(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Wednesday greeted Ricardo Quaresma, a member of Portugal’s national football team which won the European Championship this summer. The encounter happened during the weekly General Audience .
The player brought Pope Francis a Portuguese national team shirt with the name “Francisco” and number “20” on the back. On Twitter and on his Facebook page before the meeting, Quaresma posted a photo of himself holding the shirt, with the caption “I am in the Vatican and bring a gift for Pope Francis. Do you think he is going to like it?”
Quaresma plays winger for the Turkish club Beşiktaş.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis surprised German-speaking pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square on Wednesday, when he greeted them at the end of the weekly General Audience with a few improvised words in their native tongue.
“I am pleased to welcome the pilgrims from German-speaking countries and the Netherlands,” began the Holy Father, adding, “I greet in particular the faithful of the Diocese of Passau.” At that point, the Holy Father departed from his prepared remarks to invoke Our Lady, who has a famous shrine in Passau, which is a suffragan diocese of Munich and Friesing.
“You call to mind the Virgin of Altötting,” he said.
Pope Benedict XVI visited the shrine – the national shrine of the old Kingdom of Bavaria – during his 2006 trip, which also took him to Munich and Regensburg.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis urged the faithful on Wednesday to make place in their lives for God’s message of Salvation with faith and without prejudice.
Speaking to the pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square for the weekly General Audience , the Pope reflected on the Gospel reading of the day which speaks of God’s infinite mercy.
Taking his cue from St Matthew’s Gospel account of how John the Baptist – who was imprisoned both in a cell and in the darkness of a heart that failed to understand Jesus’ humble style – the Pope said John was upset because his expectations of Jesus’ ministry were not what he anticipated.
God – Francis said – did not send his Son to punish sinners and crush the wicked. Rather he came to invite them to conversion.
And pointing out that Jesus is the concrete instrument of the Father’s mercy that brings consolation and salvation to all, the Pope urged those present not to create false images of the Messiah for their own use and consumption.
When we construct our own image of God – he explained – this prevents us from experiencing his real presence among us.
“Some reduce Him to a false idol using his name to justify their interests, and even hatred and violence” he said.
Some seek him only in times of difficulty and others consider Christ a mere good master of ethical teachings: “one amongst many in history” he said.
Pope Francis concluded his catechesis reminding the faithful not to lose sight of the fact that faith calls us beyond ourselves to be his missionaries in the world.
“Let us renew our commitment to remove every obstacle that prevents us from experiencing the merciful works of our Father – he said – and let us ask him for an ever deeper faith so that we may be signs and instruments of his mercy”.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis held his weekly General Audience in St Peter’s Square on Wednesday. In his catechesis, the Holy Father relflected on St Matthew’s Gospel account of how John the Baptist’s expectation of Jesus’ ministry was not what he anticipated.
Below, please find the official English language summary of Pope Francis’ catechesis for the General Audience for 7 September 2016:
Dear Brothers and Sisters: In our Gospel passage this morning, John the Baptist sends his disciples to ask Jesus if he is the Messiah (cf. Mt 11:2-6), since Jesus’ ministry was not what John anticipated; it did not correspond to his expectation of God’s justice. Jesus responds by telling the disciples to report what they see and hear: the blind see, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the Gospel is proclaimed to the poor. Jesus shows himself to be the instrument of God’s mercy; he manifests God’s justice by bringing his consolation and salvation to all. God did not send his Son to punish sinners and crush the wicked. Rather he came to invite them to conversion, so that they too could turn back to God. Jesus then says to John’s disciples: “Blessed is he who takes no offense at me” (Mt 11:6), who does not see in me any obstacle. This happens when we have a false image of the Messiah, when we construct our own image of God, which prevents us from experiencing his real presence among us. Every time we reduce him to our ideas and whims, use his name to justify our interests, seek him only in times of difficulty, then we also lose sight of the fact that faith calls us beyond ourselves to be his missionaries in the world. Let us renew our commitment to remove every obstacle that prevents us from experiencing the merciful works of our Father, and let us ask him for an ever deeper faith so that we may be signs and instruments of his mercy.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Tuesday encouraged the President of the Vatican’s ‘Bambino Gesù’ pediatric hospital to continue to promote the institution’s good work and promised his personal contribution.
In the course of a private audience with Mariella Enoc – at the head of the children’s hospital since February 2015 – the Pope assured her of his continuing support and said the hospital must evermore be a ‘great work of mercy’.
Listen to the report by Linda Bordoni :
During the heart-to-heart conversation that ‘Bambino Gesù’ President Mariella Enoc said took place in an atmosphere of great friendliness and intimacy, Pope Francis expressed deep interest in an ongoing charity project that sees the Vatican institution actively supporting the Pediatric Hospital of Bangui, in the Central African Republic.
“The Pope even pledged his personal help ” – she told Vatican Radio – “an economic contribution that will help us ‘adopt’ the African hospital and help it to grow by providing medical formation, by establishing a school that specializes in pediatric care and by building new wards”.
Enoc also spoke to the Pope about how the Bambino Gesù Hospital has been active in helping support refugees and about an agricultural initiative in collaboration with FAO and the Italian state that aims to provide long-term solutions for the poor in the Central African Republic.
Of course much attention was dedicated to the work carried out by the Vatican Hospital itself here in Rome that offers quality health care, taking in children from across the world, many of whom from families who cannot afford to pay.
And this is exactly what the ‘Pope’s Hospital’ that has its roots in the Gospel is expected to do – Enoc pointed out – as she presented Francis with the gift of a one of the beautiful “Madonna of Bangui” photographs that are part of the Bambino Gesù project to raise money for its sister hospital in the Central African Republic.
After the audience Mariella Enoc presented the ‘Santa Marta pediatric dispensary,’ where a team of Bambino Gesù doctors offer voluntary service, with an ultrasound scanner as sign of concrete commitment to help in the Pope’s works of mercy.
(from Vatican Radio)…