Pope Francis called for all the faithful everywhere to pray for persecuted Christians on Sunday. Speaking to pilgrims and tourists gathered beneath the window of the Papal apartment in the Apostolic Palace, which overlooks St. Peter’s Square, the Holy Father recalled the beatification in Barcelona on Saturday of Bl. Federico da Berga and his 25 Companions, who were martyred during the course of the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s.
“They were,” said Pope Francis, “priests, young professed friars awaiting ordination, and lay brothers belonging to the Capuchin Order of Friars Minor (Franciscans): let us entrust to their intercession the many of our brothers and sisters who, sadly still today, in many different parts of the world, are persectuted because of their faith in Christ.”
Pope Francis also asked the faithful to pray for the success of his upcoming visit to Kenya, Uganda and the Central African Republic, which begins this Wednseday, Nov. 25. “I ask you all to pray for this voyage,” he said, “that it might be for all our brothers and sisters in those lands, and also for me, a sign of closeness and of love.”
Ahead of the Angelus on Sunday, the Solemnity of Christ the King, with faithful pilgrims and tourists gathered in St. Peter’s Square, the focus of the Holy Father’s remarks was the nature of Christ’s kingship: a kingship that opposes itself to the worldly logic that prizes ambition and rewards ruthlessness, expressing itself in humility and selflessness, and affirming itself silently but efficaciously with the force of truth.
“The kingdoms of this world sometimes build themselves on arrogance, rivalry, oppression; the kingdom of Christ is ‘a kingdom of justice, love and peace’,” he said. The Holy Father went on to say, “[T]o reign as He does means to serve God and the brethren – a service that flows from love: to serve for love’s sake is to reign: this is the regality of Jesus.”
Pope Francis concluded, saying, “Before so many lacerations in the world, and the too many wounds in the flesh of men, we ask the Virgin Mary to sustain us in our commitment to imitating Jesus, our King, making present His Kingdom with acts of tenderness, compassion and mercy.”
(from Vatican Radio)
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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has sent a telegram expressing his condolences and assuring his prayerful solidarity with the whole people of Mali, in the wake of a terrorist attack on a hotel in the capital, Bamako, which left at least 21 people dead.
Addressed to the Archbishop of Bamako, Jean Zerbo, and signed by the Secretary of State of the Holy See, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the telegram says Pope Francis joins in prayer the pain of bereaved families and the sadness of Malians.
“Appalled by this senseless violence,” which the Holy Father “strongly condemns,” the telegram continues, “the Pope implores God for the conversion of hearts and the gift of peace, and invokes abundance of divine blessings on all those affected by this tragedy.”
Below, please find the full text of the Holy Father’s telegram, in Vatican Radio’s English translation
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His Excellency Archbishop Jean Zerbo
Archbishop of Bamako BAMAKO
Having learned of the tragic attack, which took place in Bamako, His Holiness Pope Francis unites himself in prayer to the pain of bereaved families and the sadness of all Malians. He recommends all the victims to the mercy of God, praying that the Almighty welcome them into His light. He expresses his deepest sympathy with the injured and their families, asking the Lord to bring them comfort and consolation in their ordeal. Appalled by this senseless violence, which the Pope strongly condemns, the Pope implores God for the conversion of hearts and the gift of peace, and invokes abundance of Divine blessings on all those affected by this tragedy.
Cardinal Pietro Parolin
Secretary of State of His Holiness
(from Vatican Radio)…