(Vatican Radio) Faithful from the Diocese of Isernia-Venafro paid a return visit to Pope Francis on Saturday.
The Pope received the pilgrims in an audience and recalled the message of solidarity he shared with them during his pastoral visit last July.
He also spoke of the call of parishes to be missionary communities.
Listen to the report by Laura Ieraci:
“Every parish is called to be a privileged place of listening and of the proclamation of the Gospel; a house of prayer gathered around the Eucharist; a true school of communion, where the ardour of charity prevails over the temptation of a superficial and dry religiosity,” said Pope Francis to pilgrims from the southern Italian Diocese of Isernia-Venafro.
The Pope said he hopes the current Jubilee of the Diocese of Isernia-Venafro and the upcoming Extraordinary Year of Mercy will renew a “vigorous missionary spirit,” especially in parishes, where the communion of the church finds its “most immediate and visible expression.”
Speaking to the pilgrims, the Pope said their local Jubilee is an opportunity to “return to the Gospel,” to reconcile with one’s neighbour and to renew the desire to bring love to the marginalized and to those who suffer.
He noted the many social problems that continue to afflict the southern Italian region, namely sharp unemployment among youth; the lack of adequate social services for families, the elderly, or people with illness or disability.
The Pope said this “worrying situation” requires a “general mobilisation” at all levels of society, both public and private, adding that “concrete steps” in creating employment cannot be postponed.
“Christian hope, founded on the resurrected Christ, and accompanied by a large charitable effort towards those most in need” is what is most called for “when difficulties seem to obfuscate… a better future,” he said.
“Problems are overcome with solidarity,” the pope said, directing his message specifically to young people and to those present, and noting that he issued the same message during his pastoral visit last year.
He concluded, urging the pilgrims to be “witnesses of solidarity” in their cities, families, and places of work.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Faithful from the Diocese of Isernia-Venafro paid a return visit to Pope Francis on Saturday. The Pope received the pilgrims in an audience and recalled the message of solidarity he shared with them during his pastoral visit last July. He also spoke of the call of parishes to be missionary communities. Listen to…
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(Vatican Radio) The Prefect of the Congregation for Eastern Churches, Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, was the homilist at Divine Liturgy in the Chaldean cathedral of Baghdad on Friday afternoon. The Liturgy and Cardinal Sandri’s participation in it were part of the Prefect’s three-day visit to the country, which began on Friday morning.
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The official schedule of Cardinal Sandri’s brief but intense visit includes a cultural excursion to the National Museum, encounters with the country’s Catholic clergy and ecumenical leadership, a trip to Anbar province and the Nineveh Plain to meet with displaced persons – both Christian and Muslim – and with the Caritas team and others assisting them. Cardinal Sandri is also scheduled to meet with diplomats and with Iraqi President Fuad Masum.
In his homily on Friday evening, Cardinal Sandri focused on the reading proclaimed from the Acts of the Apostles, in which St. Paul appears before King Herod Agrippa (Acts 26:1-32). He renewed his call – and the Holy Father’s – for assistance from the international community in favor of all those facing persecution in Iraq, and especially for the country’s suffering and sorely tried Christian community, thanking the UN’s High Representative for Iraq for his presence at the Liturgy.
Cardinal Sandri had particular words of encouragement for the Christians of Iraq. “The Cross of the Son of God continues to be planted in this land,” he said, “in order that the definitive event of the Resurrection might embrace and involve every man – as we read in the Prophet Isaiah and as it is recalled in the Gospel according to St. Luke: ‘All flesh shall see the salvation of God.’”
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) The Prefect of the Congregation for Eastern Churches, Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, was the homilist at Divine Liturgy in the Chaldean cathedral of Baghdad on Friday afternoon. The Liturgy and Cardinal Sandri’s participation in it were part of the Prefect’s three-day visit to the country, which began on Friday morning. The official schedule of…
Read more
(Vatican Radio) The Prefect of the Congregation for Eastern Churches, Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, was the homilist at Divine Liturgy in the Chaldean cathedral of Baghdad on Friday afternoon. The Liturgy and Cardinal Sandri’s participation in it were part of the Prefect’s three-day visit to the country, which began on Friday morning. The official schedule of…
Read more