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| Cardinal Policarpo |
The cardinal stated that he himself will write the prayer of consecration of the pastoral ministry of Pope Francis to Our Lady and all the people of God are invited to join him in prayer for Our Lady’s protection and guidance over the pontificate of Pope Francis.
Cardinal Policarpo said that Pope Francis had asked him twice after he was elected on March 13th to consecrate his Petrine ministry to Our Lady of Fatima. He immediately added that although he could fulfill the Pope's wish alone "in the silence of prayer, "it would be beautiful if the entire Bishops' Conference of Portugal would participate in fulfilling this request."
This they will do and by making it public they are giving the entire church an opportunity to participate in this consecration and support the pope with their prayers. I have heard that some individuals and churches will join the pope by offering various novenas to Our Lady for his safety and protection. Others, along with me are renewing their Marian Consecrations on that day.
Parents, Pastors & Bishops
Let's make or renew our Consecrations with the Pope!
I began the 33 day preparation period with a friend on April 10th to renew my DeMontfort Total Consecration to Our Lady on May 13th. I was consecrated for the first time in 1984 on March 25th. I had already decided to do this before I heard of the Popes intention to consecrate his papacy to Our Lady of Fatima and was happy that Divine Providence enabled me to also include my preparatory prayers along with prayer for the pope and the church.
“This Pope is a sign of hope”Cardinal Policarpo
"This Pope is a sign of hope. Do not let hope die is already proving to be his explicit message. Does this mean inevitable reforms in the life of the Church? Most certainly. Everyone is talking about a reform to the Curia; he has not spoken but this yet. But he has made it clear he will proceed."
On this topic, the Cardinal of Lisbon foresees that the Pope will "correct something that we also experience in our dioceses which is to prioritize pastoral vitality, and not allowing administrative bureaucracy to be the first priority."
In the case of the Roman Curia, this reform must be done in a way that gives new meaning to the doctrine of the Second Vatican Council on the collegiality of Bishops and the just autonomy of individual churches. This reform cannot take place on the basis of errors or scandals that focuses on a much-spoken about rhetoric," he warned.
For Cardinal Policarpo, "errors are to be corrected, people are to be converted."-----Read more
