Pope Francis

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http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/09/03/pope_angelus_temptation_to_follow_a_christ_without_a_cross/1334441

Pope Angelus: The temptation to follow a Christ without a Cross
03/09/2017 14:00

(Vatican Radio) Before the recitation of the Angelus Prayer on Sunday, Pope Francis delved into the meaning of this Sunday’s Gospel reading, telling pilgrims in St Peter’s Square that, “there is always the temptation to follow a Christ without a Cross, rather, to teach God the right path,".

He was referring to the passage where Jesus, "reveals to the disciples that he will suffer, be killed and rise again in Jerusalem and he is reproached by Peter because he cannot accept that all this will happen to the Messiah.” Jesus, said the Pope, “responds with a reproach in turn: "Get behind me, Satan! You are scandalized, because you do not think according to God, but according to men! "

The Holy Father went on to say, "at that point, the Master addresses all those who followed him, clearly presenting the way to go:" The Lord says, “if anyone wants to follow me, he must deny himself, take up his Cross, and follow me ". Again, even today, noted the Pope, “the temptation is to follow a Christ without a Cross, rather, to teach God the right path.”
 
http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/09/03/angelus_prayers_for_those_hit_by_us_and_south_asia_floods/1334426
Pope Angelus: renewed prayers for those hit by US and South Asia floods
03/09/2017 12:38

https://zenit.org/articles/angelus-address-on-the-need-to-bear-the-cross-full-translation/
Angelus: “Love alone gives meaning and happiness to life” (Full Translation) 
September 3, 2017

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dY1tfqq4bKs
2017.09.03 Angelus Domini

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http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/09/04/pope_meets_with_members_of_the_shalom_community/1334632

Pope meets with members of the Shalom community
04/09/2017 16:31

Pope Francis meets in the Vatican on Monday with cheering members of the Catholic Shalom community - AP
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis met in the Vatican on Monday with a cheering crowd of young people and families belonging to the Shalom community. Speaking off the cuff in his native Spanish, the Pope replied to questions from three young members of the community about how to witness to their faith in a world often marked by indifference and hopelessness.

The Shalom Catholic community was founded back in the early 1980s in the city of Fortaleza in north-eastern Brazil. Today it counts some 3.800 members spread across the different continents, and is focused on contemplation, unity and evangelization.

Go out to share the good news

In his reply to a young man named Juan from Chile, Pope Francis highlighted the importance of “going out of oneself” to share the good news of God’s mercy with others. God is always with us, he insisted, waiting for us even in the most difficult moments of our lives, just as the father of the prodigal son runs out to embrace his child, despite all the sinful things he has done.
 

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http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/09/04/pope_in_colombia_to_support_peace_and_promote_reconciliation/1332567

Pope visits Colombia 'to support peace and promote reconciliation'
04/09/2017 11

Colombian President Santos and head of the FARC Timochenko shake hands as Cuban President seals their handshake in Sept 2015 - AFP
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis is set to travel to Colombia from 6 to 11 September. He will be the third Pope to visit the Latin American nation in the footsteps of Pope Paul VI in 1964 and Pope Saint John Paul II in 1986.

Francis begins his trip in the capital Bogota and also will visit the cities of Villavicencio, Medellin and Cartagena.

It is a crucial moment for Colombia, which is in the throes of implementing a peace agreement with FARC rebels after a 52-year internal conflict that has left over 260,000 people dead, 60,000 unaccounted for and over 7 million displaced.

The former British Ambassador to the Holy See, Nigel Baker, who currently heads  the South America Department at the Foreign Office in London,  told Linda Bordoni that Pope Francis’ visit there is an extremely important sign of encouragement for the nation’s peace process and will help promote reconciliation:
 

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http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/09/04/pope_francis_sends_video_message_ahead_of_colombia_visit/1334507

Pope Francis sends video message ahead of Colombia visit
04/09/2017 19:00

Pope Francis sent a video message ahead of his Apostolic Journey to Colombia - AP
(Vatican Radio)  Pope Francis on Monday sent a video message to the people of Colombia ahead of his Apostolic Journey to the country on 6-11 September, inviting them to “take the first step” towards peace.

With just a handful of days to go before his Apostolic Journey, Pope Francis invited all Colombians to “take the first step” in reaching out to their neighbor in a sign of peace.

He thanked those “who welcome me to your land and into your heart” for their many efforts to prepare his visit.

“Let us take the first step” is the theme of his Apostolic Journey to Colombia, and the Holy Father said it “urges us to be the first to love, in order to build bridges and create solidarity.”

He said Colombia has long yearned and worked for peace, which, he said, should be “a stable and lasting peace, so that we see and treat each other as brothers and not as enemies.”

“Peace,” he said, “reminds us that we are all children of the same Father, who loves and consoles us.”

Pope Francis went on to say he is “honored to visit this land so rich in history, culture, and faith.”

He called Colombia a land “of men and women who have labored with tenacity and perseverance to make it a place where harmony and solidarity reign, where the Gospel is known and loved, and where saying ‘brother and sister’ seems not out of place but a true treasure to protect and defend.”

Finally, the Holy Father said the Church is called “to the task of promoting reconciliation, both with the Lord and between brothers, as well as reconciliation with the environment, which is God’s Creation and which we are savagely exploiting.”

Please find below a Vatican Radio English-language translation of the video:
 

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Pope Francis’ visit to Colombia Sept. 6-10

https://cnstopstories.com/2017/06/29/itinerary-pope-to-attend-prayer-meeting-visit-childrens-home-in-colombia/

Itinerary: Pope to attend prayer meeting, visit children’s home in Colombia
Posted on June 29, 2017
By Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Here is the detailed schedule of events planned for Pope Francis’ visit to Colombia Sept. 6-10.

The schedule was released by the Vatican June 23. All times are local, with Eastern Daylight Time in parentheses:

Wednesday, Sept. 6 (Rome, Bogota)

— 11 a.m. (5 a.m.) Departure from Rome’s Fiumicino airport.

— 4:30 p.m. (5:30 p.m.) Arrival at CATAM military section of the Bogota airport. Welcoming ceremony.
 

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http://www.thetablet.co.uk/news/7712/0/-dubia-cardinal-carlo-caffarra-dies-aged-79-

PICTURE: cardinal Carlo Caffarra (Left) arrives at the synod on themes of family, sex and marriage at the Vatican on 6 October, 2014.
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/cardinal-carlo-caffarra-second-of-four-dubia-cardinals-dies-at-79-19596/

Cardinal Carlo Caffarra, second of four 'dubia' cardinals, dies at 79

Vatican City, Sep 6, 2017 / 09:00 am (CNA/EWTN News).- On Tuesday the Vatican announced that Cardinal Carlo Caffarra, Archbishop Emeritus of Bologna, has died at the age of 79.  He was known for pastoral and academic work in support of marriage and families, especially through the founding of the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Marriage and Family.

No details regarding the late prelate's death were included in the Sept. 6 announcement of his passing. However, his death comes almost exactly two months after that of Caffara's friend and collaborator, Cardinal Joachim Meisner, who passed away July 5 while on vacation in Bad Füssing, Germany.

Cardinals Caffara and Meisner were among the four cardinals who penned a letter with five “dubia,” or questions, about the interpretation of Amoris laetitia to Pope Francis, requesting that he “resolve the uncertainties and bring clarity.”

Signed by Caffarra, Meisner and Cardinals Walter Brandmüller and Raymond Leo Burke, the letter was sent to Pope Francis privately on Sept. 19, 2016, but was released to the public two months later.

The four cardinals believed themselves obliged to submit the dubia because of “the fact – which only a blind man could deny – that in the Church there exists great confusion, uncertainty, insecurity caused by some paragraphs of Amoris laetitia,” Caffarra said in a Jan. 14 interview with Matteo Matzuzzi of the Italian publication “Il Foglio.”
 

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https://onepeterfive.com/cardinal-caffarra-died/

Cardinal Caffarra Has Died
Steve Skojec    September 6, 2017

Cardinal Carlo Caffarra, Archbishop emeritus of Bologna, Italy, has passed away. He was 79 years old.

Caffarra is now the second of the four dubia Cardinals to die in the past 60 days. In fact, his death comes two months, almost to the day, since the passing away of Cardinal Joachim Meisner on July 5.

Cardinal Caffarra was unique amongst the dubia cardinals in that he had received a warning message from Sister Lucia in the 1980s about the fight that was coming. In a 2008 interview, Caffarra revealed the unexpected message he was given by the Fatima visionary:

Q. There is a prophecy by Sister Lucia dos Santos, of Fatima, which concerns “the final battle between the Lord and the kingdom of Satan”. The battlefield is the family. Life and the family. We know that you were given charge by John Paul II to plan and establish the Pontifical Institute for the Studies on Marriage and the Family.

A. Yes, I was. At the start of this work entrusted to me by the Servant of God John Paul II, I wrote to Sister Lucia of Fatima through her Bishop as I couldn’t do so directly. Unexplainably, however, since I didn’t expect an answer, seeing that I had only asked for prayers, I received a very long letter with her signature – now in the Institute’s archives. In it we find written: the final battle between the Lord and the reign of Satan will be about marriage and the family. Don’t be afraid, she added, because anyone who operates for the sanctity of marriage and the family will always be contended and opposed in every way, because this is the decisive issue. And then she concluded: however, Our Lady has already crushed its head.
“
Before he signed on to the dubia, Caffarra made clear that he believed Amoris Laetitia to have been a real problem for the Church:

With regard to the papal exhortation, Amoris Laetitia, Cardinal Caffarra points out that its “Chapter 8 is, objectively, unclear” since it causes “conflicts of interpretations even among bishops.” In such a case, continues the Italian prelate, one has to refer to the continuity of the Magisterium of the past in order to receive clarity. “In matters of Doctrine and Morals, the Magisterium cannot contradict itself,” Caffarra states. With regard to the question of the “remarried” divorcees and their access to Holy Communion, the cardinal makes clear that this cannot be changed and that these couples are still not allowed to receive Holy Communion. He refers here to the previous magisterial teaching of the Church and continues: “Now, if the pope would have wanted to change that teaching – it is very clear – he would have the duty, indeed the grave duty, to say so, clearly and explicitly. One cannot change the age-old discipline of the Church with the help of a footnote, and in an uncertain tone.”
 

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https://cruxnow.com/

Pope Francis talks to journalists during the flight from Rome to Bogota, Colombia, Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2017. Francis is heading to Colombia on Wednesday for a five-day visit to try to help heal the wounds of Latin America's longest-running conflict, bolstered by a new cease-fire with a holdout rebel group but fully aware of the fragility of the country's peace process. (Credit: L'Osservatore Romano/Pool Photo via AP.)

https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2017/09/06/pope-francis-asks-prayers-peace-colombia-aboard-papal-plane
Pope Francis asks for prayers for peace in Colombia aboard papal plane
Gerard O'Connell   September 06, 2017

As is now a tradition, 30 minutes after taking off from Rome, on route to Colombia, Pope Francis came to the rear of the plane to greet the 73 journalists, television crews and photographers that are accompanying him on his 20th foreign trip since becoming pope and his fifth to Latin America.

He began by thanking the media “for your company and for the work you will do on this trip,” which he said, “is special because it is a visit to help Colombia to continue forward on the path of peace, and I ask you to pray for this during the journey.”
 
He then reminded the media that “this plane we will fly over Venezuela,” and here, too, he asked them to “pray that it can dialogue, a dialogue with everyone, so that the country can have good stability.”

Francis made no reference to the fact that his flight path to Bogota, the capital of Colombia, had to be changed because of Hurricane Irma, the worst Atlantic hurricane in recorded history, and would now fly over the Barbados, Grenada and Trinidad and Tobago. The flying time from Rome to Bogota is 12 hours 30 minutes.
 
https://cruxnow.com/pope-in-colombia/2017/09/06/pope-says-dialogue-key-real-stability-crisis-torn-venezuela/
Pope says dialogue key to ‘beautiful stability’ in crisis-torn Venezuela
Inés San Martín   September 6, 2017

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http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/09/06/pope_francis_sends_telegrams_on_flight_to_colombia/1335144

Pope Francis sends telegrams to countries flown over on flight to Colombia
06/09/2017 20:46

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has sent telegrams to the countries over which he flew on his flight to Colombia for his Apostolic Journey to the country.

Those countries include: France, Spain, Portugal, United States, The Netherlands, and Venezuela.

Please find below the telegrams:
 
United States (Ocean and Puerto Rico)

THE HONORABLE DONALD TRUMP

PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

WASHINGTON

AS I TRAVEL THROUGH UNITED STATES AIRSPACE ON MY APOSTOLIC VISIT TO COLOMBIA, I EXTEND WARM GREETINGS TO YOU AND YOUR FELLOW CITIZENS, INVOKING UPON ALL OF YOU ALMIGHTY GOD’S ABUNDANT BLESSINGS.

FRANCISCUS PP.
 

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Video of Pope Francis’ visit to Colombia Sept. 6-10 -- Wednesday

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gy9RIx1dPsg
2017.09.06 Pope Francis in Colombia – Welcoming Ceremony - Bogotà
Streamed live 4 hours ago
INTERNATIONAL SOUND (local time 16:30 - 17:00) Pope Francis arrives by plane in Bogotà, beginning his Apostolic Journey to Colombia.

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http://www.catholicnews.com/services/englishnews/2017/pope-arrives-to-help-promote-healing-in-colombia-scarred-by-war.cfm

Pope arrives to help promote healing in Colombia, scarred by war
By David Agren Catholic News Service
9.6.2017 6:44 PM ET

CNS photo/Paul Haring
BOGOTA, Colombia (CNS) -- Pope Francis arrived in Colombia Sept. 6 for a five-day visit to promote reconciliation in a deeply Catholic country scarred and reticent to offer forgiveness after decades of war.

The pope was greeted was welcomed by Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and his wife, Maria Clemencia Rodriguez Munera. Children in traditional costumes presented him with flowers, and the pope greeted members of the Colombian military, including soldiers injured in the line of duty.

In a gesture to promote the themes of peace and reconciliation, he was given a dove by a boy named Emmanuel, who was born in a guerrilla camp to Colombian politician Clara Rojas, kidnapped in 2002 and released nearly six years later.

On the 12-hour flight from Rome, Pope Francis told reporters that the trip was "to help Colombia go forward in its journey of peace."
 

CNS photo/Paul Haring

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Pope Francis’ visit to Colombia Sept. 6-10

https://cnstopstories.com/2017/06/29/itinerary-pope-to-attend-prayer-meeting-visit-childrens-home-in-colombia/

Itinerary: Pope to attend prayer meeting, visit children’s home in Colombia
Posted on June 29, 2017

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Here is the detailed schedule of events planned for Pope Francis’ visit to Colombia Sept. 6-10.

The schedule was released by the Vatican June 23. All times are local, with Eastern Daylight Time in parentheses:
 
Thursday, Sept. 7 (Bogota)

— 9 a.m. (10 a.m.) Meeting with government authorities in the courtyard of Casa de Narino presidential palace in Bogota.

— 9:30 a.m. (10:30 a.m.) Courtesy visit with Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos at Casa de Narino presidential palace.

— 10:20 a.m. (11:20 a.m.) Visit to Bogota cathedral.

[Related: Vatican announces pope will attend reconciliation events in Colombia]

— 10:50 a.m. (11:50 a.m.) Greeting and blessing of the faithful from cardinal’s residence.

— 11 a.m. (Noon) Meeting with Colombian bishops at cardinal’s residence. Speech by pope.

— 3 p.m. (4 p.m.) Meeting with the executive committee of the Latin American bishops’ council (CELAM) at the apostolic nunciature.

— 4:30 p.m. (5:30 p.m.) Mass at Simon Bolivar Park. Homily by pope.
 

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Videos of Pope Francis’ visit to Colombia Sept. 6-10 -- Thursday

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Pz9yEsssOw
2017.09.07 Pope Francis in Colombia – Meeting with Authorities
Streamed live 5 hours ago
WITH COMMENTARY (local time 9:00 - 10:00) Pope Francis makes a courtesy visit to the President of Colombia and meets with government authorities

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IGsc0bZHBY
2017.09.07 Pope Francis in Colombia – Visit to the Cathedral and Cardinal's residence
Streamed live 3 hours ago
INTERNATIONAL SOUND (local time 10:15 - 10:50) Pope Francis makes a visit to the Cathedral of Bogotà and greets the faithful from the balcony of the Cardinal's Residence.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAivQP1XxJo
2017.09.07 Pope Francis in Colombia – Meeting with Colombian bishops
Streamed live 3 hours ago
WITH COMMENTARY -(local time 10:50 - 12:00) Pope Francis meets with the bishops of Colombia

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http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/09/07/pope_urges_colombia’s_leaders_to_peace_and_reconciliation/1335247

Pope urges Colombia’s leaders to peace and reconciliation: Full text
07/09/2017 16:30

Pope Francis and Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos (R) in front of the presidential palace in Bogota
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis urged Colombia’s leaders on Thursday to set aside “hatred and vengeance” and “listen to the poor, to those who suffer”, in order to create a culture of encounter, for peace and reconciliation in a nation that is emerging from Latin America's longest-running conflict.

The Pope, who is on an Apostolic visit to Colombia, Sept. 6-11, to encourage the peace and reconciliation process in the nation, delivered his first discourse at the presidential palace and seat of government in the capital, Bogota.

Among those listening to him were members of the government and the diplomatic corps, religious authorities, business leaders and representatives of civil society and of culture.

Pope Francis urged them to address the “structural causes of poverty that lead to exclusion and violence”, reminding them that “inequality is the root of social ills.”

Below, please find the official English translation of the Pope's prepared speech:
 

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http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/09/07/pope_francis_greets_and_blesses_the_faithful_of_bogota/1335252

Pope Francis greets and blesses the faithful of Bogota
07/09/2017 18:00

Pope Francis, accompanied by Cardinal Ruben Salazar, delivers a speech to people gathered in Bolivar Square - AFP
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis encouraged the faithful of Bogota to entrust themselves to the Lord, who is the only one who sustains us and inspires us to contribute to reconciliation and peace.

On the first day of his pastoral visit to Colombia, Pope Francis greeted the faithful from the balcony of the Cardinal’s Palace in Bogota after meeting the Country’s authorities.

To the people who are trying to overcome the internal conflict of more than five decades and want to achieve reconciliation the Pope said, “I enter this house of Colombia, saying to you: Peace be with you!”

Pope Francis’ particular focus was on the many young people present there and he called on them to keep joy alive which he said is a sign of a young heart, of a heart that has  encountered the Lord.

Please find below the official English translation of the Pope's prepared greeting:
 

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http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/09/07/pope_francis_in_colombia_key_points_from_speech_to_bishops/1335387

Pope Francis in Colombia: Key points from speech to bishops
07/09/2017 20:43

Pope Francis in Bogotà with the bishops of Colombia - RV
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis’ met on Thursday with Colombia’s bishops, encouraging them to provide practical guidance and spiritual leadership at this crucial moment of their nation’s history.

Below are the key points from that speech, which you can read here:

Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Colombia’s Nobel prize winning novelist, and, of course, the Bible, provided inspiration for the pope, as he explored the “complex reality of the Colombian Church” and urged the bishops to accompany people on the path of forgiveness, reconciliation and peace.

Pope quotes ‘One Hundred Years of Solitude’
 

http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/09/07/pope_francis_meets_colombia’s_bishops_‎/1335285
Pope Francis meets Colombia’s bishops: Full text
07/09/2017 19:00
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Continued:  Videos of Pope Francis’ visit to Colombia Sept. 6-10 -- Thursday

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34wXr-FaG6o
2017.09.07 Pope Francis in Colombia – Meeting with the executive committee of the CELAM
Streamed live 6 hours ago
WITH COMMENTARY (local time 14:55 - 15:45) Pope Francis meets with the Latin American Bishops' Council (CELAM).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BM4pNKgfQiU
2017.09.07 Pope Francis in Colombia – Holy Mass at Simon Bolivar Park
Streamed live 5 hours ago
WITH COMMENTARY local time 16:00 - 18:30) Pope Francis celebrates Holy Mass with the faithful of Colombia's capital after arriving by Popemobile and greeting people in different parts of the Park.

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http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/09/07/pope_urges_celam_to_empower_youth,_laity_and_women/1335349

Pope urges CELAM to empower youth, laity and women
07/09/2017 19:13

Pope Francis greets Cardinal Ruben Salazar, Archbishop of Bogota - AP
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis’ eagerly awaited discourse to the leaders of the Latin American Bishops’ Conference (CELAM) provided a rich and colourful canvas of ideas and proposals for an integral response to the many challenges of the continent in this time of change.

Francis has deep-rooted ties to CELAM, an institution founded in the 1950s and that has produced a series of key documents for the Church in the continent including the pivotal “Aparecida” document authored by the then Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Jorge Bergoglio.

That Aparecida document, based on the belief that the Church needs to “rid itself from all expired structures that do not favour the transmission of the faith” is widely seen as a sort of a manifesto for Pope Francis’ pontificate, and surfaces again and again in his vision of the role of the Church today.

His speech to CELAM leaders, on this special Thursday in Bogotá, confirmed Bergoglio’s firm conviction that the only way for them to take forward their continental mission is by empowering young people, women and lay people, expanding their role and trusting them to help the Church rise to the many challenges it faces.
 
http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/09/07/pope_francis_meets_the_conference_of_latin_american_bishops/1335293
Pope Francis addresses the Conference of Latin American Bishops
07/09/2017 22:00

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http://www.catholicnews.com/services/englishnews/2017/defend-life-equality-unity-pope-tells-colombians.cfm

Defend life, equality, unity, pope tells Colombians
By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service
9.7.2017 6:45 PM ET

CNS/Paul Haring
BOGOTA, Colombia (CNS) -- Consolidating peace in Colombia will mean overcoming "the darkness" of inequality and a lack of respect for human life, Pope Francis said.

"Here, as in other places, there is a thick darkness which threatens and destroys life," the pope said in his homily at a late-afternoon Mass Sept. 7 in Bogota's Simon Bolivar Park.

Colombian authorities said more than 1.1 million people gathered in the park for the Mass. Many of them were soaked in a rainstorm before the pope arrived, but as Mass began, bits of blue sky began to appear.

Still, preaching about the Gospel story of Jesus' first encountering Simon Peter after the fishermen had fished all night without luck, Pope Francis spoke about the "turmoil and darkness" of the sea as a symbol for "everything that threatens human existence and that has the power to destroy it."
 
http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/09/07/pope_francis_celebrates_mass_in_bogota/1335318
Pope Francis celebrates Mass in Bogota: Full text‎
07/09/2017 23:30

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https://cruxnow.com/global-church/2017/09/07/netflix-taps-game-thrones-star-play-pope-francis-upcoming-drama/

Netflix taps Game of Thrones star to play Pope Francis in upcoming drama
Claire Giangravè
September 7, 2017

British actor Jonathan Pryce, 2007. (Credit: Wikimedia Commons.) Pope Francis (Credit: Casa Rosada; Argentina Presidency of the Nation) [CC BY-SA 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons.)

“Abemus Papam!” Or at least Netflix does.

The successful film streaming service has chosen the Vatican as the setting for its next feature, ‘The Pope,’ which will begin filming November in Argentina.

The film will revisit the events surrounding the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, who will be played by Anthony Hopkins (‘The Silence of the Lambs,’ ‘The Bounty’) and the subsequent election of Pope Francis, played by Jonathan Pryce (who recently finished his role in the HBO blockbuster series ‘Game of Thrones.’)

Brazilian filmmaker Fernando Meirelles (who also directed critically acclaimed movies such as ‘City of God’ and ‘The Constant Gardener’) will direct the film, which is based on a screenplay by Anthony McCarten (‘The Theory of Everything.’)
 
It is not Pryce’s first time to play an Argentine: In 1996, he played Colonel Juan Perón in the film version of the musical ‘Evita’ alongside Madonna.

Meanwhile the choice of Hopkins, well known for interpreting highly complex and layered villains, to play the Emeritus Pope Benedict might raise some eyebrows; although the actor recently played a Catholic priest serving as an exorcist in 2011’s ‘The Rite.’