Year: 2017

Medellin, Colombia, Sep 9, 2017 / 02:20 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- In a visit to a children’s home in Colombia, Pope Francis said Saturday that we can never accept the mistreatment or suffering of children, who are Jesus’ favorites, and need our protection for a hope-filled future.

“To see children suffer, wounds our hearts because children are Jesus’ favorites. We can never accept that they are mistreated, that they are denied the right to live out their childhood peacefully and joyfully, that they are denied a future of hope,” the Pope said Sept. 9.

“Jesus, however, never abandons those who suffer, much less you, boys and girls, who are his special ones.”

Pope Francis spoke to children, caregivers and teachers during a visit to a children’s home in the Boston neighborhood of Medellin.

Across five locations, the homes provide care and education to 630 children from all over the country who have lost their families through death, abandonment, displacement due to armed conflict, or extreme poverty.

They also care for children who have escaped violence caused by guerilla groups and drug traffickers or neglect or mistreatment from parents.

Founded more than 100 years ago, they now have three homes for primary school-aged children, a high school program which opened in 1999, and “St. Joseph’s Workshop” for children ages 2-5. 

Many of those in the preschool program are the children of women who are imprisoned or in prostitution.

The program aims to create as close to a home and family environment as possible, providing the children with love and affection in addition to the necessities of food, education, and housing.

One young student, Claudia Yesenia, gave a testimony on her life to the Pope. “Hearing all of the difficulties you experienced, I thought of the unjust suffering of so many boys and girls throughout the world, who have been and continue to be innocent victims of the evil that others commit,” he responded.

Despite all of these horrible things, however, there are signs of Jesus’ love for you and desire to be close to you, he encouraged, such as the children’s home and the care of good people.

“I think of those who direct this house, the sisters, the staff and so many others who are already a part of your family. For this is what you do here, you make this place a home: the warmth of a family where we feel loved, protected, accepted, cared for and accompanied,” he noted.

Pope Francis asked the children if they remembered what is written in St. Matthew’s Gospel when Herod decides to kill the Infant Jesus. Do you remember “how, in a dream, God spoke to Saint Joseph by means of an angel, and entrusted to his care and protection his most valuable treasures: Jesus and Mary?” he asked.

Joseph then obeyed immediately, taking the baby Jesus and his mother Mary to Egypt for safety.

“I am sure that, just as Saint Joseph protected and defended the Holy Family from danger, so too he is defending you, caring for you and accompanying you,” he said. And alongside him are Jesus and Mary, who always accompany him.

The Pope reminded the religious and lay people who care for the children of two parts of the Christian identity – “the love that knows how to see Jesus present in the smallest and weakest, and the sacred duty of bringing children to Jesus.”

He commended them and all the joys and hardships of their work to St. Joseph’s protection. 

“Learn from him, that his example may inspire you and help you in your loving care for these little ones, who are the future of Colombian society, of the world and of the Church, so that like Jesus, they may grow and be strengthened in wisdom and grace, before God and others.”

Concluding, he promised to pray for all of them that they may “grow in love, peace and happiness,” and their “wounds of body and heart” heal.

“God will not abandon you, but protect you and help you. And the Pope will keep you in his heart. Please do not forget to pray for me,” he said.
 

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Medellin, Colombia, Sep 9, 2017 / 10:38 am (CNA/EWTN News).- On Saturday, Pope Francis said that true freedom is found in letting go of the superficial things we cling to for security, embracing instead a discipleship which has the courage to follow Jesus in living in the fullness of the law.

“For the Lord, as also for the first community, it is of the greatest importance that we who call ourselves disciples not cling to a certain style or to particular practices that cause us to be more like some Pharisees than like Jesus,” the Pope said Sept. 9.

Pope Francis celebrated Mass at Enrique Olaya Herrera Airport in Medellin Saturday morning. Huge crowds – estimated at more than 1 million people – attended the Mass, which took place during the Pope’s Sept. 6-11 visit to Colombia. 

In his homily, the Holy Father reflected on three attitudes that he said must form our lives as disciples of Jesus Christ.

The first is going to what is essential. “This does not mean ‘breaking with everything’ that does not suit us,” he said, “because Jesus did not come ‘to abolish the law, but to fulfil it’ (Mt 5:17); it means to go deep, to what matters and has value for life.”

In the Gospels, Jesus teaches us that discipleship requires a relationship with God – not merely following rules or exhibiting outward actions without really changing your heart, he said.

“Discipleship must begin with a living experience of God and his love. It is not something static, but a continuous movement towards Christ; it is not simply the fidelity to making a doctrine explicit, but rather the experience of the Lord’s living, kindly and active presence, an ongoing formation by listening to his word.”

And hearing this word, we live it out in serving the concrete needs of our brothers and sisters, he explained.

The second attitude disciples are called to adopt is renewal, which Francis said the Church is always in need of – “Ecclesia semper reformanda.” The Church doesn’t renew herself on “her own whim,” but firm in the faith and following the hope of the Gospel.

And this requires sacrifice and courage, “not so that we can consider ourselves superior or flawless, but rather to respond better to the Lord’s call,” he stated.

The Church must be ‘shaken’ by the Holy Spirit in order to let go of comforts and attachments, but we shouldn’t be afraid of renewal, the Pope noted.

In Colombia, for example, he said this renewal is needed in the many situations of violence, which can be transformed by Jesus’ reconciliation and peace. 

The third attitude of a disciple is the willingness to get our hands dirty and get involved in helping our brothers and sisters, the Pope said.

We are called to be brave, to have “that evangelical courage which springs from knowing that there are many who are hungry, who hunger for God, who hunger for dignity, because they have been deprived.”

As Christians, we must help others to satisfy this hunger, to encounter Christ, we can’t put up “do not enter” signs, he said.

“The Church is not ours, she is God’s; he is the owner of the temple and the field; everyone has a place, everyone is invited to find here, and among us, his or her nourishment.”

Jesus told his disciples to give the hungry crowd something to eat, which is our call, too, the Pope emphasized. 

He pointed out that St. Peter Claver, whose feast day is celebrated by the Church Sept. 9, understood this well. In the 1600s, the Spanish missionary cared for the spiritual and physical needs of slaves in modern-day Colombia.

“‘Slave of the blacks forever’ was the motto of his life, because he understood, as a disciple of Jesus, that he could not remain indifferent to the suffering of the most helpless and mistreated of his time, and that he had to do something to alleviate their suffering,” Francis said.

Referencing the gathering of Latin American bishops at Aparecida in 2007, he said that the Church in Colombia “is called to commit itself, with greater boldness, to forming missionary disciples.”

As it says in the document from that gathering, Colombia needs disciples who know how to see, judge and act, he said.

“I have come here precisely to confirm you in the faith and hope of the Gospel. Remain steadfast and free in Christ, in such a way that you manifest him in everything you do; take up the path of Jesus with all your strength, know him, allow yourselves to be called and taught by him, and proclaim him with great joy,” he concluded.

“Let us pray through the intercession of Our Mother, Our Lady of Candelaria, that she may accompany us on our path of discipleship, so that, giving our lives to Christ, we may simply be missionaries who bring the light and joy of the Gospel to all people.”
 
 

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Villavicencio, Colombia, Sep 8, 2017 / 03:46 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis told the Colombian people Friday that while it will be challenging, they must let go the anger caused by years of painful suffering and break the cycle of violence through a process of genuine forgiveness.

“Violence leads to more violence, hatred to more hatred, death to more death. We must break this cycle which seems inescapable,” the Pope said Sept. 8. “This is only possible through forgiveness and reconciliation.”

Pope Francis spoke during a prayer gathering in Villavicencio for national reconciliation as part of his Sept. 6-11 visit to Colombia.

The trip, which marks his third tour of South America since his election, is largely the result of the country’s ongoing peace process between the government and Colombia’s largest guerrilla group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

After more than six decades of conflict, a peace deal was finally struck in August 2016, de-escalating a conflict which since 1964 has left some 260,000 people dead and an estimated 7 million displaced.

Archbishop Oscar Urbina Ortega of Villavicencio greeted the Pope, offering his own brief reflection on the need for reconciliation.

In his comments, the archbishop stressed that “you cannot have true conversion of heart that does not also produce social and political resonances. Because of this reconciliation is offered to everyone.”

Reconciliation among the Colombian people “is a process, not only a goal or a perfect state,” Archbishop Urbina said, pointing to the strong desire of Colombians to overcome the pain caused by different forms of violence such as kidnapping, extortion, displacement, forced disappearance, forced recruitment, threats against life, and murders.

These, he said, “have destroyed projects of life from thousands of families and communities,” and it will take time to help so many people rebuild their lives.

“The search and constant effort to listen to each other, forgive each other and to try again will be the basis for generating a culture of fraternity,” Archbishop Urbina said, praying that that God would give them “a fruitful seed so that the tree of forgiveness, justice, reconciliation and peace blooms in this land.”

Pope Francis then listened to four testimonies from victims of the violence, including former FARC fighters and former members of other paramilitary groups.

The first  testimony was given by Juan Carlos Murcia Perdomo, who was part of FARC forces for 12 years, and reflected on truth. After being recruited at 16, he lost his left had working with explosives.

He eventually ascended the ranks and was named commander of his own squad. However, Murcia said at the same time he felt used and had a strong sense of nostalgia for home, and little by little understood that violence wasn’t the right path. He left FARC and later launched the “Funddrras Foundation,” which is dedicated to sports in a bid to offer youth an alternative to drugs and violence.

Deisy Sanchez Rey, who at 16 was recruited by her brother to join the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) paramilitary and drug trafficking group, spoke on justice. She shared her story of how she was eventually arrested and, after two years in prison, wanted to change her life. She began attending Mass and studying psychology, and now offers counseling to victims of drugs and violence.

A third testimony, given by Luz Dary Landazury, the victim of an explosion set off by guerrilla forces, regarded mercy. In addition to nearly losing her left leg and suffering wounds all over her body, Landazury’s 7-month-old daughter also suffered significant injuries to her face.

Despite her anger, Landazury said she eventually understood that hate would only lead to more violence, and so began visiting other victims in order to help them learn to let go of their own anger and move forward with their lives.

The final testimony, focused on peace, was given by Pastora Mira Garcia, whose father was killed by guerrillas when she was just 6-years-old. She also lost her first husband, her daughter, and her son to guerrilla violence.

However, with what she describes as grace and the help of Our Lady, she was able not only to work with other families who had experienced similar losses, but eventually, in different moments, met and cared for both her father’s killer, who was sick and abandoned, and her son’s murderer, who was wounded.

In his address following the testimonies, Pope Francis said he had been looking forward to the encounter “since my arrival in your country.”

“You carry in your hearts and your flesh the signs of the recent, living memory of your people which is marked by tragic events, but also filled with heroic acts, great humanity, and the noble spiritual values of faith and hope,” he said.

Colombia has sadly become “a land watered by the blood of thousands of innocent victims and by the heart-breaking sorrow of their families and friends,” he said, adding that these wounds “hurt us all, because every act of violence committed against a human being is a wound in humanity’s flesh.”

The Pope said he didn’t come to speak, but rather “to be close to you and to see you with my own eyes, to listen to you and to open my heart to your witness of life and faith. And if you will allow me, I wish also to embrace you and weep with you.”

“I would like us to pray together and to forgive one another – I also need to ask forgiveness – so that, together, we can all look and walk forward in faith and hope.”

He pointed to the Crucifix of Bojayá, where on May 2, 2002, 119 civilians, including 45 children, were killed by guerrilla forces in an effort to take the Atrato River region from the AUC. Victims had taken refuge in the town’s church, but were all killed when the militants began launching gas cylinder bombs inside.

Pope Francis noted how the crucifix pulled from the carnage shows a Christ “mutilated and wounded,” with no arms and no body. “But his face remains, with which he looks upon us and loves us.”

To see Christ this way challenges us, he said, and reminds us of the “immense suffering, the many deaths and broken lives, and all the blood spilt in Colombia these past decades.”

“Christ broken and without limbs is for us even more Christ, because he shows us once more that he came to suffer for his people and with his people,” Francis said. “He came to show us that hatred does not have the last word, that love is stronger than death and violence.”

Turning to the testimonies given, the Pope said he was moved when listening to them, because they are stories that speak of pain and suffering, “but also, and above all, they are stories of love and forgiveness that speak to us of life and hope; stories of not letting hatred, vengeance or pain take control of our hearts.”

“Thank you, Lord, for the witness of those who inflicted suffering and who ask for forgiveness; for the witness of those who suffered unjustly and who forgive,” he said, adding that “this is only possible with your help and presence.”

Francis recalled how in her testimony, Mira Garcia had said that she wanted to place her suffering and that of all victims of the conflict at the feet of Christ Crucified, “so that united to his suffering, it may be transformed into blessing and forgiveness so as to break the cycle of violence that has reigned over Colombia.”

“And you, dear Pastora, and so many others like you, have shown us that this is possible,” he said, adding that “with the help of Christ alive in the midst of the community, it is possible to conquer hatred, it is possible to conquer death and it is possible to begin again and usher in a new Colombia.”

Noting how in her testimony Luz Dary shared that the wounds in her heart were deeper and harder to heal than the ones that scarred her body, he acknowledged that this is true, and commended her for realizing that “it is not possible to live with resentment, but only with a love that liberates and builds.”

By going out of herself to help other victims heal and rebuild their lives, Dary found the peace and serenity needed to keep going, he said. And while physical wounds remain, “your spiritual gait is fast and steady, because you think of others and want to help them.”

Turning to Deisy and Juan Carlos, the former FARC and AUC fighters, Pope Francis said their testimony helps one to understand that they, too, are victims.

“In the end, in one way or another, we too are victims, innocent or guilty, but all victims,” he said. “We are all united in this loss of humanity that means violence and death.”

“There is also hope for those who did wrong; all is not lost,” he said, noting that while justice requires that those who do wrong “undergo moral and spiritual renewal,” we must all “make a positive contribution to healing our society that has been wounded by violence.”

Francis recognized that it might be hard to believe change is possible given the sheer amount of suffering and violence perpetrated by those pursuing their own agenda. However, “even when conflicts, violence and feelings of vengeance remain, may we not prevent justice and mercy from embracing Colombia’s painful history,” he said.

“Let us heal that pain and welcome every person who has committed offenses, who admits their failures, is repentant and truly wants to make reparation, thus contributing to the building of a new order where justice and peace shine forth.”

As part of the reconciliation process, “it is also indispensable to come to terms with the truth.” This, he said, “is a great challenge, but a necessary one,” because “truth is an inseparable companion of justice and mercy.”

Both truth and justice are essential in building peace, he said, explaining that each prevents the other from being manipulated and transformed into “instruments of revenge against the weakest.”

Truth, the Pope said, “means telling families torn apart by pain what happened to their missing relatives,” and “confessing what happened to minors recruited by violent people.” It also means “recognizing the pain of women who are victims of violence and abuse.”

Pope Francis closed his address offering his perspective as “a brother and a father,” telling Colombia to  “open your heart as the People of God and be reconciled. Fear neither the truth nor justice.”

“Do not be afraid of asking for forgiveness and offering it. Do not resist that reconciliation which allows you to draw near and encounter one another as brothers and sisters, and surmount enmity,” he said.

“Now is the time to heal wounds, to build bridges, to overcome differences. It is time to defuse hatred, to renounce vengeance, and to open yourselves to a coexistence founded on justice, truth, and the creation of a genuine culture of fraternal encounter.”

Francis then led attendees in a prayer for peace to the “Christ of  Bojayá,” in “Lord, make me an instrument of your peace,” a 20th century prayer which is often attributed to St. Francis of Assisi, and in the Hail Mary. Before departing, the Pope blessed all present.

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Bogotá, Colombia, Sep 8, 2017 / 02:25 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Prison inmates from jails around Colombia prepared themselves spiritually for the Pope’s visit to their country through prayers, letters, messages, and watching his arrival to their country on television.

Although the Pope Francis’s Sept. 6-10 trip to Colombia does not include a visit to a penitentiary, the Pope’s visit has been viewed as a sign of peace and serenity for persons deprived of their liberty.  

The trip holds even more special meaning for those who have asked that the government consider the Jubilee Law, through which inmates with minor offenses are granted a reduction of their sentence.

Encouraged through the country’s Catholic Penitentiary Ministry and the National Penitentiary and Prison Institute, inmates of the various prison centers throughout the country prepared spiritually for the Pope’s visit.  

Fr. Edgar Galeano, chaplain at Colombia’s Model Jail in Bogota, explained that the inmates in his prison participated in prayer groups, daily recitation of the Rosary, and reading sacred scripture. In addition, every block read a book called “Take the First Step” in order to develop ten spiritual encounters on a weekly basis.

Likewise, in the penitentiary centers, liturgical celebrations were held with the motto “Pope Francis: the prisoners in Colombia are praying for you.” During the services, they asked for forgiveness for their personal sins and lit candles to pray for the protection of Pope Francis on his journey.

One of the inmates of Block 3 began painting a picture of Pope Francis three years ago. “Three years ago the initiative was born, a hope, a faith was born. Something in my heart told me that it would be a nice gesture to give something to a representative of Jesus.”

Aldo, another one of the prison inmates, wrote a letter to the pontiff in which he said: “If I could speak to you personally, Pope Francis, I would ask you to perform three miracles: Forgive all my mistakes and all the times I have hurt others; to return to be a child with the memories lived, having repented of having done bad things; I do not want to move away from my family. I would like to start over.”

Carlos Manuel Gutiérrez, a spokesman for the Building New and Better Roads Corporation in Bucaramanga, Colombia told the Colombian outlet Vanguardia that the letters written by the inmates are due to be delivered on Sept. 9 to Pope Francis, during his visit to Medellin.

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