Wednesday, August 31, 2016

Pope encourages religious to be architects of a new society

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has expressed appreciation for the opening of the 20th Renovabis Congress taking place in Freising, Germany.

The event, from  31 August to  2 September focusses on the theme “Witnessing to the Gospel – Shaping the World. The Role of Religious Orders in Central and Eastern Europe”.

A message from the Cardinal Secretary of State, Pietro Parolin, on behalf of Pope Francis highlights his profound belief that the Lord’s call to bring peace and mercy to mankind continues to be an urgent and significant one in today’s world.

This – the message continues – is especially true for missionaries who leave the safety of their homelands to bring the light of the Gospel and the solidarity of the Church to the ends of the earth.  

To respond to the Lord’s call in this way, the message says, is a constant witness of God’s love for each creature.

The message of good wishes to the participants of the congress concludes with the wish that this kind of testimony may contribute to the building of a society based on dignity  and social responsibility, and that they may become the ‘architects of a new society’.    
 
As explained on the website of the congress itself:  “The role and the activities of orders within today’s Central and Eastern European societies will be focal points during the congress. In addition to a short introduction concerning the development of the life of religious orders during the 20th century, especially related to the awakening or restart after the political-societal upheavals 25 years ago, the congress will also deal with the commitment of individual religious orders in the fields of school, caritas, pastoral aid and refugee relief. In addition to that, several workshops and a ‘Market of Possibilities’ will illustrate the variety of the religious life in the 21st century. Another important subject will be the perspectives of religious orders within the following decades”.

(from Vatican Radio)



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Pope Francis to cardiologists: work for authentic human good

Pope Francis: dicourse to cardiology congress

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Wednesday addressed the World Congress of the European Society of Cardiology, which has been meeting in Rome since August 27th to explore the role of teamwork caring for patients with cardiovascular illness. Below, please find the full text of the Holy Father’s prepared remarks

****************************************

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good morning!  I was pleased to accept the invitation of the Executive Committee of the European Society of Cardiology to meet with you on the occasion of this World Congress which brings together cardiologists from various countries.  I am particularly grateful to Professor Fausto Pinto for his kind words and, through him, I thank each of you for the scientific work in these days of study and discussion, but above all for your dedication to so many who are sick.

You look after the heart.  How much symbolism is enshrined in this word!  How many hopes are contained in this human organ!  In your hands you hold the beating core of the human body, and as such your responsibility is very great!  I am sure that as you find yourselves before this book of life with its many pages yet to be discovered, you are filled with trepidation and awe.

The Magisterium of the Church has always affirmed the importance of scientific research for human life and health.  The Church not only accompanies you along this demanding path, but also promotes your cause and wishes to support you.  The Church understands that efforts directed to the authentic good of the person are actions always inspired by God.  Nature, in all its complexity, and the human mind, are created by God; their richness must be studied by skilled men and women, in the knowledge that the advancement of the philosophical and empirical sciences, as well as professional care in favour of the weakest and most infirm, is a service that is part of God’s plan.  Openness to the grace of God, an openness which comes through faith, does not weaken human reason, but rather leads it towards knowledge of a truth which is wider and of greater benefit to humanity.

At the same time, we know that the scientist, in his or her research, is never neutral, in as much as each one has their own history, their way of being and of thinking.  Every scientist requires, in a sense, a purification; through this process, the toxins which poison the mind’s pursuit of truth and certainty are removed, and this enables a more incisive understanding of the meaning of things.  We cannot deny that our knowledge, even our most precise and scientific knowledge, needs to progress by asking questions and finding answers concerning the origin, meaning and finality of reality; and this includes man.  The sciences alone, however, whether natural or physical, are not sufficient to understand the mystery contained within each person.  When man is viewed in his totality – allow me to emphasize this point – we are able to have a profound understanding of the poorest, those most in need, and the marginalized.  In this way, they will benefit from your care and the support and assistance offered by the public and private health sectors.

By means of your invaluable work, you contribute to the healing of physical illness and are able to perceive that there are laws engraved within human nature that no one can tamper with, but rather must be “discovered, respected and cooperated with” so that life may correspond ever more to the designs of the Creator (cf. Gaudium et Spes, 36).  For this reason, it is important that men and women of science, as they examine themselves in the light of that great mystery of human existence, do not give in to the temptation to suppress the truth (cf. Rom 1:18).

With these sentiments, I renew my appreciation for your work.  I ask the Lord to bless your research and medical care, so that everyone may receive relief from their suffering, a greater quality of life and an increasing sense of hope.

(from Vatican Radio)

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Pope Francis pleased over finalization of peace talks in Colombia

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis is “pleased” that negotiations between the government of Colombia and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) have been finalized after four years of peace talks.

A statement issued by the Secretariat of State said the Holy Father “reiterates his support for the goal of attaining the peace and reconciliation of the entire Colombian people, in light of human rights and Christian values, which are at the heart of Latin American culture.”

The conflict between the government and the Marxist rebels has lasted over 50 years, and killed over 200,000 people.

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos on Tuesday called a plebiscite for 2 October to ratify the agreement.

 

The full statement is below

 

Statement of the Secretariat of State

 

The Holy Father was pleased to learn that negotiations have been finalized between the Government of Colombia and the FARC-EP, concluding an intense process that took place over the last several years.  He reiterates his support for the goal of attaining the peace and reconciliation of the entire Colombian people, in light of human rights and Christian values, which are at the heart of Latin American culture.

                On 12 August last, His Holiness received the invitation to appoint a representative to participate in the committee that selects the judges who will comprise the Jurisdicción Especial para la Paz (Special Jurisdiction for Peace).  However, bearing in mind the universal vocation of the Church and the mission of the Successor of Peter as Pastor of the People of God, it would be more appropriate that the said task be entrusted to other parties. 

              Pope Francis commends the peace process in Colombia to the maternal protection of the Most Holy Mother of God, Queen of Peace, and he invokes the gift of the Holy Spirit to enlighten the hearts and minds of those who are called to promote the common good of the Colombian nation.

(from Vatican Radio)

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Pope Audience: Christ offers salvation not rejection

Migrants and refugees at the heart of Pope's new 'Motu Proprio'

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has created a new Dicastery to better minister to the needs of the men and women the Church is called to serve.

The new “Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development” was instituted in a Motu Proprio published on Wednesday in the Osservatore Romano

It will come into effect as from 1 January 2017 and will be especially “competent in issues regarding migrants, those in need, the sick, the excluded and marginalized, the imprisoned and the unemployed, as well as victims of armed conflict, natural disasters, and all forms of slavery and torture”.

On that same date, four Pontifical Councils dedicated to charity and to the promotion of human development will cease to exist and effectively be encompassed in the new institution.

The Pope has appointed Cardinal Peter Turkson as Prefect of the new dicastery. Turkson is the current President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace – one of those destined to be suppressed.      

As Pope Francis highlights in the Motu Proprio: ‘the Church is called to promote the integral development of the human person in the light of the Gospel’, thus the Successor of Peter must ‘continuously adapt the institutions which collaborate with him.’ 

One of the sections of the new dicastery is an expression of the Pope’s particular concern for refugees and migrants and of his deep belief that in today’s world integral human development cannot be promoted without special attention for the phenomenon of migration. For this reason, this particular section is placed ad tempus beneath the direct jurisdiction of the Pope.

Please find below the full text of Pope Francis’ Motu Proprio:  

Apostolic Letter issued Motu Proprio
by the Supreme Pontiff Francis
instituting the DICASTERY FOR PROMOTING INTEGRAL HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

In all her being and actions, the Church is called to promote the integral development of the human person in the light of the Gospel.  This development takes place by attending to the inestimable goods of justice, peace, and the care of creation.  The Successor of the Apostle Peter, in his work of affirming these values, is continuously adapting the institutions which collaborate with him, so that they may better meet the needs of the men and women whom they are called to serve.
So that the Holy See may be solicitous in these areas, as well as in those regarding health and charitable works, I institute the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development.  This Dicastery will be competent particularly in issues regarding migrants, those in need, the sick, the excluded and marginalized, the imprisoned and the unemployed, as well as victims of armed conflict, natural disasters, and all forms of slavery and torture.
In the new Dicastery, governed by the Statutes that today I approve ad experimentum, the competences of the following Pontifical Councils will be merged, as of 1 January 2017: the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, the Pontifical Council Cor Unum, the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People, and the Pontifical Council for Health Care Workers.  On that date these four Dicasteries will cease exercising their functions and will be suppressed, and articles 142-153 of the Apostolic Constitution Pastor Bonus will be abrogated.  
I decree that what has been set out in this Apostolic Letter issued Motu Proprio have the force of law, notwithstanding anything to the contrary, even if worthy of special mention, and that it be promulgated by publication in L’Osservatore Romano, therefore published in the Acta Apostolicae Sedis, entering into force on 1 January 2017.
Given in Rome, at Saint Peter’s, on 17 August 2016, the Jubilee Year of Mercy, the Fourth Year of my Pontificate.

 

(from Vatican Radio)

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Cardinal Turkson: Address to the Christian Social Congress

(Vatican Radio) The President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, Cardinal Peter Turkson, on Wednesday said “human beings risk turning into robots, into mere cogs in a worldwide machine.” He was addressing the Christian Social Congress taking place in taking place in Doorn, in the Netherlands.

“Against this threat, Christians need to marshal and explain their reasons for their faith in humanity,” Cardinal Turkson said.

“On the one hand, grounded in our religious vision of the world, our conception of freedom allows us to think independently about the world rather than constantly join the crowd,” – he continued – “On the other hand, this religious vision also makes sense of the movement of history due to its confident expectation that, eventually and actually, we will all be gathered together, reconciled in God through Christ.”

Pope Francis also sent a message to the participants of the Congress.

 

The full text of Cardinal Turkson's address is below

 

Current challenges for the Christian Social Movement

in the light of the Encyclical Laudato Si' of Pope Francis[1]

 

Cardinal Peter K.A. Turkson

Christian Social Congress, Doorn, 31 August 2016

 

Thank you for inviting me to speak to this important and inspiring conference. I say “inspiring” because I realize that your Christian Social Movement had its first conference 125 years ago, in Amsterdam. Our Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace will be a more modest 50 years old next January 6th, so you see why I am impressed.

Of course, 1891 was also the year that Rerum novarum appeared: a truly revolutionary teaching, in its time and still today. It resolutely inserted the Church into some of the most pressing social issues of the day, such as the impacts of industrialization on individuals and families.

By Divine Providence, we too are living such a kairos moment. For the astonishing encyclical of Pope Francis, Laudato Si', has resonated strongly all over the world, and still resonates 15 months later, because of a similar revolutionary force. We can read it as the Rerum Novarum of the 21st century. It offers guidance and guidelines for a different way of relating to each other and to Creation.

During these opening moments of your Conference, let the key question of globalization be raised with the inspiration of earlier prophets and of the epochal Council Vatican II. We can then consider changes and new forces, initially as threats but surely as challenging opportunities. And so we look forward to your deliberations, invoking God’s blessing.

The question of globalization

With the interconnectedness of today’s world, and with the quick distribution of information and images, anyone with the slightest interest will instantly realize that the challenges for humanity – the challenges to be fully human – occur at every scale, from the global to the most intimate. The summary label for this highly powerful and ambiguous phenomenon is globalization. There are several forces nowadays that converge to make globalization an unprecedented threat to human progress. I am speaking here of the economic, financial, political and technological forces that raise the ominous spectre of the progressive robotization of men, women and children, in their outlooks and behaviour.

The haunting question is this: are we inescapably in the grip of these forces, powerless to control our destiny? Or can humanity shape and guide these forces? The Christian Social Movement affirms resoundingly that we can and must take charge. This is the perspective and spirit with which your conference raises its central concern: how to humanize globalization?

Prophets before us

Thank God we are not the first to face daunting questions. It is with deep satisfaction that I recall the history of Christian social engagement in the Netherlands. It reflects two sides of Christian participation in social life: it is both intellectual and practical.

Your compatriots of past decades have provided some very important, diverse expressions of the vision of Christ in the actual social order. I am speaking of Mr. Jos Serrarens, Monsignor Wiel Nolens and Cardinal Bernard Affrink.

As Secretary-General of the International Federation of Christian Trade Unions, Jos Serrarens brought together Catholic and Protestant workers at the conclusion of the First World War in order to engage Christians in consolidating peace through social justice. Monsignor Nolens as Head of the Catholic Party played a major role on both the national and international stage to insert your nation in the world-wide effort to construct peace; this was just one of his achievements. And in the years after the Second World War, Cardinal Bernard Affrink, then President of Pax Christi International, launched the first initiatives that made Christians aware of the changes, or even the upheavals, that the world had begun to experience in this epoch due to human mastery of the forces of nature.

These outstanding names, along with many others, helped to define the past century through their ability to respond to the challenges of their time.

Vocation

Christians today are called to continue the witness of the eminent prophets we honour. We recall them because of their resolute insertion into the major challenges of their time, and they did so as a necessary expression and application of their religious faith. This is the path of faith and action united, as the Second Vatican Council taught with all its authority. The pastoral constitution on the Church in the modern world, Gaudium et spes, opens with a resounding embrace of the lived realities of humankind: “The joys and the hopes, the griefs and the anxieties of the men and women of this age, especially those who are poor or in any way afflicted, these are the joys and hopes, the griefs and anxieties of the followers of Christ” (GS §1). And to truly follow Christ, we must accept our “earthly responsibilities”. The followers of Christ understand that their faith is incarnated in the world: “by the faith itself they are more obliged than ever to measure up to these duties, each according to his proper vocation.” Conversely, it is entirely erroneous for people to “imagine they can plunge themselves into earthly affairs in such a way as to imply that these are altogether divorced from the religious life” (GS §43.1). The only true path is that which unites faith and action.

First, the natural history of the world derives its meaning and direction from the supernatural history that Christ initiated. Christ gives world history an end, a goal, a telos and an Omega. Christ is our peace; he it is who makes reconciliation possible.

Second, it is the vocation of Christians in every era to translate Christ’s global vision into the hic et nunc, into the here-and-now. This is why we find such diversity in how Christians have engaged in society through the ages: the here and now in each situation differ from others, earlier or later, here or elsewhere. Thus it is that there is one consistent vision which finds expression in many different forms of social engagement.

Threatening changes

Let me highlight two of the upheavals that face us as we put our faith into action. First, the unipolar world has disappeared. The world today is multipolar. This is a radical change. Too much social science and the derivative social policy make the mistake of reducing this change to an excessively quantitative matter, whereas in truth it is qualitative, cultural, spiritual. Until the 1980s and early 1990s, the world was dominated by the Cold War and the East-West confrontation. But following the policies of détente of President Reagan and Chairman Gorbachev – policies that were supported by Christian leaders such as Blessed Pope Paul VI, Cardinals Agostino Casaroli and Barnard Affrink – the international equilibrium of power began to shift. New forces were let loose, and their priorities diverged from those of the West where spiritual strength was drained away by hedonism.

Yet our present world is already so different from the heady days when the Berlin Wall came down and formerly repressed populations found a new freedom. Indeed, in some cases, that freedom allowed them to indulge in consumerism and hedonistic interests that had been unavailable or forbidden. But nowadays, with all-pervasive computer tools, worldwide communication and social media, people risk being lost amid noise and triviality. Pope Francis worries greatly about information overload and neglect of direct human relationship.

“True wisdom, as the fruit of self-examination, dialogue and gener­ous encounter between persons, is not acquired by a mere accumulation of data which eventu­ally leads to overload and confusion, a sort of mental pollution. Real relationships with others, with all the challenges they entail, now tend to be replaced by a type of internet communication which enables us to choose or eliminate relationships at whim, thus giving rise to a new type of contrived emotion which has more to do with devices and displays than with other people and with nature” (LS §47).

New technologies of communication bring me to the second upheaval. As I said earlier, human beings risk turning into robots, into mere cogs in a worldwide machine. Against this threat, Christians need to marshal and explain their reasons for their faith in humanity. How do we regard the world today and its various trends? On the one hand, grounded in our religious vision of the world, our conception of freedom allows us to think independently about the world rather than constantly join the crowd. On the other hand, this religious vision also makes sense of the movement of history due to its confident expectation that, eventually and actually, we will all be gathered together, reconciled in God through Christ. “Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all” (Col 3:11). Christ, and his authentic disciples, exercise authority as service for others. “When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all” (1 Cor 15:28.

Opportunities of dialogue

As you pursue your studies and discussions here, I urge you to embrace dialogue: dialogue among yourselves here, and dialogue in the work you do in the world. Pope Francis puts his faith and hope in dialogue “as the only way to confront the problems of our world and to seek solutions that are truly effective”.[2] Authentic dialogue is “open and respectful”; it requires “patience, self-discipline and generosity” (LS §201). It insists on open negotiation based on the principles which the social teachings of the Church vigorously promote: solidarity, subsidiarity, working for the common good, universal destination of goods, and preferential option for the poor and for the earth.

Pope Francis applies these principles, after briefly interpreting the story of Cain and Abel, to our real relationships. “Disregard for the duty to cultivate and maintain a proper relationship with my neighbour, for whose care and custo­dy I am responsible, ruins my relationship with my own self, with others, with God and with the earth” (LS §70). On the contrary, “The human person grows more, matures more and is sanctified more to the extent that he or she enters into relationships, going out from themselves to live in communion with God, with others and with all creatures” (LS §240). This is the rich, integrated vision of the encyclical that you are about to study.

Let me give an example of new technologies at the service of networking for politics and democracy in action. Avaaz is an online network founded almost ten years ago; today Avaaz counts about 44 million members.[3] Using online petitions, it organizes citizens of all nations to close the gap between what exists and the world most people everywhere want. Avaaz and the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace collaborated on activities around Laudato si', the Pope’s visit to USA last September, and the COP21 climate change meetings last December in Paris. Now just as Avaaz brings people of all backgrounds to discover shared concerns and undertake common action, so your Christian Social Movement has brought together people of good will of diverse backgrounds. The invitation, I suggest, is to open ourselves to the potential for good in the new tools that are available, even as we take a prudent or critical attitude towards excesses.

Your deliberations

As this Conference gets underway, it makes me happy to know that you intend to pose “slow questions in swampy ground”.[4] To do this patiently and properly “rooted and grounded”, you re-read the Imitatio Christi in a contemporary, social key. This lived spirituality of encounter, as Pope Francis would say, sustains dialogue or conversation with various partners about current social issues very much on our agenda. Allow me please to remind you of the five great questions which will surely serve to focus this Conference as well as subsequent policy and action:

  1. How can we give priority to responsive forms of the economy that are an answer to the needs of society instead of the wants of the individual (Chapter 4)?
  2. How can we make room for vulnerability, imperfection, and improvisational skills, thus countering the push to perfection and uniformity and strengthening the vitality and quality of life in society (See chapter 5)?
  3. How can we give priority to forms of inclusive politics which are, instead of just recurrent polling, a conversation, thus enhancing engagement by citizens in arranging their own life (Chapter 6)?
  4. How can we cultivate forms of growth in quality, thus reducing the emphasis on quantitative growth, numbers and procedures (Chapter 7)?
  5. How can we establish a culture of gratitude, reverence, and involvement, thus countering indifference, the throw-away culture, and cynicism (Chapter 8)?[5]

Conclusion

In conclusion, I wish to share an overall observation about Laudato si’. Pope Francis has brought together a huge canvas, an immense landscape of topics, in his text. He wants to help people of goodwill of all backgrounds to clearly acknowledge the world’s most pressing issues, and to embark on effective responses to them. People can do this if they embrace a transcendent understanding of the world’s movement towards reconciliation, and if they accept the humble, generous, loving parameters of dialogue for working together. He commits the Church to accompany every level of decision-making, every form of governance, that is willing to pursue the common good. Thus, with this new Rerum novarum, the Church is manifestly willing to go out into the whole social order and accompany humankind as we urgently take stock and make decisions and re-tool. You can count on the Church as you work for justice and peace in your immediate neighbourhood, your country, across Europe and throughout the planet! In a complementary way, the Church counts on you to live out her vocation in the modern world.

May our Lord smile on your deliberations and guide you to continue the great work of Christian social movements: to redeem and build positive relationships among all peoples and with all of creation in a globalization of ever-increasing reconciliation and human fulfilment!

 

 

 

 

[1] In the preparation of this address, I would like gratefully to acknowledge the invaluable assistance of Fr. Joseph Joblin S.J., Professor emeritus of Social Sciences, Pontifical Gregorian University, and of Mr. Robert Czerny, editor and translator, Ottawa.

[2] Pope Francis, Address on Environmental Justice and Climate Change, 11.09.15.

[3] http://ift.tt/2bFOzHX

[4] Piet Hazenbosch, De kracht van verbondenheid: Perspectieven in een netwerksamenleving: Naar een visie voor het Christelijk-Sociaal Congres 2016, Stichting Christelijk-Sociaal Congres, 2016, p.185.

[5] De kracht van verbondenheid, pp. 186-187.

(from Vatican Radio)

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Pope Francis: Social systems should serve the needs of all people

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Wednesday sent greetings to the Christian Social Congress taking place in Doorn, in the Netherlands.

In a message sent through the Secretary of State, the Pope encouraged the participants “to promote a greater awareness of the particular dignity of human relationships, which inculcates esteem for each person and respect for others.”

It continued by stating Pope Francis “prays that those gathered will give particular attention to the concerns of the poor and marginalized, so that every economic, political and social system may serve the needs and advancement of all peoples, and protect the created world which God has entrusted to humanity’s stewardship.”

The President of the Pontifical Council of Justice and Peace, Cardinal Peter K.A. Turkson, also addressed the Congress.

 

The full text of the message is below

 

His Holiness Pope Francis was pleased to learn of the conference sponsored by the Dutch Christian Social Congress, to begin on 31 August 2016, and he sends cordial greetings to all gathered for this important event. As participants reflect on the primacy of the human person in a globalized world, His Holiness encourages them to promote a greater awareness of the particular dignity of human relationships, which “inculcates esteem for each person and respect for others” (Laudato Si’, 119). In this way, their discussion of the pressing societal issues of our day will be guided by a “humanism capable of bringing together the different fields of knowledge, including economics, in the service of a more integral and integrating vision” (no. 141). In this regard, Pope Francis prays that those gathered will give particular attention to the concerns of the poor and marginalized, so that every economic, political and social system may serve the needs and advancement of all peoples, and protect the created world which God has entrusted to humanity’s stewardship. With the assurance of his prayerful good wishes, His Holiness invokes upon those gathered the abundant divine blessings of peace and strength.

Cardinal Pietro Parolin

Secretary of State

(from Vatican Radio)

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Pope Francis tells Arab Christians to "keep flame of their faith"

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis told Christians in the Arab-speaking world to “keep the flame of their faith,” despite the darkness of the trial.” The Holy Father was speaking during his General Audience to Arab-speaking pilgrims from Iraq, Jordan, and the Middle East.

“The healing accomplished today by Jesus [of the woman with the hemorrhage Mt 9:20-22] assures us that when human hope disappears and everything seems impossible, the sun of Divine hope rises again for those who, despite the darkness of the trial, keep the flame of their faith!” – Pope Francis said – “The Lord bless you all and protect you from the evil one!”

(from Vatican Radio)



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Pope Audience: English summary

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis held his weekly General Audience in St Peter's Square on Wednesday. In his catechesis, the Holy Father relflected on St Matthew's Gospel account of the cure of a woman suffering from haemorrhages.

Below, please find the official English language summary of Pope Francis’ catechesis for the General Audience for 31 August 2016:

Dear Brothers and Sisters:  In our catechesis for this Holy Year of Mercy, we now consider Jesus’ cure of the woman suffering from haemorrhages (cf. Mt 9:20-22).  This unnamed woman, considered impure according to the Law (cf. Lev 15:29-30), trusted in Jesus’ mercy and saving power to free her from her illness and isolation.  Filled with deep faith, she reached out and touched his garment.  In Hebrew religious tradition, wearing such a garment was a symbol of being clothed with the divine Law, the source of blessing.  The woman’s gesture of touching his garment is thus a form of quiet prayer and a sign of hope.  Jesus responds by looking upon her with tenderness and acknowledges her dignity.  He treats her with love and heals her of her affliction.  Faith in Christ brings salvation; it offers healing, restores right relationships between people and affirms our inviolable dignity.  Jesus asks all of us to trust in his word and, having experienced his mercy, to be a leaven of that mercy in our world.

I greet the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors taking part in today’s Audience, particularly those from Ireland, Malta, the Philippines, Vietnam, the US Virgin Islands and the United States of America.  May your stay in the Eternal City confirm you in love for our Lord, and may he make you his missionaries of mercy, especially for all those who feel distant from God.  May God bless you all!

(from Vatican Radio)

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Monday, August 29, 2016

Pope Francis receives Facebook CEO in private audience

(Vatican Radio)  Pope Francis met with Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook, and his wife, Priscilla Chan, on Monday in a private audience in the Vatican.

A statement released by the Holy See Press Office said: “They spoke about how to use communication technologies to alleviate poverty, encourage a culture of encounter, and help deliver a message of hope, especially to those people who are most disadvantaged.”

(from Vatican Radio)

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Pope sends message to Catholic-Orthodox Symposium

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has sent a message to Cardinal Kurt Koch, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, on the occasion of the XIV Inter-Christian Symposium taking place in Thessalonika from 28-30 August.

Sponsored by the Franciscan Institute of Spirituality of the Pontifical University Antonianum and the Department of Theology of the Orthodox Theological Faculty of the Aristoteles University of Thessalonika, the Symposium seeks to foster theological and cultural dialogue between Catholics and Orthodox. The theme of this year’s meeting is “The Need for a Re-evangelization of the Christian Communities in Europe.”

“The presence in Europe of so many people who, although baptized, are not aware of the gift of faith they have received, have not experienced the consolation, and do not fully participate in the life of the Christian community represents a challenge for all the Churches present in the continent,” Pope Francis said in his message. “In a reality like that of Europe, in which where there are ever fewer bonds with its Christian roots, there is clearly the need for a new work of evangeliztion.”

This “missionary duty,” he continued, “is sustained by the profound conviction that ‘with this newness, [Christ] is always able to renew our lives and our communities, and even if the Christian message has known periods of darkness and ecclesial weakness, it will never grow old.”

(from Vatican Radio)

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Sunday, August 28, 2016

Pope Francis: Angelus catechesis on humility, generosity

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis prayed the Angelus with the faithful in St. Peter’s Square on Sunday, the final Sunday in the month of August and the twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time. In remarks to the pilgrims and tourists gathered in the Square ahead of the traditional prayer of Marian devotion, Pope Francis reflected on the Gospel reading of the day, taken from the Gospel according to St. Luke (14:1, 7-14), in which Jesus dines as the guest of a leading Pharisee, and teaches a hard truth about pride and the Kingdom of God and issues a challenge to all present to focus their thoughts and order their actions to the promise of the Resurrection.

As often happens, Jesus taught the Gospel lesson through parables, the first of which regarded the behavior of guests at a banquet:

When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not recline at table in the place of honor. A more distinguished guest than you may have been invited by him, and the host who invited both of you may approach you and say, “Give your place to this man,” and then you would proceed with embarrassment to take the lowest place. Rather, when you are invited, go and take the lowest place so that when the host comes to you he may say, “My friend, move up to a higher position.” Then you will enjoy the esteem of your companions at the table. For every one who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.

The Second, equally famous lesson regarded the attitude and behavior of the one, who gives the banquet:

When you hold a lunch or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or your wealthy neighbors, in case they may invite you back and you have repayment. Rather, when you hold a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.  

Remarking the lessons, Pope Francis offered words of praise for the many people who have heeded the call and offer their assistance at shelters and soup kitchens, feeding the hungry and performing many other works of mercy.

“Let us ask the Virgin Mary – who was humble all her life – to lead us every day on the way of humility,” he said, “so that we are capable of making our own gestures welcome and solidarity with the marginalized, seeking nothing in return, so that we might become worthy of the divine reward.”

(from Vatican Radio)



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Pope Francis heralds upcoming Day of Prayer for Care of Creation

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis called attention on Sunday to the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, to be celebrated this coming Thursday, September 1stA major global ecumenical stewardship initiative, the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation began in 1989 under the leadership of the Orthodox Church.

Pope Francis established the Day for the Catholic Church by a letter dated August 6th, 2015, and addressed to Cardinals Peter Turkson and Kurt Koch, respectively the President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace and the President of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity.

In the letter, Pope Francis says, “The annual World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation will offer individual believers and communities a fitting opportunity to reaffirm their personal vocation to be stewards of creation, to thank God for the wonderful handiwork which he has entrusted to our care, and to implore his help for the protection of creation as well as his pardon for the sins committed against the world in which we live.”

Speaking to the faithful following the traditional Angelus prayer on the final Sunday in August, Pope Francis looked forward to the event, saying, “This coming Thursday, September 1st, we will mark the World Day of Prayer for the care of creation, together with our Orthodox brothers with Churches,” and describing the event as, “an opportunity to strengthen the common commitment to safeguard life, respecting the environment and nature.”

(from Vatican Radio)



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Pope Francis: Angelus appeal for quake victims in central Italy

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis offered words of encouragement to the people of the quake-damaged border area in central Italy where the regions of Latium, Umbria and the Marches meet, renewing his appeal for prayerful and concrete solidarity, and expressing the desire to visit the stricken places as soon as possible.

Addressing the faithful gathered in St. Peter’s Square following the traditional Sunday Angelus prayer, Pope Francis said, “Dear Brothers and Sisters, I wish to renew my spiritual closeness to the inhabitants of Latium, the Marches and Umbria, hard hit by the earthquake in these past days.”

The Holy Father went on to make specific mention of the towns, which suffered the most grievous loss of life and the most extensive damage. “I think in particular the people of Amatrice, Accumoli, Arquata del Tronto, Norcia: again I say to those dear people that the Church shares their suffering and their worries.”

“She prays for the dead and for the survivors,” Pope Francis continued. “The solicitude with which [civil] authorities, police, civil protection and volunteers are operating, shows how important solidarity is in order to overcome such painful trials,” he added.

“Dear brothers and sisters,” the Pope concluded, “I hope to come to see you as soon as possible, to bring you in person the comfort of the Faith, the embrace of a father and a brother, and the support of Christian hope.”

Immediately following these words, the Holy Father led all the gathered faithful in praying a Hail Mary for the victims, their families, and for everyone affected by the deadly quake.

(from Vatican Radio)



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Saturday, August 27, 2016

Card. Parolin recalls ‘bridge builder’ between China and Holy See

(Vatican Radio)  Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican Secretary of State, expressed his ‘hopes and expectations for new developments and a new season in relations between the Apostolic See and China’ in a speech on Saturday at the diocesan seminary in Pordenone, Italy.

The speech – laden with the history of diplomatic relations between China and the Holy See – focused on the figure of Cardinal Celso Costantini as a bridge builder.

Born in Castions di Zoppola in 1876 and an honorary citizen of Pordenone and Aquileia, Cardinal Costantini was named the first Apostolic Delegate to China in 1922 until 1933 by Pope Pius XI.

Cardinal Parolin said “Celso Costantini successfully completed a mission of extraordinary importance: he created a ‘bridge’ between Holy See and China, to which Pope Francis pays the utmost attention and, I am sure, also the people and government of China”.

A diary written by Cardinal Celso Costantini, entitled The Secrets of a Vatican Cardinal: Celso Costantini's Wartime Diaries, 1938-1947, was kept secret before being published in 2010 and tells some of the story of his assignment in China.

Below is a Vatican Radio English translation of the conclusion portion of Cardinal Parolin’s speech:

In light of these brief reflections on the events surrounding Cardinal Celso Costantini in relation to the vast ‘continent’ that is China, one becomes aware of his singular capacity to ‘build bridges’, that is, his capacities of knowledge, of respect, of encounter, and of dialogue between worlds, very distant, at least in appearance.

Today, as ever, many are the hopes and expectations for new developments and a new season of relations between the Apostolic See and China for the benefit not only of Catholics in the land of Confucius but for the entire country, which boasts of one of the greatest civilizations on Earth. I would dare to say [these relations] would be beneficial even for an ordered, peaceful, and fruitful cohabitation of peoples and nations in a world, like our own, torn by many tensions and conflicts. I consider it important to forcefully underline this idea:  New hopes and good relations with China – including diplomatic ties, if God so wishes! – are neither an end in themselves nor a desire to reach some kind of ‘worldly’ success. They are thought out and pursued – not without fear and trembling because it involves the Church which belongs to God – I repeat, they are pursued only in the measure in which they are ‘ordered’ toward the good of Chinese Catholics, to the good of the entire Chinese people, and to the harmony of the whole society, in favor of world peace.

Pope Francis, as his predecessors John Paul II and Benedict XIV before him, knows well the baggage of suffering, of misunderstandings, often of silent martyrdom which the Catholic community in China carries on its shoulders: it is the weight of history! But he also knows, along with external and internal difficulties, how alive is the yearning for full communion with the Successor of Peter, how many advances have been made, how many efforts are made to witness to the love of God and the love of neighbor, especially to the people weakest and most in need, which is the synthesis of all Christianity. [Pope Francis] also knows and encourages, especially in this Jubilee of Mercy, mutual forgiveness, reconciliation between brothers and sisters who have been divided, and the struggle to grow in understanding, collaboration, and love!

We are all called to accompany with caring closeness, respect, humility, and above all prayer this path of the Church in China. It involves writing a new page of history, looking ahead with trust in Divine Providence and healthy realism to insure a future in which Chinese Catholics can feel profoundly Catholic – ever more visibly anchored on the solid rock, which, by the will of Jesus, is Peter – and fully Chinese, without having to deny or diminish all that is true, noble, pure, lovable, honorable (cf. Phil 4,8) of that which their history and their culture has produced and continues to produce. The Second Vatican Council reminds us that nothing is truly human if it does not find an echo in the heart of the disciples of Christ! (cf. GS n.1).

It should be realistically accepted that there is no shortage of problems to be resolved between the Holy See and China and that they can generate, often by their complexity, differing positions and orientations. However, such problems are not completely unlike those positively dealt with 70 years ago. Cardinal Celso Costantini, therefore, remains a source of inspiration and a model of extreme actuality. In this sense, I thank you also because this conference, prepared for you, gave me the occasion to better study the figure and work [of Cardinal Costantini], just as others in this diocese have done and are doing.

On the path which remains to be walked, we commend ourselves with immense trust to Our Lady, invoked under the title “Help of Christians, Auxilium christianorum”. Cardinal Costantini in 1924 crowned her image in Sheshan, near Shanghai.

On 22 May 2016, in light of the liturgical feast of Our Lady venerated in Sheshan, Pope Francis yearned for, in the current Year of Mercy, “an authentic culture of encounter and harmony of all of society, that harmony which the Chinese spirit loves so much” [1]. This spirit finds full consonance in the Bishops of Rome who have always demonstrated maximum consideration, enormous commitment, and unbounded love for the Chinese people.

[1] All’Angelus il Papa ricorda che ogni uomo è un essere in relazione. Orizzonte trinitario. E invita a pregare per il vertice di Istanbul e per la Cina, in L’Osservatore Romano, 23-24 maggio 2016, 7. 

(from Vatican Radio)

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Pope Francis to Church in Americas: bring the balm of Christ's presence

Pope Francis: Jubilee Video Message to Americas

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has sent a Video Message to the Church in the Americas to mark the American continental Jubilee, opening Saturday, August 27th in Bogota, Colombia, and running through August 30th, under the auspices of the Bishops’ Conference of Latin America (CELAM) and the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, with the close cooperation of the US and Canadian Bishops’ Conferences.

The theme of the continental Jubilee celebration is taken from Pope Francis’ homily at Mass on May 2nd, 2015, at the Pontifical North American College in Rome, where he had gone to visit as part of preparations for the canonization of St. Junipero Serra: “May a powerful gust of holiness sweep through all the Americas during the coming Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy!”

Below, please find the full text of the Pope’s Message

*******************************************

I welcome the initiative of CELAM and CAL, in association with the bishops of the United States and Canada – this makes me think of the Synod of America – to make possible this continent-wide opportunity to celebrate the Jubilee of Mercy.  I am pleased to know that all the countries of America have been able to take part.  Given the many attempts to fragment, divide and set our peoples at odds, such events help us to broaden our horizons and to continue our handshake; a great sign that encourages us in hope.

I would like to begin with the words of the apostle Paul to his beloved disciple: “I am grateful to Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because he judged me faithful and appointed me to his service, even though I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a man of violence.  But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.  The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners – of whom I am the foremost.  But for that very reason I received mercy, so that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display the utmost patience” (1 Tim 1:12-16a).

So Paul tells Timothy in his First Letter, chapter 1, verses 12 to 16.  In speaking to him, he wants to speak to each of us.  His words are an invitation, I would even say, a provocation.  Words meant to motivate Timothy and all those who would hear them throughout history.  They are words that cannot leave us indifferent; rather, they profoundly affect our lives.

Paul minces no words: Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, of whom Paul considers himself the worst.  He is clearly aware of who he is, he does not conceal his past or even his present.  But he describes himself in this way neither to excuse or justify himself, much less to boast of his condition.  We are at the very beginning of the letter, and he has already warned Timothy about “myths and endless genealogies” and “meaningless talk”, and warned him that all these end up in “disputes”, arguments.  At first, we might think that he is dwelling on his own sinfulness, but he does this so that Timothy, and each of us with him, can identify with him.  To use football terms we could say: he kicks the ball to the center so that another can head the ball.  He “passes us the ball” to enable us to share his own experience: despite all my sins, “I received mercy”.

We have the opportunity to be here because, with Paul, we can say: “We received mercy”.  For all our sins, our limitations, our failings, for all the many times we have fallen, Jesus has looked upon us and drawn near to us.  He has given us his hand and showed us mercy.  To whom?  To me, to you, to everyone.  All of us can think back and remember the many times the Lord looked upon us, drew near and showed us mercy.  All those times that the Lord kept trusting, kept betting on us (cf. Ez 16).  For my part, I think of the sixteenth chapter of Ezekiel, and the Lord’s constant betting on each one of us.  That is what Paul calls “sound teaching” – think about it! – sound teaching is this: that we received mercy.  That is the heart of Paul’s letter to Timothy.  During this time of the Jubilee, how good it is for us to reflect on this truth, to think back on how throughout our lives the Lord has always been near us and showed us mercy.  To concentrate on remembering our sin and not our alleged merits, to grow in a humble and guilt-free awareness of all those times we turned away from God – we, not someone else, not the person next to us, much less that of our people – and to be once more amazed by God’s mercy.  That is a sure message, sound teaching, and never empty talk.

There is one particular thing about Paul’s letter that I would like to share with you.  Paul does not say: “The Lord spoke and told me” or “The Lord showed me or taught me”.  He says: “He treated me with mercy”.   For Paul, his relationship with Jesus was sealed by the way he treated him.  Far from being an idea, a desire, a theory – much less an ideology –, mercy is a concrete way of “touching” weakness, of bonding with others, of drawing closer to others.  It is a concrete way of meeting people where they are at.  It is a way of acting that makes us give the best of ourselves so that others can feel “treated” in such a way that they feel that in their lives the last word has not yet been spoken.  Treated in such a way that those who feel crushed by the burden of their sins can feel relieved at being given another chance.  Far from a mere beautiful word, mercy is the concrete act by which God seeks to relate to his children.  Paul uses the passive voice – pardon me for being a bit pedantic here – and the past tense.  To put it loosely, he could well have said: “I was ‘shown mercy’”.  The passive makes Paul the receiver of the action of another; he does nothing more than allow himself to be shown mercy.  The past tense of the original reminds us that in him the experience took place at a precise moment in time, one that he remembers, gives thanks for, and celebrates.

Paul’s God starts a movement from heart to hands, the movement of one who is unafraid to draw near, to touch, to caress, without being scandalized, without condemning, without dismissing anyone.  A way of acting that becomes incarnate in people’s lives.

To understand and accept what God does for us – a God who does not think, love or act out of fear, but because he trusts us and expects us to change – must perhaps be our hermeneutical criterion, our mode of operation: “Go and do likewise” (Lk 10:37).  Our way of treating others, in consequence, must never be based on fear but on the hope God has in our ability to change.  Which will it be: hope for change, or fear?  The only thing acting out of fear accomplishes is to separate, to divide, to attempt to distinguish with surgical precision one side from the other, to create false security and thus to build walls.  Acting on the basis of hope for change, for conversion, encourages and incites, it looks to the future, it makes room for opportunity, and it keeps us moving forward.  Acting on the basis of fear bespeaks guilt, punishment, “you were wrong”.  Acting on the basis of hope of transformation bespeaks trusting, learning, getting up, constantly trying to generate new opportunities.  How many times?  Seventy times seven.  For that reason, treating people with mercy always awakens creativity.  It is concerned with the face of the person, with his or her life, history and daily existence. It is not married to one model or recipe, but enjoys a healthy freedom of spirit, and can thus seek what is the best for the other person, in a way they can understand.  This engages all our abilities and gifts; it makes us step out from behind our walls.  It is never empty talk – as Paul tells us – that entangles us in endless disputes.  Acting on the basis of hope for change is a restless way of thinking that sets our heart pounding and readies our hands for action.  The journey from heart to hands.

Seeing how God acts in this way, we might be scandalized, like the older son in the parable of the Merciful Father, by how the father treats his younger son upon seeing him return.  We might be scandalized that he embraced him, treated him with love, called for him to be dressed in the best robes even though he was so filthy.  We might be scandalized that upon seeing him return, he kissed him and threw a party. We might be scandalized that he did not upbraid him but instead treated him for what he was: a son.

We start being scandalized – and this happens to us all, it’s almost automatic, no? – we start being scandalized when spiritual Alzheimer’s sets in: when we forget how the Lord has treated us, when we begin to judge and divide people up.  We take on a separatist mindset that, without our realizing it, leads us to fragment our social and communal reality all the more.  We fragment the present by creating “groups”.  Groups of good and bad, saints and sinners.  This memory loss gradually makes us forget the richest reality we possess and the clearest teaching we have to defend.  The richest reality and the clearest teaching.  Though we are all sinners, the Lord has unfailingly treated us with mercy.  Paul never forgot that he was on the other side, that he was chosen last, as one born out of time.  Mercy is not a “theory to brandish”:  “Ah!  Now it is fashionable to talk about mercy for this Jubilee, so let’s follow the fashion”.  No, it is not a theory to brandish so that our condescension can be applauded, but rather a history of sin to be remembered.  Which sin?  Ours, mine and yours.  And a love to be praised.  Which love?  The love of God, who has shown me mercy.

We are part of a fragmented culture, a throwaway culture.  A culture tainted by the exclusion of everything that might threaten the interests of a few.  A culture that is leaving by the roadside the faces of the elderly, children, ethnic minorities seen as a threat.  A culture that little by little promotes the comfort of a few and increases the suffering of many others.  A culture that is incapable of accompanying the young in their dreams but sedates them with promises of ethereal happiness and hides the living memory of their elders.  A culture that has squandered the wisdom of the indigenous peoples and has shown itself incapable of caring for the richness of their lands.

All of us are aware, all of us know that we live in a society that is hurting; no one doubts this.  We live in a society that is bleeding, and the price of its wounds normally ends up being paid by the most vulnerable.  But it is precisely to this society, to this culture , that the Lord sends us.  He sends us and urges us to bring the balm of “his” presence.  He sends us with one program alone: to treat one another with mercy.  To become neighbors to those thousands of defenseless people who walk in our beloved American land by proposing a different way of treating them.  A renewed way, trying to let our form of bonding be inspired by God’s dream, by what he has done.  A way of treating others based on remembering that all of us came from afar, like Abraham, and all of us were brought out of places of slavery, like the people of Israel.

All of us still vividly recall our experience in Aparecida and its invitation once more to become missionary disciples.  We spoke at length about discipleship, and wondered how best to promote the catechesis of discipleship and mission.  Paul gives us an interesting key to this: showing mercy.  He reminds us that what made him an apostle was how he was treated, how God drew near to his life: “I received mercy”.  What made him a disciple was the trust God showed in him despite his many sins.  And that reminds us that we may have the best plans, projects and theories about what to do, but if we lack that “show of mercy”, our pastoral work will be cut off midway.

All this has to do with our catechesis, our seminaries – do we teach our seminarians this path of showing mercy? – our parish structures and pastoral plans.  All this has to do with our missionary activity, our pastoral plans, our clergy meetings and even our way of doing theology.  It is about learning to show mercy, a form of bonding that we daily have to ask for – because it is a grace – and need to learn.  Showing mercy among ourselves as bishops, priests and laity.  In theory we are “missionaries of mercy”, yet often we are better at “mistreating” than at treating well.  How many times have we failed in our seminaries to inspire, accompany and encourage a pedagogy of mercy, and to teach that the heart of pastoral work is showing mercy.  Being pastors who treat and not mistreat.  Please, I ask you: be pastors who know how to treat and not mistreat.

Today we are asked especially to show mercy to God’s holy and faithful people – they know a lot about being merciful because they have a good memory –, to the people who come to our communities with their sufferings, sorrows and hurts.  But also to the people who do not come to our communities, yet are wounded by the paths of history and hope to receive mercy.  Mercy is learned from experience – in our own lives first – as in the case of Paul, to whom God revealed all his mercy, all his merciful patience.  It is learned from sensing that God continues to trust in us and to call us to be his missionaries, that he constantly sends us forth to treat our brothers and sisters in the same way that he has treated us.  Each of us knows his or her own story and can draw from it.  Mercy is learned, because our Father continues to forgive us.  Our peoples already have enough suffering in their lives; they do not need us to add to it.  To learn to show mercy is to learn from the Master how to become neighbors, unafraid of the outcast and those “tainted” and marked by sin.  To learn to hold out our hand to those who have fallen, without being afraid of what people will say.  Any treatment lacking mercy, however just it may seem, ends up turning into mistreatment.  The challenge will be to empower paths of hope, paths that encourage good treatment and make mercy shine forth.

Dear brothers and sisters, this gathering is not a congress or a meeting, a seminary or a conference.  This gathering is above all a celebration: we have been asked to celebrate the way God has treated each of us and all his people.  For this reason, I believe that it is good time for us to say together: “Lord, I have let myself be deceived; in a thousand ways I have shunned your love, yet here I am once more, to renew my covenant with you.  I need you.  Save me once again, Lord; take me once more into your redeeming embrace” (Evangelii Gaudium, 3).

Let us be grateful, as Paul told Timothy, that God trusts us to repeat with his people the immense acts of mercy he has shown us, and that this encounter will help us to go forth with renewed conviction as we seek to pass on the sweet and comforting joy of the Gospel of mercy.

(from Vatican Radio)

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Pope thanks Ventimiglia diocese for care of migrants, refugees

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has sent a message to the bishop of the northern Italian city of Ventimiglia, where scores of migrants and refugees have congregated in the hopes of crossing the nearby border into France.

The Pope’s message, which was published on the diocesan website, comes in response to a letter from Bishop Antonio Suetta of Ventimiglia – San Remo, which recounted the situation on the ground.

In the Holy Father’s letter, which was signed 17 August, he expressed his spiritual closeness with “affection and prayer” to the bishop, the entire diocese, and all those who “strive to meet the needs of these people who are escaping war and violence, in search of hope and a peaceful future.”

“I wish so much to thank you for the efforts which this diocesan community is deploying with admirable evangelical charity, establishing human, logistical, and economic resources to support these, our brothers and sisters, who are living an immense tragedy.”

Pope Francis encouraged the bishop, along with the priests, consecrated persons, pastoral workers, and other Church entities to continue with their “generous commitment to welcome and solidarity,” thereby becoming “ever more a ‘Church in exit,’ the joyful herald of the Gospel of mercy and a witness to hope.”

The Pope concluded his message by reiterating his “sincere appreciation” for the fervor of the diocesan community, and assuring them of his prayers, while bestowing on them his apostolic blessing.

(from Vatican Radio)

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Friday, August 26, 2016

Pope to Secular Institutes: Bring heaven to today’s people

(Vatican Radio)  Pope Francis urged members of Secular Institutes to work for a renewed charism that unites the lay and consecrated aspects of their lives and mission. His remarks came in a message sent on his behalf by the Secretary, of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, to participants attending the World Conference of members of Secular Institutes held in Rome this week. 

The Pope wrote that they are both lay and consecrated people and both aspects are on the same level and equally important.  He encouraged the members of the Secular Institutes to live an intense life of prayer, saying their greatest challenge is to be schools of sainthood here on earth, living normal lives but always at the service of others and bearing witness to the values of brotherhood and friendship.   

(from Vatican Radio)



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US Ambassador to Holy See shares his memories of Mother Teresa

«Non-Violence: A Style of Politics for Peace». Message for the 50th World Day of Peace, the fourth of Pope Francis.

Non-Violence: A Style of Politics for Peace. Pope Francis announces the theme for the 50th World Day of Peace (1st January 2017). «Non-Violence: A Style of Politics for Peace». This is the title of the Message for the 50th World Day of Peace, the fourth of Pope Francis. Violence and Peace are at the origin of two opposite ways to building society.

The proliferation of hotbeds of violence produces most serious negative social consequences. The Holy Father sums up this situation in the expression: “A Third World War in Pieces”. Peace, by contrast, promotes social positive consequences and it allows the achievement of real progress. Therefore, we should act within what is possible, and negotiate ways of peace even where they seem tortuous and impractical. Thus, non-violence can acquire a more comprehensive and new meaning. It will not only consist of desire, of moral rejection of violence, barriers, destructive impulses, but also of a realistic political method that gives rise to hope.

Such a political method is based on the primacy of law. If the rights and the equal dignity of every person are safeguarded without any discrimination and distinction, then non-violence, understood as a political method, can constitute a realistic way to overcome arm conflicts. In this perspective, it becomes important to increasingly recognize not the right of force but the force of right.

With this Message, Pope Francis wants to show a further step, a path of hope, appropriate to today’s historical circumstances. In this way, the settlement of disputes may be reached through negotiation without then degenerating into armed conflict. Within such a perspective the culture and identity of Peoples are respected and the opinion that some are morally superior to others is overcome.

At the same time, however, it does not mean that one Nation can remain indifferent to the tragedies of another. Rather it means a recognition of the primacy of diplomacy over the noise of arms.

Arms trade is so widespread that it is generally underestimated. Illegal arms trafficking supports not a few world’s conflicts. Non-violence as a political style can and must do much to stem this scourge.

***

TheWorld Peace Day initiated by Paul VI is celebrated each year on the first day of January. The Holy Father's Message is sent to all Foreign Ministries of the world and it indicates the diplomatic concerns of the Holy See during the coming year.



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Wednesday, August 24, 2016

Pope sends Vatican firefighters to quake town of Amatrice

(Vatican Radio) As a concrete sign of his closeness to the victims of Italy’s earthquake, Pope Francis has sent a team of six firefighters from the Vatican City State to Amatrice, the city in central Italy that was worst affected by the quake. A statement from the Holy See’s Press Office said the six firefighters would help Italy’s Civil Protection workers search for survivors still under the rubble and assist those already rescued.

(from Vatican Radio)

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Pope Francis greets World Conference of Secular Institutes

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Wednesday during his general audience greeted the participants the General Assembly of the World Conference of Secular Institutes.

A Secular Institutes is an “institute of consecrated life in which the Christian faithful living in the world strive for the perfection of charity and work for the sanctification of the world especially from within.” [CIC 710]

The General Assembly of the World Conference of Secular Institutes takes place every four years, and brings together the Presidents General of the member secular institutes, as well as the Presidents of national and international conferences of secular institutes.

Pope Francis said he “wishes this Jubilee of Mercy…is a time of grace and spiritual renewal.”

(from Vatican Radio)



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Pope appeals for peace in Ukraine

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Wednesday once again appealed for peace in Ukraine, urging all parties in the conflict, as well as international bodies, to “strengthen the initiatives to resolve the conflict, release the hostages, and respond to the humanitarian emergency.”

The Holy Father assured Ukrainians of his continued prayers for peace.

The appeal comes on Ukraine’s Independence Day, this year marking the 25th anniversary of independence from the former Soviet Union.

The full text of the Pope’s appeal for Ukraine.

“In these last weeks, the international Observers have expressed concern for the worsening situation in eastern Ukraine. Today, as that dear Nation celebrates its national holiday – which this year coincides with the 25th anniversary of independence – I assure them of my prayer for peace and I renew my appeal to all the parties involved and to the international bodies that they might strengthen the initiatives to resolve the conflict, release the hostages, and respond to the humanitarian emergency.”

(from Vatican Radio)

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Pope Francis greets Paralympic Committee ahead of Rio games

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Wednesday made a special greeting during his General Audience to the members of the International Paralympic Committee and the athletes who are preparing to participate in the next Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, which will take place from 7-18 September.

The Holy Father blessed the Paralympic Flag when he was in Rio de Janeiro for World Youth Day in 2013, taking the opportunity to speak about the bonds between evangelisation and the world of sport.

The Vatican is participating in the "Casa Italia Paralimpica in Rio 2016,” which is a meeting place for the Italian delegation at the Paralympic Games.

The Casa Italia is a long-term project – which will involve the collaboration of the Holy See and the Archdiocese of Rio de Janeiro – to offer practical support to a series of project initiatives, especially involving parasport activities.

(from Vatican Radio)

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At Audience, Pope prays Rosary for earthquake victims

(Vatican Radio) In the wake of the powerful earthquake that struck central Italy on Wednesday, Pope Francis at the General Audience postponed his prepared catechesis, and led the faithful gathered in St Peter’s Square in the recitation of the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Most Holy Rosary.

The Holy Father expressed his “heartfelt sorrow and spiritual closeness” to all those affected by the earthquake and its aftershocks. He said he was deeply saddened upon learning several children were among the dead, and of hearing of the total destruction of the town of Amatrice.

“I want to assure all the people of Accumuli, Amatrice, the Diocese of Rieti, Ascoli Piceno, and all the people of Lazio, Umbria, and Le Marche, of the prayers and close solidarity of the entire Church, who in these moments extends her merciful love, as well as the concern of all of us here in the Piazza, Pope Francis said.

He asked everyone to join him in prayer to Jesus, that the Lord might “console the broken-hearted, and, through the intercession of the Virgin Mary, bring them peace.”

“With Jesus,” Pope Francis concluded, “let our hearts be moved with compassion.”

Below, please find the full text of the Pope’s remarks at the General Audience on Wednesday:

“I had prepared the catechesis for today, as for all Wednesdays during this year of mercy, focusing on the closeness of Jesus. However on hearing of the news of the earthquake that has struck central Italy, and which has devastated entire areas and left many wounded, I cannot fail to express my heartfelt sorrow and spiritual closeness to all those present in the zones afflicted.

“I also express my condolences to those who have lost loved ones, and my spiritual support to those who are anxious and afraid. Hearing the mayor of Amatrice say that the town no longer exists, and learning that there are children among the dead, I am deeply saddened.

“For this reason, I want to assure all the people of Accumuli, Amatrice, the Diocese of Rieti, Ascoli Piceno, and all the people of Lazio, Umbria, and Le Marche, of the prayers and close solidarity of the entire Church, who in these moments extends her merciful love, as well as the concern of all of us here in the Piazza.

“And thanking all the volunteer and rescue personnel who are assisting these people, I ask you to join me in praying to the Lord Jesus, Who is always moved by compassion before the reality of human suffering, that He may console the broken hearted, and through the intercession of the Virgin Mary, bring them peace.

“With Jesus let our hearts be moved with compassion.

“So we will postpone, then, this week’s catechesis until next Wednesday, and I invite you to pray with me a part of the holy Rosary, the sorrowful mysteries.” 

(from Vatican Radio)

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Bishop of Ascoli Piceno visits survivors of central Italian earthquake

(Vatican Radio)  As the death toll from an earthquake in central Italy continues to rise, Bishop Giovanni D'Ercole of Ascoli Piceno traveled the short 40 km to Pescara del Tronto to be with the hundreds of people affected by the quake.

Bishop D'Ercole spoke to Vatican Radio early Wednesday morning, saying the scene was 'distressing'.

"When I arrived at the break of day, I saw a destroyed village, screams, death... We are truly in a desperate situation and unfortunately this is not the only area affected, because others are also in this situation".

He said there were still many areas unreached by rescue personnel.

"There are several people who are not responding [to telephone calls], and I went to bless the bodies of two children buried under the rubble."

"A certain part of the diocese is suffering. I think, however..., that the area worst hit is the part near Rieti, that is, between Amatrice, Accumoli, Pescara del Tronto, Arquata, and near Force."

Pope Francis cancelled the catechism portion of his Wednesday General Audience and led pilgrims in praying the rosary for the victims of the earthquake.

(from Vatican Radio)

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Tuesday, August 23, 2016

Pope Francis thanks Church in Poland for World Youth Day

(Vatican Radio) The Bishops Conference of Poland has released the text of a letter sent by Pope Francis to thank the country for the reception he received last month during World Youth Day.

In the letter, Pope Francis told the Church in Poland he was “deeply moved by your strong faith and the unwavering hope that you have kept in spite of difficulties and tragedies, and by your fervent love, which animates your human and Christian pilgrimage.”

 

The full text of the letter is below

 

Venerable Brother

Archbishop Stanislaw Gądecki

Archbishop of Poznan

President of the Polish Bishops’ Conference

Having returned from the Apostolic Journey to Poland, I want to renew the expression of my lively gratitude to you, Bishops, priests, consecrated persons and lay faithful, for your warm welcome and for the zeal with which my visit was prepared. I am deeply moved by your strong faith and the unwavering hope that you have kept in spite of difficulties and tragedies, and by your fervent love, which animates your human and Christian pilgrimage.

The memory of the moving Eucharistic celebration at the Shrine of Czestochowa, for the 1050th anniversary of Poland’s Baptism, and the moment of prayer in the concentration camp at Auschwitz is especially dear to me. I find great joy in remembering the encounter with the young people who came from different nations.

I assure you of my prayers so that the Church in Poland may continue advancing on its path with perseverance and courage, showing the Lord’s merciful love to all. Please, also pray for me. I heartily bless you all.

With fraternal greetings

Vatican City, 3 August 2016.

Francis

(from Vatican Radio)

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Monday, August 22, 2016

Pope sends message of 67th National Liturgical Week in Italy

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has sent a message, signed by Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, to the Bishop of Castellaneta, Claudio Maniago on the occasion of the 67th National Liturgical Week in Italy which takes place in Gubbio.

Below is a Vatican Radio translation of the Message

Your Excellency,

On the occasion of the 67th National Liturgical Week, which this year takes place in Gubbio, in the mystical and calming scenery of Umbria, the Holy Father Pope Francis is happy to send good wishes to you, to the CAL collaborators and to all those taking part in the significant study days.

The choice of this place, inspired  by the celebration of 1600 years of the Letter of Pope Innocent I to Decentius, Bishop of Gubbio (cf.. PL 20, 551-561), is particularly appropriate during the Holy Extraordinary Year of Mercy. In this document, in which the Roman Pontiff offered clarifying answers to questions posed by pastor eugubino, there is some interesting news about specific aspects and moments of the celebration of certain sacraments, at that precise moment in history. Among the many topics covered, one in particular is essential to our attention: the reconciliation of penitents in the Passover (cfr. C. VII, 10).

The National Liturgical Week has, therefore, decided to return to a theme already dealt with at other times, reflecting on "Liturgy as a place of Mercy", with the explicit intention of offering, in the context of the Jubilee Year, a special contribution to the path of the Italian church. When we strive to live each liturgical event "with his eyes fixed on Jesus and his merciful face we can see the love of SS. Trinity (...). This love is now made visible and tangible in the whole life of Jesus (...). Everything about him speaks of mercy. Nothing in him is devoid of compassion "(Misericordiae Vultus, 8). These words bring to mind those of Pope Saint Leo the Great, who in a homily for the Ascension says: "What was visible [tangible] our redeemer has passed in the sacraments" (PL 54, 398). Such an approach helps to distinguish all the liturgy as a place where mercy is given and encountered, a place where the great mystery of reconciliation is made present, announced, celebrated and communicated. The specific celebrations of sacraments or sacramentals decline the only great gift of divine mercy according to the different circumstances of life.

The gift of Mercy, however, shines in a particular way in the Sacrament of Penance or Reconciliation. It was reconciled to reconcile. The Father's compassion cannot be locked in intimism and auto consolatory attitudes, because it proves powerful in renewing people and enables them to offer others the living experience of the same gift. Based on the belief that one is forgiven to forgive, it must a be witness of mercy in any environment, arousing a desire and capacity for forgiveness. This is a task to which we are called, especially in face of resentment in which too many people are locked up, which they need to rediscover the joy of inner peace and the sake of peace.

The rite of the sacrament of Penance should therefore be perceived as an expression of a "Church in output" as "door" not only to re-enter after you have moved away, but also "threshold" open to various suburbs of humanity ever more in need of compassion. In it, in fact, it takes place the encounter with re-creating the mercy of God from which come new men and women to preach the good life of the Gospel through a life reconciled and reconciling.

His Holiness hopes that the reflections and celebrations of the Liturgical Week will increasingly mature understanding as a source and summit of ecclesial and personal life which is full of mercy and compassion, because he was constantly formed at the school of the Gospel. He entrusts to the maternal intercession of Mary, Mater Misericordiae, the work and the expectations of the important national liturgical event and, while asking to pray for him and for your service to the Church, send heart to Your Excellency, the Bishop of Gubbio Mons . Mario Ceccobelli, prelates and priests present, to the speakers and participants a special Apostolic Blessing.

Uniting my personal good wishes, I take this opportunity to confirm my distinct esteem

(from Vatican Radio)

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Pope Francis: life is no video game, the goal of salvation is serious

(Vatican Radio)  Pope Francis on Sunday said “life is not a video game or a soap opera; our life is serious and the goal to achieve is important: eternal salvation.”  Speaking to pilgrims gathered for the Angelus prayer in St. Peter's Square, the Pope focused on the theme of eternal salvation and referred to the day’s Gospel reading in which a man asks Jesus how many people will be saved. “It doesn’t matter how many,” the Pope noted, “but it is important that everyone knows which is the path that leads to salvation.”  And the door to salvation lies in Jesus, he said, and we can cross the threshold of God's mercy through love, and by overcoming pride, arrogance and sin.

Below, please find a Vatican Radio translation of the Pope’s Angelus address:

“Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!

Today's Gospel passage invites us to meditate on the theme of salvation. The Evangelist Luke tells us that Jesus is on the way to Jerusalem and along the way is approached by a man who asks him this question: "Lord, will only a few people be saved?" (Luke 13:23). Jesus does not give a direct answer, but takes the discussion to another level, with suggestive language that at first, the disciples don’t understand:   "Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter, but they will not succeed" (v.24 ). With the image of the door, He wants to explain to his listeners that it is not a question of numbers – how many people will be saved.   It doesn’t matter how many, but it is important that everyone knows which is the path that leads to salvation: the door.

To go along this path, one must pass through a door. But where is the door?  What is it like?  Who is the door?  Jesus himself is the door (cf. Jn 10,9).  He himself says it, ‘I am the door’ in John’s Gospel.  He leads us in communion with the Father, where we find love, understanding and protection. But why is this door narrow? One can ask. Why is it narrow?  It is a narrow door not because it is oppressive - no, but because it asks us to restrict and limit our pride and our fear, to open ourselves with humble and trusting heart to Him, recognizing ourselves as sinners, in need of his forgiveness.   For this, it is narrow: to contain our pride, which bloats us.  The door of God's mercy is narrow but always wide open, wide open for everyone! God has no favorites, but always welcomes everyone, without distinction. A door, that is narrow to restrict our pride and our fear.  Open because God welcomes us without distinction.   And the salvation that He gives us is an unceasing flow of mercy…which breaks down every barrier and opens up surprising perspectives of light and peace.  The narrow but always open door:  do not forget this.  Narrow door, but always open.

Jesus offers us today, once again, a pressing invitation to go to him, to cross the threshold of a full life, reconciled and happy. He waits for each of us, no matter what sin we have committed, no matter what!  To embrace us, to offer us his forgiveness. He alone can transform our hearts, He alone can give full meaning to our existence, giving us true joy. Upon entering the door of Jesus, the door of faith and of the Gospel, we can leave behind worldly attitudes, bad habits, selfishness and the closing ourselves off. When there is contact with the love and mercy of God, there is real change. And our life is illuminated by the light of the Holy Spirit: an inextinguishable light!”

Pope invites faithful to examine their consciences

“I’d like to make you a proposal,” the Pope said to the pilgrims in the square, and invited them to think in silence  for a moment about the things they have inside that prevent them from passing over the threshold: pride, arrogance, sin. “And then, let us think about that other door, the one open to God’s mercy and He is waiting on the other side to forgive us,” Francis added. 

“The Lord offers us many opportunities to save ourselves and to enter through the door of salvation,” the Pope continued.  “This door is an opportunity that must not be wasted: we must not make an academic discourse of salvation, as did the man who questioned Jesus, but we must seize the opportunities for salvation. Because at a certain moment "the landlord got up and locked the door" (v.25), as mentioned in the Gospel. But if God is good and loves us, why does he close the door - he will close the door at a certain point? Because our life is not a video game or a soap opera; our life is serious and the goal to achieve is important: eternal salvation.

To the Virgin Mary, Door of Heaven, we ask help so that we seize the opportunities that the Lord gives us to cross the threshold of faith and thus to enter into a wide road: it is the path of salvation that can accommodate all those who allow themselves to love and be loved (it: si lasciano coinvolgere dall’amore). It is love which saves;  the love that is already here on earth is a source of happiness to those who, in meekness, patience and justice, forget themselves and give themselves to others, especially the weakest.”

 

(from Vatican Radio)

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Pope offers prayers for victims of Turkey bomb attack

(Vatican Radio)  Pope Francis on Sunday offered prayers for the victims of Saturday’s bombing in southern Turkey.  At least 50 people were killed and dozens wounded when a suspected suicide bomber detonated his explosives among people at a wedding party in the southern Turkish city of Gaziantep.  Women and children were among those killed.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said it was likely that so-called Islamic State militants carried out the late-night attack.

Speaking after the recitation of the Angelus prayer in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Francis said, “Sad news has reached me about the bloody attack” that was carried out yesterday in “dear Turkey.”  “Let us pray for the victims, for the dead and the injured, and we ask for the gift of peace for all,” the Pope said, leading pilgrims present in the square in the recitation of the Hail Mary prayer.

(from Vatican Radio)

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