Vatican City, Jul 9, 2018 / 09:46 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis sent his prayers and condolences to Japan Monday following the death of at least 119 people in some of the worst flooding and landslides the country has seen in decades.
Heavy rains and flooding began July 5, and have primarily affected the Hiroshima prefecture.
A July 9 telegram expressed Pope Francis’ solidarity with those affected by the tragedy and noted his prayers, “especially for the repose of the deceased, the healing of those injured and the consolation of all those who grieve.”
Sent on behalf of the pope by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the letter said Francis is “deeply saddened to learn of the loss of life and of the injury” caused by the floods.
The pope also invoked “abundant blessings,” and offered his encouragement to everyone assisting victims of the disaster and the civil authorities and those involved in efforts to uncover the nearly 80 people estimated to still be missing.
In the midst of their rainy season, record-breaking rainfalls in western Japan have resulted in massive flooding and landslides, killing hundreds and displacing thousands from their homes.
According to the BBC, as of Sunday around 3 million people had been advised to leave their homes and about 1.5 million ordered to do so. The Hiroshima area was the hardest hit, though 11 prefectures have been badly affected.
It is considered the worst flooding disaster the country has seen since 1983.
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Pope Francis speaks at the general audience in St. Peter’s Square on May 22, 2024. An altar painting of the Sacred Heart of Jesus by Francesco de Rhoden inside the Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Rome, Italy. / Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNA. [L] CNA file photo [R]
Vatican City, Jun 5, 2024 / 05:40 am (CNA).
Pope Francis will prepare a reflection on the Sacred Heart of Jesus for a world “that seems to have lost its heart,” he announced Wednesday.
“I am happy to prepare a document that brings together the valuable reflections of previous magisterial texts and a long history going back to the Sacred Scriptures to re-propose today to the whole Church this devotion, full of spiritual beauty,” he said at the end of his weekly audience with the public June 5.
The pontiff said he intends to publish the document in September, and asked for prayers as he prepares the reflection.
“I believe it will do us much good to meditate on various aspects of the Lord’s love, which can illuminate the path of ecclesial renewal, which says something meaningful to a world that seems to have lost its heart,” he said.
The pope noted that the Church dedicates the month of June to the Sacred Heart, and pointed out that last December 27 was the 350th anniversary of the first appearance of the Sacred Heart of Jesus to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque. The December anniversary began a period of celebration that will extend to June 27, 2025, he explained.
The solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus will be celebrated this year on June 7, the Friday after the second Sunday after Pentecost. The following day, the Church celebrates the feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
After his announcement, Pope Francis added a heartfelt appeal to pray for Mary’s intercession for peace in the world.
“The feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the memorial of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, which the Church is preparing to celebrate in the coming days, reminds us of the need to respond to the redemptive love of Christ, and invites us to entrust ourselves with confidence to the intercession of the Mother of the Lord,” he said.
“We ask the Lord, through the intercession of his Mother, for peace,” the pope prayed, pausing before adding, “peace in the tormented Ukraine, peace in Palestine, Israel, peace in Myanmar.”
“We pray that the Lord will give us peace and that the world will not suffer so much from war. May the Lord bless everyone. Amen.” he concluded.
Ana de Lobera y Torres (1545-1621), better known by her religious name Sister Ana de Jesús, helped expand the Discalced Carmelites to France and Belgium. Painting in the monastery of the Discalced Carmelites, Brussels, ca. 1650. / Credit: Anonym… […]
Pope Francis embraces a man in a wheelchair at the Wednesday general audience in St. Peter’s Square on June 10, 2015. / L’Osservatore Romano.
Vatican City, Nov 25, 2021 / 10:00 am (CNA).
In his message for the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, Pope Francis said that the Catholic Church needs the participation of everyone, and the disabled must not be excluded from the sacraments.
“As we celebrate your International Day, I would like to speak directly to all of you who live with any condition of disability, to tell you that the Church loves you and needs each of you for the fulfillment of her mission at the service of the Gospel,” the pope said on Nov. 25.
Quoting his 2013 exhortationEvangelii gaudium, he said: “The worst form of discrimination … is the lack of spiritual care.”
“Sometimes, as certain of you have unfortunately experienced, this has taken the form of denying access to the sacraments,” he said in his message.
“The Church’s magisterium is very clear in this area, and recently the Directory for Catechesis stated explicitly that ‘no one can deny the sacraments to persons with disabilities.’”
The theme of Pope Francis’ message for the day is friendship with Jesus, which he said is “an undeserved gift” that all have received and that can help those experiencing discrimination.
Friendship with Christ “redeems us and enables us to perceive differences as a treasure. For Jesus does not call us servants, women and men of lesser dignity, but friends: confidants worthy of knowing all that he has received from the Father,” he said.
Antonietta Pantone, 31, a Rome resident who uses a wheelchair, told journalists it was clear to her from the pope’s message that he considers it important that people with disabilities be part of the Church and not leave the Church.
She shared her personal journey of faith, which included finding a community in the Christian disability group Fede e Luce.
Pope Francis meets with Foi et Lumière members on Oct. 2, 2021. Vatican Media/CNA
Fede e Luce is the Italian branch of the French association Foi et Lumière (known as Faith and Light in the English-speaking world), which began 50 years ago with a pilgrimage for people with disabilities to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes in France. The movement has now expanded to five continents.
“I always say: In the eyes of God, we are all equal,” Pantone said, noting that in her journey of faith, friendship has been fundamental.
Friendship with others “demonstrates the closeness of God,” she said.
Pantone also explained how losing physical contact with friends because of the COVID-19 pandemic has been very hard for her and other disabled people, especially her friends who live in residences and not with family.
In his message, Pope Francis addressed the difficulty of the coronavirus outbreak for the disabled.
“I think, for example, of your being forced to stay at home for long periods of time; the difficulty experienced by many students with disabilities in accessing aids to distance learning; the lengthy interruption of social care services in a good number of countries; and many other hardships that you have had to face,” he wrote.
He mentioned in particular those who live in residential facilities, separated from loved ones. “In those places, the virus hit hard and, despite the dedication of caretakers, it has taken all too many lives,” he said.
He also emphasized the importance of confronting these challenges by finding consolation in prayer and friendship with Jesus.
“I would like to speak personally to each of you, and I ask that, if necessary, your family members or those closest to you read my words to you, or convey my appeal,” he said. “I ask you to pray. The Lord listens attentively to the prayers of those who trust in him.”
“Prayer is a mission, a mission accessible to everyone, and I would like to entrust that mission in a particular way to you. There is no one so frail that he or she cannot pray, worship the Lord, give glory to his holy Name, and intercede for the salvation of the world. In the sight of the Almighty, we come to realize that we are all equal,” he stressed.
Pope Francis also noted the continued presence of discrimination, ignorance, and prejudice at all levels of society, assuring people with disabilities that through baptism they are “a full-fledged member of the Church community, so that all of us, without exclusion or discrimination, can say: “I am Church!’”
“The Church is truly your home!” he said.
At a Nov. 25 press conference, Fr. Alexandre Awi Mello said that the Vatican’s Dicastery for Laity, Family, and Life is trying to do more to improve pastoral care for those with disabilities.
“This message, in recognizing that people with disabilities have their place in the holy faithful People of God, is a great invitation, for us in the dicastery, but above all for parish, diocesan and associative realities to take new paths with pastoral creativity,” Awi Mello said.
Fr. Alexandre Awi Mello, secretary of the Dicastery for Laity, Family, and Life, speaks at a Vatican press conference, May 18, 2021. Gianluca Teseo/CNA.
“It is a door that opens to think of pastoral care no longer for, but with…”
On Dec. 6, the dicastery will launch a video campaign with the hashtag #IamChurch. In five videos, Catholics with disabilities from different parts of the world will share about their experiences in the Church.
Pantone, who participated in one of the Vatican’s videos, told CNA that she would like to see the Catholic Church do more to develop courses that allow people with all kinds of disabilities to participate in parish life, such as formation courses to become a catechism teacher.
“I still had some ways to study [to become a catechist],” she said, “but it depends on the type of disability, so if another disabled person wants to be a catechist, the Church should give him all the appropriate tools.”
Pantone said that the Church can do a lot for the disabled, but the recently begun Synodal Journey “is already a step forward which the world of disability sees positively.”
Pope Francis said in his message that “having Jesus as a friend is an immense consolation. It can turn each of us into a grateful and joyful disciple, one capable of showing that our frailties are no obstacle to living and proclaiming the Gospel.”
“In fact, a trusting and personal friendship with Jesus can serve as the spiritual key to accepting the limitations that all of us have, and thus to be at peace with them,” he said.
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