Pope Francis

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Video, with English text, at the link

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2019-11/pope-francis-november-prayer-intention-for-middle-east.html

Pope's November prayer intention: For dialogue in Middle East
05 November 2019, 16:00

Pope Francis releases a video message accompanying his prayer intention for November, which is that interreligious dialogue and peace may reign in the Middle East.
 
The full text of his intention is below:

In the Middle East, concord and dialogue among the three monotheistic religions is based on spiritual and historic bonds.

The Good News of Jesus, risen out of love, came to us from these lands.

Today, many Christian communities, together with Jewish and Muslim communities, work here for peace, reconciliation, and forgiveness.

Let us pray that a spirit of dialogue, encounter, and reconciliation emerge in the Middle East.
 

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https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope-francis/mass-casa-santa-marta/2019-11/pope-mass-santa-marta-lord-waits-for-everyone.html

Pope at Mass: The Lord waits for everyone, good or bad
05 November 2019, 12:34

In his homily at the morning Mass in the Casa Santa Marta, Pope Francis reflects on the Gospel of the day, and invites us to ask whether we accept the Lord’s invitation to His feast, or remain closed up in ourselves.
By Adriana Masotti

In Saint Luke’s Gospel on Tuesday, Jesus tells the parable of a man who wants to give a great feast. But his guests offer various excuses and refuse his invitation. Instead, the man sends his servants to call the poor and the lame to fill his house and enjoy his hospitality.

Commenting on this Gospel, Pope Francis said this story both summarizes the history of salvation and describes the behavior of many Christians.
The feast is free of charge

"The dinner, the feast, represents Heaven, eternity with the Lord", explained the Pope. You never know whom you might meet at a dinner; you meet new people; you also find people you may not want to see; but the atmosphere of the feast is joy and lavishness. Because a true feast must be freely given, continued Pope Francis. "Our God always invites us this way, He doesn’t make us pay an entrance fee. At real celebrations, you don't pay to get in: the host pays, the one who invites you pays". But there are those who put their own interests first before that freely-given invitation:

Faced with that lavishness, that universality of the feast, there is an attitude that blocks the heart: "I'm not going. I prefer to be alone, with the people I like, closed up". And this is sin; the sin of the people of Israel, the sin of all of us. Closure. "No, this is more important to me than that. No, it’s mine”. Always mine.
 

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Update:  Zenith translation of final document:  Chapter Five, Conclusion

https://zenit.org/articles/amazon-synod-zenit-translation-of-final-document-chapter-five-conclusion/
Amazon Synod: Zenit Translation of Final Document, Chapter Five, Conclusion
Full Document Published in Several Installments
November 05, 2019 16:14

Here is the fifth installment of Zenit’s English translation of the Final Document and Voting on the Final Document of the Synod of Bishops handed to the Holy Father Francis, at the end of the Special Assembly of the Synod of Bishops for the Pan-Amazonian Region (October 6-17, 2019) on the theme: “Amazonia: New Pathways for the Church and for An Integral Ecology”.

This final installment includes the fifth chapter and the conclusion of the final synod document.  We will publish the official Vatican English version when it is available.
******
CHAPTER V
NEW PATHS OF CONVERSION

“I in them and thou in me, that they may become perfectly one: (Jn 17:23)
 

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https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2019-11/pope-at-audience-always-build-bridges-never-aggression.html

Pope at Audience: Always build bridges, never aggression
06 November 2019, 11:01

Pope Francis during his weekly General Audience invites the faithful to ask the Holy Spirit, “for the capacity to delicately inculturate the message of faith, placing a contemplative gaze on those who are ignorant of Christ”.

Build bridges with those who do not believe or with those who have a different creed from ours. “Always build bridges, always reach out, no aggression.” That was the Pope’s invitation during his weekly General Audience on Wednesday as he continued his Catechesis on the Acts of the Apostles.

The Pope took his cue from St. Paul as he described this great Saint’s preaching before the Areopagus in Athens, the cultural capital of the pagan world.  In a city filled with idols, said Pope Francis, Paul proclaims the Gospel by appealing to the religiosity of his hearers and their desire to know the truth.
 
https://zenit.org/articles/holy-father-continues-journey-through-acts-of-the-apostles/
Holy Father Continues Journey Through Acts of the Apostles
Full Text of November 6 General Audience
November 06, 2019 15:57Virginia Forrester

Video at the link below--
Pope Francis - General Audience 2019-11-06
https://www.youtube.com/user/vatican

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https://zenit.org/articles/young-bergoglio-and-pope-francis-two-stamps-for-his-50th-anniversary/

‘Young Bergoglio’ and ‘Pope Francis’: Two Stamps for His 50th Anniversary
The Illustrations Are by Spaniard Raul Berzosa
November 06, 2019 17:32

This coming December 13, Pope Francis will celebrate the 50th anniversary of his Ordination to the priesthood. To mark the occasion, on Monday, November 4, 2019, the Vatican’s Philatelic and Numismatic Office issued two stamps, which reproduce two paintings made by Spanish painter Raul Berzosa.

The first of the stamps, with the value of 1.10 euros, reproduces a portrait of “Young Jorge Bergoglio,” reported the Diocese of Malaga, Spain. “The joy of that December 13, 1969, eve of the Third Sunday of Advent (Gaudete Sunday or Sunday of Joy), when he was ordained priest,” explains the painter, commenting on the portrait.

Young Bergoglio

Painted on the left side of the portrait is the Basilica of Saint Joseph of Flores, because Bergoglio, walking on a spring day, passed by the Church of the neighborhood of Flores and went it to go to Confession. ”It was there that he felt God was calling him” and “he left with the conviction to embrace the priesthood,” said the Malaga artist.

On the right, is one of Bergoglio’s “great devotions, which has accompanied him up to today, the ‘Virgin Undoer of Knots.’ He took <the image> to Buenos Aires after learning her title during one of his trips to Germany. Bluish colors predominate on the canvas in reference to Argentina,” explained Berzosa.

Second Stamp
 

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Update:  Zenith translation of final document:  Final Document and Voting

https://zenit.org/articles/zenit-english-translation-of-full-final-document-of-synod-on-the-amazon/

Zenit English Translation of Full Final Document of Synod on the Amazon
Special Assembly of the Synod of Bishops for the Pan-Amazonian Region (October 6-27, 2019)
November 06, 2019 17:05  Virginia Forrester

Here is Zenit’s English translation of the Final Document and Voting of the Synod of Bishops handed to the Holy Father Francis, at the end of the Special Assembly of the Synod of Bishops for the Pan-Amazonian Region (October 6-27, 2019) on the theme: “Amazonia: New Pathways for the Church and for An Integral Ecology”.

******
Final Document

INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER I: AMAZONIA: FROM LISTENING TO INTEGRAL CONVERSION
CHAPTER II: NEW WAYS OF PASTORAL CONVERSION
CHAPTER III: NEW WAYS OF CULTURAL CONVERSION
CHAPTER IV: NEW WAYS OF ECOLOGICAL CONVERSION
CHAPTER V: NEW WAYS OF SYNODAL CONVERSION
CONCLUSION
 

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https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2019-11/pope-jesuit-social-justice-ecology-secretariat-encourage-hope.html

Pope to Jesuit Social Justice and Ecology Congress: Encourage hope
07 November 2019, 11:44

Pope Francis addresses members of the Jesuit Social Justice and Ecology Secretariat meeting in Rome to mark their 50th Anniversary.
By Vatican News

It was Jesuit Superior General, Fr Pedro Arrupe, who created what was then called the Jesuit Secretariat for Socio-Economic Development, in 1969. 
In his address on Thursday to what is now the Jesuit Social Justice and Ecology Secretariat, Pope Francis said: “Father Pedro always believed that the service of faith and the promotion of justice cannot be separated, because they are radically united”.
 

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Update:  … ad limina visit of the US bishops – the national church's first report to Pope Francis...

https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2019/11/07/pope-recommends-pastoral-closeness-urges-bishops-to-be-courageous/
Pope recommends pastoral ‘closeness,’ urges bishops to be courageous
Cindy Wooden and Carol Glatz  Nov 7, 2019
CATHOLIC_NEWS_SERVICE

ROME — Bishops from New England shared with Pope Francis some of the joys, challenges and sufferings of the church in the Northeast and, really, throughout the United States, three of the bishops said.

Nearing the end of their “ad limina” visits to the Vatican to pray at the tombs of the apostles and report on the status of their dioceses, the bishops spent two hours Nov. 7 sitting in a circle in the papal library conversing with Pope Francis.

Auxiliary Bishop Robert P. Reed of Boston told Catholic News Service later that the conversation included “the role of women in the church” and how to give them “a real seat at the table” when decisions are being made; immigration; priestly formation and the need for men preparing for priesthood in the United States to learn Spanish; the growth of secularism; and the importance of God’s mercy and encouraging Catholics to avail themselves of the sacrament of reconciliation.

The pope allowed the bishops to set the agenda, he said, told them they should all feel free to speak “with no pecking order” and responded to their questions and concerns with reflections based on his own experience as a priest and bishop.
 

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https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2019-11/pope-francis-salvation-army-gratuitous-love.html

Pope to Salvation Army: Humble service speaks louder than words
08 November 2019, 14:40

Pope Francis meets with a delegation from the Salvation Army, and says that holiness is best shown in concrete acts of goodness and solidarity.
By Devin Watkins

The Salvation Army is both a Protestant Christian church and an international charitable organization, whose membership numbers over 1.7 million. Known as Salvationists, members seek to bring salvation and humanitarian relief to people in need.

In his address to the delegation on Friday, Pope Francis expressed his appreciation for “the witness [Salvationists] give to the primacy of discipleship and service to the poor.”
He added that it makes them “a credible sign of evangelical love”.
 

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https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2019-11/pope-francis-prison-pastoral-care-integral-development-reintegra.html

Pope urges opportunities for prisoners to reform and reintegrate
08 November 2019, 14:43

Pope Francis on Friday met some 50 participants in an international conference on the Catholic Church’s pastoral care of prisons.
By Robin Gomes

Pope Francis is urging for a change in the outlook and approach in treating prisoners who, he said, must be offered equal opportunities for reform, development and reintegration.

He made the remark to the participants in the international conference on the theme, “Integral Human Development and Catholic Prison Pastoral Care”.  The November 7 - 8 meeting was organized by the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development.
 

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https://www.vaticannews.va/en/vatican-city/news/2019-11/pope-francis-world-day-of-the-poor-clinic.html

World Day of the Poor: Clinic open for Rome’s poor
08 November 2019, 15:31

The Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization releases a press statement ahead of the 3rdWorld Day of the Poor, marked on the 17th of November.
By Francesca Merlo

The statement says there will be a temporary walk-in-clinic in St Peter’s Square, just as there was last year. The clinic aims to offer medical attention to those most in need and will be open from 8am-10pm every day, offering free medical examinations to the poor.

Last year over 3,500 people were tended to by doctors and nurses. The clinic will open on Sunday the 10th of November and will remain so until Sunday the 17th.
 

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https://www.catholicnews.com/services/englishnews/2019/author-criticized-for-perpetuating-unfortunate-myth-usccb-resisting-pope.cfm

Author criticized for perpetuating 'unfortunate myth' USCCB resisting pope
By Greg Erlandson  Catholic News Service
11.8.2019 12:37 PM ET

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The chief communications officer for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops criticized a new book on Pope Francis' papacy for perpetuating "an unfortunate and inaccurate myth" that Pope Francis is facing resistance from the leadership and staff of the bishops' conference.

The author of the book in turn has called the USCCB statement "carefully constructed if defensive" and said it doesn't dispute the facts of the account he has given.
What is being contested is a chapter in "Wounded Shepherd: Pope Francis and His Struggle to Convert the Catholic Church" by Austen Ivereigh. In "Wounded Shepherd," Ivereigh examines some of the major events of the Francis papacy and the controversies they often engendered.

In a chapter titled "A Church of Wounds," Ivereigh looks at the various sex abuse scandals that have confronted the church and the papacy during this pontificate. Near the end of that chapter, he recounts the efforts by the U.S. bishops in the wake of the revelations about former Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick to devise procedures for addressing abuse and allegations of cover-up concerning U.S. bishops.

Ivereigh asserts that the draft of the U.S. reforms was to be voted on by the bishops at their November 2018 meeting "before Rome had a chance to see them first. The Vatican would be given the documents after the fact," Ivereigh wrote, citing an unnamed source who said, "Their strategy was to confront the pope with a 'fait accompli.'"

In a statement issued late Nov. 7, James Rogers, the USCCB's chief communications officer, took issue with Ivereigh's account.
 

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https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2019-11/pope-francis-audience-president-lithuania.html

Pope Francis meets with President of the Republic of Lithuania
09 November 2019, 09:39

Pope Francis meets the President of the Republic of Lithuania in audience in the Vatican.

On Friday morning, Pope Francis met in audience with His His Excellency Mr Gitanas Nausèda, President of the Republic of Lithuania. The Holy See Press Office released a statement saying “during the cordial discussions the parties evoked the good bilateral relations and the contribution of the Church to society during the country’s troubled history and in the face of current socio-economic challenges”. According to the statement, they then went on to focus on issues of “mutual interest”, such as the promotion of “the family, acceptance and social justice”. Finally, attention turned to topics of “a regional and international nature”. They spoke of peace and security, the conflict in Ukraine and “the need for greater solidarity between European nations” so as to face the various challenged that affect the Continent.

The full text of the Holy See Press Office Statement is below:
 

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https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2019-11/pope-francis-ratzinger-prize-taylor-bere.html

Pope: 2019 Ratzinger laureates teach us to engage in active dialogue with cultures
09 November 2019, 13:38

At a ceremony in the Vatican on Saturday, Pope Francis conferred the Ratzinger Prize on Canadian Catholic philosopher Charles Margrave Taylor, and Jesuit priest Father Paul Béré of Burkina Faso, a renowned scholar of Sacred Scripture.
By Robin Gomes

Although the 2019 Ratzinger Prize winners come from different continents and cultural backgrounds, Pope Francis said, they teach us that theology should "be and remain in active dialogue with cultures”, always seeking the way to God and the encounter with Christ.   

The Pope made the remark while conferring the 2019 Ratzinger Prize at a ceremony in the Vatican, November 9.

The Ratzinger Prize by the Joseph Ratzinger-Benedict XVI Vatican Foundation was begun in 2011 to recognize scholars whose work demonstrates a meaningful contribution to theology in the spirit of German Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who became Benedict XVI and is Pope Emeritus since February 2013.
 

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https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2019-11/pope-to-music-congress-let-us-become-more-joyful-interpreters-o.html

Pope to Music Congress: Let us become more joyful interpreters of the Gospel
09 November 2019, 11:58

Pope Francis on Saturday receives participants of the Pontifical Council for Culture’s Third International Congress entitled, “Church, Music, Interpreters: A Necessary Dialogue”.
By Lydia O'Kane

Over the past few days’ attendees to this third International Congress have focused their attention on the interpretation of sacred music, intercultural perspectives involving art forms and vocal qualities.

The interpreter

In his address to Congress participants on Saturday, Pope Francis described how an interpreter, especially in the field of music, ““translates” in a unique and personal way what the composer has written, in order to create a beautiful and outstanding artistic experience.”

He added that, “a good interpreter feels great humility before a work of art that is not his or her property.”

Every interpreter, the Pope underlined, “is called to develop a distinctive sensibility and genius in the service of art which refreshes the human spirit, and in service to the community.”  This, he said, “is especially the case if the interpreter carries out a liturgical ministry.”
 

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https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2019-11/pope-feast-dedication-basilica-saint-john-lateran.html

Pope at St John Lateran: There is no heart God cannot raise again
09 November 2019, 19:22

Pope Francis celebrates Holy Mass on the Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica. In his homily, he entrusts three verses from the liturgical readings to the diocesan community, to priests, and to pastoral workers.
By Vatican News

On the façade of the Basilica of St John Lateran is a Latin inscription that identifies it as “Mother and Head of all Churches in Rome and the World”. It is the Pope’s Cathedral, insofar as he is Bishop of Rome, and it is the oldest Basilica in the Western world. The Pope visits St John Lateran every year on the feast day that commemorates its dedication by Pope Sylvester I, on 9 November AD 324.

In his homily during the Mass, Pope Francis chose three verses from the liturgical readings to share with the diocesan community, with priests, and with pastoral workers, asking that they “meditate and pray over them”.
 
Video at the link below--
Pope Francis-Basilica of St. John Lateran-Holy Mass 2019-11-09
https://www.youtube.com/user/vatican

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https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2019-11/pope-at-angelus-we-are-called-to-prepare-for-eternal-life-with.html

Pope at Angelus: We are called to prepare for Eternal life with our choices
10 November 2019, 12:51

Before the recitation of the Marian prayer, Pope Francis focuses his attention on Sunday’s Gospel reading in which Jesus is provoked by a question by the Sadducees and in turn offers a wonderful teaching on the resurrection of the dead.

The Pope remarked that the Lord does not fall into the trap set by the Sadducees who ask him when a woman dies who has been married to 7 brothers, one after the another, whose wife will she be?

Jesus’ teaches on the resurrection

Pope Francis described how Jesus replies by saying, “the risen in the beyond take neither wife nor husband, for they can no longer die, because they are equal to the angels and, since they are children of the resurrection, they are children of God".

With this answer, noted the Pope “Jesus first of all invites his interlocutors - and we too - to think that this earthly dimension in which we live now is not the only one, but there is another, no longer subject to death, in which it will be fully manifested that we are children of God.”  This response commented Pope Francis gives “great consolation and hope to listen to this simple and clear word of Jesus about life beyond death; we need it so much especially in our time, so rich in knowledge about the universe but so poor in wisdom about eternal life.”

This clear certainty of Jesus about the Resurrection, said the Pontiff, “is based entirely on the fidelity of God, who is the God of life.”
 
https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2019-11/pope-at-angelus-prayers-for-south-sudan-and-bolivia.html
Pope announces visit to South Sudan
10 November 2019, 12:31
Pope Francis, following the recitation of the Angelus announces a visit to the African nation of South Sudan. He also offers prayers for Bolivia and recalls a new Saint and Blessed for the Church.

https://zenit.org/articles/angelus-address-on-life-beyond-death-full-text/
Angelus Address: On Life Beyond Death (Full Text)
November 10, 2019 15:17  Virginia Forrester

Video, with English commentary, at the link below--
Pope's Angelus of 10 November 2019
https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope-francis/angelus/2019-11/pope-s-angelus-of-10-november-2019.html
or
Pope Francis - Angelus prayer 2019-11-10
https://www.youtube.com/user/vatican

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Update:  Cardinal Pell

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/decision-imminent-on-fate-of-cardinal-pell-high-court-appeal-65610
Decision imminent on fate of Cardinal Pell High Court appeal

Melbourne, Australia, Nov 11, 2019 / 01:12 pm (CNA).- Australia’s High Court will announce on Wednesday whether it will hear Cardinal George Pell’s appeal of his conviction on sexual abuse charges.

Two judges on the country’s highest court will announce whether the full court’s seven judges will hear their appeal, the Associated Press reports.
The court rejects about 90% of appeals.

In August, sources close to the cardinal told CNA that they thought Pell’s case would likely be accepted given the controversy triggered by the split decision of the Court of Appeals of Victoria, which rejected the cardinal’s appeal.
 

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https://zenit.org/articles/pope-makes-appointments-to-papal-councils/

Pope Makes Appointments to Papal Councils
And a New Auxiliary Bishop of Mukachevo of the Latins,
November 11, 2019 17:25

The Holy Father has appointed the Reverend Fr. Mykola Petro Luchok, O.P., currently superior of the community of the Order of Preachers in Lviv, as auxiliary bishop of Mukachevo of the Latins, assigning him the titular see of Giru Marcelli.
 
Appointment of members and consultors of the Pontifical Council for Culture

The Holy Father has appointed the following as members of the Pontifical Council for Culture: His Eminence Cardinal Baltazar Enrique PORRAS CARDOZO, apostolic administrator sede vacante ed ad nutum Sanctae Sedis of Caracas, archbishop of Mérida, Venezuela; His Eminence Cardinal Jozef DE KESEL, archbishop of Mechelen-Brussel, military ordinary for Belgium, president of the Episcopal Conference of Belgium; His Eminence Cardinal Joseph William TOBIN, C.SS.R., archbishop of Newark, United States of America, superior of Turks and Caicos, Great Britain; His Eminence Cardinal Luis Francisco LADARIA FERRER, S.J., prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith; Archbishop Jose S. PALMA, archbishop of Cebu, Philippines; Archbishop Gerard Tlali LEROTHOLI, O.M.I., archbishop of Maseru, Lesotho; Bishop Marian FLORCZYK, titular of Limata, auxiliary of Kielce, Poland; Bishop Antonino RASPANTI of Acireale, Italy.
 

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https://zenit.org/articles/world-day-of-the-poor-pope-will-lunch-with-1500-guests/

World Day of the Poor: Pope Will Lunch with 1,500 Guests
Vatican Initiatives
November 11, 2019 18:03

The third edition of the World Day for the Poor is being observed from November 10-17, 2019, stated a press release of the Holy See Press Office.

Pope Francis instituted the World Day of the Poor, to express care and inclusion to persons that live daily on the margin of society; the Day is organized and promoted by the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization.

Pope Francis’ Message

“The hope of the poor shall not perish forever” (Psalm 9:19). “The words of the Psalm appear with incredible timeliness”; they are the theme chosen by the Holy Father for the Message of this 3rd World Day of the Poor.

The Psalm was written at a time when the people were arrogant and, with no sense of God, persecuted the poor to appropriate their scarce goods and subject them to slavery.
Their situation “is not so different today,” notes the Pontiff in the Message. The words of the Psalm “don’t refer to the past, but to our present, exposed to God’s judgment,” as today we must also point out “the numerous forms of new slaveries to which millions of men, women, young people and children are subjected,” he continues.

Prior Concert