Pope names six women to previously all-male Council for Economy
Renewing the membership of the Vatican Council for the Economy, Pope Francis named six women to the previously all-male board that oversees the financial operations of all Vatican offices and entities.
The original seven lay members were all men with experience in business, finance or government.
The six are: Charlotte Kreuter-Kirchhof, a German professor of law; Marija Kolak, president of Germany’s national association of cooperative banks; Maria Concepcion Osacar Garaicoechea, a Spaniard and founding partner of the Azora Group and president of the Board of Azora Capital and Azora Gestion; Eva Castillo Sanz, former president of Merrill Lynch Spain and Portugal; Ruth Maria Kelly, a former banking executive, former member of Parliament and former secretary of education in Britain; and Leslie Jane Ferrar, former treasurer to Prince Charles.
Vatican says Baptisms that use a modified formula are not valid
Changing the words of the formula for Baptism render the Sacrament invalid, said the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Specifically, a Baptism administered with the formula “we Baptise you…” instead of “I Baptise you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” is not valid because it is the person of Christ through the minister who is acting, not the assembly, the congregation said.
The doctrinal congregation’s ruling was published as a brief response to questions regarding the validity of Baptisms using that modified formula.
The congregation was asked whether a Baptism was valid if it had been performed with a formula that seeks to express the “communitarian significance” and participation of the family and those present during the celebration.
A Baptism administered with this kind of modified formula is not valid, the congregation said, and the Baptisms would have to be redone for those individuals who had been Baptised with the improvised wording.
“When the minister says, ‘I Baptise you…’ he does not speak as a functionary who carries out a role entrusted to him, but he enacts ministerially the sign-presence of Christ,” it said.
Weapons must be set aside for peace to flourish – Pope
For peace to flourish, weapons of war must be set aside, especially nuclear weapons that can obliterate entire cities and countries, Pope Francis said on the 75th anniversary of the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima.
“May the prophetic voices” of the survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki “continue to serve as a warning to us and for coming generations,” he said in a written message sent to Hidehiko Yuzaki, governor of the Hiroshima prefecture, who led a peace memorial ceremony.
“I was privileged to be able to come in person to the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during my apostolic visit in November last year, which allowed me to reflect at the peace memorial in Hiroshima and at Hypocenter Park in Nagasaki on the destruction of human life and property wrought in these two cities during those terrible days of war three-quarters of a century ago,” the Pope wrote.
“It has never been clearer that, for peace to flourish, all people need to lay down the weapons of war, and especially the most powerful and destructive of weapons: nuclear arms that can cripple and destroy whole cities, whole countries,” the Pope said.