Sally Axworthy, the British ambassador to the Holy See and a supporter of women in leadership, has said she believes the Vatican is making progress and finds the Catholic Church, particularly women religious, to be a key partner in fighting plagues such as slavery and human trafficking.
Gushing winds took over the Eternal City this week, accompanying the close of a month-long summit of Catholic bishops on young people. Braving the weather, with habits flapping under heavy gusts, representatives of religious sisters from around the world met Tuesday to discuss the synod’s legacy and challenges.
With all of the dialogue, with all of the interventions, with all of the relations from the bishops and delegates in the Vatican Synod on the Youth that is currently ongoing this month, what the average Catholic in the pew and, indeed, what the average Catholic priest in the parish needs, more than anything and more than ever, is to know what exactly the goals and objectives of the Catholic Church are and are not.
Bishop Frank Caggiano of Bridgeport, Connecticut, has become one of the most closely watched American prelates at a time when the Church in the United States is in full crisis mode, making it perhaps unsurprising that he was the first bishop to raise the issue of clerical sex abuse during this month’s Vatican summit on young people.
Australian Archbishop Peter Comensoli’s message to delegates at the Synod of Bishops on young people was a call to action for a young Church reignited by a “Gospel fire,” harkening back to the days of Pentecost when the Church itself was first young.
In an interview with The Tablet, Sister Nathalie — who is serving as an auditor during the synod — said that the mission of her office has been “to help young people have a personal relationship with Jesus.”
Pope Francis kicked off this month’s much-anticipated summit of bishops from around the world by saying he hopes both young people and the Church’s synod fathers can have “the capacity to dream and to hope” together.
ANYONE LOOKING FOR a remedy for insomnia might try working through the Instrumentum Laboris (IL), or “working document,” for the XV Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, to be held in Rome next month on the theme “Young People, the Faith, and Vocational Discernment.”
Amidst a growing clerical sexual abuse crisis, questions have arisen as to how it will impact an upcoming summit of bishops to be held in Rome in October.
Pope Francis has ratified the members elected by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) to represent the United States at Synod of Bishops Oct. 3-28.
