Pope Francis

[grace-land]

http://www.news.va/en/news/francis-to-the-national-ecclesial-congress-the-tra

Francis to the National Ecclesial Congress: the traits of Christian humanism

Vatican City, 10 November 2015 (VIS) – Following his brief visit to Prato, the Pope travelled by helicopter to Florence, where he was received by the cardinal archbishop Giuseppe Betori, and by the other civil and religious authorities. He transferred by car to the Baptistery dedicated to St. John the Baptist in the square before the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, and paused a moment before the painting “The White Crucifixion”, currently on display in the “Divine Beauty” exhibition in Palazzo Strozzi. From there, he proceeded to Santa Maria del Fiore on foot to meet with the participants in the Fifth National Ecclesial Congress, dedicated this year to the theme “In Jesus Christ, the new humanism”. In the cathedral, where the 2,500 participants were gathered, he was greeted by Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, president of the Italian Episcopal Conference (CEI) and archbishop of Genoa, along with Archbishop Cesare Nosiglia of Turin and Bishop Nunzio Galantino, secretary of the CEI.

The Pope gave an address focusing on the theme of the Congress, extensive extracts of which are published below, in which he spoke about the features of Christian humanism and the temptations to which the Church is exposed.

“We can speak about humanism only by starting from the centrality of Jesus, discovering in Him the features of the authentic face of man. And the contemplation of the face of the dead and risen Jesus that recomposes our humanity, fragmented as it may be by the hardships of life, or marked by sin. We must not domesticate the power of the face of Christ. The face is the image of His transcendence. … I do not wish here to draw an abstract image of the 'new humanism', a certain idea of man, but to present with simplicity some features of Christian humanism, which is that of the sentiments, the mind of Jesus Christ. These are not abstract temporary sensations but rather represent the warm interior force that makes us able to live and to make decisions”:

“The first sentiment is humility. … The obsession with preserving one's own glory and 'dignity', one's own influence, must not form part of our sentiments. We must seek God's glory, that does not coincide with ours. God's glory that shines in the humility of the stable in Bethlehem or in the dishonour of Christ's cross always surprises us”.
 

[grace-land]

http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-francis-eats-with-the-poor-in-florence

Pope Francis eats with the poor in Florence
2015-11-10 Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio)  Pope Francis on his visit to the Italian city of Florence on Tuesday (Nov. 10) sat down for lunch with the city's poor at St. Francis' Soup Kitchen (Mensa di San Francesco Poverino).

In between his meeting with the National Congress of the Italian Church and celebrating Mass in the city’s football stadium, the Pope sat down for lunch with 60 of the city’s poorest citizens, both Italians and of other nationalities.

Many had lost both their jobs and their homes, but thanks to the work of the Catholic Church's charity, Caritas, who runs the meal kitchen where the lunch took place, they had not lost their dignity.

Pope Francis was given a meal voucher when he arrived and ate off a plastic plate, just like the rest of those gathered with him, emphasising his teaching that the Church must be with and accompany the marginalised and those on the peripheries of society.
 

[grace-land]

http://www.news.va/en/news/a-smiling-challenge-to-the-church-pope-francis-in

A smiling challenge to the Church: Pope Francis in Florence
2015-11-10 Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio)  Pope Francis during his one-day visit to Florence on Tuesday (Nov. 10) spoke to the Fifth National Convention of the Italian Church gathered in St. Mary of the Flower Cathedral.

In his programmatic speech, Pope Francis laid out his vision for "a new humanism in Christ Jesus."

Chiara Giaccardi is a member of the preparatory committee for the event and professor of sociology at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Milan.

She spoke to Vatican Radio’s Alessandro Gisotti about the impact of Pope Francis’ words on the assembly.
 

[grace-land]

http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-the-church-lives-among-the-people-and-for-the

Pope: The Church lives among the people and for the people
2015-11-10 Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio)  Pope Francis stressed the need for “the Church to live among the people and for them,” saying it should maintain a healthy contact with reality and peoples’ lives.  Christ’s disciples, he said, “must never forget that they come from the people and must never fall into the temptation of adopting an aloof attitude” and not being concerned about the thoughts and lives of the people. The Pope’s comments came during his homily at an outdoor Mass celebrated in Florence on Tuesday (10th November).

Taking the inspiration for his homily from the St Matthew’s gospel, Pope Francis reminded his listeners that Jesus wanted to know from his disciples what the people were saying about Him in order to communicate with them. He warned that without knowing how people think, “a disciple becomes isolated and begins to judge people according to his own thoughts and convictions.”
 
http://www.zenit.org/en/articles/pope-s-homily-in-florence
Pope’s Homily in Florence
Italy,  November 10, 2015

[grace-land]

http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-francis-receives-chair-of-bosnia-herzegovina

Pope Francis receives chair of Bosnia-Herzegovina Presidency
2015-11-11 Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis received the Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Dragan Čović, on Wednesday morning. Čović is the current occupant of the head position in a rotating collegial presidency, composed of three members: a Bosnian, a Croat, and a Serb, who serve together for a four-year term.

The rotating system was put in place in 1996, as part of the constitutional settlement that brought an end to the 1992-1995 conflict in the former Yugoslavia, which was the worst fighting in Europe since the end of World War II.

In remarks to the President, Pope Francis said that the example of the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina is one from which the Holy Father himself has learned much: about the capacity to suffer; to forgive and to strive for forgiveness; to come together and work for the common good; to dialogue. “Thank you so much for these examples, which you give to humanity,” said Pope Francis.
 

[grace-land]

http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2015/11/11/pope_to_families_talk_and_listen_to_one_another_/1185918

Pope to families: Talk and listen to one another
11/11/2015 11:40

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis during his weekly General Audience on Wednesday urged families to talk and listen to one another, especially at the dinner table.

The fog in St Peter’s Square had just about cleared when Pope Francis arrived for his weekly General Audience. Continuing his catechesis on the family, the Holy Father’s main focus of attention on Wednesday was family togetherness.

The Pope noted how sitting down together at the table for the family dinner, sharing a meal and the experiences of the day, was a fundamental image of togetherness and solidarity.

He then explained that because Jesus gave us the Eucharist as a meal, there was a close relationship between families and the Mass.

But Pope Francis also underlined how the family meal, a symbol of togetherness, is disappearing in some societies.

Speaking off the cuff in Italian, he said a family who hardly ever eats together or when is does watches television or uses smartphones is not really being a family.
 
http://www.zenit.org/en/articles/general-audience-on-living-and-being-together-as-a-family
GENERAL AUDIENCE: On Living and Being Together as a Family
Rome,  November 11, 2015

[grace-land]

http://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2015/11/11/vatican-comes-out-swinging-amid-media-storm-over-scandal

Vatican places 2 Italian journalists under investigation in leaks probe
Nov. 11, 2015 | 3:15 p.m. EST

VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican said Wednesday it had placed two Italian journalists under investigation in its probe over leaked documents that revealed waste, greed and mismanagement at the highest levels of the Catholic Church hierarchy.

Journalists Gianluigi Nuzzi and Emiliano Fittipaldi wrote two bombshell books detailing the uphill battle Pope Francis is facing in reforming the Vatican bureaucracy. Their books, released last week, were based on leaked documents from a reform commission Francis named to get a handle on the Vatican's finances and propose reforms so that more money could go to charity.

Already, two members of the commission who had access to the documents have been arrested by Vatican police.

Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi said Wednesday that Nuzzi and Fittipaldi had been placed under investigation by Vatican magistrates for their alleged role in dealing with the leaked documents. He said other officials were being looked at for having possibly cooperated in the scandal.
 

[grace-land]

http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-donates-to-lampedusa-crucifix-gifted-to-him-b

Pope: donates to Lampedusa crucifix gifted to him by Castro
2015-11-12 Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis is donating to the parish church of Lampedusa a crucifix that was gifted to him by President Raul Castro of Cuba during the recent papal visit to the Caribbean island. Measuring over 3 metres high, the crucifix is crafted from wooden oars tied with ropes to symbolize the reality of migrants who have crossed the Mediterranean by boat. Lampedusa is an island off the coast of Sicily whose shores receive the majority of migrants and refugees crossing the Mediterranean sea by boat from Libya to Italy. The tiny island was also the first place in Italy that Pope Francis chose to visit after his election.

Pope Francis’ decision was announced by Cardinal Francesco Montenegro of Agrigento whose archdiocese includes Lampedusa. He made the announcement at Italy’s National Ecclesial Congress in Florence that was attended by the Pope on Tuesday.
 

[grace-land]

http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-to-jesuit-alumni-faith-in-creative-tension-wi

Pope to Jesuit alumni: faith in creative tension with world
2015-11-12 Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis delivered a video message to the participants in the XVI Latin American Congress of Former Students of Jesuit Institutions, taking place in Guayaquil, Ecuador, from the 11th to the 13th of November.

In his remarks to those taking part, the Holy Father focused on the dynamic tension that the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius seek to develop in the soul of the subject who undertakes them – a tension that becomes a distinctive element in the charism of the Jesuit and a signal characteristic of the person formed by Jesuit education.

Pope Francis explained that this tension is threefold: between heaven, earth, and the person experiencing it – a tension that, like electrical tension, makes it possible for power current to course and do its work in and through a medium that is properly attuned to it.
 

[grace-land]

http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-thanks-don-guanella-servants-of-charity-for-t

Pope thanks Don Guanella Servants of Charity for their work
2015-11-12 Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Thursday thanked the Don Guanella Servants of Charity for their work in favour of the poor, the disabled and the sick.

The Pope’s words of gratitude came during a private audience with representatives of the Don Guanella family who are celebrating their patron, Our Lady of Divine Providence

In his address the Pope recalled the words of Don Guanella himself, the founder of the Congregation, whose birth centenary has just been marked.

He said that at the core of Don Guanella’s faith was his total trust in God, and he noted that Lord is sad when he sees that his children do not trust in him fully. God, he said, is pure love, providential love, and knows what is good for us so there is no reason for being wary or distant.
 

[grace-land]

http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-francis-to-slovakia-church-receive-migrants-i

Pope Francis to Slovakia Church: Receive migrants in charity
2015-11-12 Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Thursday told the bishops of Slovakia the Church is called to receive migrants “in a spirit of charity and respect for the human person,” while, at the same time, necessarily observing the law.

The Holy Father was meeting the bishops as part of their ad limina visit to Rome. He held an informal discussion with them, while presenting them his speech in written form.

“It is desirable for the Slovak people to maintain their cultural identity and heritage of ethical and spiritual values, which is closely linked to the Catholic tradition,” Pope Francis said.

He said this was necessary for the country to contribute to a “sincere and fruitful dialogue” on the continent and in the world, including on such issues as the dignity of human life and the essential role of the family.

“Faced with the prospect of an ever-expanding multicultural environment, we must assume an attitude of mutual respect in favour of encounter,” Pope Francis said.
 

[grace-land]

http://cnstopstories.com/2015/11/11/vatican-advance-team-in-mexico-visits-border-city-of-juarez/

Mexican foreign minister confirms pope to visit capital, three states
Posted on November 11, 2015

By David Agren Catholic News Service

CUAUTITLAN IZCALLI, Mexico (CNS) — Mexican Foreign Minister Claudia Ruiz Massieu has confirmed that Pope Francis will visit the capital, Mexico City, along with the states of Chihuahua and Chiapas — on the northern and southern borders respectively — and Michoacan in western Mexico.

“The details will be known in December,” she said Nov. 11, acknowledging where the pope will travel early next year. Spokesmen for dioceses in the three states and Mexico City confirmed details when contacted by Catholic New Service.

The Mexican bishops’ conference, however, refused to confirm details of the trip, not even Mexico City Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera’s announcement that the pope would arrive Feb. 12. The bishops said the pope’s plans were still not finalized and would be revealed Dec. 12, when the country celebrates the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

“We cannot confirm or deny what the (foreign ministry) said,”Guadalajara Cardinal Francisco Robles Ortega, conference president, told a Nov. 12 news conference. “We don’t know their motives or sources of information.”
 

[grace-land]

http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-the-greatest-glory-is-god-everything-else-fad

Pope: The greatest glory is God, everything else fades away
2015-11-13 Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio)  Pope Francis said God is the greatest glory and warned believers against the temptation to deify earthly things and even to idolize our habits. Instead, he said, we should be looking beyond these things to the transcendent, to God the creator, whose glory never fades. The Pope’s words came during his homily at his Mass on Friday (13th November) celebrated at the Santa Marta residence.   

Pope Francis reflected in his homily on God’s eternal glory and said there are two dangers that undermine believers: the temptation to deify our earthly things and even to idolize our habits, as if all this were lasting forever. Instead, he said, God is the greatest glory and this is made clear in the psalms where we read how “The heavens declare the Glory of God.” The problem, said the Pope, is that humans often bow down before things whose splendour is only a reflection that will be extinguished one day - or worse still they become devoted to even more fleeting pleasures.
 

[grace-land]

http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2015/11/13/pope_and_jrs_celebrate_the_lives_and_the_courage_of_refugees/1186531

Pope and JRS celebrate the lives and the courage of refugees
13/11/2015 13:26

(Vatican Radio)  Pope Francis is set to celebrate an important moment for the Jesuit Refugee Service at it marks 35 years of commitment to serve, accompany and advocate for refugees across the globe.

Saturday, 14 November 2015, refugees, as well as staff and friends of JRS will attend a private audience in the Vatican with the Pope.

Pope Francis, who has repeatedly urged all men and women of goodwill to welcome refugees, will greet those present as well as formally recognize and pledge support for the JRS Global Education Initiative and “Mercy in Motion” Campaign which is JRS’ response to the Holy Year of Mercy to be inaugurated on 8 December.
 

[grace-land]

http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-to-guardini-foundation-repentance-key-to-door

Pope to Guardini foundation: repentance key to door of mercy
2015-11-13 Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis received members of the Romano Guardini Foundation on Friday, who are here in Rome to take part in a conference sponsored by the Pontifical Gregorian University to mark the 130th anniversary of the birth of the Catholic priest and theologian, born in Verona, Italy, and reared in Mainz, Germany, who was one of the great lights of 20th century Catholic intellectual life.

The Holy Father’s remarks to the participants turned on two central themes of Guardini’s theological work: true repentance as the condition of the efficacy of grace in our lives and in the world; and the need to cultivate docility to the Divine will in order to enter into what the theologian calls, “a living unity” with God.

Quoting the words Dostoyevsky gave to his mystic priest-healer Zosima in The Brothers Karamazov, to speak to a woman who had taken the life of her abusive husband when he was sick, Pope Francis said, “Do not fear. Never fear, and do not be sad, so long as your remorse does not dry up, God forgives everything. There is no sin on the whole Earth that God will not forgive if you show true remorse. Man is unable to commit a sin that is too great for God’s unending love.”
 
http://www.zenit.org/en/articles/pope-s-address-to-romano-guardini-foundation
Pope’s Address to Romano Guardini Foundation
Rome,  November 13, 2015

[grace-land]

http://vaticaninsider.lastampa.it/en/the-vatican/detail/articolo/vatileaks-nuzzi-44639/

11/13/2015
Vatileaks 2: Here’s how the Vatican’s secret agents got their moles

The Vatican inquiry into the leaking of classified documents that ended up in two books, “Avarice” and “Merchants in the Temple”, has unearthed proof not only of the involvement of the two main people under investigation – Spanish prelate Luis Ángel Vallejo and PR woman Francesca Chaouqui – but also of the contact they had with Emiliano Fittipaldi and Gianluigi Nuzzi, the two Italian journalists who divulged the content of the documents in their two recently published books.

It was this evidence, acquired through searches and interceptions during the investigation which for months was conducted with utmost confidentiality by the Vatican Gendarmerie headed by Domenico Giani, that made it possible for the police to go ahead with the arrest of the monsignor and his friend. Two days ago, confirmation came that the authors of the two books were also under investigation. The procedure is in the “summary investigation” phase and is being conducted by the Promoter of Justice, Gian Piero Milano. So far, no letters rogatory have been sent to the Italian authorities.

The prelate’s fears

“Vallejo was in a state of near paranoia recently, he thought he was being spied on, he told everyone his computer was being monitored externally. He was convinced that there were 25 bugs in his office alone and never talked about topics that were confidential, not even in the lift of the Prefecture for Economic Affairs,” a prelate close to the Spanish monsignor told Italian newspaper La Stampa.

It is likely, that cooped up in his cell, Vallejo felt the investigators breathing down his neck. Other details emerge from the testimonies of those who knew and spent time with him. Despite his close friendship with Francesca Chaouqui, after he had strongly recommended her for the position within the Vatican commission in charge of looking into the reform of the Holy See’s economic and administrative bodies, Vallejo began to suspect that the young woman was in contact with the Italian secret services. She apparently let on that she was. The Vatican judiciary is apparently keen to close the investigation with a request for indictment, before the start of the Jubilee of Mercy which Francis will inaugurate on 8 December.
 

[grace-land]

 

http://cnstopstories.com/2015/11/13/text-of-initial-vatican-statement-on-paris-attacks/

Text of initial Vatican statement on Paris attacks
Posted on November 13, 2015

 
Here in the Vatican we are following the terrible news from Paris. We are shocked by this new manifestation of maddening, terrorist violence and hatred which we condemn in the most radical way together with the Pope and all those who love peace. We pray for the victims and the wounded, and for all the French people. This is an attack on peace for all humanity, and it requires a decisive, supportive response on the part of all of us as we counter the spread the homicidal hatred in all of its forms.

[grace-land]

http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-francis-condolences-to-france-after-terror-at

Pope Francis: condolences to France after terror attacks
2015-11-14 Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has sent a telegram to Cardinal André Vingt-Trois, Archbishop of Paris, assuring victims, their families and emergency personnel that he is united with them in prayer.

Signed by the Secretary of State of the Holy See, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the telegram condemns this and all acts of violence, and asks God to inspire thoughts of peace and solidarity.

Below, please find Vatican Radio’s English translation of the telegram

*****************************
Cardinal André Vingt-Trois, Archbishop of Paris

Informed of the horrific terrorist attacks that occurred in Paris and at the Stade de France, killing a great number of people and wounding many others, His Holiness Pope Francis joins in prayer with the suffering of families affected by the drama and the pain of the French people. He invokes God, Father of mercy, asking that He welcome the victims into the peace of His light and bring comfort and hope to the injured and their families. He assures them, and all of the personnel participating in aid efforts, of his spiritual closeness. Once again, the Holy Father vigorously condemns violence, which cannot solve anything, and he asks God to inspire thoughts of peace and solidarity in all and to impart on families in this trial and on all of the French people, the abundance of His Blessings.
 

[grace-land]

http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-francis-no-religious-or-human-justification-f

Pope Francis: No religious or human justification for Paris attacks
2015-11-14 Vatican Radio

 
In a telephone interview on Saturday with the Italian Bishops’ Conference official television network – TV2000 – Pope Francis said the attacks are “not human.”

“I am close to the people of France, to the families of the victims, and I am praying for all of them,” Pope Francis said.  “I am moved and I am saddened. I do not understand, these things hard to understand.”

When asked if this is part of the “piecemeal Third World War” the Holy Father has mentioned many times before, Pope Francis said “this is a piece of it,” adding “there is no religious or human justification for it.”

[grace-land]

http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-francis-meets-with-jesuit-refugee-service

Pope Francis meets with Jesuit Refugee Service
2015-11-14 Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis addressed the Jesuit Refugee Service on Saturday, telling them the “decision to be present in areas of greatest need, in conflict and post-conflict zones, has brought you international recognition for your closeness to people and your ability to learn from this how better to serve.”

“I think especially of your groups in Syria, Afghanistan, the Central African Republic and the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo, where you accept men and women of different religious beliefs who share your mission,” Pope Francis said.

The full text of Pope Francis’ prepared remarks are below