Pope Francis has used his Sunday Angelus appeal to send, among other messages, good wishes to the All Africa Games currently taking place in Congo Brazzaville.
“Two days ago the eleventh Africa games opened in Brazzaville, capital of the Republic of Congo, involving thousands of athletes from all over the (African) continent. I hope that this great sports festival will contribute to peace, brotherhood and the development of all countries of Africa. We greet the Africans who are participating in these games,“ said Pope Francis on 6 September.
Africa’s 54 countries are currently converged in what is known as the birth place of the All-Africa Games in Congo Brazzaville. Over 7,000 athletes are competing in over 20 sports disciplines that include Athletics, Basketball, Boxing, Fencing, Gymnastics, Weightlifting, Karate, Judo, Swimming, Taekwondo, table Tennis and Beach Volleyball among others.
The President of Congo, Denis Sassou Nguesso officially opened the pan-Africa Games in the sparkling purpose-built Kintele Stadium. The games in Brazzaville, for the first time, are being held under the auspices of the African Union (AU) which is celebrating its golden anniversary as an organisation.
The games which started on 4 September will end on the 19 September 2015.
The All-Africa Games (AAG) are a continental multi-sports event held every four years, a year before the Olympic Games. They are seen as a major rendezvous for African athletes. In fact, they are a milestone in preparations for the Olympic Games as they are an opportunity for the continent’s athletes to express their potential.
Pope Francis’ Angelus appeal comes when he himself is preparing for his first visit to Africa in November. The visit has been confirmed by the Bishops of Kenya. The Pope is expected to visit Kenya, Uganda and the conflict-ridden Central African Republic.
Many analysts have said that Africa needs peace in order for it to maximise its potential as a continent. It has often been acknowledged that Africa, in general, is a land of rich resources. The continent has one of the highest economic growth rates in the world yet beyond GDP and economic indicators, the reality is that it is equally a land of endless conflicts, hunger, corruption and poverty. As one Kanayo Nwanze told African Union leaders, last year, in the UK Guardian newspaper, Africa is also a continent that is “prey to foreign exploiters.”
(Paul Samasumo, VR)
e-mail: engafrica@vatiradio.va
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis greeted an estimated 5000 members of the Parish Evangelizing Cell movement on Saturday in the Paul the VI Hall
Listen to Lydia O’Kane’s report
Parish Evangelizing Cells was founded in South Korea by the Pastor Paul Yonggi Cho with the aim of promoting the spirit of evangelization.
This system has flourished in many countries including the United States, Italy, Ireland and Australia.
In his remarks to those present in the Paul VI Hall, Pope Francis on Saturday spoke about the importance of being a missionary and said above all this requires listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit who is at the heart of evangelization.
He also underlined how their daily work helps the parish community become a family, where, the Pope said, “we find the rich and multifaceted reality of the Church”, and where no one is judged.
He also added, that sharing time together, such as in the home “is a genuine experience of evangelization that is very similar to what happened in the early days of the Church.”
Finally, the Holy Father encouraged the group present to make the Eucharist the heart of their mission of evangelization, so that each cell is a Eucharistic community “where the breaking of the bread is to recognize the real presence of Jesus Christ in our midst.”
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis told the people of the United States he wanted to “draw close to their path and history” during his upcoming visit to the United States.
Pope Francis was speaking to three-groups around the country via satellite during a Virtual Audience which aired Friday evening on the television programme 20/20.
Listen to Charles Collin’s report
The encounter was filmed on Monday, was moderated by ABC News. For one hour, Pope Francis spoke from the Vatican via satellite to people in an inner-city high school in Chicago, with homeless people in Los Angeles, and a border-community in McAllen, Texas.
He was not making doctrinal statements, but acting as a pastor.
In one example during the meeting, Ricardo Ortiz told the Holy Father he lost a scholarship to university, since he was not a US citizen. Due to an injury his father suffered, he became the breadwinner for his family.
“We are all created for friendship in society. All of us bear responsibility for everyone else,” Pope Francis said. “And each one has to make a choice in his or her heart. And we have to help that choice to be made in the heart. Escaping it through addiction, through violence, does not help. Only closeness and giving of myself, all that I have to give, the way you gave everything you could as a boy, when you supported your family. Don’t forget that.”
Afterwards, Ricardo said Pope Francis is “really doing something to make a difference,” .
Pope Francis also spoke to Sister Norma Pimentel, the executive director of Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley.
“I want to thank you, and through you to thank all the sisters of religious orders in the U.S. for the work that you have done and that you do in the United States,” Pope Francis said. “It’s great. I congratulate you. Be courageous. Move forward.”
But Pope Francis did not stop there.
“I’ll tell you one other thing,” he added. “Is it inappropriate for the Pope to say this? I love you all very much.“
Pope Francis told the people of the United States what is important to him is “closeness,” saying it is “difficult” for him not to be close people.
“When I approach people, as I’m going to do with you, it’s easier for me to understand them and help them along life’s path,” Pope Francis said. “That’s why this trip is so important, for me to draw close to your path and your history.”
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) The Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, Fr. Miguel Ayuso, addressed members of the diplomatic corps present at a reception given for them in connection with a major international conference, “United Against Violence in the Name of Religion” organized by the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the KAICIID international dialogue center (KAICIID) under the auspices of the Greek foreign ministry. Please find the full text of Fr. Ayuso’s prepared remarks in English below
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RECEPTION for the DIPLOMATIC CORPS
ATHENS , 3 SEPTEMBER 2015
Rev. Fr. Miguel Ángel AYUSO GUIXOT
Secretary Pontifical Council
for Interreligious Dialogue
Vatican City
Excellencies,
Distinguished Participants,
It is a honour for me to speak to you today on behalf of the Holy See, as Founding Observer of the International Dialogue Center (KAICIID), at this reception in the International Conference for dialogue between Christians and Muslims with the theme “United Against Violence in the Name of Religion”, as organized by the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the International Dialogue Center (KAICIID) and under the auspices of the Hellenic Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Based on the experience and knowledge we have regarding the reality of today’s world, we now know how wounded humanity is in the Middle East as well as other parts of the world.
I hope, therefore, that this International Conference brings forth both effective and positive content and answers in light of this very reality.
I am hopeful as well, that the international community, as so often expressed by Pope Francis, is able to find effective means and appropriate political solutions to end the suffering of so many people from different religions and cultures. Pope Francis has made this plea: “I renew the hope that the international community not remain silent and inert in front of these intolerable crimes, which constitute an alarming decline of the most essential human rights and impede the richness of cohabitation among peoples, cultures and faiths.” (Pope Francis, Letter addressed to H.E. Bishop Lahham, Auxiliary Bishop of Jerusalem for the Latins, Vicar Patriarchate for Jordan , 6 August 2015).
The times in which we are living render interreligious dialogue more than ever necessary. We know that many of the conflicts which exist today, though purported to be based in religious differences, cannot be justified as religious. Thus there can be only one answer for us: to join as believers who are united to counter violence unjustly done in the name of religion.
Let us together respond to the latest appeal by Pope Francis when he invites all, “legislators and government leaders to insure religious freedom everywhere; and to the international community to put an end to violence and oppression “( Angelus , 30 August 2015).
It is my hope and prayer that our International Conference be a contribution to this much-needed building of peaceful coexistence among peoples.
Excellencies, Distinguished Participants,
Let me convey my gratitude for the invitation, and wish you success in the noble aim of promoting intercultural and interreligious and intercultural dialogue for the good of humanity.
Thank you very much.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Church doctrine must never be isolated from a practical pastoral context. That theme was at the heart of a video message that Pope Francis sent to participants at an International Theological Congress taking place at the Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina (UCA) in the capital Buenos Aires this week.
Listen to Philippa Hitchen’s report:
Speaking in his native Spanish, the Pope said a theologian is above all a child of his or her people, who knows the tradition of the Church and encounters the personal stories of individuals. A theologian, he continued, is a believer, who has discovered he or she cannot live without Christ in their lives. And the theologian is a prophet, he said, who reflects the tradition of the past, while creating a bridge to the present and future.
In the message marking the centenary of the University’s theology faculty and the 50th anniversary of the closing of the Second Vatican Council, Pope Francis stressed the importance of recapturing the memory of God’s presence in the life of the Church. We cannot have isolated individual Churches, he stressed, which claim to possess a unique interpretation of our reality and of the action of the Holy Spirit. In the same way, he went on, we cannot have a universal Church which ignores or denies the reality of the local Churches. Our tradition, he said, is like a living river which springs from our origins of faith and flows towards the future, irrigating and giving life to the various parts of our world.
The role of the theologian, Pope Francis said, is to discern and reflect on what it means to be a Christian today. A Christian in Argentina now, he explained, is not the same as a hundred years ago, and it’s not the same as a Christian in India, Canada or Rome. Theological research must provide answers to the great challenges of our day, he said, avoiding the two great temptations of being either too conservative and rejecting anything new, or embracing every novelty without the wisdom of the past.
In this context, the Pope concluded, doctrine can never be separated from the pastoral context. He pointed to the great fathers of the Church, like Irenaeus, Augustine, Basil or Ambrose, who were great theologians because they were great pastors too. Encountering families, the poor and those who live on the margins of society, he said, is the path to a better understanding of our faith.
(from Vatican Radio)…