The Standing Committee for Relations with Movements and Associations of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) has sent its annual Pentecost message to the Catholic movements and associations of Canada.  The Bishops on the committee extend to the groups and their members “heartfelt appreciation for your ongoing participation in the mission of the Church, a true share in the life of Christ”. In its message, the Standing Committee highlights a speech by Blessed John Paul II on Pentecost 1998, in which the Pope expressed his conviction that ecclesial movements and new communities are “the fruit of a new Pentecost”. The members of the Standing Committee also focus on what Pope Francis in his first homily to the College of Cardinals described as three essential dimensions of discipleship: “walking, building, and witnessing”. 

Link to the message

(CCCB – Ottawa)… Following a petition by the Synod of the Romanian Greek Catholic Church and a consultation of the Bishops of Canada, His Holiness Pope Francis has extended the canonical jurisdiction of the Eparchy of St. George the Martyr in Canton, Ohio, to the entire territory of Canada for the Romanian Catholic faithful.

The current Eparchial Bishop is the Most Reverend John Michael Botean. The Eparchy of St. George in Canton is the only eparchy of the Romanian Greek Catholic Church outside Romania. It will now have 21 parishes and missions, including one parish in Toronto and another in Montreal. Its population of 6,000 Romanian Catholics is served by 29 diocesan priests, eight deacons, one subdeacon and one lector.

With the Eparchy having been extended to include Canada, its Eparchial Bishop becomes a member of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) and will participate in its meetings and activities.

(CCCB – Ottawa)… The world today is rightly concerned about the state of the environment. These concerns are shared by the Church. In his audience with representatives of the Churches and Ecclesial Communities and other religions, after being elected to the See of Peter, Pope Francis said that “The Church is likewise conscious of the responsibility which all of us have for our world, for the whole of creation, which we must love and protect.”

The Episcopal Commission for Justice and Peace of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) has outlined eight central themes in recent Church teaching on the environment. “These reflect on how a Catholic approach to economic questions, social justice, and environmental questions are necessarily viewed in relation to each other,” the Episcopal Commission states in its text which was released today.

The citations in the document are from various messages, speeches, homilies and Encyclicals of Blessed John Paul II and Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. Although Pope Francis is not specifically quoted in the document, the Holy Father has already spoken about the environment in his first speeches and homilies.

The eight central themes identified  by the CCCB Commission for Justice and Peace are the following: our creation in God’s image; creation’s intrinsic order; the relationship of “human ecology” to environmental ecology; responsible stewardship; the morality of caring for the environment; solidarity; creation and spirituality; and necessary responses to environmental problems.

In its conclusion, the Commission recalls that “Each of us is responsible for doing our part to build up this culture, which must be a culture of ‘life’ in every sense of the word. But since this new culture can only develop when we recognize the proper way of relating to God, to ourselves, and to the rest of creation, the eight themes above have been presented to help Catholics in this task of cultural renewal.”

Dioceses, parishes, ecclesial movements and other Catholic organizations will wish to reflect on and discuss the Church’s teaching on the environment. The document is available on the CCCB Website and from CCCB Publications. Copies can be ordered by phone at 1-800-769-1147, by email at publi@cccb.ca or online at www.cccbpublications.ca. 

The Holy See Press Office has announced that Pope Francis has chosen the motto “Miserando atque eligendo”. In Latin this means “By having mercy on him and choosing him”. At the same time, the Holy See presented the Holy Father’s coat of arms, which is similar to what he had as Archbishop of Buenos Aires: the blue field is surmounted by the miter as Bishop of Rome and the keys of Saint Peter; the cross at the centre is the symbol of the Jesuits; the flaming sun with the letters IHS are the first three letters of Jesus’ name in Greek, recalling Our Lord’s saving mission; the star represents the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the flower of the spikenard or nard is used in Spanish iconography to represent Saint Joseph.

More information on the Vatican Information Service website

This morning, March 19, 2013, the Solemnity of Saint Joseph, husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary, approximately 200,000 people were present in Saint Peter’s Square for the Mass for the inauguration of the Petrine ministry of Pope Francis. The official delegation from the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) included the two Cardinal Electors from Canada, their Eminences Jean-Claude Cardinal Turcotte, Archbishop Emeritus of Montreal, and Thomas Cardinal Collins, Archbishop of Toronto; the Most Reverend Richard Smith, Archbishop of Edmonton and CCCB President; the Most Reverend Gerald C. Lacroix, Archbishop of Quebec City and Primate of the Church in Canada; and the Most Reverend Christian Lépine, Archbishop of Montreal.

Link to the Pope’s homily

This Tuesday, March 19, 2013, the Solemnity of Saint Joseph, husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we celebrate the formal inauguration of the Petrine ministry of Francis, Servant of the Servants of God. Saint Joseph is both patron of the universal Church, and principal patron of Canada.

On behalf of the Catholic Bishops of our country, I invite each member of our Church and everyone of good will to share in this moment of joy. Let us pray that God support and strengthen our new Pope in his ministry of universal pastor. May he lead, encourage and teach us all to give glory to God, and thus peace and good will to the world.

Pope Francis takes on the role of the Apostle Peter shown to us in the Gospels and Acts of the Apostles: helping the disciples recognize Jesus and be a communion of love, strengthening us in the faith, witnessing to Jesus’ resurrection, and continuing Jesus’ ministry of healing and teaching (Mark 8.29,16.7; Matthew 16.18; Luke 22.32; John 20.6; Acts 2.14-49,3.2-10). He now serves, by the grace of God, as our “rock”.

From the outset, Pope Francis has invited us to turn to Mary, Mother of God, for her protection and intercession. This was manifested symbolically the day after his election, when he prayed to Our Lady at the Basilica of Saint Mary Major, and left a bouquet of flowers on the altar.

Mary heard God and believed. She received into her very womb the Word made flesh. With Saint Joseph, she welcomed Jesus, and introduced him to the world. She learned from Jesus, and kept faith with him to the last. From the Cross, Jesus made Mary our mother in faith, and we her sons and daughters (John 19.26-27). With Mary, we introduce Jesus to our world, and are called to imitate Mary’s steadfast fidelity to our Lord, even in moments of betrayal, ignorance and suffering, so as to be effective witnesses to God’s life-giving glory.

With gratitude to God, let us welcome Pope Francis as he leads the Church into a new stage along the journey of evangelization and encounter. Just a few days ago, he told the Cardinals, “Do not give in to pessimism and discouragement…. [T]he Holy Spirit gives the Church… the courage to persevere and also to seek new methods of evangelization, to bring the Gospel to the ends of the earth. The Christian truth is attractive and persuasive because it responds to the deep needs of human existence, convincingly announcing that Christ is the only Saviour of the whole person and of all persons.”

Together, with Pope Francis, let us move forward into the future, following the way of Christ, filled with the faith, hope and love we share with Mary, journeying to the Father, emboldened, inspired and united in the Holy Spirit.

+ Richard Smith
Archbishop of Edmonton and
President of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops

18 March 2013

PDF Version

(CCCB – Ottawa)… Preparations are well underway for the Mass for the Inauguration of the Ministry of Pope Francis.  It will take place this coming Tuesday, March 19, at 9:30 a.m., Rome time. The official delegation of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) continues to grow.  In addition to the two Cardinal Electors, Their Eminences Jean-Claude Cardinal Turcotte, Archbishop Emeritus of Montreal, and Thomas Cardinal Collins, Archbishop of Toronto, and CCCB President the Most Reverend Richard Smith, Archbishop of Edmonton (all of whom are already in Rome), the delegation will also include the Most Reverend Gerald C. Lacroix, Archbishop of Quebec City and Primate of the Church in Canada, and the Most Reverend Christian Lépine, Archbishop of Montreal. Both will arrive tomorrow in Rome. 

Should media wish to interview any of members of the CCCB delegation, they will make themselves available at mutually convenient times.  Of special interest to media would be, among other events, the time following the first praying of the Angelus by Pope Francis on Sunday at noon, Rome time, and following the Mass of Inauguration on Tuesday, March 19, 2013, at 9:30 a.m., Rome time. 

All arrangements for such interviews can be facilitated by the CCCB press attaché in Rome, Ms. Laura Ieraci, who can be reached by Canadian media already in Rome. For media in Canada, please contact CCCB Media Relations Director Mr. René Laprise at 613-241-9461, ext. 225. 

(CCCB-Ottawa)… The Most Reverend Richard Smith, Archbishop of Edmonton and President of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB), has sent an immediate letter of congratulations to Pope Francis on the day of his election as pastor of the universal Church. At the same time, Archbishop Smith released a public “message of welcome”, greeting the news of the papal election “with joy and gratitude”.

“I joyfully offer our sincerest congratulations, highest esteem, and loving obedience to you as Bishop of Rome, Successor of the Apostle Peter, Supreme Pontiff, and head of the College of Bishops,” the CCCB President says in his letter to the new Pope. The letter is on behalf of all the Roman and Eastern Catholic Bishops of Canada and in union with Catholic clergy and faithful, including the members of institutes for consecrated life and societies of apostolic life.

Until his election as Pope, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, S.J., was Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Argentina. He was born on December 17, 1936, in Buenos Aires. He entered the Society of Jesus, and after profession as a Jesuit was ordained priest on December 13, 1969. On May 20, 1992, he was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Buenos Aires, and was ordained Bishop on June 27, 1992. He was appointed Coadjutor Archbishop of Buenos Aires on June 3, 1997, and succeeded Cardinal Antonio Quarracino as Archbishop of Buenos Aires on February 28, 1998. He was also the Ordinary for Eastern Catholics in Argentina who do not have an Eparchial Bishop of their own rite. He served as President of the Conference of Bishops of Argentina, November 8, 2005 until November 8, 2011. He was elevated to the College of Cardinals by Blessed John Paul II during the Consistory of February 21, 2001.

In his letter, the CCCB President also recalls that the Church is currently celebrating the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council. During it, he notes, “the Council Fathers solemnly affirmed the sacred primacy of the Roman Pontiff and his unique place in the communion of Bishops.” The CCCB President states that the “Bishops of Canada now extend that same deference to Your Holiness, and pledge to you our loyalty and support.”

“May the Holy Spirit pour out upon you in abundance all the gifts you need to be our ‘rock’, our sure foundation, and to strengthen all your brothers and sisters in the faith,”  Archbishop Smith concludes his letter.

Letter of the CCCB President
Statement by the CCCB President

“May God grant us a Pontiff who will embrace charity” was the theme of the homily by His Eminence Angelo Cardinal Sodano, Dean of the College of Cardinals, during the Mass “pro eligendo Romano Pontifice” that was celebrated in Saint Peter’s Basilica before the Conclave began today, March 12, 2013.

Link to the homily

More than 6,000 journalists and news agencies from around the world have applied for temporary accreditation to the Holy See Press Office for the Conclave.  These include a number of Canadian media, both religious and secular, which are currently in Rome to cover the events surrounding the papal election. Salt + Light Television is providing full coverage of this memorable week, including the Mass before the Conclave, the procession of the Cardinals into the Sistine Chapel, and the announcement of the election of the new Pope. Father Thomas Rosica, C.S.B., CEO of Salt + Light TV, has been in Rome for several weeks to assist the Director of the Holy See Press Office, Father Federico Lombardi, S.J. The coverage by Salt + Light TV will be posted on the CCCB website.

Link to Salt + Light Television