When the Nazis occupied Rome for nine months following the fall of Mussolini, Monsignor Hugh O'Flaherty created what came to be known as the "Rome Escape Line." / Patrick Leonard/EWTN Vatican City, Oct 20, 2023 / 09:40 am (CNA). Many people know Irish Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty from Hollywood’s portrayal of his life in “The Scarlet and the Black,” the film based on a real-life Catholic hero who was honored at the Vatican this week. Ireland’s President Michael Higgins in a Vatican ceremony on Oct. 19 paid tribute to O’Flaherty, an Irish priest who hid Italian Jews from the Nazis and went on to baptize the former head of the Gestapo in Rome.When the Nazis occupied Rome for nine months following the fall of Mussolini, Monsignor Hugh O'Flaherty created what came to be known as the "Rome Escape Line." Credit: Patrick Leonard/EWTNThe wreath-laying ceremony marked the 60th anniversary of O’Flaherty’s death on Oct. 30, 1963. The ceremony took place in the Vatican’s Teutonic Cemetery, where a plaque commemorates O’Flaherty as a “tireless defender of the weak and oppressed” who saved more than 6,000 lives during World War II. Higgins praised the Irish priest for his “wonderful courageous work in the most terrible of times.”“It took great courage and took great commitment and it was morally so striking that somebody did all of that for those threatened,” the Irish president told EWTN. The wreath-laying ceremony on Oct. 19, 2023, marked the 60th anniversary of O’Flaherty’s death on Oct. 30, 1963. Credit: Patrick Leonard/EWTNBorn in County Cork in 1898, O’Flaherty grew up in Killarney playing golf on the course where his father worked as a steward before discerning his vocation to the priesthood.As a seminarian, O’Flaherty studied theology in Rome at the Urban College of the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith and went on to earn doctorates in both canon law and philosophy in Rome.He was ordained to the priesthood in 1925 and became a Vatican diplomat, during which time he served in posts in Haiti, Egypt, and Czechoslovakia.During World War II, O’Flaherty lived in the German College inside Vatican City State and worked at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, then known as the Holy Office. The Holy See assigned O’Flaherty the task of visiting the Italian prisoner-of-war camps, where he brought books, cigarettes, chocolate, and hope to the English-speaking Allied prisoners, according to the Hugh O’Flaherty Memorial Society. After these visits, the priest used Vatican Radio to contact the prisoners’ relatives.When the Nazis occupied Rome for nine months following the fall of Mussolini, O’Flaherty created what came to be known as the “Rome Escape Line” — a network of priests, diplomats, and expatriates in Rome who helped to hide more than 6,000 escaped Allied POWs and Jews in convents, monasteries, and residences.Among those, O’Flaherty hid 50 people in his Vatican residence, the Pontifical Teutonic College, during the war years. Secret meetings among members of the Rome Escape Line to exchange documents and information on safe houses took place inside St. Peter’s Basilica

Pope Francis meets with World Jewish Congress President Ronald S. Lauder at the Vatican on Oct. 19, 2023. / Credit: Vatican Media CNA Staff, Oct 19, 2023 / 13:30 pm (CNA). Pope Francis on Thursday met with the president of the World Jewish Congress (WJC) amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, with the leader imploring the Holy Father to use his “moral authority” to address the hostage crisis in that conflict.The WJC said in a press release on its website that WJC President Ronald Lauder during the meeting “appealed to the pope to continue to leverage his moral authority to urge for the safe return of Israeli hostages held in Gaza” following the terrorist organization Hamas’ assault on Israel on Oct. 7.Pope Francis earlier this month called for the release of the hostages. The Israel Defense Forces said this week that it had notified nearly 200 families about their “abducted loved ones.”In his meeting with the pope, Lauder urged the pontiff “to use your power, to use your strength, to get these hostages released.”“You may be the only person who has the moral authority to do this,” Lauder said.” I believe that G-d in his way has brought us here today to ask you to do this, on behalf of all the Jewish people in the world.”Pope Francis meets with World Jewish Congress President Ronald S. Lauder and other leaders at the Vatican on Oct. 19, 2023. Credit: Vatican MediaThe WJC noted that Lauder’s meeting with the pope coincided with the initiation of the congress’ representative office to the Holy See, “marking the establishment of the first-ever liaison office of a Jewish organization on Vatican property” and “signifying deepening Jewish-Catholic ties.”Lauder said that for years the World Jewish Congress “has tirelessly pursued a deeper bond between world Jewry and the Catholic Church.”“Our Vatican office’s inauguration crystallizes the unwavering dedication of both the WJC and the Holy See to mend historical rifts and sculpt a future underscored by unity, particularly as Israel counters devastating assaults,” he added.During the meeting, Lauder also gifted Pope Francis a “seminal document” titled “Kishreinu.” The WJC said the document “encapsulates the intricate historical and cultural tapestry binding Jewish and Catholic communities around the globe.”Francis praised the Kishreinu initiative upon its introduction last year. “Our intertwined communities of faith shoulder the sacred duty of weaving a world imbued with brotherhood, challenging inequalities, championing justice, and ensuring peace transcends ethereal realms to root firmly in our shared reality,” he said at the time.The World Jewish Congress describes itself as “the international organization representing Jewish communities in 100 countries to governments, parliaments, and international organizations.”

Paolo Ruffini, president of the synod’s communication commission (left); Bishop Daniel Flores of Brownsville, Texas (center); and Cardinal Michael Czerny (right) at a press briefing on Oct. 19, 2023. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez Vatican City, Oct 19, 2023 / 13:00 pm (CNA). Vatican Cardinal Michael Czerny said Thursday that synodality poses “no danger to the nature of the Church,” especially to her hierarchical structure.The Canadian cardinal, who serves as prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, made this assessment one day after Synod on Synodality delegates were presented with a theologian’s sweeping vision for the hierarchical Church.Czerny was asked a question about concerns that there were attempts to separate Church governance from the sacrament of holy orders at a press briefing on the synod Oct. 19.“I think the identification between [holy] orders and offices is something that is being overcome,” Czerny said. “In other words, we are understanding orders not to be necessary for every office.”He pointed to the fact that the prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Communications has been led for several years by a layman, Paolo Ruffini.“There is no danger to the nature of the Church,” Czerny added, “because there are responsibilities which are already being — and in some cases are already — entrusted to non-cardinals, non-bishops, non-priests.”Archbishop Dabula Anthony Mpako of Pretoria, South Africa, said at the same briefing that he believes it is commonly accepted that “synodality must coexist with the hierarchical structure of the Church.”“I don’t think that is under any question,” he continued. “However, what we are probably wanting to see is how the two can work in such a way that synodality begins to infuse the way the hierarchical structure of the Church operates.”Adding that he is “not at all worried about that,” the archbishop said, “in the Catholic Church, synodality has a unique character, [because] it is a synodality at the center of which there is the chair of Peter, the pope.”“At the end of the day, hierarchy goes together with synodality,” he said.In answer to a question about concerns expressed by some U.S. Catholics that the Synod on Synodality has a predetermined outcome with a liberal agenda, Bishop Daniel Flores of Brownsville, Texas, said he does “not see a conspiracy, I have simply heard honest, sincere, faithful, charitable conversations, under, shall I say, ‘sub tutela petri,’ ‘under the care of Peter.’ That is not a threat to the faith.”“We live in a very suspicious age,” the bishop, who is a president-delegate to the synod, said. “I have no worry about that.”Mpako also said a conspiracy “does not connect with reality as I know it.”“I think the desire for a more synodal Church that encourages participation by all is something that many of us have been calling for,” he said. “We have already fertile ground for that [in Africa]; we have been practicing for that.”

Pope Francis presides over his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican on Oct. 18, 2023. / Credit: Vatican Media Vatican City, Oct 18, 2023 / 13:08 pm (CNA). Pope Francis at the end of his general audience on Wednesday morning announced another day of prayer and fasting for an end to the Israel-Hamas war. “I have decided to call for a day of fasting and prayer on Friday, Oct. 27,” the pope said. It will be “a day of penance to which I invite sisters and brothers of the various Christian denominations, those belonging to other religions, and all those who have at heart the cause of peace in the world, to join in as they see fit,” the Holy Father continued.The vigil will take place at 6 p.m. in St. Peter’s Square, where the faithful will join the pope to participate in “an hour of prayer in a spirit of penance to implore peace in our time, peace in this world. I ask all the particular Churches to participate by arranging similar activities involving the people of God,” the pope said.The Holy Father’s announcement comes after the Catholic Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, called for a global day of prayer and fasting, which was held on Oct. 17, “to deliver to God the Father our thirst for peace, justice, and reconciliation.”The Holy Father’s announcement was preceded by his renewed appeal for peace in the Holy Land. “Our thoughts turn to Palestine and Israel,” the pope said. “The number of victims is rising and the situation in Gaza is desperate. Please, let everything possible be done to avoid a humanitarian disaster. The possible widening of the conflict is disturbing, while so many war fronts are already open in the world. May weapons be silenced, and let us heed the cry for peace of the poor, the people, the children.”“Brothers and sisters, war does not solve any problem: It sows only death and destruction, foments hate, proliferates revenge. War cancels out the future, it cancels out the future. I urge believers to take just one side in this conflict: that of peace. But not in words — in prayer, with total dedication,” he concluded. The Holy Father’s comments come as the death toll continues to rise in the conflict-ridden area. The United Nations issued a press release on Tuesday evening stating that “a staggering” 4,200 people have been killed and “over 1 million people [have been] displaced in just 10 days.” Israel was blamed by Hamas after a Tuesday evening blast at the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza City left an estimated death toll of nearly 500, according to the Palestinian health ministry. The Israeli government has denied these allegations, blaming it instead on Hamas. Several Arab states have joined Hamas in condemning Israel.An immediate wave of anger and condemnation spread across the Middle East, with some calls for further protests and even “a day of rage,” Al-Jazeera reported.This escalation and mounting humanitarian crisis comes as U.S. President Joe Biden arrived in Israel Wednesday morning to

Bishop Pablo Virgilio S. David of Kalookan, Philippines (left), Cardinal Leonardo Steiner, archbishop of Manaus, Brazil (center), and Archbishop Zbigņev Stankevičs of Riga (right) all spoke at the Synod press conference on Oct. 18, 2023. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez Vatican City, Oct 18, 2023 / 13:28 pm (CNA). In response to a question about blessing same-sex unions, a Latvian archbishop at the Synod on Synodality warned that telling someone living in sin that “everything is all right” places that person in great spiritual danger.Speaking at a synod press conference on Oct. 18, Archbishop Zbigņev Stankevičs of Riga, Latvia, said that the Church teaches that people with same-sex attraction should be accepted with respect, quoting Pope Francis that there is room for everyone in the Church.“We welcome with love and respect, but true love cannot be separated from truth because if love is separated from truth, it is no longer love,” Stankevičs said.“If there is a person living in sin and we tell this person, ‘Everything is all right with you, it’s OK, go ahead,’ we do harm because this person is in danger. When he dies, he will be in great danger,” he added.The archbishop also spoke about the complementarity of men and women and in favor of giving women “more room in the Church, but without changing what is in the Gospel and what is in tradition of the Church.”Stankevičs, who has served as the archbishop of Riga since 2010, underlined that in response to the issues of women’s participation in the Church and same-sex blessings, “we must be faithful to the holy Scriptures, and what the Church for 2,000 years has discovered by interpreting the Scriptures.”“But if we talk about blessing, I would say if a homosexual comes as an individual person and says, ‘I would like to live in God’s grace,’ I see no contraindication to pray for him and help him,” he said.“If two come and say ‘we want to live in chastity … and we are tempted,’ you can pray for them and also bless them to help them to live in chastity.”“But if two come and say ‘we live together like a husband and wife and want to obtain a blessing,’ I see a big problem here because in this way we bless living in sin,” he added.He pointed to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which teaches in paragraph 2358 that people with same-sex attractions “must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity” and that “every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided.”The 68-year-old archbishop said that he had personally undergone “a pastoral conversion” in regard to this issue and learned to be more sensitive in his interactions.“Jesus says that we must love our neighbor … also homosexuals are our neighbors and I must love them — to love in truth … and not a love that allows everything,” he added.During the press conference, Cardinal Leonardo Steiner, archbishop of Manaus, Brazil, was asked about prior statements he has made in

Father Dario Vitali speaks at the Synod on Synodality at the Vatican, Oct. 18, 2023. / Credit: Screenshot/Vatican Media YouTube Vatican City, Oct 18, 2023 / 13:48 pm (CNA). The next stage of the Vatican’s Synod on Synodality opened Wednesday with a call to focus on authority, decentralization, the co-responsibility of the laity, and concrete changes to the institutional Church.Before beginning discussions Oct. 18, delegates were presented with a sweeping vision for the hierarchical Church in a theological exposition from Father Dario Vitali.“When we reach the consensus that the Church is constitutively synodal, we will have to rethink the whole Church, all the institutions, the whole life of the Church in a synodal sense,” the Italian theologian said.Father Timothy Radcliffe, OP, also spoke about “new processes, institutions, and structures,” and Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich asked what concrete changes the synod assembly can bring about for lay Catholics.“Big media” will evaluate the synod based on possible changes “on a very limited number of subjects,” Hollerich told synod delegates as he introduced the next topic for discussion: “Participation, governance, and authority.”Instead, people in parishes and on pastoral councils, the relator general said Oct. 18, “are wondering what will change for them, how they will be able to concretely experience in their lives that missionary discipleship and co-responsibility on which we have reflected in our work.”Delegates to the Oct. 4–29 assembly of the Synod on Synodality began discussing the last part of the Instrumentum Laboris, or working document, on Wednesday afternoon.Section B3 of the document says one of the priorities addressed during the continental stage of the synod was “the question of authority, its meaning, and the style of its exercise within a synodal Church.”It also asks: “How can we imbue our structures and institutions with the dynamism of the missionary synodal Church?”‘Rethink ecclesial institutions’Vitali, coordinator of expert theologians at the synod, told the assembly Wednesday that “the possibility of developing a style and a synodal form of Church depends on the virtuous circularity of ‘sensus fidei’ [sense of the faith], magisterium, and theology.”“Having broken this alliance has left the Church to navigate by sight,” he said, while “a true exercise of synodality will allow us to think with patience and prudence about the necessary institutional reforms and decision-making processes that involve everyone in an exercise of authority that is truly suitable for the growth of the people of God, a mature and participating people in this horizon.”Lay Catholics, Hollerich said in his remarks, “are wondering how this is possible in a Church that is still not very synodal, where they feel that their opinion does not count and a few or just one person decides everything.”People are interested “in the small but sensitive changes to the issues we are preparing to tackle,” he added.Vitali addressed the topics of authority and decentralization in the Church in light of synodality in a theological reflection for synod delegates.“The synod process can be understood as the most complete exercise of synodality in the Catholic Church,” he said,

Pope Francis at the general audience at St. Peter's Square on Oct. 18, 2023. / Credit: Vatican Media Vatican City, Oct 18, 2023 / 09:57 am (CNA). Pope Francis drew upon the example of St. Charles de Foucauld during his general audience Wednesday in his ongoing catechesis on apostolic zeal to stress the importance of centering our lives on Jesus. At the end of his remarks at his weekly general audience in St. Peter’s Square Oct. 18, the pope called for peace in the Middle East and announced that Oct. 27 has been designated as a day of prayer and fasting.Before the assembled faithful, the pope said the “first step” for evangelization and conversion is putting “Jesus at the center of one’s heart.” The pope, however, admonished that “we risk talking about ourselves, our group, a morality, or, even worse, a set of rules, but not about Jesus, his love, his mercy.” He added, in unscripted remarks: “I see this in some new movements that are arising: They talk about their vision of humanity, they talk about their spirituality and they feel they are on a new path... But why don’t you talk about Jesus? They talk about many things, about organization, about spiritual paths, but they don’t know how to talk about Jesus.”Pope Francis presides over his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican on Oct. 18, 2023. Credit: Vatican MediaEpitomizing this love for the Eucharist was St. Charles de Foucauld, who was canonized by Pope Francis in 2022. Born in 1858, he dedicated his life to missionary work in the Sahara, living and working among the Tuareg people (a subgroup of Berber people). After serving in the French cavalry, he went on to become a Trappist, going to serve the poor in Syria, an experience that had a profound impact on him and helped define his understanding of poverty. He later discerned out of the Trappists and went to Palestine, where he went to live close to the Poor Clares. “It is in Nazareth that he realizes he must be formed in the school of Christ. He experiences an intense relationship with him, spends long hours reading the Gospels, and feels like his little brother. And as he gets to know Jesus, the desire to make Jesus known arises in him,” the pope said.It was this time in Palestine that provided him with the inspiration to write his prolific works, including “Letters from the Desert,” “Hope in the Gospels,” and “Meditations of a Hermit.” These writings became the essence of his spiritual legacy, inspiring the formation of numerous future religious congregations. He was assassinated in 1916 at his hermitage in Tamanghasset in southern Algeria after being kidnapped by an armed tribal group associated with the Senussi Bedouins. Pope Francis closed his 2020 encyclical on fraternity and social action Fratelli Tutti with a reflection on the saint, writing: “Blessed Charles directed his ideal of total surrender to God towards an identification with the poor, abandoned in the depths of the African desert. In that setting,

Archbishop Gintaras Grušas of Vilnius offers Mass on the feast of St. Luke for the Synod on Synodality delegates in St. Peter's Basilica on Oct. 18, 2023. / Evandro Inetti/EWTN News/Vatican Pool Vatican City, Oct 18, 2023 / 07:00 am (CNA). The Synod on Synodality must not be an end in itself but at the service of the Catholic Church’s evangelizing mission, Archbishop Gintaras Grušas told synod delegates on Wednesday. The Lithuanian-American archbishop of Vilnius addressed the members of the synod assembly in a homily on the feast of St. Luke as the synod begins its discussions on “governance and authority” in the Church.“As we continue to talk about what processes, structures, and institutions that are needed in a missionary synodal Church, we need to make sure that these do in fact assist the mission of bringing the Good News to those who are in need of salvation,” Grušas said on Oct. 18.“Synodality, including its structures and meetings, must be at the service of the Church’s mission of evangelization and not become an end in itself.”Mass on the feast of St. Luke in St. Peter's Basilica on Oct. 18, 2023. Vatican PoolOver the next three days, the Synod on Synodality will discuss questions posed by section B3 of the Instrumentum Laboris, or synod working document, such as: “How can we renew the service of authority and the exercise of responsibility in a missionary synodal Church?”In his homily in St. Peter’s Basilica, Grušas urged the synod delegates to imitate St. Luke’s faithfulness and fortitude.“We too are called to remain faithful in our commitment to walk together in the life of the Church and through the difficulties of the journey, even when it is not clear where God is leading us in the short term,” he said.Mass on the feast of St. Luke in St. Peter's Basilica on Oct. 18, 2023. Evandro Inetti/EWTN News/Vatican PoolThe 62-year-old archbishop noted how St. Luke’s Gospel “highlights the important role of women in the life of the Church and in announcing the Good News.”Not only is St. Luke “the Marian evangelist ‘par excellence,’” but he also passed down to us the account of “the Samaritan woman at the well who announced the Messiah, Mary Magdalene, the first to announce the message of the Resurrection, as well as the various women throughout the Acts of the Apostles who assisted the growth of the early Church.”Grušas underlined that “all of the baptized” are called to announce the good news of the kingdom of God, “not just ordained ministers.”“It is important that all the baptized hear this call, this vocation and respond to it, committing their lives, words, and actions to Jesus’ mission. For this we must continue to pray,” he said.Mass on the feast of St. Luke in St. Peter's Basilica on Oct. 18, 2023. Evandro Inetti/EWTN News/Vatican PoolGrušas was born in Washington, D.C., to Lithuanian parents who came to the U.S. during the Cold War. After earning a degree in mathematics at UCLA, he worked for IBM before studying

Pope Francis smiles during his general audience in St. Peter's Square Sept. 27, 2023. / Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNA Rome Newsroom, Oct 17, 2023 / 13:10 pm (CNA). Pope Francis, speaking in a new interview published by a media outlet in his native Argentina, said the Church must change “in favor of the dignity of the people.”But in the same interview, conducted late last month and published Tuesday by state-owned news agency Telam Digital, he stressed that change must take place “without recanting the essence of the Church.”“Since the Second Vatican Council, John XXIII had a very clear perception: The Church has to change. Paul VI agreed, just like the succeeding popes,” Francis said in the interview.“It’s not just changing ways, it’s about a change of growth, in favor of the dignity of people. That’s theological progression, of moral theology and all the ecclesiastical sciences, even in the interpretation of Scriptures that have progressed according to the feelings of the Church,” he continued.But, he added, using the image of a tree and its roots, “always in harmony. Rupture is not good. We either progress through development or things don’t turn out right. Rupture leaves you out of the sap of development.”The pope went on to reference the writings of Vincent of Lérins, a fifth-century monk who stated that changes in the Church must be consolidating, growing, and ennobling.“The Church has to change. Let’s think of the ways it has changed since the [Second Vatican] Council until now and the way it must continue changing its ways, in the way to propose an unchanging truth,” he said. “That is, the revelation of Jesus Christ does not change, the dogmas of the Church do not change, they grow and ennoble themselves like the sap of a tree. The person who does not follow this path follows a path that takes steps backward, a path that closes on itself.”“Changes in the Church take place within this identity flow of the Church. And it has to keep changing along the way, as challenges are met. That is why the core of change is fundamentally pastoral, without recanting the essence of the Church.”Pope Francis emphasized the role of dialogue. “I believe dialogue cannot be just nationalist, it must be universal, especially nowadays with the advanced communication systems we have. That is why I speak of universal dialogue, universal harmony, universal encounter. And of course, the enemy of this is war. Since the end of World War II up until today, there have been wars everywhere. That’s what I meant when I said we are living a World War in pieces.”‘I’m going to do a heresy’The pope’s on-camera remarks touched on a wide range of topics, including the Synod on Synodality, the Oct. 22 presidential election in Argentina, and his personal prayer life.In answer to a question about his future travel plans, Francis alluded to the possibility of returning to his home country for the first time as pope — and perhaps continuing on to and even

Pope Francis at the Synod on Synodality on Oct. 6, 2023. / Credit: Vatican Media Rome Newsroom, Oct 17, 2023 / 13:40 pm (CNA). Pope Francis, who is known as “the pope of the peripheries,” has suggested the possibility of traveling to somewhere no pope has gone before — the South Pole.In a new interview published on Oct. 17, the pope said that he plans to visit his native Argentina, adding: “Somebody said that if I go to Argentina, I should stop at Rio Gallegos, then head to the South Pole, land in Melbourne, and visit New Zealand.”“It would be a rather long journey,” he joked. The 86-year-old pope does not currently have any international trips on his official schedule, but he recently made a 4,000-mile journey to Mongolia and visited the French city of Marseille.Pope Francis would not be the first religious leader to visit Antarctica. Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill visited an Antarctic research station — and walked with penguins — in 2016 as part of a trip to Latin America, which included a historic meeting with Pope Francis in Cuba.Antarctica is home to a handful of Catholic chapels, mostly within Argentina’s territorial claims on the continent. Argentine Jesuit Father Felipe Lleida offered the first Catholic Mass in Antarctica on Feb. 20, 1946, in the Stella Maris chapel of Argentina’s Orcadas Antarctic Base. After the Mass, the priest sent a telegram to Pope Pius XII: “First Mass celebrated. Cross erected. Cult of Virgin Mary established. Antarctic Continent, Orkney Islands, Republic of Argentina. Father Lérida, Jesuit, Buenos Aires, requests blessing."Priests of Argentina’s military bishopric continue to minister to researchers who work on the globe’s southernmost continent. Last week, children received their first sacrament of Communion on the Esperanza Base, one of two civilian settlements in Antarctica.Australia holds the largest Antarctic territory among the seven sovereign states with territorial claims on the continent, including Norway and New Zealand.In the interview with Argentina’s national news agency, Télam, Pope Francis also expressed an interest to visit Oceania. “When it comes to more distant countries, I still haven’t visited Papua New Guinea,” he said.Papua New Guinea is an island country north of Australia and shares a land border with Indonesia. Pope John Paul II became the first pope to visit Papua New Guinea in 1984. In response to the pope’s comment on the possibility of a papal visit to Australia and other nations of Oceania, Archbishop Anthony Fisher of Sydney told CNA that the trip the pope described from Argentina to the South Pole and then on to Australia would be quite the trip.“It’s very exciting news for Australians,” he said. “[Pope Francis] is not very mobile at the moment, but who knows? He’s a very determined man.”