Former U.S. President Donald Trump walks on stage to deliver the keynote address at the Faith & Freedom Coalition’s Road to Majority Policy Conference at the Washington Hilton on June 22, 2024 in Washington, DC. / Credit: Photo by Samuel Corum/Getty Images
CNA Newsroom, Jan 20, 2025 / 06:29 am (CNA).
Pope Francis sent a message to Donald Trump on the occasion of his inauguration as the 47th president of the United States on Monday, offering prayers for “wisdom, strength and protection” in the exercise of his duties and invoking blessings upon the “beloved American people”.
In the message, released by the Holy See Press Office on Jan. 20, the pontiff expressed hope that under Trump’s leadership, the American people would “prosper and always strive to build a more just society.”
“Inspired by your nation’s ideals of being a land of opportunity and welcome for all, it is my hope that under your leadership the American people will prosper and always strive to build a more just society, where there is no room for hatred, discrimination or exclusion,” Francis wrote.
The pope acknowledged the “numerous challenges” facing the human family, including “the scourge of war,” and asked God to guide Trump’s efforts in “promoting peace and reconciliation among peoples.”
The message concluded with the Holy Father invoking “an abundance of divine blessings” upon President Trump, his family, and “the beloved American people.”
One day earlier — on Sunday — Pope Francis criticized potential plans for mass deportations in the United States during a wide-ranging Italian television interview.
“If this is true it is a disgrace because it makes the poor unfortunate who have nothing pay the price of imbalance. This is not how things are solved,” the pope said on Italian broadcaster Nove’s “Che tempo che fa” program on Jan. 19, speaking about plans to deport immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally.
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Vatican City, Jan 25, 2020 / 09:00 am (CNA).- Pope Francis met Saturday with Iraqi President Barham Salih, and discussed the need to secure the future of Iraq’s deep-rooted Christian population.
The president and the pontiff spoke privately for … […]
Vatican City, Feb 15, 2018 / 05:01 am (CNA/EWTN News).- On Thursday Pope Francis assured of his spiritual closeness to all those affected by a deadly shooting at a Florida high school that left 17 dead, offering prayer for the victims and voicing hope that such acts of violence would end.
In a Feb. 15 letter addressed to Archbishop Thomas Wenski of Miami, the Pope said he was “deeply saddened to learn of the tragic shooting” that took place yesterday at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fl.
Signed by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the letter assured all those affected by the “devastating attack” of the Pope’s spiritual closeness, saying he prays “that Almighty God may grant eternal rest to the dead and healing and consolation to the wounded and those who grieve.”
“With the hope that such senseless acts of violence may cease, Pope Francis invokes upon all of you the divine blessings of peace and strength.”
The Pope’s telegram comes the day after a former student stormed Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and opened fire with a semi-automatic rifle, killing at least 17 students and teachers and injuring dozens more.
According to reports, the 19-year-old shooter had been expelled from the school for “disciplinary reasons.” He is said to have a history of violence and has been treated for mental illness.
Students at the school posted videos and photos of the shooting – the third largest school shooting in American history – and its aftermath as it unfolded. The shooter was arrested by police about an hour after the attack and remains in custody.
In a statement published on the diocesan website, Wenski said he offered his prayers as well as those of the Catholic community for everyone affected by this “senseless tragedy.”
“We pray for the deceased and wounded, for their families and loved ones, for our first responders and our entire South Florida community,” said Wenski.
Wenski urged Floridians to rise above their “understandable outrage,” and “come together as a community to support one another” in the aftermath of the shooting. With the Lord’s help, Wenski said, “we can remain strong and resolute to resist evil in all its manifestations.”
“May God heal the broken hearted and comfort the sorrowing as we once again face as a nation another act of senseless violence and horrifying evil.”
Pope Francis meets with French Catholic entrepreneurs at the Vatican’s Clementine Hall, Jan. 7, 2022. / Vatican Media.
Vatican City, Jan 7, 2022 / 07:30 am (CNA).
Pope Francis on Friday offered advice to business leaders who want to live out the Gospel in the workplace, where he said “the Church needs your witness.”
In a meeting at the Vatican with French Catholic entrepreneurs on Jan. 7, the pope said that he wanted to share some teachings to help “carry out your role as leaders according to the heart of God.”
Vatican Media.
“I realize how demanding and difficult it can be to implement the Gospel in a competitive professional world,” Pope Francis said.
“Nonetheless, I invite you to keep your gaze fixed on Jesus Christ through your prayer life and the offering of your daily work. He had the experience on the cross of loving to the end, of fulfilling his mission to the point of giving his life.”
Vatican Media.
The pope said that Christian business leaders had their own crosses to bear, but encouraged them to endure them with the grace and confidence of knowing that Jesus has “promised to accompany us ‘to the end of the world’ (Matthew 28:20).”
“Do not hesitate to invoke the Holy Spirit to guide your choices,” Francis added.
Vatican Media.
The pope met with entrepreneurs participating in a conference entitled, “The Journey of the Common Good,” which brought 200 people together in Rome for discussions on “how to transform your company to put it at the service of the Common Good.”
Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, papal preacher Cardinal Raniero Cantalamessa, and French bishops’ conference president Archbishop Éric de Moulins-Beaufort attended the conference, along with a number of other French bishops, including Bishop Dominique Rey of Fréjus-Toulon.
Vatican Media.
Pope Francis outlined pairs of concepts that he said appeared to be in tension but can help bring unity to the life of a Christian. One example he gave was “authority and service.”
“Exercising authority as a service requires sharing it. Here too, Jesus is our teacher, when he sends his disciples on mission endowing them with his own authority,” he said.
Vatican Media.
“You are invited to put into practice the subsidiarity which enhances the autonomy and the capacity for initiative of all, especially of the least. … Thus, the Christian executive is called to carefully consider the place allotted to all people in his company, including those whose duties may appear to be of minor importance, because each is important in God’s eyes.”
The pope also encouraged Christian executives to be close to their employees, “to take an interest in their lives, to become aware of their difficulties, sufferings, anxieties, but also their joys, projects, hopes.”
“The mission of the Christian leader resembles, in many respects, that of the shepherd, of whom Jesus is the model, and who knows how to go before the flock to show the way, knows how to stand in the middle to see what is happening there, and also knows how to stay behind, to make sure no one loses contact,” he said.
Vatican Media.
“I have often urged priests and bishops to have ‘the smell of sheep,’ to immerse themselves in the reality of those entrusted to them, to get to know them, to be close to them. I believe this advice also applies to you.”
Vatican Media.
Last April, Pope Francis recognized the heroic virtue of Venerable Enrique Shaw, an Argentine businessman with a cause for sainthood.
Shaw was born in Paris, France, in 1921, and emigrated to Argentina, where he established himself as a businessman of outstanding integrity. He founded the Christian Association of Business Executives in 1952 and sought to apply Catholic social teaching in the workplace.
The businessman had nine children, including one who became a priest. He wrote numerous books and articles, and established a pension fund and a healthcare plan to provide 3,400 workers with financial support in the case of illness, and loans for important life events such as marriage, birth, and death.
Vatican Media.
Pope Francis oversaw the diocesan phase of Shaw’s cause while he was serving as archbishop of the Argentine capital.
Vatican Media.
“I find it very beautiful and courageous that, in today’s world often marked by individualism, indifference and even the marginalization of the most vulnerable people, some entrepreneurs and business leaders have at heart the service of everyone and not just private interests or inner circles,” Pope Francis told the entrepreneurs.
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