In an address to members of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) on January 29, Pope Francis said: “Christian faith is not only knowledge to be committed to memory, but also truth to live in love.” He based his address on the theme of mercy that is being celebrated this year. He said: “Mercy is the foundation of the life of the Church: the first truth of the Church, indeed, is Christ’s love.”
He said that the CDF’s role to protect the integrity of Christian doctrine should be considered a spiritual work of mercy, such as counselling the doubtful, instructing the ignorant and admonishing sinners. These works, he added, are naturally connected with material aid to the poor and needy, through the ties of Christian charity. Faith in Christ, he said, involves both an intellectual assent and a moral response.
Retired bishop raps Mexican government
Bishop Arturo Lona Reyes, the retired Bishop of Tehuantepec, Mexico, condemned the Mexican government for its failure to limit the exploitation of the environment by entrepreneurs in the country.
He joined in a demonstration by indigenous peoples of the Chimalapas region who are protesting the destruction of their lands by loggers. The bishop strongly supported their complaint. “Mexico is a cemetery, and the government only goes to light a candle to the dead,” he said.
‘Dishonesty is not unknown in Church’
Cardinal George Pell, who was appointed by Pope Francis as the Holy See’s first prefect of the Secretariat of the Economy, told bishops that lack of control over a diocese’s money can be an encouragement to would-be thieves, as “dishonesty is not unknown” in the Church. The speech was published in a book together with other lectures given to newly ordained bishops.
He gave the new bishops a clear instruction: keep spending under control. He said the leader of a diocese must understand financial basics and show an interest in the issues. If he doesn’t, it “would give encouragement to thieves,” he said, adding that one “does not have to be an expert, but must be able to see the holes in a ladder”. He urged bishops to operate strict financial controls and employ a business manager to ensure guidelines are adhered to.
Cardinal criticises value-free education
Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Vincent Nichols said value-free education is leaving many young people “without a firm basis of values or beliefs by which they can steer their lives or against which they can rebel”. This type of education, he said, is making adolescents susceptible to Islamic State recruitment.
Nichols called upon school leaders to emphasise the “framework of vocation, rooted in a relationship with Jesus and negotiating all the phases of [students’] emerging lives within the strength of that bond and all it entails”.
Catholic patriarch mocks Italian cover-up
Syrian Catholic Patriarch Youssef III Younan scoffed at the decision of staff at the Capitoline Museums in Rome to cover up statues of nudes during a visit by Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani. “This is our culture,” said the Patriarch. “If you don’t want to see it, close your eyes!”
He added that one could see paintings of nudes in the hall where Pope Francis met the Iranian President. At their meeting, Pope Francis urged Rouhani to work with the Church to combat terrorism.
(Compiled by Fr Joe Borg)