Sister Mary Barron speaks at the eighth Novendiales Mass for Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Basilica, Saturday, May 3, 2025 / Credit: Vatican Media
CNA Newsroom, May 3, 2025 / 12:50 pm (CNA).
At the eighth Novendiales Mass on Saturday, Pope Francis was hailed as a “humble and compassionate pastor,” one who maintained “unwavering confidence in the vocation of women religious.”
Sister Mary Barron, the president of the International Union of Superiors General, said at the Mass that the late pope “invited us out into the world and among all of God’s creation to heal and accompany those most in need.”
The pope “reminded us again and again of the importance of embracing our frailty not as a limitation but as a source of grace,” she said.
Pope Francis appointed Barron—the superior general of the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of the Apostles—to the Dicastery for Evangelization last year. She said on Saturday that the pope “urged us women religious to lower ourselves in service as Christ lowered himself to wash the feet of his disciples.”
“He inspired us to bring hope and healing to the darkest corners of the world, to bring a friendly smile with a helping hand and a heart filled with the love of Jesus,” she said.
Barron praised the pope’s “unwavering confidence” in women religious.
“You recognized our contribution as builders of communion, as custodians of the warmth and maternal tenderness of the Church and reminded us that our presence is indispensable,” she said.
“We give thanks for your heart as a pastor, for your vision and for the deep trust you have placed in consecrated women,” she said.
“We promise to carry out the mission you have entrusted to us and to be the caress of our loving Creator God especially toward those who suffer.”
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Pope Francis announced the start of a Year of Prayer in his Angelus address from the window of the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace on Jan. 21, 2024. / Vatican Media
Vatican City, Jan 21, 2024 / 10:00 am (CNA).
Pope Francis announced the start of a Year of Prayer on Sunday in preparation for the Catholic Church’s 2025 Jubilee Year.
In his Angelus address, the pope said that a Year of Prayer starting on Jan. 21 will be “a year dedicated to rediscovering the great value and absolute need for prayer in one’s personal life, in the life of the Church, and in the world.”
“Dear brothers and sisters, the coming months will lead us to the opening of the Holy Door, with which we will begin the jubilee,” Pope Francis said from the window of the Apostolic Palace.
“I ask you to intensify your prayer to prepare us to live this event of grace well and to experience the power of God’s hope. That is why today we begin a Year of Prayer.”
The pope said that the Vatican’s Dicastery for Evangelization will publish resources to help Catholic communities to more fully participate in the Year of Prayer. The Holy See Press Office has also announced that a press conference on the Year of Prayer will take place on Jan. 23.
The Vatican and the city of Rome are expecting an estimated 35 million people to flock to the Eternal City for the 2025 Jubilee Year of Hope — the first ordinary jubilee since the Great Jubilee of 2000.
A jubilee is a special holy year of grace and pilgrimage in the Catholic Church. It typically takes place once every 25 years, though the pope can call for extraordinary jubilee years more often, such as in the case of the 2016 Year of Mercy or the 2013 Year of Faith.
Jubilees have biblical roots. The Book of Leviticus called for jubilee years to be held every 50 years for the freeing of slaves and forgiveness of debts as manifestations of God’s mercy. The practice was reestablished by Pope Boniface VIII in 1300.
The 2025 Jubilee Year begins on Dec. 24, 2024 (Christmas Eve), and concludes on Jan. 6, 2026.
The Holy Doors are a central part of any jubilee. These doors, found at St. Peter’s Basilica and Rome’s other major basilicas, are sealed from the inside and opened during a jubilee year.
The opening of the Holy Door symbolizes the offering of an “extraordinary path” toward salvation for Catholics during a jubilee. Pilgrims who walk through a Holy Door can receive a plenary indulgence under the usual conditions.
Pope Francis announced the Year of Prayer from the window of the Apostolic Palace after presiding over Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica for the Sunday of the Word of God.
In his reflection on Sunday’s Gospel in his Angelus address, Pope Francis said that “the Lord loves to involve us in his work of salvation.”
“Bringing God’s salvation to everyone was for Jesus the greatest joy, his mission, the meaning of his existence … And in every word and deed with which we join with him in the beautiful adventure of giving love, light, and joy multiply not only around us but also within us,” he said.
Vatican City, Oct 17, 2018 / 12:30 pm (CNA).- Pope Francis told a group of Italian seminarians to report immediately to their bishop if they ever see or suspect any kind abuse, sexual or otherwise, on the part of a priest.
Pope Francis takes a figure of the Christ child in his arms at the end of the Vatican’s Mass for the Nativity of the Lord on Dec. 24, 2023. / Vatican Media
CNA Staff, Dec 24, 2023 / 16:31 pm (CNA).
In his Christmas homily, Pope Francis shared a message for anyone who may be feeling sad or discouraged with a reminder that the Lord was born to save the world and to give us a hope that is greater than all of our problems.
“Dear brother, dear sister, to God who changed history … you are not a number but a face. Your name is written on his heart,” Pope Francis said on Dec. 24.
“Leave behind the prison of your sorrows and embrace the tender love of the God who became a child. … Cast your cares on him and he will care for you (cf. Ps 55:22). He became flesh; he is not looking for your achievements, but for your open and trusting heart. In Him, you will rediscover who you truly are: a beloved son or daughter of God.”
Pope Francis presided over Mass for the Nativity of the Lord in St. Peter’s Basilica on Christmas Eve
The Mass began with a cantor chanting the traditional Kalenda Proclamation of the Birth of Christ from the Roman Martyrology. Children from Mexico, India, South Korea, the Ivory Coast, and Italy then placed flowers before a figure of the Christ child enthroned in front of the altar.
Children place flowers before a figure of the Christ child enthroned in front of the altar of St. Peter’s Basilica. Vatican Media
“Tonight, our hearts are in Bethlehem, where the Prince of Peace is once more rejected by the futile logic of war, by the clash of arms that even today prevents him from finding room in the world,” Pope Francis said, calling to mind the war in the Holy Land and the ongoing violence in the place of Jesus’ birth.
The pope underlined that God “revolutionizes history by becoming a part of history.” The Lord “does not eliminate pain, but transforms it,” he said. “He does not remove problems from our lives, but grants us a hope that is greater than all our problems.”
“God so greatly desires to embrace our lives that, infinite though he is, he becomes finite for our sake. In his greatness, he chooses to become small; in his righteousness, he submits to our injustice,” Pope Francis said in his homily.
“Brothers and sisters, this is the wonder of Christmas: not a mixture of sappy emotions and worldly contentment, but the unprecedented tenderness of a God who saves the world by becoming incarnate.”
The pope urged people to “rediscover worship” by learning from the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint Joseph, the shepherds, and the Magi who “stood gazing upon Jesus with their hearts set on him.”
In his homily, Pope Francis quoted a letter J.R.R. Tolkien wrote to his son in 1941: “‘I put before you the one great thing to love on earth: the Blessed Sacrament. … There you will find romance, glory, honor, fidelity, and the true way of all your loves on earth.’”
Christmas Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on the night of Dec. 24, 2023. Vatican Media
The pope underlined that worship in adoration is never a waste of time, but makes “our time a dwelling place for God.”
“[To worship] is to let the seed of the Incarnation bloom within us; it is to cooperate in the work of the Lord, who, like leaven, changes the world. To worship is to intercede, to make reparation, to allow God to realign history.”
During the Mass, the choir sang traditional Christmas carols, including “The First Noel,” “Silent Night,” and “O Come All Ye Faithful.”
About 6,500 people were present inside of the basilica for the Mass, according to the Vatican.
“While those who exercise power seek to take their place with the great ones of history, the King of history chooses the way of littleness. None of the powerful take notice of him: only a few shepherds, relegated to the margins of social life,” Pope Francis said.
Christmas Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on the night of Dec. 24, 2023. Vatican Media
Pope Francis explained that the Lord saves us, not by waving a “magic wand” or “pushing a button,” but by drawing near to us, in order to change our world from within.
“If you look to your own heart, and think of your own inadequacies and this world that is so judgmental and unforgiving, you may feel it difficult to celebrate this Christmas. You may think things are going badly, or feel dissatisfied with your limitations, your failings, your problems, and your sins,” he said.
“Today, though, please, let Jesus take the initiative. He says to you, ‘For your sake, I became flesh; for your sake, I became just like you.’”
Pope Francis brings a figure of the Christ child over to the nativity scene inside of St. Peter’s Basilica at the end of Mass. Vatican Media
“Tonight the Lord was born to light up your life; his eyes are alight with love for you,” he added.
Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, the dean of the College of Cardinals, served as the main celebrant at the altar for the Christmas Mass.
At the end of Mass, the 87-year-old pope was brought up in a wheelchair to the front of the altar, where he kissed a figure of the Christ child and brought it over to the nativity scene inside St. Peter’s Basilica.
“Brothers and sisters, tonight love changes history,” Pope Francis said. “Make us believe, Lord, in the power of your love, so different from the power of the world. Lord, make us, like Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, and the Magi, gather around you and worship you. As you conform us ever more to yourself, we shall bear witness before the world to the beauty of your countenance.”
In addition to the International Union of Superiors General…would also like to hear recognition for others more at the “periphery,” at least in the United States–the Council of Major Sisters of Women Religious:
https://cmswr.org/about/member-communities/
https://cmswr.org/about/who-we-are/