Vatican excommunicates some members of Canadian sect

The Vatican has announced the excommunication of certain members of the Army of Mary, a sect in Canada whose teachings have been deemed dangerous and erroneous by church authorities.
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Posted: Sept. 14, 2007 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=346
Categories: CNS • In this article: Catholic Transmis : 14 sept. 2007 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=346
Catégorie : CNS • Dans cet article : Catholic

Pope Lifts Excommunication of Lefebvrite bishops

Pope Benedict XVI has lifted the excommunication of four bishops ordained against papal orders in 1988 by the late Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre. The move was considered a major concession to the archbishop’s traditionalist followers. The Vatican said the decree removing the excommunication, signed Jan. 21 and made public three days later, marked an important step toward full communion with the Society of St. Pius X, founded by Archbishop Lefebvre in 1970.

… continued
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Posted: Jan. 24, 2009 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=544
Categories: CNS • In this article: Catholic, Society of St. Pius X Transmis : 24 janv. 2009 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=544
Catégorie : CNS • Dans cet article : Catholic, Society of St. Pius X

Anglican leader’s concern for unity reflects Vatican concerns

Anglican leader’s concern for unity reflects Vatican concerns

Vatican concerns about how some recent decisions of the U.S. Episcopal Church will impact the search for full Anglican-Roman Catholic unity are echoed in a reflection by Anglican Archbishop Rowan Williams of Canterbury, the head of the Anglican Communion.

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Posted: July 29, 2009 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=594
Categories: CNS • In this article: Anglican, Archbishop of Canterbury, Episcopal Church, Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, Rowan Williams, Vatican Transmis : 29 juil. 2009 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=594
Catégorie : CNS • Dans cet article : Anglican, Archbishop of Canterbury, Episcopal Church, Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, Rowan Williams, Vatican

As some protest, Catholic-Orthodox dialogue discusses role of papacy

In the midst of a protest by a small number of Orthodox monks and faithful, the official Catholic-Orthodox dialogue commission met in Cyprus Oct. 16-23. The meeting of the Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue Between the Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church focused on a key factor in the ongoing division between Catholic and Orthodox: the role of the pope as bishop of Rome. The protesters — who were arrested Oct. 20, the third day of their demonstration — claimed that the ongoing dialogue between the two churches was aimed at getting the Orthodox to submit to papal authority. According to a statement released by the dialogue commission Oct. 23, the commission’s Orthodox members discussed “the negative reactions to the dialogue by certain Orthodox circles and unanimously considered them as totally unfounded and unacceptable, providing false and misleading information.” The Orthodox delegates “reaffirmed that the dialogue continues with the decision of all the Orthodox churches and is pursued with faithfulness to the truth and the tradition of the church,” said the statement released in Cyprus and at the Vatican.
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Posted: Oct. 23, 2009 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=606
Categories: CNS • In this article: Catholic, dialogue, Orthodox, papacy Transmis : 23 oct. 2009 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=606
Catégorie : CNS • Dans cet article : Catholic, dialogue, Orthodox, papacy

Ecumenical catechism proposed by Cardinal Kasper

Cardinal asks dialogue partners if an ecumenical catechism might work

A Vatican official has floated the idea of a shared “ecumenical catechism” as one of the potential fruits of 40 years of dialogue among Catholics, Anglicans, Lutherans, Methodists and members of the Reformed churches.
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Posted: Feb. 9, 2010 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=624
Categories: CNS, Dialogue • In this article: Anglican, Catholic, Lutheran, Methodist, Reformed churches, Walter Kasper Transmis : 9 févr. 2010 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=624
Catégorie : CNS, Dialogue • Dans cet article : Anglican, Catholic, Lutheran, Methodist, Reformed churches, Walter Kasper

Pope & Archbishop of Canterbury call for common Christian witness

Pope & Archbishop of Canterbury call for common Christian witness

Pope Benedict XVI and Anglican Archbishop Rowan Williams of Canterbury knelt together before the tomb of an 11th-century Christian king after affirming the need for Catholics and Anglicans to give a united witness to society. St. Edward the Confessor, who is buried in the Anglicans’ Westminster Abbey, reigned five centuries before English Christians became divided.

The pope and the primate of the Church of England paid homage together to the Christian king Sept. 17 at the end of an afternoon that included public speeches, a 30-minute private meeting and a joint ecumenical prayer service in Westminster Abbey. Archbishop Williams welcomed Pope Benedict as the first pope ever to visit Westminster Abbey, which was home to a community of Catholic Benedictine monks until 1540 when King Henry VIII dissolved the monastic community.
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Posted: Sept. 17, 2010 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=640
Categories: CNS, Communiqué, Dialogue • In this article: Anglican, Archbishop of Canterbury, Benedict XVI, Catholic, Christian unity, Rowan Williams, witness Transmis : 17 sept. 2010 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=640
Catégorie : CNS, Communiqué, Dialogue • Dans cet article : Anglican, Archbishop of Canterbury, Benedict XVI, Catholic, Christian unity, Rowan Williams, witness

Vatican’s top ecumenist Cardinal Koch assesses progress, prospects

A top Vatican ecumenist said different types of divisions affect Catholic relations with the Orthodox churches and with those that were born from the Protestant Reformation, but both can be resolved with dialogue.

He also criticized the “anti-Catholic attitude” displayed by some Pentecostals and said Catholics must resist a temptation to adopt the “sometimes problematic evangelical methods” of those churches.

Cardinal Kurt Koch, the Swiss-born president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, spoke at The Catholic University of America Nov. 3. The title of his talk was “Fundamental Aspects of Ecumenism and Future Perspectives.”
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Posted: Nov. 9, 2011 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=6975
Categories: CNS • In this article: Catholic, ecumenism, Kurt Koch, Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity Transmis : 9 nov. 2011 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=6975
Catégorie : CNS • Dans cet article : Catholic, ecumenism, Kurt Koch, Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity

Vatican II treasure hunt: Committee seeks bishops’ notes, diaries

With a view toward the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council, a pontifical committee has launched a worldwide treasure hunt.

Many of the more than 2,800 cardinals and bishops who participated in all or part of the 1962-65 council kept diaries, or at least notes; some wrote articles for their diocesan newspapers and most — in the days before emails and relatively cheap trans-Atlantic phone calls — wrote letters home.

The Pontifical Committee for Historical Sciences is asking church archivists, and even the family members of deceased council fathers, to look through their papers to find reflections that can add a personal touch to the historical research already conducted on the official acts of the council.
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Posted: Dec. 4, 2011 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=7009
Categories: CNS • In this article: Second Vatican Council Transmis : 4 déc. 2011 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=7009
Catégorie : CNS • Dans cet article : Second Vatican Council

Catholics, Anglicans need to renew commitment to unity, Pope says

Remembering the common roots of the Christianity they share, Roman Catholics and Anglicans should renew their commitments to praying and working for Christian unity, Pope Benedict XVI said.

The Pope and Archbishop Rowan Williams of Canterbury, spiritual leader of the Anglican Communion, held an evening prayer service March 10 at Rome’s Church of St. Gregory on the Caelian Hill, the church from which Pope Gregory the Great sent St. Augustine of Canterbury and his fellow monks to evangelize England in 597.

The service was part of celebrations marking the 1,000th anniversary of the founding of the Camaldolese branch of the Benedictine order. Camaldoli monks and nuns live and pray at the Church of St. Gregory and have an active program of ecumenical contacts.
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Posted: Mar. 12, 2012 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=7012
Categories: CNS • In this article: Anglican, Archbishop of Canterbury, Benedict XVI, Catholic, dialogue, pope, Rowan Williams Transmis : 12 mars 2012 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=7012
Catégorie : CNS • Dans cet article : Anglican, Archbishop of Canterbury, Benedict XVI, Catholic, dialogue, pope, Rowan Williams

Catholics must accept Vatican II, including on Judaism, Cardinal says

The Catholic Church’s relationship to Judaism as taught by the Second Vatican Council and the interpretations and developments of that teaching by subsequent popes, “are binding on a Catholic,” said the Vatican official responsible for relations with the Jews. Swiss Cardinal Kurt Koch, president of the Pontifical Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews and a member of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, spoke to reporters May 16 after delivering a speech on Catholic-Jewish relations in light of Vatican II’s declaration “Nostra Aetate” on the church’s relations with non-Christian religions. The afternoon speech followed Cardinal Koch’s participation in a meeting of the doctrinal congregation to examine the latest progress in the Vatican’s reconciliation talks with the traditionalist Society of St. Pius X.

“There are questions to clarify in discussions with this community. I can’t say more than that,” he told reporters, echoing a Vatican statement saying the reconciliation talks are ongoing. In addition to the highly publicized position of Bishop Richard Williamson, an SSPX bishop who denies the Holocaust, public statements by the society’s superior general, Bishop Bernard Fellay, leave in doubt whether the society as a whole accepts the entirety of “Nostra Aetate,” including its condemnations of anti-Semitism and of the idea that the Jews were to blame for the death of Jesus.

“All the doctrinal decisions of the church are binding on a Catholic, including the Second Vatican Council and all its texts,” Cardinal Koch said when asked if the SSPX would be expected to accept all the teachings of Vatican II. “The ‘Nostra Aetate’ declaration of the Second Vatican Council is a clear decree and is important for every Catholic,” he added. At the same time, Cardinal Koch said, “it is very necessary to make clear the difference between the position of the Society of St. Pius X and the negation of the Shoah (the Holocaust), which is a position that has no place in the Catholic Church. It is very clear.”
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Posted: May 17, 2012 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=2203
Categories: CNS • In this article: anti-semitism, Catholic, Judaism, Second Vatican Council Transmis : 17 mai 2012 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=2203
Catégorie : CNS • Dans cet article : anti-semitism, Catholic, Judaism, Second Vatican Council

New particle may unlock new discoveries, says Vatican astronomer

The discovery of a new sub-atomic particle — the so-called Higgs boson — may help scientists discover how the hidden structure of all matter in the universe works, a Vatican astronomer said.
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Posted: July 5, 2012 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=2202
Categories: CNS • In this article: science, Vatican Transmis : 5 juil. 2012 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=2202
Catégorie : CNS • Dans cet article : science, Vatican

Respect and difference: interreligious dialogue since Vatican II

Fifty years after the Second Vatican Council launched a new Catholic commitment to interreligious dialogue, work continues on clarifying the church’s attitudes toward other religions. While some Catholics still look on other religions with disdain, other Catholics seem to believe Vatican II taught that all religions were equally valid paths to God and to the fullness of truth. The new prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith recently said both extremes are wrong. Archbishop Gerhard Müller, the Vatican’s doctrinal chief, gave a speech in Assisi in late October in which he tried to explain the differences between Catholic respect for every religion’s honest search for God and the error of thinking Christianity has nothing essential to add.
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Posted: Nov. 1, 2012 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=2277
Categories: CNS • In this article: Catholic, dialogue, interfaith, Second Vatican Council Transmis : 1 nov. 2012 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=2277
Catégorie : CNS • Dans cet article : Catholic, dialogue, interfaith, Second Vatican Council

SSPX head says Vatican sent mixed messages during reconciliation talks

The head of the traditionalist Society of St. Pius X said he has been receiving mixed messages from the Vatican for years over if and how the group might be brought back into full communion with the church. Bishop Bernard Fellay, superior general of the society, claimed that top Vatican officials told him not to be discouraged by official statements from the Vatican, because they did not reflect Pope Benedict XVI’s true feelings. The Vatican press office declined to comment Jan. 4 on the claims.
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Posted: Jan. 4, 2013 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=2704
Categories: CNS • In this article: Catholic, dialogue, Society of St. Pius X Transmis : 4 janv. 2013 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=2704
Catégorie : CNS • Dans cet article : Catholic, dialogue, Society of St. Pius X

Pope, Anglican archbishop pledge to work for unity

Pope Francis and Anglican Archbishop Justin Welby of Canterbury, spiritual leader of the Anglican Communion, pledged to support each other with their prayers and to continue the search for full unity between their communities.

Meeting at the Vatican June 14, praying together in the Redemptoris Mater Chapel in the Apostolic Palace and eating lunch together in the papal residence, both remarked on the fact that Pope Francis’ inaugural Mass was celebrated March 19 and Archbishop Welby’s installation was March 21.

“Since we began our respective ministries within days of each other, I think we will always have a particular reason to support one another in prayer,” Pope Francis said. He also thanked the new Anglican leader for praying for him during his installation at Canterbury Cathedral.

Archbishop Welby told him, “I pray that the nearness of our two inaugurations may serve the reconciliation of the world and the church.”
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Posted: June 14, 2013 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=6272
Categories: CNS • In this article: Anglican, Archbishop of Canterbury, Catholic, pope, Pope Francis Transmis : 14 juin 2013 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=6272
Catégorie : CNS • Dans cet article : Anglican, Archbishop of Canterbury, Catholic, pope, Pope Francis

Pope open to Orthodox synod structure

Pope Francis, who recently spoke of a need to increase the common responsibility all bishops hold for the universal church, told a delegation of Orthodox leaders that the Catholic Church can learn from the synod structure of the Eastern Christian churches.

Dialogue for Christian unity is not a theoretical exercise for theologians, but an essential, practical tool for growing in faith and for evangelization, Pope Francis told a delegation from the Ecumenical Orthodox Patriarchate of Constantinople.

“This is not merely a theoretical exercise, but one of getting to know each other’s traditions in order to understand and even learn from them,” the pope said during the meeting June 28.

Pope Francis said he was referring particularly “to the reflection of the Catholic Church on the meaning of episcopal collegiality and the tradition of synodality, so typical of the Orthodox churches,” in which the synods function as a symbol of the unity of the local churches and as a governing body united to the patriarch or spiritual leader of the church.
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Posted: June 28, 2013 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=6448
Categories: CNS • In this article: Catholic, church reform, collegiality, dialogue, Orthodox, Pope Francis, synodality Transmis : 28 juin 2013 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=6448
Catégorie : CNS • Dans cet article : Catholic, church reform, collegiality, dialogue, Orthodox, Pope Francis, synodality

Pope who can’t be pigeonholed bound to disappoint some, says cardinal

Many Catholics who identify themselves as either conservatives or progressives will be disappointed in Pope Francis, whose program of spiritual renewal, doctrinal continuity and emphasis on the poor fits none of the traditional moulds, a top German cardinal said.

Cardinal Walter Kasper, a theologian and retired president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, said Pope Francis will also face resistance within the curia, which needs both organizational revamping and a change of mentality.

Attempts at reform will bring resistance and difficulties “just like with every big institution,” he said in a July 16 interview with the Italian newspaper Il Foglio.

“However, this pope is very determined: He knows what he wants,” he said.
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Posted: July 17, 2013 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=6509
Categories: CNS • In this article: church reform, Pope Francis, Walter Kasper Transmis : 17 juil. 2013 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=6509
Catégorie : CNS • Dans cet article : church reform, Pope Francis, Walter Kasper

For the Pope, making peace is now part of the job

Pope Francis is leading the Catholic Church on an extraordinary campaign to prevent President Barack Obama’s proposed military strike on Syria.

On Sept. 4, the pope appealed to leaders of the G-20 nations to “lay aside the futile pursuit of a military solution” to the Syrian civil war and promote instead a “peaceful solution through dialogue and negotiation.” The next day, his foreign minister sent the same message in a special meeting with the Vatican diplomatic corps. And on Sept. 7, the pope was scheduled to lead a prayer vigil for Syria in St. Peter’s Square — an event that the Vatican spokesman, Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, said would be unprecedented, in both scale and importance of setting, as a papal gesture for peace.

Exceptional as they are, however, Pope Francis’ actions have followed in close continuity with the spirit and record of his predecessors.

On the first visit by a pope to the United Nations, in 1965, Pope Paul VI memorably called for “No more war, war never again.” Blessed John Paul II was a constant campaigner for peace, calling the interfaith meetings in Assisi, praying for an end to violence in the Balkans, and doing everything he could, publicly and privately, to prevent the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
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Posted: Sept. 7, 2013 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=7048
Categories: CNS • In this article: peace, pope, Pope Francis Transmis : 7 sept. 2013 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=7048
Catégorie : CNS • Dans cet article : peace, pope, Pope Francis

Pope, writing in secular newspaper, urges dialogue with non-believers

Writing in one of Italy’s major secular newspapers, Pope Francis called for a “sincere and rigourous dialogue” between the Church and non-believers as an “intimate and indispensable expression” of Christian love.

The Pope’s words appeared in a 2,600-word letter published in the Sept. 11 edition of the Rome daily La Repubblica, in reply to recent articles by Eugenio Scalfari, a co-founder and former editor-in-chief of the newspaper.

An “open and unprejudiced dialogue” between Christians and those of no religious faith is “rightful and precious” today for at least two reasons, Pope Francis wrote. Such a dialogue could “open doors for a serious and fertile encounter” between secular culture and Christian culture, which have lost the ability to communicate due largely to modern views of faith as the “darkness of superstition opposed to the light of reason.”
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Posted: Sept. 12, 2013 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=6804
Categories: CNS • In this article: atheists, pope, Pope Francis Transmis : 12 sept. 2013 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=6804
Catégorie : CNS • Dans cet article : atheists, pope, Pope Francis

Vatican gets greenlight for .catholic domain

As top-level domain names are being rolled out and up for grabs, the Vatican has scored control of .catholic.

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), which coordinates the assignment of Internet domain names and addresses around the world, has been allowing entities to apply for ownership of hundreds, and soon thousands, of new domain names such as .london, .insurance and .xbox, among others.

The Pontifical Council for Social Communications completed the application process last summer and just received approval that it will now control the new Internet address extension .catholic and decide who is allowed to use it.

The Vatican will control .catholic and its equivalent in other languages using Latin letters, as well as the equivalent of the word “Catholic” in the Cyrillic, Arabic and Chinese alphabets. Its request for .catholic in Chinese is number one on the ICANN list of priority domain names, right above .Amazon in Japanese.
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Posted: Oct. 15, 2013 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=7246
Categories: CNS • In this article: internet, Vatican Transmis : 15 oct. 2013 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=7246
Catégorie : CNS • Dans cet article : internet, Vatican

German bishops eye guidelines for divorced Catholics to take Communion

Church officials in Germany defended plans by the country’s bishops’ conference to allow some divorced and remarried Catholics to receive Communion, insisting they have the Pope’s endorsement.

“We already have our own guidelines, and the Pope has now clearly signalled that certain things can be decided locally,” said Robert Eberle, spokesman for the archdiocese of Freiburg.

“We’re not the only archdiocese seeking helpful solutions to this problem, and we’ve had positive reactions from other dioceses in Germany and abroad, assuring us they already practice what’s written in our guidelines,” he said.
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Posted: Nov. 28, 2013 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=7020
Categories: CNS • In this article: divorce & remarriage, eucharist, sacramental sharing Transmis : 28 nov. 2013 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=7020
Catégorie : CNS • Dans cet article : divorce & remarriage, eucharist, sacramental sharing

Vatican to restart stalled talks with Egypt’s Al-Azhar University

The Vatican will restart its stalled dialogue with Sunni Islam’s main theological centre, Al-Azhar University, said Fr. Rafic Greiche, spokesman for Egypt’s Catholic Church.

Talks between the Vatican and Al-Azhar were suspended by the Muslim university in 2011 following a series of remarks made by now-retired Pope Benedict XVI.

Greiche spoke to Catholic News Service in Cairo Dec. 4, a day after Comboni Father Miguel Ayuso Guixot, secretary of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, met at the prominent Muslim university with Abbas Shouman, deputy to Al-Azhar’s grand imam, Sheik Ahmad el-Tayeb.

“There was a meeting in a positive atmosphere, and both (sides) agreed to continue,” Greiche said.
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Posted: Dec. 4, 2013 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=7017
Categories: CNS • In this article: Al-Azhar, Catholic, dialogue, Islam, Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue Transmis : 4 déc. 2013 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=7017
Catégorie : CNS • Dans cet article : Al-Azhar, Catholic, dialogue, Islam, Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue

For Pope, Church reform is spiritual exercise, not a project

For Pope Francis, the reform of the Catholic Church and its structures “isn’t a project, but an exercise of the Spirit” that will take time, said Honduran Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga.

The cardinal, co-ordinator of Pope Francis’ Council of Cardinals, which is working on the reform of the Roman Curia and advising him on Church governance, spoke about the Pope and his approach during a Dec. 4 book presentation at the Vatican.

Other cardinals on the council were in attendance as well for the presentation of Jesuit Father Antonio Spadaro’s book, La Mia Porta ‘E Sempre Aperta (My Door is Always Open), an expanded version of the interview with Pope Francis published in Jesuit periodicals around the world in September. Rodriguez said the title of the book could well be the main theme of Pope Francis’ pontificate.
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Posted: Dec. 5, 2013 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=7014
Categories: CNS • In this article: Curial reform, pope, Pope Francis, Vatican Transmis : 5 déc. 2013 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=7014
Catégorie : CNS • Dans cet article : Curial reform, pope, Pope Francis, Vatican

Vienna Archdiocese defends giving churches to Orthodox

Austria’s Vienna Archdiocese has defended its gifts of Catholic churches to Orthodox communities, as part of a current reorganization.

“Our own church is receding in Vienna, whereas other Christian confessions are on the rise because of immigration,” Michael Pruller, the archdiocese spokesman, told Catholic News Service Dec. 19.

“Many large churches were built in the 19th century for parishes numbering tens of thousands. As in other countries, we’re now having to get rid of churches, which can’t be maintained by their small congregations.”

He said the archdiocese had tried to find an “alternative Catholic use” for unwanted churches, to prevent them being turned into “supermarkets and cafes,” but would otherwise hand them over to other Christian denominations. No money is given as compensation, he said.
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Posted: Dec. 19, 2013 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=7171
Categories: CNS • In this article: Catholic, ecumenism, Orthodox Transmis : 19 déc. 2013 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=7171
Catégorie : CNS • Dans cet article : Catholic, ecumenism, Orthodox

Vatican, Anglicans, Muslims sign accord against human trafficking

The Vatican, the Anglican Communion and a leading Muslim institution signed a historic agreement to work together to end human trafficking worldwide by 2020.

The new accord, signed during a Vatican news conference March 17, launched the beginning of the Global Freedom Network, which hopes to expand to include all the world’s major faiths.

The global initiative aims to prevent modern forms of slavery; to protect, rescue and rehabilitate victims; and to promote concrete measures that condemn or criminalize human trafficking.

In a joint statement, the accord’s signatories called human trafficking and modern forms of slavery “crimes against humanity” and called for urgent action by all faith communities to join the effort to “set free the most oppressed of our brothers and sisters.”

“Only by activating, all over the world, the ideals of faith and of shared human values can we marshal the spiritual power, the joint effort and the liberating vision to eradicate modern slavery and human trafficking from our world and for all time,” the joint statement said.

“This evil is man-made and can be overcome by faith-inspired human will and human effort,” it said.
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Posted: Mar. 17, 2014 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=7448
Categories: CNS • In this article: Al-Azhar, Anglican, Catholic, human trafficking, Islam, justice Transmis : 17 mars 2014 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=7448
Catégorie : CNS • Dans cet article : Al-Azhar, Anglican, Catholic, human trafficking, Islam, justice

Hope and hard work: U.S. priest trusts Christian unity is possible

The issues dividing Christian communities have changed over the past 50 years, but a Philadelphia archdiocesan priest working in ecumenical dialogue at the Vatican is confident that Christian unity is possible.

“We are people of hope. We trust we have the same Scriptures, the same belief in Christ,” said Msgr. Gregory J. Fairbanks, an official at the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.

In the early 1990s, when he was a newly ordained priest, one of his pastoral responsibilities was dialogue with other Christian churches and with non-Christian communities in the northern section of Philadelphia.

After joining a group of local clergy and pastors who met monthly to share neighbourhood concerns and find ways to better work together, he says he “realized that if the ministers cannot work together, then our people are not going to be able to.”

Two decades later, Msgr. Fairbanks is working at the pontifical council to improve dialogue on an international level.
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Posted: May 8, 2014 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=7553
Categories: CNS Transmis : 8 mai 2014 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=7553
Catégorie : CNS

Vatican publishes reflection on discerning essentials of faith

When a significant portion of the Catholic faithful ignore or reject a church teaching, it is often — but not always — a sign that social and cultural pressures are weakening their faith or that church leaders simply have not found a way to explain the teaching, said members of the International Theological Commission.

The commission published the document “‘Sensus Fidei’ in the Life of the Church” on the Vatican website in late June with the approval of Cardinal Gerhard Muller, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

The theologians, who were appointed to the commission by Pope Benedict XVI, had been asked to explain the meaning, purpose and limits of “sensus fidei” and “sensus fidelium” — the capacity of individual believers and of the church as a whole to discern the truth of faith.

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Posted: June 20, 2014 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=7748
Categories: CNS, Documents • In this article: Catholic, Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, theology Transmis : 20 juin 2014 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=7748
Catégorie : CNS, Documents • Dans cet article : Catholic, Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, theology

Anglican, Lutheran delegates say synod’s concerns are theirs, too

Upholding the Christian ideal of marriage and family life while also reaching out to those whose lives do not reflect that ideal is a pastoral challenge faced by all Christian communities, said the Anglican representative to the Synod of Bishops.

Anglican Bishop Paul Butler of Durham, England, and “fraternal delegates” from seven other Christian communities addressed the synod Oct. 10. Bishop Butler also spoke to Vatican Radio Oct. 15 as synod members worked in small groups to amend the assembly’s midterm report.

He told members of the synod that he and his wife have been married 32 years and have four grown children. Although Anglicans have married bishops and clergy, “like you,” he told them, Anglicans “are wrestling with how best to respond” to the challenges facing family life around the world.

“As part of this response,” he said, “we want to speak more of the promise of and hope from the family than focus on the threats,” while also making it clear that “marriage is between a man and a woman and is intended to be for life.”
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Posted: Oct. 16, 2014 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=7862
Categories: CNS • In this article: Anglican, Catholic, family, Lutheran, synods Transmis : 16 oct. 2014 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=7862
Catégorie : CNS • Dans cet article : Anglican, Catholic, family, Lutheran, synods

Christians can’t ignore differences on life issues, pope says

Christianity has something to say about human dignity, and “it would be a shame” if differing positions on the sanctity of all human life or on marriage were to increase the divisions among Christian churches and communities, Pope Francis said. “Questions related to the dignity of the human person at the beginning and end of life, as well as those related to the family, marriage and sexuality, cannot be concealed or overlooked just because we do not want to jeopardize the ecumenical consensus already reached,” he said Dec. 18 during a meeting with German Catholics and Lutherans. “Ecumenical dialogue today can no longer be separated from the reality and lives of our churches,” the pope told leaders of the German Lutheran Church and members of the German Catholic bishops’ ecumenical commission. Pope Francis praised the German Catholic-Lutheran dialogue commission for its joint study on “God and human dignity,” a study which is drawing to a close. Different theological understandings of the church and different opinions about what would constitute unity also seem to be moving Christians further from one another, Pope Francis said; but instead of resigning themselves to their divided state, “we must concentrate on the next possible step.” After 50 years of formal dialogue he said, “the notable progress that, with the help of God, has been made is a solid foundation of sincere friendship lived in faith and spirituality.”
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Posted: Dec. 18, 2014 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=7933
Categories: CNS • In this article: 2017, Catholic, dialogue, Lutheran, Pope Francis Transmis : 18 déc. 2014 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=7933
Catégorie : CNS • Dans cet article : 2017, Catholic, dialogue, Lutheran, Pope Francis

Ecumenism means theological dialogue, joint work for peace, Pope says

Even as their theological dialogues continue in the search for full agreement on doctrinal issues, divided Christians are called to work together for justice and peace, especially in the Middle East, Pope Francis said.

“May the intercession and example of the many martyrs and saints who have borne courageous witness to Christ in all our churches sustain and strengthen you and your Christian communities,” the Pope told church leaders from the region.

Pope Francis met Jan. 30 with members of the International Joint Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Oriental Orthodox Churches, which include churches with large communities in Syria, Iraq and throughout the Middle East.

The Oriental Orthodox churches participating in the dialogue include the Coptic, Syriac, Armenian, Ethiopian, Eritrean and Malankara Orthodox Syrian churches.

“At this time,” the Pope said, “we especially feel dismay and deep sadness at what is happening in the Middle East, especially in Iraq and Syria,” where Islamic State militants continue their campaign of terror.

“I think of all those living in the region, including our Christian brothers and sisters, and many minorities, who are experiencing the effects of a prolonged and painful conflict,” he said.
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Posted: Jan. 30, 2015 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=8046
Categories: CNS • In this article: Catholic, dialogue, Oriental Orthodox, Pope Francis Transmis : 30 janv. 2015 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=8046
Catégorie : CNS • Dans cet article : Catholic, dialogue, Oriental Orthodox, Pope Francis

Catholic, Orthodox leaders urge ‘unity against aggression’ in Ukraine

Catholic and Orthodox archbishops in Ukraine appealed for national unity against pro-Russia separatists as calls mounted for the United States to help arm Ukrainian forces.

Citing constant danger to Ukraine, the church leaders called the war “a crime against life” that brings “suffering and death, grief and injustice” in a Feb. 4 statement.

Archbishop Mieczyslaw Mokrzycki of Lviv, president of Ukraine’s Catholic bishops’ conference, and Ukrainian Orthodox Archbishop Filaret Kucherov of Lviv within the Moscow Patriarchate were among those making the appeal.

“But Ukraine, tired and tested, remains unbowed in its faith and dedicated effort of will,” the religious leaders said. “Before our eyes, a new state is being born, a new generation of heroes willing to sacrifice life, forget comfort and tranquility and be the first to respond to the homeland’s cry for help.”

The appeal was published as fighting intensified after a new separatist offensive in the self-proclaimed rebel republics of Donetsk and Luhansk.
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Posted: Feb. 6, 2015 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=8044
Categories: CNS • In this article: Orthodox, peace, Ukraine, Ukrainian Catholic Transmis : 6 févr. 2015 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=8044
Catégorie : CNS • Dans cet article : Orthodox, peace, Ukraine, Ukrainian Catholic

Papal ecology: Protecting all God’s creatures, respecting God’s plan

The Catholic Church supports the efforts of scientists to study the causes and effects of climate change and insists governments and businesses must get serious about specific commitments for protecting the environment.

But Pope Francis, like his predecessors, does not pretend to have a technical solution to the problem. However, he does feel a responsibility to remind Christians of their religious obligation to safeguard creation, beginning with human beings who are created in the image and likeness of God.

Clearing his calendar for a week in late March, Pope Francis rolled up his sleeves to put the final touches on an encyclical letter about the environment; building on what he and his predecessors have said, the document — planned for publication early in the summer — is expected to present ecology as the ultimate pro-life, pro-poor, pro-family issue.

For Pope Francis, like Pope Benedict XVI, safeguarding creation is not simply about protecting plants and animals, or just about ensuring the air, water and land will support human life for generations to come. Those things are part of the task.
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Posted: Mar. 26, 2015 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=8143
Categories: CNS • In this article: ecology, encyclicals, Pope Francis, poverty Transmis : 26 mars 2015 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=8143
Catégorie : CNS • Dans cet article : ecology, encyclicals, Pope Francis, poverty

Protecting people means protecting the planet, Cardinal Turkson says

Pride, greed and selfishness are destroying the planet just as they destroy human lives, said Cardinal Peter Turkson. However, with action inspired by good stewardship and solidarity, people can ensure that the Earth is “a nurturing home for every man, woman and child in every country and in every generation,” said the cardinal, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. Turkson, who oversaw work on a first draft of Pope Francis’ upcoming encyclical on ecology, addressed the general assembly of Caritas Internationalis in Rome May 14. Pope Francis is publishing the encyclical, he said, “not to enter into scientific and financial debates, but to remind the world that our choices are ultimately moral in nature,” including when it comes to safeguarding creation. “This is an all-embracing moral imperative: to protect and care both for creation — our garden home — and for the human person who dwells therein,” the cardinal said. “Without stewardship, the Earth will be less and less habitable,” Turkson said. And without solidarity, “greed and rivalry will wreak ever greater havoc.”
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Posted: May 15, 2015 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=8320
Categories: CNS • In this article: Catholic, environment, justice, Vatican Transmis : 15 mai 2015 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=8320
Catégorie : CNS • Dans cet article : Catholic, environment, justice, Vatican

Québec Archdiocese reshapes itself as Mass attendance falls

With the decision to close one of its largest and most important churches, the Archdiocese of Quebec is sending a clear message: The future of even the most majestic churches cannot be guaranteed anymore. On May 24, one last Mass was celebrated in renowned St. John the Baptist Church. Dedicated to the patron saint of French Canadians, the church stands among the high-profile churches of both the archdiocese and Quebec province. Built in the 1880s, it is recognized as a major heritage church. Its seating capacity of 2,400 compares to St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York. But such a marvel comes with a steep price: It needs renovations estimated at $10 million, a gargantuan amount for a parish that has been accumulating deficits for years. Even with the help of the archdiocese, the Catholic Church of Quebec simply doesn’t have that kind of money. Not anymore. Over the past decade, the dioceses of the Quebec province had to close churches in response to the new secularized reality: less faithful, less money, yet too many churches. But still, some of the buildings were considered “untouchable.” With the closing of St. John the Baptist, parishioners realize change is afoot. “It’s sad, obviously,” said Quebec Auxiliary Bishop Gaetan Proulx. “It’s the signal that we’re moving toward something else, with smaller communities. The model for our Church is changing.” Proulx compared St. John the Baptist to a lighthouse, because its high steeple can be seen from all around the city. “It was the symbol that the Catholic faith is well established here,” he said. “But it also symbolizes a legacy. Churches are to the province of Quebec what castles are to France.” And it seems the Catholic Church in Quebec will not be able to save all of its castles.

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Posted: June 12, 2015 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=8575
Categories: CNS • In this article: Catholic, Québec Transmis : 12 juin 2015 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=8575
Catégorie : CNS • Dans cet article : Catholic, Québec

All creation sings God’s praise, but people are silencing it, pope says

The earth, which was created to support life and give praise to God, is crying out with pain because human activity is destroying it, Pope Francis says in his long-awaited encyclical, “Laudato Si’, on Care for Our Common Home.”

All who believe in God and all people of good will have an obligation to take steps to mitigate climate change, clean the land and the seas, and start treating all of creation — including poor people — with respect and concern, he says in the document released at the Vatican June 18.

• Laudato Si’: Arabic Deutsch English Español Français Italiano Polski Português

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Posted: June 18, 2015 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=8611
Categories: CNS • In this article: ecology, encyclicals, environment, Pope Francis Transmis : 18 juin 2015 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=8611
Catégorie : CNS • Dans cet article : ecology, encyclicals, environment, Pope Francis

Defining moment: Glossary of terminology used in Laudato Si’

In his brief pontificate, Pope Francis has coined some colourful terms to get his points across, for example, using “bat Christians” to describe those who hide their faith.

While the new phrases he uses in his ecology encyclical are not as punchy, they succinctly help illustrate his points that care for the environment is a human and moral obligation, that global warming and pollution have an unfairly heavy impact on the poor and that a real commitment to ecology will entail individual conversion and changed political and economic priorities.

The following is a list defining some key phrases Pope Francis uses in the encyclical, “Laudato Si’, on Care for Our Common Home.”
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Posted: June 19, 2015 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=8614
Categories: CNS • In this article: ecology, encyclicals, environment, Pope Francis Transmis : 19 juin 2015 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=8614
Catégorie : CNS • Dans cet article : ecology, encyclicals, environment, Pope Francis

Pope asks Waldensians to forgive wrongs

In a world of “soap-bubble values,” hypocrisy and delusion, Pope Francis told young people to fight back with real love and told workers to build a new economy based on creativity and courage.

He also asked the Waldensians, whom the Catholic Church excommunicated and persecuted hundreds of years ago, for forgiveness.

“I ask you for forgiveness for the un-Christian, even inhuman, attitude and behavior that we had against you over history,” he told representatives and members of the Waldensian community June 22 in Turin.

“In the name of Jesus Christ, forgive us,” he said during a visit to the temple, making him the first pope in 800 years to visit a Waldensian place of worship.

The historic gesture was part of Pope Francis’ two-day pastoral trip to the northern Italian city. The pope visited June 21-22 to venerate the Shroud of Turin as well as commemorate the 200th anniversary of the birth of St. John Bosco.
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Posted: June 22, 2015 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=8609
Categories: CNS • In this article: Pope Francis, repentance, Waldensians Transmis : 22 juin 2015 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=8609
Catégorie : CNS • Dans cet article : Pope Francis, repentance, Waldensians

Vatican signs agreement with Palestine, calls for two-state solution

The Holy See and Palestine have signed a historic agreement that supports a two-state solution to the ongoing conflict in the Holy Land, based on the 1967 borders between Israel and Palestine.

The two parties signed the “Comprehensive Agreement between the Holy See and the State of Palestine” at the Vatican June 26. The accord, which includes a preamble and 32 articles, focuses mostly on the status and activity of the Catholic Church in Palestine. It assures the church “juridical recognition” and “guarantees” for its work and institutions in Palestine.

The second chapter of the agreement focuses entirely on freedom of religion and conscience and includes the right to worship and practice one’s faith, as well as the rights of Christian parents to give their children religious education, of Christians to take holy days off work, and of military personnel to have access to pastoral care.

The preamble recognizes the right to self-determination of the Palestinian people, the importance of Jerusalem and its sacred character for Jews, Christians and Muslims, and the objective of a two-state solution.

At the signing ceremony, Archbishop Paul R. Gallagher, the Vatican’s secretary for relations with states, said he hoped the agreement would provide a “stimulus” for a “definitive end to the long-standing Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”
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Posted: June 26, 2015 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=8616
Categories: CNS • In this article: Palestine, treaty, Vatican Transmis : 26 juin 2015 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=8616
Catégorie : CNS • Dans cet article : Palestine, treaty, Vatican

Anglican leaders sanction Episcopalians over same-sex marriage

Because of the U.S. Episcopal Church’s moves to unilaterally change canon law to allow same-sex marriage, Anglican leaders voted to suspend Episcopalians from positions representing the Anglican Communion and from participating in some Anglican bodies. Primates meeting in Canterbury, England, said that for three years, members of the Episcopal Church will be barred from sitting on Anglican bodies making decisions on doctrine and polity and from representing the Communion on ecumenical and interfaith bodies. The move comes in response to a policy allowing gay marriages, adopted last year by the General Convention, or governing body, of the Episcopal Church, the Anglican Church in the United States. The change in canon law in the U.S. has been strongly opposed by many of the theologically conservative African churches, some of whose leaders had threatened to walk out of the five-day primate meeting if the Episcopal Church was not penalized for its actions. The suspension was announced in a statement issued by the primates Jan. 14, a day earlier than planned because of leaks to the media.
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Posted: Jan. 15, 2016 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=9282
Categories: CNS • In this article: Anglican Communion, human sexuality, Primates Meeting Transmis : 15 janv. 2016 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=9282
Catégorie : CNS • Dans cet article : Anglican Communion, human sexuality, Primates Meeting

Pope calls euthanasia triumph of selfishness, not act of compassion

Growing acceptance of euthanasia does not indicate increased compassion, but highlights the rise of a selfish “throwaway culture” that casts aside the sick, the dying and those who do not satisfy the perceived requirements of a healthy life, Pope Francis said.

In a culture that is increasingly “technological and individualistic,” some tend to “hide behind alleged compassion to justify killing a patient,” the Pope told health professionals from Spain and Latin America June 9.

“True compassion does not marginalize, humiliate or exclude, much less celebrate a patient passing away,” the Pope said. “You know well that would mean the triumph of selfishness, of that ‘throwaway culture’ that rejects and despises people who do not meet certain standards of health, beauty or usefulness.”
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Posted: June 10, 2016 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=9198
Categories: CNS • In this article: euthanasia, physician assisted suicide, Pope Francis Transmis : 10 juin 2016 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=9198
Catégorie : CNS • Dans cet article : euthanasia, physician assisted suicide, Pope Francis

Saskatoon’s Bishop Don Bolen appointed Archbishop of Regina

Pope Francis has named Bishop Donald Bolen of Saskatoon, Sask., as the new archbishop of Regina.

Archbishop Bolen’s appointment was announced July 11 at the Vatican. He succeeds Archbishop Daniel Bohan, who died in January.

Archbishop Bolen is known nationally and internationally for his work promoting Christian unity. From 2001 to 2008 he worked at the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity at the Vatican, before returning to Regina in 2009. Since his return, he has served as a bishop member of the Christian unity council and as co-chair of the International Anglican-Roman Catholic Commission for Unity and Mission. Since 2013 he has served as co-chair of the Joint International Commission for Dialogue between the World Methodist Council and the Roman Catholic Church.

Speaking of his new appointment, Archbishop Bolen, who was ordained a priest in Regina and served as archdiocesan vicar general and chair of the archdiocesan ecumenical commission, said: “To be moved from the Diocese of Saskatoon is painful, because it has been such a grace-filled experience to live and to serve here as bishop, but, at the same time, to move to the Archdiocese of Regina is to go home. I am profoundly grateful to remain in my home province.”
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Posted: July 11, 2016 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=9355
Categories: CNS • In this article: Donald Bolen, Regina, Saskatchewan, Saskatoon Transmis : 11 juil. 2016 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=9355
Catégorie : CNS • Dans cet article : Donald Bolen, Regina, Saskatchewan, Saskatoon

Vatican, al-Azhar officials look to kick-start joint talks, cooperation

The Vatican and Sunni Islam’s leading institution of higher learning have begun looking for ways to restart formal dialogue.

Acting on Pope Francis’ expressed desire, the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue was sending a top-level official to Cairo to visit al-Azhar University, the council said in a written press release July 12.

Spanish Bishop Miguel Ayuso Guixot, secretary of the pontifical council, will attend a “preliminary meeting” July 13 with Mahmoud Hamdi Zakzouk, a member of the university’s Council of Senior Scholars and director of the al-Azhar Center for Dialogue. Archbishop Bruno Musaro, the apostolic nuncio to Egypt, was to also attend the meeting.

The meeting, which was requested by the pontifical council following the pope’s “expressed desire, will evaluate how to begin the resumption of dialogue between the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue and al-Azhar University,” the press release said.

The encounter follows the landmark meeting at the Vatican May 23 between Pope Francis and the university’s grand imam, Ahmad el-Tayeb.
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Posted: July 12, 2016 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=9359
Categories: CNS • In this article: Al-Azhar, dialogue, interfaith, Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, Vatican Transmis : 12 juil. 2016 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=9359
Catégorie : CNS • Dans cet article : Al-Azhar, dialogue, interfaith, Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, Vatican

Pope establishes new office for promoting integral human development

To promote Catholic social teaching and ensure appropriate assistance to vulnerable people — especially victims of war, refugees and the sick — Pope Francis has established a new office combining the responsibilities of four pontifical councils.

In an apostolic letter given “motu proprio” (on his own initiative) and published by the Vatican Aug. 31, the pope said the new “Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development” will merge the pontifical councils for Justice and Peace, Cor Unum, Migrants and Travellers, and Health Care Ministry.

The pope named Cardinal Peter Turkson, current president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, to serve as prefect of the new office, which will begin functioning Jan. 1.

In his letter signed Aug. 17, the pope said, “This dicastery will be competent particularly in issues regarding migrants, those in need, the sick, the excluded and marginalized, the imprisoned and the unemployed, as well as victims of armed conflict, natural disasters, and all forms of slavery and torture.”
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Posted: Aug. 31, 2016 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=9555
Categories: CNS • In this article: Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, Peter Turkson, Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, Vatican Transmis : 31 aoüt 2016 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=9555
Catégorie : CNS • Dans cet article : Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, Peter Turkson, Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, Vatican

Changing canon law, pope brings Latin and Eastern practices closer

In a change to church law, Latin-rite Catholic deacons may not preside at a wedding when one or both of the new spouses are members of an Eastern Catholic church. The new rule is one of the changes to 11 canons in the Latin-rite Code of Canon law that Pope Francis approved in order to harmonize the laws of the Latin and Eastern Catholic churches on several issues involving the sacraments of baptism and marriage. After more than 15 years of study and worldwide consultation, the conflicting rules were resolved by adopting the Eastern code’s formulations for the Latin church as well, said Bishop Juan Ignacio Arrieta, secretary of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts. The bishop spoke to journalists Sept. 15 after the publication of an apostolic letter published “motu proprio” (on his own initiative) in which Pope Francis ordered the changes to the Latin Code of Canon Law, the 1983 text governing the majority of the world’s Catholics. In the Eastern Catholic and Orthodox traditions, the blessing of a priest is necessary for the validity of a marriage. In the Latin-rite church, a deacon can preside over the sacrament. The new law specifies, “Only a priest can validly assist at the matrimony of two Eastern parties or between a Latin and Eastern Catholic or non-Catholic,” meaning a member of an Orthodox Church.
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Posted: Sept. 15, 2016 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=9520
Categories: CNS • In this article: canon law, Eastern churches, marriage, Pope Francis Transmis : 15 sept. 2016 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=9520
Catégorie : CNS • Dans cet article : canon law, Eastern churches, marriage, Pope Francis

Catholics, Orthodox meet to discuss synodality, papal primacy

Leading Catholic and Orthodox bishops were meeting in Italy to continue discussions on the key issue keeping their Churches apart: the role of the bishop of Rome, the pope.

The Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue Between the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church was meeting in Chieti, September 15-22.

Participants were to discuss the draft document, “Towards a common understanding of synodality and primacy in the service to the unity of the Church,” which was finished during a meeting in Rome in 2015, the Vatican press office announced September 15.

Participants were being asked “to determine whether the draft accurately reflects the current consensus on the delicate question of the theological and ecclesiological aspects of primacy in its relation to synodality in the life of the Church or whether it will be necessary to continue to delve deeper into the issue,” said the Vatican communique.
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Posted: Sept. 16, 2016 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=9566
Categories: CNS • In this article: Catholic, dialogue, Orthodox, petrine ministry, primacy, synodality Transmis : 16 sept. 2016 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=9566
Catégorie : CNS • Dans cet article : Catholic, dialogue, Orthodox, petrine ministry, primacy, synodality

Religious leaders praise Patriarch Bartholomew as a great ecumenist

As leaders of dozens of religions gathered in Assisi for dialogue and prayers for peace, they honored Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople as an exemplar of one who is so deeply rooted in his own religious tradition that he can reach out to others without fear.

Jewish, Anglican and Catholic leaders paid tribute to Patriarch Bartholomew as he was about to celebrate the 25th anniversary of his enthronement as spiritual leader of the world’s Orthodox Christians. Pope Francis was scheduled to participate in a celebratory luncheon for the patriarch Sept. 20 in Assisi.

The Assisi celebrations Sept. 18-20 were organized by the Rome-based Community of Sant’Egidio, the Diocese of Assisi and the Franciscan friars.
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Posted: Sept. 20, 2016 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=9553
Categories: CNS • In this article: Assisi, Bartholomew I, David Rosen, Justin Welby, peace, Pope Francis, prayer Transmis : 20 sept. 2016 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=9553
Catégorie : CNS • Dans cet article : Assisi, Bartholomew I, David Rosen, Justin Welby, peace, Pope Francis, prayer

Bishops offer pastoral guidelines for when Canadians seek assisted suicide

The bishops of Alberta and the Northwest Territories have issued pastoral guidelines for clergy dealing with Catholics who are considering euthanasia or assisted suicide, which is now legal in Canada.

The 32-page document, written for priests and parishes, gives guidance on when people in such situations are eligible to receive certain sacraments or a Catholic funeral. It includes references to canon law and pastoral guidance for special circumstances.

The document specifically addresses the sacraments of reconciliation and anointing of the sick.

“In our day a priest may encounter a penitent who has officially requested physician-assisted suicide or euthanasia,” the document says. “The penitent has not yet been killed, nor has he/she committed suicide, but he or she has initiated the process, which is already a grave matter.

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Posted: Sept. 20, 2016 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=9568
Categories: CNS • In this article: Alberta, Canada, Catholic, euthanasia, pastoral care, physician assisted suicide Transmis : 20 sept. 2016 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=9568
Catégorie : CNS • Dans cet article : Alberta, Canada, Catholic, euthanasia, pastoral care, physician assisted suicide

Walking the talk: Catholics, Anglicans work together as they seek unity

If Christians are called to live their faith concretely, then they cannot leave out concrete signs of the unity to which Jesus calls them.

And just because the formal Anglican-Roman Catholic theological dialogue has been forced to grapple with new church-dividing attitudes toward issues such as the ordination of women and the blessing of same-sex marriages, it does not mean that common prayer led by Anglican and Catholic leaders and concrete collaboration by Catholic and Anglican parishes are simply window dressing.

Dozens of Catholic and Anglican bishops and several hundred priests and laity from both communities gathered in Rome in early October to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Vatican meeting of Blessed Paul VI and Anglican Archbishop Michael Ramsey of Canterbury, almost 50 years of formal theological dialogue through the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission (known as ARCIC) and the 50th anniversary of the Anglican Center in Rome.

The celebrations, highlighted by an ecumenical evening prayer service Oct. 5 with Pope Francis and Anglican Archbishop Justin Welby of Canterbury, coincided with a meeting of a newer body, the International Anglican-Roman Catholic Commission for Unity and Mission, known as IARCCUM.
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Posted: Oct. 6, 2016 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=9542
Categories: CNS • In this article: Anglican, ARCIC, Catholic, David Moxon, Donald Bolen, IARCCUM, Justin Welby, Pope Francis Transmis : 6 oct. 2016 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=9542
Catégorie : CNS • Dans cet article : Anglican, ARCIC, Catholic, David Moxon, Donald Bolen, IARCCUM, Justin Welby, Pope Francis

U.S. Pentecostal promotes what pope calls ‘walking ecumenism’

Joe Tosini believes that on the last day Jesus will judge people on whether they fed the hungry, clothed the naked and, especially, whether they loved one another, not on whether they were baptized with a sprinkling of water as an infant in a Catholic Church or by being plunged into a pool as an adult in an evangelical service.

Tosini, a Pentecostal Christian, is founder of the Phoenix-based John 17 Movement, an ecumenical initiative about forming relationships and friendships among Christians.

Unlike the formal ecumenical dialogues the Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican and mainline Protestant churches engage in, the John 17 initiative does not involve theological dialogue and the examination of doctrinal similarities and differences.
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Posted: Oct. 17, 2016 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=9547
Categories: CNS • In this article: Catholic, Charismatic movement, Pentecostal, Pope Francis Transmis : 17 oct. 2016 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=9547
Catégorie : CNS • Dans cet article : Catholic, Charismatic movement, Pentecostal, Pope Francis

Vatican releases instruction on burial, cremation

Professing belief in the resurrection of the dead and affirming that the human body is an essential part of a person’s identity, the Catholic Church insists that the bodies of the deceased be treated with respect and laid to rest in a consecrated place.

While the Catholic Church continues to prefer burial in the ground, it accepts cremation as an option, but forbids the scattering of ashes and the growing practice of keeping cremated remains at home, said Cardinal Gerhard Müller, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

“Caring for the bodies of the deceased, the church confirms its faith in the resurrection and separates itself from attitudes and rites that see in death the definitive obliteration of the person, a stage in the process of reincarnation or the fusion of one’s soul with the universe,” the cardinal told reporters Oct. 25.
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Posted: Oct. 25, 2016 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=9545
Categories: CNS • In this article: Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, cremation, death, funerals Transmis : 25 oct. 2016 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=9545
Catégorie : CNS • Dans cet article : Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, cremation, death, funerals

Catholic Church never likely to ordain women, pope says

The Catholic Church insistence that it cannot ordain women to the priesthood and episcopacy is a teaching likely to last forever, Pope Francis said.

After being hosted by the Lutheran Church of Sweden, which is led by Archbishop Antje Jackelen of Uppsala, the nation’s first woman primate, Pope Francis was asked Nov. 1 if the Catholic Church might one day have women priests and bishops.

As he has done in the past, the pope responded that the question was settled in 1994 by St. John Paul II, who taught that because Jesus chose only men as his apostles, the ordination of women in the Catholic Church is not possible.

He was asked, “Really? Never?” And he responded, “If one carefully reads the declaration of St. John Paul it goes in that direction, yes.”
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Posted: Nov. 1, 2016 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=9564
Categories: CNS • In this article: ordination, Pope Francis, women Transmis : 1 nov. 2016 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=9564
Catégorie : CNS • Dans cet article : ordination, Pope Francis, women

Europe’s Catholic, Orthodox leaders say they’ll stand against terrorism

Catholic and Orthodox leaders have pledged to stand together against fundamentalism and terrorism, as well as resisting forces working to erode and destroy religious belief in Europe.

“Terrorist violence against people considered unbelievers or infidels is the extreme degree of religious intolerance — we unreservedly condemn it and deplore that such acts have developed in the soil of a misguided religious culture,” the church representatives said in a joint message Jan. 13.

“The constitutions of our states guarantee the fundamental rights of the human person. Nevertheless, in our societies, forces are always at work to marginalize or even erase religions and their message from the public space. We believe Europe needs more than ever the breath of faith in Christ and the hope it provides.”

The 14-point message was published after a Jan. 9-12 meeting of the European Catholic-Orthodox Forum, co-chaired in Paris by Hungarian Cardinal Peter Erdo, former president of the Council of European Bishops’ Conferences, and Metropolitan Gennadios of Sassima for the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.

It said Catholic and Orthodox bishops deplored “crimes that may have been committed in the name of religion,” but believed their churches should not be blamed “for attitudes of intolerance that are inadmissible nowadays, but used to be shared by societies in the past.”
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Posted: Jan. 17, 2017 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=9617
Categories: CNS • In this article: Catholic, Orthodox, terrorism Transmis : 17 janv. 2017 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=9617
Catégorie : CNS • Dans cet article : Catholic, Orthodox, terrorism

Pope, patriarch call for ethical intervention in economy

Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople called on Christians to work together to build a culture of solidarity in the face of growing economic inequality and a lack of respect for the human dignity of the poor and of migrants.

The two leaders met privately May 26 before addressing an international conference sponsored by the Centesimus Annus Pro Pontifice Foundation, which seeks to promote the teaching of St. John Paul II’s 1991 encyclical on social and economic justice.

“The current difficulties and crises within the global economic system have an undeniable ethical dimension,” Pope Francis told some 500 business leaders, theologians and proponents of Catholic social teaching.
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Posted: May 28, 2018 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=10258
Categories: CNS • In this article: Bartholomew I, economic ethics, Pope Francis Transmis : 28 mai 2018 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=10258
Catégorie : CNS • Dans cet article : Bartholomew I, economic ethics, Pope Francis

Synod’s words on ‘synodal’ church puzzle some people

“Synodality,” a key concept of Pope Francis’ papacy, was used repeatedly in the final document of the Synod of Bishops on young people, the faith and vocation discernment. In simple terms, “synodality” means “walking together” with every member of the church, recognizing that the grace of baptism makes one part of the body of the church and, therefore, responsible for its life and mission. “The church must really let herself be given shape by the Eucharist that she celebrates as the summit and source of her life,” being like “the bread made from many stalks of wheat and broken for the life of the world,” the synod document said.
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Posted: Oct. 30, 2018 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=10355
Categories: CNS • In this article: synodality, synods Transmis : 30 oct. 2018 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=10355
Catégorie : CNS • Dans cet article : synodality, synods

Ukrainian Catholic leader sees new possibilities for ecumenism

The formal recognition of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine brings “a wind of hope” that new opportunities will be created for dialogue and concrete cooperation in the search for Christian unity, said the head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church. Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, major archbishop of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, said he already has agreed with the Orthodox Church’s newly elected Metropolitan Epiphanius of Kiev to draw up a “road map” to examine where the two churches could work together. The archbishop made his comments in a long interview with Glavcom, a Ukrainian news site; the Ukrainian Catholic Church’s website published the English translation of the interview Jan. 10.
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Posted: Jan. 11, 2019 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=10440
Categories: CNS • In this article: Bartholomew I, Epiphanius, Orthodox, Sviatoslav Shevchuk, Ukraine, Ukrainian Catholic Transmis : 11 janv. 2019 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=10440
Catégorie : CNS • Dans cet article : Bartholomew I, Epiphanius, Orthodox, Sviatoslav Shevchuk, Ukraine, Ukrainian Catholic

Pope Francis: Goal of ecumenism is unity, not leveling differences

At the end of Mass on the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, Pope Francis and Orthodox Archbishop Job of Telmessos walked down the stairs under the main altar in St. Peter’s Basilica and prayed together at the apostle’s tomb. The archbishop was representing Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople at the pope’s celebration of the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, who were martyred in Rome and are the patron saints of the Roman church.

Greeting the archbishop in his homily June 29, Pope Francis told him, “Your presence reminds us that we can spare no effort in the journey toward full unity among believers, in communion at every level. For together, reconciled to God and having forgiven one another, we are called to bear witness to Jesus by our lives.” Meeting members of the Orthodox delegation June 28, the pope said Sts. Peter and Paul are exemplars of “the apostolic courage of proclamation, which also entails a commitment to respond to the new challenges of the present time.” Patriarch Bartholomew and his longstanding theological and pastoral concern about climate change is one example of that, the pope said, and “has been a source of inspiration for me.”
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Posted: July 1, 2019 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=10744
Categories: CNS • In this article: Orthodox, Pope Francis Transmis : 1 juil. 2019 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=10744
Catégorie : CNS • Dans cet article : Orthodox, Pope Francis

Vatican notes growing ecumenical consensus on what ‘church’ means

Working for Christian unity and engaging in formal theological dialogues to promote it obviously raises questions about what the nature and mission of the church is. In a project that took two decades of work by Orthodox, Anglican, Protestant, Catholic and Pentecostal theologians, the World Council of Churches in 2013 published a document summarizing the points of greatest consensus. In late October, the Vatican gave the WCC its formal response to the document, which was called “The Church: Towards a Common Vision.”

The response, coordinated by the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and posted on its website, included input from Catholic theologians from around the world, bishops’ conferences and the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. What is meant by “church” is a key ecumenical question as Christians work and pray for the unity Jesus wanted his followers to have, the Catholic response said. Or, as the WCC document said, “agreement on ecclesiology has long been identified as the most elemental theological objective in the quest for Christian unity.”
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Posted: Oct. 25, 2019 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=10737
Categories: CNS • In this article: ecclesiology, ecumenism, Pope Francis, WCC Transmis : 25 oct. 2019 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=10737
Catégorie : CNS • Dans cet article : ecclesiology, ecumenism, Pope Francis, WCC

Catechism will be updated to include ecological sins, pope says

Following through on a proposal made at the Synod of Bishops for the Amazon, Pope Francis said there are plans to include a definition of ecological sins in the church’s official teaching.

“We should be introducing — we were thinking — in the Catechism of the Catholic Church the sin against ecology, ecological sin against the common home,” he told participants at a conference on criminal justice Nov. 15.

Members of the International Association of Penal Law were in Rome Nov. 13-16 for the conference, which centered on the theme, “Criminal Justice and Corporate Business.”

Pope Francis also denounced the abuse of law and legislation to justify acts of violence and hatred.
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Posted: Nov. 15, 2019 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=10690
Categories: CNS • In this article: catechism, catholic social teaching, environment Transmis : 15 nov. 2019 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=10690
Catégorie : CNS • Dans cet article : catechism, catholic social teaching, environment

Pope chooses ‘synodality’ as theme for 2022 synod

Pope Francis has decided the next world Synod of Bishops at the Vatican, which will take place in October 2022, will have the theme: “For a synodal church: Communion, participation and mission.”

The Vatican announced the choice of “synodality” as the theme in a brief communique March 7.

“Synodality,” which literally means “walking together,” has become a key topic of Pope Francis’ pontificate, but one which has raised questions and even confusion.

The basic idea in the pope’s teaching is that the grace of baptism makes one part of the body of the church and, therefore, responsible for its life and mission. In a hierarchical church, that shared responsibility calls for regular, serious and structural forums for listening to all members of the church. At the same time, as the pope has said, it does not mean putting decisions to a vote as if a synod were a parliament.
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Posted: Mar. 9, 2020 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=10717
Categories: CNS • In this article: Catholic, Pope Francis, synodality, Vatican Transmis : 9 mars 2020 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=10717
Catégorie : CNS • Dans cet article : Catholic, Pope Francis, synodality, Vatican

Vatican says baptisms that used a modified formula are not valid

Changing the words of the formula for baptism render the sacrament invalid, said the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Specifically, a baptism administered with the formula “We baptize you …” instead of “I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” is not valid because it is the person of Christ through the minister who is acting, not the assembly, the congregation said.

The doctrinal congregation’s ruling was published Aug. 6 as a brief response to questions regarding the validity of baptisms using that modified formula. The congregation was asked whether a baptism was valid if it had been performed with a formula that seeks to express the “communitarian significance” and participation of the family and those present during the celebration. For example, it said there have been celebrations administered with the words, “In the name of the father and of the mother, of the godfather and of the godmother, of the grandparents, of the family members, of the friends, in the name of the community we baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”
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Posted: Aug. 6, 2020 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=10802
Categories: CNS • In this article: baptism, Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith Transmis : 6 aoüt 2020 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=10802
Catégorie : CNS • Dans cet article : baptism, Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith

Dialogue group calls for Catholic recognition of Anglican ordinations

A group of Catholic and Anglican theologians has publicly called on the Vatican to review and overturn a papal document from 1896 that declared Anglican ordinations “absolutely null and utterly void.” “Where we once walked apart, we now walk together in friendship and love,” wrote members of the Malines Conversations Group after tracing the history of ecumenical agreements between the Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion and, especially, reviewing examples of collaboration and gestures of recognition.

The judgment made by Pope Leo XIII in his apostolic letter “Apostolicae Curae” in 1896 “does not accord with the reality into which the Spirit has led us now,” said members of the group, which is an informal Catholic-Anglican dialogue that began in 2013. Members of the group, who are not appointed to represent their churches but keep their respective ecumenical offices informed of their studies and discussions, presented their document Dec. 15 at Rome’s Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas. The 27-page document is titled, “Sorores in Spe — Sisters in Hope of the Resurrection: A Fresh Response to the Condemnation of Anglican Orders.”
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Posted: Dec. 15, 2021 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=10919
Categories: CNS, Dialogue • In this article: Anglican, Catholic, Malines, ordination Transmis : 15 déc. 2021 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=10919
Catégorie : CNS, Dialogue • Dans cet article : Anglican, Catholic, Malines, ordination

Pope: Catholic, Oriental Orthodox should look at more sacramental sharing

The theological dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Oriental Orthodox Churches has reached a point where it seems appropriate to consider expanding the opportunities for the faithful of any of the churches to receive the sacraments from one another when they are not available in their own community, Pope Francis said.

“Based on the theological consensus noted by your commission, would it not be possible to extend and multiply such pastoral arrangements, especially in contexts where our faithful are in minority and diaspora situations?” the pope asked members of the Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Oriental Orthodox Churches.

Welcoming the commission members June 23, Francis said that “ecumenism always has a pastoral character” and is not simply about theological ideas.

“Among our churches, which share apostolic succession, the broad consensus revealed by your commission not only about baptism, but also other sacraments, should encourage us to deepen a ‘pastoral ecumenism,'” he said.
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Posted: June 23, 2022 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=11880
Categories: CNS • In this article: Catholic, Oriental Orthodox, sacramental sharing Transmis : 23 juin 2022 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=11880
Catégorie : CNS • Dans cet article : Catholic, Oriental Orthodox, sacramental sharing

After court decision, it’s time for widespread pro-life work, Vatican says

A truly pro-life celebration of the U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade would lead to cooperative efforts to pass legislation protecting life, women’s rights and motherhood, said an editorial in Vatican News and L’Osservatore Romano, the Vatican newspaper.

Those efforts should include finding ways to protect maternal health and lower the maternal death rate, assist poor women, provide or expand paid family leave and control access to guns in the country, said the piece written by Andrea Tornielli, editorial director at the Vatican Dicastery for Communication.

The Vatican published the editorial June 25, the day after the Supreme Court ruled that there is no constitutional right to abortion in the United States, giving individual states the power to legislate abortion.

The court ruling, Tornielli wrote, “could provide an opportunity to reflect on life, the protection of the defenseless and the discarded, women’s rights and the protection of motherhood.”
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Posted: June 27, 2022 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=11937
Categories: CNS, Vatican News • In this article: abortion, USA, Vatican Transmis : 27 juin 2022 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=11937
Catégorie : CNS, Vatican News • Dans cet article : abortion, USA, Vatican

Catholics need better understanding of the Mass, pope says

The “sense of mystery” and awe Catholics should experience at Mass is not one prompted by Latin or by “creative” elements added to the celebration, but by an awareness of sacrifice of Christ and his real presence in the Eucharist, Pope Francis said.

“Beauty, just like truth, always engenders wonder, and when these are referred to the mystery of God, they lead to adoration,” he wrote in an apostolic letter “on the liturgical formation of the people of God.”

Titled “Desiderio Desideravi” (“I have earnestly desired”), the letter was released June 29, the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul. The title comes from Luke 22:15 when, before the Last Supper, Jesus tells his disciples, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.”

In the letter, Pope Francis insisted that Catholics need to better understand the liturgical reform of the Second Vatican Council and its goal of promoting the “full, conscious, active and fruitful celebration” of the Mass.

“With this letter I simply want to invite the whole church to rediscover, to safeguard and to live the truth and power of the Christian celebration,” the pope wrote. “I want the beauty of the Christian celebration and its necessary consequences for the life of the church not to be spoiled by a superficial and foreshortened understanding of its value or, worse yet, by its being exploited in service of some ideological vision, no matter what the hue.”
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Posted: June 29, 2022 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=11939
Categories: CNS • In this article: eucharist, liturgy, Pope Francis Transmis : 29 juin 2022 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=11939
Catégorie : CNS • Dans cet article : eucharist, liturgy, Pope Francis

Dialogue prevents religious extremism, pope tells Jewish group

Interreligious dialogue is key to preventing “the extremism that, sadly, is a pathology that can appear also in religions,” Pope Francis said in a message to members of a Jewish group engaged in dialogue for more than 50 years.

The pope had been scheduled to meet June 30 with members of the International Jewish Committee on Interreligious Consultations, but the Vatican press office said “a recurrence of knee pain” prevented him from doing so.

Instead, the pope gave the group his prepared remarks.

“Interreligious dialogue is a sign of our times and, I would say, a providential sign, in the sense that God himself, in his wise plan, has inspired, in religious leaders and in many others, the desire to encounter and come to know one another in a way respectful of religious differences,” the pope wrote to the group.

Dialogue, he said, “is a privileged path to the growth of fraternity and peace in our world.”
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Posted: June 30, 2022 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=11955
Categories: CNS • In this article: IJCIC, Jewish-Christian relations, Pope Francis Transmis : 30 juin 2022 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=11955
Catégorie : CNS • Dans cet article : IJCIC, Jewish-Christian relations, Pope Francis

Humanity has ‘moral obligation’ to fight climate change, pope says

The care of the environment and the fight against climate change is not a lofty goal for humanity but a moral imperative, Pope Francis said.

The worsening climate crisis can no longer be ignored, and it is up to all human beings, who were entrusted by God as “stewards of his gift of his creation,” to act, the pope said in a message July 13 to participants at a Vatican conference on climate change.

“Care for our common home, even apart from considerations of the effects of climate change, is not simply a utilitarian endeavour but a moral obligation for all men and women as children of God,” the pope said. “With this in mind, each of us must ask: ‘What kind of world do we want for ourselves and for those who will come after us?’”

The July 13-14 conference, titled “Resilience of People and Ecosystems under Climate Stress,” was sponsored by the Pontifical Academy of Sciences.

According to the academy’s website, the conference aimed to “bring researchers, policymakers and faith leaders together to understand the scientific and societal challenges of climate change and develop solutions for enabling resilient people and resilient ecosystems.”
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Posted: July 13, 2022 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=12103
Categories: CNS • In this article: climate change, Pope Francis Transmis : 13 juil. 2022 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=12103
Catégorie : CNS • Dans cet article : climate change, Pope Francis

Pope confirms plans to meet Russian patriarch in Kazakhstan

Pope Francis said he plans to meet with Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill in September at an interreligious meeting in Kazakhstan. The pope confirmed the meeting in an interview that aired in the United States July 11 on Univision, the Spanish-language network. “We are going to meet in Kazakhstan in September because there is a religious meeting” there that both have promised to attend, he said.

Although the Vatican has not officially announced the visit, Kazakh authorities said the pope confirmed his participation at the Congress of World and Traditional Religions during a Zoom meeting in April with President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. The interreligious meeting will take place in the capital city, Nur-Sultan, Sept. 14-15.

Despite their opposing views on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the pope told Univision that he has “a good relationship” with the Russian patriarch. However, he said, “it is evident that his position is conditioned by his homeland in some way; which is not to say that he is an indecent man. No; God knows each person’s moral responsibilities in the depth of their hearts.”
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Posted: July 13, 2022 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=12101
Categories: CNS • In this article: Patriarch Kirill, Pope Francis Transmis : 13 juil. 2022 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=12101
Catégorie : CNS • Dans cet article : Patriarch Kirill, Pope Francis

Pope names three women to office that helps him choose bishops

Ten days after saying he would name two women to the group that helps him choose bishops, Pope Francis appointed three women to the office.

The Vatican announced July 13 that the pope had named 14 new members of the Dicastery for Bishops.

For the first time ever, the members include women: Sister Raffaella Petrini, a member of the Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist, who is secretary-general of the office governing Vatican City State; French Salesian Sister Yvonne Reungoat, former superior general of the order; and Maria Lia Zervino, an Argentine who is president of the World Union of Catholic Women’s Organizations.

The dicastery is led by Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet and is responsible for helping the pope choose bishops for Latin-rite dioceses outside of the church’s mission territories. Members meet twice a month to review dossiers submitted by Vatican nuncios about potential candidates and to vote on the names they recommend to the pope.
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Posted: July 13, 2022 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=12105
Categories: CNS • In this article: bishops, Pope Francis, Vatican, women Transmis : 13 juil. 2022 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=12105
Catégorie : CNS • Dans cet article : bishops, Pope Francis, Vatican, women

Pope describes Canada trip as ‘penitential pilgrimage’

Asking for prayers ahead of his visit to Canada July 24-29, Pope Francis described the trip as a “penitential pilgrimage” as part of a commitment to healing and reconciliation with the country’s Indigenous people.

“Unfortunately, in Canada, many Christians, including some members of religious institutes, contributed to the policies of cultural assimilation that, in the past, have severely harmed native communities in various ways,” the pope said July 17, referring particularly to the involvement of dioceses and religious orders in running residential schools.

From the 1870s to the 1990s, the Canadian government, usually in partnership with Christian churches, operated a residential school system to which over 150,000 First Nation, Métis and Inuit students were sent. Their language and customs were banned, and they often suffered malnourishment and physical, emotional and sexual abuse.
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Posted: July 18, 2022 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=12266
Categories: CNS • In this article: Canada, Indigenous peoples, papal visit, Pope Francis, Reconciliation Transmis : 18 juil. 2022 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=12266
Catégorie : CNS • Dans cet article : Canada, Indigenous peoples, papal visit, Pope Francis, Reconciliation

Pope’s words in Canada may have broader reach, official says

Pope Francis’ July trip to Canada was born out of his meetings with the nations’ Indigenous people and was planned around encounters with them, and if the pope’s words “have value elsewhere,” like throughout the Americas, all the better, said the director of the Vatican press office.

Matteo Bruni, director of the Vatican press office, briefed reporters July 20 about details of the pope’s visit to Canada July 24-29. He said the pope planned to deliver his nine speeches and homilies in Spanish during the trip.

Asked if the choice of Spanish was meant to send a message to other Indigenous peoples of North and South America, who often suffered the same forms of colonization, Bruni said Pope Francis would be speaking to the people he met, but he also knows that his words can offer solace to other Indigenous people and a challenge to the broader society.
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Posted: July 20, 2022 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=12270
Categories: CNS • In this article: Indigenous peoples, papal visit, Pope Francis, Reconciliation Transmis : 20 juil. 2022 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=12270
Catégorie : CNS • Dans cet article : Indigenous peoples, papal visit, Pope Francis, Reconciliation

Church cannot flee failures, but must reconcile with Indigenous, pope says

In the face of sin and failure, the temptation to wallow in despair and do nothing comes from the devil, Pope Francis said on Thursday.

While commentators, politicians and survivors discussed whether Pope Francis’s apology for the Catholic Church’s role in running residential schools was enough, the Pope insisted that reconciliation requires faith, action and the courage to move forward.

“The enemy wants to paralyse us with grief and remorse, to convince us that nothing else can be done, that it is hopeless to try to find a way to start over,” he said during Mass at the National Shrine of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré.
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Posted: July 28, 2022 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=12354
Categories: CNS • In this article: apologies, papal visit, Pope Francis, Reconciliation, Residential Schools Transmis : 28 juil. 2022 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=12354
Catégorie : CNS • Dans cet article : apologies, papal visit, Pope Francis, Reconciliation, Residential Schools

Pope entrusts new relationship with Indigenous to three holy women

Meeting Indigenous survivors of residential schools in Canada, Pope Francis entrusted them and the journey of truth, healing and reconciliation to three women: St. Anne, Mary and St. Kateri Tekakwitha.

“These women can help us to come together and start to weave anew a reconciliation that can uphold the rights of the most vulnerable in our midst and look at history without resentment or forgetfulness,” the pope said July 29, his last morning in Canada.

Before heading to the airport for a three-hour flight to Iqaluit, Nunavut, in the Canadian Arctic, Pope Francis met with two dozen survivors of residential schools from across Eastern Canada. Organizers said they included people from the Algonquin, Mohawk, Cree, Innu and Mi’kmaq nations.
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Posted: July 29, 2022 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=12315
Categories: CNS • In this article: Indigenous peoples, papal visit, Pope Francis, Reconciliation Transmis : 29 juil. 2022 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=12315
Catégorie : CNS • Dans cet article : Indigenous peoples, papal visit, Pope Francis, Reconciliation

Raising banner, protesters raise questions about ‘Doctrine of Discovery’

In a brief protest at a papal Mass in Canada, Indigenous women unfurled a banner that said, “Rescind the Doctrine.”

The protest July 28 was a momentary but graphic reminder of how, when representatives of Canada’s First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities met Pope Francis at the Vatican in March and April, they asked him specifically for a formal repudiation of the so-called “Doctrine of Discovery.”

The phrase describes a collection of papal teachings, beginning in the 14th century, that blessed the efforts of explorers to colonize and claim the lands of any people who were not Christian, placing both the land and the people under the sovereignty of European Christian rulers.

The loss of the land, language, culture and spirituality of the Indigenous peoples of Canada and the foundation of the residential school system all can be traced to the doctrine, Indigenous leaders told reporters after their meetings with the pope.
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Posted: July 29, 2022 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=12324
Categories: CNS • In this article: Doctrine of Discovery, Indigenous peoples, papal visit, Pope Francis Transmis : 29 juil. 2022 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=12324
Catégorie : CNS • Dans cet article : Doctrine of Discovery, Indigenous peoples, papal visit, Pope Francis

Quo vadis? Pope revitalizes ancient theologian’s rules as a timely guide

When Pope Francis gave his first full-length interview after his election in 2013, he was asked about the importance of the church providing solid points of reference in a rapidly changing world. The new pope pulled out his thumb-worn breviary and read out a Latin quote from a fifth-century French monk.

Highlighting the words of St. Vincent of Lérins, Pope Francis raised a curtain onto his pontificate: presenting a little-known but once highly influential theologian whose name and citations would soon appear in a number of papal speeches, documents and interviews over the next decade.

The pope’s favourite quote? That Christian doctrine should follow the true and legitimate rule of progress, so doctrine may be “consolidated by years, enlarged by time, refined by age.”
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Posted: Aug. 4, 2022 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=12339
Categories: CNS, News • In this article: doctrinal development, Pope Francis Transmis : 4 aoüt 2022 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=12339
Catégorie : CNS, News • Dans cet article : doctrinal development, Pope Francis

Catholic bishops in Belgium authorize prayer for committed same-sex couples

The Flemish-speaking bishops of Belgium have appointed a contact person for ministry to and with gay Catholics and have authorized prayer for committed gay couples on the condition it is clear that it is not equivalent to a wedding blessing.

The document, “Being pastorally close to homosexual persons: For a welcoming church that excludes no one,” was dated Sept. 20 and posted on the website of the Belgian bishops.
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Posted: Sept. 20, 2022 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=12522
Categories: CNS • In this article: Belgium, bishops, Catholic, LGBT, same-sex blessing Transmis : 20 sept. 2022 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=12522
Catégorie : CNS • Dans cet article : Belgium, bishops, Catholic, LGBT, same-sex blessing