Vatican City, Apr 1, 2020 / 05:00 am (CNA).- Pope Francis offered a prayer for media professionals who are covering the coronavirus pandemic before his daily Mass on Wednesday.
“Those who work in the media, who work to communicate today so that … […]
Vatican City, Apr 1, 2020 / 03:09 am (CNA).- It is the Holy Spirit who leads us away from our sins and towards purity of heart, Pope Francis said at the general audience Wednesday.
Speaking via livestream due to the coronavirus crisis, the pope said April 1 that the purification of our hearts must begin by recognizing the evil that lies within us and renouncing it.
“This is a decisive maturity: when we realize that our worst enemy is often hidden in our heart,” he said. “The noblest battle is against the inner deceptions that generate our sins.”
In his address from the library of the apostolic palace, the pope continued his cycle of catechesis on the beatitudes, the eight blessings proclaimed by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount.
Focusing on the sixth beatitude, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God” (Matthew 5:8), the pope said: “The pure of heart live in the presence of the Lord, preserving in the heart what is worthy of the relationship with Him; only in this way does it possess an intimate, ‘unified’ life, linear, not tortuous but simple.”
“The purified heart is thus the result of a process that implies liberation and renunciation. The pure of heart is not born such, he has experienced an inner simplification, learning to deny evil within itself, something which in the Bible is called ‘circumcision of the heart.'”
“This inner purification implies the recognition of that part of the heart which is under the influence of evil, in order to learn the art of always allowing oneself to be taught and led by the Holy Spirit. And so, through this path of the heart, we come to ‘see God.'”
When we “see God,” he explained, we recognize God’s presence in the Church’s sacraments and in our fellow human beings, especially the needy.
“In this beatific vision there is a future dimension, eschatological, as in all the beatitudes: it is the joy of the Kingdom of Heaven towards which we are going,” he said.
“But there is also the other dimension: to see God means to understand the plans of Providence in what happens to us, to recognize his presence in the Sacraments, in our brothers and sisters, especially the poor and suffering, and to recognize him where he manifests himself.”
He said the sixth beatitude was, in a sense, “the fruit” of the preceding five.
“If we have listened to the thirst for the good that dwells in us and are aware that we live in mercy, a journey of liberation begins which lasts a lifetime and leads us to heaven,” he said.
“It is a serious work and it is above all a work of God in us – in the trials and purifications of life – which leads to great joy, to true and profound peace.”
In off-the-cuff remarks at the end of his address, the pope urged Catholics not to be afraid to open their hearts to the Holy Spirit.
In his greetings to different language groups after his address, he invited the faithful to seek the intercession of St. John Paul II, who died on April 2, 2005.
Addressing Polish Catholics, he said: “In these difficult days we are living, I encourage you to entrust yourselves to Divine Mercy and to the intercession of St. John Paul II, on the eve of the 15th anniversary of his death.”
Vatican City, Mar 31, 2020 / 04:15 am (CNA).- Vatican flags are flying at half-staff on Tuesday in solidarity with the victims of the coronavirus in Italy and worldwide.
“Today, in solidarity with Italy, the Holy See will display flags at half-m… […]
Vatican City, Mar 31, 2020 / 04:14 am (CNA).- Pope Francis prayed Tuesday for all those who do not have homes to go to during the coronavirus pandemic, that people may be aware of this reality and that the Church will welcome them.
“Let us pray … […]
Vatican City, Mar 30, 2020 / 12:45 pm (CNA).- Cardinal Angelo De Donatis, vicar general of the Diocese of Rome, has tested positive for coronavirus. He is the first cardinal known to have the virus.
The cardinal has been admitted to the Gemelli Hospital in Rome with a fever. He is reportedly in good condition, and his close collaborators are reported to be self-isolating, according to a statement from the Vicariate of Rome.
“I feel serene and confident amid this trial,” the cardinal said in a statement March 30. “I entrust myself to the Lord and to support from the prayers of all of you, dear faithful of the Church in Rome.”
“I live this moment as an occasion given to me in Providence so that I can share the sufferings of so many brothers and sisters. I offer my prayers for them, for the whole diocesan community and for the inhabitants of the city of Rome,” the cardinal added.
While Pope Francis is the Bishop of Rome, the day-to-day leadership of the diocese is provided for by De Donatis, who enjoys broad vicarious authority delegated by the pope.
The cardinal, 66, was chosen by Pope Francis in 2014, while not yet a bishop, to offer the Lenten spiritual exercises to the Roman Curia, a job traditionally given to a cardinal. In 2015 he became an auxiliary bishop in Rome, and became vicar general of Rome in 2017. He was created a cardinal in 2018.
One Catholic bishop is known to have died from the virus, which is a global pandemic, and several have been diagnosed with it, among them is New Orleans’ Archbishop Gregory Aymond. Nearly 100 priests are reported to have died of the virus.
Vatican City, Mar 30, 2020 / 11:16 am (CNA).- In a private letter to an Argentine judge, Pope Francis is reported to have warned that government decisions to prioritize the economy over people could result in a “viral genocide.”
“The… […]
Vatican City, Mar 30, 2020 / 04:30 am (CNA).- Pope Francis said Monday that the Church can trust in the mercy and justice of God.
“Each of us has our own stories. Each of us has our own sins. And if you do not remember them, think a little: you will find them,” Pope Francis said March 30 in his daily Mass broadcast.
“Let us look to the Lord who acts with justice, but is very merciful. Let us not be ashamed of being in the Church: let us be ashamed of being sinners. The Church is the mother of all,” he said.
In his homily, the pope compared the lives and circumstances of two women described in the day’s Mass readings: Susanna and the woman caught in adultery.
The first reading from the Book of Daniel describes a “beautiful and God-fearing woman”, Susanna, who is falsely accused of infidelity by two elders and ultimately justified after Daniel’s examination of the deceitful old men.
The Gospel of John describes an encounter between Jesus and a woman charged by the scribes and Pharisees of committing adultery. Jesus said to the Pharisees: “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her,” and then to the woman: “Go, and from now on do not sin any more.”
Pope Francis said: “The innocent and the sinner. The Fathers of the Church saw a figure of the Church in these women: holy, but with sinful children.”
“Both women were in a dark valley … one fell into the hands of hypocrites and the other into the hands of the corrupt,” he said.
Francis noted that both women, the innocent and the sinner, faced a death sentence. The woman accused by the corrupt was “an innocent woman, falsely accused, slandered,” while the one condemned by hypocrites was a sinful woman.
“What does the Lord do with these people? To the innocent woman, he saves her, he brings justice. To the sinful woman, he forgives her. To the corrupt judges, he condemns them; to the hypocrites, he helps them to convert,” the pope said.
“In the first case, the people praise the Lord; in the second case, the people learn what God’s mercy is like,” he said.
Francis said that the corrupt put themselves in the place of God and “were unable to ask for forgiveness.”
“May each one of us, seeing how Jesus acted in these cases, entrust ourselves to God’s mercy and pray, trusting in God’s mercy, asking forgiveness” the pope said.
In his livestramed Mass from the chapel in his Vatican City residence, Casa Santa Marta, the pope prayed for people who are paralyzed by fear because of the coronavirus pandemic.
“May the Lord help them to stand up, to act for the good of all society, of the whole community,” he said.
“Because God guides me in right paths for his name’s sake. Even though I walk in the dark valley — the valley of sin — I fear no harm for you are at my side with your rod and your staff that give me courage,” Pope Francis said at the end of his homily.
Vatican City, Mar 29, 2020 / 07:30 am (CNA).- In his Sunday homily, Pope Francis said it is a grace to weep with those who weep as many people suffer from the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic.
“Many cry today. And we, from this altar, from this sacrifice of Jesus — of Jesus who was not ashamed to cry — ask for the grace to cry. May today be for everyone like a Sunday of tears,” Pope Francis said in his homily on March 29.
Before offering Mass in the chapel of his Vatican City residence, Casa Santa Marta, the pope said that he was praying for people who are weeping because of coronavirus loneliness, loss, or economic hardship.
“I think of so many people crying: isolated people in quarantine, lonely elderly people, hospitalized people, people in therapy, parents who see that since there is no salary they will not be able to feed their children,” he said.
“Many people cry. We too, from our hearts, accompany them. And it won’t hurt us to cry a little with the Lord’s weeping for all of his people,” he added.
Pope Francis focused his homily on one line from the Gospel of John’s account of the death and resurrection of Lazarus: “And Jesus wept.”
“How tenderly Jesus weeps!” Pope Francis said. “He cries from the heart, cries with love, cries with his [people] who cry.”
“The cry of Jesus. Perhaps, he wept at other times in his life – we do not know — certainly in the Garden of Olives. But Jesus cries for love, always,” he added.
The pope said that Jesus cannot help but to look upon people with compassion:“How many times have we heard in the Gospel this emotion of Jesus, with a phrase that is repeated: ‘Seeing, he had compassion.’”
“Today, facing a world that suffers so much, in which so many people suffer the consequences of this pandemic, I ask myself: ‘Am I capable of crying as … Jesus is now? Does my heart resemble that of Jesus?’” he said.
In his livestreamed Angelus address, Pope Francis reflected again on the Gospel account of the death of Lazarus.
“Jesus could have avoided the death of his friend Lazarus, but he wanted to make our pain for the death of loved ones his own, and above all he wanted to show God’s dominion over death,” the pope said.
When Jesus arrives in Bethany, Lazarus has been dead for four days, Francis explained. Lazarus’ sister Martha runs to meet Jesus and says to him: “If you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
“Jesus replies: ‘Your brother will rise’ and adds: ‘I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live.’ Jesus shows himself as the Lord of life, the One who is capable of giving life even to the dead,” the pope said after quoting the Gospel.
“Have faith! In the midst of crying, you continue to have faith, even if death seems to have won,” he said. “Let the Word of God bring life back to where there is death.”
Pope Francis said: “God’s answer to the problem of death is Jesus.”
The pope called on each person to remove “everything that tastes of death” from their lives, including hypocrisy, criticism of others, slander, and the marginalization of the poor.
“Christ lives, and whoever welcomes him and adheres to him comes into contact with life,” Francis said.
“May the Virgin Mary help us to be compassionate like her Son Jesus, who made our pain his own. Each of us is close to those who are in affliction, become for them a reflection of the love and tenderness of God, who frees us from death and makes life victorious,” Pope Francis said.
Vatican City, Mar 29, 2020 / 06:00 am (CNA).- Pope Francis appealed for a global ceasefire on Sunday as countries work to defend their populations from the coronavirus pandemic.
“The current emergency of COVID-19 … knows no borders,&rdquo… […]
Vatican City, Mar 28, 2020 / 11:05 am (CNA).- The Vatican said Saturday Pope Francis does not have the coronavirus, and that recent testing of 170 Holy See employees for COVID-19 resulted in only one new case.
This brings the total number of coronavirus cases connected to Vatican City to six, papal spokesman Matteo Bruni said in a statement March 28.
“I can confirm that neither the Holy Father nor his closest collaborators are involved,” the spokesman stated.
The six positive cases include a priest who lives in the same Vatican guesthouse as Pope Francis. The priest, an official of the Secretariat of State, was put into isolation as soon as he presented symptoms of COVID-19, Bruni said.
Tests were carried out on those the official had been in physical contact with and later other Holy See employees were also tested “as a precaution,” bringing the total tested to 170, the spokesman said.
According to Bruni, only one other test came back positive from those tests – a Holy See employee who was in close contact with the Secretariat of State official.
The spokesman said other precautionary measures have been carried out, such as additional sanitation.
The Secretariat of State official is not in critical condition but has been admitted to a hospital in Rome for care and observation, Bruni added.
The Vatican’s first case of the coronavirus was found after a patient tested positive in the city state’s outpatient health facilities March 5. The facilities were then closed for one day to allow for their sanitation.
Of the next three cases to have been discovered, two are employees of the Vatican Museums and one is a warehouse employee.
Bruni told journalists March 24 that these four coronavirus patients “had been placed in solitary confinement as a precaution before they tested positive and their isolation has already lasted for over 14 days; currently they are being treated in Italian hospitals or at home.”
Pope Francis’ schedule has lessened during the coronavirus pandemic, though he continues to have some meetings in the apostolic palace, from where he is also livestreaming his weekly Wednesday general audience and Sunday Angelus during Italy’s lockdown.
March 28 the pope met with Rome’s mayor, Virginia Raggi, as well as other Vatican officials.
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