Vatican City, Sep 16, 2020 / 08:00 am (CNA).- Pope Francis will release his new encyclical Oct. 4, the Vatican announced Wednesday.
The Holy See press office said Sept. 16 that the encyclical Fratelli tutti, on fraternity and social friendship, would be issued at noon Rome time on the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi.
The Vatican announced earlier this month that Pope Francis would sign the third encyclical of his pontificate during a visit to Assisi on Oct. 3.
Pope Francis will offer a Mass at the tomb of St. Francis in Assisi privately at 3 p.m. before signing the encyclical, the Holy See press office said Sept. 5.
The new encyclical’s title, Fratelli tutti, means “All Brothers” in Italian.
Human fraternity has been an important theme for Pope Francis in recent years. The pope signed “A Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together” during a trip to Abu Dhabi in Feb. 2019. Pope Francis’ message for his first World Day of Peace as pope in 2014 was “Fraternity, foundation and pathway for peace.”
Pope Francis’ previous encyclical, Laudato si’, published in 2015, had a title taken from St. Francis of Assisi’s “Canticle of the Sun” prayer praising God for creation. Prior to that he published Lumen fidei, an encyclical begun by Benedict XVI before his resignation as pope in 2013.
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Vatican City, Feb 6, 2017 / 06:45 pm (CNA).- In the wake of President Donald Trump’s recent policy on refugees, U.S. Catholics should stay close to their bishops, who are providing a clear, correct and unified response to the issue, a Vatican off… […]
Vatican City, May 30, 2020 / 03:15 pm (CNA).- Our suffering during the coronavirus crisis will have been in vain if we fail to build “a more just, more equitable, more Christian society,” Pope Francis said May 30.
In a video message released Saturday, on the eve of Pentecost, the pope urged Catholics to seize the opportunity for change presented by the pandemic.
He said: “When we come out of this pandemic, we will no longer be able to do what we have been doing, and how we have been doing it. No, everything will be different.”
“All the suffering will have been useless if we do not build together a more just, more equitable, more Christian society, not in name, but in reality, a reality that leads us to a Christian behavior.”
“If we do not work to end the pandemic of poverty in the world, with the pandemic of poverty in the country of each one of us, in the city where each of us lives, this time will have been in vain.”
The pope made the comments in a message to members of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal International Service (CHARIS). The body was established in December 2018 by the Dicastery for Laity, Family, and Life to bring together the different branches of the Charismatic Renewal worldwide. Its statutes came into force on the Solemnity of Pentecost 2019.
The pope told CHARIS members, who were taking part in an online Pentecost vigil, that “Today more than ever we need the Father to send us the Holy Spirit.”
The world is suffering, he said, and it needs the witness of Catholics to the Gospel of Jesus, which can only be given through the power of the Holy Spirit.
“We need the Spirit to give us new eyes, open our minds and hearts to face this moment and the future with the lesson we have learned: we are one humanity. We are not saved alone,” the pope explained, speaking in his native Spanish.
He said that the pandemic had underlined that, despite their differences, Christians are one, united by the power of the Holy Spirit.
“We have before us the duty to build a new reality,” he said. “The Lord will do it; we can collaborate.”
He continued: “From the great trials of humanity, and among them the pandemic, one comes out either better or worse. It is not the same.”
“I ask you: How do you want to come out? Better or worse? And that’s why today we open ourselves up to the Holy Spirit so that He may change our hearts and help us to come out better.”
“If we do not live to be judged according to what Jesus tells us: ‘For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was in prison and you visited me, a stranger and you welcomed me’ (cf. Matthew 25:35-36), we will not come out better.”
The Pope urged members of CHARIS to be guided by a text called Charismatic Renewal and the Service of Man by the Belgian Cardinal Leo Joseph Suenens and the Brazilian Archbishop Hélder Câmara.
He also encouraged them to reflect on “the prophetic words” of St. John XXIII announcing the Second Vatican Council, in which he spoke of a “new Pentecost.”
Pope Francis concluded: “To all of you, I wish on this vigil the consolation of the Holy Spirit. And the strength of the Holy Spirit to come out of this moment of pain, sadness and trial that is the pandemic; to come out better. May the Lord bless you and may the Virgin Mother take care of you.”
Pope Francis celebrates Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica for the World Day of the Poor Nov. 13, 2022. / Daniel Ibanez/CNA.
Vatican City, Nov 13, 2022 / 04:30 am (CNA).
On the World Day of the Poor, Pope Francis encouraged Christians to not be brought down by the “doom and gloom” of the world, but to witness to the joy of the Gospel through service to those in need.
“Let us take to heart the clear and unmistakable summons in the Gospel not to be led astray. Let us not listen to prophets of doom,” the pope said at Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica Nov. 13.
“Instead, let us bear witness,” he said. “Let us light candles of hope in the midst of darkness. Amid dramatic situations, let us seize opportunities to bear witness to the Gospel of joy and to build a more fraternal world, at least a little more fraternal. Let us commit ourselves courageously to justice, the rule of law and peace, and stand at the side of the weakest.”
Pope Francis, assisted by Archbishop Rino Fisichella, celebrated Mass for the 6th annual World Day of the Poor, which was established at the conclusion of the Year of Mercy.
The poor were special guests at the Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica. The day was also marked by a number of initiatives to aid those in need, including a free meal and medical care.
Pope Francis celebrates Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica for the World Day of the Poor Nov. 13, 2022. Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNA.
In his homily, Pope Francis urged Christians to not let themselves become victims of the many crises happening in the world — such as war, famine, poverty, and natural disasters — but take action where they can.
He pointed to the day’s Gospel, Luke 21:5-19, in which Jesus says to not be deceived by false prophets.
“It is not by chance that Jesus’ second exhortation, after ‘do not be led astray,’ is positive,” the pope said. “He says: ‘This will give you an opportunity to testify.’”
“I want to emphasize this fine word: opportunity,” Francis said. “It means having the chance to do something good, starting from our situation in life, even when it is not ideal.”
“A disciple of the Lord,” he added, “should not yield to resignation or give in to discouragement, even in the most difficult situations, for our God is the God of resurrection and hope, who always raises up: with him we can lift up our gaze and begin anew.”
Pope Francis said Christians, when encountering trials, should ask themselves: “What is the Lord saying to us through this moment of crisis?”
The poor pay the heaviest price, he said, issuing a warning about hardened hearts.
Pope Francis celebrates Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica for the World Day of the Poor Nov. 13, 2022. Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNA.
“If our heart is deadened and indifferent, we cannot hear their faint cry of pain, we cannot cry with them and for them, we cannot see how much loneliness and anguish also lie hidden in the forgotten corners of our cities.”
Put your trust in God the Father, he said: “We should always repeat this to ourselves, especially at times of greatest trouble: God is a Father, and he is at my side. He knows and loves me; he does not sleep, but watches over me and cares for me. If I stay close to him, not a hair of my head will perish.”
“Since he loves us, let us resolve to love him in the most abandoned of his children,” the pope said, and “let us care for the poor, in whom we find Jesus, who became poor for our sake.”
Human fraternity is vital for a just world-building.