, wouldn't bother me either. Just think its interesting that this cardinal isn't being censured, rather he's being given a chance to convince the other cardinals of his position.

 

[Fantine]

Haven't seen a Fr. James Martin, SJ post on this yet....

I find his insights so valuable.

 

[Michie]

I wouldn't oppose allowing divorced and remarried Catholics to receive. And if they don't go that far, wouldn't bother me either. Just think its interesting that this cardinal isn't being censured, rather he's being given a chance to convince the other cardinals of his position.

I think that is what this meeting is about among other things. I don't think the Church will do away with annulment. The divorced can receive. It just those that do not bother to get their second marriage recognized by the Church that cannot receive.

 

[Michie]

I’m in Rome, where Pope Francis’ “Group of 8” cardinal-advisors are meeting this week to discuss prospects for administrative and economic reforms at the Vatican. As Francis’ one-year mark approaches, many are expecting to see the pope’s reform agenda take concrete shape in structural changes, new policies and bureaucratic streamlining.

Decision time on Vatican reforms? "Pazienza"

 

[Michie]

Cardinal: Pope Francis looking to 'stir things up' before October synod

Cardinal Edwin F. O'Brien spoke last month about Pope Francis, suggesting the pope was looking to, in the Cardinals words, ...

Cardinal: Pope Francis looking to 'stir things up' before October synod - Living Faith - Home & Family - Catholic Online

 

[Michie]

On Wednesday, we saw another sign that there’s a new “normal” at the Vatican these days. The Vatican announced that Pope Francis has confirmed two top Roman Curia department heads in their current jobs: Cardinal Leonardo Sandri as prefect of the Congregation for Eastern Churches and Cardinal Kurt Koch as president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.

Two more Roman Curia heads confirmed in their jobs...

 

[Michie]

Cardinals recommend overhaul of Vatican financial affairs

The Council of Cardinals has submitted a proposal for a thorough reorganization of the Vatican’s financial affairs.

After three days of meetings, the eight cardinals advising Pope Francis on Vatican reforms have “formulated proposals to be presented to the Holy Father,” the director of the Vatican press office told reporters on February 19. The Vatican spokesman, Father Federico Lombardi, said that the proposals involved the Vatican bank, the Institute for Religious Works, and the financial agencies of the Vatican generally. Pope Francis will now weigh the proposed reforms.

The Vatican did not disclose the nature of the reforms suggested by the Council of Cardinals. But informed Vatican observers speculated that their proposals would call for the creation of a single office to supervise all of the financial dealings of the Vatican.

The Council of Cardinals had heard reports this week from the special commissions created by Pope Francis to study the Vatican’s financial affairs and the Vatican bank. The Council concluded its meetings on Wednesday with an announcement of the dates for its next meetings: April 28-30 and July 1-4.
Father Lombardi said that the Council had completed its study of financial affairs, but continued to weigh other changes in the Roman Curia.

The Council of Cardinals Will Continue to Meet in Coming Months (VIS)

IOR and Vatican finances: “C8” presents initial proposals to Pope (La Stampa)

 

[Michie]

Preview of cardinals' meeting

At a briefing for reporters on February 19, Father Federico Lombardi, the director of the Vatican press office, provided a preview of the first day of an extraordinary consistory of cardinals, which will be held February 20 and 21.

Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the dean of the College of Cardinals, will open the Thursday session with a greeting. Pope Francis will speak next, and will be followed by Cardinal Walter Kasper.

Cardinal Kasper’s talk will be “lengthy,” Father Lombardi said; it will not be open to the press and the full text will not be released. The Vatican spokesman gave the impression that the German cardinal’s address might exhaust the available time for the Thursday-morning session.
The cardinals are scheduled to continue their meeting through Friday, allowing opportunities for other talks and for open discussion. Of the 199 living members of the College of Cardinals, 185 are expected to attend the meeting. The 19 prelates who will be elevated to the College at the consistory of February 23 are also expected, with the exception of the 98-year-old Archbishop Lorenzo Capovilla, whose health will not allow him to attend.

The Council of Cardinals Will Continue to Meet in Coming Months (VIS)

 

[Michie]

Pope Francis this morning opened a two-day discussion of cardinals on the family, saying the church’s pastoral response to modern problems must be marked by intelligence, courage and love. Here’s the key quote from the pope’s talk to about 150 cardinals gathered at the Vatican: Our reflections must keep before us the beauty of the family and marriage...

Courage, creativity urged as cardinals begin talks on family issues...

 

[Michie]

Elderly cardinal-elect will not attend February 22 consistory

Archbishop Loris Capovilla, who was named by Pope Francis to be elevated to the College of Cardinals on February 23, will not attend the Saturday consistory.

Archbishop Capovilla, who is 98 years old, revealed that he had asked the Pope to dispense him from the obligation to attend the consistory. “I’m not strong enough and I feel uncomfortable at the thought of meeting so many people,” he explained. He will receive his red hat in a private ceremony, probably on March 1, at his home in Sotto il Monte, Italy, which he has not left for several months.

The cardinal-elect—whose mind is sharp despite his physical infirmity—emphasized that he was grateful for the honor being conferred upon him. He said that he had purchased red vestments appropriate to his new status.
Pope Francis named Archbishop Capovilla to the College of Cardinals as a gesture to honor the Italian prelate, who was the private secretary to Blessed John XXIII, for his long years of service to the Church. Because he is over 80 he is not eligible to participate in a papal election.

Loris Capovilla will not receive the biretta in Rome (Vatican Insider)

 

[Dylan Michael]

We just got a new Auxiliary Bishop here in Miami, Msgr. Peter Baldacchino, a Maltese-Born priest of The Archdiocese Newark,who is the administrator of the missionary territory of the Turks and Caicos.

 

[Michie]

We just got a new Auxiliary Bishop here in Miami, Msgr. Peter Baldacchino, a Maltese-Born priest of The Archdiocese Newark,who is the administrator of the missionary territory of the Turks and Caicos.

Yes! I saw that. Congratulations!
Pope Francis appoints Springfield priest as new Bishop of Wichita, names auxiliary bishop for Miami...

 

[Michie]

150 cardinals gather in extraordinary consistory, send message of solidarity to persecuted Christians...

 

[Michie]

Pope's simple style influencing cardinal fashion

VATICAN CITY (AP) --

No glitzy gold, no rich velvet, no regal fur. Pope Francis' pared down papal wardrobe of sensible black shoes and a white cassock so thin you can see his black trousers through it is a perfect fit for his call for simplicity and humility among his clergy.

Continued- News from The Associated Press

 

[Michie]

A couple weeks from now will mark a year since the walls of the Synod Hall shook – at least, figuratively – as Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio delivered his assessment of a "self-referential, sick" church, and many among a stunned pre-Conclave General Congregation echoed the take with an ovation.

Throw "casuistry" to the wind: For family talks, Pope Francis wants "theology while kneeling"