Pope Francis has named Archbishop Angelo Becciu, Vatican substitute secretary of state, as his special delegate and spokesman to the Order of Malta.
“Until the end of your mandate, that is until the conclusion of the extraordinary chapter, which will elect the grand master, you will be my exclusive spokesperson in all matters relating to relations between the Apostolic See and the order,” the Pope wrote in a letter to Archbishop Becciu.
The special delegate, the Pope said, will work closely with Fra’ Ludwig Hoffmann von Rumerstein, the chivalric order’s temporary head, to carry out “the appropriate renewal of the order’s constitution”.
The Pope’s letter, released by the Vatican, came after several tense weeks which led to the resignation of Fra’ Matthew Festing as Grand Master. Fra’ Festing told the Tablet last week that it was an “extremely complex situation, it is extremely fluid, and by no means finished” – and that it was “not appropriate” for him to say more. At a press conference last week Albrecht von Boeselager, the newly reinstated Grand Chancellor, said the order’s crisis was a “marginal event in history” and that the real crisis was the “misery and the plea of the millions of people [who are] homeless, migrating and fleeing”.
Dominique de La Rochefoucauld-Montbel, Grand Hospitaller of the order, said the crisis had been “troublesome for our donors”, many of whom “decided maybe not to help us any more because they thought we were fighting against the Pope, which is not true.
“So now we have to restore this trust,” he said.
Church condemns President Duterte’s ‘reign of terror’
The bishops of the Philippines have condemned President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs as a “reign of terror”.
They made the intervention in a letter read out in parishes on Sunday.
Mr Duterte’s spokesman said the bishops were “out of touch” with Catholics who “overwhelmingly support the changes in the Philippines”.
According to Reuters, Mr Duterte dismissed the bishops’ letter, saying on Sunday: “You Catholics, if you believe in your priests and bishops, you stay with them. If you want to go to heaven, then go to them. Now, if you want to end drugs … I will go to hell, come join me.”
More than 2,500 people have been killed in police operations since Mr Duterte began his crackdown seven months ago.
The bishops’ letter said: “We in the Church will continue to speak against evil even as we acknowledge and repent of our own shortcomings. We will do this even if it will bring persecution upon us because we are all brothers and sisters responsible for each other. We will help drug addicts so that they may be healed and start a new life. We will stand in solidarity and care for those left behind.”
Bishop makes appeal to lapsed
The new bishop of Rockville, in the state of New York, told the congregation at his installation last week that he and they are “called to be saints”.
Bishop John Barres, who arrived at Agnes Cathedral in a flurry of snow, also appealed to “every inactive Catholic in the diocese to gently come back … to the power of the word of God, the power of the sacrament of penance, the power of the Catholic Mass”.
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