PAPAL PRAYER INTENTION FOR MAY; FOR ECCLESIAL MOVEMENTS AND GROUPS
In his May 2023 prayer intention:, Pope Francis prays that ecclesial movements and groups might daily rediscover their evangelizing mission. He calls them a “gift” and a “treasure” in the Church. CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO: Pope’s May prayer intention: For ecclesial movements and groups – Vatican News
VATICAN NEWS: IN-FLIGHT PRESS CONFERENCE ON RETURN TO ROME FROM HUNGARY
I find these in-flight pressers, as well as interviews of Pope Francis by individual journalists, quite revealing for many reasons. Often they offer far more information on a particular issue than the Vatican news does on the same story. One example: we usually learn more about papal health issues, treatment and medications from the Holy Father himself than from official sources, as you can see from Francis’ answer to Aura Miguel about his March health scare.
PAPAL HEALTH: Aura Maria Vistas Miguel, of Portugal’s Rádio Renascença asked the Holy Father: Your next stop is Lisbon. How do you feel about your health? We were taken by surprise when you went to hospital; you said you fainted. So do you feel you have the energy to go to World Youth Day? And would you like an event with a Ukrainian and a Russian youth as a sign for the new generations?
Pope Francis: First of all, [my] health. What I had was a sudden, strong illness at the end of the (March 29) Wednesday Audience. I didn’t feel like having lunch; I laid down for a bit. I didn’t lose consciousness, but yes, I had a very high fever and at three in the afternoon the doctor immediately took me to hospital. I had severe acute pneumonia in the lower part of the lung—thank God, I can tell you about it—to such an extent that the organism, the body, responded well. Thank God. This is what I had.
About Lisbon: The day before I left I spoke with Bishop Americo [Aguiar, auxiliary bishop of Lisbon], who came to see how things are there. I will go. I will go. I hope to make it. You can see that it is not the same as two years ago, with the cane. Now it is better. For the moment the trip is not cancelled.
A SECRET PEACE MISSION FOR UKRAINE? Eliana Ruggiero, an Italian journalist, asked Francis: If somehow (Metropolitan Hilarion and also (Hungarian Prime Minister) Viktor Orbán could accelerate the peace process in Ukraine and also make a meeting between you and Putin possible, if they could act “as intermediaries”?
Pope Francis: You can imagine that in this meeting we not only talked about Little Red Riding Hood, right? We talked about all these things (migrants, open borders). We talked about this because everyone is interested in the road to peace. I am willing. I am willing to do whatever needs to be done. Also, there is a mission going on now, but it is not public yet. Let’s see how … When it is public I will talk about it.
He also said: “Metropolitan Hilarion is someone I respect very much, and we have always had a good relationship. And he was kind enough to come and see me, then he came to the Mass, and I saw him here at the airport as well. Hilarion is an intelligent person with whom one can talk, and these relationships need to be maintained, because if we talk about ecumenism – I like this, I don’t like this – we must have an outstretched hand with everyone, even receive their hand.
“With Patriarch Kirill I have spoken only once since the war began, 40 minutes via zoom, then through Anthony, who is in Hilarion’s place now, who comes to see me. He is a bishop who was a parish priest in Rome and knows the environment well, and always through him I am in connection with Kirill.
“There was a meeting that we were to have in Jerusalem in July or June last year, but it was suspended because of the war: that will have to take place. And then, with the Russians I have a good relationship with the ambassador who is now leaving; he has been the ambassador in the Vatican for seven years, he is a great man, a man comme il faut, a serious, cultured and balanced person. My relationship with the Russians is mainly with this ambassador.”
MEDIA ON PAPAL HEALTH REMARKS AND SECRET PEACE MISSION
PAPAL HEALTH: On May 1, 2023, Catholic Culture had this report, with additional background information so that the papal remarks can be put in perspective:
Pope Francis discussed the illness that led to his brief hospitalization late in March, during an exchange with reporters on his return flight from Hungary.
“I had severe acute pneumonia,” the Pope revealed.
That explanation contradicts statements issued by Vatican officials during the Pope’s stay in the Gemelli Hospital. The Vatican had originally attributed the Pope’s hospitalization to a “respiratory infection,” and later to “bronchitis”—specifically denying that he suffered from pneumonia.
Last week a friend reported that the Pope had been unconscious when he arrived at the hospital. Pope Francis contradicted that report as well. “I didn’t lose consciousness,” he said, but he said, “I had a very high fever.”
Pope Francis responded quickly to treatment in the hospital. He was discharged after three days, and quickly resumed his normal schedule, showing no lingering signs of his bout with the disease.
Just two days after he was rushed to the hospital, after suffering breathing difficulties following a public audience on March 29, the Pope was feeling well enough to visit a ward for pediatric cancer patients—a visit that would not likely have been approved if the Pontiff had a contagious disease. Pneumonia is not regarded as contagious if it is the result of chronic bronchitis. Vatican reporters have speculated that the Pope’s dramatic gain in weight in recent months is the result of steroid treatment to combat chronic bronchitis. The Vatican has not directly addressed that speculation.
A SECRET PEACE MISSION?
Also Catholic Culture: Pope Francis said that the Vatican is involved in a secret mission to bring peace to Ukraine, in an exchange with reporters during his flight home from a visit to Hungary.
“There is a mission underway now, but it is not yet public,” the Pope said. He declined to say more about the effort. “When it is public, will reveal it,” he said.
The Pope stressed that he is “available to do anything” for the cause of peace. He sidestepped questions about whether he had pursued his secret mission during his three-day visit to Hungary.
During the trip the Pope met with Metropolitan Hilarion, who was once the chief foreign-affairs official of the Russian Orthodox Church. However Hilarion was removed from that post after criticizing the Russian offensive in Ukraine, which the Moscow Patriarchate has supported.
During his in-flight interview he Pope appeared to indicate that he was not in close touch with the current leaders of the Russian Orthodox Church, saying that he had “spoken only once since the war began” with the Russian Patriarch Kirill. Speaking highly of Aleksandr Avdeyev, the Russian ambassador to the Holy See, the Pope said: “My relationship with the Russians is mainly with this ambassador.”
CNN, on the other hand, reports that Ukraine is not aware of Pope Francis’ peace initiative to end the war that he announced on his way back to Rome from Hungary. CNN cites an anonymous Ukrainian official close to the Office of the President of Ukraine who reportedly said, “”President Zelenskyy has not consented to any such discussions on Ukraine’s behalf. If talks are happening, they are happening without our knowledge or our blessing.”
Joan's Rome 