(Vatican Radio) Almost a year on from its publication, Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si’, on the care for our common home, has had an important impact at local and international levels.
That’s according to the head of the Pontifical Justice and Peace Council, Cardinal Peter Turkson, who was taking part in a panel discussion in the Vatican on Monday about U.S. and Holy See engagement on issues of common concern.
The encyclical, signed by the Pope on May 24th 2015, explores the interconnected concerns of caring for the human life and protecting the environment, appealing for action based on an interior ecological conversion.
Over the past year, Cardinal Turkson, whose Council worked on the drawing up of the document, has been travelling widely, speaking about its relevance to many other areas of financial, social and environmental policy.
He says Laudato Si’ has had a significant impact in highlighting the effects of human activity on our environment…
Listen:
Cardinal Turkson recalls that right after the publication of the encyclical the UN organised an event to explore what kind of moral support it could lend to the process of combatting climate change.
One month later, he says, the French president, François Hollande opened a conference called Consciences for Climate, quoting widely from the document.
The cardinal says he has spoken since then at many U.S. universities and colleges, highlighting local needs and concerns, such as the impact of rising sea levels off the Florida coast. Climate related disasters, he says, are increasingly “making it difficult for people to live wholesome and peaceful lives” and it’s important to ask “to what extent are people contributing to that”.
Speaking of his own experience growing up in mining town in Ghana, Cardinal Turkson describes the effect that surface mining has on the local environment: “the forest has gone, the topsoil is gone, agriculture is affected, the water board is affected – that’s a drastic change caused by human activity.
Similarly, he continues, the African agricultural practice known as ‘slash and burn’ creates “a lot of savannah in place of forests”. These examples, he says, show how human activity “can induce, worsen or even provoke” climate change.
(from Vatican Radio)…
An appeal “for
the liberation of all people who have
been seized in areas of armed conflict” was launched by Pope Francis at the
Regina Caeli on Sunday, 10 April. In particular the Pontiff reminded the faithful gathered in St Peter’s
Square of the Salesian priest Tom Uzhunnalil, who was take on 4 March during
the vicious attack on a centre for the elderly and disabled near the city of
Aden, Yemen. Four nuns of the Missionaries of Charity, the congregation founded
by Mother Teresa of Calcutta, and twelve other people were killed in the
attack. Before reciting the Marian prayer,
referring to the Gospel episode of the miraculous catch of fish, the Pope
pointed out the attitude taken by Peter, who threw himself into the water and
swam toward Jesus, with “all the enthusiasm of the Paschal faith, full of joy
and wonder, which sharply contrasts with the disappearance, the dejection, the
sense of powerlessness that had accumulated in the disciples’ heart”. Indeed, Francis observed, “the
presence of the Risen Jesus transforms everything: darkness has become light,
futile work has again become fruitful and promising, the sense of weariness and
abandonment give way to a new impetus and to the certainty that He is with us”. The Pontiff emphasized that “all of
us are the community of the Risen One”, and noted that “the great
message of the Resurrection instils in the hearts of believers heartfelt joy
and invincible hope”. He reminded the
faithful that “we Christians are all called to communicate this message of
resurrection to those we meet, especially to those who suffer, to those who are
alone, to those who find themselves in precarious conditions, to the sick, to
refugees, to the marginalized”, so that a sign of the powerful
mercy of the Risen Christ may reach everyone….
(Vatican Radio) The Secretary of State of the Holy See, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, has sent a letter to Cardinal Angelo Scola, Archbishop of Milan and President of the Giuseppe Toniolo Institute for Higher Studies, which founded and and continues to promote Italy’s premier Catholic institution of higher learning, the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart – Università cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan and Rome, on occasion of the 92 nd “Day for the Catholic University” in Italy. In his letter, Cardinal Parolin writes of the ever-present and pressingly urgent need today to recover and to continue the conversation between timeless truth and contemporary culture. “Without an eye to the fundamental values of truth, goodness, justice and peace, which comes from a genuine opening of the spirit,” writes Cardinal Parolin, “you cannot counter the strong impulses toward materialism and scientific positivism that seem to be the dominant coordinates on which the culture and society of our time seem to move.” The theme chosen for the 92 nd Day for the Catholic University – celebrated Sunday, April 10 th – was: “The Italy of tomorrow: I’ll be there, starting today!” Cardinal Parolin notes in his letter how a core element of Catholic education is its ability to create and foster a spirit of service. “A distinctive sign of the Catholic institution of higher learning,” he writes, “must always and ever more be that of an education energetically ordered to solidarity and the service of the least among us, through all dimensions of knowledge and human life.” (from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis prayed the Regina coeli with pilgrims and tourists gathered in a sun-drenched St. Peter’s Square at noon on Sunday. In his remarks ahead of the traditional Eastertide prayer of Marian devotion, the Holy Father reflected on the Gospel reading of the day, which tells of Our Lord’s third appearance to the disciples following His resurrection, and the episode of the miraculous catch of fish, in which the disciples, returned to their old workaday lives, encounter the Risen Jesus on the shore of Lake Galilee.
“The presence of Jesus,” explained Pope Francis, “transforms everything: darkness is overcome by light; vain labor is made once again fruitful and promising; the sense of fatigue and abandonment gives way to a new élan, and to the certainty that He is with us.”
The Pope went on to say that the renewal of hope and missionary spirit, which the disciples experienced then, are with the Church still today.
“If it may seem, by a superficial glance, that the shadows of evil and the weariness of everyday life have the upper hand, the Church knows with certainty that the light of Easter shines with undimming brilliance on all those who follow the Lord Jesus.”
Pope Francis concluded his remarks with an exhortation: “May the Lord renew Paschal faith in us as well: may He make us ever more aware of our mission in service of the Gospel and of our brothers and sisters; may He fill us with the Holy Spirit so that, sustained by the intercession of Mary, we might with all the Church proclaim the greatness of His love and the richness of His mercy.”
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has sent a message expressing condolences and promising prayers for the victims of a deadly fire at a Hindu temple in the Indian state of Kerala overnight, as well as for the victims’ families. Sent via telegram through the Secretary of State of the Holy See, the Pope’s message also also asks God to bless the whole nation of India.
Below, please find the full text of Pope Francis’ telegram, in its official English version
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His Holiness Pope Francis was saddened to learn of the tragic fire at the Puttingal temple complex in Paravur, and he sends condolences to the relatives of the deceased and injured. Praying for all affected by this tragedy, and for the relief efforts underway, Pope Francis invokes upon the nation the divine blessings of strength and peace.
C ardinal Pietro Parolin
Secretary of State
(from Vatican Radio)…