(Vatican Radio) The Archdiocese of Washington has issued a challenge ahead of the arrival of Pope Francis on September 22, 2015, for his first visit to the United States.
Cardinal Donald Wuerl, the Archbishop of Washington, has invited his flock to share their joy in their Catholic faith by taking the Walk with Francis Pledge .
“Our Holy Father, Pope Francis has captured the world’s attention with his infectious joy,” Cardinal Wuerl wrote on his blog. “What is striking to me is that in his actions we see the source of his joy. He loves sharing God’s love with others. His words, his gestures, his preaching teach us how to imitate Christ who is the human manifestation of God, the Father.”
The Walk with Francis Pledge invites the people of the Archdiocese to Pray, Serve, and Act:
Pray regularly for the Holy Father and learn about the message of the joy of the Gospel, the mercy of God and the love of Christ.
Serve by reaching out and caring for those in need and supporting charitable efforts in our community and beyond.
Act to promote human life and dignity, justice and peace, family life and religious freedom, care for creation and the common good.
“It is hard to imagine a more perfect gift to present to our Holy Father than the promise that those most in need of prayer and healing, compassion and hope will be touched by Christ’s love by all of us who have taken the Walk with Francis Pledge,” wrote Cardinal Wuerl.
“While touching those most in need of our love, I can also assure our Holy Father that we will be praying for him, for his ministry and for the Church, that all pledge takers will grow in love of God and others,” he concluded.
People can share their pledge on social media with the hashtag #WalkwithFrancis
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has sent a telegram expressing his sadness upon the death of Cardinal William Wakefield Baum, Archbishop Emeritus of Washington.
In his message to the current Archbishop of Washington, Cardinal Donald Wuerl, the Holy Father offered his “heartfelt condolences, together with the assurance of my prayers, to you and to all the faithful of the Archdiocese.”
Pope Francis also expressed his gratitude for Cardinal Baum’s service to the Church, both in diocesan leadership, as well as his various duties in the Vatican.
The full text of the telegram from Pope Francis is below
His Eminence Cardinal Donald Wuerl
Archbishop of Washington
I was saddened to learn of the death of Cardinal William Wakefield Baum, Archbishop Emeritus of Washington, and I offer my heartfelt condolences, together with the assurance of my prayers, to you and to all the faithful of the Archdiocese. With gratitude for the late Cardinal’s years of episcopal service in Springfield-Cape Girardeau and in Washington, and for his long service to the Apostolic See as Prefect of the Congregation for Catholic Education and subsequently Major Penitentiary of the Apostolic Penitentiary, I join you in commending the late Cardinal’s soul to God the Father of mercies. To all present at the Mass of Christian Burial and to all who mourn Cardinal Baum in the hope of the Resurrection, I cordially impart my Apostolic Blessing as a pledge of strength and consolation in the Lord.
FRANCISCUS PP.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has expressed his “esteem” for the work and dedication treating HIV/AIDS requires in a message to the six thousand participants in the Opening Session of the International AIDS Society’s 8th Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention in Vancouver, Canada.
The message was sent through the Holy See’s Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin.
In the message, Pope Francis gave thanks for the lives saved by Highly Active Anti-Retroviral Treatment (HAART) and for the use of “Treatment as Prevention” and noted that such efforts “give witness to the possibilities for beneficial outcome when all sectors of society unite in common purpose.”
Finally, he assured the participants of his prayers “that all advances in pharmacology, treatment, and research will be matched by a firm commitment to promote the integral development of each person as a beloved child of God.”
(from Vatican Radio)…
The Archbishop of Kisumu Archdiocese, Zacchaeus Okoth has spoken to MISNA, the Missionary Service News Agency, about Obama’s visit to his ancestral home in Kenya. “Young, intelligent, it was evident that he would go places. Now that he is the President of the United States we still feel he is one of us and we welcome him with open arms,” Archbishop Zacchaeus Okoth said to MISNA as he reminisced about a meeting and a handshake outside the home of Mama Sarah in 2006. In 2006, Barack Obama landed at the Kisumu airport on Lake Victoria. With Archbishop Okoth and Obama’s step grandmother, who yesterday, Friday at the age of 94 flew to Nairobi to say “Nyakwara”, “grandson” in the Luo language, had then gone to his father’s village of Kogelo. Kogelo is a village inhabited by 4,000, just Kim from Lake Victoria and 300Km west of Nairobi. Archbishop Okoth remembers the young successful Illinois senator then headed towards the democratic primaries that two years later would throw open the doors of the White House. “Since his visit everything changed in Kogelo: Maybe also thanks to Obama there are now tarmac roads and electric power,” explained the Archbishop. The people of Kogelo today are however a little more anxious. “There is no mention in the programme of a visit to Kogelo, and the US Ambassador to Kenya excluded a surprise visit,” said Archbishop Okoth. The people however have not lost hope in a President “who is one of us.” “No matter what CNN says with its coverage describing the country as a ‘hotbed of terrorism,’ Kenyans are simply enthusiastic: They believe Obama will help them fight al Shabaab, a Somalia-based militant Islamist group as well as help build a future of development,” stressed the Archbishop. Obama is in Kenya for the Global Entrepreneurship Summit. He has since addressed the business summit and praised Africa’s economic and business potential. The BBC quoted Obama as saying, “Africa is on the move… People are being lifted out of poverty, incomes are up (and) the middle class is growing,” Obama told a business summit. (Source: MISNA, BBC) Email: engafrica@vatiradio.va (from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) The Holy See has renewed its call for international cooperation to bring to an end the conflicts in the Middle East and help care for the millions of refugees from Iraq and the Syrian war.
In a speech to the United Nations Security Council during an open debate Thursday on “The situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian, question,” Archbishop Bernardito Auza, the Apostolic Nuncio and Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the UN, said the “dramatic humanitarian situation” in Syria is “particularly preoccupying.”
Calling for a renewed commitment by all to achieve a political solution to the conflict, he said “we should not continue to look helplessly from the sidelines while a great country is being destroyed.”
He described the so-called Islamic State group terrorizing the region as a “terrorist plague” that must be thwarted with the unified cooperation of the entire international community.
Lebanon and Jordan, which host millions of refugees, he added, bear the brunt of the Syrian conflict and urgently need the world’s solidarity.
He noted the Holy See’s hopes that the institutional vacuum of Lebanon’s Presidency (constitutionally held by a Christian but vacant for more than a year) will soon be filled.
He reiterated the Holy See’s concern for the region’s minority communities, particularly its Christians, who have been forced from their homes and welcomed the recent accord reached between Iran and the 5+1 group of nations.
Recalling the Comprehensive Agreement signed by the Holy See and the State of Palestine in June, Archbishop Auza said it is hoped that the Agreement will stimulate the “achievement of a two State solution, bringing a definitive end to the longstanding Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”
Below please find the official text of Archbishop Auza’s remarks:
New York, 23 July 2015
Mr President,
My Delegation congratulates you on New Zealand’s Presidency of the Security Council this month and commends you for convening this timely open debate on “The situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian Question.”
The Holy See continues to monitor closely the situation in the Middle East, which is deeply afflicted by various conflicts that continue to intensify. Unfortunately, the international community, which seems to have become accustomed to these conflicts, has not yet succeeded in working out an adequate response.
Particularly preoccupying is the situation in Syria, where the dramatic humanitarian situation affecting more than half of the population calls for renewed commitment by all in order to arrive at a political solution to the conflict. We should not continue to look helplessly from the sidelines while a great country is being destroyed. The situation in Syria requires putting aside many particular interests in order to prioritise those of Syria and of the Syrians themselves.
In Syria as well as in Iraq, we continue to be gravely concerned about the terrorist acts perpetrated by the so-called “Islamic State.” This is a challenge not only for the region but for the entire international community, which is called upon to cooperate with unity of purpose in order to thwart this terrorist plague, which is expanding its activities into different countries.
Having to take care of millions of refugees, Lebanon and Jordan also bear the brunt of the conflict in neighbouring Syria. They urgently need the solidarity of the whole international community.
The Holy See hopes that the Land of the Cedars will be able to resolve, as soon as possible, this period of institutional instability, arising largely from the vacancy for over a year now of the Presidency of the Republic.
While being aware of the sufferings of entire populations, I wish to point out the difficulties that Christians and other minority ethnic and religious groups are experiencing, forcing many of them to leave their homes. The diminution of the Christian presence is a grave loss for the entire region, where Christians have been present since the very beginnings of Christianity and where they wish to continue cooperating with their fellow citizens in building harmonious societies and working for the common good, as promoters of peace, reconciliation and development.
My delegation wishes to express appreciation for the agreement which has been reached between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the 5+1 group.
On June 26 this year, the Holy See and the State of Palestine signed the Comprehensive Agreement that follows the Basic Agreement between the Holy See and the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) of 15 February 2000. This Agreement is indicative of the progress made by the Palestinian Authority in recent years, above all in the level of international upport it has acquired, as exemplified by UN Resolution 67/19, which, inter alia, recognizes Palestine as a non-member Observer State.
The Holy See hopes that this Agreement may in some way be a stimulus to the achievement of the two-State solution, bringing a definitive end to the longstanding Israeli-Palestinian conflict that continues to cause suffering on both Parties, and that the Agreement may offer, within the complex reality of the Middle East, a good example of dialogue and cooperation.
As Pope Francis said during his pilgrimage to the Holy Land last year: “The time has come for everyone to find the courage to be generous and creative in the service of the common good, the courage to forge a peace that rests on the acknowledgment by all of the right of two States to exist and to live in peace and security within internationally recognized orders.”1
In this context, my delegation wishes to reiterate that the peace process can move forward only if it is directly negotiated between the Parties, with the support of the international community.
Thank you, Mr. President.
1 Meeting with Palestinian Authorities, Bethlehem, 25 May 2014.
(from Vatican Radio)…