(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis, during his General Audience on Wednesday, met with Veronica Cantero Burroni , a young Argentinian author, who turns 14-years-old on Friday.
She was just awarded the Elsa Morante Prize in children’s literature for her book Il ladro di ombre (‘The Shadow Thief’).
Veronica was a triplet, and the birth caused neurological damage which has affects her motor skills, but that has not kept her from writing and publishing books since she was eight-years-old.
The children’s literature selection for the Elsa Morante Prize is chosen through a two-part process. A jury of experts chooses three books as finalists, with the winner being chosen by a group of young people who have read the books.
There were two books written by Argentinians among the three finalists for the award: The Name of God Is Mercy – written by Pope Francis with journalist Andrea Tornielli – was the other.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) The Lutheran World Federation and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity on Wednesday released details of the ecumenical events that Pope Francis will attend in southern Sweden on October 31st 2016. The joint Lutheran-Catholic commemoration will mark the 500th anniversary of the Reformation and will feature a liturgy in Lund cathedral, followed by a public event at an arena in the nearby city of Malmö.
The commemoration, structured around the themes of thanksgiving, repentance and commitment to common witness, will also celebrate the fruits of 50 years of Catholic-Lutheran dialogue.
The prayer service in Lund cathedral will be led by Pope Francis, LWF President Bishop Munib Younan and LWF General Secretary Rev. Martin Junge, based on a shared liturgical guide and the joint report entitled ‘From Conflict to Communion’. The event in the Malmö arena will showcase the common witness of the LWF’s World Service and Caritas Internationalis, including their work to care for refugees, peacebuilding, and advocacy for climate justice.
The full programme of Pope Francis’ visit to Sweden, including a Mass with the country’s Catholic community on the morning of November 1st, will be published at a later date.
Please find below the full text of the joint press release from the Lutheran World Federation (LFW) and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity (PCPCU)
Joint Ecumenical Commemoration to be held in Lund Cathedral and Malmö Arena
GENEVA, VATICAN CITY, 1 June 2016 – The joint Lutheran-Catholic ecumenical commemoration of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation on 31 October in Lund, Sweden will consist of two parts. It will begin with a liturgy in Lund Cathedral and continue with a public event at Malmö Arena that will be open to wider participation.
The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) and Roman Catholic Church joint event will highlight the 50 years of continuous ecumenical dialogue between Catholics and Lutherans and the joint gifts of this collaboration. The Catholic-Lutheran commemoration of 500 years of the Reformation is structured around the themes of thanksgiving, repentance and commitment to common witness. The aim is to express the gifts of the Reformation and ask forgiveness for division perpetuated by Christians from the two traditions.
Lund Cathedral will be the venue for the common prayer service based on the recently published Catholic-Lutheran “Common Prayer” liturgical guide that is based on the report From Conflict to Communion. Malmö Arena will be the stage for activities focusing on the commitment to common witness and service of Catholics and Lutherans in the world. Highlights of the joint work of LWF World Service and Caritas Internationalis will be featured,including care for refugees, peacebuilding, and advocacy for climate justice. The arena can host up to 10,000 people.
Pope Francis, LWF President Bishop Dr Munib A. Younan and LWF General Secretary Rev. Dr Martin Junge will lead the common prayer service in Lund and the event in Malmö in cooperation with leaders from Church of Sweden and the Catholic Diocese of Stockholm.
“There is power when communities find their way out of conflict. In Christ we are encouraged to serve together in this world. The joint commemoration is a witness to the love and hope we all have because of the grace of God,” LWF President Younan and General Secretary Junge say.
Kurt Cardinal Koch, President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity explains further: “By concentrating together on the centrality of the question of God and on a Christocentric approach, Lutherans and Catholics will have the possibility of an ecumenical commemoration of the Reformation, not simply in a pragmatic way, but in the deep sense of faith in the crucified and resurrected Christ.”
“We look forward to this event which can gather up to 10,000 people. The idea behind the arena event is to further describe the development from conflict to communion with a focus on hope for the future and common service in the world,” says Church of Sweden Archbishop Antje Jackélen.
Bishop Anders Arborelius of the Catholic Diocese of Stockholm adds, “History will be written when Pope Francis and the LWF leaders visit Lund and Malmö to encourage all of us to go further on the road towards Christian unity.”
Information on the Joint Ecumenical Commemoration will be updated on the event website www.lund2016.net
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Wednesday thanked the Jain community for its commitment to protect “our sister Earth.”
The Pope’s words came as he received members of the Institute of Jainology in private audience in the Vatican before leading the weekly General Audience in St. Peter’s Square.
Expressing his joy for the encounter, Pope Francis welcomed the Jains saying that “this encounter nurtures our responsibility to care for creation”, and calling creation a “gift that we have all received” he said “creation is God’s mirror, the mirror of the Creator, the mirror of nature, and it is our mirror too.”
“We all love mother Earth, because she is the one who has given us life and safeguards us; I would also call her sister Earth, who accompanies us during the journey of our existence. Our duty is to take care of her just as we would take care of a mother or of a sister, with responsibility, with tenderness and with peace” he said.
And he thanked the Jains for what they do to protect and care for the earth and said “we remain united within this ideal (…) in the awareness that healing and caring for the Earth is healing and caring for the whole of humanity”.
The Institute of Jainology was established in 1983 and it was subsequently registered as a Charitable Trust.
Compassion and non-violence towards all living beings are the fundamental principles of Jain philosophy. Its mission is to propagate Jainism and its values through art, culture and education.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis sent a Message to the participants of a European meeting of prison chaplains taking place in Strasbourg discussing radicalization in prisons.
The message, sent by the Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, said Pope Francis “wishes to assure all who are serving prison communities of his prayerful solidarity and deep gratitude for their efforts in upholding the human dignity of all those incarcerated.”
The full message is below
Pope’s Message to the participants of the European meeting of prison Chaplains
His Holiness Pope Francis was pleased to learn of the European meeting of prison chaplains, entitled “Radicalisation in prisons: a pastoral view”, to be held at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg from 30 May to 1 June 2016. With appreciation to the Council of European Bishops’ Conferences, the International Commission of Catholic Prison Pastoral Care and the Permanent Mission of the Holy See for organizing this important event, the Holy Father sends cordial greetings to all those participating. He especially wishes to assure all who are serving prison communities of his prayerful solidarity and deep gratitude for their efforts in upholding the human dignity of all those incarcerated. So too Pope Francis thanks prison chaplains for assisting prisoners to celebrate the Jubilee Year of Mercy fruitfully: ”May the gesture of directing their thought and prayer to the Father each time they cross the threshold of their cell signify for them their passage through the Holy Door, because the mercy of God is able to transform hearts, and is also able to transform bars into an experience of freedom. (Letter according to which an Indulgence is granted on the occasion of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy, 1 September 2015). With these sentiments, Pope Francis willingly invokes upon you and all gathered the divine blessings of peace and joy.
Cardinal Pietro Parolin
Secretary of State
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Judges from across the globe gather in the Vatican this week to discuss ways to combat human trafficking, mafias, drug trafficking, and the exploitation of prostitution and of minors, migrants and displaced persons.
Organized and promoted by the Pontifical Academy of Sciences , the event entitled “ Summit of Judges on human trafficking and organized crime ” is scheduled to take place on June 3 and 4.
Among the problems identified are the gaps in national and international legislation designed to combat organized crime at the global level and its “structures of sin.”
Participants are also scheduled to be received in audience by Pope Francis.
Invited to give life to the event are over one hundred magistrates, prosecutors, representatives of judicial organizations and institutions around the world, who are engaged in the fight against various criminal activities.
Discussions in the Casina Pio IV venue will focus on a number of current topics that are related to the increasing scourge of human trafficking, all topics which Pope Francis has emphasized many times, calling for the attention of the international community.
In the text accompanying the convocation of the summit by the Vatican Academy, Bishop Marcelo Sanchez Sorondo , theologian and Chancellor of the Institution, remarks on the current culture of society to seek to profit on everything, a culture, he says, has generated an infinite number of those who are marginalized and excluded.
“In a world based on pure profit, Bishop Sanchez Sorondo says, the world’s declared gross domestic product includes the ‘informal’ earnings received by international mafia organizations and organized crime, which is estimated to represent 10% of the global GDP.”
Please find below Bishop Sanchez Sorondo’s full text for the convocation of the Summit:
As Isaiah prophesised long ago, “Peace is the fruit of justice” (cf. Is 32:17). The main task that human society has given its judges since the beginning of time is to establish justice in each particular case: to each his own (unicuique suum). Without it, there is no real peace in society.
Responding to this call of society, rejecting the ever-present pressure from governments, private institutions and, of course, organised crime, Pope Francis wishes to see judges fully empowered and made fully aware of their irreplaceable mission in dealing with the challenges of the ‘globalization of indifference’.
The globalised society seeking profit above all else — producing a ‘throwaway culture’, as Pope Francis denounced it in Evangelii Gaudium and Laudato si’ — has generated innumerable marginalised and excluded people. In a world geared towards profit alone, the informal revenues of international mafia and other organised crime syndicates are responsible for an estimated 10% of global GDP. Although countries do not officially recognise revenues coming from organised crime, some of them nevertheless do include this data in their GDP.
It is estimated that 40 million people are victims of the modern forms of slavery and trafficking in terms of forced labour, prostitution, organ trade and drug trafficking. The 60 million displaced persons and 130 million refugees created as a consequence of war, terrorism and climate change, are a breeding ground for traffickers. While, for the time being, uncorrupted institutions and international agents do not have the appropriate legal instruments to meet the challenges posed by global indifference to the extreme forms indicated, traffickers and the mafia take advantage of these gaps in international law and governance to juggle globally with national and international “structures of sin”, which are very apt at facilitating the making of money by enslaving the most vulnerable.
Justice has come a long way — but not far enough — in this globalised world. The violence that has become pervasive in contemporary society is proof of this. It is sadly common — but all too superficial — to reduce violence to pure physical aggression. New forms of slavery, wounded bodies and souls, organ procurement, forced labour, kidnapping, terrorism and wars based on dishonest motives and other spurious interests are all strong manifestations of revenge and prevarication. In other words, violence is born of the presumption of individuals or groups taking the law into their own hands and when human beings possess other human beings as their own property. Essentially, justice combats not only blunt violence, but also the many hidden forms of subtle violence that I have mentioned above. In short, justice combats revenge and prevarication, which are the most dramatic simulations of justice: that is to say, wanting to take the law into one’s own hands or the act of considering other people as simply a means to one’s own advantage. In this sense, the fundamental act that defines a society grounded on justice is the virtue by which society impedes the capability and the right of individuals and groups to take the law into their own hands — or better, the act by means of which society empowers judges to apply the law. The great prophet Isaiah had already recognised that the final goal of the act of passing judgment was social peace rather than safety or security. The final goal of social peace reveals something deeper in society — something that has to do with reciprocal understanding, recognition, reconciliation and even love and forgiveness.
The global society needs a new beginning rooted in justice. No instance of justice can tolerate the violence of slavery or of organised crime, and no power must be allowed to corrupt justice. Judges are called to be fully aware of this challenge, share their experiences and work together to open up new paths of justice and promote human dignity, freedom, responsibility, happiness and peace.
We would like to hear from judges how they deal with the issues of sex trafficking, slave labour, organ trade, drug trafficking and organised crime; how their own judicial systems could better incorporate our humanitarian values; and how capacity-building could enhance Judges’ appreciation of the needs of victims and not merely the penalization of traffickers. One question without an adequate answer that keeps coming up in our meetings is: how many human traffickers, pimps, and drug traffickers are caught and how many ill-gotten gains have been confiscated and directed towards former victims and society? Judges will have a few minutes each to present a specific case they have worked on and share their opinion of what will be (or ought to be) required in the future.
Presidents of law courts and lawyers who have addressed this issue are also asked to present a general overview of this distressing problem and suggest possible solutions at the national and international level. We intend to conclude with a collective call to justice in order to save the victims of slavery and organised crime, and thereby further the cause of social peace.
Just as in Greece, in Pythagoras’ time, great thinkers were called “lovers of wisdom” or philosophers, in the Christian era Jesus Christ demands that Christians be and be called “lovers of justice”: “Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness; Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness; Blessed are the peacemakers”. The reward is worthy of the challenge, “for they will be satisfied; they will be called children of God; they will see God” (cfr Mt 5: 6-9).
(from Vatican Radio)…