vatican

On Friday the Vatican’s Congregation for the Causes of Saints published the decree for the beatification of the late great Servant of God John Paul II. (Full text of the proclamation here).

Pope John Paul II will be beatified on May 1st, the Feast of Divine Mercy, in Rome.

Before the approval of the Congregation of Saints was released (with the approval of Pope Benedict XVI), a miraculous healing of a French nun, Sr. Marie Simon Pierre, was approved. She had been cured of Parkinson's disease suddenly in 2005, and medical experts could not attribute the cure to any worldly cause. The nun had asked Pope John Paul II through prayer to help heal her disease.

May 1st is a particularly special day for those who know Pope John Paul II's teachings and work; it is the Feast of Divine Mercy, a feast day added to the liturgical calendar by the late Holy Father. The feast is a celebration of the overwhelming mercy of Jesus Christ, as written about by Polish nun St. Faustina Kowalska.

Pope John Paul II visited St. Louis in 1999, before the Jubilee Year (2000) which he also promoted for a renewal of faith and love in the Church. You can view more information about this 1999 Papal Visit on our website.

By John Thavis | Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY — The Vatican has revised its procedures for handling priestly sex abuse cases, streamlining disciplinary measures, extending the statute of limitations and defining child pornography as an act of sexual abuse of a minor.

Vatican officials said the changes allow the Church to deal with such abuse more rapidly and effectively, often through dismissal of the offending cleric from the priesthood.

As expected, the Vatican also updated its list of the "more grave crimes" against Church law, called "delicta graviora," including for the first time the "attempted sacred ordination of a woman." In such an act, it said, the cleric and the woman involved are automatically excommunicated, and the cleric can also be dismissed from the priesthood.

Vatican officials emphasized that simply because women's ordination was treated in the same document as priestly sex abuse did not mean the two acts were somehow equivalent in the eyes of the Church.

"There are two types of 'delicta graviora': those concerning the celebration of the sacraments, and those concerning morals. The two types are essentially different and their gravity is on different levels," said Msgr. Charles Scicluna, an official of the Vatican's doctrinal congregation.

Sexual abuse of a minor by a priest was added to the classification of "delicta graviora" in 2001, and at that time the Vatican established norms to govern the handling of such cases, which were reserved to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. The norms affect how church law treats sex abuse cases; civil law deals with the crime separately.

The latest revisions, approved by Pope Benedict XVI May 21 and released July 15, for the most part codify practices that have been implemented through special permissions granted over the last nine years and make them part of universal law.

The Vatican spokesman, Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, said publication of the revisions "makes a great contribution to the clarity and certainty of law in this field, a field in which the church is today strongly committed to proceeding with rigor and transparency."

Continue reading about the new norms on the St. Louis Review website »

One of the largest collections of art, documents and historically significant objects from the Vatican ever to tour North America opens May 15 at the Missouri History Museum in Saint Louis for a limited engagement. “Vatican Splendors: A Journey through Faith and Art” will present unique objects illustrating the Vatican’s impact on history and culture through 2,000 years.

The exhibition features approximately 170 rare works of art and historically significant objects, many of which have never left the Vatican. Taken together these works explore how the papacy has influenced – and been influenced by – the world throughout the centuries.

St. Louis is one of only three U.S. cities to host “Vatican Splendors.” Highlights of the exhibition include artwork by Michelangelo, personal objects, and tools used in work on the Sistine Chapel and Basilica of Saint Peter’s; works by masters including Bernini, Giotto and Guercino; artwork dating back to the third century; venerated relics (bone fragments) of Saint Peter and Saint Paul; storied frescoes and mosaics; works by well-known sculptors; intricately embroidered silk vestments; precious objects from the Papal Mass; historical maps and documents; objects discovered at the tombs of Saint Peter and Saint Paul; and historical objects from the modern and ancient basilicas of Saint Peter’s in Rome.

More information about the exhibit:

• More about Vatican Splendors on the Archdiocesan website
• Vatican Splendors Exhibition page on Missouri History Museum website
• Vatican Splendors Website

One of the largest collections of art, documents and historically significant objects from the Vatican ever to tour North America is coming to the Missouri History Museum in Saint Louis for a limited engagement beginning May 15, 2010. “Vatican Splendors: A Journey through Faith and Art” will present unique objects illustrating the Vatican’s impact on history and culture through 2,000 years.

Approximately 170 objects will be presented in galleries and recreated environments that enhance the visitor’s understanding of their historical and artistic significance. Items in the collection – which include mosaics; frescoes; paintings by Renaissance masters; works by well-known sculptors; intricately embroidered silk vestments; precious objects from the Papal Mass; uniforms of the Papal Swiss Guard; historical maps and documents and relics – are on loan from The Reverenda Fabbrica of Saint Peter, the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside-the-Walls, the Basilica of Saint Mary Major, the Vatican Library, the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, the Apostolic Floreria, the Papal Swiss Guard, and private collections.

Highlights of the exhibition include artwork by Michelangelo, signed documents and personal objects such as his drawing caliper, and tools used in work on the Sistine Chapel and Basilica of Saint Peter’s; works by masters including Bernini, Giotto and Guercino; objects dating back to the first century; venerated relics (bone fragments) of Saint Peter and Saint Paul; the first geographical map of Australia; objects discovered at the tombs of Saint Peter and Saint Paul; and historical objects from the modern and ancient basilicas of Saint Peter’s in Rome.

• Opens May 15, 2010
• Located at the Missouri History Museum (map)
• Contains approximately 170 rarely-seen objects from the Vatican

More information about the Exhibit can be found on the Vatican Splendors Art Exhibit page »