Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI Reflect on what corrodes Faith during Lent – Pope
Lent is a time for Christians to get their hearts in sync with the heart of Jesus, Pope Francis said.
“Let the Lord heal the wounds of sin and fulfil the prophecy made to our fathers: ‘A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will take out of your flesh the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh’,” the Pope said, celebrating Mass and distributing ashes at the beginning of Lent.
After a brief prayer at the Benedictine’s Monastery of St Anselm, Pope Francis made the traditional Ash Wednesday procession to the Dominican-run Basilica of Santa Sabina on Rome’s Aventine Hill for the Mass.
He received ashes on his head from 93-year-old Cardinal Jozef Tomko, titular cardinal of the basilica, and he distributed ashes to the cardinals present.
In his homily, he said the Church gives Christians the 40 days of Lent as a time to reflect on “anything that could dampen or even corrode our believing heart”.
Resignation norms for prelates updated by Pope
Updating the norms and regulations governing the resignation of bishops and of Roman Curia department heads who are not cardinals, Pope Francis said they will continue to hold office until he accepts their resignations.
The update was published in a document titled Imparare a congedarsi (‘Learning to say farewell’) and was given ‘motu proprio’, meaning on the Pope’s own initiative.
The Code of Canon Law previously stated that a resignation that requires acceptance “lacks all force if it is not accepted within three months” while one that does not require acceptance “takes effect when it has been communicated by the one resigning”.
However, the Pope said that after consultation, he “became aware of the need to update the norms regarding the times and methods of resignation from office upon reaching the age limit”.
Under the new norms, “the acceptance or extension, for a specified or unspecified amount of time, is communicated to the person” resigning.
The ending of a Church assignment, the Pope wrote, “must be considered an integral part of the service itself, in that it requires a new form of availability”.
Vatican denies Ratzinger claim on Benedict health
The Vatican denied that retired Pope Benedict XVI has a degenerative neurological disease or paralysing condition after his brother, 94-year-old Msgr Georg Ratzinger, told a magazine that Pope Benedict had a debilitating disease.
In an interview published in the German weekly entertainment magazine Neue Post, Msgr Ratzinger said Pope Benedict suffered from a nerve disease that was slowly paralyzing him.
“The greatest concern is that the paralysis could eventually reach his heart and then everything could end quickly,” Msgr Ratzinger was quoted as saying.
“I pray every day to ask God for the grace of a good death, at a good moment, for my brother and me. We both have this great wish,” he added.
Although news about the interview also was published on the German edition of the Vatican News website, the Holy See press office said in a statement that “the alleged news reports of a paralysing or degenerative illness are false”.
“In two months, Benedict XVI will turn 91 years old and, as he himself recently said, he feels the weight of years, which is normal at this age,” the statement said.