VATICAN CORNER
On March 13, 2017 Pope Francis will be beginning his fifth year as Pope and entering it with good health. The Jubilee of Mercy was a very active year for him and 2017 is promising to be active as well. So far as Pope he has made 17 foreign trips and visited 26 foreign countries. A close friend of his recently suggested that he should slow down. Francis replied that at his stage of life one has to move even faster. Although his agenda has been only partially determined at this time, he is expected to visit Colombia, possibly in April, as he promised that he would once the peace accord between the government and the leftwing revolutionary group FARC was approved, ending the 52 -year long civil war. A national referendum was narrowly defeated, but then the Colombian Congress approved the revised version in late November, thereby opening the door for him to come. He may also visit another Latin American country on the trip. On May 12-13 he will visit Fátima in Portugal on the 100th anniversary of the apparitions of Our Lady to the three shepherd children. He wants to return this year to Africa, and among the countries being considered are the Democratic Republic of the Congo (D.R.C.) and South Sudan. Both have ongoing armed conflicts. The D.R.C. where 43 percent of the population is Catholic, is a mineral-rich country ravished by decades of war, violence, corruption and political crises. Its president Joseph Kabila visited Pope Francis last September. South Sudan has a 37 percent Catholic population, is oil-rich and is conflict-torn. Its president, Salva Kiir Mayardit met Pope Francis when he was visiting Uganda in Nov. 2015. Being able to visit those countries will depend on their political situations. Francis believes the church has a real future in Asia and perhaps in November he will visit India- a majority Hindu county and Bangladesh – a largely Muslim country. The grand imam, Sheik Tayeb, the head of 85 percent of all Muslims visited Pope Francis at the Vatican in May of 2015 and invited him to Cairo, Egypt for a joint initiative that could happen this year. Within Italy, Francis will visit the archdioceses of Milan and Genoa. At the Vatican he will continue to receive heads of state and dignitaries from throughout the world. He will also meet with brother bishops making their ad limina vists required every five years. Those visits were suspended during the Year of Mercy, and there is a backlog. As usual Pope Francis will lead the major liturgies at St. Peter’s Basilica during Holy Week, Pentecost and Christmas and will preside at canonization ceremonies from time to time. He will hold bimonthly meetings with his nine cardinal advisers to advance the reform of the Roman Curia – the decentralization of decision-making in the church worldwide. He will undoubtedly make senior-level personnel changes in the Vatican and may even hold a consistory to create new cardinals at the end of the year. He has taken personal charge of the Vatican’s work for migrants and refugees and may have new initiatives in this and other fields.
Sources: americamagazine.org, ncronline.org