BIDEN TO RECEIVE CARDINAL ZUPPI AT WHITE HOUSE TODAY – POPE FRANCIS TO WELCOME NEW PERSONAL SECRETARY – POPE FRANCIS CONFIRMS EPISCOPAL NOMINATION MADE BY CHINESE AUTHORITIES

BIDEN TO RECEIVE CARDINAL ZUPPI AT WHITE HOUSE TODAY

President Biden will welcome Cardinal Matteo Maria Zuppi, Archbishop of Bologna and President of the Italian Episcopal Conference, to the White House on July 18. Cardinal Zuppi is travelling to Washington at the request of Pope Francis. President Biden and Cardinal Zuppi will discuss the widespread suffering caused by Russia’s brutal war in Ukraine. They will also discuss efforts by the United States and Holy See to provide humanitarian aid to those affected, and the Papal See’s focus on repatriating Ukrainian children forcibly deported by Russian officials.  https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/07/17/statement-from-white-house-press-secretary-karine-jean-pierre-on-the-visit-of-cardinal-zuppi/

The Vatican published this yesterday: https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2023-07/pope-francis-sends-cardinal-zuppi-usa-peace-mission-ukraine.html

POPE FRANCIS TO WELCOME NEW PERSONAL SECRETARY

This morning, Msgr. Jorge García Cuerva, the new Archbishop of Buenos Aires, announced that Fr. Daniel Pellizon, a priest of the Archdiocese of Buenos Aires, has been summoned by Pope Francis to be his personal secretary.

“I share with joy that Father Daniel Pellizon, priest of this Archdiocese of Buenos Aires, has been summoned by Pope Francis to be his personal secretary, replacing Father Gonzalo Aemilius. At the beginning of August he will travel to Rome to begin the task entrusted to him. We pray for him in this new mission entrusted to the service of the Church.

Father Daniel Pellizon was born in this City of Buenos Aires on January 24, 1983. In 2011 and 2012 he collaborated with the then archbishop in the organization of his personal archive. He was ordained a priest on November 3, 2018. He developed his ministerial life first as a deacon and then as parochial vicar for five years accompanying pilgrims at the San Cayetano de Liniers Shrine. Last March he was assigned as vicar to the Parish of Our Lady of Mercy to date.

Pbro. Daniel Pellizon nuevo secretario personal del Papa Francisco

POPE FRANCIS CONFIRMS EPISCOPAL NOMINATION MADE BY CHINESE AUTHORITIES

The weekend here was a scorcher in several ways, one being the extremely high temperatures in Italy, triple-digit, historically high temps in some areas that are supposed to remain throughout the week.

The other was the hot-off-the-press Vatican announcement that Pope Francis, once again, made a stunning appointment on what should have been a quiet July weekend of his staycation at the Vatican. In fact, he approved the appointment of Bishop Joseph Shen Bin of Shanghai who, 3 months ago, was installed by Chinese communist authorities without the Vatican’s approval.

Many saw this as the Holy Father giving in to Chinese authorities.

What’s at stake here is the Provisional Agreement signed in September 2018 by the Holy See and China –  ratified in 2020 and 2022 – that regulates appointments and transfers of bishops in country.

That Agreement has never been made public. In fact, it has been routinely criticized over the years for, among other things, its lopsided character that so far has seemed to favor the Chinese.

Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, in a highly unusual explanatory note in Vatican media Saturday, said Pope Francis wanted to “remedy the canonical irregularity created in Shanghai, in view of the greater good of the diocese and the fruitful exercise of the bishop’s pastoral ministry….(His) “intention is fundamentally pastoral” and will allow the bishop to “work with greater serenity to promote evangelization and foster ecclesial communion.”

Bishop Shen’s installation in April by the CCP was in direct violation of the Holy See’s provisional agreement with Beijing on the appointment of bishops and the second such unauthorized appointment in the past year.

However, Cardinal Parolin did chide China when he said, it is “indispensable,” then, “that all episcopal appointments in China, including transfers, be made by consensus, as agreed, and to keep alive the spirit of dialogue between the Parties. Together we must prevent disharmonious situations that create disagreements and misunderstandings.”

The Catholic Herald had a headline that very neatly expresses the misgivings over the Holy See-China Provisional Agreement: “Just how much faith should Rome place in a deal which China routinely flouts?”

 

CATECHESIS. “THE CRUCIFIX, WELL-SPRING OF HOPE” – CHINESE BISHOP SHEN BIN TRANSFERRED TO SHANGHAI, HOLY SEE LEARNS OF MOVE FROM MEDIA

Just a heads-up for the next few days and weekend. Thursday afternoon and all day Friday are days off for EWTN employees to attend Holy Week Liturgies, so this page may be quite, although I may repost some stories on Facebook and Twitter.

I am handicapped by a cold that seems to have taken over my body and life and is not getting better as fast as I’d normally expect. I have a doctor’s appointment Holy Thursday at 6 pm, of all things, but will, as Mom used to teach me, “offer that up for the poor souls in purgatory.” An unexpectedly long  appointment last night kept me from posting.

Today I offer some highlights of Pope Francis’ catechesis at the general audience this morning. I think these would be wonderful points to reflect on in silent prayer or while saying the rosary.

The other news story about China installing a Catholic bishop is both maddening and sad.

CATECHESIS. “THE CRUCIFIX, WELL-SPRING OF HOPE”

At today’s general audience, Pope Francis gave a preview of Holy Week saying “we prepare to celebrate the mystery of Jesus’ passion, death and resurrection,” And he focused on two aspects of Good Friday.

“Firstly,” he said, “let us see Jesus stripped of his clothing. In fact, ‘And when they had crucified him, they divided his garments among them by casting lots. God is stripped – He who has everything allowed Himself to be stripped of everything. But that humiliation is the path of our redemption. This is how God overcomes our appearances. Indeed, we find it difficult to bare ourselves, to be truthful. We always try to cover the truth because we do not like it. We clothe ourselves with outward appearances that we look for and take good care of, masks to disguise ourselves and to appear better than we are.”

“Let us direct our second glance to the Crucifix and we see Jesus who is wounded,” continued the Pope.!. The cross displays the nails that pierce his hands and feet, his open side. But to the wounds in his body are added those of his soul. How much anguish, Jesus is alone, betrayed, handed over and denied by his own – by his friends and even his disciples – condemned by the religious and civil powers, excommunicated, Jesus even feels abandoned by God… In the end, Jesus is wounded in body and in soul. I ask myself: In what way does this help our hope? In this way, what does Jesus, naked, stripped of everything, of everything, say to my hope, how can this help me?

We too are wounded – who isn’t in life? And they are often hidden wounds we hide out of embarrassment. Who does not bear the scars of past choices, of misunderstandings, of sorrows that remain inside and are difficult to overcome? But also of wrongs suffered, sharp words, unmerciful judgements? God does not hide the wounds that pierced his body and soul, from our eyes. He shows them so we can see that a new passage can be opened with Easter: to make holes of lights out of our own wounds.”

“Brothers and sisters, the point is not whether we are wounded a little or a lot in life, the point is what to do with my wounds –the little ones, the big ones, the ones that leave their mark forever on my body, on my soul. What can I do with my wounds? What can you, you, you, do with your wounds? “No, Father, I don’t have any wounds” – “Be careful, think twice before saying this”. And I ask you: what do you do with your wounds, with the ones only you know about? You can allow them to infect you with resentment and sadness, or I can instead unite them to those of Jesus, so that my wounds too might become luminous.”

“Our wounds can become springs of hope when, instead of feeling sorry for ourselves or hiding them, we dry the tears shed by others; when, instead of nourishing resentment for what was robbed of us, we take care of what others are lacking; when, instead of dwelling on ourselves, we bend over those who suffer; when, instead of being thirsty for love, we quench the thirst of those in need of us. For it is only if we stop thinking of ourselves, that we will find ourselves again. But if we continue to think of ourselves, we will not find ourselves anymore. And it is by doing this, the Scriptures say, that our wound is healed quickly (cf. Is 58:8), and hope flourishes anew.”

The Pope leaves us with hope when he says that, “the cross, which first seems a sign of defeat and despair, proves instead to be the tree of life and the source of undying hope.”

CHINESE BISHOP SHEN BIN TRANSFERRED TO SHANGHAI, HOLY SEE LEARNS OF MOVE FROM MEDIA

The prelate was transferred from the Diocese of Haimen. The director of the Holy See Press Office, Matteo Bruni, has said, “The Holy See was informed a few days ago of the Chinese authorities’ decision. For the moment there is nothing to say about the Holy See’s assessment.”

Vatican News

Bishop Shen Bin, until now Bishop of Haimen, was installed in the Diocese of Shanghai, China, this morning. “The Holy See had been informed a few days ago of the decision of the Chinese authorities” to transfer the Bishop and “learned from the media of the installation this morning”, the director of the Holy See Press Office, Matteo Bruni, reported in a communication to journalists. “For the moment, I have nothing to say about the Holy See’s assessment of the matter.”

I posted this on October 20, 2022: VATICAN TO RE-SIGN CONTROVERSIAL AGREEMENT WITH CHINA OCTOBER 22: Amid increased controversy as a trial against a prominent Chinese cardinal continues to move forward in Hong Kong, the Vatican and China will for the second time renew their provisional agreement on the appointment of bishops. Speaking to Crux, a high-ranking Vatican official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the renewal publicly, said “the agreement with China is scheduled to be renewed on (the) 22nd of October 2022, with no changes to the terms.” The official stressed that this was not an official statement, and that a formal announcement would be made “in due time” by the Holy See Press Office. Though the terms of the agreement have never been made public, the deal, brokered in September 2018, is believed to be modeled after the Holy See’s agreement with Vietnam, allowing the Holy See to pick bishops from a selection of candidates proposed by the government. Vatican-China deal to be renewed, with no changes to terms | Crux (cruxnow.com)

The original 2018 agreement, about which we know nothing, basically allows (we have been told in Vatican interviews) the communist government of China to name bishops for the Catholic Church and the Pope would be able to approve or not. No man can become a bishop without a papal mandate.

As you can see in the Shanghai case, the Chinese government went it alone.

No papal mandate.

What will the Vatican do?