Pope Francis traveled to Ostia, a seaside town not far from Rome, on July 31, 2024, to greet Sister Geneviève Jeanningros and the employees of the Summer Park Festival at Luna Park. / Credit: Vatican Media
ACI Prensa Staff, Jul 31, 2024 / 16:32 pm (CNA).
Pope Francis left the Vatican on Wednesday afternoon go to Ostia, a seaside town not far from Rome, to greet Sister Geneviève Jeanningros and the employees of the Summer Park Festival at Luna Park.
According to the Holy See Press Office, the pontiff visited Jeanningros, an 81-year-old nun who has been serving homosexuals and “transgender” people at the Italian Luna Park for 56 years.
The nun lives there in a trailer with another nun named Anna Amelia, with whom she also accompanies the community.
The Holy Father took the opportunity to greet the fairground workers and circus artists, who put on a show.
Pope Francis visits with Sister Geneviève Jeanningros and the community of carousel workers and circus performers at the Luna Park on July 31, 2024. Credit: Vatican Media
He also blessed a statue of “Our Lady, Protector of the Traveling Show and the Circus” and greeted the families and children present.
Pope Francis blesses a statue of the Madonna at Luna Park on July 31, 2024. Credit: Vatican Media
Earlier this year, on June 5, Pope Francis greeted the nun after the general audience at the Vatican. On that occasion, Jeanningros noted that the pontiff had previously received the LGBT “community” that she assists.
“They love him so much because this is the first time that a pope welcomes trans and gay people. They thank him because they have finally found a Church that has reached out to them,” said the nun of the Little Sisters of Jesus.
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
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Pope Francis waves to the faithful gathered on St. Peter’s Square, Dec. 26, 2022 / Vatican Media
CNA Newsroom, Dec 26, 2022 / 06:07 am (CNA).
Pope Francis on Monday called on Catholics to pray for those who have harmed them — and those persecuted — as he renewed his Christmas call for peace in Ukraine and worldwide.
Speaking to the crowd gathered in St. Peter’s Square after praying the Angelus Dec. 26, the pontiff said: “I renew my wish for peace: peace in families, peace in parishes and religious communities, peace in movements and associations, peace for those war-torn peoples, peace for the dear and martyred Ukraine.”
Ukrainian flags waved by visitors on St. Peter’s Square, Dec. 26, 2022. Vatican Media
On the feast of the martyr St. Stephen, the pope said “the martyrs are those most similar to Jesus.”
“Indeed, the word martyr means witness: the martyrs are witnesses, that is, brothers and sisters who, through their lives, show us Jesus, who conquered evil with mercy. And even in our day, martyrs are numerous, more so than in the early times”, Pope Francis said.
“Today let us pray for these persecuted martyr brothers and sisters, who bear witness to Christ. But it will do us good to ask ourselves: do I bear witness to Christ? And how can we improve in this? We can indeed be helped by the figure of Saint Stephen.”
Stephen, the pontiff noted, spoke of Jesus to those he met and was not intimidated even by the threats of his persecutors. “Charity and proclamation, this was Stephen. However, his greatest testimony is yet another: that he knew how to unite charity and proclamation. He left it to us at the point of his death when, following the example of Jesus, he forgave his killers.”
St. Peter’s Square on the feast of St. Stephen, Dec. 26, 2022. Vatican Media
The faithful “can improve our witness through charity towards our brothers and sisters, fidelity to the Word of God, and forgiveness. Charity, Word, forgiveness. It is forgiveness that tells whether we truly practice charity towards others, and if we live the Word of God.”
Playing on the connection between the Italian word for forgiveness — perdono — and the Italian word for a gift — dono — the pope explained that forgiveness is a gift “we give to others because we belong to Jesus, forgiven by him.”
The pontiff added: “Let us ask the newborn Jesus for the newness of a heart capable of forgiveness: we all need a forgiving heart! Let us ask the Lord for this grace: Lord, may I learn to forgive. Let us ask for the strength to pray for those who have hurt us, to pray for those who have harmed us, and to take steps of openness and reconciliation.”
Pope Francis concluded with a prayer to “Mary, Queen of martyrs” to “help us to grow in charity, in love of the Word and in forgiveness.”
Pope Francis with Cardinal Arthur Roche, Prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery of Divine Worship and Discipline of Sacraments, at the consistory in St. Peter’s Basilica, Aug. 27, 2022 / Daniel Ibáñez / CNA
Rome Newsroom, Aug 27, 2022 / 08:31 am (CNA).
Pope Francis created 20 new cardinals for the Catholic Church during a liturgy in St. Peter’s Basilica Saturday.
“Jesus calls us by name; he looks us in the eye and he asks: Can I count on you?” Pope Francis said in a homily addressed to the College of Cardinals and its new members on Aug. 27.
“The Lord,” he said, “wants to bestow on us his own apostolic courage, his zeal for the salvation of every human being, without exception. He wants to share with us his magnanimity, his boundless and unconditional love, for his heart is afire with the mercy of the Father.”
The pope’s reflection followed a reading from the Gospel of Luke, chapter 12, verses 49-50: “In that time, Jesus said to his disciples: ‘I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing! There is a baptism with which I must be baptized, and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished!’”
“The words of Jesus, in the very middle of the Gospel of Luke, pierce us like an arrow,” Francis said.
“The Lord calls us once more to follow him along the path of his mission,” he said. “A fiery mission – like that of Elijah – not only for what he came to accomplish but also for how he accomplished it. And to us who in the Church have been chosen from among the people for a ministry of particular service, it is as if Jesus is handing us a lighted torch and telling us: ‘Take this; as the Father has sent me so I now send you.’”
The pope ended his homily mentioning that one cardinal-elect, Richard Kuuia Baawobr of Wa (Ghana), was not present. Francis asked for prayers for the African prelate, explaining Baawobr had been taken ill.
At the beginning of the consistory, Pope Francis pronounced the opening prayer of the ceremony in Latin.
During the ceremony, the new cardinals made a profession of faith by reciting the Creed. They then pronounced an oath of fidelity and obedience to the pope and his successors.
Each cardinal then approached Pope Francis, kneeling before him to receive the red birretta, the cardinal’s ring, and a document naming the titular church he has been assigned.
Pope Francis embraced each new cardinal, saying to him: “Pax Domini sit semper tecum,” which is Latin for “the peace of the Lord be with you always.” Each cardinal responded: “Amen.”
The new cardinals also exchanged a sign of peace with a number of the members of the College of Cardinals, representative of the whole college.
While placing the red biretta on the head of each cardinal, the pope recited these words: “To the glory of almighty God and the honor of the Apostolic See, receive the scarlet biretta as a sign of the dignity of the cardinalate, signifying your readiness to act with courage, even to the shedding of your blood, for the increase of the Christian faith, for the peace and tranquility of the people of God and for the freedom and growth of the Holy Roman Church.”
As he gave each new cardinal the ring, Francis said: “Receive this ring from the hand of Peter and know that, with the love of the Prince of the Apostles, your love for the Church is strengthened.”
In his homily, the pope said: “The Lord wants to bestow on us his own apostolic courage, his zeal for the salvation of every human being, without exception. He wants to share with us his magnanimity, his boundless and unconditional love, for his heart is afire with the mercy of the Father.”
He also recalled another kind of fire, that of charcoal. “This fire,” he said, “burns in a particular way in the prayer of adoration, when we silently stand before the Eucharist and bask in the humble, discreet and hidden presence of the Lord. Like that charcoal fire, his presence becomes warmth and nourishment for our daily life.”
“A Cardinal loves the Church, always with that same spiritual fire, whether dealing with great questions or handling everyday problems, with the powerful of this world or those ordinary people who are great in God’s eyes,” he said.
The pope named three men as examples for the cardinals to follow: Saint Charles de Foucauld, Cardinal Agostino Casaroli, and Cardinal Van Thuân.
The consistory to create cardinals also included a greeting and thank you to Pope Francis, expressed by Cardinal Arthur Roche, prefect of the liturgy dicastery, on behalf of all the new cardinals.
Cardinal Arthur Roche speaking on behalf of the new cardinals in St. Peter’s Basilica, Aug. 27. 2022. Daniel Ibáñez / CNA
“All of us, coming from different parts of the world, with our personal stories and different life situations, carry out our ministry in the vineyard of the Lord. As diocesan and religious priests, we are at the service of preaching the Gospel in many different ways and in different cultures, but always united in the one faith and the one Church,” Roche said.
“Now, in manifesting your trust in us, you call us to this new service, in an even closer collaboration with your ministry, within the broad horizon of the universal Church,” he continued. “God knows the dust of which we are all made, and we know well that without Him we are capable of falling short.”
Roche quoted Saint Gregory the Great, who once wrote to a bishop: “We are all weak, but he is weakest of all who ignores his own weakness.”
“However, we draw strength from you, Holy Father,” he said, “from your witness, your spirit of service and your call to the entire Church to follow the Lord with greater fidelity; living the joy of the Gospel with discernment, courage and, above all, with an openness of heart that manifests itself in welcoming everyone, especially those who suffer the injustice of poverty that marginalizes, the suffering of pain that seeks a response of meaning, the violence of wars that turn brothers into enemies. We share with you the desire and commitment for communion in the Church.”
At the end of the consistory to create cardinals, Pope Francis convened a consistory for the cardinals to give their approval to the canonizations of Blessed Artemide Zatti and Giovanni Battista Scalabrini.
The new cardinals are:
— Cardinal Arthur Roche, 72, prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and former Bishop of Leeds (England);
— Lazarus You Heung-sik, 70, prefect of the Congregation for Clergy and former Bishop of Daejeon (South Korea);
— Jean-Marc Noël Aveline, 63, Archbishop of Marseille, the first French diocesan bishop to get the honor during Pope Francis’ pontificate;
— Peter Ebere Okpaleke, 59, Bishop of Ekwulobia in the central region of Nigeria, who was created bishop in 2012 by Benedict XVI;
— Leonardo Ulrich Steiner, 77, Archbishop of Manaus, in Brazil’s Amazon region, a Franciscan who played a leading role during the Amazon Synod and as Vice President of the recently created Amazonian Bishops’ Conference;
— Filipe Neri António Sebastião do Rosário Ferrão, 69, Archbishop of Goa (India), appointed bishop by St. John Paul II in 1993;
— Robert McElroy, 68, Bishop of San Diego (United States), whose diocese is suffragan to the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, led by the President of the USCCB, Archbishop José Gomez;
— Virgilio do Carmo Da Silva, 68, a Salesian, since 2019 the Archbishop of Dili (East Timor);
— Oscar Cantoni, 71, Bishop of Como (Italy), appointed in January 2005 by St. John Paul II, who is suffragan to Milan;
— Archbishop Fernando Vérgez Alzaga, L.C., 77, president of the Governorate of the Vatican City State and of the Pontifical Commission for the Vatican City State; the Spaniard is the first Legionary of Christ to become a cardinal;
— Anthony Poola, 60, Archbishop of Hyderabad (India), a bishop since 2008 and the first dalit to become a cardinal;
–Paulo Cezar Costa, 54, Archbishop of Brasilia (Brazil), the fourth archbishop of the Brazilian capital to become a cardinal;
— Richard Kuuia Baawobr, 62, Bishop of Wa (Ghana), former Superior General of the White Fathers, and bishop since 2016;
— William Goh Seng Chye, 65, Archbishop of Singapore since 2013;
— Adalberto Martinez Flores, 71, Archbishop of Asunción (Paraguay) and the first Paraguayan cardinal;
— Giorgio Marengo, 47, Italian Missionary of the Consolata and Apostolic Prefect of Ulan Bator in Mongolia, the youngest cardinal in recent history, along with Karol Wojtyla, who also was created a cardinal at 47, during the consistory of June 26, 1967.
Furthermore, Pope Francis appointed the following prelates over the age of 80, who are therefore excluded from attending a future conclave.
Jorge Enrique Jiménez Carvajal, 80, Archbishop Emeritus of Cartagena (Colombia); Arrigo Miglio, 80, Archbishop Emeritus of Cagliari (Italy); Fr. Gianfranco Ghirlanda, a Jesuit and former rector of the Pontifical Gregorian University, who extensively collaborated in the drafting of the Apostolic Constitution Praedicate Evangelium; and Fortunato Frezza, 80, (Italy) currently a Canon at the Basilica of St. Peter, who collaborated for several years at the Secretariat General for the Synod of the Bishops.
Pope Francis had originally also nominated Ghent Bishop Luc Van Looy, 80, who later declined to accept the post because of criticism of his response to clergy abuse cases.
Today Holy Father you are alluding on X to what would happen if we prayed more and complained less.
If I pray and Jesus tells me to bring something to the direct attention of the Holy Father that crosses him, would you be able to tell the difference between that and a complaint? Perhaps Holy Father you will say it is only a knot and the BVM already loosed out all the knots for you because you declared she needn’t be Redemptrix and you are the Holy Father?
So I find this in my prayer. I believe it is for you. If it is not for you, well, you can make up your own mind. When did Jesus ever use mercy to distort justice?
You are telling these people you are with them in spirit while telling us to legalize their propensity to do and to want evil and its legalization? And that THAT is the Christian proclamation of respect and love due to the Incarnate Word?
But something further is in the vision from the prayer. By all appearance, you never rebuke James Martin for his implicit complaining -nor any of his ilk for that matter. But now you express a heartfelt plea for us to strive in prayer ….. to be less in complaining? Even in the parable the unjust judge was ashamed of the widow.
Bishop Strickland is able to carry it over positively without any element of sadness. See in the LIFESITE link, Strickland’s discussion about not pulling up the darnel but remaining as good wheat -with Terry Barber, Virgin MP Radio.
Somehow today CNA coincidentally publishes another viewpoint on the same X post. They portray that the aim of the post is to pray to get around all the gossiping, more than it is about not belly-aching moaners and groaners. But actually my prayer addresses both and anything else anyone wishes to try to overlay.
That’s the point I try to convey faithfully to the Holy Father. He is seeing things only in contexts he has predefined and projects. As if his preferred groups are not gossips and won’t worsen the problem and the personal penchants, you see. He himself complains about rigidity and narrowness (“closed-up”) but he is leading a unidirectional apostolate with very zoned thinking, not the Cross.
Jesus gave that parable precisely for us to be complaining when we know we must.
Brings me back to Strickland. He reminds how St. Paul says be prepared to give the account of the reason for our HOPE. Not sheep wallowing in joy.
Yet another nutty nun and a homosexual-sympathizing pope. Christ could not be amused despite the carnival backdrop.
Today Holy Father you are alluding on X to what would happen if we prayed more and complained less.
If I pray and Jesus tells me to bring something to the direct attention of the Holy Father that crosses him, would you be able to tell the difference between that and a complaint? Perhaps Holy Father you will say it is only a knot and the BVM already loosed out all the knots for you because you declared she needn’t be Redemptrix and you are the Holy Father?
So I find this in my prayer. I believe it is for you. If it is not for you, well, you can make up your own mind. When did Jesus ever use mercy to distort justice?
You are telling these people you are with them in spirit while telling us to legalize their propensity to do and to want evil and its legalization? And that THAT is the Christian proclamation of respect and love due to the Incarnate Word?
But something further is in the vision from the prayer. By all appearance, you never rebuke James Martin for his implicit complaining -nor any of his ilk for that matter. But now you express a heartfelt plea for us to strive in prayer ….. to be less in complaining? Even in the parable the unjust judge was ashamed of the widow.
https://x.com/Pontifex/status/1819334832780202057
All you say is sad but true.
Bishop Strickland is able to carry it over positively without any element of sadness. See in the LIFESITE link, Strickland’s discussion about not pulling up the darnel but remaining as good wheat -with Terry Barber, Virgin MP Radio.
Somehow today CNA coincidentally publishes another viewpoint on the same X post. They portray that the aim of the post is to pray to get around all the gossiping, more than it is about not belly-aching moaners and groaners. But actually my prayer addresses both and anything else anyone wishes to try to overlay.
That’s the point I try to convey faithfully to the Holy Father. He is seeing things only in contexts he has predefined and projects. As if his preferred groups are not gossips and won’t worsen the problem and the personal penchants, you see. He himself complains about rigidity and narrowness (“closed-up”) but he is leading a unidirectional apostolate with very zoned thinking, not the Cross.
Jesus gave that parable precisely for us to be complaining when we know we must.
Brings me back to Strickland. He reminds how St. Paul says be prepared to give the account of the reason for our HOPE. Not sheep wallowing in joy.
https://www.lifesitenews.com/episodes/bishop-strickland-dont-listen-to-church-leaders-who-want-to-reshape-gods-commandments/?utm_source=most_recent&utm_campaign=usa
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/258503/pope-francis-what-would-happen-if-we-prayed-more-and-complained-less