The Council of Cardinal Advisors assembled with Pope Francis in Rome on Wednesday for the third and last day of their 24th session.

Apostolic Constitution

A large part of their work has been dedicated to the draft of a new Apostolic Constitution of the Roman Curia, which will be submitted to the Holy Father for his final approval. The topics making up the new Constitution include the Curia’s service to the Holy Father and the local Churches, the pastoral character of their activities, the establishing and tasks of a Third Section of the Secretariat of State, and the proclamation of the Gospel and the missionary spirit as guiding principles for the entire Curia’s activities…

“Next weekend, the Holy Father will receive at the Casa Santa Marta three victims of abuse committed by the clergy in Chile: respectively Juan Carlos Cruz, James Hamilton and Jose Andrés Murillo.

The Pope thanks them for accepting his invitation: during these days of personal and fraternal encounter, he wishes to ask their forgiveness, share their pain and his shame for what they have suffered and, above all, listen to their suggestions so as to avoid a repetition of these reprehensible facts…

Photo: Pope Francis at lunch with the poor of Molise, Italy, 5 July, 2014.  

Pope Francis on Monday marked the feast of his namesake, Jorge (George), in his characteristic unassuming way, spending time with the needy and homeless of Rome, the Office of Papal Charities said in a brief note.  It said that on this occasion it would distribute 3000 ice creams to the poor and homeless who daily come to soup kitchens, dormitories and other places run mostly by Caritas in the Italian capital. 

Pope Francis was born Jorge Mario Bergoglio  to parents of Italian descent on 17 December 1936 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.  He was baptized Jorge, the Spanish for George, at Christmas that year in the Basilica of Mary Help of Christians in Buenos Aires…

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Next October, the Fifteenth Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops will meet to discuss the theme of young people and in particular the relationship between young people, faith and vocation. There we will have a chance to consider more deeply how, at the centre of our life, is the call to joy that God addresses to us and how this is “God’s plan for men and women in every age” (SYNOD OF BISHOPS, XV ORDINARY GENERAL ASSEMBLY, Young People, The Faith and Vocational Discernment, Introduction)…