Pope Francis

[grace-land]

http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2016/03/03/pope_francis_recognize_sinfulness_to_receive_gods_mercy/1212697

Pope Francis: recognize sinfulness to receive God's mercy
03/03/2016 12:29

(Vatican Radio)  Only if our hearts are open and we recognize ourselves as sinners can we receive God’s mercy. That’s the message Pope Francis imparted to the faithful gathered for the morning Mass Thursday at the Santa Marta guesthouse. 

Commenting on the First Reading from the Book of Jeremiah, the Pope stresses in his Homily that "God is always faithful, for he cannot deny himself" while the people do not listen to His word. Jeremiah therefore tells us the "many things that God has done to attract the hearts of the people," but, the Pope adds, the people remain unfaithful.

If the heart is hardened and closed, God’s mercy does not enter

"This unfaithfulness of God's people,”  warns the Pope,  is  “also ours.” It is “our own infidelity [which] hardens the heart, closes the heart!"
 

[grace-land]

http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-address-to-pontifical-academy-for-life

Pope address to Pontifical Academy for Life
2016-03-03 Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis said on Thursday that some organisations at the service of human life “are more interested in the economic side than working for the common good." He also warned that human nature nowadays is increasingly reduced to a malleable material that can be molded to any design and said the first thing to safeguard is our own humanity. His comments came in an address to participants at the Plenary Assembly of the Pontifical Academy for Life.

Participants at the Assembly are discussing the theme of virtue in the ethics of life and in his address to the gathering, Pope Francis stressed the need to welcome and care for human life in all circumstances.  At the same time, he said, we must protect our humanity from the poison of selfishness and lies and warned that when it comes to defending human life, it’s not uncommon that so-called “splendid vices” are “masquerading under the name of virtues.” 

The Pope explained that whilst there are many institutions working in the service of human life there are also many others that are more interested in the economic side than in striving for the common good.
 

[grace-land]

http://www.news.va/en/news/holy-see-and-prime-minister-of-timor-ratify-key-ag

Pope Francis meets Prime Minister of East Timor
2016-03-03 Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Thursday received Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste (East Timor), His Excellency Rui Maria de  Araújo, who subsequently met with the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin,  who was accompanied by the under-secretary for Relations with States, Msgr. Antoine Camilleri.

A press statement from the Holy See Press Office called the discussions cordial, and said “the good relations between the Holy See and Timor-Leste  were evoked, as well as the historical contribution of the Church to building up the nation and collaboration with the civil Authorities in various social areas, such as education, health and the fight against poverty.”

At the end of the meeting with the Secretary of State, in the Hall of Treaties in the Vatican  Apostolic Palace, there took place the exchange of instruments for the ratification of the Accord  between the Holy See and the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, signed in Dili on 14 August  2015.
 

[grace-land]

http://www.news.va/en/news/fr-cantalamessa-third-lenten-reflection-on-word-of

Fr. Cantalamessa: Third Lenten Reflection on Word of God
2016-03-04 Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) As part of their Lenten preparation for Easter, Pope Francis and members of the Curia have been reflecting on Dei verbum, Word of God, one of the key documents to come out of the Second Vatican Council.

In his third Lenten reflection in the Vatican, Capuchin Fr. Raniero Catalamessa, preacher of the Papal Household, focused on “proclaiming the word,” continuing on from earlier themes examined: “receive the word, meditate on the word and put the word into practice.”

In evangelizing, “actions speak louder than words,” Fr. Cantalamessa suggests, indicating that even “those who spend the majority of their time behind a desk…can contribute…to evangelization.”  Speaking of the Curia, the papal preacher said, “If someone conceives of his work as a service to the Pope and to the Church, if he renews that intention every so often and does not allow concern for his career to take priority in his heart, then that humble employee of a Congregation contributes more to evangelization than a professional preacher who seeks to please people more than God.”
 

[grace-land]

http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-francis-to-confessors-be-channels-of-mercy

Pope Francis to confessors: ‘be channels of mercy’
2016-03-04 Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio)  Pope Francis on Friday addressed the participants of a course on the internal forum organized by the Apostolic Penitentiary, calling them to become ‘channels of mercy’.

The yearly week-long course prepares new priests and seminarians for the correct administration of the Sacrament of Reconciliation and traditionally concludes in an audience with the Holy Father.

In remarks prepared for the occasion, Pope Francis reminded the priests and seminarians of the importance of “an adequate and updated preparation” for confessors, “so that all who come to confess their sins may ‘touch the grandeur of God’s mercy with their own hands, the source of true inner peace’ (Bull, Misericordiae Vultus, 17)”.

“Mercy”, the Holy Father said, “before being an attitude or human virtue, is a unfailing choice by God in favor of every human being for their eternal salvation, a choice sealed with the blood of the Son of God.”
 

[grace-land]

Photo from March 13, 2015

http://www.news.va/en/news/24-hours-for-the-lord-immersed-in-gods-mercy

24 hours for the Lord: Immersed in God's mercy
2016-03-04 Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Friday afternoon began the "24 hours for the Lord" with a penitential celebration in St. Peter’s Basilica. The initiative now in its third year will place emphasis once again on the importance of prayer, Eucharistic adoration and the sacrament of reconciliation.

The intention for this year, the Jubilee of Mercy, is to draw people around the world to the mercy of God.

The “24 Hours for the Lord” is being promoted by the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization.

The English language official at the Council, Fr Eugene Silva told Lydia O’Kane that it is an opportunity once again in this Jubilee Year to place the sacrament of penance and reconciliation back at the centre of ordinary pastoral life.
 

[grace-land]

March 4, 2016 Tweets
https://twitter.com/roccopalmo

Rocco Palmo Retweeted
Archdiocese of NO ‏@archdioceseofno  · 4h  4 hours ago 

The Vatican has released a new Guide to Going to Confession... http://fb.me/4qEh9Ldcv
----------------
http://www.im.va/content/dam/gdm/documenti/pdfvari/24HoursForTheLord.pdf

THE PONTIFICAL COUNCIL FOR THE PROMOTION
OF THE NEW EVANGELIZATION
MERCIFUL LIKE
THE FATHER

24 HOURS FOR THE LORD
MARCH 4-5, 2016

PASTORAL GUIDE TO THE
SACRAMENT OF RECONCILIATION
 

[grace-land]

http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-francis-leads-penitential-celebration-at-st-p

Pope Francis leads Penitential Celebration at St Peter's
2016-03-04 Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) As part of ongoing celebrations for the Jubilee Year of Mercy, Pope Francis on Friday evening delivered the homily at a special "Penitential Celebration" in St Peter's Basilica.

Below, please find the full text of Pope Francis' prepared homily for the Celebration
*************************************************************
Homily of His Holiness Pope Francis
 Penitential Celebration Saint Peter’s Basilica

Friday, 4 March 2016

“I want to see again” (Mk 10:51). This is what we ask of the Lord today. To see again, because our sins have made us lose sight of all that is good, and have robbed us of the beauty of our calling, leading us instead far away from our journey's end.
 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDyVn6S9uTo
Penitential Celebration 2016.03.04

[grace-land]

http://www.news.va/en/news/vatican-official-meets-australian-sex-abuse-surviv

Vatican official meets Australian sex abuse survivors
2016-03-04 Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) The Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors issued a statement on Friday in response to Cardinal George Pell’s hearings via video link with Australia’s Royal Commission investigating institutional responses to child sexual abuse.

The statement says that a member of the Pontifical Commission, Jesuit Fr Hans Zollner, has met with survivors of clerical sex abuse who had come over from Australia for the hearings that took place this week at Rome’s Hotel Quirinale.  The three victim/survivors from Ballarat, north west of Melbourne, requested the meeting in order to share ideas about healing and about how to protect children from abuse in the future.

While acknowledging that the problem is not limited to the Catholic Church, the three men said they were keen to develop links with the Vatican Commission established by Pope Francis in March 2014. They spoke in particular about models of educating children, parents and teachers to effect structural change within the Church and to safeguard vulnerable people.

The Ballarat survivors also met with students attending a diploma-programme in Safeguarding of Minors at the Gregorian University, where Fr Hans serves as president of the Psychology Institute’s Centre for Child Protection.

Progress in child protection

Meanwhile a note from the director of the Holy See press office, Fr Federico Lombardi, set out the many steps that have been taken by Vatican and by local Churches over the past two and a half decades to combat the problems of clerical sex abuse. He said some media coverage of this week’s Royal Commission hearings and reviews of the Oscar-winning film Spotlight have ignored the important progress made towards supporting victims and ensuring the protection of vulnerable people in all churches and religious institutions.
 
http://www.thetablet.co.uk/news/3087/0/cardinal-pell-admits-he-knew-about-catholic-abuse-complaint-and-failed-to-act
Cardinal Pell admits he knew about Catholic abuse complaint and failed to act
03 March 2016

[grace-land]

Rest in Peace   

Pope Francis condemns "diabolic" attack on Missionaries of Charity in Yemen
2016-03-05 Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis was “shocked and profoundly saddened” by the murder of four Missionaries of Charity and twelve other people at a home for the elderly in Aden, Yemen.

Gunmen entered the building on Friday and went room-to-room, handcuffing victims before shooting them in the head.

A message signed by the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, said the Holy Father “sends the assurance of his prayers for the dead and his spiritual closeness to their families and to all affected from this act of senseless and diabolical violence.”

The message said Pope Francis “prays that this pointless slaughter will awaken consciences, lead to a change of heart, and inspire all parties to lay down their arms and take up the path of dialogue.”

It concludes with a strong appeal for an end to the ongoing violence in Yemen.

“In the name of God, he calls upon all parties in the present conflict to renounce violence, and to renew their commitment to the people of Yemen, particularly those most in need, whom the Sisters and their helpers sought to serve” – the message reads – “Upon everyone suffering from this violence, the Holy Father invokes God’s blessing, and in a special ways he extends to the Missionaries of Charity his prayerful sympathy and solidarity.”

The full text of the message is below
 

[grace-land]

http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2016/03/05/pope_meets_with_swiss_protestant_leader/1213171

Pope meets with Swiss Protestant leader
05/03/2016 07:53

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Friday met with Gottfried Locher, the President of the Swiss Federation of Protestant Churches.

In an interview with Vatican Radio’s German section, Locher said they spoke about “ecumenism and Protestantism in Europe.”

Locher also said the meeting was “very warm,” and the Pope “laughed a lot.”

Locher, who also serves on the three-member Presidium of the Community of Protestant Churches in Europe (CPCE), said Pope Francis is “very interested in ecumenism.”
 

[grace-land]

http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2016/03/05/ukrainian_greek_catholic_leader_meets_with_pope_francis/1213401

Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church confirms communion with Rome: "what no totalitarian regime could break"
05/03/2016 18:01

(Vatican Radio) On Saturday Pope Francis met with leaders of the Permanent Synod of the Greek-Catholic Ukrainian Church. His Beatitude Sviatoslav Shevhchuk affirmed communion with the Catholic Church despite a century of persecution inflicted by totalitarian regimes. Suffering in Ukraine included wars, genocides, a state-planned famine, and ethnic cleansing, all claiming some 15 million lives. Suffering continues in Ukraine for which the Permanent Synod seeks the Holy Father's support. The statement of the Permanent Synod is reproduced below in full:

As Pastors We Speak Out on Behalf of Our People

Before the Holy Father and Before the World:

“Pope Francis heard us.”

“We came to reaffirm our communion with the Holy Father and to ask for his help for the suffering people of Ukraine during the Jubilee Year of Mercy,” stated His Beatitude Sviatoslav Shevhchuk. “And the Holy Father heard us.”
 

[grace-land]

http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-says-slain-nuns-are-modern-day-martyrs

Pope says slain nuns are modern-day martyrs
2016-03-06 Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis says that the four nuns who were killed in Yemen are modern-day martyrs and victims of indifference.

During his address to the faithful gathered in St. Peter’s Square after the Angelus prayer, the Pope prayed for the slain nuns who belonged to Mother Teresa’s “Missionaries of Charity” and who were serving in a home for the elderly which was attacked on Friday by gunmen in the city of Aden.

Expressing his closeness to the religious Order, he said the nuns “gave their blood for the Church”' and that they were not only victims of the attackers but also of “this indifference of globalization.”

The nuns were among 16 people killed during an attack by terrorists who stormed the retirement home.

Pope Francis also praised an ecumenical project to fly refugees to Europe as “a concrete sign of commitment for peace and life.”
 

[grace-land]

http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2016/03/06/pope_expresses_gratitude_to_ukrainian_greek_catholic_church/1213491

Pope expresses gratitude to Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church
06/03/2016 16:24

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has written a letter of thanks and gratitude to His Beatitude Sviatoslav Shevhchuk, Major Archbishop of Kiev and Head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church.

The Archbishop, together with other members of the Permanent Synod of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church have been meeting in Rome and released a statement in which they affirmed communion with the Catholic Church. They were received in audience by the Pope on Saturday.

In his letter to Archbishop Shevhchuk, Pope Francis recalls that some seventy years ago, a particular ideological and political context, as well as the existence of “ideas that were contrary to the very existence of your Church, led to the organization of a pseudo-synod in Lviv, and caused decades of suffering for the pastors and the faithful”.

“In sad memory of  these events, he writes, we bow our heads in deep gratitude before those, who at the cost of  suffering and even martyrdom, continued to witness the faith in the course of time and to show dedication to the Church in union with the Successor of Peter”.
 

[grace-land]

http://www.news.va/en/news/popes-lenten-retreat-focusses-on-questions-posed-b

Pope’s Lenten retreat focusses on questions posed by the Gospel
2016-03-07 Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis and other members of the Roman Curia began their annual spiritual retreat on Sunday 6th February, the fourth Sunday of Lent.

On Sunday evening, after having prayed the Angelus together with the faithful in St. Peter’s Square at noon, Pope Francis boarded a small bus that took him to the “Casa Divin Maestro” Centre in the town of Ariccia in the Alban Hills just outside Rome.

This is where Fr. Ermes Ronchi, of the Servants of Mary, is leading the group in spiritual exercises based on 10 questions from the Gospels.
 
1. “What are you looking for?” (John 1:38)
 2. “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?” (Mark 4:40) 3. “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again?”   (Matthew 5:13)
 4. “But who do you say that I am?” (Luke 9:20) 5. “Then, turning to the woman, he told Simon, ‘Do you see this woman?’” (Luke 7:44)
 

[grace-land]

http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-francis-begins-lenten-spiritual-exercises

Pope Francis begins Lenten Spiritual Exercises
2016-03-07 Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis and members of the Vatican Curia arrived on Sunday evening at the "Casa del Divin Maestro,” a retreat centre in Ariccia, located about 25 miles from Rome. They are taking part in the week-long Curial Spiritual Exercises.

Usually conducted during the first week of Lent, the exercises were postponed this year due to the Papal Voyage to Mexico.

Each day will include moments of prayer, meditation, and Eucharistic adoration. The spiritual exercises will be led by noted Italian author, Father Ermes Ronchi.
 

[grace-land]

http://www.news.va/en/news/mother-teresas-canonization-date-expected-on-march

Mother Teresa’s canonization date expected on March 15
2016-03-07 Vatican Radio

Pope Francis will hold an ordinary public consistory of cardinals in the Vatican March 15, during which he will sign the decree for the canonization of Blessed Mother Teresa of Kolkata and four others.  The dates and venue  of their sainthood ceremony are expected to be declared at the consistory.  Pope Francis had officially cleared Blessed Mother Teresa for sainthood on Dec. 17, 2015, recognizing the miraculous healing through her intercession of a Brazilian man with multiple brain abscesses.   Mother Teresa was conferred the title Blessed in Rome, Italy, on October 19, 2003, after Pope St. John Paul II recognized  the miraculous healing of an Indian woman with a tumour in her abdomen.
 
‎

[grace-land]

http://www.news.va/en/news/spiritual-exercises-spotlight-on-christ-not-the-ch

Spiritual exercises: Spotlight on Christ not the Church
2016-03-08 Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) The priest leading the spiritual exercises for Pope Francis and the Roman Curia says the Church must not shine the spotlight on herself but instead on Christ. Father Ermes Ronchi’s reflections came during his meditations on Tuesday morning that were delivered at the ‘Divin Maestro’ centre in the town of Ariccia, south of Rome, where the Pope and the Roman Curia are spending their Lenten retreat.

The inspiration for Tuesday morning’s reflections by Father Ronchi came from the gospel account of where Peter professes his faith in Christ as the Son of God. Noting that this was preceded by Jesus asking the disciples who they thought He was, Father Ronchi said in this way Christ is not giving lessons or suggesting replies based on what other people say about him but instead is urging his apostles  to look inside their own hearts. Jesus wants to know if his disciples have opened their hearts to God who is living inside them. Our hearts, explained Father Ronchi, “can be the cradle or the tomb of God.”

He went on to say that Jesus also warned his apostles that following him means an appointment with a man on the Cross. Christ spills his own blood not that of anybody else and he doesn’t sacrifice other people, just himself.
 

[grace-land]

http://www.news.va/en/news/spiritual-excercises-to-share-is-to-multiply

Spiritual Excercises: 'to share is to multiply'
2016-03-09 Vatican Radio

Vatican Radio) The theme of transparency regarding the Church‘s assets and the question regarding the fight against hunger and food waste were two key points during the Sixth meditation of the Pope’s Lenten Retreat.

Led by Father Ermes Ronchi who is preaching to Pope Francis and to members of the Roman Curia at their retreat in the town of Ariccia, the exercises focus on ten questions from the Gospels.

The question at the heart of Wednesday morning’s reflection was “How many loaves do you have?” (Mark 6:38, Matthew 15:34).

 "The thing that most hurts Christians - Father Ronchi said - is the clergy’s attachment to money,” whilst what makes them happy is “the sharing of the bread”.

Father Ronchi began his meditation saying "Some people are so hungry that for them God cannot but have the form of a loaf of bread”.

“Life – he said - begins with hunger; to be alive is to be hungry”. And if you take that a step further one must consider the hunger of millions of people in the world: “the siege of the poor", millions of outstretched hands asking for something to eat does not - he said -  ask for a religious definition. “How does the Church respond?”
 

[grace-land]

http://www.news.va/en/news/compassion-at-heart-of-lenten-reflection-for-pope

Compassion at heart of Lenten reflection for Pope
2016-03-10 Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio)  All true Christians should embody the compassion of the Good Samaritan, offering caring witness towards those who suffer:  this is the message at the heart of Fr. Ermes Ronchi’s Lenten meditation for Pope Francis and the Roman Curia on the fifth day of their spiritual exercises in Ariccia, in the hills outside Rome.

His reflection draws on the tears shed by Mary Magdalen after finding Jesus’ tomb empty.  She is stopped by a voice which asks “whom are you seeking and why are you crying?”

The 3 verbs that lead to compassion

The risen Jesus, Fr. Ronchi explains, “is the Lord of life” and he cares about  Mary Magdalen’s tears.  In his last hours on the Cross on Good Friday, Jesus was concerned for the pain and anguish suffered by a thief, Fr. Ronchi observes.  And in the early hours of Easter, he was concerned about Mary’s pain and her love. 

“Jesus is the man of encounter," the priest says: “he never looks for a person’s sins, but always focusses on their suffering and need."