Fr Hans Zollner SJ Argentine bishops urge Pope to visit homeland
In a letter commemorating the sixth anniversary of Pope Francis’ election, the bishops of Argentina said they will ask the Pope to visit his homeland.
“In our next meeting with him, we will propose once again that he does not deprive himself of the joy of visiting us,” the Argentine bishops said in statement released during their plenary assembly.
The bishops said they will meet with the Pope during their ad limina visit in spring.
The Argentine bishops said the Pope’s “peace and strength” encouraged them in confronting the challenges facing the Church today, especially the “sorrowful tragedy” of sexual abuse of minors by members of the clergy.
“He looks beyond the immediate and knows how to say an illuminating word in front of walls that often stop us. He knows how to innovate with audacity without neglecting respect for people,” the bishops said.
Bishop Carlos Humberto Malfa of Chascomus, secretary general of the bishops’ conference, announced last year that the bishops will be in Rome in May for the ad limina visit that bishops are required to make to the Vatican.
‘Zealous’ Belgium cardinal dies aged 85
Belgian Cardinal Godfried Danneels, retired archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels, died last week at the age of 85.
Pope Francis expressed his condolences to Cardinal Danneels’ family, and the Belgian faithful and praised the late prelate’s zeal for the Church, especially during the Synod of Bishops on the family in 2014 and 2015.
“This zealous pastor has served the Church with dedication not only in his diocese but also at the national level as president of the Belgian bishops’ conference, as well as serving as a member of various Roman dicasteries,” the Pope said in a March 14 telegram to Cardinal Jozef De Kesel, the current archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels.
“I ask Christ, conqueror of evil and death, to welcome him into his peace and joy,” the Pope said.
Born June 4, 1933, in Kanegem, Belgium, Cardinal Danneels was the oldest of six children. He was ordained a priest in 1957 and two years later became chairman of the department of theology and spiritual director at the seminary in Bruges. In 1969, he became professor of theology at Louvain University.
Known as a lecturer and a liturgist, he was appointed by St Paul VI as bishop of Antwerp in 1977.
Bishops begin to act after abuse summit says CCP
The bishops who participated in the Vatican summit on abuse at the end of February have “taken some initiatives”, says Fr Hans Zollner, SJ, President of the Centre for Child Protection.
Some bishops, he said in an interview with Italian media last week, have revised their guidelines to find and implement ways of “cooperating with civil authorities”.
Fr Zollner explained that presidents of catholic bishops’ conferences are seeking the help of the Centre for Child Protection in the formation of Church personnel on the ground, after many of them were reduced to tears in hearing testimonies of survivors of child sexual abuse.
Since the end of the meeting, Fr Zollner said, he has seen and heard the steps the bishops are taking. They have not simply “communicated what happened during those three and a half days” of the meeting, but are beginning to act, he said.
The message they received, he said, is: “Do everything you can to do justice to the victims. Listen to victims”, and do whatever you can to ensure that safeguarding is implemented “in your countries, in your dioceses and in your congregations”.