Pope Francis

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http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-francis-answers-questions-from-children-in-ne

Pope Francis answers questions from children in new book
2016-02-24 Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has answered 30 questions presented to him from children from around the world. Loyola Press is publishing the responses in a book due to be published on 1 March called Dear Pope Francis.

The United States-based Jesuit publishing house approached Pope Francis about the idea last year, and received a positive response. They then asked Jesuits from around the world to collect questions from children aged 6-13, including Catholics and non-Catholics. They also asked the children to send drawings, which are included in the book.

They received 259 questions from 26 countries in 14 languages. The book’s editor, Fr. Paul Campbell, SJ, then sat down with a committee and chose the questions to send the Pope.
 

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http://www.news.va/en/news/holy-see-catholic-institutions-promote-peace-betwe

Holy See: Catholic institutions promote peace between countries
2016-02-24 Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) The Holy See delegation pointed out the role Catholic institutions play in post-conflict peacebuilding around the world in an address to the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday.

“The Holy See, as  a subject of International Law, has always been a promoter of peace between countries,  actively participating in the work of the UN, while the local Catholic churches have always been a factor  of  reconciliation  at  the  national  level,” said Monsignor Simon Kassas, the Chargé d’Affaires of the Permanent ******* Mission of the Holy See to the United Nations in New York.

“Churches, as well as many faith-based organizations and development NGOs, have always been at the vanguard of pacification and reconstruction of regions and  countries struck by wars and conflicts,” the Vatican diplomat continued.
 

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http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-it-is-a-grace-to-see-the-poor-who-knock-at-ou

Pope: It is a grace to see the poor who knock at our hearts
2016-02-25 Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) To truly live our faith, we must recognize the poor who are near to us. In them, Jesus Himself knocks at the door of our heart: that was Pope Francis' message during the morning Mass at Casa Santa Marta on Thursday.

Christians in a bubble of vanity

In the Gospel of the day, Jesus tells the parable of the rich man “who dressed in purple garments and fine linen and dined sumptuously each day,” and who did not recognize that at his door there was a poor man named Lazarus, who was covered with sores. The Pope invited us to ask ourselves the question: “Am I a Christian in name only, on the path of lies; or am I a Christian on the path of life, that is, of works, of actions.” The rich man of the parable, he said, “knew the commandments, surely went every Saturday to the synagogue, and once a year to the Temple.” He had “a certain religiosity”:

“But he was a closed man, closed in his own little world – the world of banquets, of clothes, of vanity, of friends – a closed man, truly in a bubble of vanity. He didn’t have the ability to see others, only his own world. And this man did not recognize the things that happened beyond his closed world. For example, he didn’t think of the needs of so many people, or of the necessity of accompanying of the sick; he though only of himself, of his wealth, of his good life: he was given to the good life.”
 

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http://www.news.va/en/news/fr-cantalamessa-preaches-second-lenten-sermon-on-t

Fr Cantalamessa preaches second Lenten sermon on the Word of God
2016-02-26 Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) The preacher of the papal household, Capuchin Father Raniero Cantalamessa, gave the second Lenten sermon for the members of the Roman Curia gathered in the Redemptoris Mater chapel in the Vatican on Friday morning.

Continuing his reflections on the key documents of the Second Vatican Council, Fr Cantalamessa spoke about the meaning of the Word of God through the text of ‘Dei Verbum’.

Beginning with an exploration of how God spoke through the prophets of the Old Testament, the papal preacher went on to talk about the way the Word became flesh in the person of Jesus Christ.

He focused his reflection on reading the Bible as a path to personal sanctification, especially through the practice of ‘lectio divina’, or receiving, meditating and putting the Word of God into practice in our lives.

Please find below the full text of Fr Raniero Cantalamessa’s second Lenten sermon:
 

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http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-francis-meets-participants-at-a-cor-unum-conf

Pope Francis meets participants at a 'Cor Unum' conference
2016-02-26 Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Friday met with participants at an international conference organised by the Pontifical Council ‘Cor Unum’ to mark the tenth anniversary of Pope Benedict XVI’s first encyclical ‘Deus Caritas Est’.

Reflecting on the theme of the conference, ‘Love will never end’, Pope Francis said the message of the encyclical remains timely, especially in this Jubilee year as we celebrate the central belief of our faith, that God is love.

The love which we receive from God and share with others, he said, is “the fulcrum of the history of the Church and of the history of each one of us.” The act of charity, the Pope said, is not simply almsgiving to ease one’s conscience, but rather a “loving attentiveness towards the other” and a desire to share friendship with God.

Even if we turn away from God, the Pope told participants, it is in God’s nature to communicate his love and mercy to us. The mission of charitable organisations is of utmost importance, he said, because, it is not with words, but with concrete love that we can make every person feel loved by the Father. The Pope concluded by thanking all those who daily are committing themselves to this charitable mission which remains a challenge to every Christian. The more we live in this spirit of receiving and sharing God's love with others, he said, the more authentic we all are as Christians.

Please find below the full address by Pope Francis to participants at the conference organised by the Pontifical Council ‘Cor Unum
 

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http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-francis-meets-with-children-who-wrote-letters

Pope Francis meets with children who wrote letters for new book
2016-02-25 Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has met with several of the children who wrote him letters for his new book, “Dear Pope Francis,” which was presented to him during the meeting.

The young people were accompanied by the President of Caritas Internationalis, Manila Archbishop Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, and the editor-in-chief of the Jesuit magazine La Civiltà Cattolica, Fr. Antonio Spadaro, SJ, who helped Pope Francis with the book.

During the encounter – involving children from Italy, the Philippines, India, Kenya, Australia, Argentina, the United States, Canada, Singapore, Ireland, Belgium, and China – the Holy Father said the questions asked for the book were some of the “most difficult” he had ever been asked.

Pope Francis then proceeded to answer more questions the children had.
 

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http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-makes-surprise-visit-to-san-carlo-community

Pope makes surprise visit to San Carlo community
2016-02-26 Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Friday paid a surprise visit to the San Carlo community at the Italian Centre for Solidarity (CeIS) near Castelgandalfo in the Alban hills. Founded by Father Mario Picchi, the San Carlo community works to prevent and combat social exclusion, focusing especially on those suffering from drug addiction.

The unscheduled visit came as part of the Pope’s plan to make a concrete gesture linked to the works of mercy on one Friday of every month throughout this Jubilee year.

The President of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of New Evangelization, Archbishop Rino Fisichella, who accompanied the Holy Father, said the 55 young people and the volunteers living at the community centre were astonished to see him arrive unannounced and without a security escort.

The Archbishop said Pope Francis spent time talking to each one of them and listening to their stories of battling drug dependency. Founded in the late 1960s, the centre also welcomed Pope Paul VI and Pope John Paul II, who met with its young residents during an official visit in September 1983.
 

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http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-francis-meets-with-minister-president-of-thur

Pope Francis meets with Minister-President of Thüringen
2016-02-27 Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Friday met with Bodo Ramelow, the Minister-President of the German state of Thüringen.

Ramelow is the first politician from the Left Party – which is descended from East Germany’s Communist party – to govern a German state.

After the meeting, Ramelow told Vatican Radio’s German Programme he invited the Holy Father to visit Thüringen to mark the anniversary of the Reformation, although he admitted it was unlikely to happen, given the Pope’s schedule.

“I explained to him that we have created a new programme called Achawa, which is the Hebrew word for brotherhood,” said Ramelow, a practicing Protestant. “This has brought together Catholics, Protestants, and many representatives of civil society… We think about the issues of the Reformation as a common theme, and encourage people to think about faith.”
 
During the meeting, Ramelow gave the Pope a replica of a 1534 Bible and a bronze statue of St. Elizabeth of Hungary.

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http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-francis-meets-new-president-of-argentina

Pope Francis meets new President of Argentina
2016-02-27 Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Saturday morning received in audience  the President of Argentina, Mauricio Macri, who subsequently met with the Vatican’s Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, and Archbishop  Paul Richard Gallagher, the Secretary for Relations with States.

President Macri assumed office in December, and was previously the Head of Government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires from 2007 to 2015. Previously, he  represented the City of Buenos Aires in the lower house of Argentina’s Congress from 2005 to 2007. Pope Francis served as the Archbishop of Buenos Aires from 1998 until his election to the see of Peter in 2013.

A statement released by the Holy See Press Office called the meeting between the two men “cordial,” and said this “demonstrated the good bilateral relations between the  Holy See and the Argentine Republic.”
 
During the encounter, President Macri gave Pope Francis several gifts, including a poncho, CD’s with traditional Argentine music and tango, and a wooden Matara Cross, the symbol of evangelization in Latin America.

Pope Francis gave the President a Peace Medallion, with the symbol of an olive tree.

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http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-francis-meets-with-ceo-of-instagram-kevin-sys

Pope Francis meets with CEO of Instagram, Kevin Systrom
2016-02-27 Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Friday met with the CEO and co-founder of Instagram, Kevin Systrom.  The photo-sharing social network was founded in 2010, and bought by Facebook in 2012. Over 300 million people use the service each month.

Systrom posted a photo of the meeting on his Instagram profile, writing: “Today I had the honor of meeting Pope Francis. We spoke about the power of images to unite people across different cultures and languages. It was by far one of the most memorable experiences of my life!”
 

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http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-francis-to-confindustria-business-people-just

Pope Francis to Confindustria business people: ‘Justice excludes every favoritism’
2016-02-27 Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio)  Pope Francis on Saturday met with members of the Italian association of manufacturing companies, Confindustria, calling them to reflect together on the ethics of doing business.

In remarks prepared for the occasion, Pope Francis spoke with the more than 7,000 businessmen and women from Italy’s largest manufacturing association about their slogan 'Work Together'.

Calling them to make that slogan into a true business program, the Holy Father meditated with the members of Confindustria on its deeper meaning of a way to contribute to a more just society.

“Your proposal,” the pope said, “is to reflect together on the ethics of doing business; together you have decided to focus your attention on values, values which are the ‘backbone’ of any formation project, of the appreciation of your country, and of promoting social relations, and which allow for a concrete alternative to the consumeristic model of profit at all costs.”
 

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http://www.news.va/en/news/angelus-jesus-calls-us-to-change-our-heart

Angelus: Jesus calls us to change our heart
2016-02-28 Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) Speaking before the recitation of the Marian prayer and drawing inspiration from Sunday’s Gospel, the Pope said that "even today, in the face of certain misfortunes and tragic events, we can be tempted to ‘discharge’ the responsibility on the victims, or even God himself. But the Gospel, he said, invites us to reflect on what is our idea of ​​God? “Do we believe that God is that way, or is it our own projection, a god made 'in our image and likeness'?”

The Holy Father stressed, that Jesus calls upon us to draw from painful events a warning that concerns everyone, because we are all sinners. He says to those who asked him, ‘if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did”.

Jesus, Pope Francis explained, calls us to change our heart, and make a radical change in the our journey of life, by abandoning compromises with evil and by being less hypocritical because he noted, nearly everyone has “a little piece of hypocrisy.”

"Unfortunately”, said Pope Francis, “each of us looks a lot like a tree that has shown to be sterile for many years. Fortunately for us, Jesus is like the peasant who, with limitless patience, gets again an extension for the barren fig tree…”
 

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http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-angelus-prayers-for-refugees-syria-and-fiji

Pope Angelus: Prayers for refugees, Syria and Fiji
2016-02-28 Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Sunday prayed for refugees fleeing wars and what he called “other inhuman situations.” In particular, he drew attention to the migrant crisis in Greece and in other countries that are on the front line in offering aid to those in need which he added, required the cooperation of all nations.

The Holy Father said that a united response was most effective in order to distribute the burden evenly, continuing that, “ for this we need to focus firmly and unreservedly on negotiations.”

The Pope made the comments following the Angelus prayer in St Peter’s Square where he also welcomed the news about the cessation of hostilities in Syria. He invited everyone to pray so that this window of opportunity would give relief to the suffering people, and open the way to dialogue and much desired peace.
 

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http://www.news.va/en/news/st-peters-medical-facility-for-homeless-a-great-si

St Peter's medical facility for homeless a great sign of hope
2016-02-28 Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) The Italian association Solidarity Medicine has thanked Pope Francis for the new facility in the colonnade of St. Peter’s Square which provides medical care to people who are homeless and in need.

The director of the association, Lucia Ercoli said "we are grateful to Pope Francis for wanting to, once again, give a concrete sign of mercy in St. Peter's Square to the homeless or distressed. Our doctors along with those of FAS and the Policlinico Tor Vergata have accepted with great passion this new challenge that ideally combines the work done in recent years in the suburbs with the heart of Christianity. "
 

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http://www.news.va/en/news/mass-at-santa-marta-salvation-comes-from-little-th

Mass at Santa Marta - Salvation comes from little things
2016-02-29 L’Osservatore Romano

God’s salvation comes not from great things, not from power or money, no from clerical or political networks, but from little and simple things that sometimes even arise from disdain. Francis proposed this meditation during Mass at Santa Marta on Monday morning, 29 February.

“The Church prepares us for Easter and today makes us reflect on salvation: what do we think salvation is like”, Francis began, “the salvation that we all want?”. The story of “Naaman’s disease”, narrated in the Second Book of Kings (5:1-15), presents “the fact of death: and afterwards?”. Indeed, “when there is sickness, it always leads us back to that thought: salvation”. But, the Pontiff asked, “how does salvation come about? What is the path to salvation? What is God’s revelation to us Christians with regard to salvation?”.

In the Pope’s view, “the key word to understanding the Church’s message today is disdain”. When “Naaman, arriving at Elisha’s house, asked to be cured, Elisha sent a boy to tell him to wash in the Jordan seven times. A simple thing”. Perhaps for this reason “Naaman disdained”, exclaiming: “I have made such a journey, with so many gifts...”. Instead everything was resolved by simply bathing in the river. Moreover, Naaman continued, “our rivers are more beautiful than this one”.
 

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http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-francis-meets-with-carabinieri-serving-vatica

Pope Francis meets with Carabinieri serving Vatican area
2016-02-29 Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Monday expressed his appreciation for the members of the company of  “Carabinieri” which serves the Vatican area of Rome.

The Carabinieri are the military police of Italy, and serve both the military and civilian populations. It is one of the two main national police forces of the nation, the other being the “Polizia di Stato.”

Pope Francis thanked them for their “effective cooperation” with the competent bodies of the Holy See to ensure the “smooth progress” of the Holy Year, and noted their patience and professionalism in dealing with pilgrims and tourists, many of whom are elderly.
 

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http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-francis-to-ethiopian-patriarch-martyrs-seed-o

Pope Francis to Ethiopian Patriarch: Martyrs seed of Christian unity
2016-02-29 Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis urged world leaders to “promote peaceful coexistence” in the face of “a devastating outbreak of violence against Christians” on Monday, when he received the Patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, Pope Matthias I, in the Vatican.

The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church is the largest of the Oriental Orthodox Churches, which rejected the definitions of the Council of Chalcedon in AD 451.

In his address, Pope Francis told Pope Matthias I “what unites us is greater than what divides us,” and added that “shared sufferings have enabled Christians, otherwise divided in so many ways, to grow closer to one another.”

“Just as in the early Church the shedding of the blood of martyrs became the seed of new Christians, so today the blood of the many martyrs of all the Churches has become the seed of Christian unity,” Pope Francis said. “The ecumenism of the martyrs is a summons to us, here and now, to advance on the path to ever greater unity.”

Pope Francis noted that “from the beginning” the Ethiopian Church has been a Church of martyrs.

“Today too, you are witnessing a devastating outbreak of violence against Christians and other minorities in the Middle East and in some parts of Africa,” Pope Francis said. “We cannot fail, yet again, to implore those who govern the world’s political and economic life to promote a peaceful coexistence based on reciprocal respect and reconciliation, mutual forgiveness and solidarity.”

The full address by Pope Francis is below
 

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http://www.catholicnews.com/services/englishnews/2016/spotlight-is-not-anticatholic-vatican-newspaper-says.cfm

'Spotlight' is not anti-Catholic, Vatican newspaper says
By Carol Glatz Catholic News Service
2.29.2016 12:00 PM ET

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Vatican newspaper said the Oscar-winning film, "Spotlight," is not anti-Catholic.

"It is not an anti-Catholic movie, as has been written, because the film succeeds in giving voice to the alarm and deep pain" experienced by the Catholic faithful when a team of investigative newspaper reporters in Boston revealed the scandal of clerical abuse, said the article published Feb. 29 in L'Osservatore Romano.

The paper said it was also a "positive sign" when Michael Sugar, the movie's producer, said he hoped the film would "resonate all the way to the Vatican."

In his acceptance speech at the 88th annual Academy Awards Feb. 28, Sugar said the movie "gave a voice to survivors, and this Oscar amplifies this voice." He then expressed hopes this voice would "become a choir that will resonate all the way to the Vatican."

"Pope Francis, it's time to protect the children and restore the faith," he said.
 

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http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-francis-divine-mercy-forgives-and-forgets

Pope Francis: Divine mercy forgives and forgets
2016-03-01 Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis celebrated Mass in the chapel of the Casa Santa Marta in the Vatican on Tuesday morning. In remarks to the faithful following the readings of the day, the Holy Father spoke on the season of Lent as a privileged time in which to prepare our hearts to receive God’s forgiveness and to forgive our neighbors in turn, forgetting the faults of others.

The Holy Father’s address focused on God’s infinite capacity for forgiveness as a perfection of his nature, which contrasts sharply with the inability of fallen human nature to make even the slightest concession to its own frailty.

Without memory

Taking as his starting point the Gospel account of Peter’s well-known question to Jesus regarding how many times we are to forgive a brother who has sinned against us – seventy times seven times (cf. Mt. 18:22) –   and the account from the 1st reading of the young Azaria, sentenced to death in a furnace for refusing to worship a golden idol, who, from the flames of the fiery furnace invokes God's mercy for the people at the same time as he implores forgiveness for himself (cf. Dn. 3:25,33-43), the Holy Father offered the young Azaria’s prayer as an especially apt illustration of the way we ought to trust in the goodness and mercy of the Lord:
 

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http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-church-does-not-need-blood-money-but-openness

Pope: 'Church does not need "blood money" but openness to God's mercy'
2016-03-02 Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis says the Church has no need for “blood” money that derives from exploitation of people; what it needs is that the hearts of faithful be open to God’s mercy.

Speaking to the crowds gathered in St. Peter’s Square for the weekly General Audience, the Pope’s catechesis was inspired by the Holy Year of Mercy and he reflected on God’s fatherly love and forgiveness

When God’s children err in their ways, the Pope said, God calls out to them lovingly and never disowns them.
   “The most evil of men, the most evil of women, and the most evil of peoples are His children” he said.

The Lord never disowns us; he always calls us to be close to Him. This – the Pope said – is the love of our Father, the mercy of God.

“To have a Father like this gives us hope and trust” he said.

And commenting on the fact that “when a person is sick he turns to the doctor; when he feels he has sinned” Francis said: “he must turn to God – because if he turns to the witchdoctor he will not be healed”.

Pointing out that “we often choose to tread the wrong paths in search of a justification, justice, and peace” Pope Francis said that these are gifts that are bestowed upon us by the Lord if we choose the right path and turn to Him.

“I think of some benefactors of the Church, who come with an offer for the Church and their offer is the fruit of the blood of people who have been exploited, enslaved with work which was under-payed” he said.

“I will tell these people to please take back their cheques. The People of God don’t need their dirty money but hearts that are open to the mercy of God” he said.