(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Monday welcomed to the Vatican South Korea’s new ambassador to the Holy See, Jonghyu Jeong. At a formal ceremony in the Vatican, Jeong presened his credentials to Pope Francis at the start of his diplomatic mission with the Holy See. The 66-year old father of 3 children is a law graduate and holds a doctorate in law from Kyoto University, Japan. An academic linked with several universities in Korea, Japan, Germany and the US, Jeong has served in the Korean Catholic Bishops Conference’s bioethics committee, has been president of the Korean Association for Legal History, and the Korean Civil Law Association and special envoy of the Korean president to the Holy See. Besides his native Korean, he speaks Esperanto, Japanese, English and German.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Monday encouraged young Catholics to cultivate their relationships with their grandparents.
Addressing a group of young people who belong to an Italian Catholic lay association called ‘Azione Cattolica Italiana’, the Pope spoke of the joy that derives from the coming of Jesus, and said that joy is increased and multiplied when we share it.
He invited the young people to receive the joy of Advent as they would receive a gift and to bear witness to it in their families, schools, parishes and in all places.
The Pope especially invited them to share it with their grandparents – and with elderly people in general – and he encouraged them to listen to the aged whom, he said, “have the wisdom of life”.
“I would like to give you a task: speak to your grandparents,(…) ask them questions, they have the memory of history, the experience of living, and this is a great gift for you that will help you in your life journey” he said.
And Francis also pointed out the grandparents themselves need “to listen to you, understand your aspirations and your hopes”
“This is your task: speak to your grandparents, listen to them” he said.
The Pope also thanked those present for their commitment for peace and remarked on a ‘solidarity’ initiative they are carrying forward in favour of young people who live in a degraded area of Naples.
“May the Lord bless this project that does good” he said.
‘Azione Cattolica Italiana’ was established in Italy by Pope Pius X in 1905 as a non-political lay organization under the direct control of bishops.
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(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis appealed for peace and reconciliation in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Sunday.
The central African nation has been experiencing another period political crisis ahead of the expiry of President Joseph Kabila’s term of office.
The DRC is preparing for unrest – including protests and violence, when the mandate of President Joseph Kabila, whom critics accuse of seeking to stay in power indefinitely, expires on Monday.
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“I ask you all to pray that dialogue in the Democratic Republic of Congo might unfold with serenity,” the Holy Father said in remarks to pilgrims and tourists that followed the traditional Sunday Angelus prayer, “in order that all manner of violence be avoided, and [to pray] for the good of the whole country.”
In Kinshasa, the capital, police have set up checkpoints, while soldiers in armoured vehicles have been deployed to strategic points throughout the city, which has some 12 million inhabitants.
Flights into the DRC have been empty, while many members of the country’s wealthy elite have already fled.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis prayed the Angelus with pilgrims and tourists gathered in St. Peter’s Square on Sunday, exactly a week before Christmas Day, 2016.
In the reflection he shared with the people in the square ahead of the traditional noonday Marian devotion, the Holy Father focused on the upcoming Christmas feast, exactly one week away at the time he delivered his remarks.
After praying the Angelus , the Holy Father returned to the theme.
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“During this this week let us look for a few moments in which to pause, have a bit of silence, and imagine Our Lady and St. Joseph on their way to Bethlehem,” he said. “The journey – the fatigue of it, but also the joy of it – the commotion, and then their anxiety over finding a place to stay, the worry – and so on,” he added.
“In all this,” concluded Pope Francis, “the crèche scene helps us very much: let us seek to enter into the true Nativity – that of Jesus, in order to receive the grace of this feast, which is a grace of love, of humility and of tenderness.”
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) On the occasion of the centenary of the Apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Cova da Iria [Portugal], and welcoming the invitation of the President of the Republic and of the Portuguese Bishops, His Holiness Pope Francis will go on pilgrimage to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fatima from 12-13 May.
(from Vatican Radio)…