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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- More than two millennia after the Holy Family was denied a room at the inn and Jesus was born in a manger, war once again renders his birthplace in the Holy Land inhospitable, Pope Francis said. "Tonight, our hearts are in Bethlehem, where the Prince of Peace is once more rejected by the futile logic of war, by the clash of arms that even today prevents him from finding room in the world," the pope said Dec. 24 during his homily for Christmas Mass in St. Peter's Basilica.The nighttime liturgy began with preparatory prayers that included Old Testament readings telling of the Messiah's coming, invocations of the Savior and the proclamation of his birth. Children, who entered the basilica as part of the procession dressed in traditional garments from different continents, placed flowers around a figurine of Jesus that rested in front of the basilica's main altar. In his lengthy homily, the pope reflected on Jesus' birth occurring after Caesar decreed a census in w...
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Celebrating the birth of Jesus, the prince of peace, should mean making a commitment to opposing all war, to cherishing human life, feeding the hungry and speaking up for those who have no voice, Pope Francis said."To say 'yes' to the Prince of Peace, then, means saying 'no' to war -- and doing so with courage -- saying no to every war, to the very mindset of war, an aimless voyage, a defeat without victors, an inexcusable folly," the pope said Dec. 25 as he read his Christmas message and offered his blessing "urbi et orbi" (to the city and the world).As he stood on the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica with an estimated 70,000 people gathered in St. Peter's Square, the pope began his message speaking of Bethlehem where celebrations of Jesus' birth are muted this year because of the Israeli-Hamas conflict.But he also used his message to preach the hope of Christmas, which he said was found in God, who loved humanity so much that he sent his son to be born...
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Officials of the Roman Curia must learn how to really listen to others, not treating a discussion as a game of "ping pong" where everything another says is met with a speedy and automatic response, Pope Francis said."Sometimes, even when speaking among ourselves, we risk being like hungry wolves: we can devour the other person's words without really listening to them and then shape them to fit our own ideas and judgments," the pope said Dec. 21 during a meeting with the cardinals, archbishops, bishops, monsignors, priests, religious sisters and laypeople who lead Vatican offices.Pope Francis has made the annual pre-Christmas meeting less a review of the past year in the life of the church -- as it was in previous pontificates -- and more of a reflection on the spiritual and human attitudes that should mark service in the Roman Curia.In fact, it was 89-year-old Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, dean of the College of Cardinals, who began the meeting with a look bac...
ROME (CNS) -- The Vatican's recently published guidance on administering blessings to same-sex couples or other unmarried couples does not affect the Catholic Church's teaching on marriage, Pope Francis said.Meeting for nearly two hours with a group of about 30 priests on the southern outskirts of Rome Dec. 21, the pope fielded questions and gave advice about how to live out priestly ministry.Canossian Father Antonio Vettorato, pastor of St. George of Acilia parish, which hosted the meeting, told Catholic News Service Dec. 22 that one of the priests asked Pope Francis about the implementation of "Fiducia Supplicans" ("Supplicating Trust"), the document that addresses blessings for same-sex couples published by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith Dec. 18.The pope addressed the question briefly, Father Vettorato said, stressing that the document insisted that "people must be welcomed" in the church."It does not involve the sacrament of marriage. It doesn't change the sacrament...
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Exchanging Christmas gifts and organizing holiday parties are all well and good, but Christians should contemplate the scene of Jesus' birth to recover what is truly important during the Christmas season, Pope Francis said.At his weekly general audience Dec. 20, just five days before Christmas, the pope told people that "the risk of losing what matters in life is great, and paradoxically increases at Christmas.""The atmosphere of Christmas is changing," he said. "It's true, if people want to give presents, that's good, but with the frenzy of shopping, 'go, go, go,' this pulls one's attention somewhere else, and there is not that simplicity of Christmas."For people caught up in the holiday rush, "there is no interior space for wonder" before the mystery of Jesus' birth, but "only to organize parties," he said.Organizing parties is fine, "but with what spirit do I do that?" he encouraged people to ask.After a band performed Christmas songs using traditional woode...
Pope Francis gives his annual Christmas address to the cardinals who work in Vatican offices on Dec. 21, 2023, in the gilded Hall of Benediction at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican MediaRome Newsroom, Dec 21, 2023 / 11:13 am (CNA).Pope Francis warned the Roman Curia on Thursday that "rigid ideological positions" can be an obstacle to "moving forward."In his annual Christmas address to the cardinals who work in Vatican offices on Dec. 21, the pope underlined that it is important to "keep faring forward, to keep searching and growing in our understanding of the truth, overcoming the temptation to stand still.""Let us remain vigilant against rigid ideological positions that often, under the guise of good intentions, separate us from reality and prevent us from moving forward," Pope Francis said.Pope Francis gives his annual Christmas address to the cardinals who work in Vatican offices on Dec. 21, 2023, in the gilded Hall of Benediction at the Vatican. Credit: Vatican MediaThe pope'...
The Missionaries of Charity convent located on the compound of Holy Family Parish, the only Catholic church in Gaza, was damaged by rocket fire on Dec. 16, 2023. / Credit: Latin Patriarchate of JerusalemJerusalem, Dec 20, 2023 / 17:20 pm (CNA).On Sunday, Dec. 17, the third Sunday of Advent, mother and daughter Nahida and Samar Anton, who were killed at Holy Family Parish in Gaza, were laid to rest in the small cemetery located within the parish compound. A statement from the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem released the evening of their deaths, Dec. 16, reported that they were killed by an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) sniper, though the IDF has denied responsibility.Nahida Anton and her daughter Samar Anton were killed as they were walked to the Missionaries of Charity convent in the compound of Holy Family Parish in Gaza on Dec. 16, 2023. Credit: Father Gabriel Romanelli/FacebookOn the same Saturday, rockets were reportedly fired from an IDF tank and hit the convent of the Siste...
A liturgy at St. Mary's Syro-Malabar Major Archiepiscopal Church, Arakuzha, India. / Achayan via Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).Bangalore, India, Dec 20, 2023 / 17:50 pm (CNA).Tensions are rising within the Syro-Malabar Church in the Indian state of Kerala as the Vatican's Dec. 25 deadline for priests to implement a "universal" liturgy or face possible excommunication fast approaches. Ahead of the deadline, a number of priests have publicly protested a mandate to institute a uniform Mass and have urged the Vatican to take into account the way they have celebrated the liturgy for the past 60 years."We are not against the pope or the Synod [of Bishops] but our request is only to do justice to our archdiocese with 650,000 faithful, 464 priests, and thousands of religious," Father Kuriakose Mundadan of the Ernakulam Archdiocese told CNA.Facing the people vs. facing EastThe Syro-Malabar Church is one of the 23 autonomous Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with Rome. The Euch...
null / Credit: lunamarina/ShutterstockWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Dec 20, 2023 / 18:10 pm (CNA).Catholic bishops around the world are deeply divided on a Vatican declaration that permits nonliturgical blessings of homosexual couples: some bishops are welcoming the news, some are approaching it with caution, while others are outright refusing to implement it.In some countries, including Austria, Germany, and France, many Church leaders have warmly embraced the new guidelines on blessings. The heads of the bishops' conferences in both Germany and Austria have suggested that priests cannot refuse to perform blessings for homosexual couples. Church leaders in other countries, namely the United States, the Philippines, Ukraine, Ghana, and Kenya, have mostly accepted the declaration but are also urging caution in its implementation. This, they say, is to avoid any confusion that would lead people to incorrectly believe the Church permits homosexual activity.Alternativel...
Bishop José Ignacio Munilla of Orihuela-Alicante, Spain. / Credit: Archdiocese of ValladolidACI Prensa Staff, Dec 20, 2023 / 18:30 pm (CNA).The bishop of Orihuela-Alicante in Spain, José Ignacio Munilla, is focusing on the implications of pastoral charity involved in blessing couples in irregular affective situations.The prelate shared his views on X, shortly after the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith released its Dec. 18 declaration, titled Fiducia Suplicans, on the pastoral meaning of blessings.Munilla said that "pastoral charity is a call that we may bless all sinners but not to bless [their] sin," noting that "this was how Jesus of Nazareth acted, who 'blessed' (spoke kindly to) the sinful woman whom they wanted to stone, but that did not mean that he blessed her relationships. ("Neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more" (Jn 8:11).The Spanish bishop explained that "the Gospel invites us to bless all who open themselves to the gift of God, including those who live...
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