On Jan. 25-29, 111 members of the Order of Malta assembled to elect new leadership in an extraordinary chapter general convened by Pope Francis last year.
“I should have said ‘It is a sin, as is any sexual act outside of marriage,’” the pope wrote.
Pope Francis on Friday reiterated the Church’s perennial teaching on marriage as a lifelong union between a man and a woman.
Rupnik has been accused of the sexual, spiritual, and psychological abuse of women from a religious community with which he was formerly connected.
“Incomprehension was a constant factor in the life and mission of this man,” Cardinal Mario Grech said.
“We must rediscover and value silence,” Pope Francis said.
On Friday, the Church of San Salvatore in Lauro welcomed the relic for a few hours with a ceremony and Mass celebrated by Cardinal Dominique Mamberti.
Pope Francis’ appointments will be canceled during the spiritual exercises Feb. 26–March 3.
“Get ready for this: to open horizons, to open your hearts,” Pope Francis said.
The World Watch List, released by Open Doors on Jan. 18, reported that the number of Christians facing persecution worldwide remained at about 360 million.
Pell was an inaugural member of Pope Francis’ Council of Cardinals, a group of originally nine cardinals established in September 2013 to advise the pope.
Pope Francis met with students, staff, and faculty of the Pontifical North American College at the Vatican on the morning of Jan. 14.
The funeral Mass was celebrated at the Altar of the Chair in St. Peter’s Basilica.
Sandro Magister, a longtime Vatican journalist, revealed the identity of the document’s author on Jan. 11, the day after Pell’s death from a cardiac arrest.
After more than a year behind bars, Pell’s time in Rome was marked by a level of activity impressive for a man entering his eighth decade of life.
The Mass will be celebrated at the Altar of the Chair in St. Peter’s Basilica.
“We fully accept and understand the indignation, anger, and disappointment of the victims and their loved ones,” the Slovenian Jesuits said in a statement.
Pope Francis remembered Cardinal Pell’s “dedication to the Gospel and the Church.”
“Here is the message for us: we do not have to wait until we are perfect and have come a long way following Jesus to witness to him.”
The private meeting on Tuesday marked the third time in nine days the 45-year-old politician was at the Vatican.