The four cardinals who wrote the dubia to Pope Francis have sent him a second letter requesting an audience, again without receiving a response, according to the Italian journalist Sandro Magister.
The Pope received the letter, signed by Cardinal Carlo Caffarra on behalf of Cardinals Walter Brandmüller, Raymond Burke and Joachim Meisner on May 6.
After a prolonged period with no response, the text has now appeared in the press.
In the letter, the cardinals requested an audience with Pope Francis to discuss “uncertainties” regarding the apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia.
They say that “interpretations of some objectively ambiguous passages of the post-synodal exhortation have publicly been given that are not divergent from but contrary to the permanent Magisterium of the Church.”
In January, the Maltese bishops issued guidance saying that there are cases where it may be “humanly impossible” for divorced and remarried couples to avoid having sex.
But other bishops, including the bishops’ conference of Poland, have reaffirmed the Church’s traditional teaching, that the divorced and remarried cannot receive Communion unless they resolve to live “as brother and sister”.
The four cardinals wrote: “Faced with this grave situation, in which many Christian communities are being divided, we feel the weight of our responsibility, and our conscience impels us to ask humbly and respectfully for an audience.”
Police recover St John Bosco’s brain from teapot
Italian police have tracked down a stolen relic of St John Bosco which had been hidden inside a copper teapot in a kitchen cupboard.
The press office of the Salesians in Turin announced that Italian military police obtained a search warrant and discovered the relic in the home of a 42-year-old Italian man identified only by the initials CG.
From previous encounters with the law, the man’s fingerprints were on file and they were found on the glass case protecting the relic and reliquary in the lower Basilica of St John Bosco in the town of Castelnuovo Don Bosco.
Police said they watched and followed the man for several days before obtaining a warrant to search his home.
The relic, a piece of St John Bosco’s brain, was still in its small glass jar tied with red ribbon.
The seal of authenticity was intact, the Salesians said.
“It appears the motive for the theft had nothing to do with a desire to demand a ransom nor was it stolen for a collector,” the police said in a statement.
It appears that the thief had “erroneously” believed that the gold-painted reliquary over the glass jar could be resold for a large sum.
Friars mark new status with party
Franciscan friars of the Renewal have held a block party in the Bronx in New York, to celebrate their approval as an institute of pontifical right.
The friars were founded 30 years ago and now number about 100 perpetually professed members. Pontifical right status means the group is authorised by the Pope and overseen by the Vatican’s Congregation for Religious. Such status is often sought when a group expands beyond one diocese.
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