Among the services that homeless people around the Vatican are receiving from the charity of Pope Francis, will be added another one – a place to sleep. After a place for shower, a barber’s service in the Vatican and a hot meal at Rome’s Terminus station, the homeless will soon have a dormitory near the Vatican, said the Pope’s Almoner or official alms-giver, Archbishop Konrad Krajewski. “We are preparing something,” the Polish archbishop told Italian news agency Ansa. The site on Via dei Penitenzieri close to the Vatican, is currently being renovated. The 30-bed facility will be used only as night shelter and will be managed by volunteers. The date for the start of the service has not been fixed as yet. As Archbishop Krajewski has always said, these services are meant to give dignity to the person.
(from Vatican Radio)…
Among the services that homeless people around the Vatican are receiving from the charity of Pope Francis, will be added another one – a place to sleep. After a place for shower, a barber’s service in the Vatican and a hot meal at Rome’s Terminus station, the homeless will soon have a dormitory near the…
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(Vatican Radio) The challenges facing the Church in Puerto Rico were under the spotlight in the Vatican on Monday as Pope Francis met with the bishops of the Caribbean archipelago.
Among the difficulties facing people there, the Pope mentioned the serious economic situation leading to widespread migration, unemployment, corruption, drugs trafficking and domestic violence.
Stressing the need to focus on the pastoral care of the family, Pope Francis also spoke of the challenge of gender ideology in his prepared remarks which were handed to the bishops during the audience .
In his discourse, the Pope again invites the Church to distance itself from ideologies and political trends and asks the Church leaders to bind together to address the many problems facing the Caribbean country and U.S. territory.
The sacrament of marriage is one of the Latin American people’s most important treasures, the Pope says, and it must be defended. He urges them to emphasize family pastoral ministry in order to counter “serious social problems” such as “the difficult economic situation, migration, domestic violence” and “unemployment, drug trafficking and corruption.”
No to gender ideology, protecting the complementarity between men and women
The complementarity between a man and a woman is being questioned by the so-called gender ideology in the name of a freer and more just society, the Pope observes. In fact, he warns, the differences between men and women are not a question of “opposition or subordination but rather of communion and generation… always in the image and likeness of God.” Without mutual giving- he adds – neither can have an in-depth understanding of the other.
Bishops are united to face the country’s problems
The Pope invites the Church leaders not simply to pray but also to reach out in friendship and “fraternal aid” to address the many serious problems facing Puerto Rico. And, he warns them against “wasting energy in divisions and clashes.” “The more intense the communion…the more it favors the mission,” he says.
Pope Francis encourages the bishops to distance themselves from any ideologies or political trends that can “waste their time and a real passion for the Kingdom of God.” Because of its mission, he points out, the Church is not tied to any political system so that it may always safeguard the transcendence of the human person.
Be merciful pastors, care for vocations
The bishop, the Pope affirms, “is a model for his priests and motivates them to always seek spiritual renewal and rediscover the joy of leading his flock in the great family of the Church.” In view of the forthcoming Jubilee Year of Mercy, the Pope therefore asks bishops and priests to be “servants of God’s forgiveness, especially in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. To have good shepherds , he notes, one must start with the seminaries so that they can generate an adequate number of vocations. And, he urges the faithful of Puerto Rico, in particular associations and movements, to cooperate generously in proclaiming the Gospel in every environment including the most hostile and alienated from the Church.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) The challenges facing the Church in Puerto Rico were under the spotlight in the Vatican on Monday as Pope Francis met with the bishops of the Caribbean archipelago. Among the difficulties facing people there, the Pope mentioned the serious economic situation leading to widespread migration, unemployment, corruption, drugs trafficking and domestic violence. Stressing…
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(Vatican Radio) Eastern Catholic Church leaders of Europe meeting in Prague say the Family must be a priority in the pastoral work of their respective churches and are expressing their concern over the situation in Ukraine and what they see as borderline “discrimination” against the Church in South-East Europe.
More than 40 Eastern Catholic bishops in Europe participated in their annual meeting 4-7 June in the Czech capital and Břevnov, looking ahead to the Synod on the Family later this year. In a final communique, they expressed their commitment to providing “evermore careful preparation for the sacrament of matrimony” where couples are open to life. They also committed themselves to spiritually accompanying and guiding families.
They expressed the hope that, “in times of great vulnerability and major moral, economic and social crisis,” governments will “become more aware of the important role of the social and educative cohesion of the family” and will “legislate on its behalf, on work and on migration.”
Ukraine: “international misinformation” seeks to undermine Christian unity
With regard to Ukraine where they observed “the on-going situation of external aggression in the east of the country,” the Church leaders expressed their solidarity with people of Ukraine, and “above all the Greek Catholics.” They exhorted them “to pursue the path of dialogue and unity between the country’s Christian churches which a particular attitude of misinformation – especially at the international level – aims to undermine.”
The Catholic Church leaders affirmed that “at this dramatic moment in the country’s history,” all the churches are committed to rebuilding the difficult path of social cohesion firstly through conversion, “the only weapon in the face of those who think of corruption as the only controlling principle of society.”
Hunger and poverty do not take holidays
Describing the situation in Ukraine as “the greatest humanitarian disaster since the fall of the totalitarian regime,” the communique said the Major Archbishop of Kiev, His Beatitude Sviatoslav Shevchuk thanked the bishops for their prayers and spiritual closeness and recalled the generosity of the local Caritas organizations. He called for greater solidarity from the international community, saying hunger and poverty do not take holidays!
Catholic Church in South-East Europe faces “borderline discrimination”
The Eastern Church leaders expressed particular concern about what they described as a “too ‘discretionary’ attitude – bordering on discrimination – of numerous local administrations which seem to want to attack the Catholic Church under the administrative, economic and financial profile.”
They noted various attempts to “discredit the Church” over its financial transparency while recognizing the need for national and local churches to work for ever greater transparency in financial management and to adhere to management models in force in their respective countries. They called for the impartiality of the justice system.
The next meeting of the Eastern rite Church leaders of Europe will take place in Fatima, Portugal in October 2016.
(from Vatican Radio)…