Pope Francis

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http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-visits-st-mary-major-meets-priests-at-st-john

Pope visits St Mary Major, meets priests at St John Lateran
2016-02-11 Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Thursday morning paid a private visit to the Basilica of Saint Mary Major in Rome, where – as has become customary – he prayed before the icon of Maria Salus Populi Romani ahead of his Apostolic Voyage to Mexico.

From St Mary Major, the Holy Father made the short journey to Rom’s Cathedral, the Archbasilica of St John Lateran, where the priests of the diocese were meeting at the beginning of Lent. During the visit, Pope Francis heard the confessions of several priests.

On the website of the Vicariate of Rome, Cardinal Agostino Vallini, the Vicar for the City of Rome, explained the meeting of priests had a “penitential” character, offering the clergy the opportunity “to have an experience of the mercy of the Father; and, in turn, to be able to ministers of mercy in the communities entrusted to us.”

As a Lenten “sign,” the offering taken up during the encounter was donated to the diocesan branch of Caritas.
 

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http://www.cruxnow.com/church/2016/02/11/as-pope-and-russian-patriarch-meet-ukraine-fears-shaky-vatican/

As pope and Russian patriarch meet, Ukraine fears a ‘shaky’ Vatican
By The Rev. Andriy Chirovsky
Special to Crux | February 11, 2016

EDITOR’S NOTE: In much of the world, Friday’s historic meeting between Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia in Havana, Cuba, will be hailed as a breakthrough. Attitudes are more mixed, however, in Ukraine, long the front line of tensions between Catholics and the Russian Orthodox.

There, the 5-million-strong Greek Catholic Church has suffered terribly for its loyalty to Rome, constituting the world’s largest underground religious body during the Soviet era, and it’s also a leader in civil resistance to the current Russian invasion of eastern Ukraine.

In this essay commissioned by Crux, the Rev. Andriy Chirovsky, a Greek Catholic archpriest at Saint Paul University in Ottawa, Canada, who also serves as editor-in-chief of LOGOS, a journal of Eastern Christian studies, discusses the summit.

Among his key arguments:
Catholic/Orthodox unity is not some modern notion, since the leader of the Orthodox territory that included Russia came into union with Rome 600 years ago.
Since all Orthodox churches are staging a grand council in June for the first time in 1,000 years, Moscow has a clear political incentive for using a platform with the pope to boost its internal standing.
Many Russian Orthodox still have negative attitudes toward Catholics.
The Russian Orthodox have a tight relationship with the Kremlin, and Putin’s global ambitions may help explain why the meeting is happening.
While Pope Francis may know what he’s doing, Ukrainians have less confidence in the Vatican’s resolve.

The full text of Chirovsky’s essay follows.
 

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http://www.catholicnews.com/services/englishnews/2016/vatican-updates-papal-itinerary-for-cuba-mexico-visit.cfm

Vatican updates papal itinerary for Cuba, Mexico visit
By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service
2.8.2016 10:55 AM ET
 
Here is the updated schedule as released by the Vatican. Times listed are local, with Eastern Standard Time in parenthesis when it is different from local time:

Friday, Feb. 12 (Rome, Havana, Mexico City)

-- 7:45 a.m. (1:45 a.m.) Departure from Rome's Fiumicino airport.

-- 2 p.m. Arrival at Jose Marti International Airport in Havana.

-- 2:15 p.m. Private meeting with Patriarch Kirill.

-- 4:30 p.m. Signing of a joint declaration. Speeches by patriarch and by pope.

-- 5:30 p.m. Departure from Havana airport for Mexico City.

-- 7:30 p.m. (8:30 p.m.) Arrival at Benito Juarez International Airport in Mexico City. Officials to greet pope.
 

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzCNmACC6OY
Pope Francis meets with Patriarch Kirill - Part. 1 - 2016.02.12 
Scheduled for Feb 12, 2016
His Holiness Pope Francis meets with His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia in Cuba, where the Pope makes a stop on his way to Mexico, and where the Patriarch is on an official visit. The meeting includes a personal conversation at Havana’s José Martí International Airport, and concludes with the signing of a joint declaration.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3jNBiZq2sg
Pope Francis meets with Patriarch Kirill - Part. 2 - 2016.02.12
Scheduled for Feb 12, 2016
His Holiness Pope Francis meets with His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia in Cuba, where the Pope makes a stop on his way to Mexico, and where the Patriarch is on an official visit. The meeting includes a personal conversation at Havana’s José Martí International Airport, and concludes with the signing of a joint declaration.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKGT7M0FMD8
Pope Francis in Mexico: Arrival 2016.02.12
Scheduled for Feb 12, 2016
Pope Francis arrives at the “Benito Juárez” International Airport of Mexico City: Official welcome

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http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-francis-greets-reporters-on-flight-from-rome

Pope Francis greets reporters on flight from Rome to Havana
2016-02-12 Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis greeted the reporters who joined him on the plane Friday for his apostolic journey to Havana – for a brief meeting with Russian Patriarch Kirill – and Mexico.

The Director of the Holy See Press Office, Father Federico Lombardi, SJ, said the Holy Father had a “beautiful meeting” with the journalists, and called the journey “very important.”

Father Lombardi said the Pope noted it was the final apostolic trip of Alberto Gasbarri, the coordinator of papal journeys, and thanked him for his 47 years of service to the Vatican.

The dean of the Holy See Press Corps,  Valentina Alazraki of Mexico’s “Televisa”, gave Pope Francis a sombrero to celebrate his journey to her native country. The Holy Father also revealed to the journalists she gave him some films starring the Mexican comedian Cantinflas earlier in the week to help him prepare for his trip, which Pope Francis said were a “good laugh.”
 

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http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-arrives-in-havana-to-meet-russian-orthodox-pa

Pope arrives in Havana to meet Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill
2016-02-12 Vatican Radio

Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has just arrived in the Cuban capital Havana where he will have an historic first meeting with the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill. The Patriarch arrived in Cuba yesterday at the start of a three nation tour of Orthodox communities in Latin America, while Pope Francis is on his way to Mexico City, where he’s scheduled to land at around 7.30 this evening local time.

Cuban President Raul Castro was at Havana’s ‘José Martì’ International airport to meet the papal plane and to accompany Pope Francis to the room where the private encounter is taking place.
 

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February 12, 2016 Tweets

https://twitter.com/FatherRosica

 Thomas Rosica Retweeted
Catholic News Svc ‏@CatholicNewsSvc  · 31m  31 minutes ago 
Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill greet each other..

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February 12, 2016 Tweets

https://twitter.com/FatherRosica

Thomas Rosica Retweeted
 Catholic News Svc ‏@CatholicNewsSvc  · 3h  3 hours ago 
First question Patriarch asks Pope: "How was your flight?" Pope: "It was very good."

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http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/full-text-of-joint-declaration-signed-by-pope-francis-and-patriarch-kirill-61341/

Full text of joint declaration signed by Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill

Pope Francis meets with Patriarch Kirill

Havana, Cuba, Feb 12, 2016 / 02:51 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- In a historic first, Pope Francis on Friday met with Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill. The Feb. 12 meeting took place in Havana, Cuba, a stop added at the start of the Holy Father's Feb. 12-18 trip to Mexico. In addition to meeting privately, Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill signed a joint declaration. The full text of the declaration is below:

Joint Declaration of Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia

“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God the Father and the fellowship of the holy Spirit be with all of you” (2 Cor 13:13).

1. By God the Father’s will, from which all gifts come, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the help of the Holy Spirit Consolator, we, Pope Francis and Kirill, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, have met today in Havana. We give thanks to God, glorified in the Trinity, for this meeting, the first in history.

It is with joy that we have met like brothers in the Christian faith who encounter one another “to speak face to face” (2 Jn 12), from heart to heart, to discuss the mutual relations between the Churches, the crucial problems of our faithful, and the outlook for the progress of human civilization.
 

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http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2016/02/12/we-are-brothers-pope-francis-tells-patriarch-kirill/

‘We are brothers,’ Pope Francis tells Patriarch Kirill
by Cindy Wooden
posted Friday, 12 Feb 2016

At long last, Pope Francis and Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill of Moscow have embraced, kissing each other three times.

“Finally,” the Pope told the Patriarch as they met in a lounge at Havana’s José Martí International Airport . “We are brothers,” he told the Patriarch.

Amid the clicking of cameras and multiple flashes, Patriarch Kirill was overheard telling the Pope, “Things are easier now.”

“It is clearer that this is God’s will,” Pope Francis told him.

A flight of almost 12 hours capped months of intense negotiations and more than two decades of Vatican overtures to bring a pope and a Russian patriarch together for the first time.

Cuban President Raúl Castro played host to the pope and patriarch, who was on a visit to Russian Orthodox communities on the island-nation. Pope Francis had a pastoral visit to Mexico planned for months; the stop in Havana was announced only a week before the meeting.

The addition of a stopover in Cuba was widely seen as a sign of Pope Francis’s willingness to go the extra mile to reach out a hand in friendship. At the same time, observers said, it gave those Russian Orthodox opposed to ecumenism a sense that their church is special and that it bowed to no one in agreeing to the meeting.

In a commentary, Ukrainian Catholic Bishop Borys Gudziak of Paris said: “The Pope is demonstrating humility; he is going to the territory of the other. In the eyes of nostalgic Russians, Cuba is almost home territory, a last outpost of a lost Soviet Empire.”

For decades, the Russian Orthodox told the Vatican that a meeting between the patriarch and pope was impossible because of the activities of Latin Rite Catholics in Russia and, especially, the Eastern Rite Catholics in Ukraine.

The Moscow Patriarchate had said that while those problems still exist with the Catholic communities, they take a backseat to the urgency of defending together the rights and very existence of persecuted Christians in the Middle East.
 

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https://zenit.org/articles/popes-brief-words-after-signing-common-declaration-with-kirill/

Pope’s Brief Words After Signing Common Declaration With Kirill
February 12, 2016

 
Here is a ZENIT transcription and translation of the Pope’s words, which were given in Spanish:
__
Your Holiness, Eminences,

We have spoken as brothers. We have the same baptism. We are bishops. We have spoken of our Churches. We agree that unity is made in the process of walking forward. We have spoken clearly, without mincing words. I confess to you that I have felt the consolation of the Spirit in this dialogue.

I am grateful for the humility of Your Holiness, fraternal humility, and your good desires for unity.

We have come up with a series of initiatives which I believe are viable and that can be carried out. Because of this, I want to thank Your Holiness again, for your benevolent welcome, as well as the collaborators [<indiscernible words>], His Eminence Metropolitan Hilarion and His Eminence Cardinal Koch with all of the members of their teams that have worked for this.

I don’t want to go without giving a heartfelt thank you to Cuba, to the great Cuban people, and to their president here present, Raul Castro. I thank you for your active availability. If it continues like this, Cuba will be the capital of unity.

And may all of this be for the glory of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit and for the good of the holy People faithful to God under the mantle of the holy Mother of God.
[Transcription and translation by ZENIT]

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http://www.latimes.com/world/mexico-americas/la-fg-pope-mexico-arrive-20160212-story.html

Mariachis and 'Cielito Lindo' welcome Pope Francis to Mexico City
February 12, 2016, 6:54 PM

Pope Francis arrived Friday night on his first trip as pontiff to the overwhelmingly Roman Catholic country of Mexico, following a historic meeting in Cuba with the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church and looking ahead to a pointed and problematic mission.

Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto and his wife, Angelica Rivera, greeted the pope, surrounded by mariachis and festively dressed dancers singing the Mexican classic "Cielito Lindo."

"Queremos su bendicion!" the crowd shouted: "We want your blessing!"

It is the fourth trip as pope to the Americas for the Argentine native, the first pontiff born in the Americas.
 
Arriving at Benito Juarez International Airport at 7:30 p.m., the pope confronted an extraordinary Mexican spectacle: a full mariachi band, complete with men decked out in charro outfits and women dancers in white blouses and red skirts.

Many in the delirious audience of about 5,000 displayed the lights of their cellular phones, while also waving handkerchiefs of green, white and red, the colors of the Mexican flag.

Dancers on hand at the airport moved to a  number of well-known Mexican songs, including “Jarabe Tapatio,” a traditional dance tune from the northern state of Jalisco.  Enjoying the show from the red carpet, the pope applauded the performers.
 

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http://www.catholicnews.com/services/englishnews/2016/vatican-updates-papal-itinerary-for-cuba-mexico-visit.cfm

Vatican updates papal itinerary for Cuba, Mexico visit
By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service
2.8.2016 10:55 AM ET
 
Here is the updated schedule as released by the Vatican. Times listed are local, with Eastern Standard Time in parenthesis when it is different from local time:

Saturday, Feb. 13 (Mexico City)

-- 9:30 a.m. (10:30 a.m.) Welcoming ceremony at the National Palace. Courtesy visit with the president of the republic.

-- 10:15 a.m. (11:15 a.m.) Meeting with representatives of civil society and the diplomatic corps. Speech by pope.

-- 11:30 a.m. (12:30 p.m.) Meeting with Mexico's bishops in the city's cathedral. Speech by pope.

-- 5 p.m. (6 p.m.) Mass in the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Homily by pope.
 

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCQJylgwgsk
Pope Francis in Mexico: Welcome ceremony - 2016.02.13
Scheduled for Feb 13, 2016
Pope Francis in Mexico: Welcoming ceremony at the National Palace. Courtesy visit with the President of the Republic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66IqZv5zKuM
Pope Francis in Mexico: Meeting with Bishops 2016.02.13 
Scheduled for Feb 13, 2016
Pope Francis in Mexico: Meeting with the Bishops of Mexico gathered in the Cathedral

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGhi_ANpSfA
Pope Francis in Mexico: Holy Mass - 2016.02.13
Scheduled for Feb 13, 2016
Pope Francis in Mexico: Holy Mass in the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe

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http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-francis-in-mexico-as-missionary-of-mercy-and

Pope Francis: in Mexico as missionary of mercy and peace
2016-02-13 Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis delivered the first major address of his visit to Mexico on Saturday, to the nation’s civil authorities and the corps of diplomats present for the occasion. In his remarks, the Holy Father described himself once again as “a missionary of mercy and of peace,” and also as, “a son who wishes to pay homage to his mother, the Blessed Virgin of Guadalupe, and place himself under her watchful care.”

Praising Mexico’s unique cultural richness and stressing the central importance of Mexico in American life, the Holy Father had especial words of encouragement for the young people of the nation. “Mexico’s principal richness today has a young face,” said Pope Francis. “This makes it possible to contemplate and plan for a future, for a tomorrow,” and “offers hope and future prospects.” The Pope went on to say, “A people with a youthful population is a people able to renew and transform itself; it is an invitation to look to the future with hope and, in turn, it challenges us in a positive way here and now.”

Renewing his calls for concerted effort to build a just and inclusive society that cares for all its citizens without respect for age, race, or condition, and for responsible participation in and stewardship over the order of creation, Pope Francis said, “This is not just a question of laws which need to be updated and improved – something always necessary – but rather a need for urgent formation of the personal responsibility of each individual, with full respect for others as men and women jointly responsible in promoting the advancement of the nation.”
 
http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-francis-speech-to-civil-authorities-and-diplo
Pope Francis: speech to civil authorities and diplomats
2016-02-13 Vatican Radio

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http://ncronline.org/news/global/pope-francis-issues-blunt-warnings-broad-vision-manifesto-mexican-bishops#.Vr-Dv7iA8tg.twitter

Francis issues blunt warnings, broad vision in manifesto to Mexican bishops
Feb. 13, 2016

Mexico City --   Pope Francis has given one of his most direct and blunt outlines for what he expects from Catholic bishops, forcefully telling the Mexican episcopacy what they should and should not be doing -- warning them against words that are "empty figures of speech" and inaction that "squanders" their country's history.
 
In a detailed 41-minute address to the country's bishops Saturday, the pontiff also offered a comprehensive vision for the future of Mexico. Plotting a path away from recent drug violence and political corruption, the pope called on the bishops to help build a society of solidarity and integration of cultures.

At times giving the bishops specific directions on how to respond to their country's challenges, Francis infused his address with rich references to the country's cultural history and to the struggles Catholics faced under governments of the 19th and 20th centuries.
 
http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-francis-in-mexico-discourse-to-bishops
Pope Francis in Mexico: discourse to bishops
2016-02-13 Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis addressed the Catholic Bishops of Mexico on Saturday, the first full day of his Apostolic visit to the country. Below, please find the full text of the Holy Father's prepared remarks, in their official English translation.
 

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February 13, 2016 Tweets
https://twitter.com/FatherRosica

Thomas Rosica Retweeted
Jim Yardley ‏@JimBYardley  · 37m  37 minutes ago 
Remarkable moment as Francis sits in silence for several minutes to gaze at image of Virgin of Guadalupe


Thomas Rosica Retweeted
AgenSIR ‏@agensir  · 45m  45 minutes ago 
#PapaEnCDMX Messa Basilica #Guadalupe, Dio risveglia la speranza di sfollati ed emarginati http://agensir.it/?p=350511 

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http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2016/02/14/pope_at_mass_mary_says_those_who_suffer_do_not_weep_in_vain/1208443

Pope at Mass in Mexico city: Mary tells us that those who suffer do not weep in vain
14/02/2016 00:22

(Vatican Radio) On the first full day of his visit to Mexico, Pope Francis, celebrated Mass at the Basilica of Guadalupe in Mexico City.The shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe, is the most visited Catholic pilgrimage site in the world and one that is particularly important to the first Latin American pope.

During his homily, drawing inspiration from the episode of the visitation of the Virgin Mary to her cousin Elizabeth, the Holy Father stressed on the “yes” of Mary’s surrender to God which prompted her to give the best of herself, going forth to meet the others.

He said the Madonna of Guadalupe “wished to come to the inhabitants of these American lands in the person of the Indian Saint Juan Diego”, and that “she has and continues to accompany the development of this blessed Mexican land.”

With reference to the first Miracle in 1531, the Pope said that “God roused the hope of the little ones, of the suffering, of those displaced or rejected, of all who feel they have no worthy place in these lands.”

Juan who considered himself lowly and unworthy, experienced in his own life what hope is, what the mercy of God is.  He was called to build a shrine and the Pope emphasized that the shrines that they were called to build are the poor and the oppressed.

“God’s Shrine”, he said “is the life of his children, of everyone in whatever condition, especially of young people without a future who are exposed to endless painful and risky situations, and the elderly who are unacknowledged, forgotten and out of sight.  The Shrine of God is our families in need only of the essentials to develop and progress.  The Shrine of God is the faces of the many people we encounter each day…”

Assuring solace of the presence of Our Lady in the lives of the Poor and suffering, the Pope said “Mary tells us that she has ‘the honour’ of being our mother, assuring us that those who suffer do not weep in vain.

Reiterating the call of Mary to be her ambassadors, the Pope said, “we can build shrines by sharing the joy of knowing that we are not alone, that Mary accompanies us.” 

Below please find the full text of the official English translation of the Holy Father's Homily.
 

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http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2016/02/13/coronation_of_the_most_holy_virgin_of_guadalupe/1208365

Coronation of the Most Holy Virgin of Guadalupe
13/02/2016 17:40

(Vatican Radio) At the conclusion of Holy Mass at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Pope Francis led the faithful in the Rite of Coronation of the image of the Most Holy Virgin of Guadalupe.

The miraculous image dates back to 1531, when the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to St Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin. Since that time, the Virgin, under the title of Our Lady of Guadalupe, has been proclaimed Patroness of Mexico, Patroness and Empress of the Americas, and Heavenly Patroness of the Philippines. She is also known as the Protectress of Unborn Children.The Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe is one of the most visited pilgrimmage places in the world, with millions of pilgrims coming each year to venerate the sacred image.

Below, please find the prayer for the Coronation of the Image of the Most Holy Virgin of Guadalupe:

Blessed are you, O Lord,
 God of heaven and earth,
 who, in your mercy and justice,
 cast down the proud,
 and exalt the humble.
 

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February 13, 2016 Tweets
https://twitter.com/FatherRosica

Thomas Rosica ‏@FatherRosica  · 50m  50 minutes ago 
Crowning moment @ Guadalupe #PopeFrancis presents to shrine golden diadem to "Mater Mea Spes Mea" My Mother, My Hope