(Holy See Press Office) On Sunday afternoon Pope Francis received in a private audience Mrs. Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, President of the Republic of Argentina. The very cordial meeting lasted for over an hour and 30 minutes in the Pope’s Study in the Paul VI Audience Hall. The President wished to show the Pope once…
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(Holy See Press Office) On Sunday afternoon Pope Francis received in a private
audience Mrs. Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, President of the Republic of
Argentina. The very cordial meeting lasted for over an hour and 30 minutes in
the Pope’s Study in the Paul VI Audience Hall. The President wished to show the Pope once again the affection and
closeness of the Argentine people and ask him for his blessing for his
co-nationals.
At the end of the meeting, the Pope and President went to
the adjacent hall where the Pope greeted the large delegation that accompanied
the President on her trip that will continue tomorrow with participation at an FAO
Conference, meetings with Italian authorities and a visit to the Expo of Milan.
Mrs. Fernández de Kirchner honored the Pope with various significant gifts,
most especially a large framed painting of Blessed Bishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero,
a work by Argentine artist Eugenio Cuttica; a book by a much appreciated author
of Pope Francis, Alberto Methol-Ferré: “Los estados continentales y el
Mercosur”; an edition of the famous national poem “Martin Fierro”, often cited
by Pope in his talks; two artistic reliefs for the
vision-impaired with titles in
braille, that represent the Virgin of Lujan and a painting of the Pope; a
basket of typical Argentine food products and an important volume on the architectural
patrimony of Argentina published on the occasion of the bicentenary.
For his part, the Pope gave the President a very
beautiful eleventh century Russian icon of “Our Lady of Tenderness.” This marked the fifth time – including the
visit for the inauguration of the Petrine Ministry of Pope Francis on March 19,
2013 and the meeting during World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro – that the
Argentine president has met Pope Francis….
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis spoke with reporters on the return flight from Sarajevo to Rome on Saturday. In response to the journalists’ questions, the Holy Father touched on a number of topics ranging from global peace and security to the need for prudence in choosing what television programmes to watch and how much time to spend on-line.
“There are two different elements here: method and content. Regarding the method or way of doing things, there is one that is bad for the soul and that is being too attached to the computer,” said Pope Francis. “Secondly, the content,” he continued. “[T]here is a lot of filth that ranges from pornography to semi-pornographic content, to programmes that are empty, devoid of values; relativism and consumerism foment all this,” said the Holy Father, “and we know that consumerism is a cancer of society, relativism is a cancer of society.”
The Holy Father also mentioned the process of evaluation of the claims of miraculous apparitions at Medjugorje (ongoing, and nearing completion), and confirmed that his new encyclical will be out before the end of this month.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis spoke with reporters on the return flight from Sarajevo to Rome on Saturday. In response to the journalists’ questions, the Holy Father touched on a number of topics ranging from global peace and security to the need for prudence in choosing what television programmes to watch and how much time to…
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(Vatican Radio) Speaking to pilgrims and tourists gathered in St. Peter’s Square, beneath the window of the Papal apartments in the Apostolic Palace, for the Angelus prayer on Sunday, Pope Francis focused his remarks ahead of the traditional Marian devotion on the Gospel reading of the day, which was in Italy and many countries around the world, that of the Feast of Corpus Domini or Corpus Christi – the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ – the great Eucharistic feast instituted in the 13 th century for the entire Latin Church.
“[The solemnity of Corpus Domini] evokes this message of solidarity and encourages us to embrace the intimate call to conversion to service, to love, and to forgiveness,” said Pope Francis. “It encourages us to become in our life, imitators of what we celebrate in the liturgy,” he explained. “Christ, who nourishes us under the consecrated species of bread and wine, is the same Christ, whom we meet during the course of everyday life: He is in the poor person who holds out his hand [in supplication]; He is the suffering person who implores [our] help; He is in the brother or sister who asks us to be there and awaits our welcome; He is in the child who knows nothing about Jesus, about salvation, who does not have the faith; He is in every human being, even the smallest and most defenseless.”
Indeed, following the Angelus , the rights of children to life, to education, to safe environments for play, were the subject of Pope Francis’ expressions of support for the World Day against Child Labor, to be marked this coming Friday. “Many children in the world do not have the freedom to play, to go to school, and end up being exploited as cheap labor,” he said, adding, “I hope the international community will remain attentively and steadfastly committed to the active promotion and effective recognition of children’s rights.”
Pope Francis also looked forward to the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart, which will be celebrated this coming Friday as well. “[On] the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, let us think of the love of Jesus, of how He has loved us,” said the Holy Father.
(from Vatican Radio)…