(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis met with the directors of the ‘Vodafone Foundation’ in a private audience in the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall on Wednesday, telling them to ‘be constructive’ and make religious text available to more people.
The foundation is promoting an initiative called ‘Instant Schools for Africa’, which aims to provide online educative resources to young people on the African continent.
Pope Francis expressed his appreciation of the initiative and said it promotes “a more inclusive and familial world capable of offering development opportunities to people in social groups at risk of exclusion”.
He suggested such initiatives should take care “to supply young people also with some notions of method, so that they learn not only to use instruments but to use them as instruments , becoming capable of using them more freely and critically”.
The Pope also expressed his desire that “among the resources offered to young people, there be access to the sacred texts of various religions in different languages. This would be a beautiful sign of attention to the religious dimension, so rooted in the African peoples, and of encouragement for interreligious dialogue.”
In conclusive off-the-cuff remarks, he added, “I really like what I’ve heard [about this project] – it’s constructive – and nowadays there is a need to be constructive, to do things which promote human advancement and not only to see bombs fall on innocent people, children, sick people, and entire cities. Build, and not destroy!”
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has released his videomessage accompanying his monthly prayer intention for October. This month’s intention is for Journalists: That journalists, in carrying out their work, may always be motivated by respect for truth and a strong sense of ethics.
The text of the video message reads:
“I often wonder: How can media be put to the service of a culture of encounter?
We need information leading to compromise for the good of humanity and the planet.
Join me in this prayer request.
That journalists, in carrying out their work, may always be motivated by respect for truth and a strong sense of ethics.
Can you help me spread this prayer request?
Yes. ”
The Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network of the Apostleship of Prayer developed the “Pope Video” initiative to assist in the worldwide dissemination of monthly intentions of the Holy Father in relation to the challenges facing humanity.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has visited the earthquake-hit towns of central Italy in a surprise journey, praying with and greeting residents of Amatrice.
The Holy Father arrived by car with the Bishop of Rieti, Domenico Pompili, in Amatrice on Tuesday morning at 9:20 a.m. to visit those people affected by the earthquake of 24 August.
His first visit was to the newly constructed school ‘Capranica’, where the Pope met with elementary and middle-school aged children, who gave him several of their handmade drawings.
Pope Francis hugged them one-by-one and listened to their stories of the deadly earthquake in which 231 of the total 297 people died.
During his visit, Pope Francis told the residents of Amatrice, “I thought long and hard in the first days of these many pains that my visit, perhaps, would be more of a hindrance than a help, a greeting. I didn’t want to be a bother so I let a little time pass, so that some things could be resolved, like the school. But from the first moment, I felt that I needed to come to you! Simply to express my closeness to you, nothing more. And I pray, pray for you! Solidarity and prayer: this is my offering to you. May the Lord bless you all; may Our Lady watch over you in this moment of sadness, pain, and trial.”
After blessing them, he said, “Let’s move forward; there is always a future. There are many loved ones who have left us, who fell here under the rubble. Let us pray to Our Lady for them; let us do it together. Always look ahead. Courage, and help each other. One walks better together, alone we go nowhere. Forward! Thank you.”
The Holy Father then went to the heavily damaged centre of Amatrice accompanied by the Mayor Sergio Pirozzi. There he paused for several minutes to pray.
A press release by the Holy See Press Office said, “Already on Sunday, during his inflight press conference on the flight from Baku to Rome, Pope Francis had said he would make this visit ‘privately, alone, as a priest, as a bishop, as Pope. But alone. This is how I want to do it. And I would like to be close to the people.’”
Nealy 4,000 people are living in tents near Amatrice after their homes were destroyed in the 6.0-magnitude earthquake.
Afterwards the Pope headed to nearby Accumoli and Arquata del Tronto to bring a message of hope and solidarity to them as well.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has ended his 16th Apostolic Journey Abroad.
The papal plane bringing him back to Vatican City departed from Baku’s International Heydar Aliyev Airport at 7.15pm local time after a brief Farewell Ceremony in the presence of the Azeri Vice-Prime Minister and the Guards of Honor.
He is scheduled to land at Rome’s Ciampino Airport at 10pm local time.
He arrived in Tblisi, Georgia, on Friday 30 September.
The journey represented the second phase of Francis’ trip to the Caucasus, which began on June 24, 2016 with a visit to Armenia. It is part of the Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy and the journey has been undertaken in the spirit of promoting peace and bridge building in the Caucasian region.
This international Apostolic Journey is the 153rd Papal Visit abroad in modern time.
Pope Saint John Paul visited Georgia in 1999 and Azerbaijan in 2002.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has called on Muslim leaders to join him in giving a united response to a conflict-ridden world and to build together a future of peace.
Speaking on Sunday afternoon to Sheikh-ul-Islam Allahshukur Pashazadeh , Grand Mufti of the Caucasus during an interreligious meeting at the end of his apostolic visit to Azerbaijan, the Pope said that today “we are challenged to give a response that can no longer be put off”.
To the Sheikh – who is also the Chairman of the Caucasian Muslims Office – and who received him in the Aliyev Mosque of Baku, the Pope said: “now is not the time for violent or abrupt solutions, but rather an urgent moment to engage in patient processes of reconciliation. The real question of our time is not how to advance our own causes, but what proposals for life are we offering to future generations; how to leave them a better world than the one we have received”.
And reiterating his appeal: “no more violence in the name of God!”, Pope Francis said it is not opposition but cooperation that helps to build better and more peaceful societies.
“The fraternity and sharing that we seek to increase will not be appreciated by those who want to highlight divisions, reignite tensions and profit from opposition and differences; rather, fraternity and sharing are invoked and longed for by those who desire the common good, and are above all pleasing to God, the Compassionate and All Merciful, who wishes his sons and daughters in the one human family to be ever more united among themselves and always in dialogue with one another” he said.
The Pope also pointed to the important role of religions that, he said, “ are called to help us understand that the centre of each person is outside of himself, that we are oriented towards the Most High and towards the other who is our neighbour”.
“Religion is a compass that orients us to the good and steers us away from evil” he said.
Pope Francis also said that as spiritual leaders “we have a great responsibility, in order to offer authentic responses to men and women who are searching, who are often lost among the swirling contradictions of our time”
On the contrary religions, he said, help to discern the good and put it into practice and they are called to do so by building “a culture of encounter and peace, based on patience, understanding, and humble, tangible steps”.
“For its part, society must always overcome the temptation to take advantage of religious factors: religions must never be instrumentalized, nor can they ever lend support to, or approve of, conflicts and disagreements” he said.
“In this night of conflict that we are currently enduring, Pope Francis said; “may religions be a dawn of peace”.
Please find below the full text of Pope Francis’ speech to the Sheikh and the Representatives of the different Religious Communities of the Country:
Our being here together is a blessing. I thank the Leader of the Muslims in the Caucasus, who welcomes us with his customary hospitality, and the local religious Leaders of the Russian Orthodox Church, as well as the Leaders of the Jewish Communities. Meeting one another in fraternal friendship in this place of prayer is a powerful sign, one that shows the harmony which religions can build together, based on personal relations and on the good will of those responsible. This is seen, for example, in the tangible help that the Islamic Leader has guaranteed to the Catholic community here on more than one occasion, along with the wise counsel that, in a familial spirit, he shares with that community. I wish also to highlight the good relations that unite local Catholics to the Orthodox community in solid fraternity and daily affection which are an example for all, as well as the warm friendship shared with the Jewish community.
The benefits of this harmony are felt throughout Azerbaijan, a country that distinguishes itself for its welcome and hospitality, gifts which I have experienced on this memorable day, one for which I am truly grateful. There is here a desire to protect the great heritage of religions and, at the same time, a pursuit of deeper and more fruitful openness. The Catholic Church, for example, finds a place and lives in harmony among other religions that have far more members, demonstrating concretely that it is not opposition but cooperation that helps to build better and more peaceful societies. Our being together at this place is also in continuity with the many meetings that are held in Baku to promote dialogue and multiculturalism. Opening the doors of welcome and integration means opening the doors of each person’s heart and the doors of hope to everyone. I am confident that this country, “the gateway between East and West” (John Paul II, Address at the Welcome Ceremony, Baku, 22 May 2002), will always cultivate its vocation to openness and encounter, the indispensable conditions for building lasting bridges of peace and a future worthy of humanity.
The fraternity and sharing that we seek to increase will not be appreciated by those who want to highlight divisions, reignite tensions and profit from opposition and differences; rather, fraternity and sharing are invoked and longed for by those who desire the common good, and are above all pleasing to God, the Compassionate and All Merciful, who wishes his sons and daughters in the one human family to be ever more united among themselves and always in dialogue with one another. A great poet, a son of this land, wrote: “If you are human, mix with humans, because people go well with each other” (Nizami Ganjavi, The Book of Alexander, I, On his own state of life and the passage of time). Opening ourselves to others does not lead to impoverishment but rather enrichment, because it enables us to be more human: to recognize ourselves as participants in a greater collectivity and to understand our life as a gift for others; to see as the goal, not our own interests, but rather the good of humanity; to act with neither abstract idealism nor with interventionism, not by harmful interference or forceful actions, but rather out of respect for the dynamics of history, cultures and religious traditions.
Religions have an enormous task: to accompany men and women looking for the meaning of life, helping them to understand that the limited capacities of the human being and the goods of this world must never become absolutes. Again, Nizami wrote: “Do not base yourself solidly on your own strength, such that in heaven you will find no resting place! The fruits of this world are not eternal; do not adore that which perishes!” (Leylā and Majnūn, Death of Majnūn on the tomb of Leylā). Religions are called to help us understand that the centre of each person is outside of himself, that we are oriented towards the Most High and towards the other who is our neighbour. In this way, the vocation of human life is to set out towards the highest and truest love: this alone is the culmination of every authentically religious aspiration. For, as the poet says, “love is that which never mutates, love is that which has no end” (ibid, The Despair of Majnūn).
Humanity therefore needs religion if it is to reach its goal. Religion is a compass that orients us to the good and steers us away from evil, which is always crouching at the door of a person’s heart (cf. Gen 4:7). Religions, therefore, have an educational task: to help bring out the best in each person. We, as guides, have a great responsibility, in order to offer authentic responses to men and women who are searching, who are often lost among the swirling contradictions of our time. Indeed, today we observe, on the one hand, the dominance of the nihilism of those who no longer believe in anything except their own wellbeing, advantage and profit, of those who throw life away, having become accustomed to the saying, “if God does not exist then everything is permissible” (cf. F.M. Dostoyevsky, The Brothers Karamazov, XI, 4.8.9); on the other hand, we see the growing emergence of rigid and fundamentalist reactions on the part of those who, through violent words and deeds, seek to impose extreme and radical attitudes which are furthest from the living God.
Religions, on the contrary, which help to discern the good and put it into practice through deeds, prayer and diligent cultivation of the inner life, are called to build a culture of encounter and peace, based on patience, understanding, and humble, tangible steps. This is the way a humane society is best served. For its part, society must always overcome the temptation to take advantage of religious factors: religions must never be instrumentalized, nor can they ever lend support to, or approve of, conflicts and disagreements.
There is, furthermore, a fruitfulness deriving from the virtuous rapport between society and religions, that respectful alliance which needs to be built up and protected, and which I would like to evoke with an image dear to this country. I refer to the precious artistic windows that have been here for centuries, crafted simply out of wood and tinted glass (Shebeke). When they are made using traditional methods, there is a peculiar characteristic: neither glue nor nails are used, but the wood and the glass are set into each other through time-consuming and meticulous effort. Thus, the wood supports the glass and the glass lets in the light. In the same way, it is the task of every civil society to support religion, which allows a light to shine through, indispensable for living. In order for this to happen, an effective and authentic freedom must be guaranteed. Artificial kinds of “glue” cannot be used, which bind people to believe, imposing on them a determined belief system and depriving them of the freedom to choose; nor is there a need for the external “nails” of worldly concerns, of the yearning for power and money. For God cannot be used for personal interests and selfish ends; he cannot be used to justify any form of fundamentalism, imperialism or colonialism. From this highly symbolic place, a heartfelt cry rises up once again: no more violence in the name of God! May his most holy Name be adored, not profaned or bartered as a commodity through forms of hatred and human opposition.
We honour, rather, the divine mercy that is given to us, through assiduous prayer and real dialogue, “a necessary condition for peace in the world… a duty for Christians as well as other religious communities” (Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, 250). Prayer and dialogue are profoundly interconnected: they flow from an openness of heart and extend to the good of others, thus enriching and reinforcing each other. The Catholic Church, in continuity with the Second Vatican Council, heartily “exhorts her sons and daughters, that through dialogue and collaboration with the followers of other religions, carried out with prudence and love and in witness to the Christian faith and life, they recognize, preserve and promote the good things, spiritual and moral, as well as the socio-cultural values found among these men and women (SECOND VATICAN ECUMENICAL COUNCIL, Nostra Aetate, 2). This is not an accommodating “facile syncretism”, nor a “diplomatic openness which says yes to everything in order to avoid problems” (Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, 251), but rather a path of dialogue with others and a path of prayer for all: these are our means “of turning spears into pruning hooks” (cf. Is 2:4), to give rise to love where there is hatred, and forgiveness where there is offence, of never growing weary of imploring and tracing the ways of peace.
A true peace, founded on mutual respect, encounter and sharing, on the will to go beyond prejudices and past wrongs, on the rejection of double standards and self-interests; a lasting peace, animated by the courage to overcome barriers, to eradicate poverty and injustice, to denounce and put an end to the proliferation of weapons and immoral profiteering on the backs of others. The blood of far too many people cries out to God from the earth, our common home (cf. Gen 4:10). Today, we are challenged to give a response that can no longer be put off: to build together a future of peace; now is not the time for violent or abrupt solutions, but rather an urgent moment to engage in patient processes of reconciliation. The real question of our time is not how to advance our own causes, but what proposals for life are we offering to future generations; how to leave them a better world than the one we have received. God, and history itself, will ask us if we have spent ourselves pursuing peace; the younger generations, who dream of a different future, pointedly direct this question to us.
In this night of conflict that we are currently enduring, may religions be a dawn of peace, seeds of rebirth amid the devastation of death, echoes of dialogue resounding unceasingly, paths to encounter and reconciliation reaching even those places where official mediation efforts seem not to have borne fruit. Particularly in this beloved Caucasus region, which I have very much wished to visit and to which I have come as a pilgrim of peace, may religions be active agents working to overcome the tragedies of the past and the tensions of the present. May the inestimable richness of these countries be known and valued: the treasures old and ever new of the wisdom, culture and religious sensibility of the people of the Caucasus, are a tremendous resource for the future of the region and especially for European culture; they are goods which we cannot renounce.
(from Vatican Radio)…