After learning of the General Secretary's passing on 22 July, Francis sent condolences to Vietnam's president and spoke of Trong's major contribution to the diplomatic process.

The Pope's message expressed his gratitude for Trong's fostering, promoting and developing of relations between Vietnam and the Holy See.

As the country's general secretary from 2011 until his death, Trong set the general direction of Vietnam's policies. He also served as president from 2018 to 2021.

"Pope Francis willingly sends the pledge of his spiritual closeness to your Excellency and all your fellow citizens at this time of sorrow for the nation" wrote Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin on Francis' behalf.

Full diplomatic relations

The improvement in the Vatican-Vietnam relationship has been coming for a long time.

It began in 2007, with Pope Benedict XVI seeking to establish full diplomatic relations between Vietnam and the Vatican. Francis has continued to foster this objective.

Last July, Francis wrote to Vietnam's Catholics for the first time after reaching a landmark pact with the country's communist rulers.

The pact allowed a papal representative to reside in Vietnam and open an office in Hanoi for the first time since the communist government severed ties with the Vatican in 1975.

Ending historical conflict of ideologies

The Pope's letter "formally abolished and definitively ended the historical conflict of ideologies" said Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Vu Chien Thang last July at a Government Committee for Religious Affairs workshop.

The workshop discussed the letter's implications and sought ways to enhance bilateral ties. It also discussed strategies for greater Catholic engagement in education, healthcare and social welfare initiatives.

This development marks "a significant milestone in Vietnam-Vatican relations after nearly a century of strained ties due to ideological conflicts" said Bishop Joseph Do Manh Hung, secretary-general of Vietnam's Catholic Bishops' Conference.

He is sure both sides will find common ground to benefit the Vietnamese people and the Vatican.

"The papal letter represents a crucial historical moment with profound implications for the local Church, encouraging local communities to continue accompanying the nation."

It is a substantial achievement, reflecting Vietnam's commitment to safeguarding religious freedom for its citizens.

Thang is quoted as saying "This marks mutual recognition - the Communist Party of Vietnam acknowledges the Vatican as a friend and partner, while the Vatican acknowledges the Communist Party of Vietnam and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam as cooperative partners, without posing threats to the Catholic Church and the Vatican State".

Vietnam's 7.2 million Catholics are an essential and inseparable part of the nation, he pointed out.

They work alongside other religious and non-religious communities to build the country and significantly contribute to Vietnam's social welfare, charity, healthcare and education.

Papal visit likely

After Pope Francis met with then-President Vo Van Thuong at the Vatican in 2023, Thuong officially invited him to visit Vietnam.

Francis told reporters if he does not go, his successor "certainly will!"

Source

• UCA News
• UCA News

Canonical criminal trial

The Vatican's Department for the Doctrine of the Faith, led by Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernandez, asked that the prelate present himself for an abbreviated canonical criminal trial accompanied by a legal representative.

The Vatican document summons said that Viganò's public denials of Pope Francis' legitimacy and his rejection of the reforms of the Second Vatican Council no longer allow him to be in communion with the Church.

In a statement posted on the website Exsurge Domine, Viganò didn't deny the accusation:

Referring to the Pope, as he often has, by his given name — Jorge Mario Bergoglio — rather than his papal name, the papal critic accused the pontiff of being a "false prophet."

He repudiated the Second Vatican Council, which sought to reconcile the Catholic Church with the changing society and challenges of the 1960s, as "neo-modernist errors."

He dismissed the legitimacy of the trial as well. "I assume the sentence is already ready, given the extrajudicial trial," Viganò wrote.

"I consider the accusations against me to be a matter of honor. I believe that the very wording of the accusations confirms the theses that I have defended on several occasions in my interventions."

Excommunication possible

It remains unclear whether Viganò will attend the trial.

The Vatican document said that if he would not attend, a Vatican canon lawyer would represent him.

If found guilty of schism, he would be subject to "excommunication latae sententiae," an automatic penalty that would prohibit the prelate from performing and receiving the sacraments.

In 2018, Viganò published a lengthy and fiery letter accusing Francis of having covered for Theodore McCarrick, a onetime cardinal and archbishop of Washington, D.C., after men came forward to accuse McCarrick of having committed sexual abuse.

At the time, Viganò said he had repeatedly warned the Church hierarchy of the abuse and called for Francis' resignation.

The Vatican answered by conducting its own investigation into the McCarrick case, which found that the Pope had demoted and punished McCarrick when he became aware of the accusations.

McCarrick, who was already retired, was defrocked by Francis in 2019.

In 2024 a court suspended the trial of the 93-year-old for the abuse of a young man in 1977.

The scandal, however, proved deeply divisive in the church, and Viganò has been living in an undisclosed location.

Pro Trump, Putin, anti Pope

Viganò, an effective Vatican functionary who once served as papal representative in the United States, slowly moved closer to more conservative and eventually conspiratorial wings of the church and American society.

He supported President Donald Trump's claim that the 2020 election had been fraudulent and more recently hailed Russian President Vladimir Putin as the savior of Christianity, while continuing to attack Francis.

"I repudiate, reject and condemn the scandals, errors and heresies of Jorge Mario Bergoglio, who manifests an absolutely tyrannical management of power, exercised against the goal which legitimises Authority in the Church," Viganò wrote in his online statement.

In the statement he calls calling the Pope's management of the Church "a self-referential tyranny."

Vatican crackdown

In recent months, Francis and the Vatican have been cracking down on the Vatican's most outspoken critics.

Firebrand Bishop Joseph Strickland of Tyler, Texas, was ousted from his diocese last year after an investigation of his statements criticising the Pope.

Strickland's ouster has not diminished his standing as the de facto leader of the conservative faction in the Church.

Papal critic Cardinal Raymond Burke, another American conservative, was stripped of his pension and forced to leave his Vatican apartment around the same time.

Asked to comment on Viganò's statement, the second most powerful prelate at the Vatican, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, told reporters that the archbishop must answer for his public attitudes and actions.

"I am very sorry because I always appreciated him as a great worker, very faithful to the Holy See, someone who was, in a certain sense, also an example.

"When he was apostolic nuncio he did good work," he told Vatican journalists on Thursday.

"I don't know what happened," he said.

• First published in Religion News Service44
• Claire Giangravé is an author at Religion News Service.

SNAP - a group of clergy sex abuse survivors - in a recent letter to Dame Cindy Kiro called for the diplomatic ties to be cut.

The group says Government House informed them "the Governor-General acts on the advice of Ministers, and this is not a matter she can comment on."

SNAP has since written to New Zealand's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hon. Nanaia Mahuta.

They want her to recommend New Zealand rescind the protections and privileges it granted to the Catholic corporate state entity in 1973.

SNAP's new open letter claims those "privileges and protections were not only unfair, unnecessary and discriminatory" - they were granted to one church only, they explained.

These privileges also "created whakanoa i te tapu o te tangata, violation of people, and a lack of self-determination for our nation."

Second karanga

SNAP hopes the Government will hear its second karanga to Mahuta.

"As you will know, the Holy See is a legal corporate person under international law, and it maintains bilateral diplomatic relations with several sovereign states including New Zealand," says SNAPs letter to Mahuta.

"It also performs multilateral diplomacy with several intergovernmental organisations.

"The Holy See claims a need to exercise its mission in full freedom when dealing with every interlocutor," the letter continues. But the Holy See's freedoms have never been subject to any critical examination.

"Thus, The Holy See has been able to escape the scrutiny applied to real sovereign states and corporations."

SNAP told Mahuta that the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State Care and in the Care of Faith-based Institutions' 2021 interim report found the Church dominated many religious institutions for crimes of "predatory and criminal sexual violence."

These crimes, SNAP wrote, were perpetrated by Catholic priests, brothers and nuns.

SNAP says the political privilege and immunity the Government grants to the Holy See enables the Catholic Church to conceal sex abuse crimes and impede justice for thousands of child victims.

The sex abuse survivors' letter claims Catholic lawyers working for Catholic bishops are obstructing the Royal Commission's progress, "despite what those same bishops are telling the New Zealand public."

The Vatican is also facilitating this, SNAP tells Mahuta.

Although SNAP offers to supply concrete examples of its claims, none is actually referenced in the letter itself.

Political and legal courtesy

Victims and survivors and their whanau in New Zealand are not able to trust the government, SNAP told Mahuta.

It grants political immunity to a Church which uses that immunity to shield its abusers and conceal their paedophilic crimes, SNAP wrote.

"They do not want to be abused by the laws of our State as they were abused by Catholic Church leaders.

"May we ask: Will you help us remove these unjust privileges and protections from a foreign church-corporate state which is abusing our nation and its people?"

Source

• SNAP
• Scoop

The UN experts' statement will probably be made under the guise of demands that the Vatican takes all necessary steps to prevent abuse. It has the hallmarks of an attempt to undermine Catholic doctrine by using the sex abuse scandals, says Catholic commentator Andrea Gagliarducci (pictured).

The UN experts cannot urge a state to adopt procedures or to change its law. Nor can they question how a state is putting into action their proposals, Gagliarducci points out.

He says back in February 2014, a U.N. Convention for the Rights of the Child committee report took on the Church's teaching on human sexuality and canon law.

In May that same year, another UN report - from the Convention against Torture - suggested child abuse was torture. Its aim in doing so was to push the Holy See to introduce new measures, Gagliarducci says.

In December 2019, Dutch jurist Maud de Boer-Buquicchio was the U.N. Special Rapporteur on sale and sexual exploitation of children.

While she praised the pope's decision that the pontifical secret would no longer apply in cases of accusations and trials involving abuse of minors or vulnerable persons, she urged the Vatican to "enforce mandatory reporting for all clergy and staff who have knowledge of these heinous acts."

Gagliarducci says the final scope of these statements aims to force the Holy See to change canon law to adapt it to a "human rights protocol".

This protocol would subtly back or mention "gender perspective" and "sexual and reproductive rights" - meaning a push for the "right" to abortion.

He says he has seen a statement from the "experts" in advance of publication in which they refer to a letter addressed to the Holy See in April.

Gagliarducci says they expressed "utmost concern about the numerous allegations around the world of sexual abuse and violence" against children" and the Church's attempts to protect the abusers.

They also complained the Holy See's concordats and agreements with states "limit the ability of the civil authority to question, compel the production of documents, or prosecute people" associated with the Church."

The Holy See should "refrain from obstructive practices and to cooperate fully with the civil, judicial, and law enforcement authorities of the countries concerned."

Two Catholic principles are targeted in the article, Gagliarducci says.

One involves the confessional seal, which prevents priests from reporting the contents of confessions to civil authorities.

The second principle is that of the Holy See's sovereignty.

Gagliarducci says the experts specifically want to see an end to the distinction between the Holy See and the Vatican City State, which ensures the protection of religious freedom. This will enable states to have full jurisdiction over the Church.

The expected letter follows up de Boer-Buquicchio's statement and will be signed by four other special rapporteurs.

Source

• The Catholic Telegraph
• CBCP News
• Image:YouTube
  

This remains the case, even in cases where a victim disclose sexual abuse to their confessor or an abuser confesses their actions.

"A confessor is prohibited completely from using knowledge acquired from confession to the detriment of the penitent even when any danger of revelation is excluded."

The confessor may encourage a victim to seek help outside the confessional or, when appropriate, to report an instance of abuse to the authorities," the Vatican said.

The Vatican told the Australian Catholic Church leaders that seal of confession "is one of great delicacy and that it is related intimately with a most sacred treasure of the Church's life, that is to say, with the sacraments."

It "provides an opportunity - perhaps the only one - for those who have committed sexual abuse to admit to the fact."

"Were it to become the practice, however, for confessors to denounce those who confessed to child sexual abuse, no such penitent would ever approach the sacrament and a precious opportunity for repentance and reform would be lost."

The comments came in a series of "observations" to the August 2018 response of the Australian Catholic Bishops' Conference and Catholic Religious Australia to the Final Report of the Royal Commission on Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, published in December 2017.

The final report from Australia's Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse (2013 to 2017) consisted of 17 volumes and 189 recommendations.

The Commission recommended that the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference request three specific changes for the Vatican to consider:

• introducing voluntary celibacy for clergy
• ending the seal of confession for cases of abuse
• requiring that abusers confess to the police before sacramental absolution can be given.

The Australian bishops' conference responded saying it would comply with 98 percent of the Commission's recommendations, but rejected the call to remove the seal of the confessional.

The Vatican noted many of the Royal Commission's recommendations have already been enacted for the universal Church, including the proper vetting of candidates for episcopal office.

However, it has rejected the Commission's recommendation that priestly celibacy should be voluntary rather than mandatory.

"While the Holy See accepts the good will of the Royal Commission in making the present recommendation, it wishes to emphasize the great value of celibacy and to caution against its reduction to a merely practical consideration..."

"With regard to any assertion of a link between celibacy and sexual abuse, a great deal of evidence demonstrates that no direct cause and effect exists..."

Archbishop Mark Coleridge, the president of the Australia bishops' conference, says the ongoing public conversation about policies, practices and protocols will ensure that children and other people at risk are safe in our communities.

"It's in this spirit that the observations have been published," he says.

Source

• Crux
• Image: Eureka Street

Pope Francis approved new norms governing contract bids and procurement procedures in his latest effort to reform the Vatican's finances.

The Vatican's financial situation was reportedly 'precarious' before the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and worsened during the lockdown period when the Holy See's main income source, the Vatican Museums, were closed.

The Museums reopened Monday for the first time since March. They are looking at a significant shortfall this year as a result of the lockdown and the subsequent collapse of the tourism industry that provides a steady flow of visitors to the Sistine Chapel.

Besides the post-pandemic fallout, the Holy See is facing an embarrassing financial scandal involving a 150 million-euro investment in a London real estate venture. The venture allegedly fleeced the pope of millions of euros.

The Vatican's new procurement reforms don't address how the Holy See invests its assets. They emphasise, however, that the Vatican will be more selective in the contractors and companies with whom it does business.

The reforms call for a centralised list of businesses that can bid for Vatican contracts.

They also include the criteria of those that can be excluded from offering services to the Holy See: any company or individual in bankruptcy proceedings or under investigation or convicted of crimes such as fraud, mafia ties, tax evasion or corruption.

In addition, the reforms impose norms to avoid conflicts of interest among Vatican officials awarding contracts, as well as the companies bidding for them. They call for transparency in the procedures and lay out how contested bids and contracts can be adjudicated in the Vatican criminal tribunal.

The Vatican's out-of-control spending first came to light during the 2012 VatiLeaks scandal. In this, leaked internal documents revealed that the Vatican City State had paid 550,000 euros for its 2009 life-sized Christmas Nativity scene in St. Peter's Square.

Since then, the Vatican has relied on donated or lower-cost Christmas scenes.

Spending and contracting has long been disorganized at the Holy See, with each of the Vatican congregations (ie departments) going its own way to find contractors without any organized competitive bidding procedures that would be expected for a public administration.

Even before the virus and resulting global economic slowdown, the Vatican was looking at a multi-million euro deficit for the foreseeable future, though officials denied it was at risk of default this year.

Source

• AP
• Image: Carbon Brief

In a statement sent to journalists April 30, Holy See press officer Matteo Bruni said that in response to "some questions from journalists," he could confirm "that individual measures had been arranged for some employees of the Holy See, at the expiry of those adopted at the beginning of the investigation of financial and real estate investments of the Secretariat of State."

The release confirms that a months-long Vatican investigation is ongoing, which aims to dig into complicated financial transactions and investments made by officials at the secretariat over a period of years. Read more

Francis's announcement approved a written suggestion made at the recent synod for the Amazon which asked for the current curriculum for trainee diplomats to change.

Instead of doing an internship at the nunciature as happens now, trainees will be put at the service of a bishop in a mission area.

"I am convinced that such an experience could be helpful to all young men who are preparing for or beginning their priestly service," Francis said.

The change in the curriculum will start with students entering in the 2020-2021 academic year.

Francis said in a special way the mission experience would be helpful "for those who in the future will be called to collaborate with the pontifical representatives and, later, could become envoys of the Holy See to nations and particular churches."

In general, the corps' students, who are already ordained priests, spend four years at the academy studying for a license in canon law from one of Rome's pontifical universities followed by a doctorate in either canon law or theology.

Students who already have a doctorate when they enter have their training period reduced to two years.

All students also study diplomacy, Vatican diplomatic relations, languages, international law, papal documents and current affairs.

Once they graduate, diplomats have two roles.

They represent the Vatican to individual countries around the world and to international organisations, like the United Nations.

They also represent the pope to the local Catholic Church and coordinate the search for new bishops.

In his letter announcing the change in curriculum Francis quoted from a speech he gave to diplomatic corps students in 2015 when he reminded them of the missionary focus of all that the church does, including its diplomatic activity.

"The mission to which you will be called one day to carry out will take you to all parts of the world:

"To Europe, in need of an awakening; Africa, thirsting for reconciliation; Latin America, hungry for nourishment and interiority; North America, intent on rediscovering the roots of an identity that is not defined by exclusion; Asia and Oceania, challenged by the capacity to ferment in diaspora and to dialogue with the vastness of ancestral cultures."

Francis said he was certain "once the initial concerns" about the changes are overcome, "the missionary experience ...will be useful ... for the young academicians [and] the individual churches they will collaborate with..."

"I hope, it will give rise in other priests of the universal church a desire to make themselves available for a period of missionary service outside their dioceses."

Source

• Catholic News Service
• Image:Times of Israel
  

A resident papal representative is considered an intermediary step in diplomatic relations, below an apostolic nuncio.

The Holy See and Vietnam have never had full diplomatic relations, but have been engaged in formal bilateral discussions since 2009. The Aug. 21-22 summit was the eighth meeting of the working group, which had previously met in Hanoi in December 2018. Read more

In a statement, the Vatican acknowledges the "utmost respect for the Australian judicial authorities" and says the Vatican is waiting for the outcome of the appeals process.

It says, (Pell) "has the right to defend himself until the last stage of appeal".

"At the same time, it is important to recall that Cardinal Pell has openly and repeatedly condemned as immoral and intolerable the acts of abuse committed against minors," the statement says.

"[Pell] has cooperated in the past with Australian authorities (for example, in his depositions before the Royal Commission); has supported the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors; and finally, as a diocesan bishop in Australia, has introduced systems and procedures both for the protection of minors and to provide assistance to victims of abuse".

The statement also confirmed the arrangements barring Pell from public ministry and from contact with minors during the course of the legal process.

Vatican opens investigation

Following his conviction, the Vatican says it will be opening its own investigation into the accusations.

"The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) will now handle the case following the procedure and within the time established by canonical norm," Vatican spokesman Alessandro Gisotti said.

Just when the proposed investigation will take place has not been announced. The Vatican says the investigation could lead to a full trial or an abbreviated "administrative process".

When a deacon, priest or bishop is accused of abuse, the first phase of the investigation generally is carried out by the diocese where the abuse is alleged to have occurred.

If the allegations are found to be credible, the case is handed over to the CDF.

Last October Pell resigned his position as head of the Secretariat for the Economy, where he oversaw the Vatican's finances.

His successor's name has not yet been announced.

The County Court of Victoria, Australia, (December) found Pell guilty of five counts of child sexual abuse against two former choristers in Melbourne Cathedral in 1996.

Pell's guilty verdict was revealed in Australia on Tuesday this week after a court suppression order was dropped.

He spent his first night behind bars on Wednesday and will be sentenced on 13 March.

Pell, who has continuously said he is innocent, plans to appeal the verdict.

Source

• Reuters
• Catholic News Service
• Zenit
• Catholic News Agency
• Image: France 24

"We certainly pledge our continued devotion to Holy Mother Church, and recognise the tithe has been an important commitment of Legatus since our founding," a letter sent to Legatus members last week from Chairman and CEO Thomas Monaghan says.

"However, in light of recent revelations and questions, we believe it appropriate to respectfully request clarification regarding the specific use of these funds."

The revelations refer to the sexual abuse and its cover-up by some Catholic bishops that have recently come to light.

Legatus has over 80 chapters throughout the United States and Canada. The group's tithe to the Holy See this year would have been about $820,000, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Monaghan's letter also praises Cardinal Daniel DiNardo's leadership.

DiNardo, who is president of the US bishops' conference, has called for a timely and thorough investigation into questions surrounding the failings of Church leaders.

Monaghan says Legatus members are also questioning the organisation's annual tithe to the Holy See, "specifically pertaining to how it is being used, and what financial accountability exists within the Vatican for such charitable contributions.

"The Board has begun a dialogue along these lines, and in the meantime has decided to place the Holy See annual tithe in escrow, pending further determination."

Monaghan has asked members of Legatus to "pray for healing and clarity during this troubled time: for our Church, for all victims of abuse and injustice, and for our clergy."

Source

• La Croix
• Catholic News Agency
• Image: CNS News

The Tribunal found Monsignor Carlo Capella guilty of the "possession and distribution of child pornography with the aggravating circumstance of its large quantity".

Capella's was the first trial of its kind inside the Vatican. Read more

The plan aims to develop the Catholic Church altering religious principles and practices to match Chinese communist ideals and eliminate "foreign influence" ensuring governmental control of all religious activities.

Neither organisation is recognised by the Holy See. However, both acknowledge the Communist Government in Beijing as the primary authority in China.

Religious leaders will need to have Communist Party approval.

Although details have not been released, the plan will involve "understanding the history of the church" in China, theological research, and evangelism. Architecture, arts and liturgy will change to fit better with Chinese ideals.

Religious conformance to Chinese principles has been an expectation in China for many years.

This expectation has strengthened recently. As an example, in 2015, President Xi Jinping spoke to the United Front, calling for outside influences on religion to be eradicated.

The United Front is answerable to the Communist Party Central Committee; it has powers to impose state control on religions.

China and the Vatican are currently at odds with each other at present and will meet again next week to discuss their expectations.

Three weeks ago the South China Morning Post quoted the Pope as saying he will not "compromise Catholic principles" by giving China the power to appoint their own bishops.

However, China does not want to allow the Pope to appoint religious leaders, seeing it as a means to keep the influence of Western ideals in China.

Source

• Catholic Herald
• The Tablet
• Image: Business Insider

The Vatican says the bank's former president, Angelo Caloia, is the highest-ranking Holy See financial official to be indicted on such charges.

Seventy-eight year-old Coloia, along with his lawyer, 94 year-old Gabriele Liuzzo, denied any wrongdoing.

A third person who was under investigation, former director general Lelio Scaletti, died several years ago.

The bank (officially known as the Institute for Works of Religion) alleges "unlawful conduct" by the three occurred from 2001 to 2008. This period involved "the disposal of a considerable part of the institute's real estate assets."

In December 2014, Reuters reported the Vatican's top prosecutor, Gian Piero Milano, had frozen millions of dollars in accounts held by the three men.

Milano says the men regularly under-represented the proceeds from real estate sales in the Vatican bank's official books.

They allegedly received the difference between the real sale prices and the amount officially recorded separately.

Milano's order which froze the assets says the trio often received the money from the real estate sales in cash.

He claims some of the proceeds were deposited in a Rome bank account that was not registered on the IOR's balance sheet.

The bank's internal investigation into the alleged scam begun in 2013 by then-president Ernst von Freyberg, a German businessman.

Freyberg, who was president until 2014, commissioned an independent audit of the sale of properties formerly owned by the bank.

His misgivings were aroused after noting suspicious accounting procedures under the Coloia and Scaletti administrations.

Freyberg then began an overhaul of the bank, which had been implicated in numerous financial scandals.

Thousands of accounts were closed.

Last year Italy put the Vatican on its"white list" of states with cooperative financial institutions.

This ended years of mistrust, providing an endorsement of Pope Francis's efforts to clean up finances.

Moneyval, the Council of Europe's monitoring body, has said in several evaluations the Vatican has made great strides in cleaning up the IOR and other financial departments.

At the same time, Moneyval says the Vatican still needs to be more aggressive in bringing cases to trial.

Source

• Reuters
• CruxNow
• New York Times
• Image: Speigel Online

Zen's comments were made during Mass in his homily, where he recalled Fr. Wei Heping (Yu Heping), who died two years ago in mysterious and suspicious circumstances.

He asked God to save the Holy See "from the brink of the precipice and not sell out the faithful Church [to the Chinese government]". Read more

After meeting with Russia's foreign minister Sergey Lavrov, Parolin - who is the Vatican Secretary of State and its top diplomat - said the meetings so far have been intense. He offered his thanks to the Russian authorities for their cordial welcome.

In their talks on topics of international interest, Parolin reiterated the Holy See's desire to find "just and lasting solutions" for the global conflicts raging in "the Middle East, Ukraine and various other regions of the world.

"If, in such dramatic situations, the Holy See is more directly active in the effort to promote initiatives aimed at alleviating the suffering of peoples, at the same time it clearly expresses the appeal that the common good prevail;

"... principally justice, lawfulness, the truth of facts and the abstention of manipulating them, and the safe and dignified living conditions for civilian populations," Parolin said.

During the press conference following their talks, the Holy See and the Russian Federation signed an Agreement waiving visa requirements for holders of diplomatic passports.

Parolin and Lavrov called this a sign of the two countries' desire to continue to work together on bilateral relations and issues of international concern.

On Wednesday Parolin met with President Vladimir Putin to discuss international crises including Syria and the plight of Christians in the Middle East.

Putin later reported a "trusting and constructive dialogue" between Russia and the Holy See.

Parolin's visit represents an increasing "eastward facing" diplomacy under Pope Francis's direction.

Source

• CNA
• Catholic World Report
• Catholic News Service
• National Catholic Register
• News.VA
• The Tablet
• Image: CruxNow

The plenary meeting was led by Msgr. Antoine Camilleri, Undersecretary for the Holy See's Relations with States, and Mr. Tzachi Hanegbi, Minister for Regional Cooperation of the State of Israel.

They were continuing negotiations about the Fundamental Agreement between the Holy See and the State of Israel of 1993, Art. 10 paragraph 2, which focuses on good faith and working cooperatively.

The agreement is special because of the "singular character and universal significance of the Holy Land".

In its preamble, the Agreement states it is "Aware of the unique nature of the relationship between the Catholic Church and the Jewish people, and of the historic process of reconciliation and growth in mutual understanding and friendship between Catholics and Jews".

A press release after last week's meeting says "the Plenary was pleased with the progress accomplished at the working level regarding the negotiations, and the cordial atmosphere in which the meetings took place."

After the meeting Hanegbi met Pope Francis briefly during a General Audience in St Peter's Square.

He then spoke to Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, Vatican Secretary for Relations with States.

He said he and Gallagher discussed the previous day's meeting and the progress made towards the conclusion of the Financial Agreements between Israel and the Holy See.

Source

• Zenit
• Vatican.va
• Image: Le Monde Juif

And although there is no official State of Palestine, Issa Kassissieh, the Palestinian ambassador to the Holy See, said the new embassy is "a significant achievement for the Palestinian people."

The Holy See's diplomatic representative (known as the apostolic delegation) said the new embassy is "a natural consequence" of the Global Agreement the Vatican signed in 2015.

In this, the Vatican acknowledged the "State of Palestine" as an official entity.

"It is an effective juridical instrument that assures legal recognition and guarantees to the Catholic Church, its institutions and its communities in Palestine."

The new embassy offers opportunities for formalising communications and providing a direct communication channel between Palestine and the Holy See.

The apostolic delegation said mutual cooperation will be therefore be able to be "activated and developed."

After a meeting with Pope Francis in January, Palestine's President Abbas said Palestinians are "very grateful about the role that the Holy See has played for a just and lasting peace in the Holy Land, and for having opened an embassy of Palestine in the Vatican for the first time."

Source

• National Catholic Register
• Christian Today
• Image: BBC

Archbishop Henryk Hoser will not be investigating apparitions of Our Lady.

He is expected to finish his special posting by the middle of this year.

Vatican spokesman Greg Burke stressed that the envoy's role was not that of an "apostolic visitation".

He said Hoser "won't enter into the merits of the Marian apparitions" which are "questions of doctrine" and so the "responsibility of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith."

Burke said a 2010 to 2014 international commission that investigated the certain doctrinal and disciplinary aspects of the alleged Marian apparitions at Medjugorje was a separate matter and still "under study".

"The Special Envoy of the Holy See will be in contact with the diocesan Bishop; the Franciscans, to whom the parish of Medjugorje is entrusted; and with the faithful" of Medjugorje," Burke said.

Source

• Vatican Radio
• National Catholic Register
• Image: Medjugorje