Calabrian police take stand against mafia following Pope’s visit

Two weeks after Pope Francis’ harsh condemnation of mafia corruption in the Italian region of Calabria, police abandoned a Marian procession which paused to bow in front of the house of a mafia leader.

According to Italian news agency ANSA, anti-mafia activists in southern Calabria have officially opened an investigation regarding a July 2 procession in the town of Oppido Mamertina carrying a statue of the Virgin Mary.

While in the midst of their route the procession paused in front of the home of local ‘Ndrangheta leader Peppe Mazzagatti, 82, who is currently serving a life-sentence and is under house-arrest due to health reasons. Those bearing the Marian statue made a gesture like a bow in front of Mazzagatti’s house.

Following the gesture, ANSA reports that the Italian Carabinieri, a branch of the police, accompanying the statue abandoned the procession and later called anti-mafia prosecutors, who are investigating whether or not the stop was planned, and who is responsible.

Holy See announces new economic, communications framework

The Vatican announced Wednesday major changes to both its economic and communications frameworks, including an increased role for the Secretariat for the Economy.

Also announced were the appointment of a new president for the ‘Vatican bank’ , a committee to study the Vatican’s pension system, and a new committee for Vatican communications.

“There are many challenges and much work ahead,” said Cardinal George Pell, prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy, at a news conference held July 9, during which he presented the changes to the Vatican economy.

By a July 8 motu proprio, “Confermando una tradizione,” Pope Francis modified the section of “Pastor bonus”, the apostolic constitution regulating the Roman Curia, which governs the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See.

The motu proprio transferred the competencies of APSA’s ordinary section to the Secretariat for the Economy.

Francis’ meeting with six paedophilia victims:The importance of a gesture

On Monday morning Francis met six people who were sexually abused by members of the clergy. This gesture is in continuity with Benedict XVI’s approach

Monday’s private meeting between Pope Francis and six victims of clerical sex abuse in St. Martha’s House was important in terms of what was said and in terms of the words the Pope pronounced in his homily. But above all, it was important because of the mere fact that it took place. At the meeting, Francis prayed, spoke and embraced a group of people who were sexually abused by priests or other religious figures when they were teens or children. The victims came from Germany, Britain and Ireland. This is the first time an official meeting of its kind has taken place since Francis was elected Pope. The fact that the Pope met these individuals – whose lives have been scarred forever – in his own home and not at the end of one of his visits away from the Vatican, is also important.

Francis has said and demonstrated on more than one occasion that he wishes to continue in the footsteps of his predecessor. Joseph Ratzinger’s contribution, first as a cardinal at the helm of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and then as Pope, was key. Laws changed, emergency legislation was passed and processes were simplified. But the real crucial change came with Benedict XVI’s gestures, starting with his first ever meeting with victims of clerical sex abuse in Washington in 2008. Since then, these kinds of events have multiplied, with meetings being held in Australia, Malta, Britain and Germany.

Jesuit Refugee Service Remains Hopeful for Release of Kidnapped Director

The Jesuit Refugee Service has said all the information it has continues to suggest that its Afghanistan director is alive and remains in the country.

In a statement issued Monday, JRS international director Peter Balleis SJ said although the organisation still has not heard from Indian-born Fr. Alexis Prem Kumar or his captors, “we live in hope.”

Fr. Prem, 47, was abducted by a group of unidentified men in early June as he was leaving a JRS-supported school for returnee refugees in Sohadat village, about 15 miles from the city of Herat in western Afghanistan.

The JRS has been working quietly to free Fr. Prem, making representations with the Afghan authorities and the Indian Consul General in Herat, Afghanistan. The family of the Jesuit country director has been appealing for help from Indian parliamentarians and the government of Tamil Nadu.

IOR Announces Financial Results for 2013

The Institute for Works of Religion – colloquially known as the ‘Vatican Bank’ – has said it has laid the groundwork to make it an “outstanding service provider” in Catholic finance.

In its financial statements for 2013 released today, the IOR gave details of its first phase of reform.

Ernst von Freyberg, IOR’s president, said the institute has focused on making itself “compliant with financial regulation, safer and more transparent, so as to create options for the Holy Father to decide on the future of the Institute.”

“Through this work we have laid the ground for a new team to make the IOR a truly outstanding service provider in Catholic finance,” he added.

Furthermore, he stressed that “notwithstanding this housekeeping effort,” the institute has delivered a “creditable performance for its customers, first and foremost the Holy See itself.” In the first half of 2014, the Vatican’s finance facility “delivered a very positive performance that validates the efforts of all those working at the IOR,” he said.

Maronite Patriarch Says Lebanon’s Future Is at Risk

Accuses Politicians of Ignoring Power Vacuum Created by Delayed Presidential Elections

The Maronite Patriarch of Antioch has accused Lebanese politicians of ignoring the dire consequences of a power vacuum, placing the country’s future at risk.

Patriarch Bechara Boutros Rai believes the delay or postponement of the election of a new president of the republic “threatens the very existence of Lebanon,” since he believes “only a Maronite President with broad consensus and appropriate personality, moral qualities and individual history” can ensure continuity of the physiognomy characteristic of Lebanon, reported Fides.

Cardinal Rai therefore raises the alarm on the political crisis that has paralyzed the country’s institutions. For months, the two main opposing political blocks – the “March 8 Coalition” and the “March 14 coalition” – have used vetoes to sabotage any chance of finding a shared candidate for the office of President of the Republic.