“I do not want to scare you or scare myself. You are still on honeymoon! I am anxious to consign you, once again, to the joy of the Gospel.
“You must also rejoice while consuming yourselves for your particular Churches. Do not let yourselves be robbed of such a treasure. Always remember that it is the Gospel that will protect you and therefore, do not be afraid to go everywhere and to spend time with all those the Lord has entrusted to you.
“As I was able to reflect in Evangelii gaudium, no ambit of men’s life is excluded from the interest of the Pastor’s heart (cf. nn. 14-15; Redemptoris missio, 33). Beware of the risk of neglecting the many and individual realities of your flock; do not give up meetings; do not spare the preaching of the living World of the Lord; invite all to the mission.”
Pope Francis’ address to new bishops.
“Reforms don’t go far enough”
Cardinal Reinhard Marx, the president of the German bishops’ conference, said that the reforms to the annulment process just made by the Pope are “sensible” but do not solve the problem of the divorced and remarried who want to return back to the sacramental life of the Church.
Cardinal Marx, who has been lobbying for a change in Church discipline regarding the reception of communion by those who divorce and remarry without an annulment, reiterated that the subject should still be studied by the Synod in October.
While stating that the Church’s teaching on the permanence of the marriage bond would not be changed he added that for many divorced German Catholics “annulment is a foreign word”.
He explained that he was thinking of those who had been married for years, and then, after divorce, entered into a second union.
He suggested that they would not seek an annulment, but would wish to be brought back into the sacramental life of the Church.
Transsexuals cannot be godparents
The Vatican’s doctrinal congregation upheld the decision of Bishop Rafael Zornoza Boy of Cadiz and Ceuta, Spain that an openly transsexual person cannot be a godparent.
Bishop Rafael Zornoza Boy, citing the Vatican congregation, said that a transsexual behavior represents a public display of an attitude that goes against “the moral requirement to resolve the problem of one’s own sexual identity according to the truth of one’s own biological sex.”.
The congregation said such behaviour shows that the person does meet the conditions required for living a life in conformity to the faith and, as such, cannot be accepted as a godparent.
Pope Francis has said a person must respect his or her own body just as they must respect all of God’s creation.
“It is not a healthy attitude which would seek ‘to cancel out sexual difference because it no longer knows how to confront it,” the Pope wrote.
Vatican officials criticise Pope
According to reports published by the conservative American Catholic periodical, National Catholic Register, the Pope’s decision to streamline the annulment process has been severely criticised by top Vatican officials.
The paper was basing itself on a seven-page document obtained by the German newspaper Die Zeit.
In this document the Vatican officials, who were not named, criticised the Pope for taking action without proper consultation although he has spoken frequently about the need for collegial government in the Church. They described the Pope’s decision as a unilateral action which will lead to a dramatic surge in the number of annulments. They note in particular that he did not allow a review of his proposals by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
The language of the papal documents released last week is “extremely vague,” the Vatican officials say, warning that the reforms will lend themselves to abuse.
(Compiled by Fr Joe Borg)