{"id":78087,"date":"2022-12-28T08:00:40","date_gmt":"2022-12-28T13:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.worldcatholicnews.com\/popes-2022-a-year-dominated-by-war-problems-walking\/"},"modified":"2022-12-28T08:00:40","modified_gmt":"2022-12-28T13:00:40","slug":"popes-2022-a-year-dominated-by-war-problems-walking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.worldcatholicnews.com\/popes-2022-a-year-dominated-by-war-problems-walking\/","title":{"rendered":"Pope’s 2022: A year dominated by war, problems walking"},"content":{"rendered":"
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) \u2014 While 2022 finally saw the publication of Pope Francis\u2019 constitution reforming the Roman Curia, the biggest news and the biggest changes in his ministry came from Russia\u2019s war on Ukraine and from the pope\u2019s own problems walking.<\/p>\n

Knee problems forced the pope, who will celebrate his 86th birthday Dec. 17, to postpone a planned trip to Congo and South Sudan in July, although he did make a major trip to Canada later that same month.<\/p>\n

A few weeks before heading to North America, he had told the Reuters news agency that an inflamed ligament in his right knee caused him to limp, which made him walk badly and that, in turn, caused a small fracture.<\/p>\n

The pope was complaining of knee pain in January and canceling public events already in February; by early May he was arriving at audiences in a wheelchair.<\/p>\n

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Pope Francis adjusts a traditional Indigenous headdress during a meeting with First Nations, M\u00e9tis and Inuit communities at Maskwacis, Alberta, July 25, 2022. (CNS photo\/Paul Haring)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

As the year ended, he mostly used a cane to walk in public, but the wheelchair was a frequent alternative. And, at papal liturgies, it became the norm for him preside over the Liturgy of the Word and give the homily, but have a cardinal or bishop preside over the Liturgy of the Eucharist.<\/p>\n

As the pope\u2019s step faltered, his cries for peace increased, although not without controversy and criticism.<\/p>\n

Soon after Russia invaded Ukraine in late February, Pope Francis took the unusual step of leaving the Vatican to go to the Russian Embassy to the Holy See to plead for peace and offer the Vatican\u2019s services as a mediator. And, inviting bishops around the globe to join him, he solemnly entrusted and consecrated the church, all humanity and \u201cespecially Russia and Ukraine\u201d to the Immaculate Heart of Mary during a prayer service March 25 in St. Peter\u2019s Basilica.<\/p>\n

But even as millions of Ukrainians \u2014 mostly women and children \u2014 fled and as evidence mounted of Russian war crimes, Pope Francis did not publicly condemn Russian President Vladimir Putin. That, along with his pleas for Russia and Ukraine to dialogue and negotiate peace, left many people, particularly Ukrainians, hurt that the pope seemed to somehow blame \u201cboth sides\u201d for the war.<\/p>\n

Journalists repeatedly asked Pope Francis to explain.<\/p>\n

In late November, he told the Jesuit-run America magazine he did not think it was necessary to name names. \u201cIf you have a martyred people, you have someone who martyrs them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy do I not name Putin? Because it is not necessary; it is already known,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

And, he said, \u201cthe position of the Holy See is to seek peace and to seek an understanding. The diplomacy of the Holy See is moving in this direction and, of course, is always willing to mediate.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Pope Francis burns incense in front of a Marian statue after consecrating the world and, in particular, Ukraine and Russia, to the Immaculate Heart of Mary during a Lenten penance service in St. Peter\u2019s Basilica at the Vatican March 25, 2022. (CNS photo\/Paul Haring)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

It was not until October that Pope Francis publicly said he was calling on \u201cthe president of the Russian Federation, begging him to stop this spiral of violence and death, also for the sake of his people.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the same time, Pope Francis appealed to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy \u201cto be open\u201d to any \u201cserious peace proposals.\u201d<\/p>\n

Also in the area of diplomacy, in October the Vatican renewed for another two years its agreement with China on naming bishops that are acceptable to both the communist government and the pope. But soon after, the Chinese government transferred a bishop without Vatican approval, drawing an unusual statement of \u201cregret\u201d from the Vatican that the assignment \u201cdid not take place in accordance with the spirit of dialogue existing between the Vatican and Chinese sides.\u201d<\/p>\n

In August, the pope created 20 new cardinals and led the entire College of Cardinals in a two-day meeting on the apostolic constitution \u201cPraedicate Evangelium\u201d (Preach the Gospel), which was the first major reform and reorganization of the Roman Curia since 1988.<\/p>\n

Published in March and taking effect in June, the document merged some Vatican congregations and pontifical councils and raised the status of others \u2014 particularly the charitable office of the papal almoner. But mostly, it insisted the Roman Curia was a service organization meant to support the pope and local bishops in their efforts to promote the church as a community of missionary disciples, sharing the Gospel and caring for all those in need.<\/p>\n

The project had been a long one. Six months after taking office in 2013, Pope Francis set up his international Council of Cardinals to advise him and to help design the reform. They interviewed all the heads of Vatican offices, studied what each was doing and made dozens of proposals, going through various drafts and consultation periods before the final version was promulgated.<\/p>\n

Also long in the making was Pope Francis\u2019 trip to Canada to apologize to Indigenous communities for the ways Catholics and their institutions, especially residential schools, contributed to their suffering and to the stifling of their language, culture and traditional spirituality.<\/p>\n

The Canadian Truth and Reconciliation Commission\u2019s Call to Action in 2015 included a request that the pope make such an apology on the land of the First Nations, Inuit and M\u00e9tis communities. And representatives of the three groups came to the Vatican in March and April to share with the pope the stories of the survivors of residential schools and to recount the multigenerational trauma that came from the physical and emotional abuse, the splitting apart of families and the suppression of their people\u2019s language and cultures.<\/p>\n

Meeting Indigenous people in Edmonton, Maskwacis and Lac Ste. Anne in Alberta, in Quebec City and nearby Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupr\u00e9 and, finally, in Iqaluit, Nunavut, in the Canadian Arctic, Pope Francis repeatedly said, \u201cI\u2019m sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe overall effects of the policies linked to the residential schools were catastrophic,\u201d he said at Maskwacis. \u201cWhat our Christian faith tells us is that this was a disastrous error, incompatible with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pope Francis made three other foreign trips in 2022: focusing on migrants in Malta and on interreligious dialogue and promoting human fraternity in visits to Kazakhstan and Bahrain.<\/p>\n

Throughout the year, the pope continued to talk about the need for the Catholic Church to embrace \u201csynodality,\u201d a style of sharing the Gospel by listening to one another and to the Holy Spirit and making room for each of the baptized to accept his or her responsibilities as a disciple and welcoming the gifts of all.<\/p>\n

Saying he did not want to rush the process of discerning how the Holy Spirit is calling the church to grow in \u201csynodality,\u201d Pope Francis announced in October that the next assembly of the Synod of Bishops would take place in two sessions: October 2023 and October 2024.<\/p>\n

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Follow Wooden on Twitter: @Cindy_Wooden<\/em><\/p>\n

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Read More Vatican News<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2022 Catholic News Service\/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops<\/p>\n

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Credit: Source link<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

VATICAN CITY (CNS) \u2014 While 2022 finally saw the publication of Pope Francis\u2019 constitution reforming the Roman Curia, the biggest news and the biggest changes in his ministry came from Russia\u2019s war on Ukraine and from the pope\u2019s own problems walking. 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