(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis received the Grand Duke of Luxembourg, Henri Albert Gabriel Fèlix Marie Guillaume and his wife, Grand Duchess Maria Teresa Mestre, on Monday.
The private meeting lasted just under a half-hour, and included their Highnesses’ five children, their spouses, and three grandchildren.
The royal family of Luxembourg gave the Holy Father a family portrait, with the Spanish-language dedication, “To our Pope Francis, with the respectful and filial affection our whole family.” Pope Francis gave the family a medal of the pontificate and copies of his Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii gaudium, and his Encyclical Letter, Laudato si’.
Wire services report Pope Francis then blessed the whole family and asked his guests to pray for him. “We shall, Holy Father, count onus,” assured the Grand Duchess – speaking in French – while the Grand Duke, taking his leave, expressed gratitude to the Holy Father “for everything she does for the Church and the world.”
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) “God is mercy”: that’s the title chosen by Cardinal Gualtiero Bassetti for the meditations for the Via Crucis which will be presided by Pope Francis on the night of Good Friday at the Roman Colosseum. In the texts, which will be published tomorrow by the Libreria Editrice Vaticana, the archbishop of Perugia, Italy conveys the message that in response to our fear, pain, persecution and violence, God gives his mercy freely to all. In meditations for each of the 14 stations of the Cross, Cardinal Bassetti recalls the words of St. John Paul II, reflects on the plight of persecuted Christians and the Jews killed in the death camps, and “the victims of all persecution.”
He reminds us to see the face of Christ in the stranger, especially migrants , and to pray for families in difficulty, especially for couples whose marriages are failing, those who have lost their jobs, and for young people who have yet to find stable employment.
Cardinal Bassetti’s meditations also reflect on abused children and “those who have suffered abuse or whose dignity is not respected.”
Modern day martyrs of the recent past like Massimiliano Kolbe and Edith Stein are also raised up in the meditations “as true apostles of the contemporary world.” He points to the love, gratitude and humbleness of Joseph of Arimathea who takes Christ’s body for a “sober” burial and holds up the simplicity of his actions in contrast to the “ostentation, banality and flashiness of the funerals of the powerful of this world.”
With the closing of Christ’s tomb, the Cardinal reflects, it is not death which has triumphed – because in the shadow of this tomb in Jerusalem, he says, God is quietly “working …to generate new grace in man.”
(from Vatican Radio)…
Pope Francis on Monday welcomed in the Vatican Indonesia’s new ambassador to the Holy See, Antonius Agus Sriyono. The 58 year old diplomat presented his credentials to the Pope at a formal ceremony in the Vatican, at the start of his diplomatic mission with the Holy See. A graduate in international relations from Gadjah Mada University, Sriyono later did courses in diplomacy before starting a career in diplomacy. He has held several posts in Indonesia’s foreign ministry as well as in diplomatic missions abroad, such as in the Netherlands, the United Nations and Russia before serving as ambassador to New Zealand, 2010-l 2013.
Muslims form over 87% of Indonesia’s over 255 million population, making it the most populous Muslim-majority country in the world. Catholics make up just 2.8 percent of the population. The Holy See recognized the Republic of Indonesia in 1947 and established an Apostolic Delegation in the country. This was promoted to Apostolic Internunciature in 1950, and in 1965 it became a fully-fledged Apostolic Nunciature, or Vatican Embassy. Two Pope’s have visited the South-East Asian nation, with Blessed Pope Paul VI in 1970 and St. John Paul II in 1989.
(from Vatican Radio)…
During the Passion, Jesus is denied “every form of justice” and experiences indifference
“in his own flesh”. Thus Pope Francis sees reflected in the image of Christ that of “the many people, so many
outcasts, so many asylum seekers, so many refugees, all of those for whose fate
no one wishes to take responsibility”. He shared this thought during the
celebration he presided on Palm Sunday, 20 March, in St Peter’s Square. There
was an immense crowd in attendance, including countless young people, whose
attention he called to the upcoming world meeting scheduled for 26 to 31 July
in Krakow. Near the obelisk the Pope blessed palm and olive branches
and, at the end of the procession that ended at the parvis of the Vatican
Basilica, he celebrated Mass. In his homily the Pontiff commented on the
narrative of the Lord’s Passion according to Luke, and recommended that in
these days of Holy Week, we gaze often upon the Crucifix, which is the “‘royal
seat of God’, to learn about the humble love which saves and gives life, so
that we may give up all selfishness, and the seeking of power and fame”. After the Rite Francis led the recitation of the Angelus,
entrusting to St John Paul the final months of preparation for World Youth Day
(WYD), which will be
held in Poland. In the context of the Holy Year of Mercy, WYD will constitute the “Jubilee of young people at
the level of the universal Church”….
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has expressed his sadness for the tragic deaths of 13 international university students in a bus accident in northeastern Spain this past weekend and has assured the families of his “heartfelt” prayers. All of the victims were young women students on the Erasmus university exchange program. They included seven from Italy, two Germans, an Austrian, a French woman, a Romanian and an Uzbekistani and ranged between
19 and 25 years old.
The bus carrying 57 university students crashed Sunday near Freginals, halfway between the eastern coastal cities of Barcelona and Valencia. They were returning from a firework festival in Valencia.
In a telegram to Bishop Benavent Enrique Vidal of Tortosa on behalf of the Holy Father, Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin said the Pope hopes that the injured will recover swiftly.
Pope Francis, the message reads, wishes to express his closeness to the families who have suffered “irreparable loss” and invokes the Lord’s blessing for their spiritual serenity and Christian hope in this time of grief.
(from Vatican Radio)…