An Archibishop with the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta has apologized for moving into a $2.2 million residential mansion.
Archbishop Wilton Gregory called the decision an “oversight” in his apology.
“I failed to consider the impact on the families throughout the Archdiocese who, though struggling to pay their mortgages, utilities, tuition and other bills, faithfully respond year after year to my pleas to assist with funding our ministries and services,” Gregory wrote.
Gregory said the Cathedral of Christ the King approached him to buy his former home for use as a rectory for the growing cathedral. He agreed and the church then received a large donation from the nephew of author Margaret Mitchell, the author of Gone With The Wind.
The donation included Joseph Mitchell’s home and that’s where the archdiocese decided to move the archbishop’s residence. The archbishop said the mansion was worth a value of $2.2 million according to the donation to the church. The church itself paid out none of its funds to purchase the property.
The archbishop said he is now looking to find a home that is more in line with the way Pope Francis has called for men to live.
Pope Francis held a 50-minute private talk with President Obama Thursday, a time period that one Catholic news service called an “extraordinarily long time.”
The Pope reportedly wanted to discuss two major issues with the President, treatment of the poor and growing inequality around the world and also the increasing amount of military conflicts around the world.
The President was very generous in his praise of the Pontiff after the meeting.
“Those of us as politicians have the task of trying to come up with policies to address issues,” the President said, “but His Holiness has the capacity to open people’s eyes and make sure they’re seeing that this is an issue.”
The Pope reportedly did not directly discuss the Affordable Care Act, which is facing legal challenges to mandates that would force Christian business owners to pay for treatments that include abortion drugs. However, the Vatican’s Secretary of State reportedly took the President to task on issues of religious freedom in America.
The Pope gave the President a copy of his work The Joy of the Gospels. The President said he would probably read it in the Oval Office to which the Pope said “I hope.”
The President reportedly asked the Pope at the conclusion of the meeting to pray for him and his family.
Pope Francis made a strong statement Wednesday with the permanent removal of a German bishop under fire for building a new $43 million residence.
The Pope expelled Monsignor Franz-Peter Tebartz van Elst, better known as the “Bling Bishop”, from the Limburg diocese on a temporary basis last October pending a church inquiry. Now, the Pope has expelled him entirely.
The Vatican said that officially, the Pope accepted the resignation of Tebartz van Elst, however sources inside the Vatican said that was only a gracious move on the part of the Pontiff.
Monsignor Manfred Grothe, an auxiliary bishop in Paderborn, Germany, will be taking over the Limberg diocese full time.
The Pope upon assuming his position called on all priests within the Catholic Church to be models of integrity in a church that “is poor and for the poor.” The Vatican and the head of the German Bishops’ Conference both called for healing, reconciliation and the power of prayer.
German Bishops’ Conference head Cardinal Reinhard Marx said it is time for leadership to show they are worthy of new trust.
Pope Francis is taking a bold stand against Italy’s powerful mafia organizations, telling the leaders that if they don’t repent they will end up in hell.
The Pope made his comments at the end of a special mass for family members of those who have been killed by the mafia organizations. The Pope sat in silent prayer as the names of 842 victims in the last year were read aloud. He then issued a blessing to the family members before pausing and issuing his comments to the mafia members and leaders.
“I feel I cannot conclude without saying a word to the protagonists who are absent today, the men and women Mafiosi,” the Pope said. “Please change your lives. Convert yourselves. Stop doing evil.”
“There is still time to avoid ending up in hell,” the Pope continued. “That is what is waiting for you if you continue on this path. You have had a father and a mother. Think of them. Cry a little and convert.”
The Pope then expanded his comments to a wider audience, saying the trappings of wealth, power and status would not give anyone true happiness. He concluded by saying that no one will be able to take anything with them into the next life.
In a first of its kind collaboration, leaders of the Christian and Muslim faiths are banding together to take a stand against slavery.
The new Global Freedom Network has the support of Pope Francis & the Vatican, the Church of England and al-Azhar, the Cairo based center of Sunni Muslim learning. It’s the first time the leaders of all three major religious groups have worked together with a single goal.
The GFN says that over 30 million people around the world are trapped in slavery and Pope Francis said it was a “crime against humanity.”
The group has vowed to make sure no organization under its control has tied to slavery-related business or groups and they will press governments to work to eradicate slavery within their borders.
“We are struggling against evil in secret places and in deeply entrenched networks of malice and cruelty,” said Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby.
The Global Freedom Network will be coordinated by Australian based anti-trafficking charity Walk Free Foundation.
Pope Francis is not a fan of the cult of personality that has been generated round him over the last year.
“To depict the pope as sort of a superman, a sort of star, seems offensive to me,” Pope Francis said to an Italian newspaper. “The pope is a man who laughs, cries, sleeps tranquilly and has friends like everyone else, a normal person.”
The Pope also said that despite the people who hailing him as a “superman” who will bring sweeping changes to the church, the positions of the church on issues such as contraception and prohibition of gay marriage will not change.
The Pope said changes would be coming in the area of transparency and responsibility within the church, especially on issues connected to abuse of children by church authorities.
Francis said that a synod of bishops will meet in October to work on how to take the church’s positions and make them more appealing to younger generations who believe the church has grown out of touch with the world.
Pope Francis has taken another step to reach out beyond the walls of the Vatican by opening the Pope’s summer residence to the public for the first time in history.
The gardens around Castel Gandolfo, a ridge-top castle 20 miles from Rome, will now be available for the public to tour, walk and meditate in the gardens. The gardens are terraced with views of the sea.
The grounds also include a small farm including a herd of cows that supply milk and butter to the Vatican. The farm also produces eggs, olives and honey which will be sold to the public at the grounds and at a supermarket in Vatican City.
The gardens will be open mornings Monday through Saturday and cost 26 euros for admission.
The escape from Rome to the summer home was initiated by Pope Clement VII in the 16th century. Pope Francis says that he plans to spend the summer in Rome because he has too much work to do.
A piece of artwork called Homeless Jesus that features an image of Jesus lying on a park bench covered in a blanket is drawing outrage from some residents in Davidson, North Carolina.
The sculpture in front of St. Alban’s Episcopal Church was created by the artist as “a representation that suggests Christ is with the most marginalized in our society.” The artwork shows a part of Christ’s face but shows his entire nail-scarred feet.
The sculpture is a duplicate of a piece on display in Vatican City that was blessed by Pope Francis. Reverend Dr. David Buck, rector of St. Alban’s, said the artwork is beautiful and reminds Christians their ultimate calling is to do what they can individually to take care of those in need of shelter, food and clothing.
However, some residents of the area are upset with the Sculpture.
One woman, Cindy Castano Swannack, called police when she drove past it the first time thinking a homeless person was lying on a bench in her neighborhood.
“My complaint is not about the art-worthiness of meaning behind the sculpture,” Davidson resident Jerry Dawson wrote in a letter to the editor. “It is about people driving into our beautiful, reasonably upscale neighborhood and seeing an ugly homeless person sleeping on a park bench.”
The church says they will not remove the sculpture.
Pope Francis is opening what observers are calling the most critical week of his papacy.
This week two separate commissions investigating the finances of the Vatican will issue their reports and make recommendations for reforming church procedures. The bank has been long believed by Italian authorities to be a place of money laundering by wealthy Italians and the Pope has vowed to make sure any illegal activity involving the bank is immediately stopped.
The preparations are also getting underway for a major family issues summit that will deal with what church officials call a “widespread rejection by Catholics of church teaching” on issues like contraception, marriage and divorce.
A survey commissioned by the Pope of lay Catholics showed that a wide majority of those calling themselves practicing Catholics reject the church’s core teachings on sexual morals, birth control, marriage and divorce. The number one reason given was that they were “unrealistic and outdated” compared to the world’s view.
The Pope and leaders will meet to determine how to bring Catholics back to the teachings of the church and Scripture and reject worldly views on controversial issues.
In a Lenten message to the world, Pope Francis called for fair distribution of wealth and equal access to education and health care for the poor in the world.
He called on followers of Christ everywhere to make an effort to lessen “the poverty of our brothers.”
However, the Pope did not just focus on monetary poverty. The Pope also had harsh words for Christians that he termed as suffering from “moral poverty” such as alcohol abuse, drug use, pornography and gambling.
The Pope said that those who are caught in alcohol or drug abuse, pornography or gambling are in “slavery to vice and sin” and said that “in such cases, moral destitution can be considered impending suicide.”
The Pope said that while Lent was “a fitting time for self-denial” he was tired of what he called superficial acts by Christians to try and show they were sacrificing something of benefit.
“Our consciences…need to be converted to justice, equality, simplicity and sharing,” The Pope said.
