(Vatican Radio) The Director of the Holy See Press Office, Greg Burke has said that Pope Francis was greatly disturbed by what had happened in Barcelona.
He also said that the Pope prayed for the victims and expressed his closeness to the Spanish people in particular the injured and the families of the victims.
13 people were killed in the terror attack on Thursday in the popular Las Ramblas area of the city when a white van zigzagged at high speed down the busy avenue thronged with tourists, knocking down pedestrians.
Spain mounted a sweeping anti-terror operation on Friday.
As security forces hunted for the van’s driver, who was seen escaping on foot, police said they had killed five attackers on Thursday night in Cambrils, a town south of Barcelona, to thwart a “terrorist attack” using explosive belts.
Thursday’s carnage was the latest in a string of attacks in the past 13 months in European cities including Nice, Berlin, London and Stockholm.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has expressed his “closeness” to those who have loved ones in the tragic mudslide that struck Sierra Leone .
A telegram signed by Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin says the Holy Father is praying for all those who have died; and that he invokes “divine blessings of strength and consolation” on their grieving family and friends.
The telegram assures rescue workers of Pope Francis’ solidarity and support.
The full text of the telegram, addressed to Archbishop Charles Edward Tamba of Freetown, can be read below:
Deeply saddened by the devastating consequences of the mudslide on the outskirts of Freetown, His Holiness Pope Francis assures those who have lost loved ones of his closeness at this difficult time. He prays for all who have died, and upon their grieving families and friends he invokes the divine blessings of strength and consolation. His Holiness likewise expresses his prayerful solidarity with the rescue workers and all involved in providing the much needed relief and support to the victims of this disaster.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis reflected on the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary at the Angelus on Tuesday.
The feast of the Assumption, also known as Ferragosto , is an important religious and civil holiday in Italy, and thousands of faithful were present in St Peter’s Square to celebrate with the Holy Father.
In his remarks, Pope Francis reflected on the Gospel reading, which relates the meeting of Mary with Elizabeth, and records Mary’s triumphant song of praise, the Magnificat . “The greatest gift that Mary brings to Elizabeth,” the Pope said, “is Jesus, who already lives within her – not in faith and hope, as in so many women in the Old Testament: Jesus has taken human flesh from the Virgin, for His mission of salvation.”
Elizabeth, the Pope said, had already received the joy of pregnancy, after having felt for so long the sorrow of not having a baby. Now, at the arrival of Mary, her joy “overflows and bursts from her heart, because the invisible but real presence of Jesus fills her senses.” That joy is echoed by Mary in the Magnificat, a song of praise for God, who accomplished His plan of salvation through the poor and humble.
God is able to do great things through the humble because, the Pope said, “ humility is like an emptiness that leaves room for God.” The humble person “is powerful because he is humble, not because he is strong.” He challenged the faithful to reflect on their own efforts to foster the virtue of humility.
In the house of Elizabeth and her husband Zechariah, the Pope continued, “the coming of Jesus through Mary creates not only a climate of joy and fraternal communion, but also a climate of faith that leads to hope, to prayer, to praise.”
And we too, Pope Francis continued, desire these things for our homes. “Celebrating Mary Most Holy, Assumed into Heaven,” he said, “we would like her, once more, to bring to us, to our families, to our communities, that immense Gift, that unique Grace that we must always seek first and above all other graces that we have at heart: the grace that is Jesus Christ!”
Mary, the Pope said in conclusion, “is the model of virtue and of faith. In contemplating her today assumed into heaven, at the final completion of her earthly journey, we give thanks that she always goes before us in the pilgrimage of life and of faith.” And, he said, “we ask that she protect and sustain us; that we might have a strong, joyful, and merciful faith; that she might help us to be saints, to meet together with her, one day, in Paradise.”
Following the Angelus, Pope Francis entrusted to Mary, as Queen of Peace , “the anxieties and sorrows of peoples who, in many parts of the world, are suffering on account of natural calamities, of social tensions or of conflicts.” He prayed, “May our heavenly Mother obtain consolation for all, and a future of serenity and of concord.”
(from Vatican Radio)…
The Holy Father on Saturday raised the Holy See’s diplomatic relations with Myanmar to the rank of Apostolic Nunciature, appointing Archbishop Paul Tschang In-Nam , until now the Apostolic delegate to Myanmar, as the first Apostolic Nuncio to the same country. At the same time Archbishop Tschang continues to serve as Apostolic Nuncio to Thailand and Cambodia and Apostolic Delegate to Laos.
Saturday’s appointment follows the announcement made on May 4 made on May 4, after Pope Francis met with Myanmar’s State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi, to establish full formal diplomatic relations from the Apostolic Delegation to the Apostolic Nunciature.
Archbishop Paul Tschang In-Nam was born on October 30th, 1949 in Seoul , South Korea, and was ordained to the priesthood on December 17, 1976 for the Diocese of Cheongju, South Korea.
He concluded ecclesiastical studies obtaining a Doctorate in Theology, and entered Diplomatic Services of the Holy See on May 1st 1985. From 1985-2002, he served as a Diplomat of the Holy See, in the capacity of Secretary and Counsellor in the Apostolic Nunciatures of El Salvador, Ethiopia, Syria, France, Greece, and Belgium.
After working at the Vatican Secretariat of State, he was named Titular Archbishop of Amanzia and Apostolic Nuncio to Bangladesh on October 19, 2002. Pope John Paul II con s ecrated him a bishop on 6th January, 2003.
On August 27, 2007 he was appointed Apostolic Nuncio to Uganda. On August 4, 2012 till now he served as the Nuncio to Thailand and Cambodia and Apostolic Delegate to Myanmar and Laos.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio)”When you do not cling to the word of the Lord, but have more security in consulting horoscopes and fortune tellers you become submerged”. Those were Pope Francis’ words during his Angelus address on Sunday in St Peter’s Square.
He was referring to the Gospel of the day where Jesus walks on the waters of Lake Galilee to save Peter and the disciples from sinking in their boat due to the heavy waves of the sea.
Listen to Lydia O’Kane’s report:
The Pope recounted how this story is rich in symbolism. The boat, he continued, “is the life of each of us, but it is also the life of the Church; The wind represents difficulties and trials.”
Peter’s invocation: “Lord, command me to come to you!” And his cry, “Lord, save me”, the Holy Father noted “are so much like our desire to feel the closeness of the Lord, but also the fear and anguish that accompany the toughest moments of our lives and our communities, marked by internal fragility and external difficulties.”
Pope Francis explained, that at that moment, Peter was not sure of the word of Jesus, which was like a rope to cling to in hostile and turbulent waters. This is what can happen to us as well, he said, “when you do not cling to the word of the Lord, but to have more security in consulting horoscopes and fortune tellers you become submerged”.
The Gospel of today, the Pope underlined, “reminds us that faith in the Lord and in his word does not open a path where everything is easy and quiet for us; It does not take away the storms of life.
But faith, the Holy Father went on to say, “gives us the assurance of a Presence, that is Christ, which pushes us to overcome the existential buffs; Faith, in short, is not a loophole from the problems of life, but it sustains our journey and gives it meaning.
(from Vatican Radio)…