Pope Francis

The Dispatch

Working for peace in Ukraine

August 10, 2023 Russell Shaw 5

Unless the Ukrainian army’s current counteroffensive ends in clear-cut victory for either Ukraine or Russia—an outcome that seems unlikely at the moment—it is possible, though hardly certain, that conditions then will finally exist for a […]

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News Briefs

Pope Francis: Mary ‘never keeps us waiting’

August 9, 2023 Catholic News Agency 1
Pope Francis smiles at pilgrims during his Wednesday general audience in the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall on Aug. 9, 2023. / Daniel Ibanez/CNA

Vatican City, Aug 9, 2023 / 03:40 am (CNA).

Pope Francis said Wednesday he likes to invoke the Virgin Mary under the title of “Our Lady ‘in haste,’” because she is always ready to swiftly intercede for her children’s requests.

“At World Youth Day, the Gospel proposed to young people the model of the Virgin Mary. At her most critical moment, [Mary] goes to visit her cousin Elizabeth. The Gospel says ‘she arose and went in haste,’” the pope said at his weekly audience in the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall Aug. 9.

“I really like to invoke Our Lady in this aspect,” Francis added. “Our Lady ‘in haste,’ who always gets things done quickly, never keeps us waiting, because she is the mother of all.”

“Mary arose and went with haste,” from Luke 1:39, was the theme of World Youth Day 2023 in Lisbon, Portugal. The international gathering of Catholic youth, held Aug. 1-6, drew around 1.5 million people to its closing vigil and Mass with Pope Francis.

Pilgrims at the Wednesday general audience Aug. 9, 2023 hold up an image of the Virgin Mary. Daniel Ibanez/CNA
Pilgrims at the Wednesday general audience Aug. 9, 2023 hold up an image of the Virgin Mary. Daniel Ibanez/CNA

Pope Francis resumed his Wednesday general audience Aug. 9 after traveling Aug. 2-6 to Portugal and taking a break during the month of July.

While in Portugal, Francis also stopped at the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima, where he prayed a rosary with sick young adults.

“Just as she did a century ago in Portugal, at Fatima, when she addressed three children, entrusting them with a message of faith and hope for the Church and the world,” the pope said, “today, in the third millennium, Mary still guides the pilgrimage of young people in following Jesus.”

He said he prayed at the place of the apparitions that God would heal the world of the diseases of the soul: “pride, lies, enmity, violence.”

“We renewed the consecration of ourselves, of Europe, of the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. And I prayed for peace, because there are so many wars in the world, so many,” he added.

On his return flight to Rome from Lisbon Aug. 6, Pope Francis said in Fatima he prayed a private prayer for peace, though he opted to skip reading aloud a prayer that consecrated the Church and “countries at war” to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Francis said his second visit to Portugal “benefited from the festive atmosphere of… the wave of young people” in attendance at World Youth Day.

“It was not a vacation, a tourist trip, nor even a spiritual event closed on its self,” he said. “The Youth Day is an encounter with Christ through the Church. Young people go to encounter Christ.”

“While in Ukraine and other places in the world there is fighting, and while in certain hidden halls war is planned — it’s terrible, isn’t it? War is planned — World Youth Day showed everyone that another way is possible: a world of brothers and sisters, where the flags of all peoples fly together, next to each other, without hatred, without fear, without closing up, without weapons,” the pope said to an outbreak of applause.

“The message of the young people was clear: will the ‘great of the earth’ listen to it? I ask myself: will they listen to this young enthusiasm that wants peace?” he said.

“It is,” he continued, “a parable for our time, and even today Jesus says: ‘He who has ears, let him hear! He who has eyes, let him look!’ We hope that the whole world will listen to this Youth Day and look to this beauty of youth going forward.”

At the end of his audience, Pope Francis expressed his closeness to the people of Slovenia and Georgia, who have experienced devastating natural disasters this week, including flooding and landslides.

In Slovenia, at least six people have died, while in Georgia, at least 16 were killed and 35 more are missing, according to local officials.

“I pray for the victims and express my spiritual closeness to their families and to all those who are suffering as a result of these disasters, while I thank those who have offered them assistance, especially the volunteers,” the pope said.

Francis also noted the Catholic Church’s celebration of the feast of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, also known as Edith Stein, a co-patroness of Europe.

“May her witness stimulate commitment to dialogue and fraternity among peoples and against all forms of violence and discrimination,” he said. “To her intercession we entrust the dear people of Ukraine, that they may soon find peace again.”

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10 of the most touching moments of World Youth Day 2023

August 7, 2023 Catholic News Agency 2
An estimated 200,000 people attended the pope’s rosary in Fatima, Portugal, on Aug. 5, 2023. / Vatican Media

Denver, Colo., Aug 7, 2023 / 14:39 pm (CNA).

Now that the hundreds of thousands of pilgrims have left Lisbon, Portugal, and World Youth Day (WYD) has ended after days of inspiring and faith-filled events, we take a look back at some of the most moving moments of WYD.

  1. A picture taking social media by storm is of a disabled young man being lifted by his wheelchair high above the sea of WYD attendees.

  2. A video of Pope Francis meeting a child in a wheelchair captured the hearts of journalists in Lisbon. You can see the young boy giving the Holy Father a gift. At the end of the video, the two give one another a high-five.

  3. The EWTN News team in Lisbon found a pair of sisters from Toronto, Canada, who were attending WYD for the first time. Twenty-one-year-old Aurora and 23-year-old Gloria shared that they found out about WYD being in Portugal before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and, at that time, their mother encouraged them to attend. Their mother has since passed away and the sisters decided to attend the event in her honor. 

  4. As part of the WYD celebrations, Pope Francis heard the confessions of three young people in Reconciliation Park on Aug. 4. He took about 10 minutes to hear the private confessions of the young people. One heartwarming photo from this experience was a young woman being embraced by the Holy Father after her confession.

  1. On Aug. 4 at the nunciature in Lisbon, Pope Francis met with Maria da Conceição Brito Mendonça, a 106-year-old woman who was born on the day of the apparitions of Fátima, May 13, 1917.

  1. ACI Digital, CNA’s Portuguese-language news agency, shared the beautiful story of Carlos Wilson da Silva, 30, and Angélica Jesus Macedo, 35, who got engaged on Aug. 3 at the shrine of Fátima, Portugal. The engagement proposal was a surprise for the bride and for everyone who was there. “It’s very exciting, I didn’t imagine that he would ask me in front of the shrine. And I am so devoted to Our Lady of Fátima,” Angélica said. The couple is from Brazil, from Our Lady of the Assumption Parish in Águas Claras. They attended WYD with a group of 99 people.

  1. Pope Francis paid a heartfelt visit to Fátima on Aug. 5. While he was there, he prayed the rosary with young people with disabilities and placed a bouquet of roses and a golden rosary at the feet of the statue of Our Lady of Fátima. “Dear brothers and sisters, today let us feel the presence of Mother Mary, the mother who will always tell us, ‘Do whatever Jesus tells you.’ She points us to Jesus,” the pope said.

  1. In front of an estimated 800,000 people, Pope Francis shared a powerful message to the youth during the Stations of the Cross on Aug. 4. He said: “We’ve all cried in life and continue to do so. Jesus is with us; he cries with us and accompanies us in the darkness that leads to tears. With tenderness, he wipes our tears.”

  1. Pope Francis ended WYD at a Mass with an estimated 1.5 million people. However, before he left, he had a public address with the nearly 25,000 volunteers who kept the international event running from start to finish. One particular photo from the meeting stood out — a young volunteer gave the pope a warm embrace.

Pope Francis embraces WYD2023 volunteer after closing Mass in Lisbon, Aug 6, 2023. Photo credit: Vatican Media
Pope Francis embraces WYD2023 volunteer after closing Mass in Lisbon, Aug 6, 2023. Photo credit: Vatican Media

  1. 10. Another moving moment from the closing Mass of WYD was Pope Francis saying farewell to Lisbon by praying at the feet of the pilgrim statue of Our Lady of Fátima, which was brought directly from the sanctuary to the closing Mass. Pope Francis told the youth: “Dear young people, I would like to look into the eyes of each one of you and tell you: Be not afraid, be not afraid.”

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