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Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle of Manila, Philippines, is pictured in Rome May 6, 2018. Pope Francis has named Cardinal Tagle prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

By Cindy Wooden 
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — In a move that may signal Pope Francis’ plan for the reform of the Roman Curia is close to completion, the pope has named Philippine Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle of Manila prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.

The 62-year-old cardinal succeeds Cardinal Fernando Filoni, 73, who since 2011 had led the Vatican office overseeing the church’s vast mission territories.

Announcing Cardinal Tagle’s appointment Dec. 8, the Vatican also announced that Cardinal Filoni would become grand master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem. Cardinal Filoni succeeds U.S. Cardinal Edwin F. O’Brien, 80, as grand master of the organization that supports Catholics in the Holy Land.

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Pope Francis leads a prayer service at a Marian statue overlooking the Spanish Steps in Rome Dec. 8, 2019, the feast of the Immaculate Conception. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Mary, conceived without sin, is a “masterpiece” who reflects “the beauty of God who is all love, grace and self-giving,” Pope Francis said on the feast of the Immaculate Conception.

Reciting the Angelus prayer with visitors in St. Peter’s Square Dec. 8, Pope Francis focused on the feast day that celebrates how Mary was conceived in the womb of St. Ann without original sin.

Several hours after the noon prayer, the pope joined thousands of people near the Spanish Steps in central Rome to pay homage to the Immaculate Conception at a Marian statue atop a tall column. The statue was erected in 1857 to commemorate Pope Pius IX’s declaration three years earlier of the dogma that Mary was conceived without sin. Continue reading →

Father Jorge Mario Bergoglio is pictured cooking in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Pope Francis will celebrate the 50th anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood Dec. 13, 2019. (CNS photo/courtesy of Maria Elena Bergoglio via Reuters)

By Carol Glatz 
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — In Caravaggio’s painting of Matthew, the sinful tax collector being called by Jesus to “Follow me,” Pope Francis sees the same unexpected, grace-filled moment found in his own call to the priesthood.

A 17-year-old Argentine student headed to a school picnic on Sept. 21, 1953, the feast of St. Matthew, Jorge Bergoglio felt compelled to first stop by his parish of San Jose de Flores.

It was there, speaking with a priest he had never seen before and receiving the sacrament of reconciliation, he was suddenly struck by “the loving presence of God,” who, like his episcopal motto describes, saw him through eyes of mercy and chose him, despite his human imperfections and flaws.

This gift from a “God of surprises,” a God who offers unexpected, unlimited and unmerited mercy, would change the young man’s life.

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Pope Francis. (CNS file photo/Paul Haring)

By Junno Arocho Esteves 
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Ignoring the reality lived by men and women today has caused a resurgence of old ideologies, such as populism, that inevitably do more harm than good, Pope Francis said.

Speaking off-the-cuff with staff and members of the Italian Jesuit magazine, “Aggiornamenti Sociali” (“Social Updates”) Dec. 6, the pope said that prejudices, certain “schools of thought and positions taken do so much harm” in the world.

“Today for example in Europe, we are experiencing the prejudice of populism, countries who close in on themselves and turn to ideologies,” he said. “But not just new ideologies — there are a few — but to the old ones, the old ideologies that created the Second World War.”

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