Pope Francis

[grace-land]

http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-francis-to-understand-christ-we-must-bear-the

Pope Francis: To understand Christ we must bear the Cross
2014-09-26 Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) A Christian cannot understand Christ the Redeemer without the Cross, without being ready to bear the Cross with Jesus. That was Pope Francis’ message at Friday’s morning Mass at the Casa Santa Marta.

To be a Christian means to be a “Cyrene” [like Simon of Cyrene - ed.]. Having the faith consists in this: You belong to Jesus if you bear the weight of the Cross with Him. Otherwise you are going along a path that seems “good” – but is not “true.” The basis for the Pope’s reflections was the day’s Gospel, in which Christ asks His disciples what the people are saying about Him, and receives the most disparate answers. This episode, the Pope noted, takes place in the context of the Gospel that sees Jesus guarding “in a special manner His true identity.” On several occasions, when someone came close to divulging His identity, “He stopped them,” just as many times He prevented the demons from revealing His nature as the “Son of God,” Who had come for the salvation of the world. This, the Poe explained, was because the people misunderstood and thought of the Messiah as a military leader who would expel the Romans. It was only privately, to the Twelve, that Jesus “began to do the catechesis on His true identity”:
 

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http://www.news.va/en/news/benedict-xvi-will-attend-encounter-with-elderly-on

Benedict XVI will attend encounter with elderly on Sunday
2014-09-26 Vatican Radio



(Vatican Radio) The Holy See Press Office announced on Friday Pope-emeritus Benedict XVI will attend the encounter with Pope Francis and the elderly on Sunday morning in St. Peter’s Square.   The encounter is preceding the Mass  with Grandparents and the Elderly scheduled to begin at 10:30 am.     Pope-emeritus Benedict XVI will not be at the Mass.

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http://www.news.va/en/news/holy-see-publishes-reply-to-un-committee-on-the-ri

Holy See publishes reply to UN Committee on the Rights of the Child
2014-09-26 Vatican Radio



(Vatican Radio)  The Holy See Press Office has published the official text of the comments made in February by the Holy See delegation to the Concluding Observations of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child from earlier this year.  In the remarks, the Holy See reminded the committee the Holy See only exercises full territorial sovereignty in the territory of the Vatican City State, and that the Holy See “does not have the capacity or legal obligation to impose the abovementioned principles upon the local Catholic churches and institutions present on the territory of other States and whose activities abide with national laws.”

The document also highlighted “that the Committee makes certain recommendations that disregard principles of international law that underpin every treaty,” and expressed particular concern over “the advancement of controversial new expressions not contained in the Convention, and related principles, which contradict the ordinary meaning of the words in the text, and fail to respect the spirit of the CRC”

The full text of the Comments of the Holy See is below
 

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https://www.facebook.com/DioceseofPittsburgh/photos/a.666068280073820.1073741824.175177579162895/959907920689853/?type=1&theater


Pope Francis has a fun side.

[grace-land]

https://www.facebook.com/DioceseofPittsburgh/photos/a.666068280073820.1073741824.175177579162895/959907920689853/?type=1&theater


Pope Francis has a fun side.

And did you see how he jumped up to try to catch the ball?   This might be helpful if someone throws a baseball again--   lol

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/25/pope-francis-baseball_n_5882092.html

[grace-land]

http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-jesuits-brave-and-expert-rowers-in-barque-of

Pope: Jesuits "brave and expert rowers” in barque of Peter
2014-09-27 Vatican Radio



(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis celebrated a special liturgy of thanksgiving in the Church of the Gesù in Rome on Saturday, to mark the 200th anniversary of the restoration of the Society of Jesus. Please find, below, Vatican Radio's English translation of the prepared text of the Holy Father's homily for the occasion.
********************************************
Dear brothers and friends in the Lord,
 

[seahorse]

https://www.facebook.com/DioceseofPittsburgh/photos/a.666068280073820.1073741824.175177579162895/959907920689853/?type=1&theater


Pope Francis has a fun side.

And did you see how he jumped up to try to catch the ball?   This might be helpful if someone throws a baseball again--   lol

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/25/pope-francis-baseball_n_5882092.html

Grace-land 

I just viewed it and it makes me so happy to see him loose.  He has courage and a mind of his own

Thank-you for following up on the baseball article.  I bet he played softball before he became the Pope.

 

[grace-land]

https://www.facebook.com/DioceseofPittsburgh/photos/a.666068280073820.1073741824.175177579162895/959907920689853/?type=1&theater


Pope Francis has a fun side.

And did you see how he jumped up to try to catch the ball?   This might be helpful if someone throws a baseball again--   lol

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/25/pope-francis-baseball_n_5882092.html

Grace-land 

I just viewed it and it makes me so happy to see him loose.  He has courage and a mind of his own

Thank-you for following up on the baseball article.  I bet he played softball before he became the Pope.

 

Seahorse      I haven't read about his playing softball, but it would be good for him to practice catching a baseball before he comes to visit the United States in 2015.    Also, I read that he loves soccer and tango.

 

[grace-land]

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/140928/world-europe/article/pope-francis-hails-benedict-other-elderly-vatican-fest

Pope Francis hails Benedict, other elderly at Vatican fest
September 28, 2014, 20.09 pm IST


Pope Francis, right, hugs Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI prior to the start of a meeting with elderly faithful in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, on Sunday. (Photo: AP)

Vatican City: Pope Francis on Sunday hailed the value of the elderly, including his predecessor Benedict XVI, who joined him at a ceremony in St. Peter's Square honoring the contribution of grandparents to society.

Tens of thousands of people, many of them grandparents and grandchildren, applauded when Francis said that Benedict's living in papal retirement at the Vatican is "like having the wise grandfather at home." Benedict, seated, clasped his hands together and extended them toward Francis in a sign of gratitude.

Francis warmly embraced the frail, 87-year-old Benedict, who used a cane and wore a long white coat despite the warmth of a summerlike morning.
 

[grace-land]

http://www.voanews.com/content/pope-francis-pope-benedict-elderly-mass/2465214.html

Popes Francis, Benedict Stress Importance of Elderly in Society
September 28, 2014 11:12 AM

VATICAN CITY—
Elderly people, including former Pope Benedict, attended a gathering of the wise and wrinkled at the Vatican on Sunday, where Pope Francis denounced the neglect and abandonment of the old as “hidden euthanasia.”

During the festive event in St. Peter's Square, Francis addressed some 40,000 elderly people - grandfathers, grandmothers, widows and widowers.

The pope sought to underscore the importance of the old in society and he said homes for the elderly could not be allowed to become “prisons” where care took a back seat to business interests by those who run them.

According to the World Health Organization, there are 600 million people over 60 in the world today and the figure is expected to double over the next 11 years and reach two billion by 2050, most in the developing world.

It was only the third time since his resignation in February 2013 that Benedict, 87, attended a public event. He looked relatively healthy as he walked into the square using a cane and took a special seat in the front.

Benedict, wearing a white overcoat, stayed for about an hour to hear old people speak about their lives and listen to a speech by his successor and then left before Francis led a Mass.

Benedict, the first pope to resign in six centuries, has been living out his retirement in near isolation in a former convent in the Vatican gardens. He is assisted by aides and receives few visitors.

Compared to 'wise grandfather'

Francis, 77, warmly embraced his older predecessor twice during the service and told the crowd that having Benedict, who now has the title Emeritus Pope, living in the Vatican was “like having a wise grandfather at home.”

“Violence against the elderly is as inhuman as that against children,” Francis said told the crowd, which was entertained by singers including world renowned tenor Andrea Bocelli.
 

[grace-land]

http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-francis-elderly-are-key-to-health-of-free-soc

Pope Francis: elderly are key to health of free society
2014-09-28 Vatican Radio



(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis celebrated Mass on Sunday morning in St Peter's Square, following a special encounter with elderly persons. In his homily, the Holy Father spoke of the enormous - indeed indispensable - contribution that seniors make to society, most importantly in their conservation of hard-earned wisdom and experience.

"There are times," said Pope Francis, "when generations of young people, for complex historical and cultural reasons, feel a deeper need to be independent from their parents, 'breaking free', as it were, from the legacy of the older generation." Nevertheless, if the meeting of generations is lost and not re-established, and a "new and fruitful intergenerational equilibrium is [not] restored," the inevitable result will be, "serious impoverishment for everyone, and the freedom which prevails in society is actually a false freedom, which almost always becomes a form of authoritarianism." Please find the full text of the official translation of the Holy Father's prepared remarks, below.
*********************************
Homily of His Holiness Pope Francis

Mass for the Elderly

28 September 2014
 

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http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/pope-francis-calls-benedict-xvi-the-ultimate-grandfather-34885/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+catholicnewsagency%2Fdailynews-vatican+(CNA+Daily+News+-+Vatican)

Pope Francis calls Benedict XVI the ultimate 'grandfather'


Pope Francis speaks to the elderly in St. Peter's Square Sept. 28, 2014. Credit: Lauren Cater/CNA

Vatican City, Sep 28, 2014 / 10:10 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Retired pontiff Benedict XVI joined some 50,000 pilgrims in Saint Peter's Square on Sunday, Sept. 28 for a meeting between Pope Francis and elderly people from around the world.

 Welcoming his predecessor, the Holy Father described Pope Benedict as the “grandfather of all grandfathers.”

 “I have said many times that it gives me great pleasure that he lives here in the Vatican, because it is like having a wise grandfather at home. Thank you!”
 

[seahorse]

https://www.facebook.com/DioceseofPittsburgh/photos/a.666068280073820.1073741824.175177579162895/959907920689853/?type=1&theater


Pope Francis has a fun side.

And did you see how he jumped up to try to catch the ball?   This might be helpful if someone throws a baseball again--   lol

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/25/pope-francis-baseball_n_5882092.html

Grace-land 

I just viewed it and it makes me so happy to see him loose.  He has courage and a mind of his own

Thank-you for following up on the baseball article.  I bet he played softball before he became the Pope.

 

Seahorse      I haven't read about his playing softball, but it would be good for him to practice catching a baseball before he comes to visit the United States in 2015.    Also, I read that he loves soccer and tango.

 

Grace-lan 

Pope Francis, briefly, was a bouncer at a nightclub (supposedly) before he joined the seminary.  I think it would explain why he likes the Tango, besides it is a fun dance.
I never read anything about the Pope playing softball either, just thinking, South America, is big on baseball, and it may have a sport he was interested in, but Soccer makes
more sense. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Francis

[grace-land]

http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-at-santa-marta-the-angels-defend-us

Pope at Santa Marta: The angels defend us
2014-09-29 Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) The angels battle Satan for the destiny of mankind and win.  They defend and custody  the greatest mystery of the Church, God-made-Man.  Even though in Satan often presents “humanistic explanations” for his attacks on mankind.  This was the focus of Pope Francis homily at Mass Monday morning at Casa Santa Marta, marking the Feast of the Holy Archangels Michael, Gabriel and Raphael.

Today’s readings present us with very strong images: the vision of the glory of God described by the prophet Daniel with the Son of Man, Jesus Christ, before the Father: the archangel Michael and his angels fighting against "the great dragon, the ancient serpent, he who is called the devil" and "seduces all of inhabited earth," but who is defeated, as affirmed by the Book of Revelation; and the Gospel in which Jesus says to Nathanael: "You will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man". Pope Francis speaks of "the struggle between God and the devil":
 
Pope Francis concluded urging those present to pray to the archangels Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, and "recite the ancient but beautiful prayer to the archangel Michael, so he may continue to do battle and defend the greatest mystery of mankind: that the Word was made Man, died and rose again. This is our treasure. That he may battle on to safeguard it".
---------
http://catholicism.about.com/od/prayers/qt/Saint_Michael.htm
Prayer to Saint Michael the Archangel
By Pope Leo XIII

 
Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle, be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him we humbly pray; and do thou, O Prince of the Heavenly host, by the power of God, cast into hell Satan and all evil spirits who wander through the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.

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http://www.news.va/en/news/audience-with-the-president-of-malta-commitment-of

Audience with the president of Malta: commitment of Church and state in the phenomenon of migration



Vatican City, 29 September 2014 (VIS) – Today, in the Vatican Apostolic Palace, the Holy Father Francis received in audience the president of Malta, Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca, who subsequently met with Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, secretary for Relations with States.

The cordial discussions focused on the good relations between the Holy See and Malta and highlighted the significant contribution made by the Catholic Church in the fields of education and welfare, especially in favour of the poor. The conversation then turned to various themes of mutual interest, with special reference to the role of Christian values in the edification of Maltese society and the strengthening of the institution of the family.
 

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http://www.news.va/en/news/to-the-members-of-the-united-bible-societies-ignor

To the members of the United Bible Societies: “Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ”

Vatican City, 29 September 2014 (VIS) – “Yours is the fruit of a patient, careful, fraternal, competent and, above all, faithful work. If you do not believe, you do not understand; if you do not believe, you cannot stand firm”, said the Holy Father to the members of the United Bible Societies, whom he received this morning in the Consistory Hall for the presentation of the Italian language Bible, “Parola del Signore – La Bibbia Interconfessionale in lingua corrente” (“The Word of the Lord – The Interconfessional Bible in current language”). “I hope that this text, which is presented with the blessing of the Italian Episcopal Conference and the Federation of Evangelical Churches in Italy, will encourage all Italian-speaking Christians to meditate on, life, bear witness to and celebrate God's message”.
 

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http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2014/09/30/pope_at_santa_marta_good_reason_to_complain_/1107565

Pope at Santa Marta: Good reason to complain
30/09/2014

(Vatican Radio) In moments of darkness, our lament becomes a prayer, but we must guard ourselves against overdramatizing our complaints and remember that there are people experiencing “great tragedies” who have good reason to lament, like the Christians driven from their homes for the faith, said Pope Francis Tuesday during Mass at Casa Santa Marta.

Reflecting on the First Reading of the day, in which Job curses the day he was born, the Pope noted that his prayer at first appears to us like a curse. Pope Francis recalled how Job was “put to the test”, how he “lost his entire family, everything he possessed”, how he lost his health and “his body had become a plague, a disgusting plague". The Pope said in that moment "he had lost all patience and he says these things. They are ugly! But he was always accustomed to speak the truth and this is the truth that he feels at that moment”. Pope Francis recalled how even Jeremiah, "uses almost the same words: 'Cursed be the day I was born!'", and then he asked: "But is this man blaspheming? This is my question: Is this man who is so very alone, blaspheming?”.

"Is it blasphemy when Jesus complains - 'Father, why have You forsaken me’? This is the mystery. I have often listened to people who are experiencing difficult and painful situations, who have lost a great deal or feel lonely and abandoned and they come to complain and ask these questions: Why? Why? They rebel against God. And I say, 'Continue to pray just like this, because this is a prayer'. It was a prayer when Jesus said to his father: 'Why  have You forsaken me!'".
 

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http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2014/09/26/papal_liturgies_for_october/1107333

First woman appointed to a Vatican congregation joyful

Vatican City, Sep 30, 2014 / 02:04 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The first woman ever to be appointed a member of a Vatican congregation explains that “women still have much to give to the Church with their personal charisma.”

Sr. Luzia Premoli, superior general of the Combonian Missionary Sisters, was appointed a member of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples on Sept. 13, and spoke recently to CNA.

“The appointment took me by surprise, I did not expect it … but I was also joyful, because the appointment is a concretization of Pope Francis’ wish for more women in high ranking positions in the Catholic Church,” Sr. Premoli said.

She added that her appointment “shows Pope Francis’ commitment” to having more women as decision-makers in the ranks of the Church.

While women served in the Vatican already, as consultants or even under-secretaries and members of pontifical councils, there had never been a woman appointed as a member of a congregation, the higher ranking departments of the Roman curia.
 

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http://www.news.va/en/news/holy-see-world-needs-a-revitalized-united-nations

Holy See: World needs a revitalized United Nations capable of action in Syria, Iraq
2014-09-30 Vatican Radio



(Vatican Radio) The conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine demand a revitalized United Nations where member states put their responsibility to protect persecuted peoples above personal interests and thoroughly apply international law.

This is according to the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, who was speaking on Monday at the 69th session of the UN General Assembly.

Cardinal Parolin, said the blood of the many Christians and ethnic minorities in Iraq and Syria, demands the international community assume its responsibility to protect populations under threat.

He said the world is in need of a UN capable of deploying the appropriate action and force.

“It is both licit and urgent to stop aggression through multilateral and a proportionate use of force. The Holy See hopes that the international community will assume a responsibility in considering the best means to stop all aggression and avoid the perpetration of new and even greater injustice.” 
 

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http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/pope-summons-mideast-envoys-rome-isis-progress-article-1.1958203

Pope Francis summons Mideast envoys to Rome over ISIS progress
Tuesday, September 30, 2014, 1:31 PM
 
VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis, who has expressed alarm over the rise of Islamic State militants and the plight of Christians in the Middle East, has summoned his envoys in the region to a rare meeting to discuss a response to the crisis, the Vatican said on Tuesday.

The gathering will take place between Thursday and Saturday and include Vatican ambassadors to Jordan, Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, Israel and the Palestinians as well as representatives to the United Nations and the European Union.

They will hold talks with more than a dozen top Vatican officials, including Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, who addressed the United Nations on the Middle East crisis on Monday.

Earlier this month during a visit to predominantly Muslim Albania, Francis issued a strong criticism of Islamist militants, saying no religious group which used violence and oppression could claim to be "the armor of God".