Pope Francis asks for prayers for the victims of terrorist attacks

Vatican City, 17 December 2014 (VIS) – The Pope, at the end of today's general audience, asked for prayers for the victims of the inhuman terrorist acts that have occurred in recent days in Yemen, Australia and Pakistan. “May the Lord receive the souls of the departed in His peace, console their families and convert the hearts of the perpetrators, whose violence does not cease even before children”.

At the end of the audience, 2,500 people danced the milonga to the sound of the bandoneon in St. Peter's Square to celebrate Pope Francis' 78th birthday. The initiative, “A tango for Francis”, emerged on the social networks and, as was shown today, thousands of people joined in.

Completion of the Commission for the Protection of Minors

Vatican City, 17 December 2014 (VIS) – The Holy Father has nominated new members of the Commission for the Protection of Minors, chosen from various parts of the world, so as to allow a broad representation of different situations and cultures. The Commission therefore composed as follows:

Cardinal Sean O'Malley, OFM Cap., president

Mons. Robert Oliver (United States), secretary

Rev. Luis Manuel Ali Herrera (Colombia)

Dr. Catherine Bonnet (France)

Marie Collins (Ireland)

Dr. Gabriel Dy-Liacco (Philippines)

Prof. Sheila the Baroness Hollins (England)

Bill Kilgallon (New Zealand)

Sr. Kayula Gertrude Lesa, RSC (Zambia)

Sr. Hermenegild Makoro, CPS (South Africa)

Kathleen McCormack (Australia)

Dr. Claudio Papale (Italy)

Peter Saunders (England)

Hon. Hanna Suchocka (Poland)

Dr. Krysten Winter-Green (United States)

Rev. Dr. Humberto Miguel Yanez, SJ (Argentina)

Rev. Dr. Hans Zollner, SJ (Germany)

The next plenary session of the Commission will take place, as previously stated, in the Vatican on from 6-8 February 2015.

Brief information on members of the Commission is given below.

Cardinal Sean O'Malley, OFM Cap. (United States), archbishop of Boston, serves as the president of the Commission and is a member of the Council of Cardinals which advises Pope Francis.

Msgr. Robert Oliver (United States) serves as the Secretary of the Commission, following many years in child protection work for the Archdiocese of Boston, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith as the Promoter of Justice.

Rev. Luis Manuel Ali Herrera (Colombia) is the Director of the Department of Psychology, professor of pastoral psychology in the Conciliar Seminary of the Archdiocese of Bogota, and as a parish priest.

Dr. Catherine Bonnet (France) is a child psychiatrist, psychotherapist, researcher, and author on child sexual abuse and perinatal violence and neglect.

Marie Collins (Ireland) is a survivor of child sexual abuse. A founder Trustee of the Marie Collins Foundation she served on the committee which drafted the Catholic Church’s all-Ireland child protection policy, “Our Children Our Church.”

Dr. Gabriel Dy-Liacco (Philippines) is an adult and adolescent psychotherapist and pastoral counsellor for various mental health concerns including of individuals, couples, families and groups, including victims and perpetrators of abuse.

Prof. Sheila the Baroness Hollins (England) has worked as a psychiatrist and psychotherapist with children and adults with intellectual disabilities including those who have been sexually abused, and is a life peer in the House of Lords.

Bill Kilgallon (New Zealand) is Director of the National Office for Professional Standards of the Catholic Church in New Zealand where he has lived for the last four years. Prior to that he had a long career in social work and health services in the UK.

Sr. Kayula Gertrude Lesa, RSC (Zambia) is a development professional, trainer and author on child protection, human trafficking, refugee rights and the right to information. She served as a member of the African Forum for Church Social Teaching (AFCAST).

Sr. Hermenegild Makoro, CPS (South Africa) is a member of the Missionary Sisters of the Precious Blood in the diocese of Mathatha in South Africa. She works as a high school teacher and for several years in the diocese as a trainer in pastoral work. After serving as an Associate Secretary General of the Southern African Catholic Bishops Conference for six years, Sr. Hermenegild was appointed as the Secretary General of the SACBC in 2012.

Kathleen McCormack (Australia) is a social welfare worker who served as Director of Welfare of Catholic Care in the Diocese of Wollongong for 29 years and held leadership roles in Family Services, Child Protection, Out Of Home Care and Ageing and Disability Services.

Dr. Claudio Papale (Italy) is a canon lawyer and a civil lawyer, professor of canon law at the Pontifical Urban University, and an official of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

Peter Saunders (England) was abused throughout his childhood in Wimbledon, South West London. Later in life, after earning a Business Studies degree, Peter discovered that he was one of millions who had suffered such abuse and who could not find any appropriate support. So he set up NAPAC, the National Association for People Abused in Childhood, for supporting all survivors and for developing greater resources for responding to child abuse.

Hon. Hanna Suchocka (Poland) is a professor of constitutional law and specialist in human rights at the University of Poznan, and was formerly Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland and Ambassador of Poland to the Holy See.

Dr. Krysten Winter-Green (United States) is a New Zealander with post-graduate degrees in Theology, Human Development, Social Work, Religion and Pastoral Psychology. She has served in dioceses around the world with homeless persons and those living with AIDS. Krysten’s concentration in the areas of child abuse include forensics, assessment and treatment of priest/clergy offenders.

Rev. Dr. Humberto Miguel Yanez, SJ (Argentina) is Director of the Department of Moral Theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University, professor of moral theology at the Gregorian and the Pontifical Urban University, and former Director of the Centre of Research and Social Action in Argentina.

Rev. Dr. Hans Zollner, SJ (Germany) is President of the Centre for Child Protection of the Pontifical Gregorian University and Director and Professor of the Institute of Psychology. He was Chair of the organising committee for the Symposium “Towards Healing and Renewal” on sexual abuse of minors (February 2012).

Other Pontifical Acts

Vatican City, 17 December 2014 (VIS) – The Holy Father has appointed:

- Msgr. Adelar Baruffi as bishop of Cruz Alta (area 16,790, population 401,000, Catholics 321,000, priests 32, religious 50), Brazil. The bishop-elect was born in Garibaldi, Brazil in 1969 and was ordained a priest in 1995. He studied philosophy at the University of Caxias do Sul and theology at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul, and holds a licentiate in theological anthropology and spiritual theology from the “Teresianum” Pontifical Theological Faculty, Rome. He has served in a number of pastoral roles, including spiritual assistant, coordinator of formators and rector of the minor seminary and the preparatory course, rector of the major seminary, coordinator of diocesan presbyteral pastoral ministry, parish vicar and member of the council of presbyters and the College of Consultors. He is currently parish vicar of the “Santo Antonio” parish in Bento Goncalves.

- Fr. Onecimo Alberton as bishop of Rio do Sul (area 8,909, population 321,000, Catholics 263,000, priests 64, religious 212), Brazil. The bishop-elect was born in Orleans, Brazil in 1965 and was ordained a priest in 1992. He studied philosophy at the Universidade do Sul, Tubarao, and theology at the Theological Institute of Santa Catarina, Florianopolis, and has served in a number of roles, including: parish priest of the “Nossa Senhora da Natividade” parish, Cocal do Sul Criciuma; formator in the minor and major seminaries of Criciuma; rector of the “Bom Pastor” seminary, Florianopolis. He is currently parish priest of the “Sao Paulo Apostolo” parish in Criciuma. He succeeds Bishop Augustinho Petry, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese upon reaching the age limit was accepted by the Holy Father.

- Msgr. Jean-Marc Eychenne as bishop of Pamiers (area 4,903, population 154,546, Catholics 107,400, priests 46, permanent deacons 13, religious 80), France. The bishop-elect was born in Pamiers, France in 1956 and was ordained a priest in 1982. He holds a baccalaureate from the Faculty of Theology of Milan, and has served in a number of roles, including: master of novices of the Communaute Saint-Martin, teacher at the Higher Institute of Religious Sciences and formator of seminarians at the Communaute Saint-Martin in Genoa; parish vicar of Madeleine in Orleans-Checy, parish priest in the “Saint-Yves de la Source” parish and episcopal vicar for the pastoral area of Val-de-Loire et Sologne. He is currently vicar general of Orleans, France.

Presentation of the Final Report of the Apostolic Visitation of Institutes of Women Religious in the United States of America

Vatican City, 16 December 2014 (VIS) – This morning a press conference was held in the Holy See Press Office to present the Final Report of the Apostolic Visitation of Institutes of Women Religious in the United States of America.

The speakers in the conference were Cardinal Joao Braz de Aviz, prefect of the Congregation for the Institutes of Consecrated Life and the Societies of Apostolic Life; Archbishop Jose Rodriguez Carballo, O.F.M., secretary of the same congregation; Mother M. Clare Millea, A.S.C.J., director of the Apostolic Visitation in the United States; Sister. Sharon Holland, I.H.M., president of the “Leadership Conference of Women Religious” (LCWR); Sr. Agnes Mary Donovan, S.V., coordinator of the “Council of Major Superiors of Women Religious” (CMSWR), and Fr. Thomas Rosica, C.S.B., assistant to the Visitation Committee.

Cardinal Braz de Aviz explained that the Visitation was initiated “because of our awareness that apostolic religious life in the United States is experiencing challenging times. Although we knew that any initiative of this magnitude would have its limits,we wished to gain deeper knowledge of the contributions of the women religious to the Church and society as well as those difficulties which threaten the quality of their religious life and, in some cases, the very existence of the institutes.

“Our final report on the Apostolic Visitation is addressed to the women religious of the United States as well as to the Church’s Pastors and faithful. In addition to publishing this general report, our Dicastery will send individual reports to those institutes which hosted an on-site visitation and to those institutes whose individual reports indicated areas of concern. We will also send letters of thanks to those institutes which participated in the first two phases of the Visitation. … We are aware that the Apostolic Visitation was met with apprehension by some women religious as well as the decision, on the part of some institutes, not to collaborate fully in the process. While this was a painful disappointment for us, we use this present opportunity to express our willingness to engage in respectful and fruitful dialogue with those institutes which were not fully compliant with the Visitation process”.

The cardinal went on to remark that Pope Francis had asked the dicastery, in close collaboration with the Congregation for Bishops, to update the curial document Mutuae Relationes regarding the collaboration among bishops and religious, “in accord with the Church’s resolve to foster the ecclesial communion which we all desire”. He concluded by expressing his joy at Pope Francis' many recent statements about “the indispensable and unique contributions of women to society and the Church. I assure you that this Congregation is committed to collaborate in the realisation of Pope Francis’ resolve that 'the feminine genius' find expression in the various settings where important decisions are made, both in the Church and in social structures. We will continue to work to see that competent women religious will be actively involved in ecclesial dialogue regarding “the possible role of women in decision-making in different areas of the Church’s life”.

Archbishop Jose Rodriguez Carballo, O.F.M, secretary of the Congregation, then went on to present an overview of the final report. He explained that the dicasteries of the Apostolic See regularly authorise Apostolic Visitations, which involve sending one or more visitors to evaluate an ecclesiastical entity in order to assist the group in question to improve the way in which it carries out its mission in the life of the Church. “In some ways, however, this Apostolic Visitation was unprecedented. It involved 341 religious institutes of women religious which engage in apostolic ministry and which have a generalate, provincialate and/or initial formation program in the United States. Both diocesan and pontifical right institutes, to which approximately 50,000 women religious throughout the United States belong, were part of the Visitation. Each province of institutes which had more than one province in the United States was considered a separate unit, for a total of 405 entities involved in the Visitation. Our dicastery appointed a woman religious from the United States, Mother Mary Clare Millea, A.S.C.J., as Apostolic Visitator, granting her the faculties to design and carry out the Visitation. She, in turn, chose a core team of American religious who assisted her throughout the process”.

“The Visitation took place between 2009 and 2012 and was divided into four phases. In the first phase, 266 superiors general (78% of their total number) voluntarily engaged in personal dialogue with the Visitator. Subsequently, all major superiors were asked to complete a questionnaire requesting empirical data and qualitative information regarding the spiritual, community and ministerial life of the individual institutes. On-site visits were then conducted in a representative sample of 90 religious institutes, representing about half of the apostolic women religious in the United States. In the final phase of the Visitation, the Visitator submitted to our dicastery a final general report on the major issues and trends in women’s religious life in the United States. While these trends cannot be presumed to apply to each of the institutes, they were significant enough to warrant mention in her report”.

“The document we are presenting today is our Congregation’s response to the Vistitator’s general report. Following a brief introduction, it describes the rationale and offers an overview of the Visitation process. It then briefly treats the principal issues evaluated during the Visitation process: empirical data, charism and identity, vocations and religious formation, Christ-centred prayer, community life and ministry, governance and financial stewardship, collaboration in the evangelising mission of the Church and ecclesial communion. On each of these topics, a point of reference is given in the form of a brief statement of current Church teaching on the issue being reviewed. This is followed by a summary of the Visitator’s overall evaluation of the reality. The third part of each section contains the Congregation’s recommendations to all religious institutes regarding that issue”.

Archbishop Rodriguez Carballo added that “any oral summary of the Apostolic Visitation during this press conference would risk impoverishing its content. The full text of the Report will be made available for consultation at: www.vatican.va, www.uisg.org, www.vidimusdominum.org, www.lcwr.org, www.cmswr.org, and www.usccb.org) and will be sent to all the participating religious institutes.

The Visitator, Sr. M. Clare Millea, A.S.C.J., remarked that the Visit had provided many opportunities for “reflection, dialogue and communion among women religious in the United States as well as with the Church's pastors and lay faithful. Congregation leaders, including those who at first expressed resistance to this initiative, have shared that the process has yielded surprising positive results, such as honest confrontation with the transformative power of the Word of God, deep spiritual conversations with our sisters about the life, witness and message of our foundresses and founders, earnest delving into Church documents about consecrated life, increased solidarity among women religious and renewed desire to move beyond attitudes which prevent us from being in communion with one another, a wonderful outpouring of loving gratitude expressed to women religious by bishops, clergy and laypersons, which has sparked new energy and resourcefulness among us and awakened a renewed interest in the promotion of vocations to the religious life”.

Other Pontifical Acts

Vatican City, 16 December 2014 (VIS) – The Holy Father has appointed Fr. Samson Shukardin, O.F.M., as bishop of Hyderabad (area 137,386, population 22,309,840, Catholics 47,242, priests 30, religious 89), Pakistan. The bishop-elect was born in Hyderabad, Pakistan in 1961, gave his solemn vows in 1991 and was ordained a priest in 1993. He holds a diploma in theology from the National Catholic Institute of Theology in Karachi and a licentiate in civil law from the Sindh Law College, and has served in a number of pastoral roles, including parish vicar in Gujrat, procurator of the Franciscan province, and custodian of the Franciscan Order and president of the Conference of Major Superiors in Pakistan. He is currently parish priest of the “St. Elizabeth” parish in Hyderabad, diocesan director of the Commission of Justice and Peace, and vicar general of the diocese of Hyderabad. He succeeds Bishop Max John Rodrigues, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese upon reaching the age limit was accepted by the Holy Father.