Addressing a meeting of Franciscan provincials in St Petersburg, Florida, Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga said: “We have to be prepared, since this beautiful but strange popularity [of Pope Francis] is beginning to strengthen adherences, but equally to awaken opposition not only in the old Curia, but in some who are sorry to lose privileges in treatment and in comforts... Expressions like ‘What can it be that this little Argentine pretends?’ or the expression of a well-known cardinal who let slip the phrase, ‘We made a mistake’, can be heard.
“[The Pope] feels called to construct a Church …at the service of this world by being faithful to Christ and his Gospel; free from all mundane spirituality; free from the risk of being concerned about itself, of becoming middle-class, of closing in on self, of being a clerical Church; able to offer itself as an open space in which all can meet and recognise each other because there is space for dialogue, diversity and welcome in it.”
Archbishop open to married priests
After the comments of Bishop Erwin Kräutler of Xingu in Brazil that Pope Francis is willing to consider positions from bishops around the world on the ordination of married men of proven character, the Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin commented on the same subject with the Irish Independent.
Diarmuid, while saying that he, like the Pope, is open to such a discussion, preferred to “wait and see” the Pope’s next step, but added that the ordination of married men would be of great use in missionary countries. The Archbishop said that the ordination of women was “not on the table at the moment”. He recommended that the Church should study more the impact of deacons and better ways of co-operation between priests and laity.
Christians in Iraq are vanishing
Patriarch Louis Raphael Sako, the Chaldean Catholic Patriarch of Baghdad, has pointed towards the danger that within a decade there will only be a few thousand Christians left in Iraq. The Patriarch said Christians are leaving the country in droves as they have been the victims of continued violence from Muslim militants.
Up till a few years ago the number of Christians in the country’s capital was estimated to be 600,000. According to various estimates the number of Christians in the whole of Iraq is now less than 400,000, while more Christians are regularly leaving the country.
Irish bishops oppose same-sex marriage
In an open letter to Irish parliamentarians urging them to vote against a Bill aimed at legalising same-sex marriage, the Catholic bishops of Northern Ireland wrote: “We ask you to reaffirm the unique value to children and society of the mutual and complementary roles of a mother and father, committed to a loving and life-long relationship to each other in marriage. We ask you promote the value of children being brought up, where possible and in their best interests, by their biological parents”
“We ask you not to undermine the principle of equality by applying it inappropriately to two fundamentally different types of relationship. We ask you to strengthen and support marriage between a woman and a man as a unique and highly valued institution of vital importance to the good of society. We therefore appeal to you to reject the forthcoming motion on what the motion describes, inappropriately, as ‘Marriage Equality.’”
(Compiled by Fr Joe Borg)