The Catholic Weekly 19 April 2020

15 19, April, 2020 catholicweekly.com.au In brief Bishop silences pastor A VIRGINIA priest whose popular blog had been critical of American bish- ops’ handling of the sex- abuse crisis has been relieved of his parish as- signment. In February, Father Mark White had been told by Bishop Bar- ry Knestout of Richmond to stop blogging. He com- plied with the order, but asked the bishop’s per- mission to resume post- ing again during the COV- ID-19 shutdown, as a way to communicate with his parishioners. When the bishop did not respond to the request, Father White began blogging again. He has now been transferred to prison ministry. IN THE coronavirus pandem- ic, the sick and dying cannot be denied the sacramental as- sistance of a priest, Cardinal Robert Sarah said in an inter- view publishedThursday. Speaking to French maga- zine Valeurs actuelles , Sarah said that during the coro- navirus emergency “priests must do everything they can to remain close to the faithful. They must do everything in their power to assist the dy- ing, without complicating the task of the caretakers and the civil authorities.” “But no one,” he contin- ued, “has the right to deprive a sick or dying person of the spiritual assistance of a priest. It is an absolute and inaliena- ble right.” In the interview, the Guin- ean cardinal, who is prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, also said he believed many priests had rediscovered their vocation to prayer amid the COVID-19 pandemic. “If [priests] cannot phys- ically hold the hand of each dying person as they would like, they discover that, in ad- oration, they can intercede for each one,” he said, adding that he hoped the sick and isolated would feel connected to their priests through prayer. Sarah also encouraged people living under lockdown to rediscover family prayer. “It is time for fathers to learn how to bless their chil- dren. Christians, deprived of the Eucharist, realise how much communion was a grace for them. I encourage them to practice adoration from home, because there is no Christian life without sac- ramental life.” “In the midst of our towns and villages, the Lord remains present,” he said. The cardinal also noted one positive aspect of the pandemic had been the “spir- it of self-giving and sacramen- tality coming out of hearts.” There is a pressure to suc- ceed and to admire and ap- plaud society’s “winners,” even if success comes at the cost of “crushing others,” he Dying need priests Sick cannot be denied sacramental care by clergy, declares Cardinal Sarah Cardinal Robert Sarah. PHOTO: CNS PHOTO/PAUL HARING said, pointing to the push to euthanase the sick and hand- icapped. “Today, nations are mov- ing to protect the elderly,” the cardinal underlined. “Sud- denly we admire and applaud with respect and gratitude the nurses, doctors, volunteers, and everyday heroes.” “Suddenly, one dares to cheer for those who serve the weakest. Our times thirsted for heroes and saints, but hid it and was ashamed of it.” In the 5,300-word inter- view, Cardinal Sarah also spoke about his book on priestly celibacy, From the Depths of Our Hearts , which was published in February. The book garnered contro- versy over a contribution by Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. Differing views emerged over whether the retired pope had agreed to be listed as a co-author of the book, as maintained by Sarah and the book’s French and English publishers. The cardinal said he was struck by the violent reactions to the content of the book as well, which he and Benedict XVI intended as a “serene, ob- jective, and theological reflec- tion ... based on Revelation and historical data.” “Of course, I have suffered during this period, I felt the attacks against Benedict XVI very strongly,” Cardinal Sarah said. “But deep down, I was es- pecially hurt to see how ha- tred, suspicion and division have invaded the Church on such a fundamental and cru- cial issue for the survival of Christianity: priestly celiba- cy,” he added. He said he regretted that there had been little discus- ¾ ¾ Hannah Brockhaus FIDELITY AND unity can be difficult to maintain in times of trial, Pope Francis said, but he prayed God would give Christians the grace to remain united and faithful. “May the difficulties of this time make us discover communion among us, the unity that is always superior to every division,” the pope prayed on 14 April at the start of his morning Mass at the Domus Sanctae Marthae. In ¾ ¾ Junno Arocho Esteves Pope recommends Mary Magdalene his homily, the pope reflect- ed on the day’s first reading from the Acts of the Apostles, in which St Peter preaches to the people on Pentecost and calls on them to “repent and be baptized.” Conversion, the pope ex- plained, implies a return to faithfulness, which is a “hu- man attitude that is not so common in people’s lives, in our lives.” “There are always illusions that attract attention and many times we want to fol- low these illusions,” he said. Nevertheless, Christians must hold on to faithfulness “in good times and bad times.” The pope recalled a read- ing from the Second Book of Chronicles, which said that after King Rehoboam estab- lished himself as king and the kingdom of Israel was secured, he and the people “abandoned the law of the Lord.” Too often, he said, feeling secure and making grand plans for the future is the path sion of what he considered the most important part of the book: the argument for the re- nunciation of material goods on the part of priests, and re- form based on holiness and prayer. “Our book was meant to be spiritual, theological and pastoral. The media and some self-proclaimed experts have made a political and dialecti- cal reading of it,” he argued. “Now that the sterile po- lemics have dissipated, per- haps we will be able to really read it? Perhaps we will be able to discuss it peacefully?” On the subject of the re- nunciation of goods, the car- dinal also invited priests and bishops in Germany “to ex- perience poverty, to renounce state subsidies.” “A poor Church will not be afraid of the radicality of the Gospel. I believe that often our ties to money or secular power make us timid or even cowardly to proclaim the Good News,” he asserted, say- ing he believed that the Ger- man Church’s wealth tempted it to “change Revelation, to create another magisterium.” Addressing the so-called synodal process in Germany, he said he had the impression that “the truths of the faith and the commandments of the Gospel are going to be put to the vote.” The interview also ad- dressed the 2019 Amazon synod. Cardinal Sarah said some of the negative reactions after the publication of Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation Querida Amazonia made it clear “the distress of the poor had been used to promote ideological projects.” “I would like the synods to be more times of common prayer and not an ideologi- cal or political battlefield,” he noted, explaining that “the unity of the Church is based first of all on prayer.” “If we do not pray together, we will always be divided,” he said. Sarah also expressed the desire for the life of the Roman Curia to be further marked by a common life of prayer and adoration. “I would like the life of the whole Church to be primar- ily a life of common prayer. I am convinced that prayer is our first duty as priests. From prayer will come unity. From prayer comes truth,” he said. Cardinal Sarah called the crisis in the Church “a crisis of faith and a profound crisis of priesthood.” But, he said, Vatican admin- istration is not the centre of the Church. “The centre of the Church is in the heart of every man who believes in Jesus Christ, who prays and worships. The centre of the Church is at the heart of the monasteries. The centre of the Church is above all in each tabernacle because Jesus is present there,” he said. The Church is there to wit- ness to the truth, he conclud- ed. “Christians will always be unworthy of this mission, but the Churchwill always be there to witness to Christ.” - CNA Priest 110th to die THE DEATH of a 46 year old priest in the Archdio- cese of Milan has brought the number of Italian priests who have died because of coronavirus to 110. The news was re- ported by the Avvenire.it website, a news website about the Catholic church owned and operated by the Italian bishops con- ference. to forgetting God and falling into idolatry. “It is so difficult to keep the faith. The whole history of Israel, and then the whole history of the church, is full of infidelity,” the pope said. “It is full of selfishness, full of its own certainties that make the people of God turn away from the Lord and lose that faithfulness, the grace of faithfulness.” Pope Francis encouraged Christians to learn from the example of St Mary Magda- lene, who “never forgot all that the Lord had done for her” and remained faithful “in the face of the impossible, in the face of tragedy.” “Today, let us ask the Lord for the grace of faithfulness, to thank him when he gives us security, but to never think that they are ‘my’ securities,” the pope said. “Ask for “the grace of being faithful even in front of the tomb, in front of the collapse of so many illusions.” - CNS China owe apology Confession in a park “THE CHINESE regime led by the all-powerful Xi Jinping and the CCP ... owes us all an apol- ogy and compensation for the destruction it has caused,” wrote Cardinal Muang Bo of Burma in an op-ed published in ear- ly April. “... This regime is responsible, through its criminal negligence and repression, for the pan- demic sweeping through our streets today,” Cardi- nal Bo said. FR MATTHEW Fish ad- ministrator ofHoly Family Parish in Maryland, USA has set up ‘drive through confessions. “Confes- sions are still allowed by our Archdiocese,” said Fr Matthew. “We have a large parking lot, so ... I jerry-rigged some broom sticks, a hanger rod, some rope and tent stakes, a few cones and lifting plates, and an old curtain, and I had my confessional,” he told media. WORLD