Pope Francisco Enthroned

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On Tuesday, Pope Francisco Bergoglio was enthroned in the Vatican as the 266th Pope of Rome. After accepting the key symbols of the papacy… the Fisherman’s Ring and the pallium… the pope, former Argentine Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio addressed the thousands of believers gathered in St Peter’s Square, many of whom waited hours for the ceremony and a glimpse of the new pope. Pope Francisco, clad in white papal robes, looked slightly embarrassed as he toured the square in his open popemobile, with the usual bulletproof glass screens removed. He gave his greetings to all who approached him. Even at such a time, the head of the entire Catholic world did an amazing thing. Seeing a disabled man, he ordered the car to pull over, and he got out to greet him. The crowd burst into a storm of applause.

Ricardo, a self-described staunch atheist, shared his impressions of the pope’s inauguration with VOR, “I’ve always been remote from religion and faith. However, when the conclave elected Pope Francisco, and when I saw him on television, it deeply affected me. That’s why I decided to come here today… to greet the new pope. For me, it’s a historic moment, and it may even be a turning point in my life”. There were flags of many countries, greetings in hundreds of languages, smiles of joy wreathed every face in sight… then, the gathered crowd began to shout, “Viva il Papa Francisco! (Long Live Pope Francisco!)”. His presence seemed to revive the faith and hopes of all those present on the Square. Firanella, a resident of Venice, was very excited and emotional as she said, “I admire him so much that I don’t have the words to express it. Until now, I was very critical of faith and religion, so, I almost never went to church, but now I’ve decided to come back to faith definitively. Pope Francisco led me back”.

One could watch the entire inauguration in St Peter’s Basilica on large screens installed in the square. One could see the solemn procession of the cardinals, the vesting of the new pope in his papal vestments, and the prayer of Pope Francisco at the tomb of Apostle St Peter. Later, on the square itself, in a modest ceremony, Pope Francisco received the principal symbols of his office… the Fisherman’s Ring and the papal pallium. The Fisherman’s Ring made for Pope Francisco isn’t made of solid gold, it’s fashioned from gold-plated silver. Sceptics dismissed the pontiff’s modesty as an affectation. They said that it was only a sham… done to appeal to the hoi polloi. Others feared that Pope Francisco is a reformer who might try to change Catholic doctrine gradually. However, the majority are convinced that he’s a modest man in actuality, that he’s truly simple and unpretentious. After all, Francisco’s still taken aback by all the adulation directed at him. If believers expect any change, it’s only change for the better.

Louis is a seminarian from the Congo, he’s in Rome for the first time, but he’s not as anxious to see the Eternal City as he is to see the pope, he said, “I’m very happy that Pope Francisco is on the throne. He’s a simple and compassionate person. That’s what our church should be like. I’m sure that Pope Francisco will return the Catholic world to Christian traditions and strengthen our faith in Christ”. Clarissa is from Gabon in Central Africa, and she said, “He’ll continue the tradition of his predecessors John Paul II and Benedict XVI. He won’t allow same-sex marriage, abortion, or euthanasia. That’s impossible… not because the pope doesn’t want it, but it’s impossible because God doesn’t want it. After all, God installed our pope”.

After the inauguration, Pope Francisco served a Holy Mass of Thanksgiving, attended by official delegations from more than 180 countries. His first appeal to believers began with, “Keep Christ in your hearts!” In his inaugural homily, he spoke these words of peace and charity, “To protect Jesus with Mary, to protect the whole of creation, to protect each person, especially the poorest, to protect ourselves… this is a service that the Bishop of Rome is called to carry out, yet, it’s one to which all of us are called, so that the star of hope will shine brightly. Let us protect with love all that God has given us!” After the end of the liturgy, bells throughout Rome rang out in a cacophonous tribute.

19 March 2013

Milena Faustova

Voice of Russia World Service

http://english.ruvr.ru/2013_03_19/Pope-Francis-enthroned/

http://rus.ruvr.ru/2013_03_19/Intronizacija-papi-Franciska-266-go-pontifika-VIDEO-FOTO/

Bart to Attend Pope Francisco’s Inauguration

Bart‘s the Vatican‘s lapdog… this image proves it.

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Vatican Radio said that the Ecumenical Patriarch would attend a papal inaugural mass for the first time since the Great Schism between Orthodoxy and Catholicism. The presence of the Istanbul-based Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew Archontonis, who claims to be the spiritual leader of the world’s Orthodox Christians, at Pope Francisco’s official Inaugural Mass in St Peter’s Square on 19 March, is widely regarded as a sign of further improvement in relations between the two church bodies.

Earlier, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew welcomed the election of Pope Francisco Bergoglio with a warm message of congratulations, saying, “I want to express the hope and the certainty that the Holy Father will contribute to the peace of an already battered humanity, for the poor and the suffering”. The Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, who shared friendly relationships with John Paul II Wojtyła and Benedict XVI Ratzinger, said that newly-elected Pope Francisco “will give a new impetus to the two churches’ journey towards unity”.

The Great Schism was the medieval separation of Chalcedonian Christianity into Eastern Orthodox (Greek) and Roman Catholic (Latin) churches. Ecclesiastical differences and theological disputes, including the procession of the Holy Spirit (“filioque“), whether one should use leavened or unleavened bread in the Eucharist, the Pope of Rome’s claim to universal jurisdiction, and the place of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople amongst the Pentarchy long embittered relations between Orthodox and Catholics. The formal start of the schism was in 1054 {there were many long periods of breakage in communion before then… 1054 was an attempt at reconciliation gone wrong: editor}.

Emperors, popes, and patriarchs made efforts in subsequent centuries to heal the rift. However, a number of factors and historical events worked to widen the separation over time. The relations between Orthodox and Catholics eventually showed signs of improvement, especially after the Second Vatican Council, known as Vatican II, when Pope Paul VI Montini and Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras Spyrou {a pro-American cleric installed after Langley instigated a coup against socialist-leaning pro-Soviet Patriarch Maximos Vaportzis in 1948: editor} voiced a joint expression of regret for many of the past actions that had led up to the Great Schism in the Catholic-Orthodox Joint Declaration of 1965. Patriarch Bartholomew, elected the 273rd Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople in October 1991, visited the Vatican for the first time in June 1995. John Paul II was the first pope since the Great Schism to visit an Eastern Orthodox country (Romania) in May 1999.

16 March 2013

RIA-Novosti

http://en.ria.ru/world/20130316/180051934/Orthodox-Church-Leader-to-Attend-Pope-Francis-Inauguration——.html

Editor’s Note:

Despite all of Bart’s pretentions, the REAL primus inter pares amongst Orthodox is HH… the MP IS the 400-kilo (882 pounds) bear in the room, whilst the EP is an American-paid-and-directed 40-kilo (88 pounds) weakling. Everybody knows this, and it drives Bart batty to no end. Let’s not be coy… the Curia was watching to see who the Centre would send as a delegation… they knew that they had Bart in their pocket; they always have, to speak plainly.

The Russian state sent a low-level group centred on a middling RF Gosduma figure (they didn’t even send Medvedev, who met Benedict previously), whilst the MP only sent the Blunder. He has no oomph… everyone knows that… the Curia knows that (they also know that he’s the most hated bishop in all of Russia… he has no chance at the funny white hat as he comes from a family of Jewish background… that’s the way it is in Russia. The Blunder is as marginal as Men, Chistyakov, and Kochetkov were). If the delegation were to have a legit figure such as Varsonofy Sudakov, Yuvenaly Poyarkov, Mark Golovkov, Filaret Vakhromeyev, or even Kliment Kapalin as the head, then, both the Curia and we would sit up and take notice of it (and have meaty material for speculation). As it is, it’s just the Blunder and his usual set of greasy eunuchs from Bolshaya Ordynka.

As an aside, the OCA kisses up big-time to the papists because they get recognition as a legit Local Church from them (which they don’t get in Real Orthodox circles). The Curia knows this… shall they place Mollard near Bart, just to show the latter who’s the boss and who’s the flunky? It’s a possibility…

BMD 

Russian Catholics Greet New Pope with Open Arms

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Russia’s small Catholic community greeted the election of Pope Francisco Bergoglio with elation and hopes that the new pontiff will continue to improve ties with the country’s Orthodox majority despite a rocky history and lingering disagreements. Congratulations to the new pope, formerly the Archbishop of Buenos Aires, 76-year-old Jorge Mario Bergoglio, poured in from ordinary Catholics as well as senior political and religious leaders in Russia, which has an estimated 700,000 Catholics, or about 0.5 percent of the population. President Vladimir Putin said that he hoped that ties between the Vatican and Russia would continue to develop “on the basis of the Christian values that unite us”, according to a statement posted on the official Kremlin website.

Interfax reported that Fr Igor Kovelevsky, chairman of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of the Russian Federation, which oversees the Roman Catholic Church in Russia, said that the election of the first non-European pope in centuries was a sign that the church is global and open to all. Described as warm, humble, and conservative, Bergoglio appeared to fit the bill for Russian Catholics, many of whom harbour fond memories of the gregarious and worldly Pope John Paul II Wojtyła, who helped re-establish a Catholic presence in Russia in the waning days of the USSR.

Yegor Bredikhin, 18, a student and recent convert, standing in the falling snow outside Moscow‘s main cathedral Wednesday morning, said that the new pope should unite religious believers of all faiths, including Orthodox Christians. Yekaterina, 26, a graduate student and member of the Greek Catholic Church (sic), said on the day of the vote, “He should also be conservative. It’d be very strange and contradict the teachings of the church if the Catholic pope were for same-sex marriages“.

Catholics have a long and variegated history in Russia going back to at least the 12th century. Over the years, and even to this day, they’ve had to fend off suspicion and occasional hostility from nativists who see them as an unwelcome Western import. Inter-church relations have improved in the last decade under outgoing Pope Benedict XVI Ratzinger, and Catholics interviewed by the St Petersburg Times say that they feel at home in Russia. However, unresolved issues remain between the two churches, the most troublesome being property disputes in the Ukraine. That conflict was the latest sticking point preventing a meeting of the heads of both churches, something that’s never happened in their history.

Interfax reported that Patriarch Kirill said that the Orthodox Church shared Francisco’s concern for the poor and suffering, and that this creates new opportunities for cooperation between the two churches. Experts said that Russian Catholics had reason to be optimistic and pessimistic about the arrival of Pope Francisco, but warned that Russia would probably not be high on the new pontiff’s to-do list. The Vatican’s prestige and influence suffered in recent years with mounting revelations of child sex abuse by priests and allegations of corruption at the Vatican Bank, and there’s been widespread speculation that Benedict XVI’s historic resignation had links to the church’s woes. Kommersant FM editor-in-chief Konstantin von Eggert wrote that given these challenges, and the shift of Catholicism’s heartland from Europe to South America and Africa, Russia’s tiny fraction of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics would be far from Pope Francisco’s thoughts.

Roman Lunkin, a religion expert at the Russian Academy of Sciences, said that unlike his predecessor, a long-time Vatican insider who met with Patriarch Kirill when Kirill was still a metropolitan, Francisco doesn’t have established ties to the Orthodox Church. Furthermore, Lunkin noted that it’s going to be difficult to explain to Francisco, an Argentinean Jesuit who’s said to have a passion for social work and a concern for the poor, how things are done in Russia, saying, “Why is it important to tiptoe around the Moscow Patriarchate’s sphere of influence? Why are Catholics constantly accused of proselytising? Why is it important to be quiet when the Orthodox Church and the government object to new Catholic churches?”

A Rocky Past

The Catholic Church in Russia, which includes Roman Catholics and Eastern Catholic churches subordinate to the pope, currently consists of four dioceses in Russia… the archdiocese is in Moscow… totalling 396 parishes nationwide. The three other dioceses are in Saratov, Novosibirsk, and Irkutsk. Catholicism has a long and turbulent history in Russia, punctuated by expulsions of Catholic missionaries and frustrated attempts to reunite the largest Western and Eastern branches of Christianity, which split in the Great Schism of 1054. Roman Catholic chapels first appeared in the ancient cities of Novgorod, Ladoga, and Smolensk between the 12th and 15th centuries, and Jesuit missionaries arrived in 1684, only have the government expel them five years later, and see their leader sent to a monastery.

The government became more tolerant to Catholics in the late 18th century under Tsaritsa Yekaterina Velikaya, who established rules for a Catholic parish in the imperial capital, St Petersburg. Shortly thereafter, the Jesuits returned, but the government expelled them again less than two decades later. The relationship hit rock bottom under the Bolsheviks, who in 1918 declared all church property to belong to the Soviet state, a move followed by arrests of Catholic clergy. In 1990, diplomatic relations between the USSR and the Holy See were established and the full re-establishment of the Catholic Church in Russia took off.

A Dominant Rival

Orthodox believers make up 74 percent of the Russian population, according to a December poll by the independent Levada Centre, and critics accused the Kremlin of cosying up to the Orthodox Church to wage an information campaign against dissenters and critics. Father Kirill, a spokesman for the Mother of God Catholic Archdiocese in Moscow said that whilst all religious groups face legal and property issues, “some confessions find it easier to resolve these issues than others”. In recent years, senior Orthodox clergymen have been spotted with expensive cars and pricey jewellery, enjoying scandalous luxuries that are anathema to Francisco, who reportedly rides the subway to work, cooks his own food, and flew to Rome with a single suitcase and without an entourage. Lunkin said, referring to the Orthodox Church’s head of external relations, “Metropolitan Hilarion and other senior clergy are used to diplomatic discussions between top officials, but for this pope, concrete missions and concrete social and evangelical projects are more important”.

There is some hope that values and religious sensibilities could trump differing styles. Francisco is said to be well-versed in Orthodox liturgical tradition, and an Orthodox bishop in South America told ITAR-TASS that he was “pro-Russian”, saying that Bergoglio was friendly with local Orthodox clergy in Argentina and sometimes attended Orthodox services. Because of the Catholic Church’s relatively small size and novelty in Russia… the archdiocese in Moscow was established in 2002, alarming some Orthodox leaders… it’s managed to remain isolated from some of the Roman Catholic Church’s problems, at least publicly. There weren’t any scandals involving alleged paedophilia by Catholic clergymen in Russia. The strongest whiff of sexual impropriety came in 2008, when a Russian man killed a Jesuit priest whom prosecutors said was making sexual advances.

However, its relative insignificance in the Catholic world also partly explains Russian Catholics’ exclusion from the Vatican’s hierarchy. There aren’t any Russian cardinals, and consequently, none of the 115 cardinals who chose Cardinal Bergoglio to be the 266th pontiff serves in Russia. Only one, Archbishop Audrys Juozas Bačkis of Vilnius, serves in the former USSR. Ivan Maksutov, a senior lecturer at the Centre for the Study of Religion at the Russian State University for the Humanities (RGGU), said, “It’s too dangerous” to appoint a Russian cardinal, which would surely harm relations with the Orthodox Church. According to officials in both churches, relations warmed under Benedict XVI, who assumed the pontificate in 2005 and stepped down last month citing frailty, the first pope to retire in almost 600 years.

Moscow and the Holy See established full diplomatic relations in 2009, and perennial Orthodox complaints about Catholics’ “poaching” their flock petered out. The primary remaining irritant involves a dispute in the Ukraine between Orthodox and Greek Catholics (sic), who the Orthodox Church says wrongfully seized its property in the 1980s and 1990s. Soviet dictator Iosif Stalin ordered the seizure of Eastern Catholic Churches and gave the property to the Orthodox Church. After the collapse of the USSR, Eastern Catholics took back more than 500 of them, mostly in the Western Ukraine. Deacon Alexei Dikarev, an MP spokesman, said that the presence of Greek Catholic (sic) missionaries in traditionally-Orthodox parts of the Ukraine exacerbated the dispute.

No Easy Fix

Fr Kirill, the spokesman for the Moscow Catholic Archdiocese said that relations between the two churches would likely remain a source of tension for years to come, saying, “It’s a dialogue of love”, adding that it was natural for the two churches, while close in terms of tradition and practise, to continually calibrate their relationship. He denied that the Catholic Church ever aggressively proselytised in Russia, saying, “If by proselytism we mean scaring people or using unsavoury methods… payments, etc… then, this has never been the case”. Maksutov, the religion expert, said that relations between the two churches were currently “guarded”, observing, “They’re neither good nor bad. Because the Roman Catholic Church is less interested in the former USSR than it is in Africa and Latin America, there’s no special dialogue”.

The cardinals might have missed a chance to improve interfaith relations by failing to elect Hungarian bishop Péter Erdő as pope, who forged close ties with the Orthodox Church, who Vatican saw insiders as a leading candidate before Wednesday’s vote. Officially, the churches’ eventual goal is to unite after almost 1,000 years of separation. Dikarev said, “We’re on the path, but we’ve a long way to go”. One often-cited step on that path is a meeting of the heads of the two churches, which has never happened despite rumours in recent years that a summit was in the wings. On Thursday, Metropolitan Hilarion repeated the MP’s long-standing line on such a meeting… It’s possible, but not until the churches resolve “conflicts that arose abroad in the 1980s and 1990s”, referring to the Ukrainian property dispute. Fr Kirill downplayed the significance of a summit of the two leaders, saying, “It’s not a magical solution to our problems”, adding that spiritual unity was the main goal in bilateral ties.

Love from Russia

Bergoglio’s first appearance as Pope Francisco on the Vatican balcony at about 23.15 MSK on Wednesday earned gushing reviews from Russian-speaking Catholics on the Vkontakte social network, the largest in Russia. User Lilia Khugeyan, from the Western Ukraine, where much of the population is Catholic, wrote, “They say the strongest and most mysterious feeling is falling in love, but I’d beg to differ; I’m having ‘that feeling’ right now”. Others were more sober in their assessment. Another Western Ukrainian user, Dima Mis, replied, “Come on, girls, emotions are good, but I’m more interested in whether he’ll rise to the challenges of the times. I don’t know much about him, and his Wikipedia entry is skimpy”. Bergoglio was an unknown for many Catholics in Russia, including for Fr Daniel Ceratto, a fellow priest and Argentinean, director of the Church’s Regional Family Centre in St Petersburg. He said, “Unfortunately, I don’t know much about him. I’ve been here for 12 years”.

Although the church doesn’t keep accurate statistics, Fr Kirill speculated that the number of Catholics in Russia was probably shrinking due to emigration of Catholics with strong foreign roots. He denied that the trend was due to a “loss of faith” or signalled the church’s unsustainability. Catholics interviewed by the St Petersburg Times said that whilst they’re comfortable in Russia, many don’t always feel accepted. Bredikhin, the student, said he felt “fantastic” as a Catholic, but was concerned about how a coreligionist conscript would fare against endemic bullying in the Russian Army, saying, “They wouldn’t understand a Catholic there; he’d be an outcast. Some individuals understand that there’s freedom of religion, but the masses don’t”. Anna Belova, 28, who works in the cathedral’s catechismal library, said that her social circles didn’t include any Orthodox Christians but that she occasionally encounters resistance from particularly conservative Orthodox believers, saying, “Once I invited an Orthodox priest to see my grandmother. When he found out that I’m Catholic, he gave me a long lecture and tried to convert me”. Igor Gurkin, 39, a taxi driver and daily churchgoer, said that he hadn’t ever observed antagonism toward Catholics, but that could also be because, “It’s not written on my forehead that I’m a Catholic”.

15 March 2013

Jonathan Earle

St Petersburg Times

http://www.sptimesrussia.com/index.php?action_id=2&story_id=37083

Pope Francisco sez “I’d Like a Poor Church, One That’s for the Poor”

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On Saturday, Pope Francisco Bergoglio, giving his clearest indication yet that he wants a more austere Catholic Church, said that it should be poor, and to remember that its mission is to serve the poor. Francisco, speaking mostly off-the-cuff and smiling often, made his comments in an audience for journalists where he explained why he chose to take the name Francisco, after Francesco d’Assisi, a symbol of peace, austerity, and poverty. He called Francesco “a man who gives us this spirit of peace, a poor man”, and added, “Oh, how I’d like a poor Church, one that’s for the poor”.

Since his election on Wednesday as the first non-European pope in nearly 1,300 years, Francisco signalled a sharp change of style from his predecessor, Benedict XVI Ratzinger, and laid out a clear moral path for his 1.2-billion-member church, beset by scandals, intrigue, and strife. He thanked the thousands of journalists who covered his election, but invited them to “always try to better understand the true nature of the church, and its journey in the world, with its virtues and with its sins”. He urged journalists to seek “truth, goodness and beauty” in the world and in the Church.

Francisco has set a forceful moral tone and given clear signs already that he’d bring a new broom to the crisis-hit papacy, favouring humility and simplicity over pomp and grandeur. He recalled how on Wednesday night, as he was receiving more and more votes in the conclave, the cardinal sitting next to him, Cláudio Hummes, OFM, a Brazilian, comforted him “as the situation became dangerous”. After the voting reached the two-thirds majority that elected him, applause broke out. Hummes, 78, then hugged and kissed him and told him, “Don’t forget the poor”, the pope recounted, often gesturing with his hands. “That word entered here”, he added, pointing to his head.

Whilst the formal voting continued, the pope recalled, “I thought of wars… of how Francesco (d’Assisi) was a man of peace… that’s how the name entered my heart. Francesco d’Assisi, for me, is a man of poverty, a man of peace, a man who loves and protects others”. It was the latest indication that the pope wanted the worldwide Church to take on an austere style.

On the night that the conclave elected him, he shunned a papal limousine and travelled on a bus with the other cardinals. He went to the church-run hotel where he’d stayed before the conclave and he insisted on paying the bill. Francisco, the former Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, also urged Argentineans not to make costly trips to Rome to see him, but to give the money to the poor instead.

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Pope Francisco celebrated his first Mass as the First Hierarch of the Roman Catholic Church the morning after his election as pontiff. The new Bishop of Rome arrived at the Sistine Chapel accompanied by the 114 cardinals who attended the Conclave. White smoke billowed above St Peter’s Square on Wednesday. It took the conclave two days and five ballots to decide in favour of Argentine Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio.

As the Vatican prepares for the coronation ceremony set for 19 March, the authorities are getting ready to receive delegations from most countries of the world. A parliamentary delegation led by RF Gosduma Speaker Sergei Naryshkin and an MP delegation headed by Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev of Volokolamsk, the head of the MP DECR, will represent Russia. President Vladimir Putin and Patriarch Kirill Gundyaev sent congratulations to Pope Francisco. In his message, His Holiness urged Orthodox and Catholic believers to consolidate their efforts to protect persecuted Christians around the world and to defend moral values in contemporary society.

Expert Yekaterina Santoni-Sinitsyna commented on preparations for the enthronement ceremony, saying, “I’ve met with Vatican Press Secretary Fr Federico Lombardi. At 11.00 on Saturday, Pope Francisco has a meeting with social service workers and journalists. On Tuesday, 19 March, the feastday of St Joseph the Worker, he’ll serve his first public Mass in St Peter’s Square. The coronation will take place at the end of the Mass”.

The coronation ceremony will follow a pattern established in the 1970s, under Pope Paul VI Montini, who abolished the dogma that the pope represents God on Earth. Since then, it’s been common belief that the pontiff is successor of St Peter, the first Bishop of Rome. Pope Paul VI also abolished the use of the triple tiara in the papal coronation. Yekaterina Santoni-Sinitsyna said, “A papal coronation is held in St Peter’s Square. Pope John Paul I Luciani was the first to go through it. The ceremony’s regalia-related rituals include the laying-on of a stole, expression of obedience on the part of the cardinals, and the Fisherman’s Ring rite. The inauguration ends with a blessing to all present from the pontiff”.

Believers throughout the world, including in Russia, have followed the events surrounding Pope Francisco closely. Fr Kirill Gorbunov of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of the Mother of God in Moscow, noted, “Relations between Orthodox and Catholic believers are beyond the personal, irrespective of the personality of the incumbent pontiff or patriarch. These relations have a connection with the history of the church and its purpose… a persistent search for unity with God. It’s all God’s will. Nevertheless, I’m sure that Pope Francisco will take steps towards unification of the churches”.

The name Francisco is new to the history of Catholic pontificate. History knows only two religious figures by the name of Francisco. One was Francesco d’Assisi, the founder of the Franciscan Order, which commanded to live in poverty and homily, care for the sick and vow strict obedience to the pontiff. The other was Francisco Xavier, a Roman Catholic missionary and co-founder of the Society of Jesus. The incumbent pontiff is the first Jesuit pope in the history of the Holy See. Catholics venerate both Franciscos as reformers. Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio is a consistent opponent of abortion, euthanasia, and gay marriage. At the same time, he advocated the use of condoms to prevent infection and criticised priests who refused to baptise children born out of wedlock. Clerical celibacy remains open to debate. Experts believe that abolition of clerical celibacy could eradicate paedophilia in the church. However, nothing is clear about the moves the new pontiff shall make regarding the Vatican Bank and the so-called Vatileaks scandal.

Andrei Smirnov

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Fr Antoni Sevruk, rector of the Russian Orthodox Church of St Catherine the Great Martyr in Rome, told VOR that his parish in Rome has high hopes for cooperation and dialogue with Pope Francisco. Fr Antoni said, “St Catherine Church at the Russian Embassy is a ten-minute walk from the Holy See and enjoys the warmest ties with its Catholic neighbours. I had a chance to meet with former Pope Benedict XVI a couple of times, and I particularly remember our last meeting, when Benedict asked me a lot about our parish and community, about our social and charity work. I saw that he was really into it. Actually, the windows of his study overlooked St Catherine Church”.

Recently, the number of Orthodox communities has grown in Italy; now, they there are about 60. Italy doesn’t have that many Orthodox churches, but Catholic priests are always happy to provide a venue for Orthodox services. Today, Orthodox believers are a little bit concerned about potential changes linked to the new pope. Francisco has read Dostoevsky and often visited Orthodox services in the Russian Orthodox Annunciation Cathedral in Buenos Aires. Fr Antoni went on to say, “Besides which, the pontiff is also known as an advocate of the Orthodox Church in the Argentine government. Now, people are anticipating the pope’s first homily scheduled for Sunday. Sure, we need time get to know the new pope better. We have every hope that he will continue Benedict’s polices in terms of interreligious dialogue”.

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On Saturday, the Vatican said that Pope Francisco would visit his predecessor Benedict XVI on 23 March for the first time since his election. The new pope, former Argentinean cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, will travel by helicopter to the papal summer residence of Castel Gandolfo, where Benedict has stayed since his historic resignation last month. Vatican sources told us that the two men would have lunch together at the residence outside Rome. Last month, Benedict, 85, became the first pope to resign in the last 700 years, when he ended his eight-year reign, saying that he was no longer up to the rigours of the job. Francisco was a surprise choice in this week’s conclave triggered by Benedict’s resignation. The two men know each other well. Many believe that Bergoglio, 76, was the runner-up to the German in the 2005 election.

16 March 2013

Voice of Russia World Service

http://english.ruvr.ru/2013_03_16/I-would-like-a-poor-Church-and-for-the-poor-Pope-Francis/

http://english.ruvr.ru/2013_03_16/Pope-Francis-steals-the-limelight/

http://english.ruvr.ru/2013_03_16/Orthodox-flock-of-Rome-hopes-are-high-for-the-new-Pope/

http://english.ruvr.ru/2013_03_16/Pope-Francis-to-visit-predecessor-Benedict-XVI-on-March-23/