POPE MONITOR

POPE FRANCIS PRAISES MIC EDUCATORS DURING VATICAN RECEPTION

ANNUAL REPORT ON CHURCH’S EFFORTS TO PREVENT ABUSE POPE RECEIVING TREATMENT FOR TORN LIGAMENT

Catholic educators from Mary Immaculate College (MIC), Limerick enjoyed a private reception with Pope Francis in the Vatican recently during a research trip to Rome. The eight staff members, four students and eight graduates made up the majority of the 36 educators from the Global Researchers Advancing Catholic Education (GRACE) project who were in Rome to study Pope Francis’ initiatives in Catholic education.

The GRACE project is an international research-based partnership between MIC, Boston College (USA), the University of Notre Dame (Australia), and St Mary’s University (London). The project provides an opportunity for practitioners and scholars of Catholic education and theology to collaborate and respond meaningfully to challenges faced in the field. The GRACE academics spent four days in Rome discussing how to further the goals of the project.

Welcoming the group, Pope Francis said: “I trust that this study will inspire each of you to rededicate himself or herself with generous zeal to your vocation as educators, to your efforts to solidify the foundations of a more humane and solidary society, and thus the advancement of Christ’s kingdom of truth, holiness, justice and peace… Educating is taking a risk in the tension between the mind, the heart and the hands: in harmony, to the point of thinking what I feel and do; feeling what I think and do; of doing what I feel and think. It’s a balance.”

Professor Eamonn Conway, head of the Department of Theology & Religious Studies at MIC, said: “It was an extraordinary gift that Pope Francis gave us a private audience and, setting aside his text, spoke to us heart to heart for over a half an hour about his passion for

Pope Francis has asked the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors to produce an annual report on what the Catholic Church is doing around the world to prevent the abuse of minors and vulnerable adults.

In an audience at the Vatican on April 29, the pope called on the commission to produce the annual audit to promote “transparency and accountability”.

“This might be difficult at the beginning, but I ask you to begin where necessary, in order to furnish a reliable account on what is presently being done and what needs to change, so that the competent authorities can act,” he said.

“This report will be a factor of transparency and accountability and – I hope – will provide a clear audit of our progress in this effort. Without that progress, the faithful will continue to lose trust in their pastors, and preaching and witnessing to the Gospel will become increasingly difficult.”

Secretary of the commission Fr Andrew Small responded positively to the pope’s request. “Verifiable data has to be at the heart of rebuilding trust,” he said. “The idea of a report has been clearly working in the financial sector. Doing this in the safeguarding sector seems to be the only way to rebuild trust.”

The commission’s report will not deal with specific cases but will provide details on the status of safeguarding policies and procedures, according to Fr Small. This will include how effectively guidelines are being implemented. While noting that it will be ultimately up to the pope to decide whether the annual reports will be made public, he said: “I can’t imagine a world in which the report would not be published.” education. While we met many inspirational leaders in Catholic education operating on the global stage, not least Pope Francis, what was most impressive was the calibre of our own young people, their personal faith as well as their passion for justice, truth and love and their commitment to their teaching vocation.”

Dr Daniel O’Connell, lecturer in Religious Education at MIC and GRACE project leader, said, “We were left with a renewed confidence in Catholic education and a sense of belonging to a wider community.”

Pope Francis is undergoing medical treatment for a torn ligament in his knee which has prevented him from standing or walking unaided during recent audiences and Masses. The 85-year-old pontiff said that his doctor had ordered him not to walk, and that he is to receive therapeutic injections to help with the pain in his right knee and leg.

On May 4, he remained seated during the traditional blessings of newlyweds and pilgrims at his Wednesday audience, and required assistance to walk up the ramp to reach his chair in St Peter’s Square. Before the final blessing, he said: “Unfortunately, I won’t be able to stop among you due to my knee injury. And for that, I apologise for having to greet you from a seated position, but it is a thing of the moment. Hopefully, it will pass soon and I will be able to come to you later in other audiences.”

In an interview published in the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera on May 3, he said “I have been like this for some time, I cannot walk… It brings a little pain, humiliation.”

The pope’s mobility has been visibly more limited since February.