ZENIT in Roswell, Georgia, United States "Pope Francis Praises Benedict’s Priesthood Spent as a ‘Search for the Beloved’..." for Tuesday, 28 June 2016

ZENIT in Roswell, Georgia, United States "Pope Francis Praises Benedict’s Priesthood Spent as a ‘Search for the Beloved’..." for Tuesday, 28 June 2016
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Pope Francis Praises Benedict’s Priesthood Spent as a ‘Search for the Beloved’ by Kathleen Naab

Benedict XVI’s love for Christ Jesus is the thread that runs through his entire life, particularly his 65 years as a priest, Pope Francis said today.
The Holy Father said this in praising his predecessor at a celebration today in the Apostolic Palace to mark the 65th anniversary of the priestly ordination of the 89-year-old German Pontiff Emeritus. Young Joseph Ratzinger was ordained on June 29, 1951, in Freising.
The Holy Father noted a passage from a just published book that collects some of Ratzinger’s thoughts on the priesthood. Francis wrote the foreword for the book.
“In one of the many beautiful pages that you dedicate to the priesthood,” he noted, “you underscore how, at the hour of Simon’s definitive call, Jesus, looking at him, basically asks him only one thing: ‘Do you love me?’ How beautiful and true this is! Because it is here, you tell us, it is in that ‘do you love me,’ that the Lord founded the feeding, because only if there is love for the Lord can He feed through us.”
“This is the note that dominates a whole life spent in priestly service and true theology that you have not accidentally described as ‘the search for the Beloved’; it is this that you have always witnessed and still witness today: that the decisive thing in our day – of sun or rain – that alone with which all the rest comes, is that the Lord be truly present, that we desire Him, that we be close to Him interiorly, that we love Him, that we truly believe profoundly in Him and believing that we truly love Him,” Francis added.
Benedict’s Franciscan ministry
The Pope also spoke about his predecessor’s role in the Church since his retirement, saying that Benedict XVI continues to serve the Church, that he does not cease to “truly contribute with vigor and wisdom to her growth.”
The Pope Emeritus’ ministry from the Mater Ecclesias convent is the opposite of what happens in today’s throwaway culture, Francis affirmed.
“It is altogether the opposite,” he said, “and allow your Successor to say this forcefully, who chose to call himself Francis! Because Saint Francis’ spiritual journey began at San Damiano, but the true place he loved, the beating heart of the Order, there where he founded it and where finally he rendered his life to God was the Porziuncola, the ‘small portion,’ the little corner near the Mother of the Church; near Mary.”
“Thus, Providence willed that you, dear Brother arrive in a place so to speak precisely ‘Franciscan’ from which emanates a tranquillity, a peace, a strength, a trust, a maturity, a faith, a dedication and a fidelity that do me so much good and give strength to me and to the whole Church.”
“The wish with which I desire to conclude is therefore a wish that I address to you and together with all of us and with the entire Church: that you, Holiness, be able to continue feeling the hand of the merciful God that supports you, that you be able to experience and witness to us the love of God; that, with Peter and Paul, you be able to continue to exult with great joy while you journey toward the goal of the faith.”
On ZENIT’s Web page:
Full text: https://zenit.org/articles/francis-address-to-benedict-for-65th-anniversary-of-pope-emeritus-priestly-ordination/
Benedict XVI to Pope Francis: ‘Your Kindness in Every Moment of My Life Here Really Strikes Me’ by Deborah Castellano Lubov

“Thank you above all to you, Holy Father: Your kindness, from the first moment of the election, in every moment of my life here, really strikes me, is a source of real inspiration for me,” Pope Emeritus Benedict said to Pope Francis today as the two celebrated the Emeritus Pope’s anniversary of ordination.
At the end of the ceremony today in celebration of Benedict XVI’s 65th anniversary of priesthood, the Emeritus Pope expressed these words of gratitude to his successor, along with others to those present.
He spoke without a script, directing himself simply to the Holy Father and his brother cardinals. Benedict XVI is 89 years old. He was ordained on the Feast of Sts Peter and Paul, June 29, in 1951.
The German Pope Emeritus began by recalling that 65 years ago, a brother ordained with him decided to write on the holy card of remembrance of the first Mass, except for the name and date, only one word in Greek: “Efharistomen (‘thanksgiving’)”
Thanksgiving
Benedict explained that he was convinced that this word, in its many dimensions, was all that could be said in that moment, for“‘Efharistomen’ says a human thank you, thank you to all.”
Benedict immediately thanked Pope Francis, saying he thanks him most for his kindness. “More than in the Vatican Gardens, with their beauty, your goodness is the place where I dwell: I feel protected,” he said.
Referring to Francis’ address to him, he noted,”Thank you also for the word of gratitude, for everything.” Benedict also expressed his hope that Francis “can go forward with all of us on this way of Divine Mercy, showing Jesus’ way.”
Pope Benedict also thanked Cardinal Angelo Sodano, Dean of the College of Cardinals, and Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Muller, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, who also addressed him at the celebration.
“Thank you, Cardinal Müller, for the work you do for the presentation of my texts on the priesthood, in which I also seek to help brothers to enter always again in the mystery that the Lord gives us in our hands.”
 Gerhard Ludwig Müller, who was curator of Ratzinger’s opera omnia, wrote the introduction of a volume that collects 43 of Ratzinger’s homilies, for the commemoration of this anniversary, which was given to the Pope Emeritus.
Pope Francis wrote the preface for this work being published in six languages. In Italy, it is being published by Cantagalli and in the United States, by Ignatius Press.
Transformation
The Greek word, Benedict went on to explain, suggests “not only human thanksgiving, but naturally hints at the more profound word that is hidden, which appears in the liturgy, in the Scriptures.” It also, he explained, “brings us back to that reality of thanksgiving, to that new dimension that Christ has given it.”
“He has transformed the Cross, suffering, all the evil of the world into thanksgiving, and so into blessing. And thus, He has fundamentally transubstantiated life and the world, and has given us, and gives us today the Bread of true life, which overcomes the world thanks to the strength of his love.”
Benedict XVI concluded his remarks, again blessing and thanking everyone, especially Pope Francis.
***
On ZENIT’s Web page:
Benedict XVI’s Words: https://zenit.org/articles/benedict-xvis-words-of-gratitude/
Proper Use of Anointing of the Sick by Fr. Edward McNamara

Answered by Legionary of Christ Father Edward McNamara, professor of liturgy and dean of theology at the Regina Apostolorum university.
Q: In my parish and in neighboring parishes on the first Friday of each month the sacrament of anointing is conferred during Mass. Persons who I know to be in good health and/or are not in danger of death (e.g., young athletes), are anointed. This seems to me to be an abuse of the sacrament. My ground for holding this opinion is that a necessary condition for receiving a sacrament is that one have the capacity to receive it. If one is not baptized, he lacks the capacity to receive any other sacrament. He can consume the consecrated host, but he will fail to receive the sacrament of the Eucharist — he is incapax. If one has not sinned, he is incapable of receiving the sacrament of penance. If one is not seriously ill or in danger of death (e.g., about to be executed), then he has no capacity to receive the sacrament of anointing. I would welcome your comments. — F.M., Gosford, Australia
A: Under present norms the sacrament may be administered “as soon as any one of the faithful begins to be in danger of death from sickness or old age, the fitting time for him to receive this sacrament has certainly already arrived” (Code of Canon Law 1004 §1). The Catechism, summarizing the effects of this sacrament, says in No. 1532:
“The special grace of the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick has as its effects:
“– the uniting of the sick person to the passion of Christ, for his own good and that of the whole Church;
“– the strengthening, peace, and courage to endure in a Christian manner the sufferings of illness or old age;
“– the forgiveness of sins, if the sick person was not able to obtain it through the sacrament of Penance;
“– the restoration of health, if it is conducive to the salvation of his soul;
“– the preparation for passing over to eternal life.”
The provisions of the ritual “for the anointing of the sick and their pastoral care [PCS]” issued by the Holy See, clarifies the conditions under which the sacrament may be received.
Regarding the judgment as to the seriousness of the illness PCS, No. 8 states that “It is sufficient to have a prudent or probable judgment about its seriousness. All anxiety about the matter should be put aside and, if necessary, the physician might be consulted.”
Also: “This sacrament can be repeated if the sick person had recovered after his previous reception of anointing. It can also be conferred again if, during the same illness, his dangerous condition becomes more serious.”
Major surgery is also a sufficient motivation for receiving the sacrament even if the condition is not in itself immediately life-threatening: “Before a surgical section (popularly ‘operation’), holy anointing can be given to the sick person as often as the dangerous illness is the cause of this surgery.”
Here the Church distinguishes between an illness that might not of itself warrant reception of the sacrament, and the same illness preceding surgery. In the latter case, anointing becomes warranted.
With reference to the elderly: “Anointing can be conferred on the aged who are greatly weakened in strength, even though there is no sign of a dangerous illness.” In this case the anointing may be repeated periodically as old age progresses.
The sacrament can also be administered to sick children “from the time they have reached the use of reason, so that they can be strengthened by this sacrament.”
The sacrament may also be conferred on the unconscious if “as believers they would likely have asked for the holy anointing while they were in possession of their faculties.” Likewise, if a person is apparently dead but the priest “is in doubt whether the sick person is really dead, he can give him the sacrament conditionally.”
Until relatively recently Catholic doctrine has not seen this sacrament as necessary for non life-threatening chronic illnesses, mental illnesses and conditions such as drug addiction and alcoholism. It could be given, however, in the case of a dangerous situation that results from such conditions as a drug overdose.
Medical science, however, has discovered that some hitherto mental illnesses are in fact symptoms of physical imbalances. For example, the dementia associated with Alzheimer’s is apparently mental, but it is also a fatal, and still incurable, disease.
Even if the serious mental illness is not caused by known physical phenomena, No 53 of the Introduction to PCS opens up the possibility of the use the sacrament in such cases. To wit:
“Some types of mental sickness are now classified as serious. Those who are judged to have a serious mental illness and who would be strengthened by the sacrament may be anointed. The anointing may be repeated in accordance with the conditions for other kinds of severe illness.”
The minister should proceed with some caution with respect to anointing for mental illness. There is no clear cut standard to determine “seriousness.” For this reason, such situations should be handled on a case-by-case basis and in consultation with the person’s physician.
It is it is also important to recall that the Church’s habitual sources of grace such as frequent recourse to the sacraments of reconciliation and Eucharist, closeness to the Blessed Mother, as well as prayer and seeking spiritual guidance, are of great benefit in helping us to overcome these burdens or at least bear patiently the trials permitted by God.
The motive for conferring the sacrament is not (though it may include) remission of people’s personal sins, but to obtain the strength they might need either for bearing their sufferings, or to overcome discouragement. As PCS, No. 52 states: “Those who receive this sacrament in the faith of the Church will find it a true sign of comfort and support in time of trial. It will work to overcome the sickness if this is God’s will.”
Therefore, although the Church’s dispositions allow for a generous administration of the anointing of the sick, the sacrament is ordered toward the gravely ill from a physical or mental condition. It should not be administered generally and indiscriminately.
Finally, although our reader mentions a condemned criminal, such a person would not normally be apt for anointing of the sick. While death might be imminent, the cause is not due to illness. For such a person the sacraments of reconciliation and Communion would be the normal means of spiritual comfort in these moments.
* * *
Readers may send questions to zenit.liturgy@gmail.com. Please put the word “Liturgy” in the subject field. The text should include your initials, your city and your state, province or country. Father McNamara can only answer a small selection of the great number of questions that arrive.
Cardinal Sodano’s Address at Celebration of Benedict’s Ordination Anniversary by ZENIT Staff

Here is a ZENIT translation of the address Cardinal Angelo Sodano gave at today’s celebration of the 65th anniversary of ordination of Benedict XVI.
Venerable and Dear Pope Francis,
Today, on the occasion of the 65th <anniversary> of priesthood of your beloved Predecessor, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, you wished to render this right and proper homage in the name of all the Holy Church, which has enjoyed his pastoral ministry for 65 years, first as Presbyter and subsequently as Bishop in the Munich and Freising See and then as Bishop of Rome, “mater et caput omnium ecclesiarum.”
Holy Father, allow me also now to present to the dear celebrated one the homage of Brother Cardinals and Bishops, while the words gush from the heart of Psalm 133: “Ecce quam bonum et quam jucundum habitare fratres in unum” (Psalm 133)! Yes, at this moment we experience an atmosphere of spiritual gladness and intense fraternity, in the common bond of service to the Holy Church of Christ.
Dear and Venerable Pope Emeritus, on June 29 of that distant 1951, on the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, you received Presbyterial Ordination from the hands of the late Cardinal Faulhaber, together with your dear brother Georg, to whom at this moment goes our dear greeting, and a good 42 other companions. It was a great celebration for the whole of your beloved Bavarian Archdiocese. You wished to tell us the sentiments you felt on that day, when you returned as Successor of Peter to your dear Archdiocese, in September of 2006. Celebrating Holy Mass in the Cathedral of Freising, where your Ordination took place, you recalled, in front of numerous priests present, the sentiments that pervaded your heart. I was also present under the vaults of that stupendous Cathedral and I remember well the emotion with which you spoke to the priests present.
In recent days I went to reread your homily and it seemed to me that I was hearing again the words that at that moment were born from your heart. Some of your words sound like this in the Italian translation: “When I was here prostrated on the ground and as though enveloped by the Litanies of All the Saints, I realized that we are not alone on this way, but that the great array of Saints walks with us and that the Saints still alive, namely the faithful of today and of tomorrow, support and accompany us. Then there was the imposition of hands and when Cardinal Faulhaber said to us: “Jam non dico vos servos, sed amicos” (I no longer call you servants but friends), then I felt that priestly Ordination is like an initiation in the community of Jesus’ friends, who are called to be with Him and to proclaim His message” (cf. L’Osservatore Romano, September 16, 2006).
You then described the nature of this Christian message that priests are called to spread in the world, synthesizing it in two phrases: the priesthood must lead the men of today to “the Light of God and the Love of God,” or exactly, to use your words in German, the priest must lead men : ‘Gottes Kucht und Gottes Liebe.” Moreover, in your homily, you added an urgent invitation to the priests present, namely, the invitation to take to the world the Light and Love of Christ with the same “feeling” of Jesus, or to use your own words, with the same “Gesinnung Jesu Christi.” It was the concept expressed by the Apostle Paul in the Letter to the Philippians (Philippians 2:5-8). This “feeling” of Christ should imply, therefore, a great love for those that are far, for the poor, the sick, the elderly and children.
Reading your words today, they seem to be an anticipation of the luminous Magisterium of Pope Francis, who always invites us to encounter those who suffer most, taking to them our brotherly love. This is, moreover, the message of the Great Jubilee of Mercy, which we are celebrating.
Holiness, in the happy anniversary of that distant day of 65 years ago, the College of Cardinals, together with Pope Francis, presses around you, thanking you for your long and generous ecclesial service. At the same time, we want to ask you to continue, even if in another way, your long priestly ministry, just as you promised us on February 24, 2013, after having announced your decision to leave in new hands the guidance of Peter’s bark. Then in fact you said to us: “The Lord calls me to go up on the mountain, and to dedicate myself yet more to prayer and meditation. But this does not mean to abandon the Church, rather, if God asks me this, it is precisely so that I can continue to serve her with the same dedication and the same love with which I have tried to do up to now, but in a way more adapted to my age and my strength” (cf.Insegnamenti of Benedict XVI, Vol. IX, page 263).
We are happy because of that promise, certain that you will always be close to us with your prayer and your affection. Finally we say to you with a typical greeting of your Bavarian land: “Behut’s Sie Gott”! May God protect you! Meanwhile the Church of Rome, under the guidance of Pope Francis, the Venerable Successor that Divine Providence has given us, will continue her journey in history with renewed vigor, in the service of the Christian community and of the whole of humanity! Best wishes.[Translation by ZENIT]
Address of Cardinal Müller to Benedict XVI by ZENIT Staff

Cardinal Gerhard Müller, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, addressed Benedict XVI during today’s ceremony to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the Pope Emeritus’ priestly ordination.
Here is a ZENIT translation of his address:
__
Holy Father, it is a great honor to be able to take part in this moment of celebration that you desired, for the happy occasion of the sixty-five years of the priestly Ordination of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. Some weeks ago, for the Jubilee of Priests and Seminarians, you yourself put at the center of our reflection, the essence of the priestly mission: to allow one’s heart to be recreated by the mercy of God, so that we ourselves can help men to allow their hearts to be molded by Him. And you quoted the great French writer George Bernanos, who in his novel “Diary of a Country Priest, “ indicated “joy” as the immense gift that the Church is called to offer the world: first of all the joy of the proclamation that our sins can now expect God’s forgiveness! “Proclamation” and “joy” are words that are at the heart of the Gospel, and they are also two notes that are so proper of your Magisterium, as well as of your Predecessor.
Dear Pope Emeritus, for long years you have recalled, with words and with your life – that this “joy” comes first of all from confident abandonment to that mysterious and good design that the Risen Jesus wishes to bring to fulfilment in each one of us. The joy of the Gospel is first of all Yours; it is a gift of the Lord, and it comes from His Heart, who had pity on our nothingness and loves us, that is, He recreates us, with an eternal Love.
In fact the title of the book makes direct reference to this Love, in multiple-language editions, (today five translations are available) that we have the honor to offer you on this happy occasion: Die Liebe Gottes Lehren und Lernen. To teach and to learn the love of God. Fundamentally, everything is said here: we are called to teach what we in turn have learned from the Love of God.
You were given to this Love sixty-five years ago through the priestly seal, together with your brother Georg, on the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul. As Saint Irenaeus said, whom we commemorate today, the two princes of the Apostles are the apostolic foundation of the Roman Church. This Feast of the two Apostles already prefigured, so to speak, the essential traits of your mission: to proclaim the Word of God (Paul) and to confirm brothers in the Faith (Peter). Time has then revealed in an admirable way what in that beginning was mysteriously pre-contained.
Dear Pope Emeritus, we are grateful for having been able to follow for long years, together with you, what the Lord was realizing through your priestly action. Now we ask, with all our heart, that you be able to bring to fulfilment what He wrought in you and that has already brought abundant fruit among us. Thank you again for everything, Holiness, and thank you from the heart.[Translation by ZENIT]
Benedict XVI’s Words of Gratitude by ZENIT Staff

At the end of the ceremony today in celebration of Benedict XVI’s 65th anniversary of priesthood, the Emeritus Pope addressed words of gratitude to those present. He spoke without a script, directing himself simply to the Holy Father and his brother cardinals.
Benedict XVI is 89 years old. He was ordained on the Feast of Sts Peter and Paul, June 29, in 1951.
Here is a working ZENIT translation of the full text of his words.
* * *
Holy Father, Dear Brothers,
Sixty-five years ago, a brother ordained with me decided to write on the holy card of remembrance of the first Mass, except for the name and date, only one word in Greek: “Efharistomen,” convinced that with this word, in its many dimensions, all was said that could be said in that moment. “Efharistomen” says a human thank you, thank you to all. Thank you above all to you, Holy Father: from the first moment of your election, your kindness in every moment of my life here strikes me, your kindness really brings me interiorly more than in the Vatican Gardens, with its beauty, to the place where I dwell; I feel protected. Thank you also for the word of gratitude for everything. And let us hope that you can go forward with all of us on this way of Divine Mercy, showing Jesus’ way to Jesus <and> to God.
Thank you also to you, Eminence, for your words that have truly touched my heart: “Cor ad cor loquitur.” You have made present both the hour of my priestly Ordination, and my visit in 2006 to Freising, where I relived this. I can only thus say that with these words you have interpreted the essential of my vision of the priesthood, of my <way> of acting. I am grateful to you for the bond of friendship, which for a long time has continued up to now […]: it is almost present and tangible.
Thank you, Cardinal Muller, for the work you do for the presentation of my texts on the priesthood, in which I also seek to help brothers to enter always again in the mystery that the Lord gives us in our hands.“Efharistomen”: in that moment my friend Berger wished to refer not only to the dimension of human gratitude, but naturally to the more profound word that is hidden, which appears in the Liturgy, in Scripture, in the words: “Gratias agens benedixit fregit deditque.”
“Efharisomen” sends us to that reality of gratitude, to that new dimension that Christ has given. He has transformed the Cross, suffering, all the evil of the world in to ‘thank you,’ thus in blessing. And thus, He has transformed life and the world fundamentally and has given us and gives us every day the bread of true life, which surpasses the world thanks to the strength of His love.
At the end, we want to insert ourselves in this “thank you” of the Lord and thus really receive the novelty of life and help in the transubstantiation of the world: that it be not a world of death but of life; a world in which love has conquered death.
Thank you to you all. May the Lord bless all of us. Thank you, Holy Father.
(from Vatican Radio)
Francis’ Address to Benedict for 65th Anniversary of Pope Emeritus’ Priestly Ordination by ZENIT Staff

Below is a ZENIT translation of Pope Francis’ address to Benedict XVI at a commemoration of the 65th Anniversary of Pope Emeritus’ Priestly Ordination. The event was held today at noon in the Sala Clementina of the Apostolic Palace.
* * *
Holiness,
Today we celebrate the history of a call that began sixty-five years ago with Your Priestly Ordination, which took place in the Cathedral of Freising on June 29, 1951. But what is the underlying note that runs through this long history and that from that first beginning up to today dominates it ever more?
In one of the many beautiful pages that you dedicate to the priesthood, you underscore how, at the hour of Simon’s definitive call, Jesus, looking at him, basically asks him only one thing: “Do you love me?” How beautiful and true this is! Because it is here, you tell us, it is in that “do you love me,” that the Lord founded the feeding, because only if there is love for the Lord can He feed through us: “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you” (John 21:15-19). This is the note that dominates a whole life spent in priestly service and true theology that you have not accidentally described as “the search for the Beloved”; it is this that you have always witnessed and still witness today: that the decisive thing in our day – of sun or rain – that alone with which all the rest comes, is that the Lord be truly present, that we desire Him, that we be close to Him interiorly, that we love Him, that we truly believe profoundly in Him and believing that we truly love Him. It is this loving that truly fills our heart, this believing is what makes us walk safely and calmly on the waters, even in the midst of a storm, in fact as happened to Peter; this loving and this believing is what enables us to look to the future, not with fear and nostalgia, but with gladness, also in the now advanced years of our life.
And so, precisely by living and witnessing today, in such an intense and luminous way, this only truly decisive thing – to have our gaze and heart turned to God – you, Holiness, continue to serve the Church, do not cease to truly contribute with vigor and wisdom to her growth; and you do so from that small Mater Ecclesiae Convent in the Vatican, which reveals itself to be altogether something other than one of those forgotten corners in which the disposable culture of today tends to relegate individuals when, with age, their strength fails. It is altogether the opposite; and allow your Successor to say this forcefully, who chose to call himself Francis! Because Saint Francis’ spiritual journey began at San Damiano, but the true place he loved, the beating heart of the Order, there where he founded it and where finally he rendered his life to God was the Porziuncola, the “small portion,” the little corner near the Mother of the Church; near Mary that, because of her very firm faith and her living so entirely of love and in love with the Lord, all generations call Blessed. Thus, Providence willed that you, dear Brother arrive in a place so to speak precisely “Franciscan” from which emanates a tranquillity, a peace, a strength, a trust, a maturity, a faith, a dedication and a fidelity that do me so much good and give strength to me and to the whole Church.
The wish with which I desire to conclude is therefore a wish that I address to you and together with all of us and with the entire Church: that you, Holiness, be able to continue feeling the hand of the merciful God that supports you, that you be able to experience and witness to us the love of God; that, with Peter and Paul, you be able to continue to exult with great joy while you journey toward the goal of the faith (cf. 1 Peter 8-9; 2 Timothy 4)![Original text: Italian] [Translation by ZENIT]
Pope Francis’ Address to Delegation of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople by ZENIT Staff

Here is the Vatican-provided translation of Pope Francis’ address to the members of the delegation of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople on the occasion of the solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul:
* * *
With joy and affection I offer you a heartfelt welcome on the occasion of the Solemnity of the Holy Patrons of the Church of Rome, the Apostles Peter and Paul. I thank you for your presence and I ask you to convey my deep gratitude to His Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and to the Holy Synod for sending a distinguished Delegation to share our joy on this Solemnity.
This year’s meeting takes place in the context of the Catholic Church’s celebration of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy. I desired to proclaim the Jubilee as a favourable time for contemplating the mystery of the Father’s infinite love revealed in Christ, and for strengthening and rendering more effective our witness to this mystery (cf. BullMisericordiae Vultus, 2-3). In their own lives and in rather different ways, Saints Peter and Paul both experienced great sin and, subsequently, the power of God’s mercy. As a result of this experience, Peter, who had denied his Master, and Paul, who persecuted the nascent Church, became tireless evangelizers and fearless witnesses to the salvation offered by God in Christ to every man and woman. Following the example of the Apostles Peter and Paul, and the other Apostles, the Church, made up of sinners redeemed through Baptism, has continued in every age to proclaim that same message of divine mercy.
In celebrating the Solemnity of the Apostles, we recall to mind the experience of forgiveness and grace uniting all those who believe in Christ. From the earliest centuries, there have been many differences between the Church of Rome and the Church of Constantinople, in the liturgical sphere, in ecclesiastical discipline and also in the manner of formulating the one revealed truth. However, beyond the concrete shapes that our Churches have taken on over time, there has always been the same experience of God’s infinite love for our smallness and frailty, and the same calling to bear witness to this love before the world. Acknowledging that the experience of God’s mercy is the bond uniting us means that we must increasingly make mercy the criterion and measure of our relationship. If, as Catholics and Orthodox, we wish to proclaim together the marvels of God’s mercy to the whole world, we cannot continue to harbour sentiments and attitudes of rivalry, mistrust and rancour. For divine mercy frees us of the burden of past conflicts and lets us be open to the future to which the Spirit is guiding us.
One contribution to surmounting the obstacles to our recovery of the unity we shared in the first millennium – a unity that was never uniformity but always communion with respect for legitimate diversities – is provided by theological dialogue. Dear Metropolitan Methodius, I wish to express to you my appreciation for the fruitful work accomplished by the North American Orthodox-Catholic Theological Consultation of which Your Eminence is Co-President. Instituted more than fifty years ago, this Consultation has proposed significant reflections on central theological issues for our Churches, thus fostering the development of excellent relations between Catholics and Orthodox on that continent. In this regard, I rejoice that this coming September the Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church will meet once again. The task of this Commission is indeed precious; let us pray the Lord for the fruitfulness of its work. I also offer a special remembrance in my prayers for you, dear Archbishop Job, appointed the Orthodox Co-President of the Commission, and I express my profound gratitude to Metropolitan Ioannis of Pergamum, who has long carried out this delicate task with dedication and competence.
I thank the Lord that this past April I was able to meet my beloved brother Bartholomew when, together with the Archbishop of Athens and of All Greece, His Beatitude Ieronymos II, we visited the Isle of Lesvos, to be with the refugees and migrants. Seeing the despair on the faces of men, women and children uncertain of their future, listening helplessly as they related their experiences, and praying on the shore of the sea that has claimed the lives of so many innocent persons, was a tremendously moving experience. It made clear how much still needs to be done to ensure dignity and justice for so many of our brothers and sisters. A great consolation in that sad experience was the powerful spiritual and human closeness that I shared with Patriarch Bartholomew and Archbishop Ieronymos. Led by the Holy Spirit, we are coming to realize ever more clearly that we, Catholics and Orthodox, have a shared responsibility towards those in need, based on our obedience to the one Gospel of Jesus Christ our Lord. Taking up this task together is a duty linked to the very credibility of our Christian identity. Consequently, I encourage every form of cooperation between Catholics and Orthodox in concrete undertakings in service to suffering humanity.
Your Eminence, dear brothers, the celebration of the Pan-Orthodox Council has recently concluded at Crete. Together with many of our Catholic brothers and sisters, and other Christians, I accompanied with my prayers the immediate preparation and the unfolding of the Council. Cardinal Koch and Bishop Farrell, who participated in the historic event as fraternal observers of the Catholic Church, have just returned from Crete; they will be able to inform me about the Council and the resolutions it adopted. May the Holy Spirit bring forth from this event abundant fruits for the good of the Church.
At the conclusion of this meeting, I renew my heartfelt gratitude to you for your presence and I assure you of my fraternal love and respect for the Ecumenical Patriarchate. Let us entrust our prayers and intentions to the intercession of the Most Holy Virgin Mary, Saints Peter and Paul, and Saint Andrew, the brother of Peter. And I ask you, please, to pray for me and for my ministry.[Original Text: Italian] [Vatican-provided translation]
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew’s Letter to Pope Francis on Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul by ZENIT Staff

The Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I, has written a letter to Pope Francis on the Solemnity of the Apostles Sts. Peter and Paul.
Here below is the Vatican-provided letter, given to Pope Francis by a delegation from the Patriarchate who visited Rome today.
***
To His Holiness Pope Francis of Elder Rome: rejoice in the Lord.
In concelebrating with You the venerable memory of the Chief among the Apostles Peter and the Apostle to the Gentiles Paul, who were martyred in Your See and honored greatly by the Elder as well as the New Rome, we adhere to the blessed tradition of exchanging official visits through Delegations of our Churches on the occasion of our respective Thronal Feasts. Wherefore, we address You fraternally with a festive greeting, embracing Your Holiness with a sacred kiss and praying that the Lord of glory may strengthen You for the good of the Church and the unity of Christians as well as for the benefit of a humankind so troubled.
We recall with warm sentiments and profound gratitude our recent encounter on the blessed island of Lesbos in order to extend support to the refugees and migrants, encouraging them and offering them hope, but also jointly to declare with His Beatitude Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens and All Greece the need to secure a peaceful resolution to the greatest humanitarian crisis since the end of the Second World War, victims of which have been countless people, among them also native Christian populations of the East. Our Churches hear the cry of “those who labor and are burdened” (cf. Matt. 11.28), the victims of violence and fanaticism, discrimination and persecution, social injustice and poverty and hunger; and we boldly place the lantern “on the bushel” (Matt. 5.15) before the tragic rejection of respect for the sacredness of the human person.
The contemporary crisis of refugees and migrants has demonstrated the need for European nations to address this problem on the basis of the ancient Christian principles of fraternity and social justice. We recognize that the European civilization cannot be understood without reference to its Christian roots and that its future cannot be as a society entirely secularized or subjected to economism and various forms of fundamentalism. The “culture of solidarity” nurtured by Christianity is not preserved through the progress of standards of living, the Internet and globalization.
No one honors humankind created in the image and likeness of God as much as the Church of Christ, who was revealed as God “with us” (Matt. 1.23) and as God “for us” (Rom. 8.32). This is why the word of the Church is and shall remain to the ages an intervention for the sake of humanity and its divinely-granted freedom. Life in the Church incorporates, along with the Holy Eucharist, the splendid worship and life of prayer, the ascetic and internal struggle against the passions, as well as the resistance against social evil and the struggle for the prevailing of justice and peace.
We are convinced that our common efforts and initiatives with regard to the global challenges of our time will continue because they constitute a good witness for the Church of Christ, serving humankind and the world, while at the same time manifesting and strengthening our spiritual responsibility before the challenges of our time for the benefit of the Christian world and humanity as a whole.
We express our joy and pleasure for the fact that Your Encyclical Laudato Si’, which made kind reference to the ecological initiatives of the Ecumenical Patriarchate as well as to our own emphasis of the spiritual and moral roots of the ecological crisis, together with the need for repentance, a radical conversion of attitude and conduct for its resolution, was widely appreciated and demonstrated the social dimensions and consequences of the ecological problem. Whosoever loves God with one’s whole heart, soul and strength (cf. Mark 12.30) also loves humanity and cares for God’s creation as the blessed home of humankind. The dual “great commandment” of love, upon which “the entire law and the prophets are grounded” (cf. Matt. 22.37, 40-41), also embraces care for the creation.
Your Holiness and dear Brother, we have been blessed as guardians of invaluable traditions of divine love and human charity, heirs also of vital truths pertaining to human beings as citizens of the world and citizens of heaven, which we are obliged to preserve in their integrity, remaining faithful to the Lord who “came not to be served, but to serve” (Matt. 20.28) as well as to the venerable founders of the Churches of Rome and Constantinople, the brothers Peter and Andrew, who sealed their witness to His truth on the cross in a manner worthy of Christ. Our endeavors are nurtured by this endless source for the advancement of the journey toward the desired unity of our Churches. The dialogue that continues between the Orthodox Church and the most holy Church of Rome is a domain that produces theological knowledge, ecumenical experience and mutual enrichment. The texts of this dialogue of truth confirm our common Christians models and express our faith that the Truth of the Church is a person – namely, the incarnate, suffering and risen Word of God. Dialogue “in Truth” implies “speaking the truth in love” (cf. Eph. 4.15), “abiding” in love (cf. John 15.9) as “the bond of perfection” (Col. 3.15).
These sentiments and fraternal wishes of congratulations on the occasion of the glorious feast of the Church in Rome will be brought and expressed in person to Your Holiness by our Patriarchal Delegation led by His Eminence Metropolitan Methodios of Boston, accompanied by His Excellency Archbishop Job of Telmessos and the Very Reverend Patriarchal Deacon Nephon Tsimalis.
Having arrived, with the good will of the beneficent God, at the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church, we ask Your Holiness to pray for the fruitful yield of its deliberations in the Holy Spirit for the glory of the triune and undivided Divinity, and remain with profound love and particular esteem in the Lord.
June 29, 2016
Your venerable Holiness’
beloved brother in Christ[Original text: Greek]
Transcription of Pope’s Press Conference on Return From Armenia by ZENIT Staff

Here is a ZENIT translation of the press conference Pope Francis gave Sunday on his return flight from Armenia.
Father Lombardi:
Thank you so much for being here, at the end of this quite brief but very intense trip. We were happy to accompany you and now we would like to ask you, as usual, a few questions, taking advantage of your kindness. We have a prepared list of people here who wish to speak, and we can begin, as usual, with the colleagues of Armenia, to give them the priority. The first is Arthur Grygorian, of Armenian Public Television.
Pope Francis:
Good evening! I thank you very much for your help on this trip and for all your work that does good to people: to communicate things well means good news, and good news always does one good. Thank you so much, thank you.
Arthur Grygorian, Armenian Public Television:
(In English) Holy Father, it’s known that you have Armenian friends. You already had contacts with the Armenian community in Argentina. In the course of the last three days, you, so to speak, you were able to touch the Armenian spirit. What are your feelings, your impressions, and what is the message for the future, your prayers for us Armenians?
Pope Francis:
Well, we’ll think of the future and then we’ll go to the past. I hope for justice and peace for this people. And I pray for this, because it is a courageous people. And I pray that it will find justice and peace. I know that many work for this. And, last week, I was very happy when I saw a photograph of President Putin with the two Presidents, Armenian and Azerbaijani – at least they speak to one another. And also with Turkey: in his welcome address, the President of the [Armenian] Republic spoke clearly, and he had the courage to say: “Let us agree, forgive one another and look to the future.” This is great courage <for> a people who have suffered so much!
The icon of the Armenian people – and this thought came to me today while I was praying a bit – is a life of stone and a mother’s tenderness. It has carried crosses, but crosses of stone – they are also seen [the characteristic stone crosses called khachkar] –; but it hasn’t lost the tenderness, the art, the music, those “quarter-tones” so difficult to understand, and with great ingeniousness … A people who have suffered so much in history, and only faith, faith has kept it standing. Because the fact that it was the first Christian nation isn’t sufficient; it was the first Christian nation because the Lord blessed it, because it has Saints, it has had holy Bishops, martyrs … And because of this in its resistance that “skin of stone” was formed – let’s say it thus — but it hasn’t lost the tenderness of a maternal heart; and Armenia is also mother.
This was the second question. And now we come to the first. Yes, I had many contacts with Armenians, I often went to them for Masses; <I have> so many Armenian friends; I did something that I usually don’t like to do, in order to rest, but I went to dinner with them, and you make heavy dinners! But I’m very friendly, very friendly be it with Archbishop Kissag Mouradian, of the Apostolic Church, be it with Boghossian, of the Catholic <Church>. But among you, more important than belonging to the Apostolic Church or to the Catholic Church, is your “Armenianness,” and I understood this at that time. Today an Argentine of an Armenian family greeted me who, when I went to the Masses, the Archbishop made him sit next to me so that he could explain to me some ceremonies and some words that I didn’t understand.
Father Lombardi:
Thank you so much, Holy Father. Now we give the floor to another Armenian representative who is Mrs Jeannine Paloulian of “Nouvelles d’Armenie.”
Jeannine Paloulian, “Nouvelles d’Armenie”:
(In French) Thank you, Holy Father. Yesterday evening, at the ecumenical prayer meeting, you asked young people to be architects of the reconciliation with Turkey and with Azerbaijan. I would like to ask you simply – given that in a few weeks you will go to Azerbaijan – what do you, what can the Holy See do concretely to help us, to help us proceed. What are the concrete signs. You made them in Armenia. What are the signs you’ll do next, in Azerbaijan?
Pope Francis:
I will speak to the Azerbaijanis of the truth, of what I have seen, of what I feel, and I will also encourage them. I met with the Azerbaijani President and I spoke with him. And I will also say that not to make peace over a small piece of land – because it’s not a great thing – means something dark … But I say this to all: to the Armenians and to the Azerbaijanis. Perhaps they don’t agree on the way to make peace, and they must work on this. But I don’t know what else to say. I’ll say what comes to my heart at the moment, but always positive, trying to find solutions that are <possible and> that lead forward.
Father Lombardi:
Thank you so much. And now we give the floor to Jean-Louis de la Vaissiere, of “France Presse.” I believe it’s the last trip he makes with us, so we are happy to give him the floor.
Jean-Louis de la Vaissiere, “France Presse”:
Holy Father, first of all I would like to thank you on my part and on the part of Sebastian Maillard of “La Croix.” We are leaving Rome and want to thank you from the heart for this “breath of spring” that blows on the Church. Then I have a question: why did you decide to add openly the word “genocide” in your address at the Presidential Palace? On a painful subject such as this, do you think it’s useful for peace in this complicated region?
Pope Francis:
Thank you. In Argentina, when there was talk of the Armenian extermination, the word “genocide” was always used. I didn’t know another. And in the Cathedral of Buenos Aires, on the third altar at the left we placed a cross of stone in memory of the “Armenian genocide.” The Archbishop, and two Armenian Archbishops, the Catholic and the Apostolic, came and inaugurated it. Moreover, in the Catholic church of Saint Bartholomew – another [church], the Apostolic Archbishop made an altar in memory of Saint Bartholomew [evangelizer of Armenia]. But always … I don’t know another word. I came with this word. When I arrived in Rome, I heard the other words, “the Great Evil” or “the terrible tragedy,” in the Armenian language [Metz Yeghern], which I don’t know how to pronounce. And I was told that the <word> genocide was offensive, that this <other one> must be said. I’ve always spoken of three genocides of the last century – always three. The first, the Armenian; then Hitler’s, and the last Stalin’s – the three. There are others that are smaller. There was another in Africa [Rwanda]. However, in the orbit of the two Great Wars, there are these three. And I asked, because some say: “Some think it’s not true, that it wasn’t a genocide.” Someone else said to me — a lawyer said this to me, which interested me very much –: The word genocide is a technical word; it’s a word that has a technicality, which isn’t a synonym of extermination. One can say extermination, but to declare a genocide entails actions of compensation and things of that nature.” A lawyer said this to me.
Last year, when I was preparing the address [for the celebration of April 12, 2015 at Rome] I saw that Saint John Paul II used the word, he used both words: “the Great Evil” and “genocide.” And I quoted this one between quotation marks. And it didn’t sit well. There was a statement of the Turkish government; in a few days, Turkey recalled its Ambassador to Ankara – who is a good man, Turkey sent us a “luxury” Ambassador! He returned two or three months ago… It was a “diplomatic fast” … But <Turkey> has the right: we all have the right to protest.
And in this address [in Armenia] at the beginning the word wasn’t there, this is true; and I answer why I added it. After having heard the tone of the President’s address, and also with my past regarding this word, and after having said this word publicly last year in Saint Peter’s, it would at least have sounded very strange not to say the same one. But there I wished to underscore something else, and I believe – if I’m not mistaken – that I said: “In this genocide, as in the other two, the great international powers looked elsewhere.” And this was the accusation. In World War II, some powers had photographs of the railways that took <people>to Auschwitz: they would have had the possibility of bombing, and they didn’t do it. It’s an example. In the context of World War I, where there was the problem of the Armenians, and in the context of the Second War, where there was the problem of Hitler and Stalin, and after Yalta the lagers and all this, no one spoke? This must be underscored, and the historical question asked: why didn’t you do this? You powers – I don’t accuse, but ask a question. It’s interesting: they did look at the War, at many things, but those people … And, I don’t know if it’s true, but I would like to find out if it’s true, that when Hitler persecuted the Jews so much, one of the things he <supposedly> said is: “But who remembers the Armenians today? Let’s do the same with the Jews!” I don’t know if it’s true, perhaps it’s a saying, but I heard this said. Historians should research it and see if it’s true. I believe I’ve answered <your question>. However, I never said this word with an offensive spirit, <but> rather objectively.
Father Lombardi:
Thank you so much, Holiness. You have touched upon a delicate argument with great sincerity and profundity. Now we give the floor to Elisabetta Pique who, as you know, is from Argentina, <and> of “La Nacion.”
Elisabetta Pique, “La Nacion”:
(In Spanish) Congratulations first of all, for the trip. I would like to ask you: we know that you are the Pope, there is also Pope Benedict, the Pope Emeritus. Lately there have been voices, a statement of the Prefect of the Papal Household, Monsignor Georg Ganswein, who said that there could be a shared Petrine ministry – if I’m not mistaken – with an active Pope and a contemplative one. Are there two Popes?
Pope Francis:
(In Spanish) There was a time in the Church in which there were three! (he repeated this in Italian. In a certain period, there were three in the Church! I didn’t read that statement because I didn’t have the time. Benedict is Pope Emeritus. On that February 11 he said clearly that he was handing his renunciation beginning February 28; that he would retire to help the Church with prayer. And Benedict is in the convent and he prays. I’ve gone to meet him many times, or <spoken> with him on the telephone … The other day he wrote me a little letter – he still signs with his signature – wishing me well for this trip. And once – not once, several times – I’ve said that it’s a grace to have at home the wise “grandfather”; he is the man who protects my shoulders and back with his prayer. I never forget that address he gave to the Cardinals on February 28: “One of you will surely be my Successor. I promise obedience.” And he has done so.
Then I heard – but I don’t know if this is true – I stress: I heard, perhaps they are sayings, but they are in keeping with his character, that some went there to complain because “this new Pope …”, and he sent them away! With the best Bavarian style: polite, but he sent them away And if it’s not true, it’s well founded, because this man is like this: he is a man of his word, a correct, correct, correct man! — <is> the Pope Emeritus.
Then, I don’t know if you remember, that I thanked Benedict publicly — I don’t know when, but I believe during a flight – for having opened the door to Popes Emeritus. Seventy years ago, Bishops Emeritus didn’t exist; today there are some. But with this lengthening of life, can one rule a Church up to a certain age with infirmities or not? And he, with courage – with courage! – and with prayer, and also with knowledge, with Theology, decided to open this door. And I believe this is good for the Church, but there is only one Pope. The other … or perhaps – as for the Bishops Emeritus [– I don’t say many, but perhaps there could be two or three<that> will be Emeritus. They were [Popes], [now] they are Emeritus.
Observed day after tomorrow is the 65th anniversary of his priestly Ordination. His brother Georg will be there [this presence hasn’t been confirmed], because both were ordained together. And there will be a small ceremony, with heads of Dicasteries and a few people, because he prefers … He has accepted, but very modestly; and I will be there also. And I’ll say something to this great man of prayer, of courage that is the Pope Emeritus – not a second Pope – who is faithful to his word and who is a man of God. He is very intelligent, and for me he is the wise grandfather at home.
Father Lombardi:
Now we give the floor to Alexey Bukalov, he is one of our deans and, as you well know, represents Itar-Tass, and therefore Russian culture among us.
Pope Francis:
Did you speak Russian in Armenia?
Alexey Bukalov, “Itar-Tass”:
Yes, with great pleasure. I always thank you … Thank you, Holiness, thank you for this trip, which is the first trip in former Soviet territory. It was very important for me to follow you … My question is somewhat outside of this argument: I know that you very much encouraged this Pan-Orthodox Council, actually the meeting with Patriarch Kyrill at Cuba was mentioned as a hope. Now what is your judgment — let’s say — on the forum? Thank you.
Pope Francis:
A positive judgment! A step forward was taken: not one hundred per cent, but a step forward. The things that justified, between quotation marks, [the absences] were sincere for them, they are things that can be resolved with time. They wanted – the four that didn’t attend – to do it a bit before. But I think the first step is taken as one can. Like children, when they take their first steps, they do so as they can: the first they do like cats and then they take the first steps. I’m happy. They spoke of so many things. I believe the result is positive. The sole fact that these auto-cephalous Churches met, in the name of Orthodoxy, to look at one another in the face, to pray together and perhaps say some phrase, but this is very positive. I thank the Lord. There will be more the next time. Blessed be the Lord!
Father Lombardi:
Thank you, Holiness. Now we pass the microphone to Edward Pentin, who represents to a degree the English language: this time, the National Catholic Register.
Edward Pentin, “National Catholic Register”:
Holy Father, as John Paul II you seem to be a supporter of the European Union: you praised the European project recently when you received the Charlemagne Prize. Are you worried about the fact that Brexit could lead to the disintegration of Europe and eventually to war?
Pope Francis:
There is war in Europe already! Then there is an air of division, and not only in Europe, but within the countries themselves. Remember Catalonia, last year Scotland — I’m not saying that these divisions are dangerous, but we must study them well and, before taking a step forward towards division, to speak well among ourselves and seek possible solutions. I really don’t know; I haven’t studied the reasons why the United Kingdom wished to take this decision. But there are decisions — and I believe I already said this once, I don’t know where, but I said it – of independence, which is done for emancipation. For instance, all our Latin American countries, also the countries of Africa have been emancipated from the crowns of Madrid, of Lisbon; also in Africa: from Paris, London; from Amsterdam, Indonesia especially …
Emancipation is more understandable, because there is a culture behind, a way of thinking. Instead, the secession of a country – again I’m not speaking of Brexit –, we think of Scotland, it something that has taken the name – and I say this without offending, using that word that politicians use – of “Balkanization” – without speaking of the Balkans!
It’s to a degree secession, it’s not emancipation, and there are stories behind, cultures, misunderstandings, also much good will in others. We must have this clear. For me unity is always superior to conflict, always! But there are different forms of unity; and also brotherhood – and here I come to the European Union – it’s better than enmities and distances. In regard to the distances – let’s say – fraternity is better. And bridges are better than walls. All this must be reflected upon. It’s true, a country [says]: I’m in the European Union, but I want to have certain things that are mine, of my culture …” And the step – and here I come to the Charlemagne Prize – that the European Union must take to rediscover the strength it had in its roots is a step of creativity and even of “healthy disunion” – that is, give more independence, give more freedom to the countries of the Union. To think of another form of union, to be creative, creative in regard to places of work, the economy. There is a “liquid” economy in Europe today that makes — for instance in Italy – that young people 25 years old and younger don’t have work: 40 per cent! There is something that’s not right in that massive Union … But let’s not throw the baby and the bath water out the window! Let’s try to rescue things and re-create … because the recreation of human things – even of our personality – is a journey, and must always be done. An adolescent isn’t the same as an adult person or an elderly person: it’s the same and it’s not the same, it’s recreated continually. And this gives them life and the desire to live, and it gives fecundity. And I underscore this: today the two key words for the European Union are creativity and fecundity. It’s the challenge I don’t know, it’s how I think of it.
Father Lombardi:
Thank you, Holiness. Now we give the floor to Tilmann Kleinjung, who is from Ard, the German National Radio. I think that also for him, it’s his last trip … So we are happy to give him this possibility.
Tilmann Kleinjung, “Ard”:
Yes, I’m also leaving for Bavaria. Thank you for being able to ask this question. “Zu viel Bier, zu viel Wein.” Heiliger Vater, I would like to ask you a question: today you spoke of shared gifts of the Churches, together. Given that you will go – in four months – to Lund to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, I think that perhaps this is the right moment to remember not only the wounds of both sides, but also to recognize the gifts of the Reformation and, perhaps, also — and this is a heretical question – to annul or withdraw Martin Luther’s excommunication or have some rehabilitation. Thank you.
Pope Francis:
I believe Martin Luther’s intentions weren’t mistaken: he was a reformer. Perhaps some methods weren’t right but at that time, if we read the story of the Pastor, for example – a German Lutheran who then converted when he saw the reality of that time, and became a Catholic – we see that the Church in fact was not a model to imitate: there was corruption in the Church; there was worldliness; there was attachment to money and power, and he protested about this. Then he was intelligent, and he took a step forward justifying why he did so.
And today Lutherans and Catholics, with all Protestants, agree on the Doctrine of Justification: on this very important point he wasn’t mistaken. He offered a “medicine” for the Church, then this medicine was consolidated in a state of things, in a discipline, in a way of believing, in a way of doing, in a liturgical way. But he wasn’t alone: there was Zwingly, there was Calvin … And what was behind them? The principles, “Cuius regio eius religio.” We must put ourselves in the history of that time. It’s not an easy history to understand, not easy. Then things went ahead. Today the dialogue is very good and I believe that Document on Justification is one of the richest, the richest and most profound ecumenical documents. Do you agree? There are divisions, but they also depend on the Churches. There were two Lutheran Churches in Buenos Aires: one thought in one way, and the other in another. Also in the Lutheran Church itself there isn’t unity. They respect one another, they love each other … Diversity is perhaps that which has done so much evil to all of us and today we seek to take up the path again to encounter one another after 500 years.
I believe we must pray together, <we must> pray. Prayer is important for this. Second: To work together and to pray together. And that theologians study together, seeking … But this is a long, very long path. Once I said jokingly: “I know when the day of full unity will be” – “What <day>?” “The day after the coming of the Son of man!” Because it’s not known … The Holy Spirit will give this grace. However, in the meantime, it’s necessary to pray, to love one another and to work together, especially for the poor, for people that are suffering, for peace and for other things, against the exploitation of people … So many things for which we are working jointly.
Father Lombardi:
Thank you. Now then we give the floor to Cecile Chambraud of “Le Monde,” who again represents the French language.
Cecile Chambraud, “Le Monde”:
(Question in Spanish) Holy Father, a few weeks ago you spoke of a Commission to reflect on the subject of women deaconesses. I would like to know if this Commission exists already and what will be the questions on which it will reflect to be resolved? And, finally, sometimes a commission serves to forget the problems: I would like to know if this is the case?
Pope Francis:
There was a President of Argentina who said, and advised other Presidents of other countries: when you don’t want something to be resolved, create a commission! I was the first to be surprised by this news, because the dialogue with women religious, which was recorded and then published in L’Osservatore Romano,” was something else, on this line: “We have heard that in the first centuries there were deaconesses. Can this be studied? Can a commission be created? …”
Nothing else. They asked, they were educated and not only educated, but also lovers of the Church, consecrated women. I said that I knew a Syrian, a Syrian theologian who is dead <now>, who did the critical edition of Saint Ephrem in Italian. Once, speaking of deaconesses – when I came I used to lodge in Via della Scrofa and he dwelt there – at breakfast he said to me: “yes, but we don’t know well what they were, if they had Ordination …” There certainly were these women who helped the Bishop, and they helped him in three things: the first, in the Baptism of women, because there was the Baptism of immersion; the second, in the pre and post baptismal anointing of women, and third – this makes one laugh – when a wife went to the Bishop to complain because her husband beat her, the Bishop would call one of these deaconesses, who looked at the woman’s body to find bruises that proved these things.
I said this. “Can it be studied?” – “Yes, I will say to the [Congregation for the] Doctrine of the Faith that this Commission be created.” The next day [the papers <reported>]: “The Church Opens the Door to Deaconesses!” I really was a bit angry with the media, because this is not to tell people the truth.
I spoke with the Prefect of the [Congregation for the] Doctrine of the Faith, who said to me: “Look, there is a study that the International Theological Commission did in the 80s.” Then I spoke with the President [of the Superiors General] and I said to her: “Please, send me a list of persons that you believe can be chosen to form this Commission.” And she sent me the list. The Prefect also sent me the list and now it’s there, on my desk, to create this Commission. I think there was so much study on the topic in the 80s and it won’t be difficult to throw light on this subject.
However, there is something else. A year and a half ago, I formed a commission of women theologians who worked with Cardinal Rylko [President of the Pontifical Council for the Laity] and they did good work, because woman’s thought is very important. For me a woman’s function isn’t as important as woman’s thought; women think in a different way from us men. And a good and correct decision cannot be made without hearing women. Sometimes in Buenos Aires I would hold a consultation with my advisers, I would listen to them on the subject, then I would have some women come and they saw things in another light, and this enriched <things> so much, so much, and then the decision was very, very fruitful, very beautiful. I must meet these women theologians, who did a good job, but which, however, stopped. Why? Because now the Dicastery for the Laity is changing, it’s being restructured. And I expect this to happen to continue with this second work, that of the deaconesses. Something else about women theologians – and I would like to underscore this — : women’s way of understanding, of thinking, of seeing things is more important than woman’s functionality. And then I repeat what I always say: the Church is woman: “she” is Church, and she is not a “spinster” woman; she is a married woman with the Son of God, her Spouse is Jesus Christ. Think about this, and then tell me what you think …
Father Lombardi:
Now, given that you have talked about women, we will have a last question from a woman; then I’ll ask one and we conclude … So, after an hour, we’ll leave you in peace. Cindy Wooden, who is responsible of CNS, which is the Catholic Agency of the United States.
Cindy Wooden, “CNS”
Thank you, Holiness. In past days, German Cardinal Marx, speaking at a large, very important Conference in Dublin on the Church in the modern world, said that the Catholic Church must apologize to the gay community for having marginalized these people. In subsequent days after the slaughter of Orlando, many said that the Christian community had something to do with this hatred toward these individuals. What do you think?
Pope Francis:
I’ll repeat the same thing that I said on the first trip, and I also repeat what the Catechism of the Catholic Church says: that they must not be discriminated against, that they must be respected, supported pastorally. What can be condemned – not for ideological reasons but for – let’s say – reasons of political behavior, are manifestations that are too offensive for others. But these things have nothing to do with the problem, the problem of a person that has that condition, who has good will and who seeks God, <and> who are we to judge him? We must accompany him well, according to what the Catechism says. The Catechism is clear!
Then there are traditions in some countries, in some cultures that have a different mentality on this problem. I believe that the Church not only should apologize – as that “Marxist” Cardinal [Cardinal Marx] said to a person who is gay, that she has offended, but she must also apologize to the poor, to women and children exploited in work; she must apologize for having blessed so many weapons … The Church must apologize for not having behaved so many, so many times – and when I say “Church” I understand Christians; the Church is holy, we are sinners! Christians should apologize for not having accompanied many choices, many families … I remember as a child the culture of Buenos Aires, the closed Catholic culture – I come from there!: you couldn’t go into the home of a divorced family! I’m speaking of 80 years ago. The culture has changed, thank God.
We must apologize so much as Christians, not only for this. Forgiveness, and not just apologies! “Forgive us, Lord!” it’s a word we forget – now I’m being a Pastor and I give a sermon! No, this is true, many times <there is > the “priest boss” and not the priest father, the priest “that beats” and not the priest that embraces, forgives, consoles … But there are so many! So many chaplains of hospitals, chaplains of prisons, so many saints! But they are not seen, because sanctity is “modest” [has modesty], hides itself. Instead, shamelessness is somewhat shameless: it’s shameless and makes itself seen. So many organizations, with good people and not so good people, or people to whom you give a rather large “purse” and they look elsewhere, like the international powers with the three genocides. We Christians – priests, Bishops –have also done this; but we Christians also have a Teresa of Calcutta and so many Teresas of Calcutta! We have so many Sisters in Africa, so many lay people, so many couples of holy spouses! — the wheat and the weeds, the wheat and the weeds. Jesus says that the Kingdom is like this. We must not be scandalized about being like this. We must pray so that the Lord sees that the weeds come to an end and that there is more wheat. But this is the life of the Church. No limit can be put. We are all holy because we all have the Holy Spirit within, but we all are sinners, I for starters, agreed? Thank you. I don’t know if I’ve answered … Not only apologies but forgiveness!
Father Lombardi:
Holy Father, allow me to ask one last question and then we’ll let you go in peace.
Pope Francis:
Don’t get me into trouble …
Father Lombardi:
It’s to do with the forthcoming trip to Poland, for which we are already beginning to prepare. And you will dedicate this month of July to prepare for it. Can you tell us something about the feelings with which you are going to this World Youth Day, in this Jubilee of Mercy. And another point, somewhat specific, is this: we visited the Memorial of Tzitzernakaberd with you, during the visit to Armenia, and you will also visit Auschwitz and Birkenau, during the trip to Poland. I’ve heard that you wish to live these moments more in silence than with words, to be as you were here, perhaps also at Birkenau. Therefore, I would like to ask you if you would like to give an address there or if, instead, you would prefer to have a moment of silent prayer with a specific reason of yours.
Pope Francis:
Two years ago, at Redipuglia, I did the same to commemorate the centenary of the Great War. I went to Redipuglia in silence. Then there was the Mass and I preached at the Mass, but it was something else. Silence. Today, this morning, we witnessed silence … Was it today? [Father Lombardi: No, yesterday] I would like to go to that place of horrors without speeches, without people, only the few necessary ones … But, undoubtedly the journalists will be there! — but without greeting this one, that one …No, no. Alone, to go in and pray … And may the Lord give me the grace to weep.
Father Lombardi:
Thank you, Holiness. Now we’ll also accompany you in the preparation of this forthcoming trip and we thank you so much for the time you’ve dedicated to us. Now rest a while, eat also … And then, rest also in the month of July.
Pope Francis:
Thank you so much! Thank you again, thank you for your work and for your benevolence.
[Original text: Italian] [Translation by ZENIT]
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