First the history of the "entrustment":
FATIMA, Portugal (CNS) — Entrusting Pope Francis’ pontificate to Our Lady of Fatima, Cardinal Jose da Cruz Policarpo of Lisbon, Portugal, asked Mary to give the pope courage and strength, particularly as he moves to renew and reform the Catholic Church.
“Give him the gift of discernment to know how to identify the ways of renewal of the church; give him the courage not to hesitate to follow the ways suggested by the Holy Spirit; support him in the hard hours of suffering to overcome with the charity the trials that the renewal of the church will bring,” the cardinal prayed May 13, the feast of Our Lady of Fatima.
Cardinal Policarpo recited the prayer, which he wrote himself, at the end of a Mass concluding a major international pilgrimage to Fatima for the feast day marking the 96th anniversary of the apparition of Mary to three children.
“We consecrate to you, Our Lady, mother of the church, the ministry of the new pope,” he prayed. “Fill his heart with the tenderness of God that you experienced so that he can embrace all the men and women of our age with the love of your son Jesus Christ.”
The Portuguese cardinal, who participated in the conclave that elected Pope Francis, said the new pope had asked him twice to consecrate his pontificate to Our Lady of Fatima. He also asked Mary to give Pope Francis “the desire to be a pilgrim to this shrine.”
But Pope Francis was not the only object of a special consecration during the mid-May pilgrimage; at a Mass May 12 at the Fatima shrine, Archbishop Orani Joao Tempesta of Rio de Janeiro entrusted to Mary all the young people who are preparing to attend World Youth Day in Rio with Pope Francis in July.
Then the sudden death while on retreat and the telegram of condolences:
Vatican City, 14 March 2014 (VIS) – The Holy Father has sent a telegram of condolences to Bishop Jose Manuel Macario do Nascimento Clemente, Patriarch of Lisbon, Portugal and president of the Portuguese Episcopal Conference, for the death on the afternoon of 12 March of Cardinal Jose da Cruz Policarpo, patriarch emeritus of Lisbon, Portugal, at the age of 78.
In the text the Pope expressed his closeness and prayer “for the patriarchate of Lisbon, the family of the departed and for all those who mourn his unexpected death”, and recalled the cardinal's “important contribution in the different organs of the Holy See” and his “two encounters with this pastor, committed to the search for truth … who placed the gifts he received from the Lord to the service of the People of God and to his brother bishops, especially during his years as president of the Episcopal Conference”.
Comments
Post a Comment