Pope Francis

[grace-land]

http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2013/06/22/pope_francis:_serve_the_word_of_god,_not_the_idolatry_of_riches_an/en1-703952

2013-06-22 15:18:55
Pope Francis: serve the Word of God, not the idolatry of riches and worldly cares

(Vatican Radio) The riches and the cares of the world “choke the Word of God,” said Pope Francis at Mass this morning at the Casa Santa Marta. The Pope pointed out that our life is set on three pillars: election, covenant, and promise, adding that we must trust the Father in living in the present without worrying about what will happen. 

“No one can serve two masters.” Pope Francis began his homily with the words of Christ in today’s Gospel, where He focuses on the theme of riches and cares. Jesus, the Pope said, “has a clear idea on this subject”: they are “the riches and cares of the world” that choke the Word of God, they are the thorns spoken of in the Parable of the Sower, that choke the seed that has fallen on the ground:

“The riches and cares of the world choke the Word of God and do not allow it to grow. And the Word dies, because it is not cared for: it is choked. In that case you serve riches or you serve cares, but you don’t serve the Word of God. And this also has a temporal sense, because the Parable is somewhat constructed – the discourse of Jesus in the Parable – in time, is it not? Don’t worry about tomorrow, about what you will do tomorrow. . . . And also the Parable of the Sower is built on time: he sows, then the rain comes and it grows. Simply, we remove from time.”
 

[grace-land]

http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2013/06/21/pope_to_nuncios:_be_pastors_who_carry_christ_to_the_world/en1-703615

2013-06-21 13:45:52
Pope to Nuncios: Be Pastors who carry Christ to the world

(Vatican Radio) Never forget you are “Pastors”, who “carry Christ to the world”, detached from the "bourgeoisie spirit and life" of those who pursue only worldly goods and which “risk ridiculing the holy mission” of Papal Representatives.

This was Pope Francis message to the hundreds of Papal Representatives, also known as Apostolic Nuncios, convoked to the Vatican from their diplomatic postings across the globe for two days of reflection and prayer in the context of the Year of Faith.

The Holy Father spoke with them Friday, in a lengthy address which he said came “from the heart”, and was not just one of “perfunctory words”. The Pope began by telling the them that they are an expression of the catholicity and universality of the Church.

Pope Francis spoke of their life, describing it as ‘nomadic’ and underpinning the challenges this temporary mode of living brings: never being able to put down roots; never having their own ‘flock’ to guide and tend to; always having to begin anew in different national and ecclesial contexts, in short, living with a suitcase at hand.

But above all, Pope Francis dwelt on what is a Nuncio’s most important service, “the delicate task of carrying out inquires” into candidates to become bishops. He said that candidates must be “close to the people, fathers and brothers…gentle, patient and merciful; animated by inner poverty, the freedom of the Lord and also by outward simplicity and austerity of life”. Pope Francis added they must not have “the psychology of "Princes”, or be “ambitious”.

And thanking the Nuncios for their precious service to the Church Pope Francis concluded : “We know that our stability does not lie in things, in our own projects or ambitions, but in being true Pastors who keep our gaze fixed on Christ”.
 

[grace-land]

http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2013/06/22/pope_francis_recalls_paul_vi/en1-703891

2013-06-22 13:18:29 
Pope Francis recalls Paul VI

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis greeted a group of pilgrims from the Diocese of Brescia, who had just celebrated Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica to mark the 50th anniversary of the election of Pope Paul VI, who was from the area.

In his address, Pope Francis spoke of his predecessor’s love for Christ, love for the Church, and love for mankind.

Pope Francis began his tribute to Paul VI by recalling his witness, “in difficult years”, to faith in Jesus Christ. He said this “deep love” was not possessive, but compelled him to announce it, recalling his words in Manila during his apostolic journey to the Philippines: “Convinced of Christ: yes, I feel the need to proclaim him, I cannot keep silent,” Pope Paul VI had said. “He reveals the invisible God, he is the firstborn of all creation, the foundation of everything created. He is the Teacher of mankind, and its Redeemer... He is the centre of history and of the world; he is the one who knows us and who loves us; he is the companion and the friend of our life. He is the man of sorrows and of hope. It is he who will come and who one day will be our judge and - we hope -the everlasting fullness of our existence, our happiness.”

“Dear friends,” asked Pope Francis. “Do we have the same love for Christ? Is He the center of our lives? Do we witness this in our everyday actions?”
 

[grace-land]

http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2013/06/23/pope_mass:_respond_to_jesus_from_the_heart/en1-704146

2013-06-23 14:38:17
Pope Mass: Respond to Jesus from the heart

(Vatican Radio) This morning, Pope Francis celebrated mass at the Domus Sanctae Marthae. About 40 apostolic nuncios, who remained in the Vatican after the Pope’s meeting with them on Friday, were present. Commenting on the Sunday Gospel from Luke, in which Jesus asks the Apostles, “But who do you say that I am?”, the Pope underlined that we need to respond to Jesus from the heart, inspired by our veneration for him and from the rock of his love.

In Luke, Jesus asks: “But who do you say that I am?” And Peter responds: “The Christ of God”. The question that Jesus asks in the Gospel of Luke is relevant to us 2,000 years later and cuts straight to the heart, said Pope Francis in his homily, to which we must respond with the humility of a sinner, beyond all ready-made answers.

“We, even we, who are apostles and servants of the Lord need to respond because the Lord asks us: ‘What do you think of me?’ He does it, eh? He does it many times! ‘What do you think of me?’ says the Lord. And we cannot do that which cannot be well understood. ‘But, you are the anointed one! Yes, I read it’. With Jesus, we cannot speak of him as an historic figure, a figure of history. Jesus is living in front of us. This question is asked by a living person. And we have to respond from the heart.”
 

[grace-land]

http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2013/06/23/pope_angelus:_those_who_serve_the_truth_serve_christ/en1-704115

2013-06-23 12:43:23
Pope Angelus: Those who serve the truth serve Christ

(Vatican Radio) On a hot sunny day in Rome, Pope Francis greeted thousands of pilgrims and tourists from the window of the Papal apartments above St Peter’s Square who had come to hear the recitation of the Sunday Angelus.

Reflecting on Sunday’s Gospel the Pope recalled some of the most incisive words that Jesus spoke, “"Whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it"

The Holy Father said that this phrase is really a summary of Christ’s message which almost makes us hear his voice.

Explaining the meaning of Jesus’ words Pope Francis said that the martyrs offer the best example of losing one's life for Christ. Both in the past and today, he continued, in many parts of the world, there are martyrs both men and women who are imprisoned, or killed for the sole reason of being Christian.

But the Pope also noted that there is also the daily martyrdom, which do not result in death but is also as he put it, a "loss of life" for Christ, people doing their duty with love, according to the logic of Jesus.
 

 

[grace-land]

http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2013/06/24/pope_at_mass:_john_the_baptist_a_model_for_the_church_/en1-704318

2013-06-24 12:59:32
Pope at Mass: John the Baptist a model for the Church

(Vatican Radio) The church exists for courageously proclaiming -until martyrdom- Christ, to serve and "take nothing for herself". In his homily at morning Mass on Monday, Pope Francis pointed to St. John the Baptist as model for Church: he didn't claim the Truth, the Word as his own; he diminished himself so Christ could shine.

June 24th is the Solemnity of the Birth of the Saint, whom the Gospels indicate as the forerunner or precursor of Jesus. Dedicating his homily to him Pope Francis said the Church is called to proclaim the Word of God, even to martyrdom.

Pope Francis began his homily by addressing best wishes to all who bear the name John. The figure of John the Baptist, the Pope said, is not always easy to understand. "When we think of his life - he observed – we think of a prophet," a "man who was great and then ends up as a poor man." Who is John? The Pope said john himself explains: "I am a voice, a voice in the wilderness," but "it is a voice without the Word, because the Word is not him, it is an Other." Here then is the mystery of John: "He never takes over the Word," John "is the one who indicates, who marks". The "meaning of John's life - he added - is to indicate another." Pope Francis then spoke of being struck by the fact that the "Church chooses to mark John’s feast day” at a time when the days are at their longest in the year, when they "have more light." And John really "was the man of light, he brought light, but it was not his own light, it was a reflected light." John is "like a moon" and when Jesus began to preach, the light of John "began to decline, to set". "Voice not Word - the Pope said - light, but not his own"

"John seems to be nothing. That is John’s vocation: he negates himself. And when we contemplate the life of this man, so great, so powerful - all believed that he was the Messiah - when we contemplate this life, how it is nullified to the point of the darkness of a prison, we behold a great mystery. We do not know what John’s last days were like. We do not know. We only know that he was killed, his head was put on a platter, as a great gift from a dancer to an adulteress. I don’t think you can lower yourself much more than this, negate yourself much more. That was the end that John met".

[grace-land]

http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2013/06/24/pope:_christians_cannot_be_anti-semitic/en1-704322

2013-06-24 13:29:48
Pope: Christians cannot be anti-Semitic

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis says due to “our common roots” with the Jewish people, “a Christian cannot be anti-Semitic!” Listen to Tracey McClure's report: RealAudioMP3

The Pope was speaking to a 30 strong delegation from the International Jewish Committee on Interreligious Consultations (IJCIC) who gathered in the Apostolic Palace’s Hall of the Popes for a private audience Monday. The IJCIC is committed to developing relations with the Vatican’s Commission on Religious Relations with the Jews, the Orthodox Christian Church, the World Council of Churches, and other international religious bodies.

Though he acknowledged he has met “important personalities of the Jewish world,” Pope Francis admitted this marked the first time he was addressing an official group of representatives of Jewish organizations and communities. And as such, he wanted to recall that landmark Second Vatican Council declaration Nostra Aetate which he described as a “key point of reference for relations with the Jewish people.”

“The fundamental principles expressed by the Declaration,” he continued, “have marked the path of greater awareness and mutual understanding trodden these last decades by Jews and Catholics” – a path very much supported, he noted, by his predecessors.

Pope Francis recalled his own friendships with leaders of the Jewish world while he was Archbishop of Buenos Aires, saying these “friendly relations are in a way the basis for the development of a more official dialogue.”

The Pope encouraged those present to “follow this path trying, as you do so, to involve younger generations.” “Humanity,” he said, “needs our joint witness in favour of respect for the dignity of man and woman…and in favour of peace.”

Below, please find a transcript of Pope Francis’ discourse to the IJCIC delegation:
 

[grace-land]

http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2013/06/25/pope_francis_at_morning_mass:_no_one_is_christian_by_chance/en1-704648

2013-06-25 12:47:02
Pope Francis at morning Mass: no one is Christian by chance

(Vatican Radio) Being Christian is a response to the voice of love, to a call to become children of God. This was the central theme of Pope Francis’ remarks at Mass on Tuesday morning in the chapel of the Domus Sanctae Marthae residence in the Vatican. The Holy Father also spoke of the Christian certainty that God never leaves us alone and asks us to go forward, even in the midst of difficulties. Listen: RealAudioMP3

Pope Francis focused his homily on the first reading of the day, from the Book of Genesis, which tells of the discussion between Abram and Lot his cousin for the division of the earth. “When I read this,” he said, “I think of the Middle East and so I ask the Lord [intensely] that He give wisdom to all of us, the wisdom [to say] let’s not fight, [you and I], I from here and you from there... the wisdom for peace.” Abram, the Pope observed, “keeps walking.” He said, “[Abram] had left his land to go he knew not where, but wherever the Lord would tell him.” He kept on walking, then, because he believed in the Word of God, which, “had invited him to go out of his land.” This man, perhaps ninety years old, said the Pope, looked upon the land that the Lord had shown him and believed:

"Abram departed his land [carrying] a promise: his entire journey is a going toward this promise. The way he walked his path is a model for how we [ought to walk our own]. God called Abram, a [single] person, and that one person makes an entire people. If we go to the Book of Genesis, to the beginning, to the creation, we find that God creates the stars, creates the plants, creates the animals, creates the these and the that’s and the others ... But He creates Man in the singular, one. God always speaks in the singular to us, because He has created in his image and likeness. And God speaks in the singular. He spoke to Abram and gave him a promise and invited him to come out of his land. We Christians have been called one-by-one: none of us is Christian by pure chance. No one.”
 

[grace-land]

http://www.catholicworldreport.com/Blog/2354/pope_francis_a_noshow_at_concert.aspx#.UcpQvr4o7IU
 
Pope Francis a no-show at concert
June 23, 2013 10:26 EST
 
On Saturday, June 22, 2013, at 5:30 p.m., the Italian Radio Symphony Orchestra (RAI) performed Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony in Paul VI Hall at the Vatican.  The concert was organized by Archbishop Rino Fisichella, President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization, as part of the Year of Faith celebrations. 

But the Pope did not attend.
 
Before the performance, Abp. Fisichella read a message from the Pope, offering his apologies to the public, citing “urgent commitments”.  The message also made it clear that the Pope would keep all his scheduled appointments the following day, in particular the Angelus and an audience at the Vatican train station with hundreds of children who were to travel from Northern Italy to see him.  Pope Francis did in fact attend all the events on Sunday, so speculation that he missed the concert on Saturday for health reasons was baseless. 

Vatican commentator Frédéric Mounier, in the French newspaper La Croix, observed that “For the first time in more than ten years, all the apostolic nuncios of the world—the pope’s ambassadors—are present in Rome.  It is easy to imagine that, given such an opportunity to meet them, the pope quickly understood that it would be more useful for him to listen attentively to one or another nuncio from a troubled country than to attend a concert.”

[grace-land]

http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2013/06/26/pope_at_mass:_the_joy_of_fatherhood/en1-704954

2013-06-26 12:39:21
Pope at Mass: The joy of fatherhood

(Vatican Radio) The desire to be a father is ingrained in all men, even priests, who are called to give life, care, protection to their spiritual children entrusted to them. This was the focus of Pope Francis homily at morning Mass Wednesday, in the chapel of Casa Santa Marta. Mass was concelebrated by the Cardinal Archbishop Emeritus of Palermo, Salvatore De Giorgi, who was celebrating the 60th anniversary of his priestly ordination. Emer McCarthy reports: RealAudioMP3

"When a man does not have this desire, something is missing in this man. Something is wrong. All of us, to exist, to become complete, in order to be mature, we need to feel the joy of fatherhood: even those of us who are celibate. Fatherhood is giving life to others, giving life, giving life… For us, it is pastoral paternity, spiritual fatherhood, but this is still giving life, this is still becoming fathers. "

Pope Francis was inspired by Wednesday's passage from Genesis, in which God promises an elderly Abram the joy of a child, along with descendants as numerous as the stars of heaven. To seal this covenant, Abram follows God's directions and prepares a sacrifice of animals which he then defends from attack by birds of prey. "It moves me - said the Pope – to picture this ninety year old man with a stick in his hand", defending his sacrifice. "It makes me think of a father defending his family, his children":
 

[grace-land]

http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2013/06/26/pope_francis:_weekly_general_audience_(full_text)/en1-704903

2013-06-26 11:23:38
Pope Francis: weekly General Audience (full text)

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis received pilgrims and visitors in St Peter's Square on Wednesday morning for his weekly General Audience. In his catechetical remarks, the Holy Father concentrated on the image of the Church as living temple and People of God. Below, please find Vatican Radio's translation of his remarks. Listen: RealAudioMP3
************************************************************
Dear brothers and sisters,

Today I would like briefly to refer to one more picture that helps us to illustrate the mystery of the Church: that of the temple (cf. Lumen Gentium, 6).

What does the word, ‘temple’ call to mind? It makes us think of a building, a construction. In particular, it recalls to many minds the history of the People of Israel narrated in the Old Testament. In Jerusalem, the great Temple of Solomon was the locus of the encounter with God in prayer. Within the Temple was the Ark of the Covenant, a sign of God's presence among the people, and inside the Ark were the Tablets of the Law, the manna and the rod of Aaron, a reminder that God had always been in the history of his people, had always been with them on their journey, always directed their stride – and the Temple recalls this story. We, too, when we go to the temple, must remember this story – my story – the story of each one of us – of how Jesus encountered me, of how he walked with me, how Jesus loves and blesses me.
 

[grace-land]

http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2013/06/26/pope_sets_up_pontifical_commission_to_study_ior_reform/en1-704987

2013-06-26 13:46:11
Pope sets up Pontifical Commission to study IOR reform

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has established a Pontifical Commission charged with drawing up an “exhaustive” report into the juridical standing and activities of the Vatican’s financial institution, the Institute for Religious Works, more commonly known as the IOR.

The Commission is composed of 5 people. These include two US natives, Harvard Law Professor Mary Ann Glendon and Monsignor Peter Bryan Wells, of the Vatican Secretariat of State.

Presenting the Secretariat of State communique to journalists Wednesday, Holy See press office Director, Fr. Federico Lombardi S.J. stated that the Commission is tasked with carrying out inquiries and presenting the Holy Father with a report of their findings “in view of possible reform".

Fr. Lombardi noted that the Commission of 5 people is not permanent. It will present the report to the Pope and then be dissolved. He also added that no deadline has been set.

The new Pontifical Commission, which will begin its work in the coming days, is not involved in running the Institution. Its main aim will be to study it to help Pope Francis ensure the IOR’s activities are in harmony with the Churches’ mission.

Below please find a Vatican Radio translation of the Comuniquè issued by the Secretariat of State:
 

[grace-land]

http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2013/06/26/usccb_reacts_to_us_supreme_court_on_doma/en1-705148

2013-06-26 19:40:45
USCCB reacts to US Supreme Court on DOMA

(Vatican Radio) Below is a statement by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' on the US Supreme Court's ruling on Wednesday triking down part of the Defense of Marriage Act.

The U.S. Supreme Court decisions June 26 striking down part of the Defense of Marriage Act and refusing to rule on the merits of a challenge to California’s Proposition 8 mark a “tragic day for marriage and our nation,” said Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco, chair of the U.S. bishops’ Subcommittee for the Promotion and Defense of Marriage.

The statement follows.

“Today is a tragic day for marriage and our nation. The Supreme Court has dealt a profound injustice to the American people by striking down in part the federal Defense of Marriage Act. The Court got it wrong. The federal government ought to respect the truth that marriage is the union of one man and one woman, even where states fail to do so. The preservation of liberty and justice requires that all laws, federal and state, respect the truth, including the truth about marriage. It is also unfortunate that the Court did not take the opportunity to uphold California’s Proposition 8 but instead decided not to rule on the matter. The common good of all, especially our children, depends upon a society that strives to uphold the truth of marriage. Now is the time to redouble our efforts in witness to this truth. These decisions are part of a public debate of great consequence. The future of marriage and the well-being of our society hang in the balance.

“Marriage is the only institution that brings together a man and a woman for life, providing any child who comes from their union with the secure foundation of a mother and a father.
 

[grace-land]

http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2013/06/27/pope_at_mass:_resting_our_faith_on_the_rock_of_christ/en1-705319

2013-06-27 12:48:56
Pope at Mass: Resting our faith on the rock of Christ

(Vatican Radio) There are people who "masquerade as Christians," and sin by being excessively superficial or overly rigid, forgetting that a true Christian is a person of joy who rests their faith on the rock of Christ. Some think they can be Christian without Christ; others think being Christian means being in a perpetual state mourning. This was the focus of Pope Francis’ homily at morning Mass on Thursday.

Rigid and sad. Or happy but with no idea of ​​Christian joy. These are two - in a sense opposite - "houses", in which two categories of believers live and which are both seriously flawed: they are grounded in a Christianity made of words and fail to rely on the "rock" of the Word of Christ. Pope Francis identified both groups in his comments on the Gospel of the day, the famous passage from Matthew of the houses built on sand and rock.

"In the history of the Church there have been two classes of Christians: Christians of words - those" Lord, Lord, Lord "- and Christians of action, in truth. There has always been the temptation to live our Christianity not on the rock that is Christ. The only one who gives us the freedom to say 'Father' to God is Christ, our rock. He is the only one who sustains us in difficult times, no? As Jesus said: the rain falls, rivers overflow, winds blow, but the rock is safe, words, the words take flight, they are not needed. But this is the temptation of these Christians of words, of a Christianity without Jesus, a Christianity without Christ. And this has happened and is happening today in the Church: being Christians without Christ. "
 

[grace-land]

http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2013/06/28/pope_at_mass:_the_mystery_of_god’s_patience/en1-705591

2013-06-28 11:39:41
Pope at Mass: The Mystery of God’s patience

(Vatican Radio) The Lord asks us to be patient, after all He is always patient with us. Moreover there is no "set protocol" for how God intervenes in our lives; sometimes it's immediate, sometimes we just have to have a little patience. This was the lesson drawn by Pope Francis from the daily readings at Mass Friday morning in Casa Santa Marta. Emer McCarthy reports: RealAudioMP3

The Lord slowly enters the life of Abraham, who is 99 years old when He promises him a son. Instead He immediately enters the life of the leper, Jesus listens to his prayer, touches him and preforms a miracle. Pope Francis went on to speak of how the Lord chooses to become involved "in our lives, in the lives of His people." The lives of Abraham and the leper. "When the Lord intervenes - said the Pope– He does not always do so in the same way. There is no ‘set protocol’ of action of God in our life", "it does not exist ". Once, he added, "He intervenes is one way, another time in a different way” but He always intervenes. There is "always - he said - this meeting between us and the Lord".

"The Lord always chooses His way to enter into our lives. Often He does so slowly, so much so, we are in danger of losing our 'patience', a little. But Lord, when? 'And we pray, we pray ... And He doesn’t intervene in our lives. Other times, when we think of what the Lord has promised us, that it such a huge thing, we don’t believe it, we are a little skeptical, like Abraham – and we smile a little to ourselves ... This is what it says in the First Reading, Abraham hid his face and smiled ... A bit 'of skepticism:' What? Me? I am almost a hundred years old, I will have a son and my wife at 90 will have a son? '.
 

[grace-land]

http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2013/06/28/vatican_statement_on_investigation_into_mons._scarano_/en1-705611

2013-06-28 12:06:26
Vatican statement on investigation into Mons. Scarano

(Vatican Radio) Below we publish the statement released by Holy See Press Office Director Fr. Federico Lombardi S.J. regarding the arrest of an Italian Monsignor Nuncio Scarano:

As already known from the past few days, Monsignor Nuncio Scarano has been suspended from duty at APSA (Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See) for over a month, as soon as his superiors were informed that he was under investigation.

This is in accordance with the Regulations of the Roman Curia, which requires the precautionary suspension for persons against whom criminal proceedings have begun.
 

[grace-land]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/on-faith/analysis-pope-francis-confronts-his-first-scandal-in-vatican-bank-mess/2013/06/28/3656bd60-e036-11e2-8cf3-35c1113cfcc5_story.html

ANALYSIS: Pope Francis confronts his first scandal in Vatican Bank mess
By  Alessandro Speciale| Religion News Service,    Updated: Friday, June 28, 4:03 PM

VATICAN CITY — Just two days after creating a commission to review the activities of the scandal-plagued Vatican Bank, Pope Francis is confronting the first major crisis of his papacy — starring once again an unscrupulous prelate and large amounts of cash of unclear origin.

On Friday (June 28), Italian police arrested the Rev. Nunzio Scarano, a senior prelate working in the Vatican treasury, officially known as the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See.

Scarano stands accused of trying to smuggle some 20 million euros from Switzerland to Italy on behalf of a financier. According to prosecutors, Scarano and his associates concocted a plan that seems to come straight out of a spy movie, involving a rented plane and help from contacts within the Italian secret service.

Scarano stands accused of trying to smuggle some 20 million euros from Switzerland to Italy on behalf of a financier. According to prosecutors, Scarano and his associates concocted a plan that seems to come straight out of a spy movie, involving a rented plane and help from contacts within the Italian secret service.

While it is not clear whom the money belonged to, the investigation stemmed from prosecutors’ years-long probe into alleged money laundering at the Vatican Bank.

Prosecutors say they have no indication that the latest scandal involves the Vatican Bank itself, even though Scarano holds several accounts at the Institute for the Works of Religion, as the bank is formally known.
 

[grace-land]

http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2013/06/28/pope_to_orthodox_delegation_from_ecumenical_patriarchate/en1-705667

2013-06-28 13:20:58
Pope to Orthodox delegation from Ecumenical Patriarchate



(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis met on Friday with a delegation from the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople which is in Rome to attend celebrations for Saturday’s feast of Saints Peter and Paul. Traditionally, as spiritual leader of Orthodox Christians worldwide, the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew 1st sends a delegation to Rome each June 29th, while a Catholic delegation travels to Istanbul each November 30th to mark the feast of St Andrew, patron of the Orthodox world.

Listen to Philippa Hitchen's report: RealAudioMP3

In his meeting with the Orthodox representatives, led by Metropolitan Ioannis Zizioulas, Pope Francis spoke of important progress in the official dialogue between Catholics and Orthodox, which has already produced many joint documents. The Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue, co-chaired by Metropolitan Ioannis, and Cardinal Kurt Koch, is currently studying the key question of primacy and collegiality in the Church of the first century, one of the main obstacles on the road to unity and reconciliation between the East and Western Churches, which divided in 1054.

In his address to the delegation, Pope Francis said “It is significant that today we are able to reflect together, in truth and love, on these issues, starting with what we have in common, but without hiding that which still separates us. This is not merely a theoretical exercise, but one of getting to know each other's traditions, in order to understand, and sometimes to learn from them as well. We know very well,” the Pope said, “that unity is primarily a gift from God for which we must pray without ceasing, but we all have the task of preparing the conditions, of cultivating the soil of the heart, so that this extraordinary grace can be received.”

Please find below a Vatican Radio traslation of the full text:
 

[grace-land]

http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2013/06/29/pope_francis:_mass_and_angelus_on_sts_peter_and_paul/en1-705903

2013-06-29 10:39:17
Pope Francis: Mass and Angelus on Sts Peter and Paul

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis marked the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul with Mass in St Peter’s Basilica, during which he imposed the pallium on thirty-four of the metropolitan archbishops installed over the past year. The pallium is the white, shawl-like woolen liturgical vestment worn over the shoulders of a metropolitan archbishop, which is the peculiar sign of a metropolitan’s office: it specifically symbolizes authority and union with the Holy See. Each year on the feast, the Metropolitan archbishops installed during the course of the preceding year travel to Rome to receive the vestment. The solemnity is also one of the two days in the liturgical year in which the ancient bronze statue of St Peter in the basilica is symbolically vested in an ornate red silk cope and crowned with the triple tiara. Listen to our report: RealAudioMP3

After processing into the basilica with the thirty-four new metropolitans and hearing the readings, Pope Francis delivered a homily in which he focused on the mystery of the Petrine ministry as one particularly ordered to confirming all Christians everywhere in faith, love and unity. “Faith in Christ,” said Pope Francis, “is the light of our life as Christians.“ Addressing himself to the new metropolitans, the Pope said, “To confess the Lord by letting oneself be taught by God; to be consumed by love for Christ and his Gospel; to be servants of unity. These, dear brother bishops, are the tasks which the holy apostles Peter and Paul entrust to each of us, so that they can be lived by every Christian.”

This was a theme to which the Holy Father returned after Mass, in remarks to the faithful gathered in St Peter's square for the Angelus prayer. “What a joy it is to believe in a God who is all Love, all Grace,” he said. Also at the Angelus, Pope Francis also greeted the delegation from the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, led by Metropolitan Ioannis Zizoulas. “Let us not forget that Peter had a brother, Andrew,” said Pope Francis, “who met Jesus first, spoke of Him to Peter and took Peter to meet [the Lord].”

Then Pope Francis asked all the gathered faithful to join him in praying a Hail Mary for Patriarch Bartholomew.

In conclusion, the Holy Father greeted all the pilgrim faithful who, from every part of the world, were come to celebrate the feast in Rome.

Below, please find a list of the thirty-four metropolitans to receive the pallium:
 

[Sister]

thank you for all these up-dates grace-land.  I read them with much interest.