AUSTRALIA’S HIGH COURT OVERTURNS CARDINAL PELL’S CONVICTION – PRESS OFFICE ON AUSTRALIA COURT DECISION – PAPAL ALMONER: INVITE TO MEMBERS OF PAPAL HOUSEHOLD

AUSTRALIA’S HIGH COURT OVERTURNS CARDINAL PELL’S CONVICTION

On Tuesday morning, the judges serving on Australia’s High Court announced their decision to overturn Cardinal Pell’s conviction saying that the “evidence did not establish guilt to the requisite standard of proof.”

By Sr Bernadette Mary Reis, fsp
Cardinal George Pell’s legal battle ended on Tuesday morning. Australia’s High Court announced their unanimous decision to overturn the guilty verdict upheld by Victoria’s Court of Appeal last August. The High Court justices based their decision on the fact that the appellate court had failed to take into consideration whether there “remained a reasonable possibility that the offending had not taken place”, leaving open “reasonable doubt” as to the Cardinal’s guilt. (JFL photo)

The Cardinal has been in prison since the February 2019 guilty verdict was announced. Shortly after the High Court acquitted him, he left the prison and is reported to have been taken to a monastery in Melbourne.

Cardinal Pell’s reaction
Cardinal Pell released a statement after hearing the High Court’s decision. In it, he reiterates that he has “consistently maintained” his innocence. The “injustice” that he received “has been remedied” today, he continued.

Addressing the person who brought the charges against him, Cardinal Pell said, “I hold no ill will towards my accuser.” And thinking of others who may feel “hurt and bitterness”, he said that he does not want his acquittal to add any additional pain. The basis for “long term healing,” he continued, “is truth and the only basis for justice is truth, because justice means truth for all.”

The Cardinal thanked everyone who has prayed for him, sent letters of support, his family, his “team of advisors,” “friends and supporters here and overseas,” and especially, his legal team. He ended his statement thinking of those affected by the Coronavirus. “I am praying for all those affected and our medical frontline personnel,” he said.

Australian Bishops reaction
On behalf of the Australian Bishops’ Conference, its President, Archbishop Mark Coleridge also issued a statement. In it, he acknowledges the mixed feelings that the Cardinal’s acquittal will provoke. “Today’s outcome will be welcome” by those who “believe in the Cardinal’s innocence” and “devastating for others.” “Many have suffered greatly through the process, which has now reached its conclusion,” the Archbishop said.

Archbishop Coleridge ended his statement reiterating the “Church’s unwavering commitment to child safety and to a just and compassionate response to survivors and victims of child sexual abuse.” Since children’s safety is of utmost important to the “Catholic community”, and its bishops, he invited: “any person with allegations of sexual abuse by Church personnel should go to the police.”
(This article was updated at 8:22am Rome time, Tuesday)

PRESS OFFICE ON AUSTRALIA COURT DECISION

“The Holy See, which has always expressed confidence in the Australian judicial authority, welcomes the High Court’s unanimous decision concerning Cardinal George Pell, acquitting him of the accusations of abuse of minors and overturning his sentence.

“Entrusting his case to the court’s justice, Cardinal Pell has always maintained his innocence, and has waited for the truth to be ascertained.

“At the same time, the Holy See reaffirms its commitment to preventing and pursuing all cases of abuse against minors.”

PAPAL ALMONER: INVITE TO MEMBERS OF PAPAL HOUSEHOLD

A communiqué from the Papal Almoner:

“The Apostolic Almoner of the Holy Father, Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, invites the Cardinals, Archbishops, Bishops and Prelates who make up the Cappella Papale (Papal Household) Chapel to solidarity.

“Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the liturgical celebrations presided over by the Holy Father in Holy Week will be lived without the presence of those who, in accordance with the Motu Proprio Pontificalis Domus, make up the Papal Household.

“To participate in the sufferings of those who are experiencing this trial, the Almoner asks in a letter (the Papal Household) to be united intimately and in a special way with the Pontiff, Bishop of Rome who “presides over the universal communion of charity” (Ecumenical Vatican Council II, Constitution Lumen gentium, 3), through an offer. The Holy Father will then decide the destination of the alms collected for the health emergency.”

POPE SENDS CONDOLENCES FOLLOWING IRAN AIR CRASH – POPE AT AUDIENCE: LIVE TRIALS BY CLINGING TO CHRIST – POPE FRANCIS: I AM CLOSE TO THE AUSTRALIAN PEOPLE

POPE SENDS CONDOLENCES FOLLOWING IRAN AIR CRASH

The Pope Wednesday expressed sadness and condolences after a passenger plane crashes in Iran with 176 people on board. Pope Francis sent a message of condolence to all those who lost loved ones following an air crash in Tehran, Iran. (vaticannews)

The Ukrainian International Airlines passenger plane went down on Wednesday morning after taking off from Imam Khomeini airport in Tehran en route to Kyiv. The plane was carrying 176 passengers, mostly from Iran and Canada.

In the message, signed by Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Pope Francis “commends the souls of the deceased to the merciful love of the Almighty, and he sends condolences to the families and friends of those who have lost their lives”. The Pope also invoked God’s blessings of strength and peace upon all affected by the tragedy.

POPE AT AUDIENCE: LIVE TRIALS BY CLINGING TO CHRIST

Pope Francis resumed his weekly general audience on Wednesday following the Christmas break, continuing his catechesis on the Acts of the Apostles.
By Lydia O’Kane (vaticannews)

A new year but a continuing catechesis on the Acts of the Apostles. Pilgrims and tourists joined Pope Francis in the Paul VI Hall on Wednesday to hear him deliver another installment of this book of the Bible, which sees St Paul continue his journey not only by land but by sea.

The Pope recalled how Paul, now a prisoner, is taken by ship to Rome into the heart of the Empire, so that the word of the Risen One may be realized: “You will be witnesses to me … to the ends of the earth”.

The Pontiff described how on leaving Crete, the journey becomes dangerous and they are shipwrecked; but St Paul encourages all on board not to be afraid.

God’s providential care
Pope Francis noted that on landing on Malta, the travelers experience a warm welcome but, he goes on to say, their time there is not without hazards. Paul himself is bitten by a viper but is unharmed and he goes on to heal many people on the island.

The Pope pointed out that Paul’s sea voyage can serve as a symbol of God’s providential care for us through our passage from death to life in the waters of baptism.

He also emphasized that “a ‘tried’ Christian can certainly become closer to those who suffer, making his heart open and sensitive to solidarity with others.”

Live trials by clinging to Christ
Paul teaches us to live trials by clinging to Christ, said Pope Francis, “in order to mature the ‘conviction that God can act in any circumstance, even in the midst of apparent failure’ and the ‘certainty that those who offer themselves and give themselves to God out of love will surely be fruitful’”.

Concluding his catechesis, the Pope prayed that the Lord would “sustain us in our own trials and open our hearts to those who today experience shipwrecks and arrive on our shores.”

POPE FRANCIS: I AM CLOSE TO THE AUSTRALIAN PEOPLE

At the general audience on Wednesday, Pope Francis calls for prayers for Australia, which is battling massive wildfires.

By Christopher Wells (vaticannews)
Pope Francis asked everyone “to pray to the Lord to help the people [of Australia] in this difficult time” as major fires rage across the nation. Addressing Australian- speaking pilgrims at the general audience, the Holy Father said “I am close to the Australian people”.

Major bushfires have broken out around Australia, with more than 10.3 million hectares (25.5 million acres) of land burned in recent weeks. More than twenty people have lost their lives in the fires.

Authorities warn of revitalized blazes
Australian authorities warned people on Wednesday to prepare for another wave of evacuations as temperatures in the country’s southeast began to rise after a days-long cool spell, bringing the danger of revitalised blazes.

Firefighters have used the break from extreme heat and high winds to strengthen containment lines around several major fires, as the military continued efforts to provide supplies to thousands of people who have been left homeless.

Complicating the recovery effort, authorities have forecast another temperature spike as soon as Friday, with little rain, meaning a return to hazardous conditions.

Response of the Church in Australia
Earlier this week, the president of the Australian Bishops Conference, Archbishop Mark Coleridge of Brisbane, issued a statement about the “unprecedented” crisis facing the country. Like Pope Francis, he too called for prayer, noting that, “A genuine Catholic response to a crisis of this magnitude must draw strength from prayer which inspires concrete and compassionate action”.

Archbishop Coleridge announced that the Bishops Conference is preparing a national response to the fires, including assistance to those affected by the fires, collaboration with aid agencies, and a special collection to be taken up this weekend.

“With broad and deep roots across the nation”, the Archbishop said, “the Church stands ready to walk alongside people throughout their journey of recovery”.

POPE FRANCIS’ LENTEN MESSAGE CALLS FOR CONVERSION – VATICAN TO AWAIT APPEAL OF PELL GUILTY VERDICT

POPE FRANCIS’ LENTEN MESSAGE CALLS FOR CONVERSION

In his message for Lent, Pope Francis warns that once God’s law is forsaken, the law of the strong over the weak takes over.

By Linda Bordoni (vaticannews)

Pope Francis is calling on the faithful not to let the Lenten season of grace pass in vain, and to live as children of God acknowledging and obeying His law, in particular in regards to our brothers and sisters and to creation. In this year’s Lenten message, the Pope invites believers to prepare to celebrate the paschal mystery with mind and heart renewed, warning that “Sin leads man to consider himself the god of creation, to see himself as its absolute master and to use it, not for the purpose willed by the Creator but for his own interests”.

The Pope’s Lenten message was released on Tuesday during a press conference at the Holy See Press Office. The theme chosen this year is “For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God” (Rom 8:19)

Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, 6 March, and will conclude on Holy Saturday, 20 April, the day before Easter.

“Let us leave behind our selfishness and self-absorption, and turn to Jesus’ Pasch. Let us stand beside our brothers and sisters in need, sharing our spiritual and material goods with them”.

This is one of the key passages of Pope Francis’ Lenten Message for 2019. Reflecting on a verse from St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans, the Pope highlights how the season before Easter must be a time to “welcome Christ’s victory over sin and death into our lives”, and attract “its transforming power to all of creation”

Fasting, prayer, almsgiving
Appealing to the faithful to not allow this season of grace to pass in vain, Pope Francis says that if, “the Lent of the Son of God ‘was an entry into the desert of creation to make it become again that garden of communion with God” that it was before the original sin, Christians today are invited “to embody the paschal mystery more deeply and concretely in their personal, family and social lives, above all by fasting, prayer and almsgiving.”

Fasting, the Pope says, means turning away from the temptation to “devour” everything to satisfy our voracity; Prayer teaches us to abandon idolatry and the self-sufficiency of our ego; Almsgiving, whereby we escape from the insanity of hoarding everything for ourselves in the illusory belief that we can secure a future that does not belong to us.

If we follow this journey, he said it “is possible to rediscover the joy of God’s plan for creation and for each of us, which is to love him, our brothers and sisters, and the entire world, and to find in this love our true happiness”.

Conversion

The path to Easter, therefore, demands that “we renew our faces and hearts as Christians through repentance, conversion and forgiveness” the Pope said pointing out that it is a call that involves the whole of creation.

This “eager longing”, this expectation of all creation, Pope Francis says, will be fulfilled in the revelation of the children of God, that is, when Christians and all people enter decisively into the “travail” that conversion entails.

VATICAN TO AWAIT APPEAL OF PELL GUILTY VERDICT

The following statement was released this morning by the Holy See Press Office:

The Holy See agrees with the statement issued by the President of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference regarding the sentence of guilt in the first instance concerning Cardinal George Pell.

This is painful news that, as we are well aware, has shocked many people, not only in Australia. As already expressed on other occasions, we have the utmost respect for the Australian judicial authorities.

Out of this respect, we await the outcome of the appeals process, recalling that Cardinal Pell maintains his innocence and has the right to defend himself until the last stage of appeal.

While awaiting the definitive judgement, we unite ourselves with the Australian bishops in praying for all victims of abuse, and reaffirm our commitment to do everything possible so that the Church might be a safe home for all, especially for children and the most vulnerable.

In order to ensure the course of justice, the Holy Father has confirmed the precautionary measures which had been imposed by the local Ordinary on Cardinal George Pell when he returned to Australia. That is, while awaiting the definitive assessment of the facts, as is the norm, Cardinal George Pell is prohibited from exercising public ministry and from having any voluntary contact whatsoever with minors.

POPE WELCOMES FIRST FEMALE RESIDENT AUSTRALIAN AMBASSADOR – PAPAL CALENDAR INCLUDES DECEMBER ADDRESS TO FORUM ON GLOBAL ECONOMY – A POPE ISSUED WORLD’S FIRST PUBLIC SMOKING BAN

Twitter@Pontifex:  September 8 – To offer today’s world the witness of mercy is a task from which none of us can feel exempted

As of this afternoon, exactly nine months to the day that the Jubilee of Mercy began, participants in the Jubilee celebrations in Rome total 15.431.515, according to the official Jubilee website www.im.va   Pilgrims went over the 10 million mark in June and, on July 7, seven months after the start of the Holy Year, they passed the 11 million mark. The Holy Year of Mercy ends November 20.

I’ll introduce a new feature to this column tomorrow and on subsequent Fridays called Question of the Week. Answers will be given on Mondays. The first question will be easy. The object is to see what piques your curiosity and how well you pay attention to news. However, I beg you, do NOT email me the answer. This is for fun – hopefully, your fun!

POPE WELCOMES FIRST FEMALE RESIDENT AUSTRALIAN AMBASSADOR

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis met on Thursday with Melissa Hitchman, the new Australian ambassador to the Holy See who presented her credentials.

The newest member of the Vatican’s diplomatic corps is an experienced career officer with Australia’s department of foreign affairs and trade.  She has previously served overseas as first secretary at the Australian High Commission in London.

Diplomatic relations between Canberra and the Holy See were formally established in 1973 but Hitchman is both the first career diplomat and the first woman to hold the post of resident ambassador.

She sat down with Philippa Hitchen to talk about her goals and to share her perspectives on refugees, aboriginal rights, counter-terrorism and on the role of women in society.

For the interview, click here: http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2016/09/08/pope_welcomes_first_female_resident_australian_ambassador/1256662

PAPAL CALENDAR INCLUDES DECEMBER ADDRESS TO FORUM ON GLOBAL ECONOMY

(Time.com) – Time Inc. will host a forum in Rome on the global economy, culminating in a special address by Pope Francis at the Vatican, the company announced Tuesday.

The 2016 Fortune/Time Global Forum—the first of its kind— will take place Dec. 2 and 3 and aims to bring together Fortune 500 CEOs, members of the TIME 100 most influential people and other academic, religious and business leaders to discuss international economic issues, including creating jobs, eliminating poverty, solving the refugee crisis and broadening prosperity.

Pope Francis has regularly spoken out about global economic issues, raising concerns about the growing wealth gap and criticizing the “dictatorship of an impersonal economy lacking a truly human purpose.”

“Working for a just distribution of the fruits of the earth and human labor is not mere philanthropy,” he said in a speech in Bolivia last year. “It is a moral obligation.”

The Fortune/Time forum will be led by Time Inc. Chief Content Officer and Fortune Editor-in-Chief Alan Murray and Time Inc. News Group Editorial Director and Time Editor-in-Chief Nancy Gibbs. The official host committee for the forum includes the leaders of IBM and PepsiCo as well as the Rockefeller and Ford Foundations, among others.

A POPE ISSUED WORLD’S FIRST PUBLIC SMOKING BAN

(From ChurchPOP – September 8) – Did you know a Pope issued the world’s first public smoking ban?

It was the 16th century, and Europeans had just brought back something very popular from the New World: tobacco. As its use spread around Europe, questions arose about when it was appropriate to use.

Apparently, some people started smoking in and around churches, and other people didn’t like it. This became a big enough problem that the pope actually decided to weigh in on the matter.

Pope Urban VII was elected pope on September 15th, 1590 but died just 12 days later – making his papacy the shortest in history. But he still managed to weigh in on the tobacco debate. (Wikipedia public  image)

And he came down with an iron fist: anyone caught using tobacco “in the porchway of or inside a church, whether it be by chewing it, smoking it with a pipe, or sniffing it in powdered form through the nose” would be excommunicated.

It’s not clear whether or to what degree this ban was actually enforced. But the ban remained on the books until the 18th century when Pope Benedict XIII finally repealed it.

Note that the Church did not ban smoking in general, just smoking in and around churches, which probably isn’t a good idea. In the appropriate context, the Church has generally taken the approach that such things can be enjoyed if used in moderation.

As G.K. Chesterton famously remarked in the 20th century: “In Catholicism, the pint, the pipe and the Cross can all fit together.”

LEAP YEAR AND “THE CATHOLIC CONNECTION” – CARDINAL PELL TESTIFIES BEFORE ROYAL COMMISSION ON ABUSE CASES

One of the more extraordinary moments of my life occurred last Friday when I had an amazing reunion with two former high school French students of mine, touching bases for the first time since I left the Academy of the Holy Names in 1964! The now-defunct Academy, where I taught French for four years, was at 711 Pershing Drive in Silver Spring, Maryland, and the very buildings were an illustrious part of state history.

I could write an extra long column about how very much I loved teaching, the great relationships I built with a number of AHN families, and how special the Academy and those years were! Perhaps another day, another time.

Monica (Longen) Knudsen and Anne (Quinn) Glickman stayed in touch after they graduated from the Academy and, even though they now live in different states, they still keep up with each other. (Monica, l, and Anne, center)

In 2014 they went to the Holy Land on a pilgrimage. On their return, upon watching EWTN one night in her home, Monica heard what she told her husband was “a familiar voice.” My name was announced and she theorized it was her former French teacher, did some research, found me on Facebook (merci Facebook!) and contacted Anne!

In a November 2014 post, Monica wrote: A thought to cheer you: I have never forgotten so many things you taught us in French class. For example, you told us that “mon petit chou-fleur” was a term of endearment in French. Leave it to the French to be able to wring romance out of a humble cauliflower! Happy Thanksgiving to you! Monica

I learned they would be in Rome at this time with a small group and we arranged to have dinner last Friday at La Scaletta. It was phenomenal – Monica, Anne and Madameoiselle Lewis –after so many years! But the years melted away as we exchanged stories about families, work, travel, the changes in teaching and our country in the ensuing years – oh so many adventures!

And we reminisced, of course, about AHN – the classrooms, the gym, the ballroom, having classes outdoors in the spring, the nuns and the two other lay teachers, so much! It was amazing to go back in time when I was barely 10 years older than my freshmen and sophomore students!

Salih, one of the waiters at La Scaletta, was so taken by this wonderful reunion story, that he was telling everyone at the other tables about us – a group of Scottish rugby players, young Italian couples out for the night, an American couple, and others. The Italians came over to congratulate us and wish us the very best for the future! They were so young that I’m sure the idea of a friendship spanning 50 years was almost beyond comprehension!

Another special moment was having Francesco, the Sicilian-born, Bill Murray-lookalike chef personally cater to our table, bringing our dishes, etc. to us.

Both Monica and Anne had copies of my book so I wrote a few dedications. I’ve invited them to my home for a mini reception and some prosecco when they return to Rome from points north on Thursday, and they’ll bring several more members of the group.

LEAP YEAR AND “THE CATHOLIC CONNECTION”

Here we are – it’s that extra special day we get once every four years in what we call Leap year and – guess what – it has its origins right here in Rome!

I recently read a story in the Boston Pilot by Donis Tracy that explained that this extra day was a way to adapt the calendar year to the astronomical year. While the concept of the leap year has been around since ancient times — the Ancient Jewish calendar added a leap month every 19 years for example — the current calendar year has its origins in the Catholic Church.

You see, in 1582 Pope Gregory XIII set about adjusting the calendar in order to bring the celebration of Easter to the time of year in which it was celebrated by the early Church. Pope Gregory determined that the calendar was out of sync with the spring equinox by 10 days, and set out to remedy that. This was significant to the Church because the date for Easter was set by the Council of Nicea in 325 as the Sunday after the first full moon of spring, and the start of spring was fixed as March 21. Without adjustment, the date of Easter would eventually drift into the summer.

On February 24, 1582, Pope Gregory issued a papal bull that said the new calendar – which would be called the Gregorian calendar – added an extra day to February every four years, unless the year is divisible by 100. Those years do not have a leap year. The exception to that rule is if the year is divisible by 400. So, following this rule, 1900 was not a leap year but 2000 was. There was some confusion in different countries for a while but eventually all fell into place!

Are you confused as well? You are probably not alone.

For the Pilot story, Tracy interviewed Rev. James Weiss, associate professor of Church history at Boston College.

Over the next 200 years, noted The Pilot article, most European nations adopted the Gregorian calendar, he continued. The final country to switch to the Gregorian calendar was Turkey, which finally adopted the calendar in 1927.

Today, most of the world uses the Gregorian calendar. Some exceptions, such as Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Afghanistan still use their traditional calendars to mark the years. Others, such as India, Bangladesh and Israel use both the Gregorian and their traditional calendars to mark the passage of time.

CARDINAL PELL TESTIFIES BEFORE ROYAL COMMISSION ON ABUSE CASES

This weekend, before his testimony on sex abuse cases in Australia, given via video linkup with Australia from a Rome hotel, Cardinal George Pell visited the grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes in the Vatican Gardens to pray for all survivors use. He is the prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy.

The Cardinal testified for four hours from Sunday night to early Monday morning (given the time difference between Australia and Rome) before the Royal Commission that is investigating institutional sexual abuse in Australia. He will testify again over the next few days. Seated in the same conference room were two dozen Australian abuse survivors who had traveled to Rome with the help of donations from a fund-raising campaign to help pay their expenses.

(Vatican Radio) Cardinal Pell also offered his support for the “Loud Fence” movement by tying a yellow ribbon on the fence at the grotto.

Beginning in Ballarat, in the Australian state of Victoria, the Loud Fence movement encourages people to tie brightly-coloured ribbons on the fences of Catholic institutions, as a symbol of solidarity with survivors of sexual abuse, their families and communities.

The people of the Diocese of Ballarat suffered greatly from a sexual abuse crisis, which led to the suicide of several victims.

Loud Fence ribbons had previously been tied to the barricades around St. Peter’s Square, but the ribbon Cardinal Pell tied to the Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto is the first to appear within the Vatican itself.

“I am aware of the Loud Fence movement and how it has grown rapidly. This is my gesture of support, especially for the people of Ballarat,” Cardinal Pell said.

“I think this is an entirely appropriate place to place a ribbon of support and prayed for all survivors of abuse here. I hope the coming days will eventually lead to healing for everyone,” he continued.

Cardinal Pell said he hoped people will accept this gesture of support and solidarity for the Loud Fence movement.

Cardinal Pell has repeatedly given his support for the work of the Australian Royal Commission, and has vowed to meet individually with victims who had travelled to Rome and has said he hoped the coming days “will eventually lead to healing for everyone.”

During his testimony, he acknowledged the Church has not handled the issue of sexual abuse well in the past.

“I’m not here to defend the indefensible. The church has made enormous mistakes and is working to remedy those,” Cardinal Pell said.

“The Church has made enormous mistakes and is working to remedy those, but the Church in many places, certainly in Australia, has mucked things up, has let people down,” he continued.

Cardinal Pell is scheduled to give further evidence over the next three days.