Tag Archives: vatican

Stayed tuned. Possible big news around the corner!

July 4, 2013 – 3:13 pm

Reliable sources are saying that Pope Francis will sign documents tomorrow from the Congregation for the Causes of Saints assenting to the canonizations of both Blessed John Paul II and Blessed John XXIII.

The Congregation met earlier this week, but their recommendations are not announced until affirmed by the Holy Father. I guess this time they invoked the “Italian Secret” rule, which means you can only tell 100 of your closest friends, and they can tell only 10 of their friends, etc.

Anyhow, the cat seems to be out of the bag. Pope Francis’ affirmation would probably put the official canonization ritual sometime around the end of the year. It is presumed that both would be canonized at the same time.

Stayed tuned, folks. (It will be nice to know that I was ordained by a saint!)

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Accused Vatican Monsignor lives in luxurious apartment

July 4, 2013 – 3:05 pm

The Vatican official who was arrested last week on charges of financial misconduct lives a luxurious apartment lined with expensive artwork, police have disclosed.

Msgr. Nunzio Scarano, who is charged with attempting to bring $26 million in cash into Italy illegally, lives in an apartment in an affluent section of Salerno. Police there report that when they were summoned there in January, they were shocked by the luxury of the residence.

“We asked ourselves how did this monsignor come to own this place and possess these expensive works of art,” an investigator told Reuters. Msgr. Scarano had called police to report the theft of several works of art, valued at millions of dollars. He said that his possessions all came from donations.

Msgr. Scarano, a native of Salerno, had been director of accounting for the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See (APSA) until he was suspended because of separate money-laundering charges.

In a related development, two men who are being investigated in connection with the plot to bring $26 million into Italy have denied that the money belongs to them. Paolo and Cesare D’Amico, who operate a shipping business in Salerno, denied police charges that the cash was ultimately intended for them. Msgr. Scarano has reportedly said that he planned the transfer of funds to help friends.

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Pope Francis: the courage of the children of God

July 4, 2013 – 12:14 pm

(Vatican Radio) We are sons of God thanks to Jesus: no one can take away this “identity card.” That was Pope Francis’ message during Mass on Thursday at the Casa Santa Marta. Read the report from Vatican Radio.

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Pope at Mass: we encounter the living God through His wounds

July 3, 2013 – 8:01 am

(Vatican Radio) To meet the living God we must tenderly kiss the wounds of Jesus in our hungry, poor, sick, imprisoned brothers and sisters. Study, meditation and mortification are not enough to bring us to encounter the living Christ. Like St. Thomas, our life will only be changed when we touch Christ’s wounds present in the poor, sick and needy. This was the lesson drawn by Pope Francis during morning Mass at Casa Santa Marta Wednesday as he marked the Feast of St. Thomas Apostle. Read more in this report from Vatican Radio.

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Sainthood in the offing for Blessed John Paul II and Blessed John XXIII

July 2, 2013 – 2:12 pm

The Congregation for the Causes of Saints has approved a 2nd miracle attributed to the influence of Blessed John Paul II, according to multiple reports in the Italian news media.

The Congregation also reportedly approved a 2nd miracle attributed to the influence of Blessed John XXIII.

If the reports are accurate, and Pope Francis adds his approval, both former Pontiffs could be canonized before the end of this year.

The prelates who compose the Congregation met on July 2, with a miracle attributed to Pope John Paul II reportedly on their agenda. The miracle had already been examined and tentatively approved by two panels of experts: one composed of doctors, the other of theologians. The prelates reportedly voted their final approval for the miracle.

The meeting’s agenda also reportedly included consideration of a miracle attributed to Blessed John XXIII. That miracle, too, was approved, sources said.

The Vatican has not announced the results of the July 2 meeting. The Congregation’s votes are technically secret, and do not officially take effect until the Pope authorizes the release of a decree. Cardinal Angelo Amato, the prefect of the Congregation, will meet with Pope Francis to present the vote for papal approval sometime in the near future.

Vatican-watchers have already begun theorizing that Popes John XXIII and John Paul II could be canonized at the same ceremony. Although earlier speculation had pointed toward the canonization of Blessed John Paul II in October, the advance planning required for the massive ceremony involving the canonization of two beloved Pontiffs could push the date back to December.

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Pope’s first encyclical letter to come on Friday

July 2, 2013 – 2:08 pm

Pope Francis’ first encyclical, entitled “Lumen Fidei”, will be published on Friday 5 July. The document, described as “not very extensive” by the director of the Holy See Press Office, Fr. Federico Lombardi S.J., will be presented at a Press Conference by Cardinal Marc Ouellet, P.S.S., prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and Archbishop Rino Fisichella, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelization.

“Lumen Fidei” means “Light of Faith”

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Courage in spite of our weaknesses

July 2, 2013 – 1:37 pm

Vatican Radio) Christians are called to be courageous in their weakness. We must recognize that we are weak and that, at times, we have to flee from sin without nostalgia, without looking back. We must not let temptation or fear keep us from God. Instead we must learn that ‘he who fights and runs away, lives to fight another day!’ This was the lesson at the heart of Pope Francis’ homily at morning Mass on Tuesday. Here is the report from Vatican Radio.

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Pope’s Mass and Angelus for the Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul

June 29, 2013 – 2:47 pm

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis marked the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul with Mass in St Peter’s Basilica, during which he imposed the pallium on thirty-four of the metropolitan archbishops installed over the past year. The pallium is the white, shawl-like woolen liturgical vestment worn over the shoulders of a metropolitan archbishop, which is the peculiar sign of a metropolitan’s office: it specifically symbolizes authority and union with the Holy See. Each year on the feast, the Metropolitan archbishops installed during the course of the preceding year travel to Rome to receive the vestment. The solemnity is also one of the two days in the liturgical year in which the ancient bronze statue of St Peter in the basilica is symbolically vested in an ornate red silk cope and crowned with the triple tiara. Read more.

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Pope Francis: the mystery of God’s patience

June 28, 2013 – 4:45 pm

(Vatican Radio) The Lord asks us to be patient, after all He is always patient with us. Moreover there is no “set protocol” for how God intervenes in our lives; sometimes it’s immediate, sometimes we just have to have a little patience. This was the lesson drawn by Pope Francis from the daily readings at Mass Friday morning in Casa Santa Marta. Read more from Vatican Radio report.

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Pope sets up commission to study reform of Vatican Bank.

June 27, 2013 – 4:37 pm

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has established a Pontifical Commission charged with drawing up an “exhaustive” report into the juridical standing and activities of the Vatican’s financial institution, the Institute for Religious Works, more commonly known as the IOR. Read more from Vatican Radio.

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