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Pope Francis on Vatican II anniversary: ‘May the Church be overcome with joy’

October 11, 2022 Catholic News Agency 10
Pope Francis presides at a memorial Mass of St. John XXIII, which also marks the 60th anniversary of the beginning of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, at St. Peter’s Basilica on Oct. 11, 2022. / Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

Vatican City, Oct 11, 2022 / 13:04 pm (CNA).

On the 60th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council, Pope Francis encouraged Catholics to leave behind criticism and anger and to live the faith with joy.

“May the Church be overcome with joy. If she should fail to rejoice, she would deny her very self, for she would forget the love that begot her,” the pope said during Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica Oct. 11.

“Yet,” he continued, “how many of us are unable to live the faith with joy, without grumbling and criticizing? A Church in love with Jesus has no time for quarrels, gossip, and disputes. May God free us from being critical and intolerant, harsh, and angry. This is not a matter of style but of love. For those who love, as the Apostle Paul teaches, do everything without murmuring.”

The Mass marked the 60th anniversary of the day the Second Vatican Council was opened by St. John XXIII on Oct. 11, 1962. The council closed on Dec. 8, 1965.

Oct. 11 is also celebrated as St. John XXIII’s feast day in the Catholic Church.

In his homily, Pope Francis encouraged members of the Church to return “to the council’s pure sources of love.”

“Let us rediscover the council’s passion and renew our own passion for the council,” he said. “Immersed in the mystery of the Church, Mother and Bride, let us also say, with St. John XXIII: Gaudet Mater Ecclesia.”

Francis also warned Catholics about the strategy of the devil, who sows weeds of division among the faithful. “Let us not succumb to his flattery, let us not give in to the temptation of polarization,” he urged.

“How many times since the council have Christians gone out of their way to choose a side in the Church, not realizing that they were tearing their Mother’s heart,” the pope said. “How many times have they preferred to be ‘supporters of their own group’ rather than servants of all, progressives and conservatives rather than brothers and sisters, ‘of the right’ or ‘of the left’ rather than of Jesus; standing up as ‘guardians of the truth’ or ‘soloists of novelty,’ rather than recognizing themselves as humble and grateful children of holy Mother Church.”

All people are children of God and our brothers, he added. “The Lord does not want us this way: We are his sheep, his flock, and we are so only together, united. Let us overcome polarization and guard communion, let us become more and more ‘one,’ as Jesus pleaded before he gave his life for us.”

Pope Francis noted that there is always the temptation to start from one’s self and one’s agenda, rather than from God and his Gospel.

We “let ourselves be caught up in the winds of worldliness in order to chase the fashions of the moment or to turn back the time that Providence has granted us,” he said. “Yet let us be careful: both the ‘progressivism’ that lines up behind the world and the traditionalism — or ‘indietrism’ — that longs for a bygone world are not evidence of love, but of infidelity.”

“Let us rediscover the council in order to restore primacy to God, to what is essential: to a Church madly in love with its Lord and with all the men and women whom he loves; to a Church that is rich in Jesus and poor in assets; to a Church that is free and freeing. This was the path that the council pointed out to the Church,” he said.

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pope john xxiii leads the opening session of the second vatican council in st. peter's basilica at the vatican oct. 11
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Vatican II, Sixty Years On

October 10, 2022 Peter M.J. Stravinskas 22

October 11th marks the sixtieth anniversary of the formal opening of the Second Vatican Council. In the lead-up to that day in 1962, my fifth-grade teacher, Sister Regina Rose (who just died last year at […]

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Pope Francis mourns 23 children and several adults killed in Thailand daycare attack

October 7, 2022 Catholic News Agency 1
Pope Francis prays on St. Peter’s Square, Oct. 5, 2022 / Daniel Ibáñez / CNA

CNA Newsroom, Oct 7, 2022 / 02:31 am (CNA).

Pope Francis has expressed deep sorrow and mourning at the news of a deadly rampage at a daycare center in Thailand that left at least 34 people dead — 23 of them children.

In a telegram signed by Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, the pontiff offered his heartfelt condolences.

“Deeply saddened to learn of the horrific attack that took place at a child-care centre in Uthai Sawan, His Holiness Pope Francis offers his heartfelt condolences and the assurance of his spiritual closeness to all those affected by this act of unspeakable violence against innocent children,” the message said.

The pope prayed that grieving families and all those injured would receive support from their neighbors and concluded his message with “blessings of peace and perseverance in every good”.

According to media reports, the massacre was perpetrated by a single man, armed with a gun and knife, on Oct. 6 in the town of Uthai Sawan, some 310 miles northeast of the capital Bangkok.

Authorities identified the man as a former police officer, apparently facing trial on a drugs charge. The motive is still the subject of an ongoing police investigation. Drawing on local media coverage, Reuters reported the perpetrator had initially gone to collect his child after attending court earlier in the day. Upon not finding his child there, he began the attack.

According to a report by BBC News, only one child survived the killing spree.

The 34-year-old attacker then returned home, killed his wife and step-child before committing suicide, several media drawing on local authorities reported.

The massacre is understood to be one of the worst involving children in history.

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