Vatican City, Apr 30, 2020 / 07:15 am (CNA).- Pope Francis prayed Thursday for the many people who have died as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, especially the “anonymous” victims buried in common graves.
More than 200,000 people have… […]
Vatican City, Apr 29, 2020 / 02:00 pm (CNA).- Pope Francis has postponed this year’s Peter’s Pence collection until next fall as the Vatican confronts the economic consequences of the coronavirus pandemic.
The collection, which traditional… […]
Vatican City, Apr 29, 2020 / 05:15 am (CNA).- The eight beatitudes proclaimed by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount reveal the path from selfishness to holiness, Pope Francis said at his general audience Wednesday.
Speaking via livestream due to the coronavirus crisis, the pope said April 29: “The path of the Beatitudes is an Easter journey that leads from a life according to the world to a life according to God, from an existence guided by the flesh — that is, by selfishness — to one guided by the Spirit.”
In his address from the library of the apostolic palace, the pope concluded his cycle of catechesis on the beatitudes.
He said that the eighth beatitude, “Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:10), was intimately connected to the first, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3).
“This beatitude announces the same happiness as the first: the kingdom of heaven is for the persecuted just as it is for the poor in spirit,” he said. “We understand that we have arrived at the end of a unified path set out in the previous proclamations.”
Those who follow the path of the beatitudes soon find themselves in conflict with the world, the pope noted. But they are blessed because “they have found something worth more than the whole world.”
“The world, with its idols, its compromises and its priorities, cannot approve of this kind of existence,” he said. So it dismisses life according to the Gospel “as an error and a problem, therefore as something to be marginalized.”
That is why the world has persecuted Christians throughout history, the pope observed.
“It is painful to remember that, at this moment, there are many Christians suffering persecution in various parts of the world, and we must hope and pray that as soon as possible their tribulation will be stopped,” he said.
He encouraged Catholics to express their solidarity with the persecuted, who he described as “bleeding members of the body of Christ which is the Church.”
The pope urged Christians to be careful not to read the eighth beatitude in a “self-pitying way.” Sometimes, he said, we arouse contempt because we have drifted away from the Gospel, rather than because we are witnessing to it.
He said: “In fact, the contempt of men is not always synonymous with persecution: just a little later Jesus says that Christians are the ‘salt of the earth,’ and warns against ‘losing the taste,’ otherwise salt ‘serves no other purpose than to be thrown away and trampled underfoot’ (Matthew 5:13). Therefore, there is also a contempt that is our fault when we lose the taste of Christ and the Gospel.”
In off-the-cuff remarks at the end of his address, the pope said: “In persecutions there is always the presence of Jesus who accompanies us, the presence of Jesus who consoles us and the strength of the Spirit who helps us to move forward.”
“Let us not be discouraged when a life consistent with the Gospel attracts people’s persecutions: there is the Spirit that sustains us on this road.”
Vatican City, Apr 29, 2020 / 04:05 am (CNA).- When identifying your faults, avoid being vague and tell God your sins honestly and frankly so that he can heal you, Pope Francis said at Mass Wednesday.
According to Francis, to say: “We are all sin… […]
Vatican City, Apr 28, 2020 / 09:00 am (CNA).- Pope Francis has instituted a Vatican foundation to promote the thought and teachings of Venerable John Paul I, who was pope for 33 days in 1978.
The John Paul I foundation was formally established with a … […]
Vatican City, Apr 28, 2020 / 03:30 am (CNA).- Pope Francis prayed that Christians would respond to the lifting of lockdown restrictions with “prudence and obedience” as he celebrated Mass Tuesday.
Speaking from the chapel of the Casa Santa Marta, his Vatican residence, April 28, he said: “At this time, when indications have been given to exit out of quarantine, we pray the Lord will grant to His people, all of us, the grace of prudence and obedience to these indications, so that the pandemic does not return.”
The pope was speaking two days after Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte unveiled plans for a gradual easing of lockdown measures. The Italian bishops strongly criticized Conte for not setting a date for the resumption of public Masses.
In his homily, Pope Francis reflected on the martyrdom of St. Stephen, described in the Acts of the Apostles (Act 7:51-8:1). He noted that, like Jesus, Stephen was falsely accused of blasphemy as a pretext for his execution.
There is a pattern, he said, seen in the Bible and down to our present age, which begins with false testimony in order to arrive at “doing justice.”
He recalled the case of Asia Bibi, a Catholic mother of five who was sentenced to death for blasphemy before the Supreme Court of Pakistan acquitted her in 2018.
“Let’s think of Asia Bibi, for example, that we have seen: 10 years in prison because she was judged by a slander and a people who want her death,” the pope said. “Faced with this avalanche of false news that creates opinion, many times nothing can be done: nothing can be done.”
He offered the Shoah, the Hebrew term for the Holocaust, as another instance of the same pattern.
“Opinion was created against a people and then it was normal: ‘Yes, yes: they must be killed, they must be killed’,” he said.
It is easy to recognize that this is wrong, the pope observed. But we overlook the “small daily lynchings” that take place when we gossip about others.
“Let’s think about our tongues: many times with our comments we start such lynching. Even in our Christian institutions we have seen so many daily lynchings born out of gossip,” he said.
“May the Lord help us to be righteous in our judgments, not to begin to follow this mass condemnation that provokes gossip.”
After Mass, the pope presided at adoration and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, before leading those watching via livestream in an act of spiritual communion.
Reciting the words of Spanish Cardinal Rafael Merry del Val (1865-1930), he said: “At Thy feet, O my Jesus, I prostrate myself and I offer Thee repentance of my contrite heart, which is humbled in its nothingness and in Thy holy presence. I adore Thee in the Sacrament of Thy love, the ineffable Eucharist. I desire to receive Thee into the poor dwelling that my heart offers Thee.”
“While waiting for the happiness of sacramental communion, I wish to possess Thee in spirit. Come to me, O my Jesus, since I, for my part, am coming to Thee! May Thy love embrace my whole being in life and in death. I believe in Thee, I hope in Thee, I love Thee.”
Finally, the congregation sang the Easter Marian antiphon “Regina caeli”.
Vatican City, Apr 27, 2020 / 06:00 am (CNA).- The homeless “risk paying the heaviest price” amid the coronavirus crisis, Pope Francis has said in a message to street newspapers.
In a statement dated April 21 but released by the Holy See press office April 27, the pope noted that the pandemic posed a dire threat to the more than 100 publications sold by the homeless worldwide.
Thousands of people depend for their livelihoods on the sale of street newspapers, he said.
“For many weeks the street newspapers have not been sold and their sellers cannot work,” he observed. “I want to express my closeness to journalists, volunteers, people who live thanks to these projects and who in these times are working with many innovative ideas.”
The pope expressed confidence that, despite the present difficulties, “the great network of street newspapers in the world will come back stronger than before.”
“Looking at the poorest people, in these days, can help us all to become aware of what is really happening to us and of our true condition,” he said.
“To all of you, [I offer] my message of encouragement and fraternal friendship. Thank you for the work you do, for the information you give and for the stories of hope you tell.”
This is not the first time that Pope Francis has shown his support for street newspapers. In 2015, he gave an interview to a representative of the Dutch paper Straatnieuws.
Straatnieuws is currently appealing for donations. A message on its website says: “The corona crisis has forced us to stop the distribution of Straatnieuws. So sellers are out of newspapers, out of income. We want to support them. For that, your donation is very much needed.”
The Big Issue, a street newspaper founded in the U.K. in 1991, has launched an appeal to support vendors and to ensure that the magazine weathers the pandemic.
StreetWise, a street magazine sold in Chicago since 1992, is seeking $300,000 to “sustain and subsidize” its vendors.
A statement on its website says: “With declining sales, our vendors need support now so they don’t lose their hotel rooms, single room occupancies or apartments and end up on the streets or in a shelter. And because many of them are in immunosuppressed conditions they could get very sick or even die.”
The website quoted Pete Kadens, StreetWise’s chairman emeritus, as saying: “This is literally the difference between life and death for our vendors and fellow Chicagoans — I cannot stress that enough.”
Vatican City, Apr 27, 2020 / 05:00 am (CNA).- As much of the world remains under quarantine due to the coronavirus, Pope Francis prayed for artists who show others “the path of beauty” amid lockdown restrictions.
“We pray today… […]
Vatican City, Apr 26, 2020 / 05:56 am (CNA).- Jesus invites us to live with him in the present and not to get stuck in the disappointments and ‘what ifs’ of the past, Pope Francis said in his message before the Regina coeli antiphon on Sund… […]
Vatican City, Apr 25, 2020 / 05:10 am (CNA).- To say you are a Christian while not living like one does not show people the real treasure of the faith – which we have the obligation to share, Pope Francis said at Mass April 25.
“Faith is e… […]
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