Pope Francis

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http://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/otn.cfm?id=985

Worried about the Pope's unscripted statements? Relax. He knows what he's doing.
By Phil Lawler (bio - articles - send a comment) | June 14, 2013 5:40 PM

By now we know that Pope Francis enjoys talking without a script. His fondness for extemporaneous comments makes him an interesting subject for journalists. But it worries quite a few Catholics, who fear that an ill-chosen phrase from the Pontiff could cause troubles for the Church. Indeed some people would have us believe the troubles have already begun.

I understand the concerns about off-the-cuff papal remarks. Remarks by the Holy Father could easily be misunderstood, for several reasons:
•because he does not have a cadre of speechwriters screening each sentence for potential trouble;
•because he is usually speaking in Italian, and although he is fluent in that language it is not his mother tongue, so he may not be aware of every nuance; and
•because his remarks are reported and interpreted to the world by journalists who do not have a fundamental understanding of the Catholic faith.

Should we be worried, then, about the possibility of some terrible papal gaffe? I don’t think so. Pope Francis is a very intelligent man, and he was chosen by his fellow cardinals to be Roman Pontiff because they recognized his sound pastoral judgment. Rather than trying to “handle” the Pope, or “explain” his statements, I’d recommend that faithful Catholics pray for him, and then relax. The Holy Father knows what he’s doing
 

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Oh, dear... he wouldn't be tempted to take a spin around St. Peter's Square?... or would he?  We'll find out Sunday!   

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/international-business/european-business/holy-harley-motorcycle-maker-scores-marketing-coup-with-the-pope/article12561050/

Holy Harley: Motorcycle maker scores marketing coup with the Pope
Published Friday, Jun. 14 2013, 1:31 PM EDT
Last updated Friday, Jun. 14 2013, 3:07 PM EDT



 
On Wednesday, as part of the company’s 110th anniversary celebrations, the Pope was given two Harleys, one of which had been signed by his predecessor, the former Pope Benedict XVI. The first is to go to auction; the other is going into the Vatican Museums. His Holiness was also given a black leather Harley jacket, though you won’t see him celebrate mass in it. He is partial to simple white robes.

Harley-Davidson’s audience with the Pope was nothing short of a marketing triumph. And there’s more. On Sunday, a few hundred Harleys will be given special permission to enter St. Peter’s Square, where, at 11 a.m., they and their owners will be blessed by the Pope as part of his regular Angelus appearance. It is impossible to imagine rival motorcycle makers getting such attention and privileges.The blessing of the Hondas or the Suzukis? Forget it.
 

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http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2013/06/15/pope:_the_christian_life_proclaims_the_road_to_reconcilation_with_god/en1-701813

2013-06-15 12:57:19
Pope: The Christian life proclaims the road to reconcilation with God

(Vatican Radio) Christian life is not a spa therapy "to be at peace until Heaven," but it calls us to go out into the world to proclaim that Jesus "became the sinner" to reconcile men with the Father. These were Pope Francis’ words during his homily at Mass Saturday at the Casa Santa Martha.

The Christian life is not staying in a corner to carve a road which takes you into heaven, but it's a dynamic that encourages one to stay "on the road" to proclaim that Christ has reconciled us to God, by becoming sin for us. In his usual profound and direct way, Pope Francis focuses on a passage from the Letter to the Corinthians, from today's liturgy, in which St. Paul very insistent, almost "in a hurry", uses the term "reconciliation"five times.

"What is reconciliation? Taking one from this side, taking another one for that side and uniting them: no, that’s part of it but it's not it ... True reconciliation means that God in Christ took on our sins and He became the sinner for us. When we go to confession, for example, it isn’t that we say our sin and God forgives us. No, not that! We look for Jesus Christ and say: 'This is your sin, and I will sin again'. And Jesus likes that, because it was his mission: to become the sinner for us, to liberate us. "
 

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http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2013/06/15/pope_francis_approves_prelate_to_ior/en1-701863

2013-06-15 14:27:48
Pope Francis approves Prelate to IOR

(Vatican Radio) On Saturday, Vatican Press Office Director Fr. Federico Lomabrdi issued the following statement regarding Pope Francis’ approval of a Prelate to the Institute of Religious Works, more commonly known as the IOR. With this appointment the two top positions at the financial institution are filled.

Pope Francis has approved the appointment ad interim of Monsignor Battista Mario Salvatore Ricca as Prelate of the Institute for Religious Works (IOR). Mons. Ricca, who was nominated by the Supervisory Committee of the Commission of Cardinals for the IOR, will act as secretary at Commission meetings and assist the Supervisory Board, according to the Institute’s Statutes.
 
With the appointment of Ernst von Freyberg as President and Mons. Ricca as Prelate, the Commission of Cardinals has thus filled the two most important positions as provided by the IOR Statutes, which had remained vacant for some time. The appointment of Mons. Ricca takes immediate effect.

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Two-page article

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/pope-names-interim-prelate-to-vatican-bank/2013/06/15/edfba362-d5e7-11e2-8cbe-1bcbee06f8f8_story.html

Pope names interim prelate to Vatican bank
Saturday, June 15, 5:40 PM 

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis took a big first step toward reforming the troubled Vatican bank Saturday by tapping a trusted prelate to help oversee its management, a sign that he wants to know more about the bank’s activities.

Francis signed off on naming Monsignor Battista Ricca interim prelate of the bank, also known as the Institute for Religious Works (IOR).

It’s a key job that has been vacant since 2011. The prelate oversees the bank’s activities, attends its board meetings and has access to all its documentation. The prelate reports to the commission of cardinals that runs the bank and is currently headed by the Vatican’s second-highest official. That gives Ricca a near-direct line to the pope, creating a bridge between the bank’s lay managers and board members and its religious leadership.

Ricca is currently director of the Vatican hotel where Francis lives and of other Vatican-owned residential institutes for clergy.
 

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http://en.radiovaticana.va/Articolo.asp?c=702078

2013-06-16 14:58:57
Pope Francis: Say yes to life, not death

(Vatican Radio) “Let us say ‘Yes’ to life and not death.” These were the words of Pope Francis during his homily on Sunday morning for Evangelium Vitae Day, a day celebrating the Gospel of Life. RealAudioMP3

An estimated 200,000 people were in Saint Peter’s Square for Holy Mass and the Angelus that followed with Pope Francis to mark the Year of Faith event dedicated to the Gospel of Life.

In his homily, the Pope noted how the Scriptures continuously tell us how God is the Living One who bestows life.

However, he said that “all too often, people do not choose life, they do not accept the ‘Gospel of Life’ but let themselves be led by ideologies and ways of thinking that block life, that do not respect life, because they are dictated by selfishness, self-interest, profit, power and pleasure, and not by love, by concern for the good of others.”

The Holy Father went on to say that people dream of building a new “Tower of Babel”, a city of man that is without God. They believe that the rejection of “God, the message of Christ, the Gospel of Life, will somehow lead to freedom, to complete human fulfillment.”

As a result,” the Pope continued, “the Living God is replaced by fleeting human idols which offer the intoxication of a flash of freedom, but in the end bring new forms of slavery and death.”
 

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http://www.ecumenicalnews.com/article/harley-davidson-110th-annivesary-pope-blesses-bikers-in-eternal-city-22286

Harley Davidson 110th annivesary: Pope blesses bikers in Eternal City
Sunday, June 16 2013


Pope Francis blesses the Harley Davidson bikers from his Popemobile before the start of a mass outside Saint Peter's Square in Rome June 16, 2013.Photo: Reuters / Stefano Rellandini

Along with pealing bells, the roaring of around 35,000 Harley Davidson motorcycles mingled with prayers Sunday in the Eternal City where Pope Francis blessed bikers.

"I greet the many participants of the Harley-Davidson motorcycle rally, and also those of the State Police Motorbike club," said the Pope during his weekly Angelus blessing.

Alongside the bikers at the Vatican, Catholic faithful were taking part in a pro-life rally that was not related to the motorcycle celebration.
 
Among leather and denim-clad bikers sporting tattoos prayed nuns, priests and other faithful.

Early Sunday, Cardinal Angelo Comastri from the Vatican's Basilica, said Mass in St. Peter's Basilica for 2,000 of the participants.

Later 1,400 bikes along with their riders were blessed by Pope Francis at the Sunday Angelus as the Via della Conciliazione leading up to the square which was a parade route for the motorcyclists.

Bikers came from many parts of Europe and different parts of the world, and some rode from St. Petersburg, Russia.
 

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Photos at the link

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/pope-blesses-hundreds-harley-davidsons-vatican-article-1.1374099?localLinksEnabled=false

Holy riders! Pope Francis blesses hundreds of Harley-Davidson bikers at Vatican Mass
Sunday, June 16, 2013, 11:59 AM

VATICAN CITY — Biker culture came to the Vatican on Sunday as Pope Francis blessed thousands of Harley-Davidsons and their riders celebrating the manufacturer's 110th anniversary with a loud parade and plenty of leather.

Thundering Harley engines nearly drowned out the Latin recitation of the "Our Father" prayer that accompanied Francis as he greeted the crowd before Mass. Standing in his open-top jeep, Francis drove up the main boulevard leading to St. Peter's Square, blessing the thousands of people in what was a giant Harley parking lot.

Once the service got under way, bikers in their trademark leather Harley vests sat in the square alongside nuns and tens of thousands of faithful Catholics taking part in an unrelated, two-day pro-life rally.
 
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YouTube video at the link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihtxkz2qrQA

Raw: Harley Riders Roar Through Vatican 
Published on Jun 16, 2013 

Pope Francis had a brush with the biker fraternity on Sunday, as he blessed thousands of Harley-Davidsons and their riders who were celebrating the motorbike maker's 110th anniversary with a parade in Rome. (June 16)

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http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2013/06/16/pope_to_g8:_money,_politics_and_economics_must_serve,_not_rule_/en1-702044

2013-06-16 12:38:07
Pope to G8: Money, politics and economics must serve, not rule

(Vatican Radio) Money, politics and economics must serve, not rule. They must serve people and promote an ethics of truth. This was the thread running through Pope Francis Letter to the British Prime Minister on the eve of the G8 Summit.The Holy Father's Letter was in response to one sent by David Cameron ahead of the Northern Ireland summit which gathers togther the leaders of the 8 most powerful nations in the world to the banks of Lough Erne. Listen: RealAudioMP3
In his letter, Pope Francis praises the priorities on the agenda of the British G8 Presidency: the free international market, taxation, and transparency on the part of governments and economic actors; concerted action to eliminate hunger and ensure food security and the protection of women and children from sexual violence in conflict situations.

In this regards Pope Francis writes that the G8 "cannot fail to address the situation in the Middle East, especially in Syria".He expresses the hope that the Summit will help to obtain "an immediate and lasting cease-fire and to bring all parties in the conflict to the negotiating table". "Peace is an essential pre-requisite for the protection of women, children and other innocent victims", and "conquering hunger".

Pope Francis writes that, "in a seemingly paradoxical way, free and disinterested solidarity is the key to the smooth functioning of the global economy". As such he concludes his letter "every economic and political theory or action must set about providing each inhabitant of the planet with the minimum wherewithal to live in dignity and freedom, with the possibility of supporting a family, educating children, praising God and developing one's own human potential. This is the main thing; in the absence of such a vision, all economic activity is meaningless".

Below please find the text of Pope Francis’ letter to the British Prime Minister:
 

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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/15/pope-urges-french-lawmake_n_3447033.html

Pope Francis In Gay Marriage Reference Urges French To Avoid 'Fashions And Ideas Of The Moment'
Posted: 06/15/2013 12:19 pm EDT  |  Updated: 06/16/2013 9:02 am EDT

VATICAN CITY, June 15 (Reuters) - Pope Francis urged a delegation of French lawmakers on Saturday to avoid following only "fashions and ideas of the moment", when legislating, in an apparent reference to the country's legalisation of gay marriage last month.

The law granting gay men and lesbians equality in marriage and adoption has been among the most divisive of President Francois Hollande's first year in office, pitting a predominantly liberal public in mostly Roman Catholic France against traditionalists, the far-right and many churchgoers.

Without making any specific mention of the law, Francis said the church should have a voice in political issues even in staunchly secular France.

"The church would like to offer specific contributions on profound issues ... not only in an anthropological and social circles, but also in political, economic and cultural ones," Francis said, according to a Vatican statement.

Parliamentarians should legislate according to "a spirit, a soul, that does not reflect only the fashions and ideas of the moment", he said.
 

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http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/venezuelas-cardinal-pope-urge-coexistence-19415428#.Ub5ePr4o7IU

Venezuela's Cardinal: Pope Should Urge Coexistence
CARACAS, Venezuela June 16, 2013 (AP)

Pope Francis should pressure Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to focus on promoting democracy and peaceful coexistence to ease tensions with the socialist government's opponents, the Catholic Church's top representative in the country said Sunday.

Cardinal Jorge Urosa said he expected the pontiff to try to persuade Maduro during their meeting Monday at the Vatican to cease his verbal attacks on political rivals and critics.
 

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http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2013/06/17/pope_francis:_jesus_is_the_secret_of_a_christian’s_benevolence/en1-702277

2013-06-17 13:52:46
Pope Francis: Jesus is the secret of a Christian’s benevolence

(Vatican Radio) For a Christian, Jesus is “all”, and this is the source of his or her benevolence.
This was the focus of Pope Francis’s message during Mass on Monday morning at the Domus Sanctae Marthae. The Pope also affirmed that the righteousness of Jesus exceeds the righteousness of the scribes, that it is superior to the “eye for eye, tooth for tooth” kind of justice.
Amongst those present at the Mass, which was concelebrated by Cardinal Attilio Nicora, was a group of collaborators of the Vatican’s Financial Information Authority and a group of Vatican Museums collaborators accompanied by the Museum administrative director, Fr Paolo Nicolini. The Archbishop of Manila, Cardinal Luis Tagle, was also present.

“If someone slaps you on the right cheek, offer the other cheek also”. Pope Francis focused his homily on Jesus’ earth-shaking words to his disciples. The slap of the cheek – he said - has become a classic take used by some to laugh about Christians. In life, he explained, everyday logic teaches us to “fight to defend our place” and if we receive a slap “we react and return two slaps in order to defend ourselves”. On the other hand, the Pope said, when I advise parents to scold their children I always say: “never slap their cheek”, because “the cheek is dignity”. And Jesus, he continued, after the slap on the cheek goes further and invites us to hand over our coat as well, to undress ourselves completely.
 

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http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/06/17/3456481/amid-woes-at-home-maduro-meets.html

Posted on Monday, 06.17.13
Amid woes at home, Maduro meets with Pope Francis

BOGOTA --  Venezuela and the Vatican haven’t always seen eye-to-eye. During his 14 years in power, late President Hugo Chávez often battled with the church, accusing leaders of participating in a coup against him and calling a Venezuelan cardinal a “troglodyte” on national TV.

But on Monday, Chávez’s successor, President Nicolás Maduro, said he’d had an “extraordinary” meeting with Pope Francis, where the two men talked about poverty, politics and peace in South America.

Speaking at a news conference after their encounter, Maduro said he’d proposed that the Vatican and Venezuela work together to take the administration’s signature social missions, which include free housing and healthcare, to other parts of the world.

“It was an extraordinary conversation with a human being full of humility,” Maduro said. “I told him that I felt represented by the ethics that he expressed.”

In a statement, the Vatican called the meeting “cordial” and said the men had discussed the country’s social and political situation after Chávez’s death, as well as poverty and the fight against crime and drug trafficking. Both parties also agreed that there was a need for more contact between Venezuelan Catholic authorities and the government. But the Vatican didn’t mention engaging in joint activities.

The meeting — the first for the two men — comes as Maduro is facing food shortages, runaway inflation and a belligerent opposition. Those problems followed him on his European getaway.
 

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http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2013/06/17/lutherans_and_catholics:_from_conflict_to_communion/en1-702348

2013-06-17 17:44:38
Lutherans and Catholics: From Conflict to Communion

(Vatican Radio) From Conflict to Communion: that’s how Lutherans and Catholics are describing their ecumenical journey of the past 50 years, as they look ahead together to the 500th anniversary of the Reformation in 2017.

From Conflict to Communion is the name of a joint document from the Lutheran-Roman Catholic International Commission on Unity which was presented at a press conference on Monday at the Lutheran World Federation headquarters in Geneva. The lengthy text looks at the joint responsibility for the division of the Western Church in the 16th century, addressing the challenges of healing those memories and working together for reconciliation and common witness to the world.

Topics explored in the document include basic themes of Martin Luther’s theology with a view to Lutheran–Catholic dialogue, as well as focusing on five ecumenical imperatives for the relationship between both Churches as they commemorate 2017 together.

On October 31st 1517, German monk and theologian Martin Luther is thought to have nailed to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg his 95 theses addressing issues that he saw as urgently in need of reform. The resulting Reformation not only divided the Protestant and Catholic Churches, but also radically challenged the role of religion in societies.
 

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http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2013/06/18/pope_at_mass:_the_hard_lesson_of_loving_our_enemies_/en1-702599

2013-06-18 12:57:42
Pope at Mass: The hard lesson of loving our enemies

(Vatican Radio) It is hard to love our enemies, but that is exactly what God is asking us to do, said Pope Francis at Mass Tuesday morning. He said we must pray for those who hate us and have done us wrong, ‘that their heart of stone be turned to flesh, that they may feel relief and love’. God lets sun shine and rain fall on the good and the bad, on the just and the unjust and, the Pope added, we must do the same or else we are not being Christian. Emer McCarthy reports:

Pope Francis began his homily, with a series of questions that encompassed some of the most pressing dramas of humanity. How can we love our enemies? The Pope asked, how can we love those who decide to “bomb and kill so many people?" And again, how can we "love those who out of their for love money prevent the elderly from accessing the necessary medicine and leave them to die"? Or those who only seek "their own best interests, power for themselves and do so much evil?" "It seems hard to love your enemy," he noted, but Jesus asks it of us. This current liturgy, he said, proposes "Jesus’ updating of the law", of the law of Mount Sinai with the Law of the Mount of Beatitudes. The Pope also pointed out that we all have enemies, but deep down we too we can become enemies of others:

"We too often we become enemies of others: we do not wish them well. And Jesus tells us to love our enemies! And this is not easy! It is not easy ... we even think that Jesus is asking too much of us! We leave this to the cloistered nuns, who are holy, we leave this for some holy soul, but this is not right for everyday life. But it must be right! Jesus says: 'No, we must do this! Because otherwise you will be like the tax collectors, like pagans. Not Christians. '"
 

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http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2013/06/19/pope_francis_condemns_hypocrisy/en1-702937

2013-06-19 12:38:18
Pope Francis condemns hypocrisy

(Vatican Radio) Christianity is not simply the study of laws or commands: this is an impediment to understanding and living the truth that God is joy and generosity. This was the message of Pope Francis at Mass celebrated this morning in Casa Santa Marta.

The hypocrites who “lead the people of God down a dead-end street” Pope Francis said, are the subject of today’s Gospel. The Pope reflected on the famous passage of Matthew’s Gospel that contrasts the behaviour of the scribes and Pharisees – who make a show of praying, fasting, and almsgiving – with the path indicated by Jesus, Who points out to His disciples the proper attitude to assume in the same circumstances: giving alms and praying “in secret.” “And your Father, Who sees in secret, will reward you.”

Pope Francis criticized not only the vanity of the scribes and Pharisees, but also those who impose “so many precepts on the faithful.” He called them “hypocrites of casuistry,” “intellectuals without talent” who “don’t have the intelligence to find God, to explain God with understanding,” and so prevent themselves and others from entering into the Kingdom of God:

“Jesus says: ‘You do not enter yourselves, nor do you allow entrance to others.’ They are ethicists without goodness, they do not know what goodness is. But they are ethicists, aren’t they? ‘You have to do this, and this, and this . . .’ They fill you with precepts, but without goodness. And those are some of the phylacteries, of the tassels they lengthen, so many things, to make a pretence of being majestic, perfect, they have no sense of beauty. They have no sense of beauty. They achieve only the beauty of a museum. They are intellectuals without talent, ethicists without goodness, the bearers of museum beauty. These are the hypocrites that Jesus rebukes so strongly.
 

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http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2013/06/19/pope_adds_name_of_st._joseph_to_eucharistic_prayers/en1-702859

2013-06-19 12:00:10
Pope adds name of St. Joseph to Eucharistic prayers

(Vatican Radio) In the first decree of a liturgical nature of this pontificate, Pope Francis has decided that name of St. Joseph should be added to the Eucharistic Prayers II, II and IV, as they appear in the third typical edition of the Roman Missal, after the name of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Below please find the text of the decree issued Wednesday by the Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments:

DECREE
 

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http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2013/06/19/audience:_unity_in_the_body_of_christ/en1-702889

2013-06-19 11:00:46 A
Audience: Unity in the Body of Christ

(Vatican Radio) “The Church is not an charitable, cultural or political association, but a living Body, that walks and acts in history. And this Body has a head, Jesus, who guides, nourishes and supports it”, said Pope Francis Wednesday as he continued his series of lessons on the Creed during his General Audience.

A boiling summer sun brought temperatures to a high of 29°s, but despite this St Peter’s square was packed by tens of thousands of pilgrims. In his catechesis he told them we must remain united to the Church lamenting the divisions among Christians which he says ‘wounds this Body’. He said differences in the Church can enrich us and help us grow, but “a Body must be united to survive."

In off-the-cuff remarks Pope Francis revealed how earlier Wednesday morning he had spent almost 40 minutes in prayer with an evangelical pastor, praying for unity in the Church.

Below a Vatican Radio translation of the Holy Father’s Catechesis, Wednesday, June 20, 2013
 
 

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http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2013/06/20/pope_at_mass:_how_to_pray_the_our_father/en1-703223

2013-06-20 11:39:45
Pope at Mass: How to pray the Our Father

(Vatican Radio) To pray the Our Father we have to have a heart at peace with our brothers. We don't pray "my Father," but "our Father," because "we are not an only child, none of us are”. This was the focus of Pope Francis' homily at Mass Thursday morning in Casa Santa Marta. The Pope emphasized that we believe in a God who is a Father, who is "very close" to us, who is not anonymous, not "a cosmic God."

Prayer is not magic, rather it is entrusting ourselves to the Father’s embrace. Pope Francis centered his homily on the prayer of the "Our Father" taught by Jesus to His disciples, of which the Gospel speaks today. Jesus, he said, immediately gives us a piece of advice in prayer: "In praying, do not babble", do not make "worldly noises, vain noises”. And he warned that "prayer is not a magical thing, there is no magic with prayer." Someone once told me that when he went to a "witch doctor" they said a lot of words to heal him. But that "is pagan." Jesus teaches us, "we should not turn to Him with so many words," because "He knows everything." He adds, the first word is "Father," this "is the key of prayer." "Without saying, without feeling, that word – he warned - you cannot pray":

"To whom do I pray? To the Almighty God? He is too far off. Ah, I can’t hear Him. Neither did Jesus. To whom do I pray? To a cosmic God? That’s quite normal these days, is it not? ... praying to the cosmic God, right? This polytheistic model that comes from a rather light culture ... You must pray to the Father! It is a strong word, 'Father '. You must pray to Him who generated you, who gave you life. Not to everyone: everyone is too anonymous. To you. To me. To the person who accompanies you on your journey: He knows all about your life. Everything: what is good and what is not so good. He knows everything. If we do not start the prayer with this word, not just with our lips but with our hearts, we cannot pray in a Christian language".
 

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http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2013/06/21/pope_francis:_treasures_we_can_take_with_us/en1-703620

2013-06-21 13:55:04
Pope Francis: treasures we can take with us

(Vatican Radio) Ask God for the grace of a heart that knows how to love; and do not let yourself be led away by useless treasures. That was Pope Francis’ message in his homily Friday morning at his daily Mass.

The search for the only treasure that you can take with you into the next life is the raison d'être of a Christian. It is the raison d'être that Jesus explains to His disciples, in the passage quoted in the Gospel of Matthew: “Where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.” But, he says, we must be careful not to be confused about true richness. There are “risky treasures” that threaten to seduce us, but “must be left behind,” – treasures gathered in life that are destroyed by death. The Pope said, with a hint of irony: “I have never seen a moving van following a funeral procession.” But there is a treasure “we can take with us,” a treasure that no one can take away, – not “those things you’ve kept for yourself,” but “those you have given to others”:

“The treasures we have given to others, that we take with us. And that will be our merit – in quotation marks, but it is our ‘merit’ of Jesus Christ in us! And that we must bring with us. And that is what the Lord lets us bring. Love, charity, service, patience, goodness, tenderness are very beautiful treasures: these we bring with us. The other things, no.”