Salvo, the name of this 30-something man who signed up for confession at the prison where I serve as a chaplain, kept on speaking.

I wasn't sure whether he was talking to God or to me. I just nodded.

Moments earlier, my hands were placed over his, which were in handcuffs, before he held them in front of his face to pray, half in English, half in Spanish.

The two of us, he in his orange jumpsuit and me in my black clerical shirt and trousers, sat next to each other at one of the hexagonal metal tables in the middle of the cell block, visible to other inmates in the tiers above and below us.

Some of them peered out of the small plastic windows on their cell doors.

The guard who brought Salvo down from "the Hole" 15 minutes earlier, after shackling his hands and feet with chains, glanced up from his desk about 10 yards away from us as I placed my hands back on the table.

I was aware of how intimate this praying looked. I didn't mind. The tears said it all, to God if not to anyone else.

Today was a day of tears.

Unusual for the men in prison, most of whom have to keep up a tough front. Often, they keep this stance with me too, even when in private, let alone when I meet them on the cell block instead of my office, as I have to meet those who are in protective custody.

I believe if they can find one space to weep and be real with another person and before God, it will lead to their peace of mind and ability to be strong.

I wait for them to pull themselves together before they go back to their cells.

The whole dynamic of hearing confessions in prison is incredible.

Quite a few guys have told me that they believe God got them into prison to save them from heading in the wrong direction.

I use this awesome role of confessor to encourage them to foster this spark of God's love for them, not to waste it.

To ask for forgiveness from Jesus who came for this reason. And most of all, to be determined to continue this prayer relationship with God that they have discovered on the inside of the prison when they get outside.

Usually when I finish a visit with one of them, whether it is a formal confession or not, I say, "Do you want to pray?"

"Yes," they invariably say, as though it is normal for two men to share their souls together.

I open my hands on the table between us, face up. As though they are children, they place their hands in mine.

I have no idea what these hands may have done — robbed? Sold drugs? Abused someone? "Go ahead," I say, waiting for them to start.

"Oh no, you do it," most respond.

"No, you do it," I say.

But I usually have to. They aren't quite ready to launch out into this God territory with a virtual stranger, even one they amazingly trust because I am "Father" to them.

I bow my head, feeling the calloused hands of a tough guy who would ordinarily never be resting his hands in another's so vulnerably. Continue reading

• Paul Morrissey, O.S.A., is a priest in residence at St. Augustine Church in Philadelphia, Penn. He served as a Catholic chaplain at the Philadelphia Prison from 2007 to 2019. This article has been excerpted from his forthcoming memoir Touched by God: Confessions of a Prison Chaplain.

The purpose of their visit was to urge Francis to publicly apologize for the abuse that their ancestors - and even some of them - suffered at residential schools run by the Catholic Church.

But can a pope really ask for forgiveness when it's been the Vatican's practice to leave the appropriateness of such apologies up to local bishops? And in what cases have popes issued their own apologies in the past?

Paul VI was the first Roman Pontiff to ask forgiveness of past wrongs. He did so in 1965 during a visit to Jerusalem when he and Patriarch Athenagoras I of Constantinople made an important "gesture of justice and mutual pardon" through a joint Catholic-Orthodox declaration.

The two Church leaders expressed "regret" for the "offensive words" and "reprehensible gestures" that marked a "sad period" culminating in their predecessors' reciprocal excommunications in 1054.

"The words are not the same as today, we do not speak of apologies, but we must take into account that it was 60 years ago," explained Father Bernard Ardura, president of the Pontifical Committee for Historical Sciences.

"This declaration was indeed a request for mutual forgiveness," he pointed out.
Slave trade

Two decades later, John Paul II made another type of apology during a visit to Cameroon.

During a meeting in 1985 with intellectuals and Catholic students in Yaoundé, the Polish pope addressed the painful history of slavery.

"Throughout history, people belonging to Christian nations have unfortunately not always behaved well, and we ask for forgiveness from our African brothers who have suffered so much, for example, from the slave trade," he said.

It repeated those sentiments during a 1992 visit to Senegal, but this time his words were addressed to God.

"From this African sanctuary of black pain, we implore heaven's forgiveness," John Paul II said on the island of Gorée, a historic site of the French slave trade in the 17th and 18th centuries.

"These men, women and children were victims of a shameful trade, in which people who were baptized, but not living their faith, took part," he continued.

"How can we forget the enormous suffering inflicted, in disregard of the most basic human rights, on the populations deported from the African continent? How can we forget the human lives destroyed by slavery," the late pope said.
The turning point of the year 2000

John Paul II continued this work of critical examination of the past. In particular, he gave his personal backing to a 1998 symposium on the Inquisition.

That same year he also embraced, as his own, a statement on anti-Semitism that was issued by the International Catholic-Jewish Liaison Committee.

The Great Jubilee of the Year 2000 marked a very important step in this process.

At a Mass in Rome on the March 12 "Day of Forgiveness", the pope implored "divine forgiveness for the sins of all believers".

"Let us forgive and ask forgiveness," John Paul II said.

In particular, he implored forgiveness for "the divisions which have occurred among Christians".

"The recognition of past wrongs serves to reawaken our consciences to the compromises of the present, opening the way to conversion for everyone," he said on that occasion.

"We must ask ourselves what our responsibilities are regarding atheism, religious indifference, secularism, ethical relativism, the violations of the right to life, disregard for the poor in many countries," he insisted.

This request also went hand in hand with the Church's "forgiveness" of those who had persecuted Christians throughout history.

"At the same time, as we confess our sins, let us forgive the sins committed by others against us," John Paul said.
"Distinguishing between error and those who commit it"

Other apologies would follow, including in the current pontificate.

For example, Pope Francis asked forgiveness of Italian Protestants in 2015 and specifically begged "forgiveness for the sin committed by those who have gone before us" during a 2017 symposium on Luther that was held at the Vatican.

Father Ardura said this move towards asking for pardon was all made possible by John XXIII.

"In his encyclical Pacem in terris, published in 1963, he clearly states that a distinction must always be made between error and those who commit it, 'even in the case of those who err regarding the truth or are led astray as a result of their inadequate knowledge, in matters either of religion or of the highest ethical standards'," the historian explained.

By restating this ancient distinction in a major papal document, the late Italian pope opened the possibility for the Church to ask for forgiveness.

"It is therefore possible to condemn the Church's error without condemning the Church itself," Father Ardura noted.

But he said this should be something that is done only rarely, otherwise it will lose its value.

"The pope cannot ask for forgiveness for everything, otherwise it would considerably dilute the significance of these requests," he said.

"That's how we became capable of distancing ourselves 70 years ago. But the request for forgiveness is only one step," the Vatican historian continued.

"After forgiveness comes reconciliation. And that can still take years."

Source

• La Croix
• Image: Catholic News Agency

The Catholic bishops who responded to the Commission were unable to convince the commissioners that the seal of confession should continue to be respected, at least in some circumstances.

As a result of the recommendations of the Royal Commission, now in a majority of Australian states and territories when a priest in administering the sacrament becomes aware that a child has been sexually abused, he must bring such an incident to the attention of the police.

This has placed the Catholic clergy in a difficult situation. On the one hand, they will incur automatic ex-communication if they breach the inviolability of the seal of confession, even in cases of child sexual abuse.

On the other hand, they will face judicial penalties and even imprisonment if they do not notify the police of any incidents of child sexual abuse, even if such incidents have only been revealed under the seal of confession.

To escape the horns of this dilemma, I have heard of some priests who have stated that they will no longer 'hear confessions' — administer the Sacrament of Penance.

In other cases, some priests have stated that they will not grant absolution — an integral part of the Sacrament — to a penitent involved either as a perpetrator or a victim in child sexual abuse unless such a penitent agrees to repeat the information to the priest outside the confessional context.

By this strategy, the seal of confession will not be violated when the priest refers the incident to the police.

But, of course, the penitent may refuse to cooperate with this strategy and the priest will then remain caught on the horns of the dilemma.

A further casualty of all these developments has been the Sacrament of Penance itself. As a result of the pandemic, like other religious observances, its availability has been drastically curtailed, and it is unlikely that recourse to the sacrament will be as frequent as previously even when the restrictions are lifted.

Further, the confidence of the laity in the inviolability of the seal has, understandably, been undermined, a consequence of which may again be that recourse to the sacrament will be in decline.

These are matters, I suggest, that should be addressed by the upcoming Plenary Council. It is a recent situation specific to the Australian Church and one to which a remedy should be sought.

The Plenary Council would seem to be an appropriate forum in which to address these matters — the inviolability of the seal, the more limited availability of confessors and the decline in the practice of the sacrament.

For a short period in the late 1980s and 1990s the so-called 'Third Rite of Reconciliation' was made available at specific times in the liturgical year, usually in Lent and Advent, in preparation for Easter and Christmas.

It was popular with Australian Catholics. Penitential liturgies incorporating the Third Rite were instituted in most parishes.

Instead of individual face-to-face encounters with a priest in the privacy of the confessional, penitents as a congregation were invited to recall their sins mentally, express their contrition communally and receive a common absolution and penance.

Many Catholics who had not 'confessed' for many years took advantage of the Third Rite.

Appeals to reinstate the practice have, apparently, been summarily dismissed

This widespread use of the Third Rite was brought to the attention of the Roman authorities.

When the Australian bishops made their ad limina visit to Rome in November, 1998, they were admonished that this widespread use 'not infrequently occasioned an illegitimate use of general absolution'.

They were instructed in effect to eliminate the practice and adhere strictly to the relevant canons in the Code of Canon Law (1983).

As a result, the practice of the Third Rite disappeared virtually overnight. Subsequent appeals to reinstate the practice have, apparently, been summarily dismissed.

The relevant canons in the Code are canons 961 and 962 and read as follows:

Canon 961:

General absolution, without prior individual confession, cannot be given to a number of penitents together unless:

• danger of death threatens and there is not time for the priest or priests to hear the confessions of the individual penitents;
• there exists a grave necessity, that is, given the number of penitents, there are not enough confessors available properly to hear the individual confessions within an appropriate time, so that without fault of their own the penitents are deprived of the sacramental grace or of holy communion for a lengthy period of time. A sufficient necessity is not, however, considered to exist when confessors cannot be available merely because of a great gathering of penitents, such as can occur on some major feast day or pilgrimage.
• It is for the diocesan bishop to judge whether the conditions required in n 2 are present; mindful of the criteria agreed with the other members of the Episcopal Conference, he can determine the cases of such necessity.

Canon 962:

• For a member of Christ's faithful to benefit validly from a sacramental absolution given to a number of people simultaneously, it is required not only that he or she be properly disposed, but be also at the same time personally resolved to confess in due time each of the grave sins which cannot for the moment be thus confessed.
• Christ's faithful are to be instructed about the requirements set out in n1 as far as possible even on the occasion of general absolution being received. An exhortation that each person should make an act of contrition is to precede general absolution, even in the case of danger of death if there is time.
• This letter of the law is very restrictive, even more restrictive than its source: 'The Rite of Penance', authorized by the Sacred Congregation of Divine Worship in 1973 and the 'Normae Pastorales' of the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in 1972.

In both of these instructions the Third Rite, while extraordinary, is at least acknowledged as an alternative in certain circumstances. The Code subsequently defined these circumstances very strictly.

The principle behind the canons turns on the availability of priests to minister to the number of penitents within a circumscribed time.

The current situation in Australia where the seal of confession is under threat is not obviously a candidate for the standard exercise of the Third Rite.

Priests who in the current climate have decided not to make themselves available for face-to-face confession may create a temporary situation of non-availability, particularly in remote areas, but in virtually all instances another priest could be contacted in a short time to substitute and fill the vacancy.

It would be interesting to speculate, however, if all the priests in a particular diocese or region declared themselves 'non-available', whether this would constitute a legitimate instance in terms of the canons for the exercise of the Third Rite.

Take, for instance, an inner-city, or even some outer-suburban, parishes, where there are still a significant number of penitents and where, presumably, the probability of an incident of paedophilia being confessed is more likely — anonymity is a central consideration here.

Let us suppose for a moment that because of the threat to the seal of confession all the priests who minister the sacrament of Penance at one or other of these parishes declare themselves unavailable and no substitutes from the Melbourne archdiocese were willing for the same reason to step into the breach.

Would this justify the Archbishop in instituting the Third Rite?

A desire for forgiveness and reconciliation

It is an unlikely scenario, and, granted the intransigence of the Roman authorities in this matter, I doubt whether they would countenance such an exception as canonically legitimate.

Perhaps a more viable approach would be to seek an interpretation or an extension of, or an addition to, the notion of availability such that it encompasses situations where face-to-face confession is liable to expose the confessor to the dilemma of either ecclesial or secular penalties.

Although the threat to the seal of confession is confined to the Australian states currently, I suspect that it is only a matter of time before increasingly secularized jurisdictions are going to see the exemption as an anomaly and revoke it, at least in respect of certain abhorrent crimes like child sexual abuse.

So, there may be new reasons to revisit the relevant canons, and the Roman authorities may be more sympathetic to such revisions than heretofore.

Further, a relaxation of the canonical strictures to make the Third Rite more available might arrest the decline in recourse to the Sacrament of Penance.

When in the 1990s the Third Rite was instituted more widely, even though it was confined to Lent and Easter, it was remarkable how many penitents emerged 'out of the woodwork'. It was, I believe, evidence of a consciousness of sin and a desire for forgiveness and reconciliation.

I suspect/hope those sentiments are still alive in the Catholic community.

The prospect of face-to-face confession, however, is daunting, especially if there has been a long interval since the previous confession, and if the seal is suspected to be compromised by the recent legislation.

And there is some evidence that some women, in particular, find face-to-face confession to a male priest in the confines of a confessional especially daunting.

So, while it is understandable that proponents of face-to-face confession — the First Rite — should continue to insist that it should remain the preferred option, it cannot be denied that as a result of a number of circumstances — closure of churches during the pandemic, the threat to the seal of confession, the more limited availability of priests — the practice of the First Rite, 'auricular confession', is in virtually terminal decline.

Granted this situation, would not a more relaxed set of canonical conditions for the exercise of the Third Rite be a way in which the centrality of the Sacrament of Penance be restored to the Catholic consciousness?

Perhaps this is a recommendation which, in view of the specific current situation in Australia, the Plenary Council could bring to the attention of the Roman authorities and hope for a sympathetic response.

• Bill Uren SJ AO is a Jesuit Priest, Scholar in Residence at Newman College at the University of Melbourne and Former Rector of the College, Jesuit Theological College and former Provincial of the Australian Jesuits. He is a graduate of the Universities of Melbourne, Sydney, Oxford and the Melbourne College of Divinity. He has lectured in moral philosophy and bioethics at the Universities of Melbourne, Murdoch and Queensland, and has served on over a dozen clinical and research ethics committees in universities, hospitals and research institutes.
• First published in La-Croix International. Republished with permission.

Pope Francis says what being elected does do, is make a pope's responsibilities greater and his prayer list longer.

As far as sin's concerned though, Francis says he's basically the same person he was before he was elected in 2013.

"The mere fact that I now dress all in white has not made me any less sinful or holier than before."

Being elected pope hasn't changed his experience of God, either, he says.

"I guess my experience of God hasn't fundamentally changed.

"I speak to the Lord as before. I feel God gives me the grace I need for the present time. But the Lord gave it to me before. And I commit the same sins as before.

"I am and I remain a sinner. That's why I confess every two weeks."

Speaking of St. Peter's insecurities and sometimes-wobbly commitment to the Lord, Francis says "There is no magic in being elected pope. The conclave doesn't work by magic."

Popes need people to pray for them, Francis says.

They need the grace that comes from this.

In this respect he says Catholics need to learn the art of the "the prayer of intercession," courageously and boldly holding up someone else's needs to God and asking God to intervene.

The global network Apostleship of Prayer, which is now known as the Pope's Worldwide Prayer Network, encourages people to pray for the pope's intentions and specifies a new intention each month, Francis says.

"It is important that people pray for the pope and his intentions. The pope is tempted, he is very besieged: Only the prayer of his people can free him, as we read in the Acts of the Apostles. When Peter was imprisoned, the church prayed incessantly for him.

"If the church prays for the pope, this is a grace," he says.

"I really do feel the need to beg for prayer all the time. The prayer of the people is sustaining."

Source

• National Catholic Reporter
• Image: Catholic Online

We are unlikely as a Church or as a society to get this right for quite some years to come.

Unlike the apology to the stolen generations or the apology for forced adoptions, this apology will be delivered in the hope that those from institutions which have done wrong stay away or at least not be publicly identifiable.

The government website states:

'The national apology is a day for survivors, families and supporters.

"Community consultations have made it clear that representatives from institutions in official attire risk traumatising survivors.

"Accordingly, institutions will not be represented at the national apology in Canberra.

"Members of institutions who wish to attend apology events in their personal capacity as a survivor, or as a support person to a survivor, are respectfully asked to not wear a uniform or any clothing that identifies their institution."

So let's continue to feel shame as members of the Church and let's recommit to justice, truth and healing.

As we look at our church structures and the past cover ups or downplaying of abuse that occurred, let's take to heart Jesus' words in today's gospel (Mark chapter 10 verses 35-45):

'You know that those who are recognised as rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones make their authority over them felt.

But it shall not be so among you.

Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all.'

We are fortunate that our bishops finally agreed to release the reports of our Truth Justice and Healing Council.

One of those reports contained personal testimonies by members of the Council.

This evening, I would like to quote from just four of those testimonies. I will not quote any bishop. I will not quote any man. Let me just quote from four of the women on the council.

Maria Harries, who is a professor of social work and the chair of my board at Catholic Social Services Australia, said:

'I still need to be convinced that the structures of the church implicated in their permitting of such abuse and the protection of perpetrators will really reform itself. Change is obligatory, and it is differentially confronting and frightening for various elements of our church. The recognition of the problems we face as a church is a good start to finding solutions.'

Marian Sullivan, a child psychiatrist, said:

'The royal commission has challenged many parts of Australian society and its institutions.

"The Catholic Church has been scrutinised extensively and critiqued harshly.

"As a member of the Council I have moved from a disposition of disappointment with the Church to one of satisfaction that the Church represented by the Council has unflinchingly faced the shame of its past behaviour and any inadequacies of redress.

"Although not widely acknowledged, the cooperation that the Council gave to the royal commission has been exemplary and is proof of our resolve.'

Maree Marsh, a Brigidine Sister and psychologist, said:

'The church cannot undo all of the harm done in the past, but it has the responsibility to do all that is within its power to create an environment in which people will treat other people with respect, dignity and justice.

"The healing that is necessary involves a long process and will take courage, compassion, openness and patience.

"Above all it will take faith — faith in one another and faith that God is with us in this journey.'

This evening whether victim, relative, bystander, or church official we can all identify with the suffering servant in Isaiah (Isaiah chapter 53 verses10-11):

The Lord was pleased to crush him in infirmity.

If he gives his life as an offering for sin, he shall see his descendants in a long life, and the will of the Lord shall be accomplished through him.

'Because of his affliction he shall see the light in fullness of days; through his suffering, my servant shall justify many, and their guilt he shall bear.'

May the Lord have mercy on us all.

May the day come when church officials and victims will be comfortable in each other's presence in our Parliament even if not in our Church.

But let's dare to pray that all might belong both in the galleries of our Parliament and in the pews of our Church seeing the light in fullness of days.

• Fr Frank Brennan SJ is the CEO of Catholic Social Services Australia. A former professor of law at Australian Catholic University and Adjunct Professor at the Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture the above text is taken from is his homily for the 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Holy Trinity Catholic Church, Curtin.
• Originally published in Eureka Street. Republished with permission of author.

Other times, the effect can be to reopen debates from the past which, not so long ago, seemed definitively closed.

That latter scenario may be unfolding in Australia right now, pivoting on once-intense debates over the so-called "Third Rite" of confession, meaning a form of the sacrament celebrated in group form rather than individually.

The Catholic Church in Australia has been living through such a great shock for at least the last five years, after a government-led Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse was established, which took an especially close look at the Church and its failures.

In the end the commission issued 189 recommendations for reform, including 80 that are specific to the Church.

While the Australian bishops on August 31 said "yes" to some 98 percent of those recommendations, it was their one "no" that's produced an avalanche of outrage and commentary Down Under - their refusal to erode the seal of the confessional to require confessors to report admissions of child abuse to civil authorities.

Mandatory reporting

Recently, the Labor-led government of the Australian state of Victoria announced it would overhaul existing law to mandate that priests who learn about child abuse in the confessional and fail to report it to the police will face up to three years in prison.

"The safety of children is our highest priority and our biggest responsibility - people in religious ministry are not exempt from this," said Victoria's Minister for Children Jenny Mikakos.

In the tempest that's followed, some progressive-minded Aussie Catholics with long memories are suggesting that had their bishops not caved into the Vatican two decades ago over the "third rite," we wouldn't be having this conversation.

In general, the Church recognizes three forms the sacrament of confession, or reconciliation, can take:

1. Individual confession, where the penintent approaches a priest individually, confesses his or her sins, and is absolved.
2. A community gathering featuring an opening hymn, a greeting by the priest, and a prayer. The priest allows a brief time of personal reflection after the homily. Then each person confesses to a priest individually and receives absolution.
3. A service in which there is no individual confession. The priest gives a general absolution of sins after the community have reflected privately and said a prayer expressing their repentance.

Using the Third rite

That "third rite" theoretically is only supposed to be used in emergency situations, such as soldiers heading off into battle or a disaster with eminent threat of death. (Think the deck of the Titanic.)

In Australia in the period after the Second Vatican Council, however, the third rite became widespread, in part as a pastoral response to rural areas where there simply weren't enough priests to offer individual confessions on a regular basis.

In part, too, it was justified by post-Vatican II understandings that sin isn't just individual but also collective and structural. It was seen as a more effective way, for instance, of doing penance for the mistreatment of the country's aboriginal people.

In the late 1990s, the Vatican clamped down aggressively on the use of third rite in Australia, which was part of a wider thrust back to more traditional modes of worship and sacramental practice known as the "Liturgy Wars" in the late Pope John Paul II years.

The rollback in Australia caused wide protest, but over time the third rite gradually became less and less common.

Now, however, some Australian Catholics who agree with the Royal Commission that there should be no space in the Church where a veil of secrecy applies to child abuse are floating the idea of bringing back the third rite.

I spoke to a veteran religious sister in Melbourne on Thursday, for instance, who told me that "if the Vatican had just left us alone, we wouldn't be in this mess."

Whatever the merits of that argument, it doesn't cut much ice with Archbishop Anthony Fisher of Sydney. Continue reading

• Image: Spirit Science

This particular superpower is not the result of radioactive mutation or dark magic.

It has to do with his priesthood, but it is not the Holy Spirit, exactly.

It is the Sacrament of Reconciliation—or a side effect thereof.

It is hearing confessions.

Father Brown does not violate the seal of the confessional, thank goodness.

He never reveals what he is told.

But he can occasionally take a hint from privileged information that comes by way of a parishioner, something that helps him comprehend the goings-on of his community as no one else can. (He also benefits from a confessor's keen awareness of human frailty.)

In the stories, this is mainly for the good—more mysteries solved. But what good could be done if his superpower were shared more widely?

Confession: It's done and dusted

Confession has been falling out of use altogether.

There are various theories as to why; surely our need for repentance is not on the decline.

Some say it is because of an ego-centered culture that teaches people they can do no wrong.

Maybe that is part of it, but I think there are more charitable explanations, too.

For instance, many families have come to teach their children to communicate more on the basis of mutual respect than hierarchical roles. For their own safety, many people are also raised to avoid becoming too vulnerable among those with authority over them.

I know I find it easier to allow myself to be vulnerable when the people around me are on the same level and are vulnerable, too.

Compounding this, young people often face a daunting generation gap with priests in whom they are expected to confide.

It is not the priests' fault, but a lack of comfort with a priestly one-on-one could end up keeping people from the grace of the sacrament.

Rediscovering the sacrament

Perhaps it is time to explore ways of rediscovering the sacrament.

Perhaps confession deserves a wider repertoire.

The "reconciliation" we are talking about, remember, is not simply reconciliation with a priest.

We confess sins to seek forgiveness from God and realignment with the church, the community.

Christ entrusted the apostles with the keys to guide each other through the world and toward our God.

In the confessional, the priest represents this power, and he represents the community of the church.

One reason we confess to a person and not just to God in private prayer is to acknowledge our responsibility to set an example for fellow Christians, as best we can, of repentance and humility.

The Book of James instructs, "Confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed."

The church is more than any one priest, but current practice inclines us to forget this. Continue reading

"You are always welcome," South Korea's Archbishop Hyginus Kim Hee-jong was told when he asked if President Moon Jae-in could visit.

Last month Moon, who is a practising Catholic, sent Archbishop Kim to the Vatican on his behalf.

Kim is South Korea's first-ever envoy to the Vatican.

"I was sent by the president to ask the Holy Father for his support [and prayers] in the reconciliation process between North and South Korea, and I hope the Vatican can act as a mediator," he says.

The mediation "could be the same as the mediation made during the restoration of relations between Cuba and the Unites States," he suggests.

During his week-long trip, Kim met Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican Secretary of State and spoke briefly with Francis.

He says the scheduled talk he and Parolin had stretched from 15 to 45 minutes.

Kim says Parolin wanted an in-depth briefing about the situation in South Korea and the relations with the North.

"He agreed [with the South Korean stance] that dialogue is the only way out," Kim says.

In his five-minute conversation with Francis, Kim says "the Pope seemed very interested in the details [of the problems on the Korean peninsula].

He says he asked Francis to "offer blessings for the new president to complete his missions".

In response, Francis said is taking a special interest in Korea and the church.

"He also wished the new government under President Moon Jae-in to do well," Kim says.

Francis gave Kim a Rosary to take to Moon and reportedly said, "The more difficult the situation, the more it should be resolved through dialogue rather than arms."

Ultimately, Moon would like to reopen borders and possibly meet North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un.

The international community is wary of Moon's stance, with the North's recent missile launches prompting increasingly tough sanctions from the UN Security Council.

Source

• Korean Herald
• Yonhap News Agency
• CatholicCulture
• Catholic News Agency
• Image: The Hankyoreh

This is one of a number of the Pope's initiatives that aim to bring SSPX into full communion with the Church.

A letter from the Vatican to Catholic bishops said they will be allowed to appoint priests to assist at SSPX marriages.

These priests will formally receive the couples' consent. The nuptial Mass then would be celebrated by the SSPX priest.

Francis has also allowed bishops to enable an SSPX priest to officiate validly over the marriage rite.

However, this would only be "if there are no priests in the diocese" available to do so.

The letter also mentions Pope Francis's decision last December to grant all SSPX priests the faculty to validly administer the Sacrament of Penance to the faithful.

This was "to ensure the validity and liceity [i.e. lawfulness or legitimacy] of the Sacrament and allay any concerns on the part of the faithful."

Cardinal Gerhard Müller, who wrote the letter on Francis's behalf, closes it by saying:

"In this way any uneasiness of conscience on the part of the faithful who adhere to [SSPX] as well as any uncertainty regarding the validity of the sacrament of marriage may be alleviated ...

" ...and at the same time that the process towards full institutional regularization may be facilitated"

Source

• Catholic Herald
• Vatican Radio
• Image: Catholicism without Compromise

The reconciliation took place on Sunday.

The chairman of the Vanuatu Christian Council, Pastor Allan Nafuki, said they would not support the ceremony and instead plan a march for all Christians in Vanuatu next Friday.

The want to send out a message that Vanuatu is a Christian country.

Earlier this year Nafuki said Vanuatu must amend its law on ‘Religious Rights' by inserting the word ‘Christian Country' into its Constitution.

He said leaders might reason that Vanuatu is a democratic country but on the contrary they should consider countries like Greece where only a certain number of religious faiths are allowed into their country.

About 83% Vanuatu's population is Christian.

The 2009 census di not seek data about the Muslim community. However it is reported that there are about 200 Muslim converts. Other sources put it as high as 1000.

The Moslem population is centred on the village of Melle, near Port Villa.

The first mosque in Vanuatu was built there in 1992.

It is just a small building painted white, green, like a very simple house.

Other mosques in the island of Tanna and Erromango Island.

Source

• radionz.co.nz
• republika.co.id
• dailypost.vu
• bujangmasjid.blogspot.co.nz
• Image: bujangmasjid.blogspot.co.nz

The reconciliation means that the sisters will resume their programs inside the jail.

They were stopped earlier in the year after an attack on the sisters' residence.

In April, 12 armed men drove into the Sisters of Mercys' compound in Goroka. They brutally assaulted three sisters and stole personal items like laptops, mobile phones and cash money.

One of the attackers had been caught after a police road block while the others are still on the run.

Sister Maryanne Kolkia, pictured above, was beaten up during the burglary.

At the reconciliation meeting in the prison she told the prisoners that they should appreciate the work the sisters do and make use of what they have to offer.

"We the Sisters of Mercy and other churches and non-governmental organisations are doing these work for you the prisoners to benefit from," she said.

"We do not expect anything from you in return but the way several criminals are targeting us is a concern that needs to be addressed."

The reconciliation was organised by the jail commander Superintendent Simon Lakeng at the jail.

Lakeng thanked the Sisters for their faithfulness in assisting prisoners.

Source

postcourier.com.pg

tokstret.com

Image: cathnews.com

Organisers of a week of reconciliation ceremonies held in Solomon Islands say the programme is a first step towards national healing.

Coinciding with the celebration of the countries 38th Anniversary of Independence last Thursday, the program marked 13 years of peace in the country after a bloody ethnic conflict at turn of the century.

Spanning five years from 1998 to 2003 the period known locally as the 'ethnic tensions' almost destroyed the country.

More than 200 people were killed, many of whom are still unaccounted for and tens of thousands of lives were adversely affected.

Fr John Patteson Ngalihesi, the National Peace Advisor to the Ministry of National Unity Reconciliation and Peace said the $US750,000 program was an important first step to healing a damaged nation.

Radio New Zealand's correspondent in Honiara said there has been controversy surrounding the events which do not include the two biggest provinces Malaita and Guadalcanal.

Following the one week reconciliation programme in Honiara the Government is planning to extend its reconciliation efforts to neighbouring Papua New Guinea and the Autonomous Bougainville Region.

Ngalihesi said resolving past differences "is the only path to true peace and security in the border regions."

"We had Bougainvilleans here during the one week reconciliation, they come as observers...so together we can do peace building on the border between PNG and Solomon Islands a bit better and in a way that can promote and harness peace among our people."

Described as the largest conflict in Oceania since WWII, the Bougainville war raged for a decade from 1988, with thousands of lives lost. It also saw serious skirmishes with Solomon Islands border police on the PNG/Solomon Islands border.

Source

• solomontimes.com
• radionz.co.nz
• pina.com.

He said this during his speech at Teituno village in the Wisai area of Buin in south Bougainville while witnessing a reconciliation ceremony in May.

The reconciliation saw the families of late Raphael Duake and Lucy Rukume who are brother and sister coming together once again after a ten year conflict that kept them disunited.

The conflict that affected the livelihood of the two families and the people of Wisai arose from differences and misunderstandings between the two families.

This led to killings that saw both families losing their loved ones.

The reconciliation ceremony began with a para-liturgy led by Unabali followed by a buai chewing and tree planting ceremonies.

In his speech, Bishop Unabali challenged the people of Bougainville to be true witnesses of peace.

Almost every family in the islands of Bougainville, an autonomous region of about 300,000 people in the Pacific Island state of Papua New Guinea, has a story to tell of death and suffering during the decade long civil war (1989-1998), known as ‘the Crisis'.

Yet fifteen years after the 2001 peace agreement, there is no accurate information about the scale of atrocities which occurred to inform ongoing peace and reconciliation efforts being supported by the government and international donors.

Now members of civil society and grassroots communities are concerned that lack of truth-telling and transitional justice is hindering durable reconciliation.

"I believe there should be a truth telling program here and I think the timing is right," Helen Hakena, Director of the Leitana Nehan Women's Development Agency, a local non-government organisation, told Inter Press Service.

"It is nearly twenty years [since the conflict] and some people have moved on with their lives, while there are others who have just cut off all sense of belonging because they are still hurting."

Unabali, concurs. "Truth is absolutely necessary, there is no doubt it is an absolutely necessary thing for peace and justice," he declared.

Source

• wantokniuspepa.com
• ipsnews.net
• Image: screenshot: youtube.com

According to the statement, issued by SSPX superior general Bishop Bernard Fellay, the society "does not primarily seek recognition from the Vatican".

Bishop Fellay met Pope Francis for the first time in April.

For the Year of Mercy, Pope Francis granted faculties to SSPX priests to offer absolution of sins.

In the statement, Bishop Fellay said "a large number of pastors, including the Pope himself" have encouraged errors.

The bishop said a "painful confusion" currently reigns in the Church.

He affirmed that, in such times, the proclamation of Catholic doctrine requires the denunciation of such errors.

The statement did not specify the "errors" it was referring to.

And it didn't say how the the society believes Pope Francis is encouraging them.

The SSPX society "has a right" to full canonical recognition, Bishop Fellay stated.

But its primary aim is to teach the fullness of Catholic faith, "which shows the only route to follow in this age of darkness in which the cult of man replaces the worship of God, in society as in the Church".

"The 'restoration of all things in Christ' . . . cannot happen without the support of a pope who concretely favours the return to sacred tradition," the statement said.

"While waiting for that blessed day, the Society of St Pius X intends to redouble its efforts to establish and to spread, with the means that divine providence gives to it, the social reign of Our Lord Jesus Christ."

The statement added: "The Society of Saint Pius X prays and does penance for the Pope, that he might have the strength to proclaim Catholic faith and morals in their entirety."

The statement was issued after a meeting of the group's leaders from 25-28 June.

Sources

• National Catholic Reporter
• Catholic Herald
• The Tablet
• DICI (Statement from SSPX)
• Image: Inside the Vatican

All that self-abnegation stuff can be another product of the annoying ego, the I, me, my aspect of my primal instinct for survival. If I'm focussing intently on myself in this negative way, I'm not thanking God for creating me. Nor am I expressing gratitude for the harder lessons in life.

Instead, I can get into low self-esteem and project that on others. In an inverse way, my me first instinct can prevent me from directly experiencing God's love.

Certainly the ego needs to be managed, but we should never allow it to divide us. In a battle of self against self, who ends up the loser?

As children, we were socialised at an early age. Some things were good, attached to "Yes." Other things were bad and connected to "No." Remember that? As we grew in experience and could evaluate situations for ourselves, the black and white values of infancy, became multi-coloured and some choices needed careful discernment.

Every now and then we made the wrong choice. We wounded ourselves and maybe someone else. We felt regret, sought forgiveness. Then came the valuable resurrection experience. We realised we'd learned more from that mistake, than we'd learned from several right choices.

So how does this fit with our desire to grow in faith? Maybe we can describe it with a parable.

Our lives are like lovely patchwork quilts, a variety of shapes and shades stitched together with faith. There are patches vibrant with colour, some fabrics smooth and silky, some strong, some delicate, others that are dark or rough in texture. Together they make wholeness.

If I look at my quilt of life, it is the dull and rough patches that are the most interesting, because they have been the greatest teachers. They have enabled me to bring new fabrics to the quilt. I think this is called redemption.

But surely, if I try to unpick and remove a patch I don't like, all I will do is leave a hole, damaging the entire pattern of patches.

So I say thanks to God for the awkward patches and integrate them with my gratitude. This, I think, is called reconciliation.

We are both the quilt and the quilt maker. And what is the purpose of the patchwork quilt? If we extend the metaphor, we see it wrapping our precious little soul that has been brought into incarnation. I like to think that as the quilt grows, so does the soul.

That is a satisfying image, but what do we do about that annoying ego? Any attention we give the me first instinct, be it positive or negative, will only feed it.

Perhaps the answer is quite simple. We just laugh at it.

Joy Cowley is a wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and retreat facilitator.

The letter, titled, "Be Merciful", notes the interest in the jubilee Year of Mercy throughout the Catholic world.

The bishops state that "as a way of life, mercy directs our outlook and our expectations, reflecting a particular view of the world and other people".

The "merciful do not ignore or minimise wrong-doing".

Rather, the merciful "seek to understand before judging, and, wherever possible, are ready to excuse".

"The strength of gentleness empowers the merciful.

"The way of mercy flows from the sacred scriptures that tell of God's love for our world - a love revealed above all in the gift of Jesus who came not to condemn but to save, not to weigh down but to lift up and set free."

The bishops state that mercy is a personal choice, but it is not an easy one.

"I have to forgo my ‘right' to be annoyed, to be angry, to want revenge!

"Yet it is by letting go of these ‘rights' that we find true joyfulness in living.

"As this Holy Year of Mercy continues, we should each give ourselves generously to the sacrament of Reconciliation, seeing it as an opportunity for wholehearted thanksgiving no less than for sincere sorrow.

"This is not an encounter to be feared, but rather a home-coming to anticipate with joy.

"You will find a ready welcome from any priest you approach."

The bishops note that "the merciful are people in touch with their own weakness and therefore they do not expect perfection in others".

The bishops explain that being "merciful to me" is not a call to "go easy on me", "but rather a plea for help to become better, stronger, more capable of contributing to life".

The bishops encourage people to visit diocesan cathedrals with friends, family and other parishioners and to pass through the holy doors of mercy.

These doors "reveal a path to the risen, glorified Christ waiting to welcome you - whatever your failings - into the presence of love, the presence of mercy".

Sources

• Tauranga Catholic
• Image: Reconciliation.org

It had taken several days to gear myself up for Confession, but when I arrived at the National Shrine in Walsingham a coachload of nuns had just disembarked and got to the confessionals ahead of me. I was at the back of a very long queue, and the nuns were taking their time.

"What can nuns possibly have to confess?" I thought testily, before telling myself off for ignorance and impatience. I silently recalled Sheen's words. After all that nun popcorn, the priest wouldn't know what had hit him when I walked in with my confession.

I was on holiday in the area. Walsingham was a place my mum used to take me to as a child and we used to have frequent family holidays on the north Norfolk coast. I'd always loved the shrine at Walsingham; its silence and simplicity. So when I found myself alone in the area for a week, it seemed the obvious place to go.

At the time I was being slowly drawn back to the Catholic Church after years of estrangement during my teens and twenties. I'd started praying and saying the rosary again, and skulked at the back of the church during Mass, reminding myself of the liturgy and what to do. The last step before receiving Communion again was Confession. And boy, was it going to be a big one.

It felt as if I had fallen so far. I knew objectively that God's mercy was assured, waiting for me if only I reached out and asked for forgiveness. But really feeling it - feeling myself truly forgiven - was something I could scarcely believe possible. My sins were just too big. How could He possibly forgive what I was about to confess?

I had killed someone. Worse, in fact. I had killed the most vulnerable someone it was possible to kill: my own baby, at eight weeks gestation. And in the years following that abortion, I'd gone off the rails and totally lost my way. The sin just spiralled until I was in such a dark place there seemed no way back. Continue reading

• Laura Keynes is a freelance writer based in Cambridge.

It didn't take me long to discover how the two world views collide at the mention of just one word: Confession.

Picture me not so very long ago on the naughty step at Westminster Cathedral for my first Confession following nine months of the RCIA.

I was about tenth in an ever-lengthening queue and wondering if the Catholic Church might want to change its mind about having me at this late stage.

I recall feeling uncomfortable and a little bit vulnerable about being so visible. Do I really have to do this? I asked myself. I'm not such a bad person, am I?

That day I was still (just) an Anglican, part of a particular church's family, a regular worshipper infused with all the cultural certainties of being a certain kind of Christian as defined by the English Church.

And yet, when I look back on the extent to which I have become assimilated into a new spiritual environment since then - over and above its rituals, worshipping norms and dogma - I truly believe that the strongest affirmation that I was right to take the plunge came when I first encountered the Sacrament of Reconciliation, only to realise what I had been missing before.

Oddly enough, it is Anglican friends who have prompted me to try to articulate why this might be so. So thanks, you Anglican sceptics, for pointing me towards far greater revelations than I could have imagined were about to come my way.

Some friends said: "It seems strange to ask a priest for forgiveness when you've already apologised to God, don't you think?"

Others asked: "Doesn't receiving an arbitrary absolution when you are free to repeat your misdemeanour seem like a cop-out?"

Others still said: "Isn't it unhealthy and bad for your self-esteem to dwell on what you might have done wrong?" Continue reading

• Jane Taylor is the author of the novel Over Here. The above article is from the Catholic Herald.

Speaking after presiding at an ordination Mass at St Peter's Basilica on April 26, the Pope also warned the newly ordained against being vain priests.

"A priest is ugly who lives for his own pleasure," Pope Francis said, adding that such a priest "acts like a peacock".

Francis also said priests should nourish God's people with their homilies, while making sure they are not bored.

Ensure "that your homilies are not boring; that your homilies reach the heart of the people, because they come from your hearts," he said.

"What you say to them is what you have in your heart."

In Reconciliation, priests are called "to forgive, not to condemn", the Pope said.

Continue reading

In line with society's greater recognition of the devastation wrought by child sexual abuse, a recent Synod has sought to remove any impediment to good professional practice and individual conscience by allowing individual priests to report on serious crimes they may have learnt about through confession.

It has not taken long for commentators to wonder if the much slower moving Catholic Church will eventually follow suit.

Thus, while Alison Cotes congratulates the Anglican Church in Australia for giving short shrift to the inviolability of confession, she also wonders if "in the fullness of time, the Roman Catholic Church will also see that what was good theology in 1215 may not be so useful, or even moral, 800 years later."

In an atmosphere of disgust and disappointment at the shocking betrayal of so many vulnerable parishioners on the part of abusers in the clergy, some tangible show of genuine reform on the part of the institutional Church is sorely needed.

Bishops and priests need to be seen to be walking with Pope Francis in living out the Gospel, creating an environment of blessing for little children.

As Cotes reminded us, Jesus even taught that millstones should be placed round the necks of those who would scandalise the little ones, not that they should remain in office or be shifted around and hence be given new opportunities to prey.

The Pope has assured sex abuse survivors that bishops will be held accountable, but whether his personal commitment to child safety can reach into the wider institutional culture remains to be seen.

As an old Anglo-Catholic boarding school girl, Cotes knows enough to realise that change is easier to come by among Reformed Anglicans than it is among Roman Prelates. Continue reading

Sources

• ABC Religion and Ethics
• Image: Catholic Education Daily