Pope Francis, the imperfect reform 05/03/2021 at 2:00 AM Posted by Kevin Edward White
By Andrea Gagliarducci, Monday Vatican, April 23, 2021
Without an announcement in the official bulletin,
Pope Francis has made a small reform that could have a significant impact: he included, among the members of the three new dicasteries created as such, laypeople and monsignors alongside cardinals and archbishops. It is a small thing, since also before there were lay members in some of the dicasteries. However, it can have some meaning.
According to
the proper members of a Congregation are cardinals and bishops.” And this while admitting that “
according to the peculiar nature of some dicasteries, clerics and other faithful can be included with cardinals and bishops.” The Pastor Bonus also stresses that members “are taken from among the cardinals living in Rome or outside the city, to whom are added some bishops, especially diocesan ones, insofar as they have special exp
Pope Francis meets with Iraq’s Minister of Foreign Affairs
Pope Francis received in audience Iraqi Foreign Affairs Minister, Fuad Hussein, on Monday in the Vatican.
By Vatican News staff writer
Pope Francis met Monday with Mr. Fuad Hussein, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iraq, according to Matteo Bruni, the Director of the Holy See Press Office.
Responding to questions from journalists, Bruni said Pope Francis recalled with gratitude the welcome he received during his recent journey to Iraq, during the meeting which lasted around 30 minutes.
The Pope also “addressed an affectionate greeting to Iraq and to all its people, reiterating his hope that all people may ‘grow in solidarity and in the ability to acknowledge themselves as responsible for the vulnerabilities of others’”.
Riobamba, Ecuador, Apr 29, 2021 / 19:01 pm America/Denver (CNA).
The Ecuadorian bishops have rejected claims that corruption was behind the unusual simultaneous resignation of a bishop and his presumptive successor. They said “false rumors” about the resignations aimed to discredit the Catholic Church’s pastoral work.
In reality, they said, Bishop Julio Parrilla Díaz of Riobamba resigned because of health reasons and because he had turned 75, the age established by canon law for bishops to submit their resignation.
For his part, Coadjutor Bishop-designate Fr. Gerardo Nieves Loja, 57, resigned for personal reasons, the Ecuadorian Bishops’ Conference said in an April 28 statement titled “Debunking Falsehoods.”
Pope Francis donates medical equipment to Armenia
Pope Francis expresses his affection for the people of Armenia with a gift of medical equipment, including a new ambulance.
By Devin Watkins
The Pope’s representative in Armenia, Archbishop Jose Bettencourt, delivered a concrete sign of the Holy Father’s care and concern on Sunday.
The Apostolic Nuncio blessed a gift from Pope Francis for the Catholic “Redemptoris Mater” Hospital in the northern Armenian town of Ashotsk.
Covid-fighting equipment
According to a statement from the Holy See Press Office, the gift consisted in a new ambulance equipped with the latest mobile medical equipment and emergency respirators to assist patients with Covid-19.