Pope Francis received 200 newly ordained bishops in the last year, who participated in a training course at the University of Post-Apostolica of Rome, which is jointly organized by the Episcopal Ministry and the Ministry of the Eastern Churches.
(Vatican News Network) 200 newly ordained bishops in the past year came to the Vatican to meet Pope Francis on the morning of September 19, led by Cardinal Marc Ouellet, minister of the Holy See. The meeting, which took place in the Clement Hall, was private and allowed the bishops, who took part in the second batch of training at the University after the Pontifical Apostles from 12 to 19 September, to speak freely with the Pope.
The first batch of bishops was trained from September 1 to 8, under the theme of “Gospel preaching in changing times and after the epidemic: the service of bishops”. Not long ago, the Pope also received them in the Clement Hall. Angelo Ademir Mezzari, Auxiliary Bishop of Sao Paulo, Brazil, told this news network that the Pope warned bishops not to forget to approach the poor. He also personally listened to the bishops’ sharing, their needs and requests.
The bishops of the second batch of training sessions spoke with the Pope in an atmosphere of “walking together”. Bishop Maurício da Silva Jardim, who is about to lead the Diocese of Rondopolis-Giraatinga, Brazil, explained that “walking with one another” was also the atmosphere of the training session, where the speakers followed the instructions of Pope Francis. Using this as a core theme, students can also express themselves, thereby raising specific issues such as hunger, violence, social inequality, migration, political and health crises, and moral and social issues around the world.
The tradition of holding training sessions for newly ordained bishops began in 2000, when the Pope was John Paul II. Regarding this year’s course, Bishop Jardim added that they deepened the 3 documents of Pope Francis, “The Joy of Love”, “Brothers” and “Hail to You”, discussing the core points, For example, the promotion of family and universal fraternity through the overall improvement of human nature.
Bishop Jardim said the workshop “is an opportunity to help walk together in different ways, to encourage us to be ‘pastors of the people’ and to provide elements, according to a missionary, congregational, The principles of communion and a participatory Church act in our diocese”.
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