"I hope with all my heart that there will not be any schism, and I pray for this," Ruini told the Il Foglio newspaper.

His comments come in response to Catholic pastoral workers nationwide planned mass-blessing event in 56 cities on May 10 in defiance of the Vatican ruling.

Ruini, Rome's former Vicar General, and President of the Italian Bishops conference for 16 years says that in 2019 Pope Francis asked German Catholics "to keep a connection with the universal Church".

"These words of the pope offer a standard and a valuable direction," Ruini said.

"I do not deny, therefore, that there is a risk of schism, but I trust that, with God's help, it can be overcome."

"I would like to emphasize the strength of this position: it is not just a question of something that the Church has decided not to do, but of something that the Church cannot do. Consequently, no one in the Church has this power," Ruini said.

However, organizers of the planned mass-blessing hope that same-sex couples across Germany will support their initiative, known as "blessing services for lovers."

The organiser's move comes in response to the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith that issued a decree banning same-sex blessings justified its position, saying: "God does not bless sin," and calling homosexual unions intrinsically disordered. (See discussion at FlashesInsight.com)

Former Sydney Cardinal, and Vatican finance officer, George Pell also joined the discussion.

Labelling the situation in Germany "ominous" he called on the German bishops to fulfil their duty and to uphold the teachings of Scripture.

"I think that there is a percentage of the German Church that seems to be resolutely heading in the wrong direction," Pell said in an interview with Colm Flynn that aired on EWTN April 27.

"By that, I mean it is quite clear that a liberalised Christianity, whether it is a liberalised Catholicism or Protestantism, in a generation or so merges into agnosticism. … If you adopt the policies of the world and just go along so that they approve, nobody is going to be interested in that."

"The duty of the German bishops is to uphold the teachings of Scripture, to uphold the teachings of the Church. We stand under those teachings. They've got no power to change them - none of us do," said Pell.

The president of the German Bishops' Conference, Bishop Georg Bätzing, has criticized the upcoming Catholic-backed planned mass-blessing initiative saying blessings should not be used as a political statement.

Sources

• CNA
• CNA
• CathNews NZ

A French journal, La Vie, had reported that the Medjugorje commission appointed by Pope Benedict XVI in March 2010, and chaired by Cardinal Camillo Ruini, would present its report to the Pope by the end of 2012.

Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said the report was "not true" and that the commission's findings will take longer.

"I have spoken with Cardinal Ruini and I can assure you that it will take longer," Father Lombardi told the National Catholic Register in the United States.

"Among other things, the commission must first give its opinion to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to discuss, so it'll be a long time yet."

Father Lombardi's remarks match those made by allegedly informed, but unnamed, sources quoted in Bosnian media, saying many more conversations need to take place.

After the commission's report is examined by the congregation, it will be given to the Pope who will have the final say.

The commission, which has been working in strict secrecy, is studying the phenomenon of reported Marian apparitions which began in the small town in the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina (then Yugoslavia) in 1981.

These apparitions continue regularly to this day, according to the shrine's six "seers", attracting hundreds of thousands of pilgrims each year.

The local hierarchy, however, has sought to discourage the "Medjugorje phenomenon", prompting the Vatican to carry out its own investigation.

Source:

National Catholic Register

Image: Medjugorje.ws