(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis addressed the Jesuit Refugee Service on Saturday, telling them the “decision to be present in areas of greatest need, in conflict and post-conflict zones, has brought you international recognition for your closeness to people and your ability to learn from this how better to serve.”
“I think especially of your groups in Syria, Afghanistan, the Central African Republic and the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo, where you accept men and women of different religious beliefs who share your mission,” Pope Francis said.
The full text of Pope Francis’ prepared remarks are below
Address of His Holiness Pope Francis
Meeting with the Jesuit Refugee Service
14 November 2015
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
I am happy to receive you on this, the thirty-fifth anniversary of the establishment of the Jesuit Refugee Service envisaged by Father Pedro Arrupe, then the Superior General of the Society of Jesus. The profound impact made on him by the plight of the South-Vietnamese boat people, exposed to pirate attacks and storms in the South China Sea, was what led him to undertake this initiative.
Father Arrupe, who had lived through the atomic bomb explosion at Hiroshima, realized the scope of that tragic exodus of refugees. He saw it as a challenge which the Jesuits could not ignore if they were to remain faithful to their vocation. He wanted the Jesuit Refugee Service to meet both the human and the spiritual needs of refugees, not only their immediate need of food and shelter, but also their need to see their human dignity respected, to be listened to and comforted.
The phenomenon of forced migration has dramatically increased in the meantime. Crowds of refugees are leaving different countries of the Middle East, Africa and Asia, to seek refuge in Europe. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has estimated that there are, worldwide, almost sixty million refugees, the highest number since the Second World War. Behind these statistics are people, each of them with a name, a face, a story, an inalienable dignity which is theirs as a child of God.
At present, you are active in ten different regions, with projects in forty-five countries, through which you provide services to refugees and peoples in internal migrations. A group of Jesuits and women religious work alongside many lay associates and a great number of refugees. In all this time, you have remained faithful to the ideal of Father Arrupe and to the three basic goals of your mission: to accompany, to serve and to defend the rights of refugees.
The decision to be present in areas of greatest need, in conflict and post-conflict zones, has brought you international recognition for your closeness to people and your ability to learn from this how better to serve. I think especially of your groups in Syria, Afghanistan, the Central African Republic and the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo, where you accept men and women of different religious beliefs who share your mission.
The Jesuit Refugee Service works to offer hope and prospects to refugees, mainly through the educational services you provide, which reach large numbers of people and is of particular importance. Offering an education is about much more than dispensing concepts. It is something which provides refugees with the wherewithal to progress beyond survival, to keep alive the flame of hope, to believe in the future and to make plans. To give a child a seat at school is the finest gift you can give. All your projects have this ultimate aim: to help refugees to grow in self-confidence, to realize their highest inherent potential and to be able to defend their rights as individuals and communities.
For children forced to emigrate, schools are places of freedom. In the classroom, they are cared for and protected by their teachers. Sadly, we know that even schools are not spared from attacks instigated by those who sow violence. Yet they are places of sharing, together with children of other cultural, ethnic and religious backgrounds; places which follow a set pace and a reassuring discipline, places in which children can once more feel “normal” and where parents can be happy to send them.
Education affords young refugees a way to discover their true calling and to develop their potential. Yet all too many refugee children and young people do not receive a quality education. Access to education is limited, especially for girls and in the case of secondary schools. For this reason, during the approaching Jubilee Year of Mercy, you have set the goal of helping another hundred thousand young refugees to receive schooling. Your initiative of “Global Education”, with its motto “Mercy in Motion”, will help you reach many other students who urgently need an education which can help keep them safe. I am grateful to the group of supporters and benefactors and the international development group of the Jesuit Refugee Service who are with us today. Thanks to their energy and support, the Lord’s mercy will reach any number of children and their families in the future.
As you persevere in this work of providing education for refugees, think of the Holy Family, Our Lady, Saint Joseph, and the Child Jesus, who fled to Egypt to escape violence and to find refuge among strangers. Remember too the words of Jesus: “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy” (Mt 5:7). Take these words with you always, so that they can bring you encouragement and consolation. As for me, I assure you of my prayers. I ask you also, please, do not forget to pray for me.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has called the attacks in Paris “a piece” of the “piecemeal Third World War.”
In a telephone interview on Saturday with the Italian Bishops’ Conference official television network – TV2000 – Pope Francis said the attacks are “not human.”
“I am close to the people of France, to the families of the victims, and I am praying for all of them,” Pope Francis said. “I am moved and I am saddened. I do not understand, these things hard to understand.”
When asked if this is part of the “piecemeal Third World War” the Holy Father has mentioned many times before, Pope Francis said “this is a piece of it,” adding “there is no religious or human justification for it.”
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Now is no time to stop plans for the Year of Mercy. In the wake of the deadly terror attacks in Paris on Friday, in which at least 128 people were killed, the Director of the Press Office of the Holy See, Fr. Federico Lombardi, SJ, told Vatican Radio that the Holy Year is a message of mercy to drive out fear.
“In these sad days,” said Fr. Lombardi, “in which murderous violence has reared its insane, horrible head, many wonder how to respond. Some people are already asking how to live the experience of these last days of waiting before the opening of the Jubilee [of Mercy].” Fr. Lombardi went on to say, “Be on guard: these murderers, possessed by a senseless hatred, are called ‘terrorists’ precisely because they want to spread terror. If we let ourselves be frightened, they will have already reached their first objective. This, then, is one more reason to resist with determination and courage the temptation to fear.”
In this, conclded Fr. Lombardi, “Pope Francis guides us and invites us to trust in the Spirit of the Lord, who accompanies us.”
Below, please find Fr. Lombardi’s full statement, in English
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In these sad days, in which murderous violence has reared its insane, horrible head, many wonder how to respond. Some people are already asking how to live the experience of these last days of waiting before the opening of the Jubilee [of Mercy]. Be on guard: these murderers, possessed by a senseless hatred, are called ‘terrorists’ precisely because they want to spread terror. If we let ourselves be frightened, they will have already reached their first objective. This, then, is one more reason to resist with determination and courage the temptation to fear.
It goes without saying that we must be cautious, and not irresponsible: we must take precautions that are reasonable. Nevertheless, we must go on living by building peace and mutual trust. So I would say that the Jubilee of Mercy shows itself even more necessary. A message of mercy, that love of God which leads to mutual love and reconciliation. This is precisely the answer we must give in times of temptation to mistrust.
St. John Paul II said that the message of mercy was the great response of God and of believers in the dark and horrible time of the Second World War, which saw massacres carried out by totalitarian regimes, and the spread of hatred among peoples and persons.
Today, too, when Pope Francis speaks of a third world war being fought piecemeal, there is need for a message of mercy to make us capable of building bridges, and, in spite of everything, to have the courage of love.
This is, therefore, no time to give up the Jubilee, or to be afraid. We need the Jubilee more than ever. We have to live with prudent intelligence, but also with courage and spiritual élan, continuing to look to the future with hope, despite the attacks of hatred. Pope Francis guides us and invites us to trust in the Spirit of the Lord who accompanies us.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) The Archbishop of Paris, Cardinal André Vingt-Trois, has issued a statement condemning the attacks on his city, praising first responders, and urging unity in the wake of terror attacks that killed at least 128 people overnight. Please find the full text of Cardinal Vingt-Trois’ statement in English translation by Vatican Radio, below.
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Message of Cardinal Vingt-Trois following the terrorist attacks in Paris
Our city of Paris, our country, was hit last night with particular savagery and intensity.
After the attacks of last January, after the attack in Beirut this week and many others in these past months, including in Nigeria and other African countries, our country knows anew the pain of grief and must face the barbarism spread by fanatical groups.
This morning I pray, and invite Catholics of Paris to pray, for those who were killed yesterday and for their families, for the injured and their loved ones and for those who are hard at work assisting them, for the police forces who face formidable challenges, and for our leaders and country, so that together we will remain in unity and peace of heart.
I ask the parishes of Paris to comply strictly with the measures issued by public authorities. I ask them to make today and tomorrow days of mourning and prayer.
Sunday evening at 18.30 I will preside at Mass at Notre-Dame de Paris for the victims and their families and for our country; the bell of the cathedral will toll at 18.15. Catholic Television (KTO) will broadcast this Mass, allowing all who wish to join us.
Faced with the violence of men, may we receive the grace of a firm heart, without hatred. May the moderation, temperance and control that has been shown so far, be confirmed in the weeks and months to come; let no one indulge in panic or hatred. We ask that grace be the artisan of peace. We need never despair of peace if we build on justice.
+ Cardinal Vingt-Trois, Archbishop of Paris
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) The Director of the Press Office of the Holy See, Fr. Federico Lombardi, has issued an initial statement in response to the news of deadly terror attacks in Paris on Friday night, in which at least 128 people were slain. Below, please find the full text of Fr. Lombardi, SJ’s statement, in English translation.
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“Here in the Vatican we are following the terrible news from Paris. We are shocked by this new manifestation of maddening, terrorist violence and hatred which we condemn in the most radical way together with the Pope and all those who love peace. We pray for the victims and the wounded, and for all the French people. This is an attack on peace for all humanity, and it requires a decisive, supportive response on the part of all of us as we counter the spread the homicidal hatred in all of its forms.”
(from Vatican Radio)…