Pope Francis offers prayers for earthquake victims in Indonesia

Our Lady Queen of Peace Cathedral in Broome, Australia. / null

Vatican City, Aug 28, 2021 / 05:45 am (CNA).
Pope Francis on Saturday accepted the resignation of Australian Bishop Christopher Alan Saunders, who had been on administrative leave fr… […]

Pope Francis presides at the Vatican’s Easter Vigil, Saturday, March 30, 2024 / Daniel Ibanez/CNA

Rome Newsroom, Mar 30, 2024 / 17:22 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis on Saturday evening presided over the Easter Vigil Mass at Saint Peter’s Basilica, reflecting on the gravity of Easter as a symbol of God’s reborn hope and the ultimate testament of life over death.

There were some concerns on Friday night about the pope’s wellbeing after the Holy Father canceled his attendance at Rome’s Via Crucis (Way of the Cross) at the last minute. The Holy See Press Office said the pope made the decision “to conserve his health” for the lengthy Easter Vigil liturgy.

“This is the Pasch of Christ, the revelation of God’s power: The victory of life over death, the triumph of light over darkness, the rebirth of hope amid the ruins of failure. It is the Lord, the God of the impossible, who rolled away the stone forever,” the pope said on Saturday in front of nearly 6,000 faithful gathered in Saint Peter’s Basilica. 

“He is the one who brings us from darkness into light, who is bound to us forever, who rescues us from the abyss of sin and death, and draws us into the radiant realm of forgiveness and eternal life,” the pope continued in his homily. 

The dramatic liturgy opened with Saint Peter’s Basilica shrouded in darkness. The Holy Father was positioned in front of the 15th century Filarete Door (covered in a white curtain and an embroidered tapestry of the resurrected Christ).

The pope inscribed a cross and the alpha and omega (the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet) on the white paschal candle, symbolizing Christ’s resurrection and the Christian hope of a new life in him.

Processing up the central nave of the basilica, a deacon carried the candle, pausing and chanting at three different times “Lumen Christi” (Light of Christ) to which the congregation responded “Deo Gratias” (Thanks be to God). 

This moment was followed by the chanting of the Exultet, or the Easter proclamation, an ancient prayer which invites the faithful to join the church in celebrating Christ’s resurrection.

Pope Francis opened his homily by reflecting on the anguish and consternation of the women depicted in the Gospel who with “the tears of Good Friday … not yet dried” approached the tomb that had been obstructed with a stone. 

“That stone, an overwhelming obstacle, symbolized what the women felt in their hearts. It represented the end of their hopes, now dashed by the obscure and sorrowful mystery that put an end to their dreams.” 

“That stone marked the end of Jesus’ story, now buried in the night of death. He, the life that came into the world, had been killed,” the pope continued. 

But, the pope noted, the women, upon casting their gazes upward, found the stone rolled away, a moment showcasing “the victory of life over death, the triumph of light over darkness, the rebirth of hope amid the ruins of failure.” 

The pope related the initial anguish, and hope, of the women present at the sepulchre, noting that today we each “encounter such ‘tombstones’ on our journey through life in all the experiences and situations that rob us of enthusiasm and of the strength to persevere.” 

Yet the pope implored the faithful to not succumb to despondency but instead draw hope from the resurrection.

“If we allow Jesus to take us by the hand, no experience of failure or sorrow, however painful, will have the last word on the meaning and destiny of our lives. Henceforth, if we allow ourselves to be raised up by the Risen Lord, no setback, no suffering, no death will be able to halt our progress towards the fullness of life.” 

“Then no stone will block the way to our hearts, no tomb will suppress the joy of life, no failure will doom us to despair,” the pope continued. “Let us lift our eyes to him and ask that the power of his resurrection may roll away the heavy stones that weigh down our souls.”

Following a brief moment of reflection at the end of the homily, Pope Francis opened up the baptismal rite. With the blessing of the water, and a public recitation of vows, the Holy Father personally baptized eight adults: four Italians, two Koreans, a Japanese man, and an Albanian.

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Vatican City, Nov 29, 2018 / 09:55 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Shrines and sanctuaries should be places of welcoming and mercy where the sacraments can be received, Pope Francis said Thursday to an international gathering of shrine rectors and pastoral workers.

“The shrine,” the pope said Nov. 29 in the Vatican’s Sala Regia, “is a privileged place to experience mercy that knows no boundaries.”

“In fact, when mercy is lived, it becomes a form of real evangelization, because it transforms those who receive mercy into witnesses of mercy,” he said.

Pope Francis also told the group he hopes each shrine has the presence of one or more “missionaries of mercy” to help with this evangelical work, and if they do not, to ask the Pontifical Council for the Promoting the New Evangelization to help.

Missionaries of mercy are the approximately 1,000 priests from around the world Francis authorized during and after the 2016 Jubilee Year of Mercy to spread the message of God’s mercy and forgiveness, particularly through the sacrament of Reconciliation.

Pope Francis spoke to priests and lay people participating in an international convention on the daily work and operation of shrines. Held Nov. 27-29 at the Vatican, it brought together 586 participants from five continents. The group plans to hold similar conventions once every three years.

The theme of the gathering was “The shrine: an open door to the new evangelization”; it took place following Pope Francis’ February 2017 decision to move the competency for shrines and sanctuaries under the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization.

Speaking to participants, Francis said shrines are irreplaceable because through catechesis and the “testimony of charity” they help sustain popular piety.

He noted two important aspects of a Catholic shrine: prayer and hospitality. He said hospitality is important because when pilgrims come to a shrine, often after having made a long journey, “it is sad when it happens that, on their arrival, there is no one to give them a word of welcome.”

He also warned against paying more attention to the material needs of the shrine than to visitors. Pilgrims, he said, should be made to feel “‘at home,’ like a long-awaited family member who has finally arrived.”

Keep in mind, he said, that some people visit religious shrines for reasons beside piety or devotion. For example, because of local tradition, the art present, or the beautiful natural setting.

When people are welcomed, their hearts become more open to being “shaped by grace,” he stated. “A climate of friendship is a fertile seed that our Shrines can throw into the soil of the pilgrims, allowing them to rediscover that trust in the Church.”

Above all, a shrine is a place of prayer, he emphasized, adding that with many of the world’s shrines being devoted to the Blessed Virgin Mary, there she “opens the arms of her maternal love to listen to everyone’s prayer and to fulfill it.”

He urged sanctuaries to celebrate the sacraments frequently, since they are the universal prayers of the Church and to “nourish the prayer of the individual pilgrim in the silence of his heart,” since many people visit a shrine wishing to receive a specific grace or the answer to a particular prayer.

“With the words of the heart, with silence, with his formulas learned by heart as a child, with his gestures of piety…everyone must be able to be helped to express his personal prayer,” he said.

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