Pope Francis prays with journalists on the papal flight en route to South Korea, August 14, 2014. Credit: Alan Holdren/CNA.
Vatican City, Jan 15, 2021 / 06:19 pm (CNA).- Pope Francis sent a telegram Friday with his condolences for Indonesia, after a strong earthquake killed at least 67 people on the island of Sulawesi.
Hundreds of people were also injured in the 6.2-magnitude quake, according to Jan Gelfand, head of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent societies in Indonesia.
Pope Francis was “saddened to learn of the tragic loss of life and the destruction of property caused by the violent earthquake in Indonesia.”
In a telegram to the apostolic nuncio in Indonesia, signed by Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the pope expressed his “heartfelt solidarity with all those affected by this natural disaster.”
Francis “prays for the repose of the deceased, the healing of the injured and the consolation of all who grieve. In a particular way, he offers encouragement to the civil authorities and those involved in the continuing search and rescue efforts,” the letter stated.
The death toll is expected to rise, according to local search and rescue teams, who say that many people are still trapped in the rubble of collapsed buildings, CNN reported.
The telegram concluded with the pope’s invocation of “divine blessings of strength and hope.”
Sulawesi, governed by Indonesia, is one of the four Greater Sunda Islands. The western side was struck by the 6.2-magnitude quake at 1:28 a.m. local time about 3.7 miles northeast of the city of Majene.
Eight people died and at least 637 people were injured in Majene. Three hundred houses were damaged and 15,000 residents displaced, according to Indonesia’s National Board for Disaster Management.
The affected area is also a COVID-19 red zone, provoking concerns about spreading the coronavirus amid the disaster.
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The Holy Father’s Dec. 2, 2024, letter to Catholics in Nicaragua comes at a critical time for the country. / Credit: Vatican Media
Vatican City, Dec 2, 2024 / 15:45 pm (CNA).
Pope Francis has written a moving letter to Catholics in Nicaragua to express his closeness, affection, and incessant prayer to the Virgin, imploring her consolation in the midst of the persecution of the faith that the country is suffering under the regime of President Daniel Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo.
In the context of the novena prior to the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, the Holy Father wrote a Dec. 2 pastoral letter to the “beloved Church in Nicaragua.”
The pontiff professed the affection he has for the Nicaraguan people, distinguished by their “extraordinary love for God,” whom they affectionately call “Papachú.”
“I am with you,” the Holy Father assured, encouraging the faithful to trust in Providence, “the only sure guide,” especially in the most difficult moments, when humanly “it becomes impossible to understand what God wants of us.” In these circumstances, he reminded, “we are called not to doubt his care and mercy.”
Pope Francis emphasized that trust in God and fidelity to the Church are “two great beacons” that illuminate their lives. “Be assured that faith and hope work miracles,” he said.
He also invited them to turn their gaze to the Immaculate Virgin, referring to the title of his letter: “Who causes so much joy? The Conception of Mary!” This popular expression marks the celebration of “La Gritería,” a Nicaraguan tradition that fills churches every Dec. 7 in honor of the Mother of God.
The pontiff expressed his hope that this celebration will be a source of encouragement “in difficulties, uncertainties, and deprivations” and urged the faithful to abandon themselves into the arms of Jesus with the prayer “God first.”
“I want to really emphasize that the Mother of God unceasingly intercedes for you, and we continually ask Jesus to always hold you by his hand,” the Holy Father added.
He also encouraged the faithful to pray the “powerful prayer” of the rosary, where the mysteries “make their way through the intimacy of our hearts, where the freedom of the daughters and sons of God finds shelter, which no one can take away from us.”
Finally, he entrusted the people of Nicaragua to the protection of the Immaculate Conception and concluded with “that simple cry expressed with profound trust: ‘Mary belongs to Nicaragua, Nicaragua belongs to Mary.’ So be it!”
Persecution of the Church in Nicaragua
The Holy Father’s letter comes at a critical time for Nicaragua, shortly after the National Assembly approved a constitutional reform proposed by the dictatorship by which Ortega and Murillo will henceforth be “co-presidents” and will officially have total control of the government.
Among the most controversial measures is a provision that requires that “religious organizations must remain free of all foreign control.”
For years, the Ortega regime has intensified a systematic persecution against all expressions of faith in the country. Lay faithful, priests, and bishops are constantly monitored, persecuted, abducted, and even imprisoned in deplorable conditions.
Numerous members of the clergy have been deported from the country and stripped of their Nicaraguan citizenship, leaving them stateless, as is the case of the bishop of Matagalpa, Rolando Álvarez, who was exiled to Rome in January along with another bishop, 15 priests, and two seminarians.
Under the socialist regime, Catholics have been silenced and public expressions of faith, such as prayers for the persecuted or pastoral and spiritual activities, are strictly prohibited.
From 2018 to 2024, 870 attacks against the Catholic Church have been recorded in Nicaragua, according to the report “Nicaragua: A Persecuted Church?”, which documents how serious the crisis is.
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
More than 1,800 priests gathered with cardinals and bishops at St. Peter’s Basilica for the Holy Thursday Chrism Mass, April 17, 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA
Rome Newsroom, Apr 17, 2025 / 05:35 am (CNA).
On Holy Thursday, more than 1,880 priests, bishops and cardinals renewed the promises made at their ordinations during the Chrism Mass inside St. Peter’s Basilica.
Pope Francis delegated Cardinal Domenico Calcagno, a retired Vatican official who oversaw the Holy See’s management of real estate and investments until 2018, to preside over the Mass on April 17.
Calcagno read a homily written by Pope Francis, who did not attend the Mass due to his ongoing convalescence following a prior hospitalization for double pneumonia.
Cardinal Domenico Calcagno reads Pope Francis’ homily during the Chrism Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica, April 17, 2025. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA
“On Holy Thursday, when we renew the promises made at our ordination, we confess that we can read that history only in the light of Jesus of Nazareth,” Pope Francis wrote in the homily.
“Jesus, ‘who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood’ (Rev 1:5) opens the scroll of our own lives and teaches us to find the passages that reveal its meaning and mission. If only we let him teach us, our ministry becomes one of hope, because in each of our stories God opens a jubilee: a time and an oasis of grace.”
Forty-two cardinals, 42 bishops and 1,800 priests living in Rome concelebrated the Mass. Holy Thursday marks the institution of the Eucharist and the sacrament of the priesthood at the Last Supper.
During the Vatican’s Chrism Mass, Calcagno blessed the oil of the sick, the oil of catechumens, and the chrism oil, which will be used in the diocese throughout the coming year.
The vessels of oil to be blessed during the Chrism Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica, April 17, 2025. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA
The oils were processed up the main altar of St. Peter’s in large silver urns as hymns from the Sistine Chapel Choir filled the basilica.
The cardinal prayed over the oil for the sick: “O God, Father of all consolation, who through your Son have willed to heal the infirmities of the sick, listen favorably to this prayer of faith: Send down from heaven, we pray, your Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, upon the rich substance of this oil, which you were pleased to bring forth from vigorous green trees to restore our bodies, so that by your holy blessing this oil may be for anyone who is anointed with it a safeguard for body, mind and spirit, to take away every pain, every infirmity and every sickness.”
The blessed oil will be used for the anointing of the sick in Rome throughout the year.
Chrism oil is used in the sacraments of confirmation, baptism and holy orders, as well as in the consecration of churches. Anointing with chrism signifies the full diffusion of grace.
“The sacred chrism that we consecrate today seals this mystery of transformation at work in the different stages of Christian life. Take care, then, never to grow discouraged, for it is all God’s work. So believe,” Pope Francis wrote.
“It is God’s work, not ours: to bring good news to the poor, freedom to prisoners, sight to the blind and freedom to the oppressed. If Jesus once found this passage in the scroll, today he continues to read it in the life story of each one of us,” he added.
Priests in white vestments renew their ordination promises during the Vatican’s Chrism Mass on Holy Thursday, April 17, 2025. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA
In his homily, Pope Francis also encouraged Catholics to pray especially for priests on Holy Thursday.
“Dear members of the faithful, people of hope, pray today for the joy of priests. May all of you experience the liberation promised by the Scriptures and nourished by the sacraments.
“Many fears can dwell within us and terrible injustices surround us, but a new world has already been born. God so loved the world that he gave us his Son, Jesus. He pours balm upon our wounds and wipes away our tears. ‘Look! He is coming with the clouds’ (Rev 1:7). His is the Kingdom and the glory forever and ever.”
The Vatican has announced that Pope Francis has personally delegated cardinals to preside over all of the Holy Week events.
Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, dean of the College of Cardinals, will preside at the Easter Vigil in St. Peter’s Basilica. The Easter morning Mass in St. Peter’s Square will be presided over by Cardinal Angelo Comastri, vicar general emeritus of Vatican City.
On Good Friday, the celebration of the Passion will be led by Cardinal Claudio Gugerotti, prefect of the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches, and the Way of the Cross at the Colosseum will be led by Cardinal Baldassare Reina, vicar general of the Diocese of Rome.
The texts for the Stations of the Cross at the Colosseum on Good Friday were prepared personally by Pope Francis.
“The passion, death and resurrection of Jesus, which we are about to relive, are the soil that solidly sustains the Church and, within her, our priestly ministry,” Pope Francis wrote in his Holy Thursday homily.
Indonesia appears to be the natural catastrophe capital of the world.
May Indonesia, the land and its people experience safety, security, peace, solidarity, harmony and prosperity.