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ROME, October 21, 2015 (LifeSiteNews) -- Cardinal Francis Arinze of Nigeria strongly defended the Catholic faith against the proposal put forward by one influential Synod Father who said last week that it is “unrealistic” for the divorced-and-remarried to refrain from sexual activity – what the Church following Christ calls “adultery.” Cardinal Reinhard Marx, archbishop of Berlin and a leading advisor to Pope Francis, had said such activity should be judged according to “lived context,” and that such persons should be able to receive Holy Communion. However, Cardinal Arinze told LifeSiteNews in a video interview on Saturday, “The Ten Commandments are...

Religious carry candles in procession at the start of a Mass celebrated by Pope Francis to mark the feast of the Presentation of the Lord Feb. 2. The Mass in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican also marked the World Day for Consecrated Life. (CNS photo/Paul Haring) After growing up in Nigeria and being named the youngest bishop in the world at the age of 32, Cardinal Francis Arinze attended the final session of the Second Vatican Council. Following his elevation to cardinal by Pope John Paul II, he was appointed President of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue,...

Cardinal Arinze Defines a Truly Catholic College Says Intellectual Formation Must Be Accompanied by Morals MANASSAS, Virginia, MAY 19, 2009 (Zenit.org).- The mark of a good Catholic university is success at turning out model Christians who are good citizens, says Cardinal Francis Arinze. The cardinal, former prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments, affirmed this May 10 in a commencement address he delivered at Thomas More College of Liberal Arts in Merrimack, New Hampshire. He said that a Catholic college that adopts an attitude of "courageous creativity and rigorous fidelity" contributes much to promoting a "healthy synthesis...

Cardinal Francis Arinze, who heads the Vatican office for sacraments, says the pope may move the placement of the sign of peace, where congregation members shake hands or hug.

The Eucharistic Mystery Calls For Our ResponseMany events in the Church in the last three years have in a special way oriented our attention to the Holy Eucharist. In April 2003, the Servant of God, Pope John Paul II, gave to the Church the beautiful Encyclical Letter, Ecclesia de Eucharistia. At his direction, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments issued the Instruction, Redemptionis Sacramentum in March 2004. A special Eucharistic Year declared by Pope John Paul was celebrated by the whole Church from October 2004 to October 2005. The October 2005 Synod of Bishops has...

It began in 1991 with a hopeful invitation asking a cardinal in Rome to bless a church library in Newark. Fourteen years later, St. Mary's Parish of Newark Abbey enjoys a special friendship with Cardinal Francis Arinze, who over the years has become one of the Vatican's most visible leaders and is often mentioned as a possible successor to Pope John Paul II. Arinze, a Nigerian of high rank at the Vatican for 20 years, has since visited Newark Abbey and St. Mary's, which has a large West African membership, about half a dozen times. His latest visit concludes today...

A Vatican official who is considered among the leading candidates to become the next pope has said activists who demonstrate support for gay Catholics by wearing a colored sash to mass are showing their opposition to church teaching and should not receive communion. The statement from Cardinal Francis Arinze, the Vatican's head of liturgy, amounts to a rebuke of a practice that has quietly gained favor among gay activists in the Twin Cities, where Archbishop Harry Flynn has accepted Rainbow Sash wearers when they appear at mass. A handful of people have appeared for the past four years wearing sashes...

Vatican Cardinal Ends Debate: No Communion for Pro-Abortion Politicians or Rainbow Sashers Says "Are we going to change Divine Law, how God made us?" VATICAN CITY, February 16, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Nigerian Cardinal Francis Arinze, the top Vatican Cardinal in charge of the sacraments of the Catholic Church has made it plain in an on-camera interview with EWTN that pro-abortion politicians may not be admitted to Holy Communion. A February 11 EWTN broadcast of the news program, World Over Live, with host Raymond Arroyo, featured an interview with Arinze, the Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline...

out again in again flynn againThis past Wednesday Archbishop Harry Flynn issued a statement "to clarify remarks he made in an interview with Catholic News Service in December." CNS reports on the clarification: In a Jan. 26 statement, Archbishop Flynn said he met in mid-December with Cardinal Francis Arinze, head of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments, to discuss "the difficult pastoral situation" of Rainbow Sash. Cardinal Arinze "did not in fact suggest an immediate change to the policy in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis," Archbishop Flynn said in his statement. "However, he did clearly...

Cardinal Likens Abortion to Terrorism Tue Apr 9, 1:01 PM ET - Associated Press VATICAN CITY - A Roman Catholic cardinal compared abortion, euthanasia and genetic experiments to the Sept. 11 terror attacks, saying Tuesday they all share a "contempt for human life." Cardinal Francis Arinze, the Vatican point man on dialogue with other religions, made the remark in a message celebrating a Buddhist festival. He appealed to Buddhists to work against "a culture of death, in which abortion, euthanasia and genetic experiments on human life itself have already obtained or are on the way to obtaining legal recognition." In...

10/13/2003 9:44:00 AM - Adoremus: Society for the Renewal of the Sacred Liturgy Cardinal Arinze celebrated Mass in Chicago at St. John Cantius on Oct. 12, 2003 Wide-ranging questions on the Liturgy were answered by Cardinal Francis Arinze at a conference in July sponsored by the Apostolate for Family Consecration. The question and answer session followed Cardinal Arinze's talk on the meaning of the Eucharist. The cardinal, who has headed the Vatican Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments since last October, has addressed these summer conferences, held at "Catholic Familyland" in Bloomingdale, Ohio for a number of...

The temperature hovered around 50 degrees on the morning of Saturday, May 17; a light rain had moved through a few hours before. By the time horns cued "Pomp and Circumstance' at 9 a.m., the clouds that brought the drizzle remained, thick and gray, along with a steady 10-mph wind. Slowly, the graduates and faculty of Georgetown College marched across Healy Lawn to their seats. An invocation was given, the University charter was read, the late Rev. Joseph T. Durkin, S.J. was recognized on the occasion of his 100th birthday. By the time Georgetown College Dean Jane Dammen McAuliffe took...

I had the pleasure of attending a reception on the terrace of a Rome hotel on Monday, May 26, hosted by Georgetown University’s President John DeGioia for alumni and friends of the university. I was especially struck by the presence of Cardinal Francis Arinze, since the Nigerian prelate’s last experience of Georgetown was a bit rocky. Arinze had been invited to speak at Georgetown’s May 17 commencement ceremony on the subject of Christian-Muslim dialogue. In the course of his remarks, Arinze spoke about threats to the family in modern culture, triggering protest. “In many parts of the world, the family...