Vatican City, 25 June 2015 (VIS) – The Holy Father has sent a telegram of condolences to the Patriarchal Synod of the Patriarchate of Cilicia of the Armenians, Beirut, for the sudden death of the Patriarch, His Beatitude Nerses Bedros XIX Tarmouni, at the age of 75. The Pope expresses his heartfelt condolences to the…
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Vatican City, 25 June 2015 (VIS) – The Holy Father has sent a telegram of condolences to the Patriarchal Synod of the Patriarchate of Cilicia of the Armenians, Beirut, for the sudden death of the Patriarch, His Beatitude Nerses Bedros XIX Tarmouni, at the age of 75. The Pope expresses his heartfelt condolences to the…
Read more
Vatican City, 25 June 2015 (VIS) – The Holy Father has sent a telegram of condolences to the Patriarchal Synod of the Patriarchate of Cilicia of the Armenians, Beirut, for the sudden death of the Patriarch, His Beatitude Nerses Bedros XIX Tarmouni, at the age of 75. The Pope expresses his heartfelt condolences to the…
Read more
(Vatican Radio) “The true authority of the Church of Rome is the charity of Christ.” That was the message of Pope Francis to members of the Pontifical Eccesiastical Academy, the “Accademia” – the Roman institution responsible for preparing priests for the diplomatic service of the Holy See.
Listen:
It is only the charity of Christ that makes the Church of Rome “universal and credible” to human beings and to the world. This, the Pope continued, “is the heart of its truth, which does not build walls of division and exclusion, but makes bridges that build communion and recall the whole human race to unity; this is its secret power, which nourishes its unshakable hope, invincible despite momentary defeats.”
Pope Francis told the future diplomats that the service to which they will be called requires them to defend the liberty of the Apostolic See, which, “in order not to betray its mission before God and for the true good of men,” must not get caught up in factions, or “allow itself to be colonized by the popular thoughts of the day, or by the illusory hegemony of the ‘mainstream’.”
In a series of analogies, the Holy Father warned the students not to expect “the ground to be ready” but to be prepared to “plow it with your hands… in order to prepare it for the seed” in hopeful expectation of a harvest which they, perhaps, may never see. He asked them not “to fish in aquariums or fish farms” but to have the courage to go to the margins, to cast their “nets and fishing poles” in lesser known areas, without getting used to “eating fish that others have prepared.”
The Holy Father reminded them that their mission will take them all over the world: “To Europe, needing to be awakened; to Africa, thirsty for reconciliation; to Latin America starving for nourishment and interiority; to North America, intent upon rediscovering the roots of an identity that does not define itself in terms of exclusion; in Asia and Oceania, challenged by the capacity of fermenting in diaspora and dialogue with the vastness of ancestral culture.”
Pope Francis assuring his audience of his prayers for them, and asked for theirs in return. He concluded his remarks with a reminder: “Your whole life is at the service of the Gospel and of the Church. Never forget it!”
(from Vatican Radio)…
Vatican City, 25 June 2015 (VIS) – This morning in the Holy See Press Office a press conference was held to present the Eighth World Meeting of Families, to be held in Philadelphia, U.S.A., from 22 to 27 September this year, on the theme “Love is our mission. The family fully alive”. The speakers were Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, president of the Pontifical Council for the Family; Archbishop Charles Joseph Chaput, O.F.M. Cap. of Philadelphia with his auxiliary, Bishop John J. McIntyre, and Jerry and Lucille Francesco, a couple from the same archdiocese, now married for fifty years.
Archbishop Paglia emphasised that the Meeting is a valuable opportunity to place the family at the centre of the Church and of civil society. “It is a duty”, he said, explaining that the meeting is about and for families, who are its protagonists and main recipients. “The family builds the Church and sustains society. … During the days of the conference, we will present the results of some international research that has scientifically studied this positive influence. The family constantly asks for help and support in the entire ecclesial community – and in the next few days I will write to all the monasteries of the world to ask them to accompany these very important days with their prayers – and from civil society as a whole, which cannot remain indifferent to such beauty and goodness that is so effective and so viable”.
The prelate went on to highlight the global nature of the event, and the hope that it will be seen and reported on worldwide. “The family is the heritage of all humanity, at every latitude, in every culture; it is blessed by all religions. That is why we wanted a significant presence of other Christian denominations and of major world religious traditions. … We are working so that delegations from around the globe and especially from the world’s poorest local Churches will be present. Philadelphia will be a great worldwide celebration of families: in the spectacle, we will be able to get a glimpse, we will have to show the beauty and the possibility of all humanity becoming a single family of peoples. It is the dream of peace; it is God’s dream”.
This universality will be enshrined in the final gesture of the meeting: the archbishop revealed that at the end of Mass on Sunday, 27 September, Pope Francis will give the Gospel of Luke, “the Good News of God’s mercy, which is Jesus, to families from big cities on the five continents: Kinshasa, Africa; Havana, America; Hanoi, Asia; Sydney, Australia; and Marseilles, Europe. This is a symbolic gesture that will announce the sending of a million copies of this book to the five cities involved. We want the Gospel of Mercy to be announced in the great cities of the world so that they may build bonds of love between them, in the Church and in society”.
The archbishop of Philadelphia gave some data on the Meeting, which more than a million people are expected to attend, and from which representatives of more than a hundred nations have registered. So far 6,100 volunteers have offered assistance of various types and the event organisers intend to make more than 5,000 buses available. More than 1,600 people have signed up to the “Host a Family” programme.
For more information on the events linked to the meeting, see http://www.worldmeeting2015.org/…