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May 26, 2015
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he Valley Catholic
Blessed Teresa’s Canonization in 2016 only Hypothetical, says Vatican
By Laura Ieraci
Catholic News Service
VATICAN CITY -- Despite reports in
the Italian press that Blessed Teresa of
Kolkata’s canonization has been set for
Sept. 4, 2016, a Vatican spokesman says
the date is only hypothetical and cannot
be confirmed.
Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi issued a statement May 19 in response to
media reports that the founder of the
Missionaries of Charity, who worked
among the poorest of the poor, would be
canonized before the end of the upcoming Holy Year of Mercy.
“It is a working hypothesis, therefore there is no official confirmation to
be given,” said Father Lombardi. “The
cause for Mother Teresa is still underway and it is therefore premature to
speak of an already established date for
the canonization.”
But Italian media have reported that
Archbishop Rino Fisichella, president
of the Pontifical Council for the New
Evangelization, told Rome’s municipal
officials May 18 that Mother Teresa’s
canonization has been set for Sept. 4,
2016. Archbishop Fisichella’s office is organizing the Holy Year of Mercy, which
will begin Dec. 8, 2015.
According to the Italian newspaper
Corriere della Sera, the archbishop also
told city officials that the relics of St.
Padre Pio, a Capuchin priest who bore
the stigmata of Jesus, will be brought to
Rome from southern Italy for veneration
by the faithful. The date for the translation of the relics has not yet been set.
With large crowds expected for both
events and throughout the Holy Year,
Archbishop Fisichella reportedly asked
on behalf of the Vatican that city officials
guarantee all pilgrims health care during
the Holy Year. The Italian newspaper also
reported that the archbishop asked the
municipality to clear out the street vendors around St. Peter’s Square, who tend
to gouge pilgrims with overpriced goods.
Less than two weeks earlier, at
May 5 news conference at the Vatican,
Archbishop Fisichella did not confirm
a canonization date for Mother Teresa,
saying only that the canonization was
hoped for.
Officially, a second miracle still must
be approved to open the way for Mother
Teresa’s canonization. However, Pope
Francis has previously waived steps
required for sainthood for other holy
men and women.
Canonizations that are approved
without meeting all of the requirements
set by church norms are called equivalent or equipollent canonizations. Pope
Francis has approved at least seven
equivalent canonizations during his
two-year pontificate: Angela Foligno,
Peter Faber, Jose de Anchieta, Marie
of the Incarnation, Francois de Laval,
Joseph Vaz and Junipero Serra.
Pope John Paul II had already made
an exception to the rules in Mother
Teresa’s case by allowing her cause
Be Joyful Shepherds, Trust Your Laity, be Concrete
By Cindy Wooden
Catholic News Service
VATICAN CITY -- Bishops must
have “ecclesial sensitivity,” being bold in
denouncing cultural trends that offend
human dignity, but also trusting their
lay faithful to fulfill their vocations in the
world, Pope Francis said.
“Ecclesial sensitivity” involves taking
on “Christ’s attitudes of humility, compassion, mercy, concreteness and wisdom,”
www.valleycatholiconline.com
the Pope, who is Bishop of Rome, told
the other bishops of Italy May 18, opening their annual general assembly at the
Vatican.
Part of “ecclesial sensitivity” is “reinforcing the indispensable role of the laity
willing to take on the responsibilities that
belong to them,” he said. “In reality, laypeople who have an authentic Christian
formation do not need a ‘bishop-pilot’ or
a ‘monsignor-pilot’ or clerical input to assume their responsibilities at every level
from the political to the social, from the
economic to the legislative. Instead, they
need a ‘bishop-pastor.’”
During their meeting May 18-21, the
bishops were to discuss how their faithful have received Pope Francis’ apostolic
exhortation, “The Joy of the Gospel,” and
look at ways to implement its teaching.
Pope Francis told them, “At this
moment of history when we often are
surrounded by discouraging news, by
local and international situations that
make us experience affliction and tribulation -- in this
framework that truly is not
comforting -- our vocation as
Christians and as bishops is
to go against the tide.”
Bishops, and all Catholics
with them, are called “to be
joyful witnesses of the risen
Christ in order to transmit joy
and hope to others.”
“It is awful,” he said, to
meet a bishop, priest or religious who is “beaten down,
unmotivated or exhausted.
He i