The second day of the CCEE Plenary Assembly opened with a greeting from Cardinal Gualtiero Bassetti, President of the Italian Bishops’ Conference. Outlining the prospects for a new Europe, the President of the Italian Episcopal Conference said that he dreamt of a Europe based on solidarity, with the dignity of the person at its centre, and which knows how to be a common home. “This continent,” Cardinal Bassetti hoped, will be “above all a place of the soul with a profound, ancient and complex history”… Read more »

Pope Francis celebrates Mass to open the CCEE plenary assembly on Thursday evening 

In his homily at Mass with the Council of Bishops’ Conferences of Europe (CCEE) on Thursday, Pope Francis reflected on “three words that challenge us as Christians and Bishops in Europe: reflect, rebuild and see.”

Bishops from across Europe are in Rome to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the CCEE with a plenary conference on 23-26 September… Read more »

The Jubilee Assembly of the Council of European Bishops’ Conferences will begin tomorrow afternoon with Mass presided over by Pope Francis in St Peter’s Basilica. At the end of the Holy Mass, the participants in the Plenary Assembly will gather together at Peter’s tomb to renew their profession of faith. After a period of silence and a moment of personal prayer at the tombs of St Paul VI and Pope John Paul I, they will conclude their brief pilgrimage of gratitude to the popes who have accompanied the CCEE over the past 50 years at the tomb of St John Paul II with the recitation of the prayer to Mary, Mother of Europe, written by the holy Polish pope himself at the conclusion of his apostolic exhortation Ecclesia in Europa… Read more »

Archbishop Charles Scicluna visited and blessed the soup kitchen run by the Franciscan Friars (Ta’ Giezu) in Valletta. Fr Marcellino Micallef OFM and Dr Alexiei Dingli explained to the Archbishop the work involved to run ‘Soup Kitchen OFM Valletta’ which will feed around 100 persons on a daily basis.

The Archbishop also met volunteers and signed the guest book where he left the following message:

“I impart every blessing and prosperity to all the people of goodwill, who have worked or work in the OFM Soup Kitchen in Valletta and believe in the motto ‘Life with Dignity’; to the guests who sit at the table of love in the spirit of St Francis, with a broken heart but with hope instilled in their soul; and to all the benefactors of this initiative, this work of mercy.”

Fr Marcellino Micallef OFM explained to Archbishop Scicluna that the ‘Soup Kitchen OFM Valletta’ is inspired by the Gospel according to St Luke: “You give them something to eat” (Lk 9:13)… Read more »

Pope Francis joined the Council of Cardinals for their online meeting on Monday afternoon, according to a communique from the Holy See Press Office released on Tuesday.

“After a brief introduction to the work by Cardinal Óscar Rodríguez Maradiaga, Pope Francis offered a reflection on the opening of the work of the next Synod on synodality,” said the statement.

The Pope reviewed two of his speeches “identified as central to his thinking” on the next Synod: “his 2015 speech for the 50th anniversary of the institution of the Synod of Bishops; and his discourse to the faithful of the Diocese of Rome last Saturday.”

The statement said the Pope “made it clear that at the heart of the reflection is not so much the deepening of a specific theme as learning a way of living the Church, marked at all levels by mutual listening and a pastoral attitude, particularly in the face of the temptations of clericalism and rigidity.”

The Cardinals present then shared their own reflections on various aspects of the synodal path and the need to overcome “sectarianism and partisan interests.”

The next meeting was scheduled for December, when the Cardinals hope to meet in person… Read more »