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CNA Staff, Dec 16, 2020 / 09:00 am MT (CNA).- A Paris criminal court on Wednesday gave a former nuncio to France an suspended 8-month prison sentence for sexual assault. The court found Archbishop Luigi Ventura guilty of placing his hands on the buttocks of five men while conducting his public diplomatic duties.  He was ordered to pay 13,000 euros ($15,800) to four of the men and 9,000 euros ($10,900) in legal costs, reported AFP. Ventura’s lawyer, Solange Doumic, told the French newspaper Le Figaro that the Italian archbishop was considering an appeal. Ventura was absent for the trial, which took place Nov. 10. A doctor said it was too dangerous for the 76-year-old Ventura, who is living in Rome, to travel to Paris while the coronavirus was surging in France. He was not pre...

VATICAN CITY — This year’s Vatican Nativity scene has drawn fierce criticism for its post-modern artistic look, which critics say radically breaks with traditional Nativity scenes and fails to evangelize or inspire others about the mystery of the Incarnation.  The Christmas presepio in St. Peter’s Square contains 20 modernistic ceramic objects, including the main figures in the story of the Nativity but with toy-like faces alongside the presence of an astronaut and a morbid, satanic-looking executioner — but no manger. The figures, which include Our Lady depicted with blonde, curly hair, are spaced out on a minimalist stage with no landscape, cave, trees or streams that characterize usual Nativity scenes.  Reaction on social media and elsewhere has mostly ranged from “hideous,” “...

Vatican City, Dec 13, 2020 / 06:25 am MT (CNA).- Arriving at Christian joy is no cakewalk, but if we put Jesus at the center of our lives, it is possible to have a joyful faith, Pope Francis said on Sunday. “The invitation to joy is characteristic of the season of Advent,” the pope said in his Angelus address Dec. 13. “This is joy: to point to Jesus.” He reflected on the day’s Gospel reading from St. John, and encouraged people to follow the example of St. John the Baptist — in his joy and in his testimony to the coming of Jesus Christ. St. John the Baptist “undertook a long journey to come to bear witness to Jesus,” he pointed out. “The journey of joy is not a walk in the park. It takes work to always be joyful.” “John left everything, from a young age, to put God first, to listen t...

Vatican City, Dec 12, 2020 / 05:00 am MT (CNA).- The Virgin Mary teaches us about God’s gift, abundance, and blessing, Pope Francis said Saturday on the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. “Looking at the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe we somehow also have the reflection of these three realities: abundance, blessing and gift,” he said in a homily Dec. 12. Pope Francis offered Mass in Spanish for a limited number of people in St. Peter’s Basilica to mark the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, patroness of the Americas and the unborn. Mary, is “blessed” among women, the pope noted, and the vessel who brought us the gift of Jesus. God is “the Blessed one by nature” and she is “the Blessed one by grace,” he said. “The gift of God was presented to us as a blessing, in the Blessed by nature and in th...

CNA Staff, Dec 11, 2020 / 12:09 am MT (CNA).- Americans who attend religious services weekly are the only demographic group appearing to show improved mental health in 2020, despite the stresses of the coronavirus pandemic and other events, says a new survey. The survey otherwise shows significant self-reported mental health declines among those previously in excellent health. In 2019, about 42% of those who reported attending religious services weekly told Gallup that their mental health was excellent. In 2020, 46% said the same, an increase of 4 percentage points. Only 35% of those who attend services nearly weekly or monthly reported excellent mental health, down 12 percentage points from last year. Among those who attend seldom or never, 29% reported excellent mental health, down 13 pe...

Archbishop Zani said that the instructions aimed to promote a missionary spirit among ecclesiastical higher education institutions. VATICAN CITY — The Vatican’s Congregation for Catholic Education issued Wednesday three new instructions on ecclesiastical institutions of higher education.  The congregation issued the new norms concerning the affiliation, aggregation, and incorporation of such institutions Dec. 9, in Italian, French, Spanish and Polish. Archbishop Vincenzo Zani, the congregation’s secretary, told Vatican News that the instructions sought to strengthen the worldwide network of ecclesiastical institutions.  The instructions state that ecclesiastical institutions of higher education must apply to the congregation when seeking a change regarding affiliation, aggregatio...

VATICAN CITY — Prayer is so powerful that “even death trembles when a Christian prays,” Pope Francis said at the general audience Wednesday. In his address Dec. 9, the pope said that this was the case because Christ triumphed over death at the resurrection.  “Even death trembles when a Christian prays, because it knows that everyone who prays has an ally stronger than it has: the Risen Lord,” he said. “Death has already been defeated in Christ, and the day will come when everything will be final, and it will no longer scorn our life and our happiness.” In his audience address, the pope continued his cycle of catechesis on prayer, which he began in May. He dedicated the address to the prayer of petition, which the Catechism of the Catholic Church recognizes as one of the principal form...

Pope Francis announced a Year of St. Joseph Tuesday in honor of the 150th anniversary of the saint’s proclamation as patron of the universal Church.  The year begins Dec. 8, 2020, and concludes on Dec. 8, 2021, according to a decree authorized by the pope.  The decree said that Pope Francis had established a Year of St. Joseph so that “every member of the faithful, following his example, may strengthen their life of faith daily in the complete fulfillment of God’s will.”  It added that the pope had granted special indulgences to mark the year.  The Dec. 8 decree was issued by the Apostolic Penitentiary, the dicastery of the Roman Curia that oversees indulgences, and signed by the Major Penitentiary, Cardinal Mauro Piacenza, and the Regent, Msgr. Krzysztof Nykiel. In add...

CNA Staff, Dec 7, 2020 / 09:00 am MT (CNA).- Pro-life leaders have warned against Joe Biden’s “aggressively pro-abortion” pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. California Attorney General Xavier Becerra has a long track record in taking legal action against pro-life organizations. Early Monday morning, President-elect Joe Biden announced he would tap Becerra as the next Health Secretary. If confirmed, Becerra would have a key role in crafting public health policy during a pandemic—but also would be making policy decisions on controversial social issues with far-reaching consequences. “Far from ‘uniting’ the country, Biden has proven yet again he is an extremist on abortion,” said Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List, of the pick. “Becerra is agg...

At the Angelus, Pope Francis speaks of the desire to free oneself from sin: rejecting “the worldly mentality, excessive esteem for comforts, for pleasure, for well-being, for wealth “; renouncing the “superfluous and seeking the essential”, like the Precursor. “Conversion is a grace, therefore, to be asked of God with strength”. “The Christmas tree and the crib … signs of hope, especially in this difficult time”. “There is no pandemic that can extinguish” the light that God has ignited in the world. Vatican City (AsiaNews) – “Changing direction … and therefore also changing one’s way of thinking” is the meaning of the word conversion, which John the Baptist indicated to his contemporaries and which is “a jo...

Vatican City, Dec 5, 2020 / 07:35 am MT (CNA).- Pope Francis approved Saturday sweeping changes to the Vatican’s financial watchdog authority. The Holy See press office announced Dec. 5 that the pope had ratified new statutes for the Financial Intelligence Authority, renaming the agency created by Benedict XVI in 2010 to oversee Vatican financial transactions. The body, which ensures that the Vatican complies with international financial standards, will no longer be known as the Financial Intelligence Authority (Autorità di Informazione Finanziaria, or AIF).  It will now be called the Supervisory and Financial Information Authority (Autorità di Supervisione e Informazione Finanziaria, or ASIF). The new statutes also redefine the roles of the agency’s president and directorate, as well...

Vatican City, Dec 4, 2020 / 09:40 am MT (CNA).- The Vatican published Friday a guide with suggestions for Catholic bishops to promote unity with other Christian communities, offering practical advice for how to overcome common challenges to ecumenism. The 26-page “ecumenical vademecum” was approved by Pope Francis and issued Dec. 4 by the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. The document emphasizes the responsibility of diocesan bishops to promote unity among Christians within their jurisdiction and gives practical suggestions for how this can be achieved. The vademecum recalls that ecumenical dialogue and inter-religious dialogue have different aims. Dialogue with different religious traditions aims at establishing “good relations and cooperation,” but dialogue with...