Francis X Rocca outlines the global challenges facing the new successor of St PeterVATICAN CITY – The next pope will be taking the helm of a Church which now has a greater variety of forms of worship. In his almost eight-year pontificate, Pope Benedict XVI worked to emphasise the liturgy’s continuity with the Church’s millennial traditions. He encouraged a revival of Eucharistic adoration and the use of Gregorian chant. Most significantly, he lifted almost all restrictions on celebration of the Tridentine Mass, which had fallen practically out of use amid the modernising reforms that followed the Second Vatican Council.
“And now let us begin this journey, bishop and people, this journey of the Church of Rome, which is the one that leads all the churches in charity. A journey of fraternity, of trust between us. Let us always pray for one another. Let us pray for the world so that this might be a great brotherhood. I hope that this journey of the Church that we begin today, and in which my Cardinal Vicar here present will assist me, will be fruitful for the evangelization of this beautiful city.” - Pope Francis
Vatican City, 13 March 2013 (VIS) - Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, S.J., was elected as Supreme Pontiff, the 265th successor of Peter, and has chosen the name Francis.
The Cardinal proto-deacon Jean-Louis Tauran made the solemn announcement to the people at 8:12pm from the external Loggia of the Hall of Blessings of the Vatican Basilica following the white “fumata” which occurred at 7:06pm.
Following are the words pronounced by Cardinal Tauran:
Vatican City, 13 March 2013 (VIS) – Following is the official biography of Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, S.J.
Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, S.J., Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Argentina, Ordinary for Eastern-rite faithful in Argentina who lack an Ordinary of their own rite, was born on 17 December 1936 in Buenos Aires. He studied as and holds a degree as a chemical technician, but then chose the priesthood and entered the seminary of Villa Devoto. On 11 March 1958 he moved to the novitiate of the Company of Jesus where he finished studies in the humanities in Chile. In 1963, on returning to Buenos Aires, he obtained a degree in philosophy at the St. Joseph major seminary of San Miguel.
Between 1964 and 1965 he taught literature and psychology at the Immacolata College in Santa Fe and then in 1966 he taught the same subjects at the University of El Salvador, in Buenos Aires.
Times listed are for Rome, with Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) and Singapore Time (SGT) in parentheses
March 12
3:45pm (EDT: 10:45am, SGT: 10:45pm) -- Transfer from the Domus Sanctae Marthae to the Apostolic Palace.
4:30pm (EDT: 11:30am, SGT: 11:30pm) -- Procession from the Pauline Chapel to the Sistine Chapel.
4:45pm (EDT: 11:45am, SGT: 11:45pm) -- Oaths, meditation by Cardinal Prosper Grech, first ballot, if they choose to vote.
7:15pm (EDT: 2:15pm, SGT: nextday, 2:15am) -- Vespers in the Sistine Chapel.
7:30pm (EDT: 2:30pm, SGT: nextday, 2:30am) -- Transfer to the Domus Sanctae Marthae.
8pm (EDT: 3pm, SGT: nextday, 3am) -- Dinner.
Our new Coadjutor Archbishop!“The Catholic Church has played a significant role in Singapore’s history, and forms a key part of its diverse religious landscape.” – Lee Hsien Loong 
 It is most gratifying to see our Sunday Masses well-attended, with a significant number of Catholics regularly attending daily Mass. The growing number of altar servers is testament to a healthy family environment which actively propagates the faith among the young. The encouragement of parents to their sons to participate in this ministry gives hope that we will have an increase in priestly vocations in future. Myriad programmes organised by the Church that nurture the spiritual growth of the community are often well received. It is most heartening that we have a significant core of faithful practising Catholics who are actively engaged in the life of the Church. The vibrancy of the faith is palpable and this augurs well for the Catholic Church in Singapore. This is in stark contrast to the Catholic Church in America and Europe where church attendance among the Catholic population has dwindled to as low as 10 percent, and the closures of countless parishes caused by the sex-abuse scandal among the clergy is cause for alarm.
 UNITED NATIONS – Despite threats on many sides and prophesies of its extinction, the traditional family remains a vital resource for society, according to speakers at a UN event on Feb 15. The panel was held in conjunction with the 51st session of the UN Commission for Social Development. It was sponsored by the Holy See’s Permanent Observer Mission to the United Nations and the Pontifical Council for the Family. Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, council president, said the family is “the fundamental unit of human society. It is where the generations meet, love, educate, support each other and pass on life from age to age”. The family is “the source of social capital and the birthright of all humanity,” he said, adding that the stability of any society in fact depends on the “stability of the families from which it springs”. “Family is the school of society, the way to learn to be together with others,” he continued. “If you don’t learn to experience solidarity there, it’s really difficult to have a city or a society.” He said the “natural family” is comprised of mother, father and children. Notwithstanding the many attacks against it, the natural family “comes first in the hearts of the world’s peoples ... and the great majority of young people look forward happily to marriage as a lifelong faithful union with their husband or wife”.
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 Some couples resort to IVF because of cultural pressure and lack of knowledge of Church teaching.BANGKOK – After Mr John Tran Minh Chien’s wife was unable to get pregnant after seven years of marriage, the couple decided to travel from their home in southwestern Kien Giang province to Ho Chi Minh City to get medical help. Mr Chien, a tractor driver, said he was found to suffer from male infertility. “I could not get my wife pregnant after receiving fertility treatment from the hospital during the past year,” he told the Asian Church news agency ucanews.com. “So this year we decided to get in vitro fertilisation treatment to have a baby ourselves.” As a Catholic, Mr Chien is defying the teachings of his faith. With in vitro fertilisation, a woman’s eggs are removed, united with sperm in a laboratory, and then implanted in the womb of the mother or a surrogate.
ROME – China has sent a message to whoever would be the new pope, urging him stop the Vatican from interfering in China’s domestic affairs. “China is willing to develop relations with the Vatican if the Vatican severs its diplomatic ties with Taiwan and refrains from interfering in China’s internal affairs,” Mr Hong Lei, a Foreign Ministry spokesman, said in Beijing on Feb 18, according to a report in The People’s Daily online. The paper is an official organ of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. AFP news agency reported that Mr Hong did so when asked for China’s reaction to Pope Benedict’s shock decision to step down on Feb 28. “China hopes the Vatican will show flexibility and sincerity in creating conditions for the improvement of China-Vatican ties under the new pope,” Mr Hong stated.
 VATICAN CITY – He might have been considered “eurocentric” compared to his globe-trotting predecessor. But Pope Benedict XVI, at least with his last moves, tried to redress the balance of a Church that in recent years had been favouring more and more Westerners for top roles even as the core of the world’s Catholic population shifts increasingly towards Asia and Africa. In his last conclave, the pontiff made sure to appoint six non-Europeans to the cardinalate, in partial correction of a February 2012 consistory that had been widely criticised for giving too much weight to Vatican Curia insiders and Old World churchmen. In fact, the unusual move of hosting two consistories in the same year might be seen as proof that Pope Benedict was keen on leaving his Vatican house in as much order as possible ahead of his resignation.
HONG KONG, CHINA – Pope Benedict XVI’s resignation announcement did not only shock Chinese Catholics, it also raised doubts. “Is there any hidden agenda?” a bishop in southern China asked. Chinese Communists would take a harder line now that they “defeated” the pope, the middle-aged prelate said he had heard. “I worry there is a storm brewing in the Church in China,” he said. “It’s not only me, but many priests and laypeople here also share the same doubts.”
 YINCHUAN, CHINA – China’s oldest Catholic bishop, John Baptist Liu Jingshan of Yinchuan (Ningxia), has died at the age of 100. He passed away on Feb 4 at the cathedral in Yinchuan city, capital of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region in northern China, where he spent much of his life after his retirement in 2009. He and his successor, Bishop Joseph Li Jing, are recognised by both the Vatican and the Chinese government. The elderly prelate has been credited with restoring the Church community in Ningxia after arriving there in 1983, after suffering 30 years of imprisonment in a labour camp. Bishop Liu was born in 1913 in Bameng diocese, Inner Mongolia. He entered the minor seminary in 1929 and studied in two major seminaries from 1935 to 1942, while Japanese troops were occupying China.
 CITYChurch of St Bernadette Fri. March 15: 8.00pm Church of St Teresa Mon. March 18: 8.00pm Church of Our Lady of Lourdes Tue. March 19: 8.00pm Sun March 17: 9.00am (Tamil) and 6.00pm (Tamil) Church of St Alphonsus (Novena Church) Wed. March 20: 8.00pm Church of Sts Peter & Paul Thu March 21: 8.00pm Church of St Michael Fri. March 22: 8.00pm
“I do not believe in activities, I do not believe in projects – without prayer,” said Coadjutor Archbishop William Goh during his first Sunday Mass after his episcopal ordination. “If you ask me what is the first thing I want to do,” he said, it is to “pray”. I want to deepen my prayer life, I want to build intimacy with the Lord so I can be sure that what I’m doing is really from God, doing His will and not mine,” he told a packed Cathedral of the Good Shepherd on Feb 24.
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