On women deacons
In an interview with the National Catholic Reporter, Cardinal Robert McElroy answered a question about ordaining women deacons:
“I think [in the synod] was a lot of feeling that [the diaconate] should be focused not on liturgical things, as much as on serving the poor and the marginalised. So do we need to reimagine the diaconate as a whole?
“The question looked much different to a lot of us after. Now, I’m in favour of having women as deacons as it is presently, but there may be a pathway here that would be very promising that would, I think, invigorate in many important ways the diaconate as a whole and perhaps provide a pathway.”
Listen to the cry of the world
Pope Francis concluded the first session of the 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops with a mass in St Peter’s Basilica last Sunday. The following is an extract from his homily:
“There can be no true religious experience that is deaf to the cry of the world. There is no love of God without care and concern for our neighbour; otherwise, we risk becoming pharisaic. We may have plenty of good ideas on how to reform the Church, but let us remember: to adore God and to love our brothers and sisters with his love, that is the great and perennial reform. To be a worshipping Church and a Church of service, washing the feet of wounded humanity, accompanying those who are frail, weak and cast aside, going out lovingly to encounter the poor.”
On active non-violence
Cardinal Charles Maung Bo of Yangon in Myanmar is advocating an attitude of “active non-violence” in pursuing peace. “Going against the current, by adopting a mission of active non-violence, is key for working toward a more peaceful world. Pope Francis’s many documents, exhortations, statements and actions have been imbued with the spirit and dynamic of non-violence.”
(Compiled by Fr Joe Borg)