In a letter dated April 30 Francis commended Drachma Parents, an organisation supporting LGBTQ Catholics, for their efforts. He described their work as "very beautiful and good".

In their initial letter to the pope on April 23, Drachma Parents voiced concerns that the Vatican's document, titled Dignitas Infinita, could alienate transgender Catholics and their families. They highlighted potential difficulties remaining in the church and criticised the document's understanding of gender complexities, contrasting it with the pope's inclusive approach.

Grave violations

The Vatican's document, released on April 8, broadens the church's definition of "grave violations" to include issues beyond sexual ethics. It addresses gender-affirming surgery and gender theory alongside topics like war, poverty and sexual abuse.

Drachma Parents raised several criticisms in the letter to Francis, including:

• Concerns over possible rise in homelessness among transgender youth
• Potential increase in hate speech, discrimination and violence
• Moral equivalence drawn between medical interventions for transgender individuals and other grave violations
• Failure to acknowledge transgender persons' pursuit of physical and mental integrity
• Lack of scientific or theological studies cited within the Vatican document

The letter also called for an international symposium on sexual and gender diversity involving LGBTQ individuals, their parents, researchers and theologians.

Intrinsically disordered

Joseanne Peregin, a founding member of Drachma Parents, expressed hope that the document would clarify language surrounding LGBTQ issues. However, she fears it may instead alienate transgender individuals and their families.

In particular, Peregin said the church's use of the phrase "intrinsically disordered" to describe same-sex relations "creates a ripple effect among many millions of faithful because the LGBTQ reality is put in a negative framework".

Drachma Parents viewed the pope's "open heart" response positively.

The group remains committed to supporting LGBTQ Catholics and fostering dialogue with the Church.

"We are determined to continue in our mission to support other parents and continue building a bridge between the LGBTQ community and our Church" the Drachma Parents' letter concludes. "Yes, we still call it 'our Church'."

The National Catholic Reporter examined the correspondence between the pope and Drachma Parents. Drachma has requested that the full contents of Francis' response be kept private.

Sources

National Catholic Reporter

The Malta Independent

CathNews New Zealand

During his two-day visit to Malta, the pontiff visited the Peace Lab in Ħal Far where he met with migrants and warned authorities against becoming complicit in the violation of human rights.

Pope Francis heard the accounts of two men who recounted the arduous journeys they suffered to reach Malta. He was also presented with a life jacket, a symbol of the risks that migrants take when they make the journey to Europe.

Pope Francis told migrants St Paul and fellow castaways had been treated with "unusual kindness" in Malta.

However, the pope's message was not universally welcomed, with several people taking issue with his appeal for solidarity and taking to Facebook to vent their displeasure.

Overwhelmingly, the sentiment among users was that if the pope was concerned with the wellbeing of migrants, then he should "take them back with him to the Vatican". Continue reading

Everyone is deserving of mercy, whether they're foreigners or simply people in need of compassion, he said at the Grotto of St Paul in Rabat.

He went on to speak of Malta's tradition of hospitality that goes back to the time of St Paul, whose ship was wrecked on its coast.

People welcomed Paul and his companions and "treated them with rare humanity, recognising that they were in need of shelter, security and assistance," Francis reminded the crowd.

"No one knew their names, their place of birth or their social status. They knew only one thing - that these were people in need of help."

Francis went on to ask God to help humanity "to recognise from afar those in need, struggling amidst the waves of the sea, dashed against the reefs of unknown shores.

"Let us light fires of fraternity around which people can warm themselves, rise again and rediscover hope. Let us strengthen the fabric of social friendship and the culture of encounter, starting from places such as this."

After leaving the Grotto, Francis paid a visit to migrants at Hal Far's Peace Lab.

Continuing to speak of migrants and of mercy, he urged the faithful to "respond to the challenge of migrants and refugees with kindness and humanity".

Showing his empathy and understanding of migrants' experience, Francis noted the experience of being uprooted and being forced to become a refugee left its mark on those affected.

"Not just the pain and emotion of that moment, but a deep wound affecting your journey of growth as a young man or woman."

It takes time to heal that wound; it takes time and most of all it takes experiences of human kindness.

There's also much to be said for sharing the journey with others. This way, people can experience the benefits of living alongside others, sharing things with them and bearing their burdens together.

There are numerous difficulties faced by refugees and the communities they seek to integrate themselves into, he said.

"I think of these reception centres, and how important it is for them to be places marked by human kindness! We know how difficult that can be, since there are always things that create tensions and difficulties.

"Yet, on every continent, there are individuals and communities who take up the challenge, realising that migrations are a sign of the times, where civility itself is in play." ​

Being patient while building a new life is a reality which can stretch people's coping mechanisms as well, he conceded. But building a new life "takes time, immense patience and above all a love made up of closeness, tenderness and compassion, like God's love for us".

Francis finished telling everyone he dreamed they "who are migrants, after having received a welcome rich in human kindness and fraternity, will become in turn witnesses and agents of welcome and fraternity".​

Source

• Malta Today
• Cruc Now
• Image: ABC News

Maltese judge, Mr Justice Wenzu Mintoff, will preside over the case. His role will include deciding the bank's total losses.

The Vatican statement says the losses are "significant."

It also said the bank is taking the action against "the persons" in Malta to show its commitment to "any appropriate action to protect its financial and reputational interests".

While the Vatican statement is guarded with names and details, various wildly different figures have emerged in the media.

The Daily Mail UK says according to a source close to the matter, the bank invested tens of millions of euros in funds in Malta and other countries in 2012 and 2013 when the bank was without a president.

(In May, 2012, the board of the bank ousted Italian Ettore Gotti Tedeschi by a no-confidence vote. It was not until February 2013 that German Ernst von Freyberg was appointed.)

A Vatican spokesman told the Times of Malta the issue dates back to the beginning of 2013 for investments initially worth €17 million.

The Malta Independent newspaper says Italian news reports state that the total losses suffered by the bank came to upwards of 230 million euros.

The Malta Independent also cites Italian news reports as identifying the investment vehicles as the "Ad Maiora" fund, where money was reportedly invested through Malta-based Futura Funds as well as two companies registered in Luxembourg and two "foreigners".

Magistrates had already found the bank had been embroiled in many Italian financial and international scandals in previous decades, as it was used by outsiders in both Italy and the Vatican either to launder money or evade taxes.

The court case does not yet have a sitting date assigned to it.

Pope Francis, who has said he wants the Roman Catholic Church to be a model of austerity and honesty, has made financial reform a central plank of his papacy.

Source

• The Malta Independent
• Daily Mail
• Times of Malta
• Image: The Malta Independent

In a pastoral letter, Bishop Mario Grech of Gozo wrote that "God's mercy is not only a doctrine alongside the doctrine of marriage and the family, but is at the heart of Christian doctrine".

The pastoral letter was titled "Balm of Mercy for the Family".

Bishop Grech wrote that "it is no secret that there is expectancy about the conclusions of the synod [on the family] regarding the pastoral situation of those who are divorced and are in a second relationship".

"Those who propose that certain barriers between those who are in an ‘irregular relationship', but who believe in Christ as Savior, and the rest of the community, should be removed, are in no way putting at risk the teaching about the indissolubility of marriage.

"[Rather] . . . they are eager to make possible the experience of the balm of God's mercy, particularly that kind of mercy which according to the Tradition of the Church, the penitent accedes to it when he is on the road of conversion, known as the via poenitentialis."

Bishop Grech contrasted this outlook with "the promoters of ‘God's justice' who may feel uneasy when confronted with this pastoral view".

"It is as if we cannot admit that justice is only a small part of mercy. Mercy is much more than that which we attribute to justice."

The bishop noted St Paul's words that "who imbibes from this chalice unworthily, imbibes his own condemnation (1 Cor. 11: 28)".

But Bishop Grech argued against excessive rigidity.

He cited Basil of Caesarea and St Gregory the Great as examples pastoral care for those in problematic marriages, notably following times of persecution.

The bishop hoped the synod would sustain healthy families and find pathways for "those who, in spite of the fact that they did not succeed in their first marriage/relationship . . . hope in God's mercy to savour the delicacies of God love".

He wrote that the Church should help the penitent reconcile with God and the Church "without expecting him to shoulder burdens which he morally cannot do".

Sources

• Malta Independent
• Gozo News
• Image: Malta Independent

American Cardinal Raymond Burke confirmed to the National Catholic Reporter that he has been told he will be removed from his current role.

Asked who told him he would be removed, Cardinal Burke replied: "Who do you think?"

Late last year, Pope Francis removed Cardinal Burke from the Congregation for Bishops.

Cardinal Burke reportedly said he has enjoyed his role at the Apostolic Signatura, which he has held from 2008, and is disappointed to leave it.

"In the Church as priests, we always have to be ready to accept whatever assignment we're given," Cardinal Burke is reported to have said.

The cardinal has yet to receive formal notice of his move.

The Apostolic Signatura is the Catholic Church's highest court.

Rumours have been circulating for weeks inside the Vatican that Cardinal Burke will be assigned as patron of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, which is a largely ceremonial role.

Cardinal Burke has made news frequently in recent days voicing disapproval with the direction of the synod on the family.

He voiced staunch disapproval of the relatio document released at the synod mid-point last week, saying that it would cause confusion among the laity.

This document called on the Church to listen more widely to people's concerns and to apply mercy more generously.

Cardinal Burke said in interviews that the mid-point document was "not of the Church" and that Francis should issue a clarification reaffirming traditional Catholic doctrines.

The mid-point document was eventually superseded by a less liberal final document.

Last month, Cardinal Burke accused sections of the media of trying to hijack the synod.

In 2009, Cardinal Burke called on US bishops to withhold Communion from pro-choice Catholic politicians.

Sources

• National Catholic Reporter
• BBC
• Catholic News Agency
• Catholic News Agency
• Image: Catholic News Agency

The Duke of Cambridge was in the Mediterranean nation representing Queen Elizabeth II at the 50th anniversary of Malta's independence.

He went to a Thanksgiving Mass at St John's Cathedral in Valetta, Malta's capital on September 21.

The Prince sat next to the British High Commissioner and a few seats from Malta's president Marie Louise Coleiro Preca.

Principal celebrant at the Mass was Archbishop Paul Cremona of Malta.

A Buckingham Palace spokeswoman said this was the first "public" Mass the Prince has attended.

Aides told media that Prince William might have attended Masses privately in the past.

In a private capacity, Prince William might have attended the Requiem Mass for Frances Kydd, his Catholic maternal grandmother, at the Catholic Cathedral in Oban on June, 2004.

In Malta, Prince William was travelling alone, without his wife, Catherine, and 14-month-old son George.

Catherine, who is pregnant, was supposed to go to Malta on what would have been her first solo official visit.

But she withdrew because of ongoing morning sickness.

At a function with the Maltese president, Prince William apologising to waiting crowds that he was standing in for his wife, but joked that Malta "might not survive baby George".

"There's too many precious things around here," he joked with the president.

Bishop Charles Scicluna, auxiliary bishop of Malta, said: "I told the Duke that the Duchess was very much in our prayers and she has the prayers of the Maltese people."

"It is wonderful time extending one's family. [The Prince] said 'Fingers crossed, she'll be better soon'."

When Prince William ascends the British throne he will inherit the title of supreme governor of the Church of England.

He also has strong Catholic links because he is distantly related to Fr Ignatius (George) Spencer, whose cause for sainthood is presently being considered by the Vatican.

A great-great-great uncle of the Prince's mother, Diana, Fr Spencer was an Anglican vicar before he became a Catholic at the age of 31, then a priest and ultimately a Passionist.

Sources

• Catholic Herald
• Daily Mail
• Times of Malta
• Image: Royalista

Bishop Mario Grech of Gozo in Malta made the call during a homily on the feast of Our Lady of Victories.

"I have in my heart all those who are victims of atrocity, fighting in Iraq and Syria, but particularly to our fellow Christians. In the words of Pope Francis, these persecuted Christians are in the heart of Mother Church," the bishop said.

Bishop Grech asked how it was possible to stay passive when countless Christians are being killed or exiled for their faith.

"Each parish should adopt a family and undertake to provide accommodation where they live and the means to live," he said.

"I know that our people have a big heart and could be generous with those in need," he added.

The bishop said he would write to civil authorities and the apostolic nunciature to tell them of the parishes' readiness to help.

Continue reading

Scicluna, who was dubbed "promotor of justice," worked directly under then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI.

"He carried out this role very differently to others, both within the Vatican and outside," said Iacopo Scaramuzzi, a journalist from the independent online newspaper Linkiesta.

"With determination, humanity and without diplomatic hesitation... the Maltese prelate had shown himself, in all these years, to have been a great man," Scaramuzzi was quoted in a report in Malta Today.

Andrea Tornelli of La Stampa said Scicluna "embodied the line of zero tolerance of sexual abuse against minors, adopted by Benedict XVI and supported the Pope's efforts to change canonical laws and existing laws and above all, the mentality: he placed special emphasis on the suffering of abuse victims and promulgated a series of 'emergency' laws.

"Not surprisingly, these special laws sparked an internal debate in the Holy See," Torneilli was quoted as saying.

The report said "a grand career" in the Vatican appears to have been "somewhat punctured" by his appointment as auxiliary bishop of Malta.

Sources

• Malta Today
• AP/Washington Post
• Image: Malta Today

In the referendum the people voted by a majority of 54%, to allow couples to divorce after at least four years of separation; when 'there is no reasonable hope' of reconciliation.

Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi, who campaigned for a 'No' vote, said: "The referendum outcome is not the one I wished for, but the will of the majority will be respected and parliament will enact legislation for the introduction of divorce."

The Catholic Church did not campaign over the issue before the referendum, but the Archbishop of Malta, Mgr Paul Cremona warned in a letter that voters faced a choice between "building and destroying family values".

The vote was seen as a test of the influence of the Catholic Church in a country where Roman Catholicism is the state religion, 98% of the population are Catholic, and 72 percent of people say they go to Mass on Sundays. Nearly all marriages are held in a church.

The Mediterranean island of 400,000 people was the only country in Europe not to allow divorce. Apart from a brief period when the island fell under Napoleon's rule for about two years, divorce has never existed legally there.

Divorce became leal in the Republic of Ireland in 1995, but still not permitted in Vatican State and the Philippines.

Sources

• Independent Catholic News
• The Guardian
• Image: Times of Malta