POPE FRANCIS REAFFIRMS IMPORTANCE OF VATICAN BANK’S MISSION

The Institute for Religious Works, or ‘Vatican Bank’.  Pope Francis approved a proposal Monday on the future of the Institute for Religious Works, commonly known as the “Vatican bank,” affirming its importance for the good of the Church. “The IOR will continue to serve with prudence and provide specialized financial services to the Catholic Church worldwide,” read a statement from the Holy See press office released April 7. “The valuable services that can be offered by the Institute assist the Holy Father in his mission as universal pastor and also aid those institutions and individuals who collaborate with him in his ministry.” The proposal has not been detailed, but seems to deal with the insertion…

On 20th anniversary of Rwandan genocide, pope urges reconciliation

Just days before Rwanda was to begin a weeklong period of official mourning to mark the 20th anniversary of its genocide, Pope Francis urged the country’s bishops to be resolute in continuing the work of healing and reconciliation. “Twenty years after those tragic events,” when as many as 1 million people were murdered in savage acts of ethnic violence, Pope Francis said, “reconciliation and the healing of wounds must remain the priority of the church in Rwanda.” Meeting the country’s bishops April 3 during their “ad limina” visits to the Vatican, the pope offered his prayers for all Rwandans “without distinction of religion, ethnicity or politics.” Forgiveness for what happened and “authentic reconciliation can seem…

Vatican set for Canonization of Blessed John XXIII, John Paul II April 27

Recognizing that Blessed John XXIII and John Paul II have widespread reputations for holiness and that years of studying their lives and actions have proven their exceptional virtue, Pope Francis announced he would declare his two predecessors saints at a single ceremony April 27. The pope made the announcement Sept. 30 at the end of an “ordinary public consistory,” a gathering of cardinals and promoters of the sainthood causes of the two late popes. The consistory took place in the context of a prayer service in Latin and included the reading of brief biographies of the two sainthood candidates. Cardinal Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for Saints’ Causes, read the biographies and highlighted the…

Pope removes extravagant Bishop

The Vatican has accepted the resignation of a German bishop who was at the centre of controversy over expenditures for spending $42 million on the renovation of his residence reports the Catholic News Service. Bishop Franz-Peter Tebartz-Van Elst is known as “Bling Bishop” because of his extravagant life style. Following a diocesan investigation, the Vatican’s Congregation for Bishops studied the audit’s findings and accepted the resignation of Bishop Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst of Limburg. Auxiliary Bishop Manfred Grothe of Paderborn was appointed to serve as apostolic administrator of Limburg in the meantime, the Vatican announced yesterday. Bishop Tebartz-van Elst would be assigned ‘at a suitable moment’ another unspecified assignment, the Vatican statement said. It said the…

Jonathan, Obama Visit Pope

It was a busy time for His Holiness Pope Francis following the visits of two heads of state recently. First to storm the Vatican was Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan who was accompanied by his wife Patience and other top government officials. That was on Saturday, March 22. On Thursday, March 27, President Barak Obama of the United States of America took his turn. Both heads of State were visiting Pope Francis for the first time. Reports say President Jonathan and‎ Pope Francis held extensive discussion on Nigeria’s position on same-sex marriage which was recently outlawed in the country. The  Executive Secretary of Nigeria Christian Pilgrims Commission, Kennedy Opara, disclosed this to journalists at the Holy…

Pope appoints Canon Law expert to Council for Economy

Pope Francis nominated an expert in the Church’s legal system as the new Prelate Secretary for the recently-created Council for the Economy. A press release on March 22 from the Holy See’s press office stated, “the Holy Father has nominated Msgr. Brian Ferme as Prelate Secretary of the Council for the Economy.” The British Monsignor has served as the Dean of the Faculty of Canon Law at Rome’s Pontifical Lateran University and the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., as well as the Head of the St. Pius X Faculty of Canon Law in Venice. Msgr. Ferme is not new to the Roman Curia. He acts as a consultor to the Congregation for the…

Pope Francis‎ discuss extensively on same-sex marriage with President Jonathan As Nigeria, Vatican partner in education, health

President Goodluck Jonathan and‎ Pope Francis ‎yesterday held extensive discussion on Nigeria’s position on same-sex marriage law recently passed in the country. The Executive Secretary of Nigeria Christian Pilgrims Commission, Kennedy Opara, disclosed this to newsmen yesterday at the Holy Sea after President Jonathan’s audience with the Pope as well as his tour of the Vatican City. Opara said the President used the opportunity to state Nigeria’s position on same sex-marriage while the Pope commended Jonathan’s effort in tackling the various challenges facing the country. The Pilgrims from Anambra, Kaduna and the Federal Capital Territory, were part of President  Jonathan’s delegation to Vatican City in Rome, Italy but remained at the courtyard while the audience…

Lent: Don’t be discouraged by sin – Pope

Returning to the Vatican after a week of Lenten spiritual exercises, Pope Francis emphasized that we should not be discouraged by sin, but rather renew our commitment to following Christ. “We are all sinners but we want to follow Jesus,” the Holy Father said upon departing from the annual retreat for the Pope and members of the Curia. The retreat took place outside the Vatican for the first time this year; it was held in the nearby town of Ariccia. Pope Francis thanked Father Angelo de Donatis, who preached the Lenten retreat on the subject of “purification of the heart.” “I would like  to offer you thanks on my behalf and on behalf of all…

Pope Francis meets with the Blind, Deaf on Saturday

As the first pope to meet with those who are blind and deaf in an exclusive audience, Pope Francis will hold the gathering later this month — an encounter participants are highly anticipating. “I am pleased that the Pope is making the whole world aware of our world by having an audience with us for the first time,” Jakob Badde told CNA on March 10. “We have a great deficiency, and most people do not know why and what it means to us.” Badde hails from Germany — he is the son of Vatican journalist Paul Badde, former Rome correspondent for the German newspaper Die Welt — and is one of the members of the…

Pope names top economists, finance experts to Vatican body

Pope Francis named top laymen from the worlds of finance and economics on Saturday to a new Vatican Council for the Economy, intended to improve scrutiny of the Holy See’s scandal-plagued accounts. The creation of the 15-member council is a major step in bringing lay people into the Vatican, and reflects a drive by Francis to make changes to an establishment often seen as murky and secretive. The seven non-religious figures in the council include Maltese economist Joseph Zahra, former director of the Central Bank of Malta, and France’s Jean-Baptiste de Franssu, chairman of mergers and acquisitions advisory firm INCIPIT and former head of the European Fund and Asset Management Association. Spanish University of Madrid…

Lent: A time for Penance, charity – Pope

In his general audience on Wednesday, Pope Francis spoke about the importance of Lent as a time for each of us “to promote change and conversion” in our lives. Lent, the Pope said should help us to get out of “the tired habits and lazy addictions to evil that deceive us. During this season, we are invited to be more keenly aware of the redemptive work of Christ, “and to live out our Baptism with greater commitment. “This journey of spiritual renewal in the footsteps of Christ also calls us to acknowledge and respond to the growing spiritual and material poverty in our midst.” “Specifically, it means consciously resisting the pressure of a culture which…

Pope’s Lenten Message 2014

He became poor, so that by His poverty,  you might become rich (Cor 8:9) Pope Francis Message for the Lenten season 2014 was released at a Vatican Press conference Tuesday. The theme of the Message is drawn from a Letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians, “He became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich” (cf. 2 Cor 8:9). Below, is the official English translation of the Lenten Message: Dear Brothers and Sisters, As Lent draws near, I would like to offer some helpful thoughts on our path of conversion as individuals and as a community. These insights are inspired by the words of Saint Paul: ‘For you know the, grace of…

Shun intrigue, cliques of royal Court, Pope urges new Cardinals

Pope Francis urged Cardinals, who make up the top echelon of the Roman Catholic Church, to shun the intrigue, gossip and cliques typical of a royal court. Since his election nearly a year ago, Francis has often told his top aides not to live or behave like a privileged class.  The eight-year papacy of his predecessor, Benedict, was marked by mishaps and missteps, which were often blamed on a dysfunctional Vatican bureaucracy and intrigue befitting a Renaissance court. Francis celebrated  Mass with 18 of the 19 new Cardinals who were elevated to that rank at the weekend.  One could not attend because of illness.  “A Cardinal enters the Church of Rome, not a royal court”,…

Corruption: Pope creates office to oversee Vatican finances

Pope Francis has taken his boldest step yet to overhaul the Vatican’s scandal-plagued finances, creating a new department with broad powers to oversee all of its economic and administrative affairs, the Vatican said. The Secretariat for the Economy will answer directly to the Pope and will be headed by Australian Cardinal George Pell, currently the Archbishop of Sydney.  The Pope will also name an auditor with oversight powers, according to a papal document known as a Motu Proprio, Latin for “by his own initiative”, formalizing the changes. The Secretariat will be guided in policy making by a new 15-member Council for the Economy, which will be made up of eight Cardinals and Bishops and seven…

Pope asks prayers for his Holy Land trip

Pope Francis asked leaders of the American Jewish Committee to pray for his May trip to Jerusalem, “so that this pilgrimage may bring forth the fruits of communion, hope and peace.” The modern relationship between Jews and Catholics, he said Feb. 13, has a “theological foundation” and is “not simply an expression of our desire for reciprocal respect and esteem.” Pope Francis noted that in 2015, the Catholic Church will mark the 50th anniversary of “Nostra Aetate,” the Second Vatican Council’s declaration on relations with other religions. The document, the pope said, is “the sure point of reference for relations with our ‘elder brothers.’” The declaration said Christians and Jews share a common heritage and…

Pope opens critical week for reform, family issues

Pope Francis on Monday opened the most critical week of his year-old papacy: Two commissions of inquiry on Vatican finance are reporting their recommendations for reform, and preparations get underway for a summit on family issues that will deal with the widespread rejection by Catholics of church teaching on contraception, divorce and gay unions. In between, Francis will preside over his first ceremony to formally welcome 19 new cardinals into the elite club of churchmen who will eventually elect his successor. In typical Francis style, the new cardinals hail from some of the poorest places on earth, including Haiti, Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast. The first half of Francis’ busy week is devoted to the…

10,000 couples storm Vatican to Celebrate Valentine’s Day with Pope

More than 10,000 couples from all over the world flocked to St. Peter’s Square to celebrate Valentine’s Day with Pope Francis. In an unprecedented move, the pope invited engaged couples to mark the holiday with him. The response was so overwhelming that church had to move the event from an audience hall inside the Vatican to St. Peter’s Square – some 25,000 people from 28 countries were in attendance. Love was definitely in the air: Heart-shaped balloons were flying over the square and the couples cheered and chanted along with singers playing Christian songs under a beautiful blue sky. “We are so excited to be here,” said Silvia Torlisi, a 28-year old bride-to-be from Terni,…

Pope Meets with American Jewish Institute

- Calls For Continued Flourishing of Judeo-Christian Relations In a private audience with the American Jewish Institute, Pope Francis expressed his hope that Jewish and Christian communities continue to engage in fruitful dialogue that is ”marked by the awareness of our relationship with God.” The Holy Father began his address by thanking the members of the delegation for their contribution to maintaining “dialogue and fraternity” between Jews and Catholics. Reflecting on next year’s 50th Anniversary of Nostra Aetate, the Second Vatican Council declaration which refers to the Jewish people as “our elder brothers”, the Pope said the document allows for a reflection on the spiritual patrimony that unites the two faiths and the foundation of…

Pope Francis’ Harley Sold For $327,000 At Charity Auction

Pope Francis’ Harley-Davidson is hitting the road after an unspecified European buyer agreed to pay 241,500 euros ($327,000) including taxes and fees for the motorcycle at a Paris auction to benefit charity. The Bonhams auction house said the telephone buyer agreed to pay far more than the expected pre-sale price of more than 12,000 euros ($16,000) at the auction at Paris’ Grand Palais. A Harley-Davidson leather jacket signed by Pope Francis sold for 57,500 euros including fees It’s unknown whether the pontiff ever rode the custom 2013 Dyna Super Glide that was a gift from Willie Davidson, a retired Harley-Davidson designer and grandson of the company’s co-founder. Money from the sale will be donated to…

Davos World Economic Forum: Pope challenges business leaders to serve Humanity with Wealth

Pope Francis has challenged business leaders assembled in Davos Switzerland to put their wealth at the service of humanity instead of leaving most of the world’s population in poverty and insecurity. In a message to more than 2,500 participants at the annual World Economic Forum, the pontiff urged industrialists and bankers to promote inclusive prosperity, but stopped short of chiding them for excesses laid bare by the global financial crisis. “I ask you to ensure that humanity is served by wealth and not ruled by it,” Pope Francis said in the message read at the opening ceremony by Cardinal Peter Turkson, president of the Pontifical Council for Peace and Justice. The Argentinian pope, who has…