CNS intern says ‘ciao for now’ to Eternal City

Lauren Colegrove enjoying a beautiful morning on top of the colonnade surrounding St. Peter’s Square during the installation Mass of Pope Francis. (CNS photo courtesy of Danielle McMonagle)

By Lauren Colegrove

VATICAN CITY – I applied for the Vatican internship program through Villanova University thinking that I would learn about journalism by observing/shadowing reporters, proofreading articles, attending general audiences — only across the ocean from the campus, language, and culture I was familiar with. Although I sort of understood how a newsroom worked, at least in theory, I knew next to nothing about Rome other than that the food was excellent and that I absolutely had to throw a coin in the Trevi Fountain before I left.

On my first day of the internship, after wandering around the city with my tourist map in hand, trying to read the hidden street signs and always managing to end up at the Tiber River no matter which direction I walked in, I finally made it to the Rome bureau of Catholic News Service. I was given a tour of the office, went to the cafe downstairs with my new co-workers to get a cappuccino, and settled down at what I now fondly consider to be my desk to read an article about a cardinal. I figured that I pretty much had this whole newsroom routine figured out.

A couple of hours later the pope announced his plans to resign, and the next few days are kind of a blur.

This is one of the most impressive aspects of a newsroom — the transition and balance between the pace of a “normal” day and unexpected chaos. This semester, I got a healthy dose of both — from waking up at 4:30 a.m. to attend the papal installation Mass to blogging about a seminarian soccer match, and everything in between. I spent a lot of quality time around St. Peter’s Basilica, was present for overflowing press conferences, smiled in the audience as Pope Francis stopped to kiss babies and will always remember the sound of Pope Benedict’s voice the first time I heard him speak in person. I’ve done formal interviews and scribbled notes on the back of scrap paper during impromptu interviews St. Peter’s Square, learning from all sorts of situations about the different aspects of newsgathering and what goes into making an informative and interesting story.

This spring I enjoyed being a part of the engaging world of reporting in one of the most fascinating cities imaginable. Being in the heart of the Catholic world, as well as what was once the focal point of an empire, gave me the chance to learn about a new culture and delve more deeply into Catholicism and share it with others through my articles. The excitement of working with a news service that covers religion during one of the most interesting and transitional times for the church was more than anything I could have imagined, and I can honestly say that I looked forward to going into the office every single morning. It’s going to be hard to leave CNS, but I know that if I’m ever back in Rome (and I should be since I threw a coin in the Trevi Fountain) I’ll make sure to catch up at the regular café and reminisce about the time I first grabbed a cappuccino there on that historic morning.

Editor’s Note: Lauren’s intern experience also included being interviewed — along with other Villanova students — by NBC’s Matt Lauer on the “Today” program. You can watch here.

U.S. teens to be confirmed by pope choose Sts. Francis, Ignatius as patrons

(CNS/Mike Crupi)

VATICAN CITY — The two teenagers from the United States who will be among 44 people confirmed by Pope Francis on Sunday chose very appropriate saints for their confirmation patrons, although at the time, they didn’t know just how fitting they would be.

In late February or early March — “about two weeks before the conclave began” and elected Pope Francis — Msgr. Ronald J. Rozniak was asked by the Archdiocese of Newark to choose two of the 226 members of his parish’s confirmation class to be confirmed by the pope. He put names of candidates from Our Lady of Mount Carmel parish in Ridgewood, N.J., into a hardhat and drew the names of Brigid Miniter, 14, and Anthony Merejo, 17.

(CNS/Nancy Phelan Wiechec)

Members of the confirmation class, including the chosen two, had already picked the saints they wanted as their confirmation patrons, he said in a telephone interview a few minutes ago.

Well before the world’s cardinals chose a Jesuit to be pope and that Jesuit chose Francis as his name, Msgr. Rozniak drew the name of Miniter — who had chosen “Francis with an ‘i’ for Francis of Assisi” for her saint — and Merejo — who had chosen Ignatius, the founder of the Jesuits.

“If that’s not providential, I don’t know what is,” he said.

Text of statement on reform of Vatican bureaucracy

VATICAN CITY — The Vatican Secretariat of State announced April 13 that Pope Francis has named a committee of eight cardinals to assist him in reforming the Vatican bureaucracy, something that was recommended during the cardinals’ meetings that preceded the papal election last month.

The list of eight names is notable for the high representation of the Americas (three members, including Boston’s Cardinal Sean Patrick O’Malley) and English-speaking countries (also three, counting India). The role of coordinator has been given to Cardinal Oscar A. Rodriguez Maradiaga of Honduras.

Five continents are represented. Only two members come from Europe, the church’s traditional heartland, and only one shares the Italian nationality of the majority of Vatican officials.

The Vatican statement follows.

POPE FRANCIS APPOINTS GROUP OF CARDINALS TO ADVISE HIM ON CHURCH GOVERNMENT AND REVISION PLAN OF APOSTOLIC CONSTITUTION ON ROMAN CURIA

Vatican City, 13 April 2013 (VIS) – Following is the full text of a communique issued today by the Secretariat of State.

“The Holy Father Francis, taking up a suggestion that emerged during the General Congregations preceding the Conclave, has established a group of cardinals to advise him in the government of the universal Church and to study a plan for revising the Apostolic Constitution on the Roman Curia, ‘Pastor Bonus’.

The group consists of:

Cardinal Giuseppe Bertello, president of the Governorate of Vatican City State;

Cardinal Francisco Javier Errazuriz Ossa, archbishop emeritus of Santiago de Chile, Chile;

Cardinal Oswald Gracias, archbishop of Bombay, India;

Cardinal Reinhard Marx, archbishop of Munich and Freising, Germany;

Cardinal Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya, archbishop of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo;

Cardinal Sean Patrick O’Malley O.F.M., archbishop of Boston, USA;

Cardinal George Pell, archbishop of Sydney, Australia;

Cardinal Oscar Andres Rodriguez Maradiaga, S.D.B., archbishop of Tegucigalpa, Honduras, in the role of coordinator; and

Bishop Marcello Semeraro of Albano, Italy, in the role of secretary.

The group’s first meeting has been scheduled for 1-3 October 2013. His Holiness is, however, currently in contact with the aforementioned cardinals.”

Seven historic weeks, told in five and a half minutes

From Pope Benedict’s announcement that he would resign, to Pope Francis’ celebration of Easter Mass: images of one of the most extraordinary papal transitions in history — narrated by participants and first-hand observers.

“Like a little kiss from God”

Pope Francis gives Dominic Gondreau an Easter kiss. (Screen shot from http://www.news.va)

VATICAN CITY — Whenever he’s in a crowd, Pope Francis kisses lots of children. The father of one special boy, who got a special kiss and embrace on Easter, has written a blog about the embrace and its meaning.

The boy, Dominic Gondreau, has cerebal palsy. He is spending several months in Rome with his parents and four siblings while his father, a professor of theology at Dominican-run Providence College in Providence, R.I., serves as faculty resident director for students studying in Rome.

The dad, Paul Gondreau, said his son “has already shared in Christ’s cross more than I have throughout my entire life multiplied a thousand times over.”

And while Dominic’s parents help him walk, stretch his muscles, wheel him around and care for him in every way, dad says, “He shows me how to love.”

“We were all moved to tears” by the pope’s embrace of Dominic, he said.

In an interview with CNN, Dominic’s mother, Christiana, described the moment as being “like a little kiss from God.”

Our friends at Salt and Light Television, the Catholic channel in Canada, have included the moment in their video, about 10 minutes and 30 seconds into the piece.

“Brothers” Pope Francis, Benedict XVI meet

CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy — Brief video clips and a short briefing from the Vatican spokesman gave observers a glimpse of a historic moment filled with touching gestures — the visit today of Pope Francis to his predecessor, the emeritus Pope Benedict XVI.

Pope Francis embraces retired Pope Benedict XVI at the papal summer residence in Castel Gandolfo. (CNS/L’Osservatore Romano via Reuters)

Pope Francis arrived shortly after noon by helicopter in the gardens of the papal villa at Castel Gandolfo, where Pope Benedict has been staying since his Feb. 28 resignation. While the two have spoken by telephone at least twice, this was their first meeting since Pope Francis’ March 13 election.

Pope Benedict, wearing a quilted white jacket over a simple white cassock, was driven to the garden heliport to greet his successor. But Pope Benedict is moving even more slowly than he was a month ago, and Pope Francis walked down the helicopter steps reaching out to Pope Benedict.

Pope Francis prays with Pope Benedict after arriving at the papal summer residence in Castel Gandolfo. (CNS/L’Osservatore Romano via Reuters)

Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman, said they both got in the car to go to the villa. Pope Francis sat on the right — the spot reserved for the pope — and Pope Benedict sat on the left.

As soon as they entered the villa, the two went to the chapel. Pope Francis walked in first, turning to reach out to Pope Benedict and help him to one of the pews. Father Lombardi said Pope Benedict indicated Pope Francis should take the front bench, but Pope Francis said, “We are brothers,” and the two knelt in prayer side by side.

They spent 45 minutes talking alone. Pope Francis gave Pope Benedict an icon of Our Lady of Humility, saying that when he received it, he immediately thought of Pope Benedict.

The two had lunch together at Castel Gandolfo, then went for a short walk. Pope Francis left about two and half hours after he arrived.

Pope Benedict talks with Pope Francis at the papal summer residence in Castel Gandolfo. (CNS//L’Osservatore Romano via Reuters)

Hundreds of people who were gathered in the main square outside the papal villa were left disappointed. They had hoped the two popes — one reigning, one emeritus — would come to the balcony together.

Father Lombardi told reporters the meeting was “the culmination” of major events in the life of the church over the past month, the prayerful and successful transition of the papacy. The meeting, he said, was “a sign of communion.”

Papal fans will have to stick with snail mail

Screenshot of the Vatican web site’s homepage. In 2005, the Vatican Internet office created a special email address for Pope Benedict, but there won’t be one this time for Pope Francis.

VATICAN CITY — When Pope Benedict XVI was elected pope in 2005, the Vatican quickly (just 16 hours after his election) set up six different email addresses by language for well-wishers to send greetings and prayers.

Just two days after the accounts were set up, the Vatican Internet office received over 56,000 emails. But as more people found out about the addresses, the servers soon crashed, prompting the Vatican, this time around, to no longer continue the shortly-lived tradition.

Vatican spokesman, Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi told journalists today that the 2005 initiative triggered “an avalanche  of messages that put the system in crisis.”

The small staff at the Internet office is also “unable to respond to the number of emails that come in,” therefore,  an email address is not currently in the cards, he said.

“I don’t know if it will happen in the future, but for now there are no plans,” he said.

So greetings, messages and notes will have to go via Twitter @Pontifex. Or if 140 characters aren’t enough, there’s always the old-fashioned way: via snail mail to His Holiness Pope Francis, 00120 Vatican City State. But don’t go overboard or the poor papal postmen lugging all those the letters might protest and discourage that option too!

Pope Francis’ schedule and his improvs

Pope Francis prays at Lourdes Grotto in the Vatican Gardens March 16. (CNS photo/L’Osservatore Romano)

VATICAN CITY — The Vatican released an official schedule for Pope Francis March 17-24, but if his first two days as pope were any indication, the schedule was only an outline destined to expand at a moment’s notice.

The only event on the new pope’s schedule March 15 was an audience with the world’s cardinals. But shortly before that meeting, he shocked the receptionist at the Jesuit headquarters by telephoning the order’s superior general; he made an evening visit to a Rome clinic to visit 90-year-old Argentine Cardinal Jorge Mejia who had had a heart attack; and then he stopped at the replica of the grotto of Lourdes in the Vatican gardens to pray before a statue of Mary.

The Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, said the pope spent 20 minutes visiting privately with Cardinal Mejia at the Pius XI clinic before visiting the clinic’s intensive care unit, greeting doctors and other staff members, then praying in the chapel with the Sisters of St. Joseph, who operate the facility.

Also March 16 Pope Francis formally reconfirmed the prefects, presidents and secretaries of Vatican congregations and councils “donec aliter provideatur” (until otherwise provided), meaning for the time being. While temporary reappointments are normal at the beginning of a pontificate, the Vatican notice added that the pope intended to take “time for reflection, prayer and dialogue before making any definitive appointments or confirmations.”

The updated schedule for the pope released March 16 said Pope Francis would preside the next day at the 10 a.m. Mass in the tiny Church of St. Anne, the Vatican parish located just inside the main business entrance to the Vatican.

Pope Francis was to meet March 18 with President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner of Argentina.

The new pope’s installation, formally known as the Mass for the beginning of the Petrine ministry, was scheduled for March 19, the feast of St. Joseph, in St. Peter’s Square.

In addition to official government delegations, the Vatican confirmed that Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, spiritual leader of the world’s Orthodox Christians, was planning to attend. The Vatican newspaper said he would be the first patriarch of Constantinople to attend a papal installation since the Great Schism of 1054 separated Christianity between East and West.

While Patriarch Bartholomew did not attend the installation of Pope Benedict XVI in 2005, he was a frequent visitor to the Vatican during Pope Benedict’s pontificate.

The rest of the pope’s schedule released by the Vatican included:

– March 20 Pope Francis will meet with the delegations from Christian churches and communities that came for the installation.

– March 22 the pope will meet with diplomats accredited to the Vatican.

– March 23 Pope Francis will leave the Vatican at noon by helicopter and fly 15 minutes south to Castel Gandolfo. He will meet Pope Benedict at the papal villa there and have lunch with him.

– March 24 Pope Francis will preside over Palm Sunday Mass in St. Peter’s Square.

Pope Francis explains his choice of name

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis said that “as things got dangerous” in the conclave voting, he was sitting next to his “great friend” Brazilian Cardinal Claudio Hummes “who comforted me.”

When the former Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio went over the 77 votes needed to become pope, he said, Cardinal Hummes “hugged me, kissed me and said, ‘Don’t forget the poor.’”

Pope Francis waves to media representatives at audience. (CNS/Paul Haring)

Pope Francis told thousands of journalists March 16 that he took to heart the words of his friend and chose to be called after St. Francis of Assisi, “the man of poverty, the man of peace, the man who loves and protects creation,” the same created world “with which we don’t have such a good relationship.”

“How I would like a church that is poor and that is for the poor,” he told the more than 5,000 media representatives who came from around the world for the conclave and his election.

Pope Francis also said some had suggested jokingly that he, a Jesuit, should have taken the name Clement XV “to get even with Clement XIV who suppressed the Society of Jesus” in the 1700s.

The pope told the media, “You’ve really been working, haven’t you.”

While the church includes a large institution with centuries of history, he said, “the church does not have a political nature, but a spiritual one.”

Pope Francis told reporters it was the Holy Spirit who led Pope Benedict XVI to resign and it is Christ, not the pope, who leads the church.

The pope acknowledged how difficult it is for many media to cover the church as a spiritual, rather than a political institution, and he offered special thanks “to those who were able to observe and recount these events in the story of the church from the most correct perspective in which they must be read, that of faith.”

The church, he said, “is the people of God, the holy people of God because it is journeying toward an encounter with Jesus Christ.”

No one can understand the church without understanding its spiritual purpose, he said. “Christ is the pastor of the church, but his presence passes through the freedom of human beings. Among them, one is chosen to serve as his vicar on earth. But Christ is the center, the focal point.”

Thanking the reporters again for all their hard work, Pope Francis also asked them to continue trying “to discover the true nature of the church and its journey through the world, with its virtues as well as its sins.”

Communications, he said, requires study, preparation and a special attention “to truth, goodness and beauty,” which is something the church has in common with journalism.

He ended his talk by telling reporters he hoped they would grow in their knowledge of “the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the reality of the church. I entrust you to the protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary, star of the new evangelization.”

After personally greeting dozens of journalists and representatives of the Vatican press office, the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, the Vatican newspaper and Vatican Radio, the pope came back to the microphone.

“I know that many of you are not Catholic or are not believers, so I impart my heartfelt blessing to each of you silently, respecting your consciences, but knowing that each of you is a child of God. May God bless you,” he said.

Cardinals, free to tweet again, send limited observations

ROME — The cardinal electors who voted in the conclave were cut off from all forms of external communication for the duration of the two-day voting period. But once the conclave was over, they did not immediately fill up their Twitter account with reflections on their experiences or their wishes for the new pope.

Most likely the cardinals didn’t have too much time for that. Immediately after the Pope Francis was announced to the world in St. Peter’s Square, the cardinals joined one another for dinner, then many of them gave interviews or were part of press briefings.

Since then, they had Mass with the new pope and a meeting with him, so they have not had a lot of free time on their hands.

But some have found the chance to send a few messages to their Twitter followers after the few days of imposed silence.

South African Cardinal Wilfrid Napier sent several tweets after the election of Pope Francis beginning with the March 14 message about the pope’s choice of name, quoting him: “I shall be called Francis, in memory of St Francis of Assisi!”

The cardinal described the pope’s name choice as “words that made a grown man cry with joy and wonder! More was to follow.”

He also sent the following tweets:

Surely man for the moment Pope Francis insisted on standing to greet & be greeted by his brother Cardinals. So doing he asked: Pray for me!—
Cardinal Napier (@CardinalNapier) March 15, 2013

Coming from Mass in Sistine Chapel, switched official car for bus carrying Cardinals. In morning slips into Chapel to pray without any fuss—
Cardinal Napier (@CardinalNapier) March 15, 2013

Last 2 days quite unreal. Mass with Pope Francis in Santa Martha Chapel, Breakfast, Lunch & Supper with him sitting at a different table!—
Cardinal Napier (@CardinalNapier) March 15, 2013

New York Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan resumed tweeting March 13, saying;

On this joyous day, we have a new Holy Father, Pope Francis I. With joy in our hearts, we declare “Ad Multos Annos!”
blog.archny.org/index.php/stat…—
Cardinal Dolan (@CardinalDolan) March 14, 2013

His other tweets the next day were short and sweet :

Pope Francis obviously won our hearts because he's the new pope.
nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Arc…—
Cardinal Dolan (@CardinalDolan) March 14, 2013

Viva il Papa Francesco! Let me share with you my latest blog post from Rome.
blog.archny.org/index.php/viva…—
Cardinal Dolan (@CardinalDolan) March 14, 2013

Cardinal Roger M. Mahony, retired archbishop of Los Angeles, also resumed tweeting March 13 with this message:

It happened! First time for a Pope from the southern hemisphere and from Latin America. I'm ecstatic! Pope Francis I will be a great gift!—
Cardinal Mahony (@CardinalMahony) March 13, 2013

His subsequent tweets revealed even more joy in the moment:

Don't you feel the new energy in the Church, and being shared with one another? We will experience a new Pentecost as the early Christians.—
Cardinal Mahony (@CardinalMahony) March 14, 2013

Mass with Pope Francis: moving from HIGH Church to LOW and humble Church! What a blessing that we are encountering Jesus without trappings!—
Cardinal Mahony (@CardinalMahony) March 15, 2013