Free Republic

[Catholic Caucus] Cardinal says debate about blessings is normal part of Church lifeCardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, said the debate surrounding the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith’s declaration on the possibility of blessing gay couples shows that deeper reflection is still needed.At the same time, he said, the reaction is a normal and healthy part of the Catholic Church learning how to take Gospel values and apply them to new situations.Speaking to reporters who were attending his speech on the Holy See and peacemaking Jan. 12 at Rome’s Academy of the Lincei, the cardinal was asked...

Fifty LGBTQ Advocates Welcomed to Vatican by High Ranking CardinalThe second -highest Vatican official after Pope Francis received a delegation of advocates working to end LGBTQ criminalization laws and conversion therapy, a meeting described by one Catholic group as a “great step forward” but which should prompt further action.Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s Secretary of State, met with some 50 lawyers, politicians, and activists who presented him with research on anti-LGBTQ criminalization laws in the Caribbean that will be published next year by the Inter-American Institute for Human Rights. A statement from the Vatican Press Office, reported by La Stampa,...

The Vatican said on Saturday that Chinese authorities had violated the terms stipulated in its provisional agreement on the appointment of bishops. A statement released on Nov. 26 said that “the Holy See noted with surprise and regret” that Bishop John Peng Weizhao had been installed as an “auxiliary bishop of Jiangxi,” a diocese that is not recognized by the Vatican. Peng’s installation ceremony in Nanchang, China “did not occur in accordance with the spirit of dialogue … and what was stipulated in the Provisional Agreement on the Appointment of Bishops, on September 22, 2018,” it said. The Vatican statement...

Cardinal Parolin: COP27 provides opportunity that cannot be wastedSpeaking at the COP27 meeting on climate change, Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin highlights the Holy See’s participation as a “state party” to both the Convention and the Paris Agreement, and emphasizes the need for international and intergenerational solidarity to address the challenge of climate change.Cardinal Pietro Parolin assured participants in the COP27 gathering of Pope Francis’s “ closeness, support, and encouragement” for their work.He noted that just a few days earlier, in Bahrain, the Holy Father had expressed his hope “that COP27 will be a step forward for ‘concrete and...

Vatican Sec. of State Parolin to French Bishops: Help Trads "disoriented" with Traditionis Custodes Message sent by the Vatican Secretary of State, Card. Parolin, to the French Episcopal Conference meeting this week in Lourdes:The Holy Father Pope Francis wishes to assure you and all the members present [at the 2022 Fall Plenary Assembly] of his prayer and his fraternal and spiritual support. At a time when the Church of France is once again shaken by the drama of abuse on the part of some of its pastors, he invites you, with your eyes fixed on the cross of Christ,...

The Vatican is tying itself into knots in China Does its strategy mean that members of the underground Church will be left twisting in the wind?Last month Pope Francis appointed 20 new Cardinals at a consistory, a special meeting in Rome, bringing the world’s total to 226.One conspicuous absence was Hong Kong’s Cardinal Joseph Zen. His passport has been revoked while he awaits trial, charged with colluding with foreign powers and raising money for pro-democracy supporters. The trumped-up charges are clearly meant to intimidate critics of Beijing and opponents of the government’s heavy hand on the Catholic Church.German Cardinal...

Zen and the Art of Motu Proprio Maintenance Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun’s arrest by the Chinese Communist Party puppets in Hong Kong nails one more scalp to the Communist Wall of Religious Persecution. Communists (and their fellow travelers worldwide) hate religion. Communists hate God. This is nothing new, and it will never change. Even before Cardinal Zen was thrown into a Communist dungeon in what was once one of the most vibrant and Catholic-friendly cities in East Asia, Communists have been gunning for anyone who believes in a higher power than the Party.True to form, those Communists are enthusiastic...

Covid Fanaticism: Cardinal Parolin Refuses Entry To Cardinal BurkeCardinal Parolin who was contacted by phone, personally stopped Cardinal Burke from entering the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints, just outside St Peter’s square, ChurchMilitant.com (April 18) writes.Burke's fault: He is injection-free. The cardinal survived a severe September 2021 Covid-19 infection but his Covid certificate expired a couple of weeks ago.The Vatican's requirements are even more fanatical than the Italian ones. Burke had first to wait at the door while security contacted Cardinal Semerano who runs the Congregation. Unable to make a decision, Semerano called Parolin who told him to...

ROME – In new comments to Italian media, the Vatican’s Secretary of State has said recent remarks by Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill will only make tensions in the Russia-Ukraine war worse, and said a second meeting with the pope is unlikely. Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin also spoke of his recent phone call with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, saying the conversation proved to be unhelpful. Speaking to Italian media at the close of an event called Sui Tetti, or “On the Rooftops,” March 9, Parolin said “Kirill’s words do not favor and do not promote an understanding.” “On the contrary,...

Responding to a query about his Dec. 23 ruling mandating vaccination for all Vatican employees and visitors who haven’t recently recovered from COVID-19, the Vatican secretary of state indicated religious exemptions are not ‘justified’ with respect to mRNA vaccines.VATICAN CITY — Cardinal Pietro Parolin has said Vatican employees seeking to be exempt from the Vatican’s new vaccine mandate because they oppose the vaccine’s link to abortion “seems not to be justified” as it was only tested rather than produced using the cell lines of aborted fetuses. On Dec. 23, Cardinal Parolin, who is the most senior Vatican official after Pope...

Covid Vatican: Get a Vaccination Or Get OutVatican Secretary of State Parolin issued a September 28 decree (below) confirming the need of a compulsory vaccination pass for Roman Curia staff, external contractors and visitors.Thus, everyone entering the Vatican needs a vaccination which is free, or a costly negative Covid-19 test which must be paid by the employee.In rare cases, medical exemptions are possible, unsurprisingly, exemptions on religious grounds are not considered.Vatican personnel without a Covid-19 certification may not enter their workplace and this will be considered an unexcused absence. "Vaccination" protects neither against an infection nor against the spread of...

Cardinal Parolin praises Chinese Catholics’ witness of faithIn an interview with an online newspaper from Trentino, where he vacationing, Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin addresses a number of current issues: from relations with China, to the Pope's recovery from surgery, to the esteem that binds him to Italian President Mattarella, who is nearing the end of his mandate.By Vatican NewsThe period of Ferragosto - the Italian summer holiday season – sees Church leaders with less hectic schedules, but their work does not come to a complete stop. So it happens that, even away from his office and from the...

Cardinal Parolin: “We Must End Old Latin Mass Forever”“We must put an end to this Mass forever!”, Vatican Secretary of State Pietro Parolin told a group of like-minded cardinals according to PaixLiturgique.com (June 28).The reliable news source does not give information about when and where Parolin made his claim. PaixLiturgique.com also published a quote by Archbishop Roche, the new Prefect of the Liturgy Congregation who laughingly told English-speaking seminary officials in Rome and members of the Curia, “Summorum Pontificum is practically dead! We're going to give the power back to the bishops on this, but especially not to the conservative...

[Catholic Caucus] Pope's Plan to Restrict Traditional Latin Mass Backed by Two Curial CardinalsVATICAN CITY, June 1, 2021 — The Remnant has independently confirmed that a Vatican document restricting Pope Benedict XVI’s apostolic letter Summorum Pontificum is backed by at least two Vatican cardinals, is in its third draft, and threatens to thwart the growth of the Traditional Latin Mass and other sacraments particularly among diocesan clergy.Two senior members of the hierarchy confirmed May 31 that the document, first reported by Messainlatino.it on May 25, is currently under review at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF).Multiple sources...

Cardinal Parolin says church divisions stem from misunderstanding 'reform' VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Three days after the preacher of the papal household called on Catholics to repent for the ways they are dividing the church, the Vatican secretary of state said the divisions are real and they are harmful."Anyone who sees the situation of the church today has to worry about these things because they are there," Cardinal Pietro Parolin, secretary of state, told Spain's church-owned COPE radio network April 5. "It does a lot of damage to the church."Cardinal Raniero Cantalamessa, preacher of the papal household, had spoken...

Vatican Fails to Override Bishops’ Biden StatementPrelates say Biden's policies advance 'moral evils'VATICAN CITY (ChurchMilitant.com) - The Vatican was unsuccessful in softening the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' (USCCB's) statement that spotlights heretical positions of self-identifying Catholic Joe Biden. Joe Biden on Inauguration Day Interference from two pro-LGBT American cardinals, Joseph Tobin of Newark and Blase Cupich of Chicago, triggered the Holy See to attempt changes to the USCCB's statement penned by its president, Abp. José Gomez of Los Angeles. The involvement coming from outside the USCCB was reported by three sources close to the USCCB, according to The...

Analysis: Vatican finances and Cardinal Parolin’s crisis of credibility Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 12, 2020 / 04:00 pm MT (CNA).- On Saturday, the ongoing saga of Vatican financial scandal – or reform, if you prefer – continued with the approval of several new changes to Vatican City law on transparency and economic oversight.It also included the announcement that Cardinal Pietro Parolin will no longer sit on the reconstituted oversight board of the Institute for Works of Religious (IOR), commonly called the Vatican bank – the first time that the Secretary of State will not have a seat. That announcement is...

China & the Vatican -- Cardinal Zen: "Parolin knows he is lying. He knows that I know he is a liar. He knows that I will tell everyone that he is a liar." For Love of Truth I Will Not Remain Silent Cardinal Joseph ZenBishop Emeritus of Hong Kong I read the speech given by Cardinal Parolin, Secretary of State of His Holiness, in Milan on October 3. [Rorate: in that speech, Cardinal Parolin defended the Vatican's attitude and deal, and the confirmation of the deal, with Communist China.] It was sickening! He is in no way stupid or ignorant, he...

Cardinal Zen Challenges Cardinal Parolin Over China Deal Claims In an essay published on his blog Oct. 7, Cardinal Zen, the emeritus Bishop of Hong Kong, offered an extended and personal critique of an Oct. 3 speech given by Cardinal Parolin on the history and future of the Church’s missionary activity in China. VATICAN CITY — Cardinal Joseph Zen has rejected claims that the 2018 Vatican-China deal was approved in draft form by Pope Benedict XVI, and accused Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin of “manipulating” Pope Francis on the Church’s engagement with China. In an essay published on...

[Barf Alert] As Vatican-China agreement approaches two years, opinion still divided VALLA BEACH, Australia (CNS) -- China has announced that Bishop Paul Ma Cunguo of Shuozhou, a Vatican-recognized bishop, has joined the official state-run Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association.It is the third such concession made by Chinese authorities inside a month as it prepares for a new round of talks with the Vatican in Rome by the end of July. The talks are aimed at refreshing the provisional two-year September 2018 agreement on bishop's appointments, reported ucanews.com. The talks will be the first between the two sides since November 2019, most...