Pope Francis at the Wednesday general audience in St. Peter's Square on May 24, 2023. / Daniel Ibanez/CNA

Vatican City, May 24, 2023 / 09:25 am (CNA).

Pope Francis has established that the auditor general of the Holy See will continue to carry out its tasks during a sede vacante.

A sede vacante is the period between the death or resignation of a pope and the election of his successor. According to Holy See law, during a sede vacante, “all heads of curial institutions and members cease from their office,” though secretaries “attend to the ordinary governance of curial institutions, taking care of ordinary business only.”

Francis ruled that the Office of the Auditor General, which does not have a secretary, may also continue its “ordinary administration” in the case of a vacant papal see.

The auditor general is responsible for auditing the financial statements of the Holy See and the Vatican City State.

It was also responsible for precipitating the investigation into the Secretariat of State’s controversial investment in a London building — a purchase now at the heart of a major Vatican finance trial.

The IOR, commonly called the Vatican bank, first agreed to give a loan to the Secretariat of State for the mortgage on the London property. But the IOR suddenly changed course and made a report to the auditor general, who investigated.

The pronouncement was part of a May 24 rescript on the tasks of the Office of the Auditor General signed by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, secretary of state. The rescript was issued following an April 24 meeting between Parolin and Pope Francis.

The pope said in light of the provisions of the Church’s apostolic constitution Praedicate Evangelium, “the ordinary administration, in case of a vacant Apostolic See, would not be interrupted and that the function of control would continue to be exercised by the Office of the Auditor General under the supervision of the Cardinal Camerlengo.”

The camerlengo is responsible for overseeing the preparations for a papal conclave and managing the administration of the Holy See during the sede vacante.

Pope Francis has also decided to change part of an article in the statutes of the Office of Auditor General.

According to the rescript, after analyzing suspicious activity reports, the auditor general will no longer present them to a special commission of the councilor for general affairs of the Secretariat of State, the secretary prelate of the Council for the Economy, and the secretary of the Secretariat for the Economy. 

Instead, using the wording of Praedicate Evangelium in paragraph 2 of article 224, the auditor will present a report of the suspicious activity notifications to the prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy, and if he deems it necessary, to the cardinal coordinator of the Council for the Economy.

This change means the Secretariat of State does not receive a report from the auditor on the suspicious activity notifications the office has received.

Suspicious activity reports that have been substantiated should continue to be transmitted to the proper judicial authorities, the rescript added.

The pope’s rescript on the function of the Office of Auditor General comes as a former Holy See auditor and his deputy sue the Secretariat of State for wrongful dismissal.

Libero Milone and Ferruccio Panicco filed the multimillion-dollar lawsuit in November 2022; after several roadblocks, the case has had court dates this year.

The two are seeking compensation for loss of earnings, damage to their reputations, and emotional suffering, which they claim they bore after being forced from their jobs in 2017.

Milone said soon after stepping down in the middle of his five-year mandate that he was “threatened” into resignation by an “old guard” opposed to his work.

Cardinal Angelo Becciu, then second-in-command at the Secretariat of State, has been said to be responsible for the firing of Milone.

Becciu told Reuters in 2017 that Milone “went against all the rules and was spying on the private lives of his superiors and staff, including me.” 

The cardinal has pointed to Pope Francis, claiming the pope told him he no longer had trust in Milone and wanted Becciu to tell the auditor he should resign. 

Pope Francis spoke about apostolic zeal and the example of Korean martyr St. Andrew Kim Taegon at the Wednesday general audience in St. Peter's Square on May 24, 2023. / Vatican Media

Vatican City, May 24, 2023 / 05:26 am (CNA).

St. Andrew Kim Taegon and the other Korean martyrs teach us to have courage when sharing the Gospel, even in the face of difficult situations, Pope Francis said on Wednesday.

At his weekly public audience May 24, the pope spoke about the first Korean-born Catholic priest, who was tortured and beheaded near Seoul, South Korea, in 1846 at the age of 25.

St. Andrew Kim Taegon was canonized in 1984 with 102 other Korean martyrs.

Pope Francis pointed out that about 200 years ago in Korea, Christianity was severely persecuted.

“At that time, believing in Jesus Christ in Korea meant being ready to bear witness even unto death,” he said.

“No matter how difficult the situation may be — and indeed, at times it may seem to leave no room for the Gospel message — we must not give up and we must not forsake pursuing what is essential in our Christian life, namely evangelization,” the pope said.

He recalled an event from St. Andrew Kim’s life that illustrates the quality of never giving up.

When the Korean Catholic was a seminarian, he needed to find a way to secretly welcome foreign missionary priests to Korea, since foreigners were forbidden from entering the country.

“One time,” Francis said, the saint “walked as the snow was falling, without eating, for so long that he fell to the ground exhausted, risking unconsciousness and freezing.”

“At that point, he suddenly heard a voice, ‘Get up, walk!’ Hearing that voice, Andrew came to his senses, catching a glimpse of something like a shadow of someone guiding him.”

Pope Francis said “this experience of the great Korean witness makes us understand a very important aspect of apostolic zeal; namely, the courage to get back up when one falls.”

The pope shared another example of St. Andrew’s courage in evangelization.

Given the situation at the time, to confirm the Christian identity of others, they would agree ahead of time upon a sign of recognition.

“Then the saint would surreptitiously ask the question, but all quietly: ‘Are you a disciple of Jesus?’” Francis explained. “Since other people were watching the conversation, the saint had to speak in a low voice, saying only a few words, the most essential ones. So, for Andrew Kim, the expression that summed up the whole identity of the Christian was ‘disciple of Christ.’”

As the example of St. Andrew Kim Taegon shows, the pope said, being a disciple of the Lord “means to follow him, to follow his way, and this involves giving one’s life for the Gospel.”

“The Christian is by nature a missionary and a witness, just as Jesus was a missionary and witness to the Father. Every Christian community receives this identity from the Holy Spirit, and so does the whole Church, since the day of Pentecost,” he said.

Pope Francis said seeing the example of these great saints, we might wonder to ourselves how we can evangelize in our own lives.

We can do this in our own, small way, he said, “evangelizing family, evangelizing friends, talking about Jesus, but talking about Jesus and evangelizing with a heart full of joy, full of strength.”

“Let us prepare ourselves,” he added, “to receive the Holy Spirit in the coming Pentecost and ask him for that grace, the grace of apostolic courage, the grace to evangelize, to always carry on the message of Jesus.”

The pope’s catechesis on St. Andrew Kim Taegon was part of a series on apostolic zeal.

The week prior, he highlighted the example of the Jesuit missionary St. Francis Xavier.

Pilgrims wave a Chinese flag at the general audience with Pope Francis, Oct. 12, 2022. / Vatican Media.

Vatican City, May 24, 2023 / 03:12 am (CNA).

Pope Francis asked Catholics Wednesday to pray that the Gospel can be fully and freely shared in China.

At the end of his general audience on May 24, the pope recalled the Church’s celebration of “the World Day of Prayer for China, which coincides with the feast of Our Lady, Help of Christians, venerated and invoked in the Shrine of Our Lady of Sheshan in Shanghai.”

He said he wanted to use that occasion to remember and express his closeness to Catholics in China, “sharing their joys and their hopes.”

“A special thought,” Pope Francis said, “to all those who suffer, pastors and faithful, so that in the communion and solidarity of the universal Church, they can experience consolation and encouragement.”

“I invite everyone to lift up prayers to God that the good news of the crucified and risen Christ can be announced in its fullness, beauty, and freedom, bearing fruit for the good of the Catholic Church and all of Chinese society,” he concluded.

In 2007, Pope Benedict XVI proclaimed May 24, the feast of Our Lady, Help of Christians, to be a World Day of Prayer for the Church in China, which venerates the Blessed Virgin Mary under that title as the country’s patroness.

Benedict XVI asked Catholics to pray this prayer on the occasion of the World Day of Prayer for China:

Virgin Most Holy, Mother of the Incarnate Word and our Mother, venerated in the Shrine of Sheshan under the title “Help of Christians,” the entire Church in China looks to you with devout affection.

We come before you today to implore your protection. Look upon the People of God and, with a mother’s care, guide them along the paths of truth and love, so that they may always be a leaven of harmonious coexistence among all citizens.

When you obediently said “yes” in the house of Nazareth, you allowed God’s eternal Son to take flesh in your virginal womb and thus to begin in history the work of our redemption. You willingly and generously cooperated in that work, allowing the sword of pain to pierce your soul, until the supreme hour of the Cross, when you kept watch on Calvary, standing beside your Son, who died that we might live.

From that moment, you became, in a new way, the Mother of all those who receive your Son Jesus in faith and choose to follow in his footsteps by taking up his Cross. Mother of hope, in the darkness of Holy Saturday you journeyed with unfailing trust towards the dawn of Easter.

Grant that your children may discern at all times, even those that are darkest, the signs of God’s loving presence. Our Lady of Sheshan, sustain all those in China, who, amid their daily trials, continue to believe, to hope, to love. May they never be afraid to speak of Jesus to the world, and of the world to Jesus.

In the statue overlooking the Shrine you lift your Son on high, offering him to the world with open arms in a gesture of love.

Help Catholics always to be credible witnesses to this love, ever clinging to the rock of Peter on which the Church is built.

Mother of China and all Asia, pray for us, now and forever. Amen!

St. Peter’s Square was illuminated by candlelight the night of Saturday, May 20, 2023, as pilgrims prayed the rosary in a procession in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

Rome Newsroom, May 22, 2023 / 13:00 pm (CNA).

St. Peter’s Square was illuminated by candlelight Saturday night as pilgrims prayed the rosary in a procession in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

The rosary procession was part of a Vatican initiative for the month of May, a special time of devotion in the Catholic Church honoring Mary as Mother of God.

St. Peter’s Basilica is hosting the candlelight procession at 9 p.m. every Saturday in May. Amid Rome’s spring thunderstorms, pilgrims have faithfully come to join the processions, rain or shine.

Father Michael Kong, a priest from Australia currently residing in Rome, attended the most recent procession and came prepared for bad weather.

“I walked to St. Peter’s with my umbrella under the rain. But the funny thing was that just before the procession began, the rain stopped,” Kong told CNA.

The priest said the public procession was a beautiful reminder that there are “plenty of people who still pray the rosary and have a devotion to Mary.”

“This was something that assures me that I’m not walking by myself, but [that] there are many faithful who pray the rosary and walk this way with the same intentions,” he said.

Cardinal Mario Grech, the secretary general of the Synod of Bishops, led the procession on May 20. Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra, the substitute (Sostituto) of the Vatican Secretariat of State, will preside over the final procession on May 27.

After each mystery, Grech provided a short reflection and mentioned a prayer intention, including a prayer for peace.

The rosary procession is one of several new public devotions taking place at the Vatican. St. Peter’s Basilica is also offering a walking pilgrimage bringing pilgrims to pray at the most important Marian images within the basilica each Saturday in May at 4 p.m.

Throughout the summer, St. Peter’s Basilica will also continue to offer outdoor eucharistic adoration on the first Tuesday of each month.

During the rosary procession, pilgrims carried a large framed icon of the Virgin Mary titled “Mater Ecclesiae,” which means “Mother of the Church,” a copy of the original image found inside St. Peter’s Basilica.

The original Mater Ecclesiae image of the Virgin Mary and the Christ Child was painted on a column in old St. Peter’s Basilica, built by Emperor Constantine in the fourth century. It was later transferred to the 16th-century St. Peter’s Basilica, where it can still be seen above one of the side altars.

A mosaic of the Virgin Mary overlooking St. Peter’s Square was inspired by the original Mater Ecclesiae image. The mosaic was installed after the assassination attempt against St. John Paul II in 1981.

When he blessed the mosaic, John Paul II prayed “that all those who will come to this St. Peter’s Square will lift up their gaze towards you [Mary], to direct, with feelings of filial trust, their greetings and their prayers.”

In 2018, Pope Francis added the memorial of “Mary, Mother of the Church” to the liturgical calendar for the Monday after Pentecost.

Hannah Brockhaus contributed to this story.

Pope Francis recognized the heroic virtue of Brazil’s “Surfer Angel” Guido Schäffer in a decree issued by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints on May 20, 2023. / Credit: Photo courtesty of guidoschaffer.com.br

Vatican City, May 22, 2023 / 11:15 am (CNA).

The Catholic Church is one step closer to canonizing a surfing saint. Pope Francis recognized the heroic virtue of Brazil’s “Surfer Angel” Guido Schäffer in a decree issued by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints on Saturday. 

Schäffer was a seminarian, a doctor, and a surfer who drowned while surfing in 2009 off the coast of Rio de Janeiro at the age of 34 before he could fulfill his desire of being ordained to the priesthood.

The Brazilian seminarian, known locally as the “Anjo Surfista” or “Surfer Angel,” used to begin each of his surfing lessons with a prayer and was known for his work with the poor, providing medical care to Rio’s “favelas” (poor, working-class neighborhoods) alongside the Missionaries of Charity.

With the decree, Pope Francis declared Schäffer “venerable.” The Church will now need to approve a miracle attributed to his intercession before he can be beatified.

Born in Brazil on May 22, 1974, Schäffer grew up near the sandy beaches of Rio’s Copacabana neighborhood. His father was a physician and his mother was very active in a charismatic renewal movement in their Catholic parish, Nossa Senhora de Copacabana, and instilled in him a love of Scripture and prayer.

As a student, Schäffer was an active member of a charismatic prayer group called Canção Nova (New Song), founded by Father Jonas Abib. Schäffer later co-founded, together with his girlfriend and a priest known as Father Jorjão, the prayer group “Fire of the Holy Spirit” at a parish in Ipanema the year he graduated from medical school.

During his medical residency from 1999 to 2001, Schäffer worked as a general practitioner at the Hospital Santa Casa de Misericórdia. He also began volunteering with a Catholic group that provided pastoral ministry to the sick at the hospital.

While on a retreat, Schäffer was moved by a line in the Bible: “Do not turn your face away from any of the poor, so that God’s face will not be turned away from you” (Tobit 4:7). He asked for God’s forgiveness and prayed: “Jesus, help me to care for the poor.”

One week later, he met Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity and soon began working with them to offer medical care in some of Rio’s poorest neighborhoods. He invited other doctors from his hospital to join him and also brought young people from his prayer group and hospital ministry to volunteer.

Sister Caritas with the Missionaries of Charity recalled how Schäffer talked to each of the people he served about Christ, taking care of “both their body and their soul.”

“He used to pray with and for each of them, always inviting them to receive the sacraments as a source of grace and communion with God,” she said. 

“His only concern was to save souls to God — guiding as many people as he could to a personal experience with Christ.”

While he was volunteering with the Missionaries of Charity, Schäffer read “Brother Francis of Assisi” by Ignacio Larrañaga, which became a great inspiration for him. 

St. John Paul II’s visit to Rio de Janeiro in 1997 and Schäffer’s pilgrimage to Europe for the beatification of Brazil’s protomartyrs in 2000 also played a decisive role in his life-changing decision to leave his profession as a doctor and leave his girlfriend to respond to a call to enter the priesthood.

Schäffer began studying philosophy at the São Bento Monastery in 2002. In between seminary classes, he volunteered at a local hospital. He moved to the Archdiocesan Seminary of São José in Rio de Janeiro in 2008, where he devoted himself to evangelization while continuing his medical volunteering and surfing. 

Big wave surfer Rodrigo Resende was impressed by Schäffer’s love for the poor and inner peace. He told the Brazilian publication Veja Rio: “I have never seen someone treat the marginalized with such respect. The inner peace that he radiated was impressive.”

While surfing with friends off of Rio’s Recreio dos Bandeirantes beach on May 1, 2009, Schäffer hit his head on his surfboard and drowned. 

In 2019, the beach where he suffered his fatal accident was officially renamed in his honor: Praia do Guido.

Father Jorjão, who has since written a book in Portuguese about his life, reflected: “I have never seen someone with so much faith and at the same time so normal. Anyone who knew him was sure they were dealing with someone from God.”

Pope Francis at the Wednesday general audience in St. Peter's Square on June 17, 2015. / Bohumil Petrik/CNA.

Rome Newsroom, May 22, 2023 / 04:40 am (CNA).

The Vatican announced Monday that Pope Francis will travel to Lisbon, Portugal, for World Youth Day this August with a visit to the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima.

Pope Francis is set to participate in World Youth Day from Aug. 2–6 and is scheduled to visit Fatima on Aug. 5.

The Lisbon trip will mark the 86-year-old pope’s fourth World Youth Day after taking part in the international Catholic gatherings in Panama, Poland, and Brazil.

World Youth Day was established by Pope John Paul II in 1985. The weeklong celebration usually attracts hundreds of thousands of young people.

The event is typically held on a different continent every three years, with the presence of the pope. The Vatican previously announced that World Youth Day would be postponed by one year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Lisbon, the capital and largest city in Portugal, is about 75 miles from Fatima, one of the most visited Marian pilgrimage sites in the world where the Virgin Mary appeared to three shepherd children in 1917.

The theme of Lisbon’s World Youth Day, which will take place Aug. 1–6 is “Mary arose and went with haste.”

Pope Francis sent a video message to the teens and young adults preparing to attend this year’s World Youth Day earlier this month.

“To participate in WYD is something beautiful,” the pope said. “Prepare yourselves with that enthusiasm. Put hope in that. Have hope... because one grows a lot at an event like WYD.”

Pope Francis at his general audience in St. Peter's Square on May 17, 2023. / Vatican Media

Rome Newsroom, May 21, 2023 / 08:40 am (CNA).

In a letter marking the G7 Summit in Hiroshima, Pope Francis asserted that the mere possession of nuclear weapons creates “a climate of fear and suspicion” and offers “only an illusion of peace.”

The Vatican released a letter on May 20 that the pope wrote to Bishop Alexis Mitsuru Shirahama of Hiroshima assuring his prayers as “the G7 Summit meets in Hiroshima to discuss urgent issues currently facing the global community.”

“The choice of Hiroshima as the site of this meeting is particularly significant, in light of the continuing threat of recourse to nuclear weapons,” Pope Francis said.

Hiroshima is the site of the world’s first atomic attack. On Aug. 6, 1945, the U.S. dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city that resulted in the deaths of about 70,000 immediately after the blast and 140,000 people by the end of the year.

President Joe Biden, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida visited together the Hiroshima Peace Memorial at the atomic bombing site at the start of the summit on May 19.

“Hiroshima, as ‘a symbol of memory,’ forcefully proclaims the inadequacy of nuclear arms to respond effectively to today’s great threats to peace and to ensure national and international security,” Pope Francis said.

The pope added that “nuclear arms and other weapons of mass destruction represent a multiplier of risk that offers only an illusion of peace.”

“We need but consider the catastrophic humanitarian and environmental impact that will result from the use of nuclear weapons, as well as the waste and poor allocation of human and economic resources involved in their development. Nor should we underestimate the effects of the continuing climate of fear and suspicion generated by their mere possession, which compromises the growth of a climate of mutual trust and dialogue,” he said.

Pope Francis recalled the “overwhelming impression” left by his visit to the same peace memorial recently visited by G7 leaders during the pope’s 2019 visit to Japan.

“Standing there in silent prayer and thinking of the innocent victims of the nuclear attack decades ago, I wished to reiterate the firm conviction of the Holy See that ‘the use of atomic energy for purposes of war is, today more than ever, a crime not only against the dignity of human beings but against any possible future for our common home,’” he said.

On Friday, G7 leaders issued their first-ever statement on nuclear disarmament, with a special focus on Russia.

“Russia’s irresponsible nuclear rhetoric, undermining of arms control regimes, and stated intent to deploy nuclear weapons in Belarus are dangerous and unacceptable,” in the statement released by the White House. “We reiterate our position that threats by Russia of nuclear weapon use, let alone any use of nuclear weapons by Russia, in the context of its aggression against Ukraine are inadmissible.”

They also criticized efforts from North Korea and Iran to develop nuclear weapons and warned that China’s nuclear arsenal expansion poses a threat to regional and global stability.

Russia was formerly part of the G7 Group — then known as the G8. Its membership was suspended over its military annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.

In his letter, Pope Francis underlined that “global security needs to be integral, capable of embracing issues including access to food and water, respect for the environment, health care, energy sources and the equitable distribution of the world’s goods.”

“Indeed, it has become increasingly evident that in the multipolar world of the 21st century, the pursuit of peace is closely related to the need for security and reflection on the most efficient means for guaranteeing it,” he said.

Pope Francis delivers his Regina Caeli address on May 21, 2023. / Vatican Media

Vatican City, May 21, 2023 / 06:40 am (CNA).

One week after meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Pope Francis urged that “we must not get used to war” as he prayed for peace in Ukraine and Sudan.

In his Regina Caeli address on May 21, the pope entreated people to “continue to stand by the battered people of Ukraine” more than one year after Russia’s invasion.

The day prior, Pope Francis entrusted Italian Cardinal Matteo Zuppi with a peace mission on behalf of the Vatican to try to help end the war in Ukraine.

Pope Francis also prayed for peace in Sudan, where fighting between the country’s military and a coalition of paramilitary forces has killed hundreds and displaced nearly 1 million people.

“It is sad, but one month after the outbreak of violence in Sudan, the situation continues to be grave,” he said.

The pope welcomed the “partial agreements” that have been made between the country’s warring parties one day after they signed a seven-day cease-fire.

“I renew a heartfelt call for the laying down of arms and call on the international community to spare no effort to make dialogue prevail and alleviate the suffering of the people,” Pope Francis said.

“Please, let us not get used to conflict and violence. We must not get used to war!”

In his brief spiritual meditation, Pope Francis spoke about the power of intercessory prayer with a reminder that Jesus himself is in heaven interceding on our behalf before the Father.

The pope noted that many countries, including Italy and some dioceses in the United States, celebrate the solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord on Sunday.

“Why are we celebrating? Because with the Ascension, something new and beautiful happened: Jesus brought our humanity into heaven … that is, in God,” he said.

Quoting the fourth-century bishop St. Gregory of Nyssa, he said: “‘What splendid news! He who became man for us … to make us his brothers, presents himself as man before the Father to bear with himself all those who are joined with him.’”

Pope Francis added: “What does Jesus do in heaven? He is there for us before the Father, continually showing our humanity to him, showing his wounds. I like to think that Jesus, before the Father, prays like this, showing him his wounds. … He shows him the price of redemption and the Father is moved. This is something I like to think about.”

At the end of his Regina Caeli address, Pope Francis marked World Communications Day by thanking journalists and encouraging them to always work in “the service of truth and the common good.”

The pope also greeted pro-life groups one day after Italy’s national “Demonstration for Life” and highlighted the beginning of Laudato si’ Week May 21–28. Pope Francis asked people to use their skills and creativity to do something to “care for our common home.”

Pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square from Mali, Argentina, Malta, and many other countries received Laudato si’ booklets from the Vatican, which were printed in collaboration with the Stockholm Environmental Institute.

A marching band from Puerto Rico played music in St. Peter’s Square at the end of the audience and a large group of young people wearing red baseball caps from the Archdiocese of Genoa cheered loudly as the pope mentioned their visit to the Vatican.

“I wish you all a good Sunday. Please don’t forget to pray for me. Please do not forget,” Pope Francis said.

Cardinal Matteo Maria Zuppi, archbishop of Bologna, was made a cardinal during the consistory of Oct. 5, 2019. / Daniel Ibanez/CNA.

Rome Newsroom, May 20, 2023 / 11:46 am (CNA).

Cardinal Matteo Zuppi has been asked by Pope Francis to head a peace mission between Russia and Ukraine on behalf of the Vatican, the Holy See press office director said Saturday.

“The timing of such a mission, and its modes, are currently being studied,” Matteo Bruni said in a brief statement to journalists May 20.

Bruni said Pope Francis hopes the operation, which will be carried out in agreement with the Secretariat of State, “can initiate paths of peace.”

Zuppi, the archbishop of Bologna and president of the Italian bishops’ conference, has strong ties to the influential Sant’Egidio Community.

Sant’Egidio is a Catholic lay association that aids migrants and promotes ecumenism. It has also helped negotiate reconciliation, including by holding peace talks in countries like Mozambique and South Sudan.

Pope Francis said at the end of April that the Vatican was involved in a secret peace mission to end the conflict in Ukraine.

Both Ukrainian and Russian officials were quick to deny that negotiations were taking place, but a close papal aide confirmed the pope’s statement in an interview with an Italian news outlet published earlier this month.

On Saturday, Pope Francis told a group of religious with a strong devotion to Mary that he consecrated Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary in 2022, because the world needs to learn to love with tenderness and “without making calculations.”

“And to you, who are the Company of Mary, I ask you to renew this act of entrustment and this supplication,” the pope told the Montfort Missionaries at the end of their general chapter. “May our Heavenly Mother help us all to courageously and creatively seek paths of forgiveness, dialogue, acceptance, and peace for all humanity.”

Statue of Virgin Mary in Medjugorje, Bosnia Herzegovina. / Gnuckx via Flickr (CC BY 2.0).

Rome Newsroom, May 20, 2023 / 08:42 am (CNA).

An institution has been formed in Rome to study alleged Marian apparitions and other supernatural phenomena in the Catholic Church.

The International Observatory on Marian Apparitions and Mystical Phenomenon (OISA) was established in April and is part of the Pontifical International Marian Academy.

The objective of the observatory is to research alleged Marian apparitions and other phenomena, such as the apparent crying or bleeding of Marian statues and images, whose authenticity have not yet been declared by the competent authority.

Sister Daniela del Gaudio, a Franciscan sister of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, is the director of the observatory.

The task of the observatory is not “to judge or intervene in alleged apparitions or phenomena, but to study how these events take place and to give information and support to the bishops of the various dioceses who need to conduct investigations in this field,” she said in a press conference earlier this month, as reported by Italian magazine Famiglia Cristiana.

A diocesan bishop is responsible for giving official recognition to an apparition that took place or is taking place in his diocese according to a specific process and criteria outlined by the Vatican. A diocesan commission will also be involved.

One of the most important criteria for approving an apparition, Del Gaudio said, according to Famiglia Cristiana, is “the consistency of the message transmitted by the visionary or visionaries with that of the public divine revelation contained in Sacred Scripture.”

She explained Marian apparitions do not introduce new revelation; they bring “a spiritually fruitful actualization of the Gospel in human history.”

The new observatory will take a multidisciplinary approach to the study of Marian apparitions with scholars from the areas of sociology, culture, psychology, medicine, and theology, Del Gaudio said.

The observatory began its activities on April 15 and is headquartered in the offices of the Pontifical International Marian Academy in Rome.

The head of the academy, Father Stefano Cecchin, OFM, told the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano that “it is important to provide clarity, because often the alleged messages [from alleged Marian apparitions] generate confusion, spread anxious apocalyptic scenarios or even accusations against the pope and the Church.”

“How could Mary, Mother of the Church, undermine its integrity or sow fears and opposition,” he said.

One goal of the group is to form national commissions, or branches, of the observatory in different places around the world, he said.

The observatory also has plans to provide training to media and to dioceses on how to handle alleged apparitions or other phenomena.