June at the Vatican was again marked by the pandemic. For the second year in a row, Pope Francis remained at the Vatican to celebrate the Corpus Christi Mass. The traditional procession through the streets of Rome was canceled once more.
POPE FRANCIS
'The procession of the Blessed Sacrament—a hallmark of the feast of Corpus Christi, yet one that for the moment we cannot celebrate—reminds us that we are called to go out and bring Jesus to others. To go out with enthusiasm, bringing Christ to those we meet in our daily lives.'
United States Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, met with the Pope and Vatican officials to renew their “shared commitment to freedom of religion or belief and tackling the climate crisis.”
Pope Francis remained attentive to global events. He expressed his sympathy for Canadians shocked by the discovery of the remains of 215 children at Canada's largest indigenous boarding school.
POPE FRANCIS
“This sad discovery further heightens awareness of the pain and sufferings of the past.”
In June, Pope Francis rejected Cardinal Marx's offer to resign as Archbishop of Munich. Cardinal Marx, himself not accused of negligence in abuse cases, said he hoped his resignation would help the Church get a fresh start in tackling abuse. The Pope instead thanked him for his courage in taking the Church's institutional failures upon himself.
The Vatican set a term limit for leaders of lay movements, as a way to avoid abuses of power. Governing positions are now limited to five-year terms and can be renewed only once.
The Vatican also published its criteria for awarding public contracts. The decree, aimed at guaranteeing transparency in these procedures, states that economic entities that have been investigated for participating in organized crime, terrorism, or child labor, will not be considered.
On June 29, the Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, Pope Francis celebrated Mass at the Vatican and blessed the pallia of 34 new metropolitan bishops appointed in the last year.
The Pope had his share of meetings with important figures from the world of sports.
- 'It’s nice to see you climb. How strong you are…'
-'Thank you, that’s very kind'.
-'How many cups of Colombian coffee do you drink before?'
He met the winner of the Giro d'Italia, Colombian Egan Bernal. The cyclist gave his bike and champion's jersey to the Pope.
The Pope met with a delegation from UEFA on the eve of the first match of the European Football Championship.
Perhaps one of the most memorable moments of June was when Spiderman made an appearance at a General Audience. The superhero gave the Pope his mask as a gift.
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