(Vatican Radio) During his catechesis at the weekly General Audience on Wednesday, Pope Francis focused his attention on the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity and the sacrament of Baptism.
Please find below the Pope’s English language remarks read out loud at the audience.
Dear Brothers and Sisters: In these days we celebrate the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. This year’s theme is drawn from the First Letter of Peter, and was chosen by an ecumenical group from Latvia. In his Letter, Saint Peter encourages the first Christians to acknowledge the great gift received in Baptism and to live in a way worthy of it. He tells them: “You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people”. This Week of Prayer invites us to reflect on, and bear witness to, our unity in Christ as God’s People. All the baptized, reborn to new life in Christ, are brothers and sisters, despite our divisions. Through Baptism we have been charged, as Saint Peter tells us, “to proclaim the mighty works of the one who has called us out of darkness into his marvellous light”. During this Week of Prayer, let us ask the Lord to help all Christians to grow in that unity which is greater than what divides us. Together, may we respond to his call to share with others, especially with the poor and forgotten of our world, the gift of divine mercy which we ourselves have received.
(from Vatican Radio)…
Cardinal Charles Maung Bo, Archibishop of Yangon (Myanmar) and papal legate for the event, introduces the 51st International Eucharistic Congress saying, “Asia is a confluence of major religions”, a part of the world that “has not embraced secularism as the West has done. And spiritual fervor witnessed at the community level is a way of evangelizing the others”. According to the first cardinal of the history of Burmese Church, the event will be an occasion to work in three directions. “Dialogue with religions, with culture, and poor”. “Asia remains a common task for the church – he said – so the challenge is to see what is God saying through these realities”. The celebration of the Congress in the Philippines, the only predominantly Catholic country in Asia, is a major challenge to strengthen the missionary perspective. The theme revolves around the “hope” that joins the task of “the gift of God for young people” and “commitment to the ranks of the poor of the continent”. Every four years, Catholic faithful from around the world are invited to gather together to reflect on and celebrate the great mystery of the Eucharist during the International Eucharistic Congress. From Jan. 24-31, 2016, thousands of Catholic clergy and lay people will gather in Cebu, Philippines, for the 51st Congress, on the theme “ Christ in you, our hope of glory ” (Colossians 1:27). At a press conference Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle described the event as bigger than the World Cub, bigger than the Olympics. Tagle said it is Jesus who will make the gathering life-changing because He is the true reason for hope. IEC is expected to draw 15,000 participants from all over the world. (Source: AsiaNews, CBCP News) (from Vatican Radio)…
Vatican City, 19 January 2016 (VIS) – “Interreligious Dialogue and Extremism: reasons and remedies” was the title of the First Arab Thinkers Forum, held in Abu Dhabi from 17 to 18 January at the Emirates Centre for Strategic Studies and Research. The only non-Muslim speaker was Fr. Miguel Angel Ayuso Guixot, secretary of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, who intervened during the first session during which the Grand Mufti of Lebanon, Sheikh Abdul Latif Daryan, also gave an address. In the other sessions there were contributions from various figures from the Arab Emirates, Egypt and Morocco. Fr. Ayuso Guixot structured his discourse around five key points: extremism, the culture of encounter, the key role of religious leaders, the need for sincere dialogue and the importance of prayer. He emphasised that it was not his intention to pursue considerations on the economic, political, social and cultural reasons for extremism, well known to those present, preferring to focus instead on Pope Francis’ recommendations to the international community on how to construct peace which can serve to counter extremism. He began by citing the Holy Father’s address to the Diplomatic Corps on 11 January this year, in which he affirmed that “extremism and fundamentalism find fertile ground not only in the exploitation of religion for purposes of power, but also in the vacuum of ideals and the loss of identity – including religious identity – which dramatically marks the so-called West. This vacuum gives rise to the fear which leads to seeing the other as a threat and an enemy, to closed-mindedness and intransigence in defending perceived notions. Yet the greatest challenge we face is that overcoming indifference in order to work together for peace, a good which must constantly be sought, by the promotion of a ‘culture of encounter’. … Pope Francis believes that the motivation for interreligious dialogue must rest in the mutual commitment to peace and justice, thus making them the basic principles for all exchanges”. With reference to the key role of religious leaders, the secretary of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue underlined that “extremist tendencies, irrespective of their origin, are actually among the most dangerous threats to world peace and security”, and are incompatible with a truly religious ethic. Consequently, there is a need for “genuine effort by religious leaders and opinion makers to identify those persons who portray false beliefs and behaviours as part of their religious ideology”. Political leaders “must support this campaign of awareness in order to prevent extremism in society and to lay the groundwork for moderation”, has said, adding that “As religious leaders, we are obliged to denounce all violations against human dignity and human rights. Human life, a gift of God the Creator, possesses a sacred character. As such, any violence that seeks religious justification warrants the strongest condemnation because the Omnipotent is the God of life and peace”. In relation to the need for sincere interreligious dialogue, the prelate underlined that believers are united in the path of life, starting from our own identify for the good of our brothers and sisters. “Every one of us offers the witness of our identity to others and engages in dialogue with others. Then dialogue can move on to theological questions. But even more important and beautiful is to walk together without betraying our own identity, without disguising it, without hypocrisy”. Finally he recalled that “we believers have no recipe for these problems, but we have one great resource: prayer. As believers we pray. We must pray. Prayer is our treasure, which we draw from according to our respective traditions, to request the gifts for which humanity longs”….
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis says God looks beyond appearances and into the heart. He was speaking on Tuesday morning during Mass at Casa Santa Marta.
Drawing inspiration from the First Reading of the day that tells of the choice of the young David as king of Israel, the Pope pointed out that even in the lives of the saints there are temptations and sins, as demonstrated by the life of David.
The Lord – he said – rejected Saul “because his heart was closed”, he had not obeyed Him, and He decided to choose another king.
The Pope pointed out that the choice He made was far from human standards since David was the youngest son of Jesse, he was only a boy.
But – he continued – the Lord made it clear to the prophet Samuel that he looks beyond appearances: “the Lord looks into the heart”:
“We are often the slaves of appearances and allow ourselves to pursue appearances: ‘But God knows the truth’. And that is so in this story… Jesse’s seven sons are presented and the Lord does not choose any of them, he lets them pass by. Samuel is in a bit of difficulty and says to Jesse: ‘The Lord has not chosen any of them, are these all the sons you have? And Jesse replied that there was still the youngest, who is tending the sheep’. To the eyes of man this boy did not count”.
He did not matter to men, but the Lord chose him and ordered Samuel to anoint him and “the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David” and from that day on “the whole of David’s life was the life of a man anointed by the Lord, chosen by the Lord” the Pope said.
So – Pope Francis asked – “Did the Lord make him a saint?” No, is the answer – he said: “King David is saint King David, this is true, but he became a saint after living a long life” a life during which he sinned:
“A saint and a sinner. A man who managed to unite the Kingdom, he was able to lead the people of Israel. But he fell into temptation … he committed sins: he was also a murderer. To cover up his lust, the sin of adultery… he commissioned a murder. He did! Did saint King David commit murder? When God sent the prophet Nathan to point this reality out to him, because he was not aware of the barbarity he had ordered, he acknowledged his sin and asked for forgiveness.”
Thus – Pope Francis continued – “his life went on. He suffered personally following the betrayal of his son, but he never he never used God for his own purpose”. And he recalled that when David was forced to flee from Jerusalem he sent back the ark and declared that he would not use the Lord in his defense. And when he was insulted – the Pope said – David would say to himself: “It’s what I deserve”.
And then, Francis noted, “he was magnanimous”: he could have killed Saul “but he did not do so.” Saint King David, a great sinner, but a repentant one. “The life of this man moves me” – the Pope said – it makes us think of our own lives.
“We have all been chosen by the Lord to be Baptized, to be part of His people, to be saints; we have been consecrated by the Lord on the path towards sainthood. Reading about this life, the life of a child – no… not a child, he was a boy – from boyhood to old age, during which he did many good things and others that were not so good. It makes me think that during the Christian journey, the journey the Lord has invited us to undertake, there is no saint without a past and no sinner without a future”.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Cardinal George Pell, the Prefect of the Secretariat for the Econony, announced on Sunday the Holy See is taking steps to “slave-proof” the Vatican supply chain.
The Cardinal was speaking in Rome during a meeting of The Global Foundation, an Australian organization which brings together business and government leaders.
“I am pleased to confirm that the Vatican itself will commit to slavery-proofing its own supply chains and I hope that today’s announcement will serve as encouragement for others to follow suit,” Cardinal Pell told the gathering.
At the same meeting, the Consumer Goods Forum – a consortium of major companies including Carrefour, Barilla, and Nestle – announced it had passed a resolution to “eradicate” forced labour from their supply chains.
(from Vatican Radio)…