Saturday, May 19, Sixth Week of Easter
ST. TEOFILO (TEOFALU) DA CORTE (Italy, 1676-1740), Capuchin
Born to a noble family in Corsica, Biagio dei Signori joined the Capuchins at
age 17 on the mainland, and was first assigned to a retreat house in Subiaco.
Subsequently, he was assigned to establish Franciscan retreat houses all over
Italy, distinguishing himself by his preaching and missionary zeal. He was
always sickly, but he did not spare himself, serving the faithful in the
confessional, in hospitals, and at the graveside. He was canonized in 1930.
Readings for today's Mass:
usccb.org/bible/readings/051912.cfm
AT THE VATICAN TODAY
The Holy Father met with
- Fifteen US bishops of various Oriental rites on ad-limina visit
- Members of the Movimento Ecclesiale di Impegno Culturale (MEIC, Ecclesial Movement for Cultural
Commitment); the Federazione Organismi Cristiani di Servizio Internazionale Volontario (FOCSIV); and
the Movimento ]Cristiano Lavoratori (MCL, Christian Laborers' Movement). Address in Italian.
In the afternoon with
- Cardinal Marc Ouellet, Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops (weekly meeting)
It was announced that yesterday, the Holy Father met with
- Mons. Mieczysław Mokryzcki, Archbishop of Lviv of the Latins (Ukraine)
Also announced, along with some episcopal appointments, was that the Pope has relieved Mons. Francesco Micciche
os his duties as Bishop of Trapani and nominated Mons. Alessandro Pilotti, emeritus Archbishop of Pisa, to be
the apostolic administrator of Trapani until a new bishop is named.
[No reason was given in the Vatican bulletin, but the Italian media say the action was taken because of charges that Micciche was involved in some questionable financial dealings by the diocese which was the subject of an apostolic visitation ordered by the Pope. Mons. Micciche has issued a strong statement claiming he protests the papal decision, that he was never given the specific reasons for his dismissal nor even the findings of the visitation, and that he is being victimized because he has been denouncing the 'mafia-like' culture which exists within the Church.]
SEVEN YEARS, ONE MONTH AND COUNTING...
AD MULTOS ANNOS, SANCTE PATER!
- The preceding post has a translation of the Vatican statement on the illegality of Gianluigi Nuzzi's new book, out in Italian bookstores today, because of its significance as the right and proper step for the Vatican to take, and for the current practice of journalism. Although I have not yet seen any reaction by Nuzzi to the Vatican statement, it turns out he is the author of a 'scoop' published in Libero today about the Orlandi case.
Nuzzi reports that by 'direct order of the Pope', the parish priest of the Basilica Sant'Apollinario where mobster boss Enrico de Pedis was buried back in 1990 will now be interrogated by Italian police on what he may know about the Orlandi case as well as the circumstances udner which he allowed De Pedis to be buried in the basilica.
- Meanwhile, Dino Boffo, the ex-editor of Avvenire now back as head of the Italian bishops' TV network, has responded to Nuzzi's publication of his letters to the Vatican at the time (summer of 2009) an Italian newspaper falsely said that a local case about telephone monitoring for which he paid a fine had to do with his involvement in a homosexual triangle. He did not get into the contents of his published letters but pointed out two things: 1) In 2009, he chose to 'keep silent' about the false attacks levelled against him for strategic reasons; and 2) he did everything possible in recent days to convince Nuzzi directly not to proceed with publishing the book because of its violations of the right to privacy, obviously in vain.
- The third Italy-centered news on a 'big news day' is that the Italian bishops conference is set to approve their guidelines for dealing with cases of sex abuse committed by priests. It urges full cooperaiton with civilian justice authorities on these cases but does not oblige bishops to report such cases to the police, because Italian law does not require this. In states that do require it, the guidelines of the local Church say so, ut not otherwise.
- In terms of how the media report the Pope's public statements, sometime they extrapolate it so much I have to go back to the original text published online by the Vatican to see if I missed anything when translating! Case in point yestWrday - the mushrooming of headlines based on the Pope's address to US bishops on Friday , blaring first that "Pope supports amnesty for US immigrants" and 2) that "Pope offers olive branch to US nuns". WHAT?
He spoke about the problem of immigration in the US but he never said anything about amnesty, though he spoke of 'helping to regularize the situation' of those who are presumably in an irregular situation. Bishops and pastoral workers can help them get papers where it is possible, concretely aid those in material need, and actively help keep families together, perhaps even with legal aid. That's not amnesty, because obviously, only the government can grant amnesty.
And what olive branch? He said, "I wish to reaffirm my deep gratitude for the example of fidelity and self-sacrifice given by many consecrated women in your country, and to join them in praying that this moment of discernment will bear abundant spiritual fruit for the revitalization and strengthening of their communities in fidelity to Christ and the Church, as well as to their founding charisms". As in the 'pro multis' controversy, 'many' does not mean all, and he can hardly have meant the LCWR as 'an example of fidelity and self-sacrifice'! Altrocche, as the Italians would say - the LCRW are anything but that! But he is commending the faithful nuns who have not let their egos get the better of them and of their faith.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 20/05/2012 14:27]