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VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE
YEAR XXIII - N° 83
DATE 08-04-2013
Summary:
- TAKING POSSESSION OF CATHEDRA AS BISHOP OF ROME, POPE SPEAKS OF GOD'S
PATIENCE
- REGINA COELI: BEATITUDE OF FAITH
- AUDIENCES
- ACTS CONCERNING THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES
- OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS
___________________________________________________________
TAKING POSSESSION OF CATHEDRA AS BISHOP OF ROME, POPE SPEAKS OF GOD'S PATIENCE
Vatican City, 8 April 2013 (VIS) – At 5:30pm in the Basilica of St. John
Lateran yesterday, Divine Mercy Sunday, Pope Francis celebrated Mass, during
which he officially took possession of the Cathedra of the Bishop of Rome. At
the taking of
possession, there was an act of obedience carried out by a representation of
Rome's ecclesial community. Just as at the Mass inaugurating his Petrine
ministry—when six cardinals, two from each of the three orders: bishop,
priest, and deacon,
represented the entire College of Cardinals—representatives from the
Diocese of Rome made the act of obedience: Cardinal Agostino Vallini, vicar
general of Rome; the vice gerent and an auxiliary bishop of the diocese; a
pastor and assistant
pastor; a deacon, male religious, and female religious; as well as a family
and a young lay man and lay woman.
The Pope dedicated his homily to God's “patience”, referring to
the Gospel reading of the day in which the Apostle Thomas experiences God's
mercy, “which has a concrete face … that of the risen Jesus.
Thomas doesn't trust what
the other Apostles tell him ... He wants to see .. and what is Jesus'
reaction? Patience: Jesus doesn't abandon stubborn-headed Thomas to his
disbelief. He gives him a week’s time. He doesn't close the door but
waits. And Thomas recognizes his own
poverty, his little faith. 'My Lord and my God!': with this simple yet
faith-filled supplication, he responds to Jesus’ patience. He lets
himself be enveloped by divine mercy, sees it in front of him, in Christ's
wounds on his hands and feet ...
and he rediscovers his trust. He is a new man: no longer an unbeliever, but a
believer.”
Even Peter denied Jesus three times, “precisely when he should have been
closest to him. And when he hits bottom he encounters the gaze of Jesus who
patiently, wordlessly, says to him: 'Peter, don’t be afraid of your
weakness. Trust in me.'
And Peter understands. He feels Jesus' loving gaze and he weeps. How beautiful
is this gaze of Jesus – how much tenderness there is in it! Brothers and
sisters, let us never lose trust in God's patient mercy!”
The story is repeated with the two disciples on the road to Emmaus who have,
“sad faces and an empty and hopeless journey. But Jesus does not abandon
them. He walks the path with them and not only that! Patiently He explains the
Scriptures
referring to him and He stops to share a meal with them. This is God’s
way of doing things. He is not impatient like us, who often want everything
and right away, even from others. God is patient with us because He loves us
and those who love are
able to understand, to hope, ... They don't burn bridges but know how to
forgive. Let's remember this in our lives as Christians: God always waits for
us, even when we have drawn away from him! He is never far from us and, if we
return to him, He is
ready to embrace us.”
Continuing, the pontiff observed that rereading the parable of the merciful
Father always makes a strong impression upon him. “It strikes me,”
he said, “because it always gives me great hope. Think of that younger
son living in his
Father’s house: he was loved and yet he wants his part of the
inheritance. He goes off, spends everything, and hits rock bottom. [Then] he
misses the warmth of his Father’s house and returns home. And the
Father? Had he forgotten his son?
No, never. ... with patience and love, with hope and mercy, he had never
stopped thinking about him for a second and, as soon as he sees him still far
off, he runs out to meet him and embraces him with tenderness, with God's
tenderness, without a word
of reproach: he has come back! And that is the Father's joy. All of this joy
is in that embrace of the son: he has come back!”
“God is always waiting for us. He never grows tired. Jesus shows us
God's merciful patience so that we might regain our confidence and hope,
always! A great German theologian, Romano Guardini, said that God responds to
our weakness with his
patience and this is the reason for our confidence, for our hope.”
Emphasizing another aspect, the Pope noted that “God’s patience
must find in us the courage to return to him, whatever mistakes and sins there
may be in our lives. Jesus invites Thomas to put his hand in the wounds of his
hands and his feet
... It is precisely in Jesus' wounds that we are safe; in them lies his
heart's immense love. ... Saint Bernard asks: but what can I count on? On my
own merits? But 'my merit is God’s mercy'. ... This is important: the
courage to entrust myself to
Jesus’ mercy, to trust in his patience, to always take refuge in the
wounds of his love. …”
“Perhaps some of us are thinking: my sin is so great; my distance from
God is like that of the younger son in the parable; my disbelief is like that
of Thomas; I don’t have the courage to go back or to believe that God
might welcome me or
that He is waiting just for me. But God is waiting for you. He only asks of
you the courage to go to him. How many times in my pastoral ministry have I
heard it repeated: 'Father, I have many sins'; and the plea I have always made
is: 'Don’t be
afraid. Go to him. He is waiting for you. He will take care of everything.'
... For God, we are not numbers. We are important; indeed we are the most
important thing to him. Even if we are sinners we are what is closest to his
heart.”
“After sinning,” the pope explained, “Adam feels ashamed. He
feels naked, sensing the weight of what he has done. And yet God does not
abandon him. If at that moment, through sin, his exile from God begins, there
is already a promise
of return, the possibility of returning to him. ... It is precisely in feeling
my sinfulness, in looking at my sins, that I can see and encounter God’s
mercy, his love, and go to him to receive forgiveness.”
“... Let us be embraced by God's mercy. Let us trust in his patience,
which always gives us time. Let us find the courage to return to his house and
to dwell in his loving wounds, allowing ourselves be loved by him and to
encounter his mercy in
the Sacraments. We will feel his tenderness, which is so beautiful, we will
feel his embrace, and we too will become more capable of mercy, of patience,
of forgiveness, and of love.”
After the Mass, Pope Francis appeared at the central balcony of St. John
Lateran's loggia to greet the thousands of persons gathered there to await
him, many of whom participated in the ceremony. He addressed them saying:
“Brothers and sisters, good evening! Thank you so much for your company
in today's Mass. I ask that you pray for me: I need it. Don't forget this.
Thank you all! And now let us go forward together, the people and the bishop,
all together, always
forward with the joy of Jesus' Resurrection. He is always at our side. May the
Lord bless you.”
After blessing the faithful, the Pope bid them farewell saying, “thank
you so much. See you soon!”
___________________________________________________________
REGINA COELI: BEATITUDE OF FAITH
Vatican City, 8 April 2013 (VIS) – On the Sunday that concludes the
Easter Octave, which John Paul II named Divine Mercy Sunday, the Pope greeted
the faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square to pray the Regina Coeli with the
words of the risen
Christ: “Peace be with you”. He explained that it is a peace that
goes beyond a simple greeting or wish: “It is a gift,” he said.
“The precious gift that Christ gives to his disciples, after having
passed through death and
hell.” It is a peace that is “the fruit of the victory of God's
love over evil … and of forgiveness. The true peace that comes from
experiencing God's mercy.”
The Holy Father then spoke of Jesus' appearances to his disciples who were
locked in the Cenacle. Thomas wasn't present at the first appearance and he
didn't believe what the apostles told him of it. At the second, when he was
there and Jesus invited
him to touch his wounds, Jesus said to him “Have you come to believe
because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have
believed.”
“And who are those who believe without having seen?” the pontiff
asked. They are “other disciples, men and women of Jerusalem who,
although not having met the risen Jesus, believed in the witness of the
apostles and the women. This is
a very important word about faith; we can call it the beatitude of faith. In
every time and in every place there are the blessed who, through the Word of
God proclaimed in the Church and witnessed to by Christians, believe that
Jesus Christ is God's
love incarnate, Mercy incarnate. And that goes for all of us!”
However, along with peace, Jesus gave his disciples the Holy Spirit, “so
that they might bring the forgiveness of sins—the forgiveness that only
God can give and that cost the blood of the Son—to the world. The Church
is sent by the
risen Christ to bring the remission of sins to humanity and thus to make the
Kingdom of love grow; to sow peace in our hearts so that we might also affirm
it in our relationships, in society, and in institutions. The Spirit of the
risen Christ casts out
the fear in the hearts of the Apostles and compels them to leave the Cenacle
in order to bring forth the Gospel. Let us also have more courage to witness
to our faith in the risen Christ! Let us not be afraid to be Christians or to
live as
Christians!”
___________________________________________________________
AUDIENCES
Vatican City, 8 April 2013 (VIS) – This morning, the Holy Father
received in separate audiences:
- Cardinal Mauro Piacenza, prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy,
- Archbishop Charles Daniel Balvo, apostolic nuncio to Kenya and titular of
Castello,
- Archbishop Hector Ruben Aguer of La Plata, Argentina, and
- Dr. Nikolaus Schneider, president of the German Evangelical Church, with his
wife and entourage.
On Saturday, 6 April, the Holy Father received in audience:
- Cardinal Marc Ouellet, prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, and
- Cardinal Antonio Canizares Llovera, prefect of the Congregation for Divine
Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.
___________________________________________________________
ACTS CONCERNING THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES
Vatican City, 8 April 2013 (VIS) – His Beatitude Ibrahim Isaac Sidrak,
Patriarch of Alexandria of the Copts, with the consent of the Synod of Bishops
of the Coptic Catholic Church in conformity with Canon 85, para. 2(2) of the
Code of Canons of
the Eastern Churches and giving notice to the Apostolic See, has transferred
Bishop Boutros Kamal Fahim Awad Hanna to the Eparchial See of Minya of the
Copts. Bishop Hanna was previously curial bishop of Alexandria of the Copts
and titular of Mareotes.
The Holy Father accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the eparchy
of Piana degli Albanesi (of the Italo-Albanians) presented by Bishop Sotir
Ferrara, in accordance with canon 201 para. 1 of the Code of Canons of the
Eastern Churches. At the
same time, the Holy Father has appointed Cardinal Paolo Romeo, archbishop of
Palermo, Italy, as apostolic administrator "sede vacante et ad nutum Sanctae
Sedis" of the same eparchy, Piana degli Albanesi (area 420, population 30,200,
Catholics 28,700,
priests 29, permanent deacons 4, religious 159), Palermo, Italy.
___________________________________________________________
OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS
Vatican City, 8 April 2013 (VIS) - Today, the Holy Father:
- appointed Bishop Michael Owen Jackels as Metropolitan Archbishop of Dubuque
(area 45,074, population 979,560, Catholics 206,843, priests 216, permanent
deacons 91, religious 861), Iowa, USA. The archbishop-elect, previously bishop
of Wichita, Kansas,
USA, is a member of the Subcommittee on the Catechism in the U.S. Conference
of Bishops. He succeeds Archbishop Jerome George Hanus, O.S.B., whose
resignation from the pastoral care of the same archdiocese the Holy Father
accepted, in accordance with
canon 401 para. 2 of the Code of Canon Law.
- appointed Msgr. John Thomas Folda as bishop of the Diocese of Fargo (area
92,650, population 396,000, Catholics 89,400, priests 120, permanent deacons
43, religious 126), North Dakota, USA. The bishop-elect was born in Omaha,
Nebraska, USA in 1961 and
was ordained a priest in 1989. Since ordination he has served in several
academic and pastoral roles, most recently as rector of the St. Gregory the
Great Seminary in Seward, Nebraska, USA. He was named a chaplain of His
Holiness in 2007.
- appointed Bishop Reynaldo Gonda Evangelista as bishop of Imus (area 1,287,
population 2,843,000, Catholics 2,433,000, priests 261, religious 701),
Philippines. Previously bishop of Boac, Bishop Evangelista is president of the
Commission for Vocations
on the Bishops' Conference of the Philippines.
- appointed Archbishop Brian Udaigwe, titular of Suelli, as apostolic nuncio
to Benin.
On Saturday, 6 April, the Holy Father appointed Fr. Jose Rodriguez Carballo,
O.F.M., as secretary of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life
and Societies of Apostolic Life, at the same time elevating him to the dignity
of archbishop and
assigning him the titular see of Bellicastrum. The archbishop-elect was born
in Lodoselo, Spain in 1953 and was ordained a priest in 1977. Since ordination
he has served in several academic and administrative roles, most recently as
minister general of
the Order of Friars Minor. Archbishop-elect Rodriguez is a member of the
Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples and the Congregation for
Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.
___________________________________________________________
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VISnews130408
VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE YEAR XXIII - N° 83DATE 08-04-2013
Summary: - TAKING POSSESSION OF CATHEDRA AS
BISHOP OF ROME, POPE SPEAKS
OF GOD'S PATIENCE - REGINA COELI: BEATITUDE OF FAITH -
AUDIENCES - ACTS CONCERNING THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES - OTHER
PONTIFICAL ACTS
TAKING POSSESSION OF CATHEDRA AS BISHOP OF ROME, POPE SPEAKS OF GOD'S
PATIENCE
Vatican City, 8 April 2013 (VIS) – At 5:30pm in the Basilica of St.
John Lateran yesterday, Divine Mercy Sunday, Pope Francis celebrated Mass,
during which he officially took possession of the Cathedra of the Bishop of
Rome. At the taking of
possession, there was an act of obedience carried out by a representation of
Rome's ecclesial community. Just as at the Mass inaugurating his Petrine
ministry—when six cardinals, two from each of the three orders: bishop,
priest, and deacon,
represented the entire College of Cardinals—representatives from the
Diocese of Rome made the act of obedience: Cardinal Agostino Vallini, vicar
general of Rome; the vice gerent and an auxiliary bishop of the diocese; a
pastor and assistant
pastor; a deacon, male religious, and female religious; as well as a family
and a young lay man and lay woman.
The Pope dedicated his homily to God's “patience”, referring to
the Gospel reading of the day in which the Apostle Thomas experiences God's
mercy, “which has a concrete face … that of the risen Jesus.
Thomas doesn't trust
what the other Apostles tell him ... He wants to see .. and what is Jesus'
reaction? Patience: Jesus doesn't abandon stubborn-headed Thomas to his
disbelief. He gives him a week’s time. He doesn't close the door but
waits. And Thomas recognizes
his own poverty, his little faith. 'My Lord and my God!': with this simple yet
faith-filled supplication, he responds to Jesus’ patience. He lets
himself be enveloped by divine mercy, sees it in front of him, in Christ's
wounds on his hands and
feet ... and he rediscovers his trust. He is a new man: no longer an
unbeliever, but a believer.”
Even Peter denied Jesus three times, “precisely when he should have
been closest to him. And when he hits bottom he encounters the gaze of Jesus
who patiently, wordlessly, says to him: 'Peter, don’t be afraid of your
weakness. Trust in
me.' And Peter understands. He feels Jesus' loving gaze and he weeps. How
beautiful is this gaze of Jesus – how much tenderness there is in it!
Brothers and sisters, let us never lose trust in God's patient m
rcy!”
The story is repeated with the two disciples on the road to Emmaus who
have, “sad faces and an empty and hopeless journey. But Jesus does not
abandon them. He walks the path with them and not only that! Patiently He
explains the Scriptures
referring to him and He stops to share a meal with them. This is God’s
way of doing things. He is not impatient like us, who often want everything
and right away, even from others. God is patient with us because He loves us
and those who love are
able to understand, to hope, ... They don't burn bridges but know how to
forgive. Let's remember this in our lives as Christians: God always waits for
us, even when we have drawn away from him! He is never far from us and, if we
return to him, He is
ready to embrace us.”
Continuing, the pontiff observed that rereading the parable of the merciful
Father always makes a strong impression upon him. “It strikes me,”
he said, “because it always gives me great hope. Think of that younger
son living in his
Father’s house: he was loved and yet he wants his part of the
inheritance. He goes off, spends everything, and hits rock bottom. [Then] he
misses the warmth of his Father’s house and returns home. And the
Father? Had he forgotten his son?
No, never. ... with patience and love, with hope and mercy, he had never
stopped thinking about him for a second and, as soon as he sees him still far
off, he runs out to meet him and embraces him with tenderness, with God's
tenderness, without a word
of reproach: he has come back! And that is the Father's joy. All of this joy
is in that embrace of the son: he has come back!”
“God is always waiting for us. He never grows tired. Jesus shows us
God's merciful patience so that we might regain our confidence and hope,
always! A great German theologian, Romano Guardini, said that God responds to
our weakness with his
patience and this is the reason for our confidence, for our hope.”
Emphasizing another aspect, the Pope noted that “God’s patience
must find in us the courage to return to him, whatever mistakes and sins there
may be in our lives. Jesus invites Thomas to put his hand in the wounds of his
hands and his
feet ... It is precisely in Jesus' wounds that we are safe; in them lies his
heart's immense love. ... Saint Bernard asks: but what can I count on? On my
own merits? But 'my merit is God’s mercy'. ... This is important: the
courage to entrust
myself to Jesus’ mercy, to trust in his patience, to always take refuge
in the wounds of his love. …”
“Perhaps some of us are thinking: my sin is so great; my distance
from God is like that of the younger son in the parable; my disbelief is like
that of Thomas; I don’t have the courage to go back or to believe that
God might welcome me or
that He is waiting just for me. But God is waiting for you. He only asks of
you the courage to go to him. How many times in my pastoral ministry have I
heard it repeated: 'Father, I have many sins'; and the plea I have always made
is: 'Don’t be
afraid. Go to him. He is waiting for you. He will take care of everything.'
... For God, we are not numbers. We are important; indeed we are the most
important thing to him. Even if we are sinners we are what is closest to his
heart.”
“After sinning,” the pope explained, “Adam feels ashamed.
He feels naked, sensing the weight of what he has done. And yet God does not
abandon him. If at that moment, through sin, his exile from God begins, there
is already a
promise of return, the possibility of returning to him. ... It is precisely in
feeling my sinfulness, in looking at my sins, that I can see and encounter
God’s mercy, his love, and go to him to receive forgiveness.”
“... Let us be embraced by God's mercy. Let us trust in his patience,
which always gives us time. Let us find the courage to return to his house and
to dwell in his loving wounds, allowing ourselves be loved by him and to
encounter his mercy in
the Sacraments. We will feel his tenderness, which is so beautiful, we will
feel his embrace, and we too will become more capable of mercy, of patience,
of forgiveness, and of love.”
After the Mass, Pope Francis appeared at the central balcony of St. John
Lateran's loggia to greet the thousands of persons gathered there to await
him, many of whom participated in the ceremony. He addressed them saying:
“Brothers and sisters, good evening! Thank you so much for your
company in today's Mass. I ask that you pray for me: I need it. Don't forget
this. Thank you all! And now let us go forward together, the people and the
bishop, all together,
always forward with the joy of Jesus' Resurrection. He is always at our side.
May the Lord bless you.”
After blessing the faithful, the Pope bid them farewell saying,
“thank you so much. See you soon!”
Vatican City, 8 April 2013 (VIS) – On the Sunday that concludes the
Easter Octave, which John Paul II named Divine Mercy Sunday, the Pope greeted
the faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square to pray the Regina Coeli with the
words of the risen
Christ: “Peace be with you”. He explained that it is a peace that
goes beyond a simple greeting or wish: “It is a gift,” he said.
“The precious gift that Christ gives to his disciples, after having
passed through death and
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