Pope Francis

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Pope Francis' trip to Thailand and Japan -- November 19-26, 2019

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2019-11/pope-francis-press-conference-japan-airplane.html
The Pope: not using or possessing nuclear arms will be added to the Catechism
26 November 2019, 19:30

During the in-flight press conference aboard the plane bringing him back to Rome from Japan, Pope Francis answers journalists’ questions on a variety of issues: from the immoral use and possession of atomic weapons, to the financial investigation inside the Vatican.
By Vatican News

"The use of nuclear weapons is immoral, which is why it must be added to the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Not only their use, but also possessing them: because an accident or the madness of some government leader, one person’s madness can destroy humanity.”

In addition to repeating this strong message pronounced at Hiroshima, Pope Francis responded to many questions posed to him by the journalists during the flight bringing them back to Rome from Japan.

Now follows an unofficial translation of the in-flight press conference.
 

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Pope Francis' trip to Thailand and Japan -- November 19-26, 2019

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/full-text-of-pope-francis-in-flight-press-conference-from-japan-36598
Full text of Pope Francis' in-flight press conference from Japan

Vatican City, Nov 26, 2019 / 12:20 pm (CNA).- Please read below for CNA's full transcript of the pope's Nov. 26 in-flight press conference, during his flight from Tokyo, Japan to Rome:

Pope Francis: It was an intense journey and also with a categorical change [in the middle]  because Thailand is one thing and Japan is another thing, and one cannot evaluate things with the same category. Those realities must be evaluated in the context of their own identity, and they are two totally different realities. That requires double work, and thanks to you for this. And also these were very intense days. And I think the work was strong. Thank you. I felt close to you in this work.

Matteo Bruni, director of the Holy See Press Office: Good. Then building on that, listening to the questions, it will also be an opportunity to talk more deeply these days.

Fr. Makato Yamamoto (Catholic Shimbun, Japan): Good evening Holy Father, we thank you very much for having come to Japan from so far away. I am a diocesan priest of [inaudible[ right near Nagasaki. I would especially ask you to visit Nagasaki and Hiroshima: Holy Father, how did you feel in Nagasaki and Hiroshima? And I would like to ask one thing: do society and the Western Church have something to learn from society and the Eastern Church?
 

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https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2019-11/pope-francis-recalls-his-visit-to-thailand-and-japan.html

Pope Francis recalls his visit to Thailand and Japan
27 November 2019, 12:57

Pope Francis’ catechesis during Wednesday’s General Audience is devoted to his Apostolic Journey to Thailand and Japan.

The Pope told pilgrims and tourists in St Peter’s Square that this visit had increased his closeness and affection for the peoples of both Thailand and Japan.
 
https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2019-11/pope-sends-condolences-to-victims-of-albania-quake.html
Pope sends condolences to victims of Albania quake
27 November 2019, 10:00

https://zenit.org/articles/pope-francis-announces-a-letter-on-the-meaning-of-the-manger/
Pope Francis Announces a Letter on the Meaning of the Manger
Trip to Greccio
November 27, 2019 16:13  Anita Bourdin

https://zenit.org/articles/pope-recalls-apostolic-journey-to-thailand-and-japan/
Pope Recalls Apostolic Journey to Thailand and Japan
Full Text of November 27 General Audience
November 27, 2019 15:12  Virginia Forrester

Video at the link below--
Pope Francis - General Audience 2019-11-27
https://www.youtube.com/user/vatican

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https://www.vaticannews.va/en/vatican-city/news/2019-11/pope-francis-personal-secretary-to-leave-position.html

Pope's personal secretary to leave his position
25 November 2019, 17:30

The Director of the Holy See Press Office announces that Msgr. Pedacchio will be leaving his position as personal secretary to the Pope, as part of an ordinary rotation of functions.

Msgr. Fabián Pedacchio Leániz, Pope Francis’ personal Secretary, will leave office shortly. The affirmation came from the Director of the Holy See Press Office, Matteo Bruni, in response to questions posed by journalists.

The Vatican spokesman stressed that this decision was taken some time ago. He described it as an "ordinary rotation of functions".
 

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https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2019-11/pope-francis-appoints-carmelo-barbagallo-to-head-aif.html

Pope Francis appoints Carmelo Barbagallo to head AIF
27 November 2019, 12:54

The Holy See on Wednesday announced that Pope Francis has named Italian banker Carmelo Barbagallo as the new head of the Vatican's Financial Information Authority.
By Vatican News

Pope Francis on Wednesday named Carmelo Barbagallo, of the Bank of Italy, as President of the Financial Information Authority (It: Autorità di Informazione Finanziaria, the AIF). He succeeds Rene Brülhart, whose term ended last week.

“I am honoured to have received this appointment, aware of the full weight of the moral and professional responsibility it carries, and I thank the Holy Father for the trust he has placed in me”, the new President of the Financial Information Authority, Carmelo Barbagallo, said when speaking to Vatican News after publication of the news of his appointment.
 
http://magister.blogautore.espresso.repubblica.it/2019/11/26/searches-at-the-secretariat-of-state-the-pope-“i-signed-the-authorization”/
26 nov
Searches At the Secretariat of State. The Pope: “I Signed the Authorization”

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https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope-francis/mass-casa-santa-marta/2019-11/pope-casa-santa-marta-homily-death-hope.html

Pope at Mass: 'look to your moment of death with hope and trust in the Lord'
29 November 2019, 13:56

Pope Francis reflects on our mortal end, speaking of death as a moment of encounter with the Lord, a moment for which we must be prepared.
By Linda Bordoni

Pope Francis celebrated morning Mass at the Casa Santa Marta on Friday recalling that in this last week of the liturgical year the Church invites us to reflect on the end: the end of the world and the end of each of us.

This theme, he said, is echoed in the Gospel reading in which Luke repeats Jesus’s words: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.”
 

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https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2019-11/pope-francis-decrees-causes-saints.html

Pope authorizes new decrees on candidates to sainthood
29 November 2019, 12:39

Pope Francis on Thursday took 26 men and women a step closer to sainthood, including an Italian priest who has been cleared for canonization.
By Robin Gomes

Pope Francis authorized Cardinal Angelo Becciu, the Prefect of the Vatican Congregation for the Causes of Saints, to promulgate 11 decrees on 3 miracles, 2 martyrdoms and 6 heroic virtues of men and women from Italy, Spain, Poland Canada and Germany.

Miracles

A decree recognized a miracle through the intercession of Italian priest Father Luigi Maria Palazzolo, the founder of the Sisters of the Poor, Palazzolo Institute.  He was born on December 10, 1872, in Bergamo and died on 15 June 1886.  He has been cleared for canonization whose date will be decided at a later date.

Another miracle was attributed to the intercession of Italian priest Father Olinto Marella. He was born on June 14, 1882, in Pellestrina and died on September 6, 1969, in San Lazzaro di Savena.  He has been cleared for Beatification.

A miracle attributed to the intercession of  Italian Comboni priest Father Giuseppe Ambrosoli.  Born in Ronago on July 25, 1923, he died on March 27, 1987, in Lira (Uganda).
 

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https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2019-11/pope-francis-jurists-studio-rosario-livatino-audience.html

Pope holds up Italy’s assassinated anti-mafia judge as model for jurists
29 November 2019, 16:19

Pope Francis on Friday received in audience a group of Italian lawyers, judges, notaries and law professors and academics who are members of the Centro Studio Rosario Livatino. The group is named after an Italian judge who was assassinated by the mafia in 1990 and whose cause of beatification and canonization is proceeding.
By Robin Gomes

“Livatino is an example not only for magistrates, but for all those who work in the field of law: for the coherence between his faith and his commitment to work, and for the relevance of his reflections.”   Pope Francis made the remark to members of the Centro Studio Rosario Livatino, that is in Rome for a conference on the theme, “Judiciary in Crisis. Paths to Regain Justice”.
 

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https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2019-11/pope-francis-address-theologians-international-commission.html

Pope to theologians: Pursue your mission for a beautiful theology
29 November 2019, 14:43

Pope Francis addresses members of the International Theological Commission on the occasion of their 50th anniversary of its foundation.
By Francesca Merlo

Pope Francis began his address by making reference to Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s message for the occasion. Sent in October, the message stated that “only humbleness can find the Truth and the Truth in turn is the foundation of Love, on which ultimately everything depends”.

As Benedict XVI recalled in his message, the Commission was founded “to create new bridges between theology and Magisterium”.

Two texts

Pope Francis acknowledged that in the last 5-year session, the Commission has “elaborated two significant texts”. The first, he said, offers a theological clarification on synodality, both in life and in the mission of the Church.

“As you know, this theme is very close to my heart: synodality is a style, it is a way of walking together, and that is what the Lord expects of the Church in the third millennium”, said Pope Francis.

The second document, he continued, proposes discernment on the different interpretations of religious freedom today. Pope Francis explained that “honest respect” for religious freedom is a “great contribution to the common good and to peace”.
 
https://zenit.org/articles/new-bridge-between-theology-and-the-magisterium/
‘New Bridge Between Theology and the Magisterium.
Pope Credits Work of International Theological Commission
November 29, 2019 16:52J  im Fair

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/pope-francis-synodality-is-what-the-lord-expects-of-the-church-40085
Pope Francis: Synodality is what the Lord expects of the Church

https://cruxnow.com/interviews/2019/11/popes-late-teacher-says-his-concept-of-people-just-doesnt-work-in-english/
Pope’s late teacher says his concept of ‘People’ just doesn’t work in English
Inés San Martín  Nov 29, 2019

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https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2019-11/pope-francis-set-to-visit-the-cittadella-della-carita-in-rome.html

Pope Francis set to visit the Cittadella della Carità in Rome
29 November 2019, 10:45

On the occasion of the 40th anniversary of its institution, Pope Francis is visiting the Cittadella della Carità [Citadel of Charity], a group of charitable organizations under the auspices of Caritas Roma.
By Vatican News

Pope Francis on Friday afternoon will visit the Cittadella della Carità, the “Citadel of Charity”, a collection of charitable programs including the Dental Centre, the “Santa Giacinta” Home, the “Emporium of Solidarity”, and the Cafeteria. He is expected to meet with the director, Fr Benoni Ambarus, along with more than 200 guests and volunteers. Friday’s encounter will be the fifth time Popes have visited the works of Caritas Rome.
 

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https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2019/11/new-jersey-pennsylvania-bishops-spend-thanksgiving-with-pope/

New Jersey, Pennsylvania bishops spend Thanksgiving with pope
Cindy Wooden  Nov 29, 2019
CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

ROME - “Happy Thanksgiving,” Pope Francis said in English Nov. 28 at the beginning of a two-and-a-half-hour meeting with the bishops of New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

The meeting, a central part of the bishops’ ad limina visit, featured a wide-ranging conversation that, of course, included talk about the clerical sexual abuse scandal, Bishop Lawrence T. Persico of Erie, Pennsylvania, told Catholic News Service.

The bishop said the pope himself mentioned the 2018 Pennsylvania grand jury report on abuse in six dioceses over the previous 70 years; “he was aware of it and he understood it,” the bishop said.

Especially considering that the pope had just returned from a weeklong trip to Thailand and Japan, giving the bishops more than two hours of his time “was really extraordinary,” Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin of Newark, New Jersey, told CNS.

“Without going into detail because I want to respect the familiarity and confidentiality that the Holy Father asked for, you wouldn’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure out what we talked about,” the cardinal said.
 

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Update:  The movie, "The Two Popes"

https://www.americamagazine.org/arts-culture/2019/11/27/two-popes-whats-fact-and-whats-fiction
‘The Two Popes’: What’s fact and what’s fiction?
Joseph McAuley
November 27, 2019

The release of “The Two Popes” on Nov. 27 brought renewed attention to the papacy of Benedict XVI (played by Anthony Hopkins) and the 2013 election of Pope Francis (played by Jonathan Pryce). But does the movie get the facts right? Yes and no.

Was Cardinal Bergoglio a contender at the 2005 conclave?

Yes, Francis (then Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio) was Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger’s nearest rival by the time of the third ballot. Cardinal Ratzinger (soon to be Pope Benedict XVI) was five votes shy of the required 77 necessary for election; Cardinal Bergoglio received 40 votes on the ballot (thus he was the “runner-up”).

Bergoglio was a candidate for two reasons. One, he was well-known within the Latin American hierarchy for his participation at bishops’ conferences and had a stellar reputation for his pastoral work. He gained wider notice in church circles when he became a stand-in for Cardinal Edward Egan at a Vatican synod in the days after the 9/11 attacks, when Cardinal Egan had to return to New York. His summary of the meeting on such short notice was widely praised and gained him attention. And when Ratzinger was on the cusp of election in the 2005 conclave, Cardinal Bergoglio urged his brother cardinals to throw their support to Ratzinger, thus assuring his election, to Bergoglio’s obvious relief—he got to go home to Argentina.
 

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Photo at the link

https://cruxnow.com/church-in-the-middle-east/2019/11/vatican-returns-relic-from-jesus-manger-to-holy-land/

Vatican returns relic from Jesus’ manger to Holy Land
Joseph Krauss  Nov 29, 2019

JERUSALEM - Christians on Friday celebrated the return to the Holy Land of a tiny wooden relic they believe was part of Jesus’ manger nearly 1,400 years after it was sent to Rome as a gift to the pope.

The thumb-sized relic was unveiled to worshippers Friday at the Notre Dame church in Jerusalem for a day of celebrations and prayer.

On Saturday, it will be sent to its permanent home at the Franciscan Church of St. Catherine, next to the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, the West Bank holy site where tradition says Jesus was born. Its arrival will coincide with Advent, a four-week period leading up to Christmas. Christian tradition holds that Joseph and Mary traveled to Bethlehem to register for the Roman census and found no room at the inn, forcing her to give birth to Jesus in a manger where animals were held. The idea that the son of God was born in humble surroundings is central to Christian theology.
 
Christians cite oral history and tradition for proof of the authenticity of the relics, including the wooden manger. They say the earliest Christian communities preserved and venerated objects connected to Jesus, handing them down through the generations like family heirlooms.

“When there is a very old and continuous tradition we can say that the relic is true,” said Brother Francesco Patton, the custodian of the Franciscan order in the Holy Land.

“Of course, we don’t have a picture of the manger when Jesus was born,” he added.

He said the wooden manger was given to Pope Theodore I as a gift because the pope was himself from the Holy Land, and would have strengthened ties with the church. He said the entire wooden structure is too fragile to move, so Pope Francis decided to return a small part of it instead.
 

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https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2019-11/pope-francis-cittadella-caritas-rome-visit.html

Pope to Caritas Rome: go crazy to love and help others
30 November 2019, 11:39

It was a sort of an informal family get-together for Pope Francis, Friday evening, when he visited the “Cittadella della Carità – Santa Giacinta” (Citadel of Charity – St. Jacinta), a Caritas centre of Rome. His visit was to commemorate 40 years of Caritas of Rome Diocese.
By Robin Gomes

“Go crazy to love, mad to share one's vulnerability with those who are vulnerable”.  This was the exhortation of Pope Francis, November 29,  to over a thousand guests, volunteers, animators and workers of Caritas Rome, gathered at Cittadella della Carità.

Deeply moved by the testimonies of Ornella and Alessio, a volunteer and a guest rescued from the street, the Pope reflected on the word “vulnerability”.  Speaking off the cuff, he explained that the word unites us all, quite unlikely from the way we think.

Both those who cry for help and knock at the door, and those who decide to bend down until they touch the wounds of their brothers and sisters, are vulnerable.

“We are all vulnerable and to work in Caritas we must recognize that word made flesh in the heart,” the Pope said.  Someone asking for help means saying, “I am vulnerable”, and helping anyone is doing so from one's own vulnerability.  “It is the encounter of different wounds, of different weaknesses, but we are all weak, we are all vulnerable,” the Pope said.
 

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https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2019-11/pope-francis-the-church-suffers-with-married-couples-in-crisis.html

Pope Francis: The Church suffers with married couples in crisis
30 November 2019, 11:57

Pope Francis receives participants taking part in a Formation Course for the Protection of Marriage and the Pastoral Care of married couples in crisis, organized by the Rota Romana. He tells them that the Church always and only seeks the good of those facing marriage difficulties.

Greeting course participants on Saturday, Pope Francis got straight to the heart of the argument, saying the theme of this course has combined two crucial aspects: the protection of marriage and the pastoral care of couples in crisis.

The difficulties of marriage today, he said “come from many different causes: psychological, physical, environmental, cultural...; sometimes they are caused by the closure of the human heart to love, by the sin that touches us all.”

That is why, the Pope continued, the Church, when she encounters these realities of couples facing difficulties, first of all weeps and suffers with them.
 

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https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2019-11/pope-we-need-a-free-and-simple-outward-looking-church.html

Pope: We need a free and simple outward looking Church
30 November 2019, 12:46

Pope Francis on Saturday receives those taking part in the International Meeting “Evangelii Gaudium: Reception and Perspectives. The “Church which goes forth"”. Over the last three days participants including Bishops, religious and lay people from all over the world have been gathered in the Vatican to discuss the Pope’s Apostolic Exhortation six years on from its publication.

“I would like to say very simply: the joy of the Gospel springs from the encounter with Jesus.”  Those were the Pope’s words on Saturday in the newly restored Hall of Benedictions in the Vatican.

Speaking to participants taking part in this International Meeting organized by the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization, he said, "We need a free and simple Church, which does not think of looking good, of convenience and of entrances, but outward looking ".
 

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https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2019-11/pope-francis-children-global-summit-i-can-audience.html

Pope to school children: “I can” must become “we can together”
30 November 2019, 16:27

Pope Francis on Saturday met some 3,500 school boys and girls, aged 6-16, along with their parents and teachers, who participated in the “I Can” Children’s Global Summit in Rome.
By Robin Gomes

The November 26-30 Children’s Global Summit, celebrating “I Can”, is the largest all-faith, international gathering of children coming from over 40 countries. Promoted by FIDAE, the association of Italian Catholic schools, the “I Can” project is inspired by the Encyclical of Pope Francis, “Laudato Sì”. The initiative experiments with the adoption of the student-centred so-called "design for change " approach. 

Speaking to the children and adults, the Pope said that God made the work of His creation available to human beings to cultivate and guard it, so human beings find their full realization by giving life to a "shared beauty" in the service of others.
 

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https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2019-11/pope-francis-patriarch-bartholomew-greetings-andrew.html

Pope sends greetings to Patriarch Bartholomew on feast of St Andrew
30 November 2019, 12:00

Pope Francis sends a letter to Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople on Saturday, and expresses his hopes for the re-establishment of full communion between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches.
By Devin Watkins

Following a long-standing custom, the Holy See sent a delegation to Istanbul to celebrate the feast of Saint Andrew, the patron saint of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, on November 30th.

The delegation – led by Cardinal Kurt Koch, President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity – participated in the Divine Liturgy in the Patriarchal Church of Saint George.

Desire for full communion

Cardinal Koch handed Patriarch Bartholomew a letter from Pope Francis, in which the Pope expressed his spiritual closeness. The letter was read out publicly at the end of the Divine Liturgy.

“I convey the assurance of the unwavering intention of the Catholic Church, as well as my own,” said the Pope, “to continue in our commitment to working towards the re-establishment of full communion among the Christians of the East and the West.”
 

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https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2019-12/pope-francis-mass-rome-congolese-community.html

Pope at Mass: Consumerism is a virus that attacks the faith
01 December 2019, 12:06

Pope Francis celebrates Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on Sunday for the Congolese community of Rome, praying for peace in the Democratic Republic of Congo and denouncing those who enrich themselves through the arms trade.
By Vatican News

The first Congolese Catholic Chaplaincy was established in Rome exactly 25 years ago. To mark this anniversary, Pope Francis celebrated Holy Mass, according to the Congolese rite, at the Altar of the Chair in St Peter’s Basilica, on Sunday morning. Members of the Congolese Community from Rome and beyond animated the celebration with their singing.

The meaning of Advent

This Sunday is also the first Sunday of Advent. In his homily, the Pope highlighted the verb that recurs three times in this week’s First Reading, and again in the Gospel: the verb “to come”.

Advent means coming, said Pope Francis: “The Lord is coming. This is the root of our hope: the certainty that God’s consolation comes to us in the midst of the troubles of the world. Not a consolation of words, but of His presence among us.”
 
Video at the link below--
Pope Francis-Holy Mass for the Congolese Community 2019-12-01
https://www.youtube.com/user/vatican

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https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2019-12/pope-francis-angelus-advent-journey-reflection.html

Pope at Angelus: Advent helps us find Jesus in the needs of others
01 December 2019, 12:15

Ahead of the Angelus prayer on Sunday, Pope Francis reflects on the meaning of the Advent season, and invites us to pay attention to the needs of those around us who suffer.
By Devin Watkins

At the beginning of the new liturgical year, the Pope took a moment ahead of the traditional Marian prayer to comment on how the Advent season reminds us that Jesus constantly enters our lives.

He said the certainty that Jesus will return at the end of time urges us to look to the future with confidence and hope.
 
https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2019-12/pope-francis-iraq-appeal-violence-against-protesters.html
Pope Francis laments violence against Iraqi protesters
01 December 2019, 12:30

https://zenit.org/articles/popes-angelus-address-on-1st-sunday-of-advent-full-text/
POPE’S ANGELUS ADDRESS: On the First Sunday of Advent (FULL TEXT)
December 01, 2019 13:07

Video at the link below--
Pope Francis - Angelus prayer 2019-12-01
https://www.youtube.com/user/vatican